Chapter 7

Hunter Ellen

Ellen was already glad her other two selves were gone.

It wasn’t like she disliked them. How could she? They were agreeable and friendly, and had even let her take the tent and bedroll with her. Adventurer Ellen had taken the spear, leaving the long knife for exploring the forest, but that was fine. They had limited resources and couldn’t give everything to her.

Constant competition and figuring out who was doing what wore her down though. Ellen just wanted things simple again, and if she had to change tactics and be a little woodland gremlin then so be it. If she could differentiate herself from the other two enough, the adventuring party idea sounded like a good one.

She steadied herself with a hand on one branch and heaved herself over a tangle of roots. Her feet were starting to ache after over half a day of trudging on the slopes of the mountain and threading through the trees. They’d thinned out in the last hour, but it was still a rough hike. At least she had actual boots.

Ellen almost tripped as she stumbled forward, steadying herself with a grasp at one sapling before straightening. Up ahead the trees were definitely thinner, and she saw the vine-covered stone wall of a building not much farther than that.

The notification wasn’t a surprise. Ellen had already identified from last time what first time bonuses she could quickly and easily do, and she’d been getting stupidly minor ones all during the hunt for the ruins. She also wasn’t sure these ruins would qualify as ‘lost’ since she was told about them—or at least, previous Ellen was. She wasn’t going to say no to 450 experience though.

“So weird,” she grumbled. The idea of a ‘previous’ Ellen was still awkward, and she half felt she should be more worried about that fact. Yet… it wasn’t like she felt any different. A little wobbly in the memory, but she felt like herself. The other Ellens that were dead were kind of distant in her mind. She’d be more torn up about it if one of the two she’d just parted ways with turned up dead. Those felt more… real to her.

Ellen shook off the thoughts and eased into the clearing, taking a quick look around for random bears, wolves, or whatever. Once satisfied she wasn’t strolling into a predator’s jaws, she settled her back against a tree and pulled up her Status to do her Level up.

The options made her blink, then frown to herself. They weren’t bad options… just unexpected. When the ‘original’ Ellen had made her choice, neither Artisan nor Hunter had been available. When Ellen Two had picked her class, Hunter had been at the bottom of the list, indicating a lower compatibility. Now Hunter was all the way at the top… but Artisan had not been offered to either original Ellen nor Ellen Two. That was a new one, and it was strange that it had been offered to her now. All she’d done was put together a sub-par sandal.

It was generally accepted wisdom that the first Levels up to five were more meant to determine what was unlocked for class selection than to be useful. But normally, people progressed through those first Levels over the course of years while trying out different things. That was also the whole reason switching a Class was easier early on. If someone managed to unlock a new Tier 1 Class before Level 11, they could swing that way with little trouble.

At least, people generally assumed that was the reason. It wasn’t like they could ask the System, but over the ages that had been the basic conclusion. It just normally wasn’t possible for someone to jump from 0 to 6 in a single day.

Then again, a lot of the things she’d been getting ‘first time bonuses’ for didn’t give such a bonus during that period. That part was even more strange! None of them were very large but with so many coming all the time—at least in the first couple days—they added up quick.

Ellen shook her head and sighed. “Maybe we can convince Village Ellen to switch to Scholar and figure this out.” She doubted it, since she was pretty sure Village Ellen considered herself the ‘original’ Ellen and probably still had her sights set on being an adventurer. Not a bad dream, but Ellen wanted to be more pragmatic about their situation.

Brushing aside her thoughts, she selected the Hunter Class this time.

A little pout touched Ellen’s lips, but she sighed and relaxed. She’d hoped for a choice between Agility and Perception, but hadn’t actually decided yet. This way she wouldn’t agonize over it. This way was probably for the best. She hurried on to Perk choices, knowing that this time she wouldn’t be able to choose Tireless. Her new bonus to Perception pushed it to 9, though. She should have very different Perks available.