Kaius sat on the side of a hill, nestled in amongst the rows of myriad fungus that made up the extensive farms surrounding the underground city. After a few hours of walking, they''d noticed the gargantuan crystal suspended from the ceiling had begun to dim. An artificial ''night'' had quickly set on. It was beautiful. A full quarter of the mushrooms in the farms lighting up with soft inner light. A riot of greens, blues, purples, and oranges.

    Taking another bite of a strange grey mushroom that he had picked from the fields, Kaius looked out over the softly pulsing lightshow. A snort made him jump, and he turned over to find Porkchop twitching in his sleep. He smiled.

    Taking the first watch had been his idea. He still felt absolutely wired from receiving his first Honour. No way he was going to be able to sleep now.

    He''d expected some kind of benefit for being observed by the system, yet nothing so drastic. It made sense though. The system was already set up to reward feats. He knew it kept track of people''s triumphs, tailoring offered classes and evolutions to what someone had achieved. He just hadn''t quite expected that something so massive had been forgotten. The other Observed, those from the stories, must have gotten at least a few of them. Even if it was far harder to gain them after class selection, it was the only way to explain the feats attributed to them.

    He fell backwards with a soft thunk, staring at the dark stone far far above.

    They were a tangible goal, something to work towards while he grew his skills. The stats alone would provide him with a notable edge. While not much in the grand scheme of things, the cap at twenty for an unclassed was punishing. Every boost would let him push just that little bit harder, getting him closer to achieving the next Honour. If he got enough of them... They might be able to take on the Guardian. Without a class.

    What sort of Honour would that give?

    They''d need more though, both of them. At least another Honour. He just wasn''t sure what feats the system would need to see for them to get it. There had to be one for defeating more Champions in a group, and maybe higher versions of the one he already had. Ten was likely, if they didn''t get one by then, he doubted it existed. The problem was time. Even if they aimed for getting Porkchop three solo kills, and ten as a group, that was far more than the three he had seen in the city.

    It was entirely possible that they would class up before finding enough. Whatever method Delvers used to explore a biome in weeks, they didn''t have access to it. Even finding this city had taken months, and that was with this being an unusually open biome. They wouldn''t get so lucky with others.

    Kaius took a deep breath, setting out a long sigh. There had to be other feats that the system would reward. He would have expected a capping a complete set of legacy skills to be one, but surely it couldn''t? There had to be others out there with a full set somewhere, right? His father would have told him. He would have.

    "I suppose that I''ll find out one way or the other." He thought to himself.

    The only others that even remotely made sense to him would be Honours for reaching a certain layer of the Depths, and killing something a certain number of levels above him. Both of those had jumped to mind as something that might have happened to the heroes in the stories, if they ever existed. Unfortunately, they were inaccessible. He was stuck with a layer maximum of twenty. Even the strongest Champions would be capped at thirty, and only the Guardian would be higher than that.

    Considering he wanted the Honours to fight the Guardian in the first place...They wouldn''t be much help to him even if they did exist.

    He couldn''t just chase after them mindlessly. Even the ones he was half confident in acquiring in time would press them for time. That, or they would be an idiotic risk. Sure, he could see the system rewarding him for surviving an Affliction that was all but guaranteed to kill an unclassed. Even with Rapid Adaptation he had no intention of killing himself on the off chance it might give him some sort of benefit. Let alone the fact that he was unlikely to find something with that sort of power on this layer. Even if it did, it was likely to be a Champion, something that wouldn''t exactly sit pretty while he tried to fight off an infection.

    Kaius groaned, quickly quieting when Porkchop shifted in his sleep. He''d finally felt like he was ahead of his deadline. His skill growth had been explosive, and he was certain he would be able to merge and cap all of his legacy skills before his looming class selection.

    Then this had to land in his lap.

    Not that he was complaining. Nor had he exactly planned on taking it easy, the Depths didn''t do easy. It was just another mystery on an already teetering pile. He had so much to do, both now and when he escaped.

    "Bah, nothing I can do about it now."

    He reached into his pocket, pulling out the bronze stylus that was curiously moulded to his grip. He hadn''t had the chance to Identify it on their walk through the fields. Too absorbed in keeping watch for goblins and mulling over his Honour. It''d make for a good distraction, he thought as he pulled up its description.

    Jurryrigger''s Inscription Stylus:

    Uncommon - Tier I

    Most see the runic arts as something to be relegated to the sterility of the laboratory, or held contained in the illusionary spaces of the mind. Environmental conditions, perfect mediums, and tightly controlled mana density are useful, but they are not the core of the art. A true master knows that quick and dirty always has its place.

    Made from mystic bronze, this stylus is shaped to provide smooth control over the long process of runic inscription. Enchantments allow mana to be channelled through the artefact, allowing clean and stable lines with low mana resistance to be inscribed on a multitude of mundane and poorly prepared surfaces. Less effective with mana dense and alchemically treated materials. Low flow rate.

    Depths-wrought Artefact.

    Auxiliary Equipment (Inscription stylus)

    Mana Conduit I, Multi-purpose Inscriber I, Self Repair I

    Kaius bolted upright like he''d been smacked. His head snapped back and forth, looking for something to test the stylus with. His eyes settled on a woody fungus growing just a few steps away. They were fairly common in the fields, and would suit his purposes. He crawled over, cutting off one of the growths with his knife. It was a few fingers thick, and shaped like an odd lopsided bowl. Identify said it was edible, but he hadn''t had the guts to try it yet. What with it being as hard as a rock and all.

    He placed the slab of fungus in his lap, holding his stylus like an over large pen. Despite the strange size and hefty weight, its shaped grips felt comfortable in his hand. Moulding to its contours.

    Stats:

    Endurance - 30 + 8 (38)

    Vitality - 20 + 8 (28)

    Strength - 20 + 8 (28)

    Dexterity - 20 + 8 (28)

    Intelligence - 14 + 8 (22)

    Willpower: - 20 + 8 (28)

    Stat Points: 0

    Class Skills (0/10):

    N/a

    General Skills (10/10):

    Rapid Adaptation (Heroic) - 18

    Warforged (Unique) - 20

    Explorers Toolkit (Unusual) - 10 11

    Adamant Body (Unique) - 8 12

    Low Light Vision (Uncommon) - 20

    Mental Visualisation (Uncommon) - 20

    Sense Illusion (Rare) - 20

    Sense Mana (Rare) - 20

    Identify (Rare) - 0 16

    Eagle Eye (Rare) - 0 14

    Honours:

    Born for Slaughter

    Bound Artefacts:

    A Fathers Gift - Common Growth Longsword

    Growth Conditions-

    Gain a class (0/1)

    Acquire suitable materials (0/3)

    Forge a link (0/1)