“The ability assessment is complete. Here’s your card back.”
“Where do I find the information about my capabilities?”
“Take a look at the back of the card. I believe it was blank when you handed it to me, but it should now be filled in,” the priest said. “I should return to the service, so I’ll leave you to examine it at your leisure.”
“Right. Thanks. You’ve been a big help,” I said as Father Graham gave a small bow of his head.
After he left, I sat back down in my chair and flipped my adventurer’s card over to look at my abilities.
Chris
Class Affinity: farmer
HP: 10 (+6)
Strength: 5 (+8)
Vitality: 7 (+2)
MP: 1
Agility: 4
Unique Skills: poison immunity
Normal Skills: none
It wasn’t the most detailed breakdown, but it was useful to have a quantified record of my capabilities.
Almost all of my stats were in the single digits, and on the whole, they weren’t all that impressive. After defeating that orc and all those goblins so handily, I’d kind of expected my stats to be a little better than this... Based on the measuring stick the receptionist had given me, these were barely passable stats for a rookie.
I knew that the ability assessment wasn’t comprehensive, since there was nothing in my stats to reflect my sword-fighting capabilities, but I was satisfied with my current physical stats, at least.
A complicated mix of emotions whirled around inside of me. Part of me was disappointed, but another part of me felt glad to know that there was room to improve. As I reflected on this, my eyes kept returning to an aspect of my stats that struck me as unusual: the numbers accompanying the plus signs.
If my initial guess was correct, then the secondary set of numbers in the parentheses indicated stat boosts I couldn’t have possibly acquired on my own. Essentially, they were artificial boosts from potions, magical items...and maybe enhancements from undiscovered plants.
It was certainly a very appealing (and convenient) explanation. But if I ate more poisonous plants and saw even greater stat boosts, then my theory would be confirmed.
For now, though, my stats were right smack in between a rookie and a bronze rank—if I included the numbers next to the plus signs, that was. Also, the skill I had written on my card wasn’t poison resistance but poison immunity.
Just like Ralph had said, my skill was a level above poison resistance.
Maybe the old priest had given me the wrong information, or maybe there was some other reason for the mix-up, but either way, I wasn’t complaining.
I wanted to check out other people’s stats too, but the only other adventurers I knew were the two pickpockets. It would’ve been great if they could undertake an ability assessment too, but they’d only just become adventurers, so I doubted they could afford it. And, as curious as I was to know their stats, I wasn’t curious enough to pay for the privilege.
Happy just to have learned about my own capabilities, I figured it was probably about time to head back to the hotel for the night.
I needed to make sure I got an early night’s sleep, because first thing tomorrow morning, I’d be leaving Realzahd.