Limitless Path

So, two free points and my END sucks. Maybe that ant wouldn't have sliced me so bad if I had high endurance. I do want to raise my STR too. I don't like that I had to punch a level one ant three times with all my strength to kill it. Beth debated what to do, but after a minute put both points into END. She barely felt any difference, maybe just a little healthier? It was rather hard to tell.

Wonder about that coin. As she thought it, a copper coin about the size of an American Quarter appeared in her hand. It was made from what seemed like pure copper, and each side had a picture and writing on it. The front had a picture of scales, but Beth couldn't understand the writing. The back had a picture of what looked like a large tree with a crystal in the middle, also with writing around the edge. Again, the writing was in a language Beth was unfamiliar with, though it did seem a little similar to what she had seen of Japanese or maybe Chinese. It looked more like some form of character set where each character represented a word or concept, but there were definite differences with the East Asian written languages which even Beth, with her limited knowledge, could tell.

Having a sudden thought, she held the coin between the end of her right thumb and the left side of her right index finger, like one might hold a coin they were about to put in a vending machine, and squeezed. The coin lit up very faintly as Beth sensed a small amount of energy leaving her body, and a small, crisp copper symbol appeared above the coin. She couldn't understand this symbol either, but some memory told her this was a way the Path verified its proper currency. She also marveled at the energy, sensing it was a trickle of mana from her very small magic reservoir flowing into the coin.

Beth held the coin in her right hand, staring at it almost absentmindedly as she fell deeper into thought. She wasn't exactly happy with having what felt like an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge crammed in the back of her head by some strange person without her consent. Even worse was the fact that she couldn't really access what was there, only have little dribs and drabs trickle into her conscious when she thought about a particular topic or was stumped by a new concept related to the Path.

She thought about that bundle of knowledge somehow locked within her own memory yet still inaccessible. She closed her eyes as she turned inward, spinning the coin in her hand as she tried to find where that block of information was within her mind. She searched for a time until she felt she found a place within her own mental space that was blocked off.

It was a weird feeling in itself, this exploration of what seemed to be an entirely intangible landscape. Beth felt she still didn't even really understand the rudiments of it, and the fumbling nature of her exploration was pretty obvious, even to her. Still, she did manage to find something she deemed unusual after a few minutes of this staggering about her own mind. Unfortunately, that something was much more like a brick wall than it was a pool of information for her to dive into.

Not one to be deterred so easily, she did what generally came quite naturally to her: she charged the wall headfirst. Well, metaphysically speaking, that is. And, somewhat predictably, she slammed into the 'wall' she felt in her mind and bounced off. Mentally hopping back up and dusting herself off immediately, she went right back at the wall.

It didn't take very many attempts for her to realize that this was something she was neither skilled enough nor strong enough to tackle. Also, the repeated slamming around in her own mental landscape had started cooking up a bit of a headache, which she had no desire to turn into a full-blown migraine. Opening her eyes as she resurfaced from her internal flailing, she stopped spinning the coin as she stared at it briefly.

With just a thought, the coin once again vanished, and it seemed to her that the system gave everyone some kind of personal coin storage somewhere, maybe directly imbedded in their status screen?

Alright, last couple. She thought.

Unarmed Apprentice[0]

{Skill in fighting using the most reliable weapon of all, one's body. Higher skill level increases damage done with the body as well as performance of unarmed skills and combos.}

OK, this isn't Copper[0] but Apprentice[0]. Wait, didn't Miss Liveria say something about this? Or maybe in the knowledge she apparently burned into me? Beth wracked her brain for a moment, but suddenly a snippet of knowledge came to her, just like with the coin. It wasn't much, but enough for her to go on for now.

So pretty much everything uses the copper to silver to gold etc. notation that my other skills use. The exceptions are weapons skills and crafting skills, which are still graded under the older Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Master, and so on rankings. Well, guess those boxing lessons I took let me become an Apprentice puncher. Increased damage and force with my body is nice, maybe I can punch some more ants after I get my class. Beth recalled a little about the basics of the grading of skills from the knowledge Liveria had locked in her mind.

Wasn't there one more before the class. Ancient World Gate[0], I didn't get that from the fight or anything. Was it something Liveria did? Beth wondered with some excitement.

Ancient World Gate[0]

{A legacy of a Transcendent Ruler from before the Age of Dreaming. This skill allows the wielder to create a gate linked to a temporal space. The higher the skill level, the more one has control over the temporal space and the gate itself.

Current Gates: Ant.

Current Modifier: 2x}

Beth didn't get any information from the locked memories Liveria had left her, so she decided to test it out. The strange unknown power she just got. Right after a world changing event. In the middle of her bedroom.

As she thought about using the skill, a window popped up right in front of her.

Ancient World Gate[0]

Set Gate: -

Set Modifier: -

It didn't really seem very complicated, so she thought Ant and 2X.

Ancient World Gate[0]

Gate: Ant

Modifier: 2x

Commencing…

Something started rising up out of her bedroom floor, and Beth almost fell off her bed in shock. She quickly realized it was the top of a doorway rising in the middle of her room.

"It really is magic," she muttered as the door finished moving into place. The edges of the frame looked like they were made of some type of packed earth, and the center was occupied by a darkness that looked like a dull piece of black plastic.

Well, at least the skill isn't weird or anything, summoning a dirt doorway of horrible darkness in the middle of my bedroom. Beth thought sardonically. Seeing that the gate wasn't going anywhere, she decided to take care of the last, and most exciting, bit of this strange new reality.

Class Selection Menu Available.

When Beth focused on this message, a new window appeared.

Class Selection.

Select your Path. Begin your journey.

Young Princess

{A young lady of a royal house. Grace and dignity mark your every action. +1 DEX, +2 INT, +1 WIS, +1 Free Point per level.}

Young Warrior

{Yet to gain much experience, but eager to bring battle to their enemies. +1 STR, +1 DEX, +1 END, +1 Free Point per level.}

Young Mage

{Mana is an integral part of everything, including your developing combat. +2 INT, +2 WIS, +1 Free Point per level.}

Brawler

{A powerful physical combatant that uses the raw strength of their body to smash their way forward. +2 STR, +1 DEX, +1 END, +2 Free Points per level.}

This is it! It's like a game, and I get to be the protagonist now. Beth quietly giggled to herself as she reviewed the class selection screen. It looked like she had a number of options, but one immediately stood out to her. Brawler seemed to be right up her alley, and also seemed to be the best of the bunch. A powerful combat class that got 6 stat points per level unlike the 5 points the other classes offered. She didn't hesitate for long and focused her mind on accepting Brawler.

Class selection complete. Go forth, Brawler, and crush those who stand against you.

Crush Copper[0] Acquired.

Beth quickly checked her new skill.

Crush Copper[0]

{Add a crushing force to your attack. Particularly useful against armor.}

Wish I had that against the first ant. Beth thought, closing the window. She curled her right hand into a fist and focused on Crush. She felt a trickle of mana flow into her fist and felt like her next punch would be stronger. She unclenched her fist and shook her hand, feeling the little bit of mana dissipate as she did so.

OK, now about this creepy dirt door in my room, she thought, staring at the blank void in the dirt arch in her room. Getting up from her bed, she walked up to the doorway and examined it. Reaching out and grabbing the frame, it had the damp and loamy feel of good dirt, but it was totally solid, not leaving even a trace on her fingers.

Seeing this, Beth decided to touch the "door" itself. Her fingers encountered the dark barrier and she felt a cool, slightly pleasant sensation. A small ripple spread out from the point of impact of her fingertips, but the door was quickly still again. She pulled her hand back and looked around the room, finally pulling her cell phone out of her pocket to check it.

The screen woke as she tapped the power button and displayed her login background, a picture of one of her favorite anime characters, with the time and date floating in the center. Seeing that it worked, she slid it back into her pocket and, taking a deep breath, suddenly stepped forward into the doorway.

Everything was dark, but after a single beat of her heart, she found herself standing in a field. It was about as plain as a field could be, with what looked like regular grass stretching as far as she could see and a clear blue sky overhead. There were no trees or bushes or even any flowers, no hills or divots in the landscape, and not even a sign of a mountain or body of water on the horizon. She looked behind herself to see the door standing a step back, looking just like it did in her room.

Magic is so awesome. But also, this is pretty plain. Is this another world, or did the door make a magic lawn that goes on forever? Beth pondered.

As she continued to look around in wonder, she noticed a hint of movement in her peripheral vision. Looking toward her right, she could now see the door out of the corner of her eye, but she was more focused on the ant in front of her. It looked exactly like the mid-shin height, brownish-black ant she had managed to kill behind her house. It was maybe around thirty feet away from her and hadn't seemed to notice her yet.

Beth carefully looked around without moving at first, and she thought she could see another ant straight out from the doorway, but fairly far in the distance. Trying to step carefully and stealthily, she walked around to the left of the door and looked behind it. There was no ant waiting in surprise ambush, and she couldn't really see any others.

Well, she thought, let me check one last thing. She took out her cell phone slowly and looked at the screen after tapping the power button. The time and date still displayed, but she noted the X over the signal icon at the top right. 10:05 AM. Let's see if we can stay in this place and kill some ants. She put the cell phone away and turned toward her first target.

After observing her target for a moment, she was unable to determine anything vital. It was an ant. A big one. She decided action might be the best course to take, and assumed her fighting stance. It seemed like she knew just slightly better where to put her feet. Maybe it was a benefit of gaining the Unarmed skill, or perhaps her new class, but she felt just a fraction more comfortable in her stance and posture. She started to walk toward the ant, remembering to never let her feet get too far apart as she swiftly stepped forward.

After about five steps, it seemed the ant realized that something was wrong. Its two little antennae, which had been drooped forward and slightly twitching, suddenly shot straight up. A half second later, the ant spun to face Beth and, after locking its beady eyes on her, began to scurry directly at her.

Beth firmly planted her feet, looking at the ant somewhat between her forearms, as with her guard up the ant was far too small to view over the top of her fists. She waited and watched, remembering the first fight with the ant in the woodlot. As the ant got close to her, she thought Crush.

When the ant was within a pace of Beth, she took the initiative to attack, stepping forward at a diagonal. As the boxing and martial arts coach had explained to the small groups in formal instruction, attacking at an angle was an important way to target an enemy from a stronger position while helping you minimize their angle of attack.

The ant attempted to swing its head at her, but it was out of position and didn't have enough time before her right hand smashed into the left side of the ant's head. There was a *crunch* noise like someone dropped a bowling ball onto a bag of chips, followed immediately by a wet popping sound.

Beth had immediately returned to guard position after the punch and readied herself to continue to step around the ant, remembering the thrashing of the first ant that had cut her leg, but she quickly realized it would be unnecessary. The punch, empowered by her new skill, had caved the large ant's head in, as well as popped its left eye. It hadn't even had the time to flail about, simply collapsing dead on the ground.

Common Ant level 1 slain.

Beth looked at the message, frowning slightly, then sighed. It looked like what the empress told her about system generated coins being rare was right. It also looked like she was already at the point where she would need to farm, or kill lots of monsters continuously, to level. Luckily, it seemed she had a field full of experience and possibly coins all to herself.