The World Which Is

Chapter 15

I drop on my bed and tell myself I expected this. Dad wasn't going to be reasonable about me wandering off and leaving him to think I had been hurt, or worse.

My arm twitches at the memory of the pain.

Good thing he'll never learn I was in pretty bad shape at some point.

But I wish that for once he could be an adult and not overreact. I'm back, I'm fine, and I have a decent class. Although that's another shit storm on the horizon.

The sigh that escapes me sounds like those I let out when I was twelve and dad grounded me for playing rough with Max, Josie, and Stew, and scraping my knees. Kids are supposed to scrap their knees, aren't they? None of their parents grounded them for something so minor. It's like he thought I'd get an infection and die, even if Base will hand me the best healing food or potions in his inventory at Dad's demand.

I sigh again.

I need to stop that. I'm an adult now.

I sit up. Might as well make use of the time, instead of letting myself wallow in self-pity. I pull a loose page from my bedside table and... pull the journal from my inventory to use as a writing surface. The back's nice and mostly smooth. I doubt the scratches on the leather will be a problem.

I pull the stylus and try it in the corner of the page. It leaves a silvery line, so it's not something that only works on the journal, neat.

Okay. System. Give me the abilities that are dependent on Taking it on the Nose, names only.

System Query: Ability list, Trunkated

Grit Strike

Grit Style

Home field Disadvantage

Marathon Fighting

Second Wind

Opponent Destruction

Opponent Mastery

Okay, definitely seeing interesting things there. What's Opponent Destruction?

System Query: Opponent Destruction, Explorer Ability

When your Opponent Mastery activates, you now gain a 50% boost to the damage you cause them. Each additional rank increases the bonus by 2%

Prerequisite: Opponent Mastery, rank 5

Maximum Rank: 26

Cost: None

What about Opponent Mastery?

System Query: Opponent Mastery, Explorer Ability

After fighting a single opponent for a minute, you gain a 50% bonus to combat skills. Each additional rank reduces the delay before the ability activates by 3 seconds.

Prerequisite: Taking it on the Nose, rank 5

Maximum Rank: 21

Cost: None

Really? I have to fight someone for a full minute? Do I want a fight to last that long? At least I only need five levels in Taking it on the Nose before getting it, so I can focus on lowering the trigger time. And a fifty percent increase to combat skills is significant. Then, with five levels in this, I just have to sacrifice one ability point to boost my damage by fifty percent.