Tunnel Rat

He could see that things had changed when he looked at his list of skills. He'd gained a new Lore Skill: Ancient Runic Lore

All of his skills had been at Rank 5 before the fight with the stone lurkers. Now, many had increased from his recent activities. That would also push up his stats.

Racial Skills:

Spine of Volax-Repat (Tail Fighting) (DEX) Rank 6

Claws of Alta-Viator (Claw Fighting) (DEX) Rank 6

Primary Skills:

Magi-Tech for Beginners (INT) Rank 2

Deep Rock Dwarven Engineering (INT) Rank 7

Bone Casting (INT) Rank 7

Stealthy Skulking (WIS) Rank 5

Climbing (AGI) ) Rank 6

Dodge AGI) Rank 6

Acrobatics (AGI) Rank 6

Small Blades (DEX) Rank 5

Sense Danger (PER) Rank 6

Identify (PER) Rank 7

Weak Poison Resist (Con) Rank 5

Weak Disease Resist (Con) ) Rank 5

Basic Fire Resistance (CON) Rank 0.

Mycology (WIS) Rank 5

Secondary Skills:

Throw Sharp Things (DEX) ) Rank 5

Fleet of Foot (AGI) (Rank 3, 350 experience)

Manipulate Locks and Traps (DEX) Rank 6

Gathering Skills:

Mining (STR) Rank 5

Foraging (PER) Rank 5

Skinning (DEX) Rank 0

Crafting Skills:

Hydraulics (INT) Rank 5

Ore Processing (INT) Rank 5

Chemistry (INT) Rank 7

Physics (INT) Rank 7

Pulley Systems (INT) Rank 7

Metallurgy (INT) Rank 5

Tool Making (INT) Rank 5

Mechanic (INT) Rank 7

Trap Making (INT) Rank 7

Bone Carving (DEX) ) Rank 5

Rune Carving (DEX) ) Rank 5

Smithing (STR) ) Rank 5

Lore Skills:

Ancient Runic Lore (INT) Rank 6

System Runic Lore (INT) Rank 6

Dwarven Rune Lore (INT) Rank 6

He could see that things had changed when he looked at his list of skills. He'd gained a new Lore Skill: Ancient Runic Lore

All of his skills had been at Rank 5 before the fight with the stone lurkers. Now, many had increased from his recent activities. That would also push up his stats. The first skill he tossed points to was Fleet of Foot. It was tougher to raise, being a secondary skill, but being able to move fast was a huge advantage. 1150 points brought it up to Rank 6, giving him an extra 35% to his movement speed. Sense Danger was next.

Philistron had surprised him once, and that had led to waking up in a cage. Granted, he'd been exhausted, mentally drained, lacking in mana, missing most of his bones, and distracted by cheese. It didn't matter, he'd been caught. It didn't matter if it was in the game, or the real world, getting caught was bad. It was certainly influencing his choice of skills to increase. If he could avoid danger and run away, that was better than fighting something. Sense Danger to Rank 9 cost him 2100 experience points. Stealthy Skulking was a Rank 5, and taking it to Rank 8 took 1800 points. The last of his points went into Dodge, putting it up to Rank 8.

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With all the experience from his adventures and the bonus experience points, his stats had increased by leaps and bounds.

His dexterity was at Rank 4, Perception at Rank 6, Wisdom at Rank 4, Agility at Rank 6, and his Intelligence was at Rank 10 and maxed out for Tier 2. Of course, he didn't benefit from any of the stats above Rank 5 until he unlocked their caps. Interestingly, he'd gained three ranks in Toughness, even though he had no skill for it. He agreed with the system that he had certainly earned it. Philistron had tortured him mentally and physically. He was still shaken, but tougher for the abuse. This gave him an immediate insight into the dwarves' fixation on constructing carnival rides like the Whirl and Puke. Stapping themselves into whirling death machines probably made sense to them if they got tougher.

He hadn't considered how much his stats would benefit from his recent adventures. Everything had happened so quickly, compressed into a hectic few days. But he didn't regret how he'd spent his Enhancement Points. He wanted those skills for exploring, and exploring would bring more points.

"Something else always happens, right Georgie?" His lizard barked at him, a sound he hadn't heard before. Georgie certainly understood him now and his eyes glowed with intelligence. The watch lizard made one last circuit of the little cave and laid down by the small fire for a nap.

Milo leaned back, but couldn't sleep. He was still bothered by his lack of Bonecasting ability. Then he slapped his palm against his forehead. He'd gained his magic when he accidentally bonded to the Runeboned Cowl after the fight with the ratkin necromancer. Losing his bones had severed that bond. Now the items waited. He picked up Shadowblight and cut his palm on its sharp spikes. The weapon jerked in his hand, going deeper than intended and blood spurted over the weapon's handle and the cowl laying on the floor. Milo felt dizzy as spells, concepts, and the ability to use magic flew back into him. The weapon hummed, wondering when it would taste blood again and the Runeboned Cowl wrapped around him. He felt his connection to the items and to the Arcane Library where his mentor waited. Relief washed over him. He lay next to his pet and took a nap, sleeping soundly both in the game and where his body lay in a pod in the real world.

Milo's Stats:

STR: 8

DEX: 19

AGI: 20 (21)

CON: 11

INT: 22 (27)

WIS: 15

CHA: 0

PER: 20

TOU: 7