Collide Gamer

Chapter 8 – Wisdom

The question was directly related to another one: What did he want to do with this new power? Build a harem, sure, but dead men did not get the chance to even talk to women. Best to invest in security first, looks later.

Strength was the obvious choice if he wanted to fight with his fists and close weaponry. Agility would help him become more stealthy and nimble. Endurance was a pretty good thing all around, since he liked being alive. Intellect and Wisdom would help his mana pool and regeneration, thus allowing him to use more skills. Charisma would help him get less hated and lastly Libido would probably allow him to jerk off all day.

That did sound pretty tempting but so did the thought of having the ability to use his Skills more regularly. Currently he was getting Skills easily, but experience with game design taught him that such acquisitions slowed down past the early game. The Skills he had all required MP to train and to make them better.

He looked at his current Skill list. His eyes fell on the three that he could use to define his style.

If he wanted to be a traditional mage surely Mana Power Attack was the way to go. The Skill was costly at 10 MP per usage and its damage scaled with INT. Upping the damage and gaining more MP to throw more of them at once, ending a fight with a barrage before the gap could be closed, was certainly an option.

Sneaking on the other hand would nudge him towards the rogue playstyle. If he picked that he should raise Agility. He would need the speed and finesse to exploit it when he made it into stabbing range.

Possession could make him some kind of summoner, in the abstract sense. The Skill should allow him to use disposable bodies as his fighters. Those minions would be an extension of himself, so summoner wasn’t the proper term. Puppeteer, maybe?

John nodded to himself. Yeah, that sounded good to him, both puppeteer and summoner. He wasn’t that interested in jumping around the frontlines and doing all of the impressive stuff. Staying at the back and coordinating efforts was more his style.

 One level worth of points wouldn’t commit him fully to that direction but what was an ocean if not an assembly of drops? Best get started on his preferred build early.

If he wanted to follow that direction the first thing he needed to do was level Possession. Currently the Skill only allowed him to move slightly. To make levelling Possession more effective it would be best to have it run permanently. ‘After all, if I have it running all the time I could do something else on the side as it levels on its own.’ He thought and opened the Character Sheet.

For higher Mana Regeneration, he would have to put his points into Wisdom. To have Possession run permanently he would need a regeneration rate of at least 6 Mana per Minute, as the skill cost 1 every 10 seconds. That was roughly 12 times what he currently had. A long road.

‘Well, we all have to start somewhere’ he thought and put all five points into Wisdom. His Mana Regeneration went from 0,535 to 0,57, a marginal increase but an increase nonetheless. With that decision out of the way, he thought about what else he could need in the future. If he wanted to have disposable bodies fight for him maybe other kinds of minions would be helpful? He also needed defensive tools. Everyone with a braincell knew to rush the summoner.

What he needed most of all however was a way to earn more EXP. Stomping these little Seedlings was time intensive and it wouldn’t get better in the future. Sure, currently the Exp needed to get to the next level was forgiving but traditionally games needed more and more EXP. Simultaneously, these little things would probably drop to only giving 1 EXP each within the next few levels. He was going to exploit them for as long as he could. Best to have alternatives lined up though.

John currently only knew of two sources of Experience: Quests and this Instant Dungeon. As he had no control over Quests, grinding was the more reliable one. He sighed, it seemed that Seedling stomping was still his best bet. Maybe the system would offer him better enemies after he levelled a bit.

‘This is the weirdest early game I’ve experienced in a while,’ John thought and mumbled a few curses before smiling slightly. Even though the early game was confusing, it still was rewarding. That he could allocate his Stats as he desired was already a huge boon. He could shape himself into his ideal form. If he needed to experience the awkwardness of crushing pinecones for that, he would take it.

In any case, it was getting late and his mom would wonder where he was eventually. The best way to keep her from finding out that he had skipped school was to come back at the usual time. Once his mana had regenerated enough, he used Escape I.D. (shorthand for Instant Dungeon), and headed home.

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