I was finally free. No longer a slave, I could visit any cave I wanted. No gno dared cross or my path. I kept the over-inflated Status. After I killed Crossbow with but a scratch, the gnos didn't wish to try their luck. Plus, they were matriarchal.
The first thing I did was to visit every nursery, see every mother and every clan matron in hopes of finding Lorna. No such thing. That’s when I had probably figured out part of Lorna’s intent on proposing this little ga. When I pulled her as a sacrifice to the {Fate} spell, such intent was communicated to the magic unadulterated. My guess was that Lorna didn’t want to be single out imdiately. Why would she let that happen? She wanted a “normal” life and for us to fall in love organically. I did set it in a way our paths would cross, but in which way? She could be the Head Matron for all I knew. And yet that was not her real intent.
What Lorna wanted, if I got it right, was for to open up. Expose myself. If I couldn’t tell which girl was the real Lorna, I’d need to be open and expose myself to the world. She may have wanted to be in this exact situation. So desperate to find her that I was willing to try and court all the females in this cavern. Take a risk and play the ga, mingle with the people and see who would be attracted to , then invest ti in that person even if it wasn’t the one.
She wanted to live a love story but more than that, she wanted to have my romance too. I had to treat the girls around as if any of them could be Lorna. And if any of them reciprocated, I’d invest in them and try to have a relationship. Worse yet, I couldn’t just let them go after I’d “conquered” her. She didn’t want to turn my life into a dating sim. And yes, she knew the concept, I explained it to her during our long decades of isolation during her twilight years when I was forced to stay as a water elental. Would I willingly expose the real Lorna to heartbreak only to try the girl next door? No way. Just like that, my relationships would need to be real and long-lasting.
She could be the girl I saved. Was it the tug of Fate that made the Head Matron give birth right in front of ? But in the sa reasoning, she could be the older gno. I knew she would be alive around now but whether she was born before or after , that was unknown.
That’s why I invested most of my ti and energy befriending and flirting with the girls. I put my social Perks to work hard, from {The Leader} to {Social Queen Bee} and my Proficiencies too. At first, they didn’t understand why I was being so nice to them but the won here were raised being pampered and showered with attention from the sugar daddies. Once I broke the ice and the initial fear of being a bloodthirsty savage, they quickly accepted the attention I had to give them. And the gold jewelry I crafted. Not one to shy away from tooting my horn, but I was a master jeweler. Once I scavenged better tools, I started making real works of art. I didn’t commit a Proficiency to Jeweler, at least not yet.
I had my sights on these gnos’ unique craft. They were masters of making sothing out of utter rubbish and I had a firm conviction the only reason their contraptions remained in one piece for more than a few minutes of use was System aid. And I needed to learn it fast. Sotis a Proficiency was locked to a group of species or even a single one. But if you had it unlocked for you, you’d be able to train it even if you weren’t the correct species. While I could pick traits from several species, it didn’t automatically add each and every species I’ve ever been a part of. I could always gamble in the human Perk shop but my Luck score sat at the roundest zero I’ve ever seen, and next life it would remain there. I had to get anything I fancied from the Scavenger Gnos now.
My next stop was their workshop. Helger would have a fit if he saw that. Baritono would say they were disrespecting the cave just by breathing the stale air inside it. The blacksmith gnos seed emaciated and sick, the reason as obvious as the lack of cleanliness. They were breathing in too many fus. They had furnaces but no vents. But the gnos didn’t mind. The value of a male’s life in this society was extrely low. Which was a problem in itself but honestly, I had little incentive to change that. I just couldn’t form a bond with these gnos and the way they evoked Wyxnos’ na every other sentence irritated .
As I surveyed the “workshop” (if one could call it such), a few gnos approached. They were crafters and tinkers, and I got a notification telling {Sage's Aura} was in effect, giving a social bonus with them.
“Madam [Hero Queen], would you hear our request?” their leader humbly asked.
He didn’t evoke the professor’s na, so I didn’t glower too much at him. “Say it.”
“The guys said you are a healer, is that true? They say you cut a matron open to save a girl’s life,” he said with gleaming eyes full of admiration.
“I’m a [Physician],” I replied. “I can heal so wounds and treat most illnesses. What is the matter?”
“By Wy--” A gno started to exult but was elbowed by his fellow.
The males were trained from birth to read social cues from females, one of the few admirable traits of these gnos. Not because I think they should bow to the matriarchy, nothing like that. I believed in an egalitarian society. It was admirable because males in general (as compared to females) had a hard ti reading social cues, period. It had to do with the way the brains were wired. Males had better depth and movent perception, females were better at reading facial expressions and body language. That’s why baby boys like cars and toys with moving parts and baby girls favor expressive dolls. The problem with most societies was that people enforced the stereotype without pushing the boundaries of whatever limitations one’s brain was born with.
“We have so aches here, so itches there, we would like it very much if you could help us,” the leader said.
I thought for a while and ca to a conclusion. Why not exchange knowledge with these gnos? “I can help you but I won’t do it alone. Here’s what we’ll do. You guys will run to the clans and ask around the gnos if any of them wants to learn how to treat injury and illnesses. Then I’ll teach them how to gain the [Nurse] or [Physician] Proficiencies. In exchange, you guys will teach how to beco a [Tinker].
Their eyes went wide. Tinkering was a man’s job, mostly because the females were too busy either lazying around, nursing babies, getting high on Nectar, and/or fucking all the ti to bother leaving their dens. I was the odd one out. But after my savage display of brutal destructive belligerent berserker savagery back at the “Last Auction” as the gnos called that day, I earned the warriors’ respect and the fear of everyone else.
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But we quickly shook on our deal. The gnos ran around, poking other gnos and telling them that I would teach them how to heal wounds. Here’s a little tidbit about the gnos. Every one of the males had sothing. Either a parasite or poisoning from eating contaminated at, or disease from living in absolute filth, or a would from fighting or an accident. At least most of them developed immunity to tetanus because every tal piece they touched was rusted and their Endurance was as high as any warrior their level.
Several months passed while I taught them about tallurgy, dicine, basic health care, and hygiene, soap-making, and mining. We repaired so pickaxes and sent teams of gnos to dig up from the workshop and the main cave to open vents to the surface. I also started a mine or two to collect raw ores along with a blast furnace to slt tal. In exchange, they taught the secrets of their unique racial trade.
I earned the first forty-six Proficiency points through hard labor with a ton of help from {Forgeborn} and the other learning-rate boosting Perks. Since it was a Proficiency related to tals, I gained another four free points from {Dwarven Royalty}.
I eagerly opened the Ability list and imdiately regretted my life choices. What should I pick from among these finely-nad Abilities?
Wyxnos’ bent puzzles are a trial upon us: You can match bent parts to build what you want (Proficiency)% better.Wyxnos Broke it for a Reason: Whenever a part breaks unintentionally while you’re tinkering, you have a (Proficiency/8)% chance of having an epiphany, gaining a fast-growth point. Parts you tinker with are (Proficiency/20)% less likely to break.Wyxnos willing, it shall fit: When hamring a slightly larger dowel or wedge to its permanent spot, the fit of the pieces is (Proficiency)% stronger.Spinning things are blessed by Wyxnos: Rotating parts in your contraptions are subject to (Proficiency/8)% less friction if it’s beneficial to the machine.Sharp stuff delivers Wyxnos’ wrath: Weapons mounted in your large contraptions and vehicles deal (Proficiency/40)d10 extra damage.It shall kill in Wyxnos’ na: Weapons mounted in your large contraptions and vehicles deal (Proficiency/2)% more accuracy and increase base damage by (Proficiency/5)%.Coils are Wyxnos’ blessed artifacts: Spring coils you craft store (Proficiency/2)% more potential energy.Wyxnos guides my steering wheel: Vehicles you craft are (Proficiency/10)% more maneuverable.Wyxnos’ blessed wheels shall know no caltrops: Your vehicle’s motor train has (Proficiency/2)% more durability and hardness.This is Wyxnos’ unstoppable vessel of war: Your vehicles have (Proficiency/5)% more durability and hardness.None shall stop Wyxnos’ mighty juggernaut: Your vehicle's deal (Proficiency/50) d20 more base ramming damage. Requires Proficiency 150.It shall carry all of Wyxnos’ glorious gifts: Your contraptions and vehicles can bear (Proficiency/5)% more load. Requires Proficiency 50.And also carry Wyxnos’ faithful: Your vehicles can carry (Proficiency/10)% more passengers. Requires “It shall carry all of Wyxnos’ glorious gifts” and Proficiency 100.Because Wyxnos’ vessel of war is our shield: Your vehicles’ passengers enjoy (Proficiency/5)% more evasion against attacks from outside the vehicle. Requires “And also carry Wyxnos’ faithful” and Proficiency 150.And we are Wyxnos’ holy avengers: Your vehicles’ passengers ignore (Proficiency/4)% of the penalties for fighting in a moving vehicle. Requires “Because Wyxnos’ vessel of war is our shield” and Proficiency 200.So we shall deliver Wyxnos’ Mighty Wrath: Your vehicles’ passengers deal (Proficiency/5)% more damage. Requires “And we are Wyxnos’ holy Avengers” and Proficiency 300.And purge Wyxnos’ Holy Vessel from any intruders: Your vehicle passengers' critical hit rate and accuracy are (Proficiency/4)% higher against boarders. Requires “So we shall deliver Wyxnos’ Mighty Wrath” and Proficiency 400.Wyxnos Hear our Prayer and Bless us: Your vehicles’ passengers heal (Proficiency/3)% faster out of combat. Requires “And purge Wyxnos’ Holy Vessel from any intruders” and Proficiency 500.
Nobody in recorded history ever purchased beyond "holy avengers".
The list went on and on. I honestly stopped reading at that point and closed the window without picking any. Every single Ability had His na at least once.
Yeah. Sohow the stupid gnos snuck whole freaking PRAYERS into the Ability list. They were ridiculously good, though. A war machine made by a Grandmaster [Tinker] would be a fearso thing.
After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to try and fix it. “System, [Tinker] ability nas are too verbose. I wish for neutral and faith-independent nas.
No answer. Wyxnos damn it, is this place dead to communications too? {Administrator Hotline} didn’t work as well. I felt like I’d wasted a few months of work. Maybe not. I had several real tools I’d crafted, as well as a sturdy anvil that the gnos found lying in the lower levels. It was too heavy for any use and it wouldn’t fit in their primitive slter.
I wouldn’t put that verbose garbage of Wyxnos propaganda in my Status sheet. Ever. So I started working on my own parallel Proficiency, in hopes of getting sothing that could encompass this rubbish stuff.
After another two months of work, I finally unlocked a Class combination that would do what I wanted.
Mason Vainwright Woodworker Apprentice Blacksmith Designer = Apprentice Gnomish Engineer (5-fused, Unique)
You beca an Apprentice Gnomish Engineer (5-fused, Unique, no rank). Your progression is:
1 Bonus Attribute Point per level.
1 Endurance per level.
1 Strength, Willpower every odd level.
1 Dexterity, Mind every even level.
1 Charisma every third level.
1 Perk every even level.
18 HP per level.
1 Weapon proficiency
1 Physical Proficiency
1 Technical Proficiencies.
Bonus Gnomish Machinist Proficiency.
Lower complexity Proficiency detected. Points in the [Tinker] proficiency are rged into [Gnomish Machinist]. No ability to transfer. You earned 43 Fast-growth points from {Cross-Proficiency Sinergy}.
You reached Apprentice Gnomish Engineer level 20. A rank-up is available. 115 Attribute Points withheld. You gained the Perk, Surpasser LXX (combined). 700% Attribute Caps, 70 Attribute points over 40 levels.
Level 40
Strength: 32 23 (55) - Dexterity: 32 37 (69) - Endurance: 32 24 (56)
Mind: 32 36 (68) - Willpower: 32 43 (75) - Charisma: 32 34 (66)
HP 443.932 (363 HP/min)
Energy 263.053 (244 E/min)
Gnomish Machinist [ 85 / 148 ] Select 6 Abilities.
Oiled gears: Rotating parts in your machines are subject to (Proficiency/8)% less friction if it’s beneficial.Maneuverability I: (Proficiency/20)% better steering and control.Speed I: (Proficiency/15)% faster top speed.Energy Storage I: (Proficiency/10)% more autonomy.Efficient Design I: (Proficiency/20)% lighter without any loss of strength.Load-Bearing I: (Proficiency/8)% greater maximum load.
So values were worse than [Tinker] but a [Machinist] could do everything a [Tinker] could and more, and these Abilities were scalable. I could design and craft custom parts and would benefit from a synergy bonus between this and [talsmith] if the parts were made of tal. A [Tinker] rely assembled puzzles made out of junk. I could do that, but why would I bother? I had a fully operational smithy and a blast furnace.
With that out of the way, It was ti to make my first vehicle and explore the desert.
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