After carefully considering his options, Cain decided to take a moment and check his system status.
[Name] Cain
[Level] 380
[Class] Watcher From Beyond
[Race] Ancient
[Awakened] Mythic
[Physique] Mythic [adapting]
[Stats] +510
[STR] 575
[DEX] 575
[CON] 575
[INT] 575
[HP] 92,000
[MP] 115,000
[Skill Points] 45
He had quite a few Status Points available, but more importantly, he now had 45 Skill Points. That was enough to grant him two more ranks of [Versatility].
[Class Skills] 45 ->5
[Blessed Being] A Watcher From Beyond may advance ranks without changing classes [Innate]
[Versatility] Choose 1 skill per level to use at your maximum current Awakened Rank 1/5 ->3/5
20 Points Per Level
[Dominion] Increases Maximum Casting Range to Maximum Sensory Range. Increase Area of Effect Spells Radius at the cost of 100 mana per meter. [Learned]
[Pet Sitter] Summon Up To 5 [Lesser Watchers] to Supervise Lesser Beings on your behalf. Watcher From Beyond may observe the world through the senses of the [Lesser Watchers] [Innate]
[Spirit Awakening] Advance Ranks to Awakened Spirit. Requires [Versatility]5/5, [Dominion], 1 Spirit Rank item.
80 Points
With two more ranks into [Versatility], Cain was now confident that his summoning abilities would be at least up to the task of defending himself, but more importantly, it could also be used to increase only one of his summoning skills, plus an ability that would benefit those around him. He could use a wide variety of buffs and debuffs now thanks to [Spell Crafting], but he really had no experience with them.
As with most skills learned in an academic setting, it would take practical use to integrate them into his fighting style to the point that they were not a hindrance or an afterthought. And he would need to get them to at least that point, or he might as well simply give up on getting Misha and his children back. The ones who took her literally wrote the book that he is studying from, how could he hope to challenge them if he didn't even learn what they were willing to teach?
While his body would eventually adapt high enough that he would be able to get all of his skills without any real issues, being able to use [Spirit Awakening] Needed him to acquire a Spirit Grade item.
A month ago, that might as well have been a bad joke. Even when he got the class Cain thought that he would have to search some ancient ruins or get lucky in the awakened area with a System Quest to get such a thing. But now that there are going to be Spirit Quality beasts over half a continent, the odds that Cain can acquire one have gone way up. He just needs to get his level up and hone his combat skills.
[System, now that the Dungeons are gone, will items begin to drop in the wild?] Cain asks hopefully.
[Mythic Grade and higher opponents have always had a chance to form a treasure on death.] The notice comes back, making Cain feel like he missed something incredibly obvious.
Of course, they must have dropped from monsters and beasts in the outside world. He had seen a few Mythic items during his stay on the Southern Continent, and there were no dungeons there at all.
Cain's planning is disrupted by Moana shooting water at his forehead to get his attention. It's actually pleasantly cool, and Cain realizes that he now has a reliable source of much better drinking water than the self-refilling magical bottles that never seem to actually get cold, despite their promises.
"Thanks for the shower, but why was it necessary?" Cain asked the small form of the transformed Leviathan.
"One, because you needed it. Two because there is a new notification on the globe." The Leviathan in the form of a miniature mermaid informed him in a smug voice, pointing to a spot on the Western Continent.
[Protective Barrier Breached. Interplanetary activity detected.]
That's not a good sign at all. This planet has more than enough of its own troubles without outside interference, so the news that they had invaders from another world was the last thing Cain needed to hear. But then it occurred to him that it might be the other way around. Perhaps the Frost Giants had opened a portal that led off-planet? A few Frost Giants leaving was not nearly as terrible of news as an invading alien army, or any of the other scenarios that Cain's mind had conjured up in the seconds since he read the notification.
Unfortunately for him, the Ley Line Device only showed that the energy pattern of the lines had detected a dimensional portal, the device didn't provide any sort of surveillance capability that would let him actually know what was going on.
The assumption seemed to be that whoever was watching this device would send someone there, likely via teleportation, to go investigate. But to teleport you needed to know where you were going, and be in range. Cain met neither of the conditions with his current knowledge and power.
[Send me an alert if any more interplanetary activity is detected.] Cain instructed the device before returning to his thoughts.
According to his Watchers, things were slowly starting to stabilize on the Central Continent, as well as at Port Nefheim, though the Guild messages about the success of the dinosaur cavalry were at least a little concerning. Cain had forgotten just how serious Neffie was about her obsession.
There wasn't much more to learn from the control room right now, so Cain headed back out into the Ancient city to see how the refugees were adapting to their new home.
He didn't see any fighting, or conflict about residences, despite the fact that they had filled nearly a fifth of the number already. The population was almost all Beastkin, though he did see a few dwarves who must have been living in the valleys with them, as well as a suspicious number of Bunnies.
Every time one passed him, he took a moment to pat their head, enjoying the soft ears. The actions made his companions laugh, recalling what they had learned about the practice of patting Bunnies for luck being entirely his fault to begin with, but these ones didn't seem to mind as much as the young acolytes at the temple. Or perhaps they simply didn't dare to say anything against him.
"Is there anything that we need here in the city?" Cain asks one elderly beast kin who seems to be in charge of making sure things run smoothly.
"Other than food and clothes? Not much. But the city doesn't have any farms active, so there isn't much we can do until I track down some Druids and get them to tend to the gardens." The older woman informs him, her round ears flicking with annoyance at the duties that have been pawned off on her.
"We sent out hunting parties into the surrounding valley. There are no dungeons nearby, so it is pretty safe, and the leader said that they intend to bring back as much food as they can find. The valley itself has quite a variety of edible plants." A second elderly beastkin woman adds, walking over to the strange grouping of species.
"The pilgrimages used to bury the seeds from their meals as an offering to the mountain, so there are all sorts of fruit trees nearby. The fruit draws animals, and over time, it just spread all through the area." She continued, her tone indicating that she is summarizing a story she has told many times before, part of their local lore and history.
Cain nodded to indicate that he had understood her story before deciding to give them a warning about what is to come. "In that case, they should be fine. I will give this warning now though, over the next months and years, the monsters of the Central Continent will progress. The Legendary among them will reach level 400, while the Epic bosses that escaped the Dungeons will reach level 300 and establish their own territories. I know many will be killed by the people soon, but you should be warned that simply staying as you are won't be safe forever unless you intend to hide inside the city forever."
The new information wasn't a shock to the two elders. The seers of the Bear Kin had already predicted something similar, so they only nodded before watching Cain walk away to inspect more of the city.
