The crab disappeared beneath the waves and the crew began to celebrate. Everyone could be heard celebrating, so even started getting drunk. Old Ralph came up to Matt and slapped his back hard while laughing. "You did great, kid! I never would've thought of going fer the joint. I don't think me crew would've made it, if it weren't fer you. yer a natural born leader!" Ralph praised him and thanked him for saving his crew, Matt's mind, however, was in a different place altogether. He was currently asking Emma about what exactly a title was and what it did.
'I guess I never did explain what titles are. You didn't have any titles up until now, so the information wasn't very important.'
'I guess that makes sense, I was already overwhelmed because of how much information I was given.' Matt reasoned that it really wouldn't have done him any good to know what titles were back then.
'Alright kid, so titles are one of the many rewards the system can give you, except there's another way to receive titles other than just completing quests. You can receive titles whenever you do something that the system considers impressive. Just now for example, you were able to lead the fishermen to victory against an enemy that they would have no way of winning against otherwise.' Emma started to explain everything Matt needed to know about titles. 'Furthermore, the title you have active will give you and/or your teammates a boost. Every title does something different and even I don't know how many there are or the conditions for unlocking them. you can only have one title active at a time, but can change what your active title is whenever you want.'
'Ok, I understand, but what does "Combat Tactician" do exactly? the description is rather vague.'
'Well kid, just like the description says, you can see the gaps in your enemy's defense. The way it works is that while engaged in battle, if you focus on your opponent's movements and fighting style, you can find weak points and pinpoint opportunities to attack. This is especially helpful against enemies that have a strong defense or are hard to hit normally. The longer you analyze your enemy the more gaps you find. This title is also influenced by your wisdom, the higher your wisdom, the better you are at analyzing your enemies. '
'That's great, I can have it active at all times right? how do I activate it?' Matt asked, excited once again at the thought of getting stronger.
'it's very simple, you can either say "Activate Combat Tactician" and it will be selected as your active title, replacing your previous title if you already have one active. Or you can say "Titles" and a list of your current titles will appear. From there you can choose which title you want to activate. You only have one right now, so there's no point in doing it this way until you have multiple titles.' Emma explained.
'Ok, that makes sense.'
"Activate Combat Tactician"
| Combat Tactician title has been activated |
'I don't feel any different. Did it really work?'
'Use your brain kid, it's not gonna do anything if there's no enemy for you to analyze. Anyway, now that it's active, it'll show up on your Bio."
| Bio |
| Name: Matthew Arber |
| Race: Human |
| Age: 17 |
| Level: 9 (750/3645) |
| Class: Mage (Novice) |
| Path: None |
| Strength: 12 |
| Constitution: 12 |
| Intelligence: 15 |
| Wisdom: 11 |
| Dexterity: 11 |
| Charisma: 10 |
| Active Title: Combat Tactician |
| Skills: Intermediate Air Control Lv. 1, Basic Lightning Control Lv. 3, Intermediate Earth Control Lv. 2, Intermediate Fire Control Lv. 2, Basic Water Control, LV. 2, Magic Absorption Lv. 5 |
'Your intelligence is nearly double what it was when we started, and yet you still lack common sense sometimes. If you really want to try it out, you need to find a monster to fight, you should go to the forest near town and find something small and easy to kill, '
Matt agreed that the best course of action was to find a weak monster that he would have no trouble fighting so that he could focus entirely on using the title without worrying about being injured. The only problem was the fact that he was on a boat many miles away from the shore. He would have to wait until the fishermen were done for the day.
The Skipper once again stood on the upper deck and began to shout instructions to his crew.
"Alright men, as much as I'd like to stay out here and keep workin, The Salty Scale has taken quite a beating, and one-hand O'Malley needs to go to a professional healer. So let's turn this ship around, full speed back to shore!"
As old Ralph shouted instructions everyone got to work, pulling up nets, releasing the sails, and pulling up the anchor. in a matter of minutes the ship was moving in the direction of the shore. After 30 minutes, the ship was once again tied to the dock. Everyone was hard at work carrying the fish that they had managed to catch and bringing it to the market.
As Matt and his father were getting off the ship, Ralph stopped them and spoke to Matt. "Thank you once again Matthew, without yer help I don't know how many of my men would have made it back in one piece." For the first time that day, Ralph spoke without shouting or laughing, Matt could tell he was very serious.
"I'm glad I could help, I wish I would have had the power to attack it myself."
"Don't you worry about that, boy. You'll be a great man in the future, I can feel it. You just keep on working hard and nothing will be able to stand in yer way!" Ralph shouted happily, he was back to his usual demeanor. "You've got one hell of a kid, Zack, take good care of him."
And with that Matt and his father left the Docks and headed back to their farm on the outskirts of the town. As they were about to reach the farm, Matt turned to his father. "After everything that happened today I think I want to take a walk by myself for a while, I'll be back in about an hour."
"Alright, just don't go anywhere dangerous. Though even if you did, I doubt you could find yourself in a situation as dangerous as that crab attack earlier. be safe son, I'll see you when you get back."
And so, Matt started walking in the direction of the nearby forest. After 15 minutes or so, he was inside the forest but he chose to stay near the outskirts in order to avoid the more dangerous creatures. Soon enough Matt could see a winged snake gliding around the trees, a rat in it's mouth. As soon as it passed by Matt's field of vision, Emma spoke out. 'That's the perfect target, a winged snake isn't very strong, it's only advantage is its high speed. So long as you can see it coming and avoid it's bite, you'll be in no danger, and the title is especially effective against fast opponents. Get its attention quickly before it leaves."
Matt agreed that this was a good monster to test the title out with. He used his earth control to hit it with a rock to get its attention. He didn't use wind magic because he feared it would kill it outright and he didn't have enough experience to make the attack non-lethal.
As soon as the stone connected and the snake turned to look at Matt, something changed, as he focused on the snake it was as if he could every little minute movement it was making. The snake hissed and flew directly towards Matt at full speed, its mouth open, ready to bite. it was incredibly fast, but thanks to the title, Matt's reflexes were faster. He dodged effortlessly, and as the snake flew past his face, once again his vision changed, this time he could see the snake's white underbelly light up in red. Matt immediately knew that this was the snake's weak point. In that moment, Matt created a single earth spike which came out of the ground right underneath the snake, impaling it in an instant. The snake shrieked loudly before flopping down, it was dead and Matt's vision returned to normal.
| Winged Snake killed for the first time. 50xp |