Hyperion Evergrowing

Chapter 14: Fisticuffs

A new class? Did Leif have a reason to decline? He couldn’t think of one, a new class would mean better stats and new skills right? As he trudged away from the scorched and bloodied battlefield to go find shelter while he recovered, Leif accepted the prompt.

Congratulations! You have gained the brawler class!

Level up! Class [Brawler] is now level 1!

For meeting the class requirements and having an available class slot you have gained a level!

+1 to [Might] +1 free point!

===

[Brawler]

Meticulous training and martial discipline are not your forte. Despite this your aptitude for using your body as a weapon is remarkable.

Tier: 1 (Foundation)

Class Perk:

+50% To the damage of unarmed strikes

+50% To physical resilience while unarmoured

+50% To body enhancement skills while unarmoured

+50% to body empowerment skills while unarmoured

Growths:

Free Points: +1

Might: C+

Alacrity: D+

Intelligence: E

Willpower: E

Spirit: C

Charisma: D

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Base Stats: Might: +2, Alacrity: +1, Spirit: +2, Charisma +1

Skills:

None

===

Reading the class perk made Leif trip, a deer bumped into his leg from behind. He turned to glare at the animal but it looked away. He wanted to ask; ‘Why are you so close?’ But communication was difficult in his current form so instead Leif let out a dissatisfied hiss.

Turning his attention back to the class perk he scratched at his head in befuddlement. I was offered the class because I fought unarmed. But during the fight with the two drakes I used [Gilded Body] to create projected limbs… Does that skill still count as unarmed strikes for the purpose of the class perks? Because if so…

He did the sensible thing and punched a nearby boulder. One small impact dent and a numb hand later he repeated the test with an ethereal approximation of one of his four fingered hands. The blow was about half as powerful.

Stumbling from the surge of exhaustion due to skill usage, Leif shook his head. It's impossible to tell exactly how much of an effect a plus fifty percent increase is. The system doesn’t give damage numbers to skills…

Leif double checked his status to see if the thought had changed anything. It had not.

By the time he found a small gap in a cliff-side in which to rest most of his animal followers had rejoined the procession. So when Leif dragged his tired body in as deep as he could go and passed out he was promptly covered in a blanket of forest creatures.

===

This was the first time Leif had fallen unconscious in eleven years. That’s if you don’t count the evolutionary process, which you probably should. This was the first time Leif had fallen unconscious since evolving, a steady diet of sunlight and syphoning tiny amounts of lifeforce from the soil and large trees and getting water when he could had made sleep a non-factor.

Sleep, in this case, refers to several bodily functions going dormant to preserve energy. It might sound familiar but the process wasn’t quite the same. Four days later he was up, after carefully peeling sleeping animals off him Leif took stock of his body.

It all seemed fine, though he felt the tree version of famished. Farmished? Leif stretched, ivory bark gleaming in the morning sun, light hitting the small clusters of red leaves growing from vines on his form made them look like they were glowing.

He stood knee deep in a fast running creek, greedily drinking in as much as he could. As the animals joined him, drinking and foraging for food Leif sat on a fallen log and started thinking. When that log cracked from his weight he moved to the ground instead.

He recalled the fight with the drakes. He had won but… I still feel so clumsy, and I lost track of my surroundings. I feel strong, my weight and the bonuses from my new class should make a repeat far more in my favour…

He continued to ponder, this made him slip back into old habits. Hours passed without Leif noticing. The sun rose overhead, a bright yellow ball of heat, that heat was heightened by the turbulence season, baking the ground.

There was a soft crunch followed by a snap. This broke Leif from his musings. He looked down, a deer with a red leaf in its mouth looked back. Their gazes held for several moments before the deer went back to slowly chewing. Leif picked it up and threw the flailing animal into the water.

===

The rocky valley shook, pebbles tumbled down and dust was disturbed. Leif crouched at the valley's edge, squinting down into its depths. A bellow resounded from below, the sound like a bass boosted foghorn echoing off the stone walls.

Two somethings made of stone and standing over five metres tall duked it out. Their titanic fists making the world rumble with each impact. The monsters, giant stone elementals, continued their brawl unaware of the spectators.

One opened its craggy maw and exhaled a barrage of glowing projectiles. Shrapnel crashed into the other elemental and peppered the ground and walls. It responded by levitating a boulder and sending it flying, the air visibly parting due to the force of the throw.

I need to find another way up. Leif thought. This valley is not going to cut it. I barely survived two drakes and these creatures are much, much larger. Would I even be able to scratch one if it came to a fight?

He stood and turned to face his ever growing horde of animals. The usual suspects were present, but the newcomers were quite obvious. Over forty feral hogs milled around. Where they had come from Leif didn’t know, one day he had stopped to absorb vitality and bam! There they were.

My [Aura of Nobility] isn’t even being projected out anymore. Why are so many animals following me?

===

The herd, for what else could it be? Seemed reticent to climb higher into the mountains. The foothills were dangerous enough.

Just the other day Leif and company had inadvertently wandered into drake territory. A pack of five drakes had been spotted and that was more than enough to make Leif turn around and go the other way.

But that hadn’t been all. This pack of drakes, several miles closer to the mountains, were distinctly different than the two he had fought prior. Though it was hard to make out specific details from the distance at which he had spotted the roving pack he could tell they were almost double the size.

The way they had effortlessly bounded up boulders and cliff-sides made Leif re-examine his surroundings. Within minutes he spotted claw shaped groves where drake claws had dug into rock. The sheer size of the gouges made him shudder.

And to do that to stone? What would those claws do to me? Leif asked himself, then decided not to risk finding out.

It was looking like his self appointed goal of climbing to a mountain peak wouldn’t be possible. Considering he had barely made it to the foothills after over a month of trying it didn’t seem likely. The early hush face of the moon gazed peacefully down from the sky above. Though Leif imagined it was judging him.

For what? Probably because he was putting the finishing touches on a sleeping hog pyramid. He just needed to place the runt on top… And… done!

Level up! Class [Noble] is now level 10!

For building a community in which you hold a position of leadership and respect you have gained a level!

+1 to [Alacrity] +1 to [Spirit] +2 free points!

That did not just happen.

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