The ground rumbled as the mountainous beast rushed in their direction. Ta’Ku wouldn’t be able to move out of the way in time, so Noah did the only reasonable action. He sprinted toward the elephant, brandishing his hammer wildly to catch its attention. They didn’t exactly collide as Noah jumped to the side at the last moment, narrowly missing its tusks. He did however land a hit on its back leg as it passed, successfully getting its attention.


    “I’ll distract it! Get your hits in from behind!” Noah yelled across the elephant. Ta’Ku frowned. Who is he talking to? He can’t mean me, can he? Ta’Ku saw a burst of flame and caught the smell of burnt hair.


    “Hurry up! Another five levels will do your constitution good!” Came the coughing voice of the crazy human. He climbed to his feet but fell as his left knee gave way. This is so dumb. He thought as he crawled toward the beast''s earth-shaking feet.


    Noah saw Ta’Ku and grinned, he was as bold as a lion! He wondered if he would do the same in Ta’Ku’s situation. Noah’s fur dress was singed from the last bout of flame but he had learned that it came from its trunk. When it raised its flamethrower again, Noah whacked it with his hammer causing the elephant to trumpet in surprise, it glared down at Noah and bared its teeth confirming their sharpness. The System strikes again! Noah couldn’t help but find it funny that it was teeth that got him, not the flame or coloring, no it was always the teeth.


    It was at that moment that Ta’Ku managed to hit the creature''s calf, opting for the pointed end of his hammer. Its leg buckled and the elephant teetered from the sudden loss of balance. Ta’Ku scrambled away, and Noah made use of his distraction by striking the beast''s front right knee. This seemed to be enough to drive the mammoth to the ground and Noah backpedaled to avoid being crushed. The animal had been too hard to seriously injure with its height, but now it was exposed. Both Noah and Ta’Ku rushed toward the beast, aiming their blows at vital areas. Noah guessed that the elephant had invested points in one of the magic stats for its fireball because it didn’t take long to get the expected notification.


    [500 XP Gained.]


    Noah grinned and went over to Ta’ku. The last two beasts were fighting each other so they had some time before the next fight. Ta’ku was reeling from his latest level boost and Noah gave him a thumbs up when he opened his eyes.


    “Just wait until you hit 100 in it, you will feel like a new orc!” Noah laughed.


    “One more level will do it!” Ta’Ku replied, eager for the experience.


    “Great job getting those attacks in by the way, I wasn’t sure if you would manage it!” Noah complimented. Ta’Ku frowned. But you told me to do it. He scratched his head.


    “I wasn’t sure if I would make it either!” He agreed. They both laughed, each for his own reason.


    “Looks like we’re up!” Noah said, nodding in the direction of an ambling beast. Ta’ku climbed to his good foot and rested his weight on his hammer. They watched the monster as it sniffed the air and caught their scent. It howled as it turned towards them, looking like a car as it made its way over. Noah picked up his hammer and got into a ready stance.


    “It looks tired, let’s take this one head on!” He yelled. Ta’Ku sighed and considered his options. He chose to remain standing and would get at least one good swing at the beast before falling over.


    The wolf approached with a limping run, its fur matted and red in patches throughout its body. Nevertheless, it bared its teeth and growled as it neared, lunging toward Noah. He introduced the wolf to his hammer, in an intimate face-to-face encounter. The beast whined in greeting and was momentarily knocked to the ground. Ta’Ku took the opportunity and hopped into striking distance, throwing his whole weight into an overhead blow, sending the spike of his hammer through its skull. The creature went still and they both sighed as their battle came to an end.


    [500 XP Gained.]


    Ta’Ku rolled onto his back as his heartbeat thundered in his ears. I survived. He wondered if he was the first orc to go through such an ordeal. He leveled again, bringing his constitution to 117. His body lit up as if it was being reforged anew, sending waves of intense but pleasant heat through his bones. He felt accomplished but he had also never been so exhausted. I am a Dan’Kar. He thought as he drifted to sleep. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Noah sat beside his sleeping friend. It was amazing how a battle could connect people, first Ro’Kar and now Ta’Ku. He breathed contentedly as he pulled up his status screen and leveled. For some reason the number stopped at 50, not letting him progress any further. His entire body ceased up, and what was typically a pleasant experience felt more like a nightmare as his bones creaked and his muscles stretched. His primary stats must have passed a hundred, something that he would avoid doing simultaneously in the future.


    [Level 43 > level 50.]


    [Journeyman Path Choices Available.]


    Warrior


    Mage


    Healer


    Noah blinked. Already? The apprentice path had gone quickly and now he was making another life-defining decision. Thankfully though, this one was easy. He selected ‘Warrior’.


    [Congratulations, you have taken the next step on your Path. Non-warrior activities will no longer grant XP.]


    [Primary stats: Strength, Dexterity.]


    [Journeyman path grants +4 primary stats per level. +2* free stats per level.]


    Noah grinned and pulled up his status.


    Status


    Name: Noah Denter


    Race: Human


    Grade: F


    Domain: Self


    Caste: Iron


    Gate: 1


    Path: Journeyman


    Level: 50


    Strength: 110


    Dexterity:110


    Constitution: 110


    Intelligence:11


    Wisdom: 13


    Willpower: 14


    XP: 1155/1000


    Essence: 0


    Stat points available: 21


    Shoot. Noah’s first thought was that now his primary stats would outgrow his constitution, which had quickly become his favorite. To rectify this he committed to the strict distribution of points to constitution from this point forward. He also noticed that it now took 1000 XP to level, following the same pattern as novice to apprentice. Not seeing any reason to wait, he leveled to 51 and put all 24 free points into their proper place. He had a feeling that journeyman would be a much longer path, and he supposed it made sense. This was the path that would really start to define a person’s combat style, separating the different magic users from the physical fighters in a more tangible way. Perhaps it was time to focus on other aspects of his development. He had one piece of his caste upgrade in place and he didn’t want to neglect the other parts. This brought an interesting thought to his mind. He brought up the global rankings.


    [Global Ranking System online.]


    <ul>


    <li>Dariss Ashfield-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 91</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Malentar Stoneskin-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 80</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Recter Jandon-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 74</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Do’Fon Anzinar-Orc: Iron, Lvl 71</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Ma’tan Anzinar-Orc: Iron, Lvl 69</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Darten Yellowfang-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 65</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Fastion Briner-Elf: Iron, Lvl 63</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Syton Talir-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 62</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Flamir Axehead-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 59</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>En’Do Forsten-Orc: Iron, Lvl 57 </li>


    </ul>


    Noah saw what he was looking for. They were all Iron. Given how many levels Ta’Ku had gained in a day, he highly doubted that these were all of the highest-level people in the world. Perhaps there were even humans that had higher levels, but lacked the fundamental piece that separated these 10. To the System, caste was the foremost measurement of power. He wondered how common it was in the multiverse for people to only level their path but not their grade or gates. Were there people who only had gates but no levels? As he mused he couldn’t help but notice that he closed the gap and was now only seven levels from the leaderboard. He needed to get on it as soon as possible. Humanity had to know that they could rise to the top.


    Noah didn’t want to wake his companion so he dug through his pack for the fire-starting kit and started turning the spindle. Within a half-hour, he had a fire, and he used a knife to clean a large slab of meat from the elephant. He roasted it using his knives as a spit and after some time he had a hot meal ready to eat.


    “Ta’Ku,” Noah said, nudging his shoulder. Ta’Ku jumped, reaching for a weapon. Instead, he saw Noah waving two massive hunks of meat, skewered on his knives.


    “Dinner!” Noah said, handing one to him.  Ta’Ku took it, the aroma bringing tears to his eyes. He tore into it with vigor, certain that it was the best meal that he had ever eaten.


    “This is amazing!” He said through a stuffed mouth. Noah nodded emphatically.


    “No kidding, I was starving!” Noah replied. Ta’Ku thought that was interesting and wondered how often Noah went long stretches without food. He decided that he would enjoy it while he had it. Before long the sun set and they spent the night in the open air. When he had asked Noah about finding shelter, his response had been that he didn’t want to miss the chance at XP if more beasts showed up. It was with that thought that he lay down to sleep.