Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Momentum (Or The Lack Thereof)

It was dark when she woke up again. That was the routine she had established since coming here. It had only been a few days, so maybe that would shift with time. She was certainly no stranger to going to sleep in the middle of the night, and waking up past noon in her old life. Her sleep pattern used to swing a lot, but she had also had a lot more distractions back then. Her options were pretty limited in this world.

[ Spider Silk Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! Skills Unlocked: Steel Thread, Thread Manipulation. 3 skill points gained. ]

[ Spider Silk (Passive): Able to produce spider silk. Can be sticky, or non-sticky. Drains SP for production. Strength, quality, and durability increases, while SP drain decreases with skill level.
Max level bonus: Quality rank of produced silk goes up by one, and SP drain further decreases by 50%. ]

Hang on, you mean all the balls I just made are inferior to the ones I'll be making from now on? Well, I guess I can make a couple of the new ones, and ask someone to compare for me.

Maybe they would want all of them regardless. In some games the crafters could still make top-level stuff with slightly inferior materials if they had good enough skill, technique, and tools, so maybe the same was true here.

[ Steel Thread (Passive): Requires Spider Silk skill. Able to produce stronger thread that is more resistant to fire, but less flexible and soft. Effect increases with skill level. Can be made razor sharp. Price: 3 skill points. ]

I can see the benefit to armour, but why would I want to make it razor sharp?

Some gruesome mental images decided to show up.

Never mind, forget I asked. Though maybe it's kinder that way? Is taking someone's head off an insta-kill? Does the system even allow decapitation? I haven't seen anyone or anything lose a limb so far, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible.

[ Thread Manipulation (Passive): Able to manipulate the movement, and shape of thread, rope, and similar materials. Your imagination, and skill are the limits. Complicated manoeuvres or constructions may drain SP. Drain decreases, and ease of use increases with skill level. Scales with Dexterity. Price: 2 skill points. ]

She had seen Thread Manipulation before, but she had wanted to remind herself what it did. Considering what she had been doing last night (afternoon), this morning (night), and was like to do more of in the future, it was probably a good purchase.

[ Skill Purchased: Thread Manipulation. ]

Steel Thread didn't seem all that necessary unless she wanted to expand her range of trade goods, and she wasn't intending to start that kind of business. She just wanted to trade a ball of silk for a steak. Or cake. Or a baked potato. No wait, chips. Did they have chips? Did they even have potatoes? They must. You couldn't make a world without potatoes. Potato pancakes!

... I need to stop thinking about food.

She decided to test out the skill instead.

Oh, wow. Yeah, this makes it much easier. And this is just at level 1?

[ Thread Manipulation Skill Level Up! ]

... level 2. Auntie System definitely has a sense of humour.

[ Tree Form Skill Level Up! ]

That was probably a sign to stop fooling around. She stored all the silk away, and headed outside. There was something odd about the air that night. Almost like the kind of tension you felt before a thunderstorm, except there was so sign of any such thing. Was that because of maintenance mode? Or because the server was down? If the game went out of service, would it feel like this all the time?

Wait... if the game goes out of service... won't this whole world, and everyone in it just cease to exist? Including me?

"Do not worry, Sara," Aina spoke up. "It is not that simple. I cannot tell you all the details, but I have a plan. Please trust me."

I... okay, mother.

Sara still felt a little anxious, since she wasn't sure what Aina would be able to do, but she did trust her. Or at the very least she wanted to. She'd rather not keep thinking about it for the time being.

Shaking her moody thoughts away, she headed over to the treeline, and hopped her way up. Even in Bear Form it wasn't all too hard to scale the trees. She needed to find a target for DFA. She didn't really want to splatter any small animals, so the deer remained her go-to targets. They were worth the most experience, too.

While they were currently asleep, she had discovered that the squirrels in Nylound were actually flying squirrels. Well, in name only, as back on Earth. They could only glide, like their real-life counterparts, and didn't seem to ever go to ground. Since they weren't really worth hunting anyway, they were probably just there for atmosphere's sake. It was possible there were quests related to them.

Before she could ponder the matter any further, her senses informed her that a target had been acquired. While they weren't quite as bright as the Sholan Moose, the Nyolund Deer still had a substantial mana signature. The Noble versions especially.

[ Nyolund Noble Deer (Druid Lvl 26) HP: 191/191 ]

Quite the beefy target. Since she was going to drop right down on top of it anyway, maybe she should try working on her melee skills. It would probably be a bit of extra effort compared to the magic takedowns, but if she got enough height on DFA, she should be able to take away half of the health bar. Maybe more.

She got into position, jumped off of the branch, activated Death From Above, and steered her way right on top of the deer's back.

The impact was heavy enough that it pushed the deer down on its stomach with all legs splayed out to the side, and thoroughly dazed it. Before it could recover, Sara struck with Strong Poison Strike, charged up a Savage Blow, and let loose with Chomp, and Rend.

The deer did recover before she could finish it off, and whacked her with its antlers to knock her away. It attempted to Skewer her, but she managed to dodge to the side, and hit the flank with another Poison Strike, then tried to go for a Chomp again, but got kicked in the face. The deer was low on HP though, so the damage over time effects took it down so low a single strike was enough to finish it off.

[ Nyolund Noble Deer (Druid Lvl 26) Defeated. ]

[ Death From Above Skill Level Up! ] [ Savage Blow Skill Level Up! ] [ Bear Form Skill Level Up! ] [ Rend Skill Level Up! ]
[ Claw Expertise Skill Level Up! ] [ Chomp Skill Level Up! ] [ Strong Poison Strike Skill Level Up! ]
[ Claw Expertise Skill Level Up! ]

After the fight was done, she realised she had forgotten some things. She hadn't used Growth, or Rejuvenate. And she saw that even as a bear she could use Thorn Armour. She wanted to try out Poison Enchant as well, but that was currently disabled. Well, that could come later. She had a feeling that once she was done levelling it, she wouldn't use Bear Form any more. At least not outside of special occasions. She wasn't even really using Cat Form any longer, even with the strength and attack power increase. Being able to cast spells was more important.

It was a lot to keep track of, but she wanted to do her best. Back up she went to look for her next target.

She wasn't sure exactly when Growth would get disabled. Whether it would be during the maintenance period, or once they hit live on the patch. So she might as well use it in whatever little time she had left.

[ Bear Form Skill Level Up! ]

The next drop had even more impact, as with Growth (and a little extra height), and the deer was crushed down to only a third of its HP remaining before she launched a single other attack. The deer still managed to recover before she could kill it, but it ended up killing itself as Thorn Armour took the final bit of HP off.

[ Nyolund Noble Deer (Druid Lvl 25) Defeated. ]

[ Skill Gained: Skewer. ]

[ Growth Skill Level Up! ] [ Strong Poison Strike Skill Level Up! ] [ Quick Feet Skill Level Up! ] [ Rend Skill Level Up! ]
[ Claw Expertise Skill Level Up! ] [ Thorn Armour Skill Level Up! ] [ Rejuvenate Skill Level Up! ]

That should be the last skill she was able to gain from the deer.

She'd aim for a little less height next time, because she didn't get to use her skills much when the opening attack was so effective. Trying to aim for 50-60% remaining HP was a good compromise that made it almost risk free.

[ Bear Form Skill Level Up! ]

Time to look for another vic- target.

[ Nyolund Deer (Druid Lvl 24) Defeated. ]

[ Death From Above Skill Level Up! ] [ Savage Blow Skill Level Up! ] [ Chomp Skill Level Up! ] [ Rend Skill Level Up! ]
[ Claw Expertise Skill Level Up! ] [ Strong Poison Strike Skill Level Up! ] [ Thorn Armour Skill Level Up! ]
[ Bear Form Skill Level Up! ] [ Air Control Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]

That was more like it.

[ Condition Met. Error. Climb skill variant incompatible. Suspending process. ]

She was about to raise some questions about that, but the next popup derailed that train of thought.

[ Condition Met. 6 relevant max level skills assembled: Air Control, Balance Up, Cat's Feet, Climb, Firm Grip, Leap. Unlocking special skill: Slow Fall. 2 skill points gained. ]

[ Slow Fall (Active): Special skill. Fall at a reduced speed that negates all fall damage, regardless of momentum. Continuous effect. Activation Cost: 2 MP. Automatically activates 5 metres away from impacting the surface if at critical velocity. Slowly drains MP while active. Deactivation Cost: 0. Automatically deactivates after landing. Refresh: 1 second. Price: 12 skill points. ]

Wait, what? She stared at the text box, not quite believing what she was reading.

"Congratulations, Sara. You have discovered one of the hidden skills that cannot be acquired in any other way. I knew that you would eventually amass, and level enough disparate skills that something like this would occur. Who knows how long it would have taken a Wanderer, or Resident to achieve the same. You are the first in the world to unlock this skill."

Uh... that's a lot to take in. But... why does it say Climb when I have Spider Climb?

"It counts for the same thing in the eyes of the system in this instance, since it is a replacement skill. This is an achievement that is meant to be theoretically possible for anyone, after all."

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I... see... and... that price...

"Special skills provide such a powerful effect that even though they take much effort to unlock, they are still very expensive to purchase. Slow Fall ensures that so long as you are not in an MP Exhaustion state, you will never die from falling. It can even kill the momentum of strong knockback attacks. Negating a universal constant like gravity is not cheap."

There was something smug about the way Aina was saying this, even with her emotionless tone.

12 points. She had gotten 3 from the unlocks, so it was really 'only' 9 points. But this one was too good to pass up, even with the steep cost.

[ Skill Purchased: Slow Fall. ]

She was still left with 10 points, which wasn't so bad. And she would probably level up soon, which would give her another 2. She was still pretty well off, all things considered. And she only barely remembered to check Air Control's max bonus.

[ Air Control (Passive): Allows the user a certain amount of air control, letting them direct their own falls, even against the momentum of their initial jump, or fall. Can not slow down falls, only change the trajectory. Effect increases with skill level.
Max level bonus: Air dodging is easier, and more effective. ]

Improved dodging was a nice bonus. She would probably get opportunities to experience the difference, considering how things had been going so far.

She wanted to actually try out this Slow Fall thing, so she rapidly ascended the tallest tree she could find nearby, and used Leap to get as far above it as she could, and then activated the special skill once she reached the apex of the jump.

A really weird sensation of weightlessness set in, and she was slowly floating downwards. She found that she could adjust her falling speed a bit, but there was a maximum velocity to it. Likely as a safeguard. And she couldn't slow it down so much that she didn't fall at all, but she could go very slowly, like a feather on the wind.

Speaking of, there was a fair bit of wind up there, but it wasn't able to blow her about much. It was more like it flowed around her. Part of the momentum killing aspect of it, probably. Still felt nice against her fur, though.

It was probably worth experimenting with how much Air Control let her direct her descent while in Slow Fall, and whether it was affected by the momentum cancelling.

While she was up there, she spotted the spring she had found right before she reached the den for the first time. She was tempted to go for a dip again. It was bad to only do work, after all. Relaxing was also important.

* * *

Once she reached the spring, she saw that someone else was already there.

"Oh, hello again," she said to the wolf paddling around in the water. It was the same one she had met when she first came here. Part of her had to question how she could tell so definitively, but she had no doubt.

The wolf paddled over to where she could put her feet down. "Hello, boss."

"Do you find it nice after all?" Sara asked.

"I don't know," the wolf replied.

"But you're doing it anyway?" Sara tilted her head to the side.

"Yes, boss. It's different." The wolf crawled out of the water, sogging wet. Sara made sure to not get too close as she predicted the ensuing shake-off.

"Are you still going around alone?" Sara stepped closer to the water, and dipped her paw in. It was the same temperature that it had been the other day, so it couldn't have been any more pleasant. It was simply a matter of getting used to it.

"No, boss. The others didn't want to try, so they continued patrolling."

Sara chuckled. "Want me to dry you again?" she asked.

"I'm fine, boss," the damp wolf said. "I need to get used to it."

"Fair enough." Sara wasn't going to insist, as her fellow bather had a point. She had learned that they didn't get sick anyway. She decided that this time she would ease her way in, just to have tried both methods. Though she quickly felt that the plunge method was probably the better one.

Still, she got her body submerged, and started paddling her way around as well. She plunged her head into the water before raising it back up, and shaking it about.

The other wolf had lain down on the dry rocks. "You don't seem to get as wet, boss," she said.

"Yeah. I have some advantages," Sara admitted.

"Advantages?"

"Hm... how to explain..." Sara glided her way over to where her feet touched the bottom. "Were you there at the meeting yesterday?"

"Yes, boss."

"Well, Norax gave me access to some options that let me change how quickly I dry off, among certain other things." That was something she probably wouldn't be able to tell any of the Residents, even after she became one of them.

"Must be nice." It almost sounded like she was sulking, which made Sara giggle a little.

"It is. I wish I could share it with the rest of you."

"Can you ask Norax to do it?"

"Hm..." Sara pondered it. She would be asking Aina, rather than Norax.

What do you think, mother?

"It would be difficult in the current circumstances. I would have to alter a fundamental part of the system. At best I could suggest it to the developers, if I could think of a good reason."

I am certain you can handle that part. Though I guess it still doesn't guarantee they would listen to you.

"Exactly. I will consider the matter."

Sara returned her attention to the other wolf, as she thought of a way to spin the answer.

"They said they would have to convince the world to change, which would be difficult. They are not all-powerful. But their power will keep rising so long as we stay devoted, so maybe one day they will manage to do it. I think they're afraid to promise anything for sure."

"I guess even gods have problems," the other wolf said, quite correctly. "I'll get back to patrolling, boss." She stood up.

"You won't have trouble catching up to the others?"

"No trouble, boss."

"Alright. Stay safe. Maybe I'll see you here again some other time?"

"Maybe, boss."

As the wolf wandered off, Sara threw herself back into the deep end. Even without paddling it was nice to just float around. She seemed to be quite buoyant.

Have I gotten smarter since I got here? I wouldn't say I was socially inept, but I wasn't much of a speaker in my former life. Yet now I'm coming up with these speeches, and I even quickly rattled off that excuse to her.

She could vaguely remember that Aina had once mentioned that the Intelligence score affected the actual intellect of mobs and Residents, but she hadn't been sure if that would affect Sara. Maybe she had some circumstantial evidence for it now.

[ Swim Skill Level Up! ]

That was probably a good cue to get out. Even with double experience, she had put so little effort into actual swimming that it likely meant she had been in there for a while. She did one last full-body dunk, then exited the spring. At an impulse she tried the whole 'shake it off' thing that she had seen dogs (and the other wolf) do, and it was surprisingly refreshing in its own way. Though with how quickly water ran off of her, she was almost entirely dry afterwards. Maybe even a little floofy.

The sky was starting to lighten up a little already, so either she had slept longer than usual, or all her little tasks had taken longer than she had thought.

She figured she could chase more hedge- racehogs, and get Bear Form up to max, so she wouldn't have to worry about it again.

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