Rough Draft Tunnel Rat Chapter 90 (Patreon)

The mines beneath Shadowport branched out for miles, intersecting at times with natural caves and vertical crevasses. The route that Milo normally took to travel downwards to Harry's basement area connected with many small dead ends and cracks in the rocks. Milo had explored some, mostly by getting lost. He was climbing upwards in one he'd found earlier. It intersected a small cave after he travelled fifty feet upwards. It was just what he needed right now: close to the city, but where no one would find him.

He needed time to think and make decisions.

In the small cave he set up his camp. A small tarp and two sticks counted as a tent. He lit a campfire made from a bit of coal and scrap wood, then recovered his Ring of the Swiss Army from his Smugglers Stash. He also laid out the Bone Runed Cowl and Shadowblight. The ring still worked fine, but the other two items seemed dormant. He might be partially fixed, but he wasn't a Bonemancer yet. With his meagre camp constructed, he was able to summon his watch lizard. Georgie was happy to see him after such a long time. He demanded some of Milo's attention and a treat before he worked his way around the cave, catching all the millipedes, spiders, and other small bugs with his long tongue.

Milo watched the mighty hunter clean up the camp while he put out his fondue pot and melted some slices of cheese into it. His belly was telling him to just put ALL the cheese into it now. It was a struggle, but he ignored it. After the cheese was melted, he broke up a loaf of stale bread and dipped pieces into it with his knife. It was a slower process, but enjoyable. It made the little bit of cheese last longer.

Then it was time to get to work. He began by organizing the messages from the system. Some of them seemed so old now. So much had happened in such a short period of time.

Reminder: You still have 47 Core Skill Points and 12,500   Experience to allocate to skills. An equal amount will be allocated to   corresponding stats. You must spend these before moving to Tier 2

He remembered thinking he had plenty of time to talk with Two-Screws and Harry about his options. Then a World Boss and Slaver Mage had interfered. He wished he had those talks. Too many secrets had to be kept now. Any discussion with them would be difficult with so many gaps in his story.

You have created a new spell! By combining your knowledge   of the Bone Spike Spell, Rune of Velocity, and Manipulate Bones, you have   created the spell: Harpoon of the Winds. Material components were 70%   of your own bones, and you have fractured your spell casting ability.
 You have gained 5 CSP and a quest to repair your soul.

Interesting that it was an actual spell. The casting cost was a little high though. Or was that the cost to create the spell? If he chose a Tier 2 class with Bonecasting, would he still know the spell?

In a stunning upset, a rag-tag group of heroes led by a   History Confused Healer, An Ogre looking for a large snack, and a Mad   Engineer testing out his latest monster trap. Anyone who had anything to do   with this insanity receives 1000 experience that may be spent on any skill,   and 10 Core Skill Points. More rewards will be forth coming if you ever   manage to actual kill it...

More points to spend, and probably not the last.

You did stuff I don't know about?!   Where are these rewards coming from? How am I supposed to run things when I   have sneaky, thieving rat-kin doing stuff where I can't see? This isn't   accept...Oh...Oh dear...my apologies. Sigh....yes Ma'am

YOU   DID STUFF-THAT'S SO AWESOME!

-Figured out things that are   secret and no one will tell me about!
 You have earned 10 Core Skill Points.

 -Supposedly rescued over 100 sentient creatures from slavery. All I see is a   poorly parked airship...
 You have completed the Adventurers Guild Quest: Slavery in Shadowport
 You have earned 50 Gold Pieces, 1000 experience, and 5 Core Skill Points.

 -Outwitted and arranged the death of Philistron the Benevolent Sage  and his cute little pet. The orphans will be so disappointed this year, who   will take them to the circus?
 You have earned 2000 experience and 10 Core Skill Points.

And I'm going to encourage one of   those orphans to train hard for 20 years, dress up in a silly costume, and   bring you to justice!

You have completed the quest: Squint needs an   Airship

 You receive 500 quest experience that may be spent on any skill.

Uthneragrubban has fallen, and yours was the hand that   dealt the killing blow!

The first of the World Bosses,   somehow awoken before her time, has been cast down. The others retreat to the   underworlds from which they came, to better hone their plans and beef up   their minions.

For your part in this battle and it striking the final blow, you receive   the following:
-25 Core Skill Points
-2000 Boss Experience that may be used for any skill.
-A Crystalline, soul-bound, Tier 4 weapon of your choice.
-Another item from the Loot Chest that has appeared where Uthneragrubban   died.

Adding up all the experience and csp, old and newly earned, Milo calculated he had 18000 experience to add to skills, and 102 Core Skill Points. He needed to go spend it, and it seemed that the system agreed and was annoyed with him. He didn't care. It wasn't his fault he had to fight a World Boss and then got trapped. He was curious about the way the system reacted. Was it one of the old AI? Or part of the Engine?

Welcome to Tier 2...oh, wait, it's   you again? How did I forget about you?! I have to redo everything! How   inconsiderate! I gave you some very nice options which you totally ignored   and kept adventuring.

 -You have accumulated enough experience and Core Skills to advance to Tier 2.   Can we please do it this time? You are way over due for an upgrade! In fact,   you are far, far over the limit! You may not earn additional experience or   Core Skill Points until Tier 2

 -New-NEW! Classes are available to you. Each class will give new skills,   bonuses to statistics, new core skills, and special perks. Choose wisely.

 -Skills keep the same experience total and may advance to Level 10.

 -Experience Totals and ranks for statistics are reset to 0. Don't Panic! You   keep all advances from Tier 1 and may build upon them in Tier 2.

 -New Core Skills will be available to you depending on your class. Core   Skills from Tier 1 may gain additional ranks to purchase. Note that costs for   Tier 1 Core Skills will increase in Tier 2.

 -You must allocate all CSP and EP earned before advancing to Tier 2.

 -Attaining a value of 10 in any two stats while in Tier 1 will give you a   permanent perk. (Note that class bonuses from Tier 2 do not count for   this.) PENDING DISCUSSION WITH THE POWERS THAT BE...how did you do this?

Bonecaster (Rare Class: +3 INT, +3   WIS, +400 mana)
 Continue the path of the Bonecaster, learning new spells and ways to control   bone. Limited to system approved spells only!
 Learn to animate skeletons, create animated siege weapons, and resetting   traps. Accomplish new miracles of magic that the ancients could only dream   of!
 You will retain access to your Arcane Library

Bone-Runed Scout (Unique Class: +4 PER, +4 INT, +4 TOU +2 Free points.
 Gain the Skill: Ancient Rune Lore
 Gain the Skill: Spell Crafting
 Evolve your scout class to be something more. Delve deeper into the earth and   seek out its secrets. You have discovered the ancient creatures that vied   with the Eels for dominion of the world when it was young and unformed. More,   you have gained the favor of three such creatures. Bonemancy is but a pale   shadow of what you could do as a master of the ancient runes used by these   creatures. Focus in on Runic lore, Rune carving, Spell   Construction, finding more of these creatures or their runes, and enhancing   your own form.
 You will retain your access to your Arcane Library.
 You will retain all known spells.

Pudding Smuggler (Unique and Horrifying class: +10 CON, +1000 Health)
 Become one with the pudding and give up your bones! Soon you won't remember   what you even used to look like! Go anywhere, absorb people you don't like.
 Gain: Shape changing and Disguise
 Gain: Massive regeneration,
 Gain: Resistance to physical attacks, immunity to acid, acidic touch, growth   from mass absorption.

Apprentice Monster Hunter (Rare Class: +3 STR, +5 CON
 Join Captain Pike as his apprentice! Learn the tracking, hunting and killing   skills of the Monster Hunter.
 Gain special recipes to cook and eat any creature.
 You will retain some of your known spells.

Cheese Fiend (Very Rare Class: +5 CON, +5 STR, +500 Health, -3 INT)
 Your cheese addiction has grown until it is all consuming. You live for the   cheese and will destroy anyone that gets in your way. Become the head of your   village and put them to work creating your favorite food! Protect them from   anyone that threatens them, or your cheese!
 Gain: Increased Benefits for Cheese Addiction
 Gain: Crippling Withdrawal Symptoms
 Gain: Bonus Anger Issues
 You will not even remember what a spell is.

Kulag Chieftain (Unique Class: +5 INT, +5 DEX, +5 AGI)
 Join the Kulags as Squint's second in command. Stage daring airship raids   against slavers and people who look like slavers. Gain: The respect of   everyone in Shadowport that knows which way the wind blows.
 Gain: Increased favor of anyone that hates slavers and wealthy merchants.
 You will retain some of your known spells.

Experimental Senior Engineer (Rare Class: +3 TOU, +3 CON, +3 INT
 Gain: Skill: Invention
 Gain: Skill: MacGyver
 Gain: Perk: 'This is fine.'
 Sometimes you're a 'Genius'. Sometimes you have to explain to the mob why   everything is on fire. Accidents happen and you can't build the future   without breaking a few skulls! This skill is perfect for the bored engineer   that needs to know what happens when you turn the knob to 11.
 You will retain some of your known spells.

Sharp Tail in the Dark (Common   Class: +2 corruption, +3 dexterity, +3 agility, +2 perception.
 You are the un-seen hunter. The dark alleys and lonely rooftops are your   home. No one is safe from your claws and blade once you have taken a contract   on their life. Whether you work freelance or for a powerful Boss, you are   feared and respected by any that know you exist. Emphasis on combat, stealth,   and removing people who become problems.
 You will retain some of your known spells.

Some of the classes offered were new, and some were quite strange. He crossed Cheese Fiend and Pudding Smuggler off of his list immediately. Sharp Tail in the Dark seemed to be some kind of assassin. He really didn't want to kill people for money, or work for someone else. It got removed as well.

Kulag Chieftain would tie him to Shadowport and Squint. Neither was what he wanted. Apprentice Monster Hunter was better, but he suspected he'd have to spend a lot of time on a boat with nothing but water and sky all around. Just the thought bothered him.

That left Bonecaster, Rune Boned Scout, and Experimental Senior Engineer. He was very tempted by Experimental Engineer. He had made a lot of friends and liked working with the dwarves on their machines. But was working on machinery in the real world and in game world what he wanted? He knew it wasn't. There were secrets down deep in the earth, maybe even the Engine, and he wanted to go places and find things. He could always spend time with his friends, no matter what class he took.

The left Bonecaster and Rune boned Scout. Both would let him keep access to the Arcane Library. Both would let him cast spells.
That seemed to be part of the difference. Bonemancer would let him work with normal spells, and Rune boned Scout would experiment with the old runes. One offered a large increase in mana, the other gave him more tools for exploring.

He thought about the difference between the Velocity Rune and the Speed Rune. Cichol had told him that the rune he had learned was much more powerful. That had proved true when he created his own spell to enhance the captain’s harpoon. It stood to reason that the other ancient runes were also more powerful, but maybe harder to work with?

But if he worked hard enough, he might be able to learn magic just as powerful as Bonemancy, and have better skills for exploring. He crossed off bonecasting and circled Rune Boned scout. That settled, he took a nap. Then he'd see how much he could buy with 180000 experience.