Chapter 59

I had to get my bearings first. Wrap my head around levels. I saw I was still level ten; they hadn’t taken that away from me. It was real, too. When I’d gone up against those assailants on the ship, I could’ve torn through them all without so much as breaking a sweat. They’d been level three.

But now there were Bronze levels. One to ten. I glanced at the levels. Right, so that meant I had an overall level, which presumably was persistent from epoch to epoch, then I had a specific level tied to the epoch. Level twelve would be level two Bronze. Presumably, if I were to enter the Iron Epoch, it would be something like level 25, Iron five.

At least it kept my stats persistent. It would have felt like a gut punch if all the progress, everything I’d achieved in the mud of the Stone Epoch was taken from me.

But I was no longer a hunter. No longer a beastmaster. It was time to pick a new class.

Who are you?

Three classes. Just like the Stone Epoch. I saw there was Incanter, the mage class. I had seen both Kaleo and Miggy working wonders with them. But the truth was I think they had something I didn’t. I just never gelled with the mage class. Another resource to manage. I thought vaguely of Miggy giving me a magical tutorial when I saw him next.

If you fought and lived long enough in the Stone Epoch, you could master all classes. Kaleo had done it. I would do it too one day, but right now, stick to what I knew.

The next class was the raider. That was quite interesting. It was the closest equivalent to the hunter class. Archery focus. Stealth. Hit and run. Its ability was like Greek Fire without actually needing any Greek Fire.

I thought of my time in the Stone Epoch. Being a hunter had been immensely useful, but against Ironclad, far less so. Stealth relied on perception checks. It was not and had never been a guarantee. It was good strategy, that was undeniable, and every crit had been a shot of dopamine right into my artery.

But when I finally faced him again, somewhere in the Bronze Epoch, I knew. It would be a straight-up brawl. That left the final class. Even the name was cool. Charioteer.

[Charioteer – The finest soldiers of the Bronze Age. These soldiers are trained from childhood with sword and spear, but also proficiency with bow, necessary to fire from their chariots. The deadliest of the age, they are warriors without peer.]

[STR – +3] [CON – +3]

[Daze Strike – You strike with the pommel of your weapon, doing guaranteed damage and dazing your opponent for five seconds.]

[Fortification – Doubles AC for ten seconds, but reduces damage by half. Must have a shield equipped.]

[Proficiencies – Sword, Shield, Spear, Bow, Chariot.]

Charioteer. These weren’t brutish barbarians. They were the knights of the Bronze Epoch, and they seemed to be proficient in every single weapon known to man in the Bronze Epoch.

I picked the class and felt the light overtake me. Two more levels remaining took me to level thirteen, or Bronze three. I decided to just think of it in terms of Bronze levels from now on. It would get too confusing otherwise. I was glad to see my perks carried over from the Stone Epoch at least, though the trade off was I wouldn’t be able to pick a new perk until Bronze five.

Still, I was happy. Next time I fought one of those fucking scorpions, I’d go for it man to man. Wouldn’t need a lighthouse.

The level up screen disappeared, and I was back on that rocking ship. It was making me feel slightly queasy. Someone had put a jug of water and some bread and cheese on a plate beside me.

I drank the water, but ignored the food, as I opened up my character sheet. My character portrait gave me a little nod of approval. I grinned. The little things.

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[Reaver – Level 13] [Charioteer – Bronze 3]

[HP – 1,400 (+300)] [Mana – 230 (+60)] [Stamina – 820 (+150)] [Regen – +1/sec]

[STR – 46 (+12)] [DEX – 42 (+3)] [CON – 28 (+6)] [CHA – 23 (+3)] [INT – 17 (+3)] [WIS – 23 (+3)]

[Armour Class – 0] [Evasion – 0]

[Alert – +5 Perception, cannot be ambushed] [Trapper – 10% passive trap detection] [Archer’s Instinct – Reaction shot at 3m, 150% point blank, no crit.] [Ironclad – +50% AC, armour degrades 50% slower.]

[Daze Strike – Guaranteed damage, dazes opponent for 5 seconds.] [Fortification – Doubles AC for 10 seconds, reduces damage by half. Requires shield.]

[Proficiencies – Sword, Shield, Spear, Bow, Chariot.]

[Unyielding I and II – +70 Stamina, +1 Stamina/sec.]

[Headstrong – +2 Willpower, -2 Morality.] [Slither – +1 Stealth, -1 Performance.]