Chapter 66: Chapter 65 – Moving Further

Over the next couple of days Jason continues his wool gathering about cultivation. In the end though all he can figure is the next time he is out of his pod he needs to test things. Not that all he did these few days was walk and think. A couple creatures annoyed him. However, a snake with a sloths head isn’t exactly threatening. Now though he is out of things to focus on and is skimming through the wasteland. The spires pass by on his right beyond counting and the grass waves never ending on his left.

This scenery lulls Jason into a thoughtless mediation. Movement without intention crossing distances at a walking pace. Each step passing by the mundane. Never stretching too far yet traveling full distances. Most of the day passes without conscious notice when a ding breaks Jason out of it and he stumbles. Not a normal noise of course as his trip wasn’t exactly silent but rather a System notification.

Where the ding didn’t cause him to fall over this message did. While skills breaking through because of someone’s understanding isn’t unknown. A beginner skill doing so is unheard of. Beginner skills are thought of as just that, skills to use at the beginning. While solid and something you can always fall back on, they generally are passed by for newer skills. To advance one in rank through knowledge and a deeper understanding, even to the point of changing the rarity? If any other player has managed it they haven’t said a word about it. Besides that the effect gained from the breakthrough was quite a high level. Any ‘ground shrinking’ effect is rare below level 100. Sure the skill will not let him travel miles with a single step, at least not yet. But you have to start somewhere.

“Besides, this is my first Apprentice rank skill! With how things were going I was certain it would be Blast Punch that ranked up. Even if it didn’t, farming seemed in line for it next with how fast it is growing. Not that I get anything for reaching Apprentice rank. That is after all only the rank at which for a crafting skill you can work in a shop on actual products. Everything before it can be seen as purely practice. Even if you lived in a small village, it is hard to make a living off of an Apprentice rank skill. Though I guess that does make sense. The natives learn a trade skill from around puberty so by the time us players come into the picture we are way behind. The only reason farming is doing so good right now is I am growing alchemy materials and experimenting with the process. If I had tried to grow wheat, it would take me over a year just to reach the Initiate rank let alone Apprentice. I fear that us players wouldn’t be able to keep up with the natives if we didn’t come back from the dead. Without the boost that danger gives to skill advancement there is no way we could keep up.”, Jason shakes his head at these thoughts. Even with their advantage of always coming back player still aren’t able to completely pull ahead of the native population. That and it doesn’t help that there are old natives running around keeping things in balance. You can’t ‘catch up’ to some monster swordsman who has been training for the last couple millennium.

After a quick check of the area Jason realizes he progressed further than expected. While not mile wide steps his breakthrough took him far. With that in mind he tests the new skill effect. The first few steps are awkward. Trying to step farther doesn’t seem to work with his steps just going wider. Then he gets the feel for it. Instead of activating it on purpose the skill just works. He facepalms after the realization because duh, the skill was still a passive one. In the end though practice makes perfect, so he continues his tests.

Night comes before he settles down, happy with the results. Not only can he travel twice the distance at a normal walking speed but another aspect of the skill effect showed itself. While the skill directly calls out being able to step further it actually says “each step travel just as far as it needs to”. This shows itself in that he can take a full step yet not move forward. Though the real benefit comes from his close observation of it in action. Other movement skills known to him will put energy into the hands and feet. Maybe a little into the limbs for strength but that is about it. While that is also happening here the real surprise is that on an almost unnoticeable level his whole body is being affected by his Energy. Instead of a better grip on a surface or a small push against the ground for more distance it goes so much further. The very Energy of his body is grabbing the natural energy and air then pulling. His steps look normal because they are. The extra distance comes from pulling himself through the air a short distance. At a higher level and a better understanding Jason even dares to hope this will let him fly or at the very least step on air. However the skill isn’t there yet. He can’t even boost his jumping power with it yet. Well except in the dead obvious method of pumping energy out of his feet but that is inefficient. A Qi user might manage it with their large pool of energy to work with but Jason wants to follow this skill further. Getting to the heart of efficiently moving places feels right to him. Satisfied with his new ability Jason settles down for his nightly cultivation. All the while in the distance a silver horned jackalope fumes.