Reluctantly, he gave him another swipe of his axe.
!! SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT
SLAY THE BLUE EARL'S MEN:
3/4 SLAIN
That number soon rose once more, as Vol strolled back towards the tree where he'd tackled the man. His suspicions must have been right about breaking the man's back, for even though the lawman struggled with his arms to get to his feet, his legs did not even budge.
"They'll hunt you down like a dog for this," the lawman said. "You'll never know a day of freedom again."
Vol grunted, and buried his axe in the man's head.
!! SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT
SLAY THE BLUE EARL'S MEN:
QUEST COMPLETE!
REWARDS DELIVERED
+3 STRENGTH
+3 AGILITY
+3 STAMINA
+3 WEAPONS SKILL
-5 Charisma
System warning: Charisma has dropped to negative numbers. Other humans now react with distrust to the vessel.
"Again?" Vol muttered in complaint.
!! SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: VESSEL HAS MORE STRENGTH THAN INTELLIGENCE. NOTED. ONCE MORE, THE VESSEL IS SURPRISED THAT MURDER WOULD LOWER HIS CHARISMA.
"It was you that gave the emergency quest," Vol protested.
!! SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: IT WAS THE VESSEL THAT LEFT SUCH AN OBVIOUS TRAIL TOWARDS HIS LAST MURDER.
He tutted in dissatisfaction. He knew the System was right, in that it was his own laxness that had made him so easily tracked, after leaving the fur merchant where he had. But even with his flagging charisma stat, he did not regret his choices. All his other combat stats had gone up as a result of the encounters. He was growing stronger at a phenomenal rate.
That said… Did it not seem a bit strange that he gained +1 strength for slaying the fur merchant, but only get 3x the reward for overcoming four well-armed lawmen? He looked at the slice across the front of his coat. It could have ended very badly for him, all things considered.
!! SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: THE VESSEL HAS FINALLY NOTICED A PATTERN IN STAT DISTRIBUTION. EXPLANATION: WHILST THE SYSTEM WILL HELP YOU GET STRONGER AT A FASTER RATE THAN THE VESSEL IS USED TO, IT CANNOT DEFY THE NATURAL LAWS OF PROGRESS TOO FREELY.
YOUR STAT GAIN FROM QUESTS WILL DECREASE PROPORTIONALLY OVER TIME, AS THE VESSEL GROWS STRONGER, PROVIDING THAT HE DOES NOT MAKE THE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS.
"Necessary adjustments?" Vol repeated with a frown. It was a more complicated phrasing than he would have liked. He would have liked to simply be told what it is he must do to get stronger. No matter the task, he would have fulfilled it. To be given a riddle instead irked him. He knew it was never going to be his cunning that allowed him to defeat Oliver.
He recalled the skills in development that the System had announced as he battled. It had mentioned his Axe Throwing skill had completed 1/5 steps needed to master it. The same was said of his Basic Side Step skill.
!! SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: THE VESSEL IS THINKING ALONG THE RIGHT LINES. THE SYSTEM WILL HINT TOWARDS THE RIGHT ANSWER.
HEN THE VESSEL'S STRENGTH INCREASED, HE NOTICED THAT THE NUMBER OF AXE SWINGS THAT HE CAN PERFORM INCREASED.
WHEN THE NUMBER OF AXE SWINGS THAT HE PERFORMS INCREASES, HE NOTICES THAT HE CAN LIFT HEAVIER STONES, OR AT LEAST, TRAIN SO THAT IN THE NEAR FUTURE, HE IS CAPABLE OF LIFTING HEAVIER STONES.
THE SYSTEM IS FORCED TO OPERATE WITHIN THE LAWS OF POTENTIAL. THE GREATER SKILL THE VESSEL ATTAINS IN ONE AREA, THE FASTER HE IS ABLE TO ATTAIN SKILL IN ANOTHER. AS THE VESSEL GROWS STRONGER, THE SYSTEM TOO WILL GROW STRONGER AND MORE ABLE TO RESIST THE LAWS OF PROGRESS.
Strangely, despite being complicated, Vol found he understood that explanation.
!! SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: OF COURSE. EVEN IF THE VESSEL APPEARS DIMWITTED, HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CHOSEN IF HE WERE NOT WORTHY.
"So, how do I increase my potential?" Vol asked.
!! SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: NEW EXPLANATION UNLOCKED
CONDITIONS MET:
- BEGIN MASTERY OF A NEW SKILL
- BEGIN UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF POTENTIAL
EXPLANATION: THE VESSEL MAY ACT OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM TO INCREASE THE CAPABILITIES OF THE SYSTEM. GATHERING NEW SKILLS ENHANCES THE VESSELS POTENTIAL. MORE CAN BE ACQUIRED BEYOND MERE SKILLS, BUT THE VESSEL LACKS THE REQUIRED CONDITIONS TO BE TOLD MORE.
"So," Vol said, wiping the blood off his axe onto the furs of one of the lawmen. "What you're telling me, is that if I want to gain stats faster, and get stronger faster, my best bet is to gain new skills?"
!! SYSTEM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: AGREEMENT.
"But how do I do that quickly…" He mused. He'd tried training axe throwing before, and it wasn't exactly a quick thing to learn, at least, it wasn't in the past. If such a thing were necessary, to go through the same process as before, limited by the same things as an ordinary human, then what was he really gaining? He'd be limited at the first hurdle – there was no way that he could catch up to Oliver.
!! SYSTEM REMINDER: THE SYSTEM EXISTS. THE SYSTEM IS BOUNDED BY THE LAWS OF PROGRESS, BUT ONLY TO A DEGREE. IT WILL AUGMENT THE VESSEL IN ALL THAT HE AIMS TO ACHIEVE, ENSURING THAT HE DOES SO FASTER THAN THE UNBLESSED INDIVIDUALS AROUND HIM.
SUGGESTION: FURTHER EXPLANATION DEEMED UNHELPFUL. VESSEL SHOULD TEST THE EFFECTS OF SKILL ACQUISITION ON THE RAPIDITY OF STAT ACQUISITION.
Vol nodded in agreement at that. Indeed, the best way to really understand something was to test it… But right now, there seemed to be more important things to do than testing the limits of the System. After hearing what he had hoped to hear, that there was still a way forward, a way to progress as rapidly as he'd initially hoped to from the System, he reviewed his situation.
He'd made a mistake in allowing the Lawmen to find him so easily. He acknowledged that. He knew nothing of the nature of tracking. His jobs growing up had been within the town. They'd paid him to cut lumber, and to unload goods from river barges. He bought his food, he didn't hunt for it.