Kyle arrived at the Culdao Peaks Town by foot, walking all night along the main road while chugging Stamina Recovery Potions whenever he was exhausted.
It was the crack of dawn by the ti he arrived, but he did not enter the town imdiately, instead tossing the bloodied clothes into a ditch nearby before changing to a clean set from his backpack.
He entered the town as normal, acting like a traveller who had walked from the city due to missing the caravan. No one cared about him appearing, with Culdao Peaks being a regular stop point for travellers on foot or by wagon.
Culdao Peaks Town was a small place of close to eight hundred people, mostly hamlets and a few high streets of shopping stalls and a central market. Already Kyle could see the stall owners working hard, dragging out items unsold since yesterday and hoping to make a quick buck.
Looking around for an inn, he found the best inn he could get, paying with rakels on the spot no matter the price he was quoted. Why should a cri lord live in squalor or stinge, after all? Kyle could already imagine Keith nagging him for spending two hundred rakels for a single night.
The inn was quiet in the morning, and the sleepy attendant who had barely woken up led him to his room, which was furnished with a queen-sized bed and a private bathroom. While not much in the Galactic Era, this was a luxury, especially when this was not the city.
As he walked through the inn, Kyle had been keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. It beca even more in-depth when he was finally left in the room, where he checked every nook and cranny for any engravings, enchantnts or devices. A habit from his forr life.
Kyle finally loosened up after an hour of searching, lying on the comfortable bed. His mind recalled the system ssage about him receiving a class upon reaching level 10. Classes… what are they?
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Frequently Asked Questions
[Classes]
Classes are the main thod of obtaining skills apart from equipnt
Skills are not lost upon Class Change
In order to perform a Class Change, either hit the milestones set forth or approach a Terminal with the requisite material
What? Terminal? Class Change? Milestones? Kyle had never heard any of these terms before at all. He tried asking more, but no more system ssages appeared. It seed like that was the only question that had triggered an active response from his interface so far.
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Information
[Classes Generated]
Classes have been generated based on your performance and inclinations so far.
Please choose carefully
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Class Generated
[Politician]
Words are a man’s strongest weapon – even better when paired with fists.
Active Skills revolve around persuasion, leadership and self-preservation
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Class Generated
[Biochemist]
Give a man a potion a day, he’ll be rich in a month.
Active Skills revolve around potion enhancent, quality incrents and gathering
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Class Generated
[Hamr Dancer]
For one who uses the hamr religiously.
Active Skills revolve around slamming, hitting and breaking things
Kyle glanced through the classes, none of them even being mildly interesting. The biochemist class seed interesting, but there was more to running a criminal empire than just drugs alone. Nothing short of Cri Lord or equivalent is good enough to satisfy . Kyle thought, which suddenly prompted the system ssage to disappear, and a new one to appear.
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Information
[Generating Unique Class]
Please Wait.
Please Wait
A few minutes passed before a new system ssage popped up.
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Class Generated
[Cri Lord]
Those who stand on top of the underworld and rule with strength.
Active Skills revolve around intimidation, leadership, violence and self-preservation
Unique Class – Single Upgrade Track
Kyle’s face twitched slightly at the ntion of ‘self-preservation’. Is this interface mocking ? He begrudgingly accepted the class ntally, causing the ssage to disappear and a new one taking its place.
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
WARNING
[Class Integration Beginning]
Please find a safe location.
Please find a safe location
Huh? Kyle barely had ti to worry about it when a sudden jabbing pain erupted at the nape of his neck.
The fiery pain shot through the nerves, spine and bones like lightning, causing him to double over terribly. He gritted his teeth, trying to bear the pain but it was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Not even the Dynasty’s training nor the imprisonnt in his forr life could inflict this much punishnt onto his body.
His arms felt the prick of a thousand needles inside every vein, capillary, and pore, while his abdon cramped up. Kyle bent over as he rolled on the bed, his back beginning to sweat profusely, his head thumping with the sound of his accelerating heartbeat in his ear.
It was even just painful to breathe, forcing him to take short, asured breaths to withstand whatever was happening to his body. “GRRRRHHH!” Kyle grabbed a rolled-up piece of the blanket and clamped down hard on it, his hands gripping anything he could reach in sheer tension.
His body began to swell and contract in a grotesque fashion, as though sothing alien within was remodelling his body from within. It felt like a hot iron branding him from within, causing him to nearly cry out in pain.
As the pain continued, Kyle beca more and more aware of sothing that felt foreign in his body, sohow integrated into the very fabric of his body. Too many effects and processes were happening internally, making it hard for him to focus on what was exactly happening, not to ntion the mind-numbing pain.
Kyle had no idea how much ti had passed until the pain finally subsided, allowing him to finally take a breather. His body felt exhausted, as though it had burnt all the energy he had in a single instant. Kyle quickly activated the Necklace of Healing and drank the Stamina Recovery Potion without checking his stats. Better to be safe than sorry.
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Class Obtained
[Cri Lord]
Those who stand on top of the underworld and rule with strength.
10 STR, 10 CHA, 10 INT, 10 VIT
10% chance to convince underlings
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Skill Obtained
[Intimidation Aura (Basic)]
Control those who oppose you with fear.
50% Intimidation Success Chance
Duration: Five minutes
Cooldown: One day
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Skill Obtained
[Penchant for Violence (Basic)]
A good cri lord must be fluent in the language of the underworld
All combat stats temporarily increased by 50% for a short duration
Duration: Fifteen seconds
Cooldown: Ten minutes
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Skill Obtained
[This is My Turf (Basic)]
No one gets close to you without your word.
Creates a selective domain, where enemies are unable to approach
Duration: Thirty seconds
Cooldown: Three Hours
[SYSTEM SSAGE]
Skill Obtained
[Designate Follower (Basic)]
Can’t be a cri lord without underlings
Marks any sapient being as a follower, enabling telepathic communication
Stat increase for each follower within five hundred ters
Limit of one follower now
Kyle didn’t bother checking the skills in-depth, imdiately checking the ti. It was almost night-ti now – the class integration had taken the entire day. His body was covered in sweat and blood, prompting him to take yet another shower.
He glanced at his face in the mirror, realizing his facial structure had slightly improved, with the forr Alvin’s face being boosted with a charismatic effect. What the hell is this interface?
The bed was soaking wet with sweat and bloodstains from his hands, so he got the room service to change it out. Keeping his belongings with him, he left the room while they cleaned up the place, heading down to the lobby of the inn for dinner.
This ti, the inn was crowded, filled with many of the townsfolk. Kyle noticed the three rchants and the gruff driver were already in the sa inn, telling stories about a monster attacking the forest bandits.
One of the rchant’s eyes landed on Kyle’s face for a brief mont, before looking away and continuing to tell the story to enthralled listeners. Is my face really that different, or did they just not pay much attention? Well, that saves so trouble at least.
Kyle found an empty table and sat down, peering at the nu that had been carved into a board above the bar. Ordering his al, he glanced around the inn, listening in to so of the conversations around.
“Got shaken down again by Fred. Fuck man, he used to be an alright enforcer, until the Sanctum of Yual sent one of their priests into town. Now he’s all righteous and holy, unwilling to even look the other way for even a mont. We used to drink in this town all day and night, now not even a single drop!”
“Mate, my hands are already shaking from the lack of card gas here. It’s only been a week but I’m dying right now. Maybe I should just head and join the forest bandits.”
“You serious? After hearing about the monster that attacked them? What would Mary say? You can’t just leave her and the kids.”
“Bah, the three rchants are off their rockers. Fuck it, I’ll bring them all along. Maybe I’ll join the slave traders too when they make their next pass-through.”
“Don’t count on it. The next ti they co around, Fred and his cronies would probably be all over it. A bust like that would be big on their record.”
“HAH! Fred won’t stand a chance against them guards, he barely swung a sword in his life!”
Looks like the prohibition bans are being enforced in the neighbouring towns too… Kyle took note of the conversations in town, marking them in his head for future reference. If he wanted to establish a proper supply line of Euria Seeds, this town might have a big part to play in it.
Euria Seeds had yet to be deed prohibited, so Kyle did not have to worry too much. But seeing how the Sanctum of Yual was willing to ban many things outright, he was certain they would soon start banning Euria Seeds, especially with the way he was about to develop the business.
There was not much else going on, mostly just other people complaining about the enforcers moving into town. Kyle did not see any idea of a local mob or mafia existing yet. There was a chance for business here, but he could not do anything until he got a better picture of the town and made so more connections. Perhaps I could set up a few shell companies here to handle the trade of Euria Seeds.
He was on a strict ti limit as well, with the repaynt of the debt coming up. For now, he decided to focus on finding the habitat of the Euria Seeds as well as the goblins who supposedly lived in the sa area.
The next day, Kyle imdiately left the inn as early as he could, continuously checking behind him for any tails or people watching. He was not sure if any of the city gangs had posted soone to watch over him, but he already knew that if the Violet Demons learnt of him killing their forest bandits, he would have a problem.
Using a replica map bought from the town, he navigated his way through the dense forest, trudging through the foliage and dead leaves. He spotted a few animals, noticing that most of them were similar to those of Ancient Earth. Squirrels, deer, wild pigs and rabbits were seemingly common here. He slightly expected a bit more of a fantasy twist, seeing as there were already goblins around.
As he walked through the forest, a bloody stench soon wafted through the air, becoming stronger over ti. It put him on guard, forcing him to keep his hamr at the ready, his eyes darting all over the tree branches to check for ambushes.
Pushing his way through a few dense bushes, he soon finally got a glimpse of the source of the sll. It seed to be a mass grave of sorts, except the bodies were all fully decomposing and rotting, clear signs that they have died quite so ti ago.
Three goblins were crouched over in the mass grave, sorting through the rotten human at and limbs. They used their little green grubby hands to scoop sothing out of the at, stuffing it into dirty pouches made of leather and skin patches, grunting to each other.
Kyle decided to hide and watch, seeing as the goblins did not notice him. The three goblins worked their way through the pit, scooping continuously. Soon, Kyle finally understood what they were doing. They are harvesting the maggots from the decomposing at as food. Interesting…
Suddenly, a loud rickety sound could be heard, with the three goblins imdiately scampering away towards the mountains. Kyle hid even more, laying low in the bushes as he spotted a wheelbarrow coming through a small path. It was two forest bandits, one escorting and one pushing two dead girls on the wheelbarrow.
They dumped the bodies into the mass grave pit, with one of the forest bandits peering over the edge. “Hey look. Your forr girl Krisna is doing pretty good.”
“Cheh, thought she would have been reduced to bones now. Guess the maggots and goblins don’t even like her. What a waste of rakels that one was.”
They didn’t converse anymore, simply heading back the sa way. Kyle did not move at all, continuously observing his surroundings. He soon saw the three goblins reappear, obviously not having collected enough.
He paid more attention to their loadout this ti. Each one was barely armoured, with only a flint or stone knife hanging from a loose cloth belt. Only one of them had a decent tal knife, which seed to serve as the only weapon they had.
When entering a new environnt, observing how the locals worked was the best way to get the lay of the land the fastest. Kyle decided to follow the goblins back to the den, before deciding on a course of action. Maybe they can be the perfect underlings…
WELCO TO RAKTOR, KYLE HAWTHORN
Level 10
Max HP: 37( 0)( 0)
Max MP: 8( 0)( 5)
Max STA: 37( 0)( 0)
[Status Effects]
NONE
[STATS]
Race Human Class Cri Lord STR 52( 24)( 0) DEX 49( 21)( 0) INT 76( 45)( 3) VIT 35( 0)( 3) CHA 21( 10)( 1) Free Points 45 [EQUIPNT]
[Necklace of Healing (Basic)]
3 INT, 3 VIT, 1 CHA. Active Skill: Heal (Basic) – Restore a tiny amount of health. Cooldown: Ten seconds.
[Magus Ring of Theorin (Interdiate)]
5 MAX MP, 25% Increased MP Recovery Rate.
[SKILLS] [Intimidation Aura (Basic)]: Control those who oppose you with fear. [Penchant for Violence (Basic)]: A good cri lord must be fluent in the language of the underworld [This is My Turf (Basic)]: No one gets close to you without your word. [Designate Follower (Basic)]: Can’t be a cri lord without underlings [TITLES] [Forr Cri Lord]
A bigshot in your previous life, so much for that, huh?
10 INT, 10 CHA
[Martial Arts Training]
The best things between you and death are your fists
10 STR, 10 DEX
[Murderer]
Everyone has to start sowhere
2 STR, 10% Increased Damage to Humans
[Usurper (Basic)]
So, climbing the ranks huh?
5 STR, 3 DEX, 10% damage to those of higher authority
[Potion Inspector (Interdiate)]
It seems that you are sowhat of a scientist yourself.
10 INT, Increased description of potions examined.
[Potion Crafter (Interdiate)]
This title was supposed to be handed on successful potions, but the failures are pretty hard to watch.
10 INT, Increased description of potions examined, 10% chance to craft an interdiate potion when using basic materials. 5% increased chance of discovering basic potion recipes per attempt, stacking. Resets on discovery.
[Healer (Basic)]
This doesn’t seem like the right way to use healing…
5 INT, 10% healing effectiveness
[Martial Arts Instructor (Basic)]
With great power cos great muscular bodies.
5 STR, 3 DEX, 10% teaching effectiveness
[Arcia Engraver (Basic)]
Those scribbles look like they might blow up anyti soon.
5 INT, 3 DEX, 10% chance at improving quality of final Arctech Equipnt.
[Torturer]
Pain is the best language to get soone talking.
5 INT, 2 STR, 2 DEX, 10% torture effectiveness.
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