by Sean Oswald
Dave wanted to say that wasn’t good enough, but he looked over at Jaselm who nodded. So the minotaur was telling the truth.
Emily said, “I cannot own you. Slavery is just about the greatest crime that I can imagine, but I will offer you a place in what we are building. Our land will not just be a land for elves, nor will it only be a land for humans. Already you can see a half-orc and a goblin here. Living and working alongside us. Why not a minotaur? If you truly want to dedicate your life to me then consider instead that your life would be better dedicated to building a better place. If you can’t go home, then make a new home.”
The minotaur said, “That is not how the kodikas works.”
“Well it is how we work. Take it or leave it, and by leave it, I mean leave our lands.” Dave looked on as Emily delivered her terms to Rak’kar. He was simply glad that her ire was directed at someone else.
“Very well, idioktitis zois, I will dedicate myself to building up your land. I swear upon my honor.”
Dave put his hand on Emily’s arm to keep her from an outburst. A look passed between them, and she managed to contain herself but only barely. She turned towards one of the nearby druids, “Do whatever you need to do to free him and then find him a place to rest near my Meiyo Eihei.”
As she spoke, Dave gathered up the other leaders. He knew that there would be a fight over this and he wanted to head it off. The next few hours were an unpleasant conversation while the Nelsons convinced the others that they were making the right decision to allow Rak’kar to join them. None were truly convinced, but ultimately they all bowed to the will of their rulers.
By the time that they were done, the night was half over and Dave only had eight hours left to make a decision about his class. He and Emily left the group and walked back to the tent that had been set up for them. Once there, they briefly discussed Mira and decided that one of them was going to have to talk to her tomorrow about her actions in the snail fight. They couldn’t agree on who was going to have that talk, but Dave didn’t want to spend any more talking time about it. He needed to discuss the decision about his class some more, but Emily fell asleep. He couldn’t even be mad after what they had been through in the last few hours and how the time dilation in the dungeon had thrown them off.
Still, he couldn’t sleep. He sat there thinking about what he wanted. The fact was that he had been offered a rare class and that it was the only class he had been offered. Both Emily and Mira had gotten classes before him. Heck, even Sara had a class and an epic one at that. While from Mira’s experience, he knew that it was possible to be offered more than one class, but there was also no guarantee that Dave would get a chance at another one.
Despite all of that, he couldn’t bring himself to click the yes. The bottom line was that Dave wanted to be a wizard. He had been a wizard in every game he had ever played. Back on earth, he remembered having actual dreams about magic. He weighed the pros and the cons. On the one hand, a melee class might seem more like a leader for Eris’ Rise, and it might in the short term give him a greater ability to protect his family. On the other hand, the Sword Binder was nowhere near as much of a tank class as he had initially expected and equally, now that they were in the role of nobles, he didn’t seem to need to tank very much. Jaselm or another knight always seemed to be around to do that.
In the end, what made the decision for him was a new thought, one which he had chased but never really grasped. Truthfully, his grasp on it now was probably fleeting. The idea that his happiness and his family’s were not mutually exclusive. More than that even, the realization that his happiness would make him a better husband and father. His mind tried to rabbit hole down to extremes where he converted into a selfish narcissist, but he put the brakes on that train of thought and chose to take control of his destiny.
Dave opened the class quest notification and looked at the Yes or No portion. The little timer next to it was down to six hours now. He could just wait and then it would run out, but no, that wouldn’t be the same. That would be letting it happen to him. No, he wanted to make this decision. So mentally he reached out, with just the briefest of pauses he chose no and mentally celebrated that he had the boldness to make such a choice. Of course no trumpets or fireworks went off congratulating him on his boldness. Instead, he got a new notification box:
Are you sure you wish to decline the rare class Sword Binder? Once this option is selected it cannot be undone and the class will forever be barred to you.
Gah, Eloria or God or the gods or whoever really wanted to mess with him. He wouldn’t waiver now though. Yes he was certain, and so he answered accordingly.
You have chosen to reject the rare class Sword Binder. This is not a decision without consequences. Rare classes are fitted to those individuals who best match the aptitudes of those classes and are offered to only 1 in 1000.
Dave stopped part way through reading the notification. All he could think was “Crap, what have I done.”
As a result, you will never be offered another rare class.
“Crap and double crap.”
As a result you have met the initial requirement for all epic classes. This is not a guarantee that you will be offered an epic class. Epic classes usually involve great conflict and will often have burdens as great as their rewards.
Dave wasn’t sure how to feel about that part of it. He certainly understood what the warning meant though. Sara’s class was an epic class and it had the potential for great power, but it also came with the burden of trying to introduce monsters into society. If it were not for who her parents were, Krinnk probably would have been killed and who knows what that would have done to Sara. Death Knight was also an epic class which he had been offered, but it seemed like more of a curse than a blessing.
You have met the basic eligibility requirements to pursue certain base classes. Do you wish to review the requirements for any of the following:
Warrior
Brawler
Shaper
Diviner
Dave didn’t know what he wanted to be other than a wizard, but he also knew that he didn’t want to be any of the basic classes if he could help it, so he didn’t even review any of those classes. He determined instead to set out on his new path and spend the stat and character points he had obtained on his way to Tier 3. Checking his character sheet he had fifteen unspent stat points and one hundred and two character points. The growth of character points seemed to remain steady, one for every twenty XP, but he had received nine stat points for level twenty alone. It was interesting to Dave that in first tier he had gained two points per level and then triple that amount when he broke into tier two. Then when progressing through the teen levels he would gain three stat points per level only to have that reward tripled when he entered tier three.
Before assigning stat points though he wanted to see if he got a boost to a single stat like when he had become a tier 2 character and gotten to add twenty percent to his Strength. As he scrolled through his options though he learned that the bonus for becoming Tier 3 was that he would gain a bonus skill unique to his class which would start at level twenty-one. No class was definitely going to be an issue if it cost him access to various benefits like that. Well, no use crying over it now. He had points to spend.
Since he wanted to aim for being a wizard, he ruled out any more points into Strength, Dexterity, or Agility. He decided against Luck at this time because it was too nebulous. That left Intelligence for the mana pool and spell power, Wisdom for the mana regeneration and will power saves, Charisma to be better at his role of Baron, and of course the stats which would benefit anyone, Constitution for more health and durability and Endurance for ability to keep going and other perks.
Ultimately, he decided that if he was going away from the tank build that his Constitution was high enough now and he could add more to it later. So he put nine points into Intelligence and two into Charisma, Wisdom, and Endurance each. The rush as his mind expanded and his ability to
process jumped dramatically was every bit as addictive as the leaps in Strength or Constitution before. It wasn’t so much that he saw things more clearly as much as that he was able to break things down more easily.
The truly crazy thing was how much his ruler bonus affected him. When he left the dungeon and stepped back into the Murkwood zone, the 25% increase to all his stats had been palpable. No less now when he added these stat points. He reviewed his stats and set his character sheet to display them both as they are in the Murkwood and how they would be anywhere else.
STRENGTH: 36Murkwood: 45
DEXTERITY: 8Murkwood: 10
AGILITY: 16Murkwood: 20
CONSTITUTION: 25Murkwood: 36
ENDURANCE: 23Murkwood: 28
INTELLIGENCE: 29Murkwood: 36
WISDOM: 13Murkwood: 16
CHARISMA: 12Murkwood: 15
LUCK: 5Murkwood: 6
He admired the stats and compared them to his starting scores for a moment before moving on to spending his skill points. Before he could do that though, he had to address the increases he would receive from the ongoing effect of the Watcher’s Preparation. Unlike last time, he didn’t spend any time deciding what skill to eliminate. Before he had been able to upgrade six skills and now it was five skills. Assuming that pattern remains the same, then he would assume that if he made it to level 30 it would be four skills that he could upgrade.
Recently, he had learned that leveling up was not guaranteed and that actually, by making it to Tier 3, he was in a small minority of humans on the entire continent of Talos. He accepted these statements as truth even though it was disappointing to have to worry about how far he would be allowed to progress. From what he had learned previously, he had expected to be able to level up to 60. The one thing that didn’t make any sense to him was that Tier 3 skills were only called apprentice level. If that was a level beyond what most could achieve then wouldn’t it have been titled something more like adept. Instead that title was reserved for the 5th Tier.
Another inconsistency which bothered him was the way in which some skills such as crafting skills could be leveled with sufficient amounts of practice or more likely personal breakthroughs in technique or new discoveries. From what he had learned though, combat skills could only be advanced by absorbing the life force of slain beings in the form of XP. This didn’t mean that two people with a long blades skill level of 20 were both equal swordsmen, only that they both had the same potential. Practice was still required as Dave had learned.
This brought him around to wondering about the bonuses he got from the Watcher’s Preparation. If the trend continued, and if he were to hit even as high as 5th Tier, the bonus might make him very overpowered compared to native Elorians. For example, he had only put ten character points into Unarmed Combat, but his new skill level was fifty. If he didn’t spend another point and kept doubling it, then by Tier 5 it would be at one hundred and seventy. He wasn’t sure if native Elorians even had the potential to go beyond one hundred, and since most were stuck in the first two tiers, then most couldn’t raise a combat skill beyond twenty. Certainly something to think on more, but for now, he just basked in the bonus and looked at the results of his newly improved skills.
Unarmed Combat (50) - +250% to attack, +50% to damage, automatic second attack when exclusively using unarmed combat. You have reached Journeyman Level (Tier 4) in this skill. You now have the trait: Using their strength against them. You can now use martial arts techniques designed to redirect an opponent's force and potentially send them flying through the air. Throws can deliver up to four times basic unarmed combat damage.
Sense Motive: (20) +100% chance to detect motives. You have now reached the Initiate Level (Tier 2). You now may recognize patterns in the responses of individuals you observe multiple times. This will grant a bonus of 50% to determine their motives if used successfully.
Diplomacy: (80) +400% on all diplomacy related matters. You have reached Adept (Tier 5) level. You will now be recognized by all guilds, merchant houses, and royal courts of Tier 5 or less as an official negotiator. You may be appointed by any of the above types of organizations as an ambassador. Faction gains will be multiplied by 20% and losses reduced by 20% going forward.
Knowledge: Research- (101) +505% information obtained and speed of research. You have now reached Adept (Tier 5), Master (Tier 6), Grandmaster (Tier 7) levels. Your ability to research is now supernatural. It has transcended simple human thinking. You will have the perfect recall of everything you have previously learned and will be able to see connections where others cannot. You now have the potential to research the requirements of artifact level items, technologies, and spell forms. As you are the first person on Talos to achieve Tier 7 in any craft skill you will receive 1000 XP and one non-combat skill raised to the minimum Tier 6 ability for free. Further speed of research is quadrupled as basic foundational research becomes second nature to you.
Archery: (20) +100% to attack, +20% to damage. You have reached the Initiate (Tier 2) level. Your rate of fire has now increased by 30%.
Dave was blown away by the effects of the Research skill. In most games, artifacts were the highest level of gear except sometimes there would be a legendary or divine modifier to that for an even higher level. What he knew now though was that he would have the potential to eventually create items beyond even the impressive epic level items that they had seen on a limited basis.
The XP he gained from that was enough to push him well into level twenty-one and give him fifty more character points pushing him up to a total of one hundred and fifty-two. He didn’t dwell more than a second on the four stat points that he got from the level up and instead just quickly assigned them. He placed two into Intelligence and one each into Wisdom and Charisma.
For his bonus skill, he considered alchemy, blacksmithing, or runecrafting. All of those could be great for him to learn to make magical items. The thing was that he was not a lone fighter or even the tank who had to worry about taking individual hits. He was the leader of a community. One which he hoped to grow beyond what any of the natives had seen. So there was really only one logical choice. He applied for the selection and then looked at his new skill.
Engineering: (81) +405% to crafting and conceptual understanding for all related practices. You have skipped straight to the Master Level. You will be able to integrate different types of systems in previously unthought of ways including bio-mechanical, chemical, and technological systems.
His mind was tempted to go in a myriad of different directions as he thought about creating an electrical grid, running water, vehicles, and all sorts of other earth inventions for Eris’ Rise. Heck, he might even be able to create modern weapons to offset their inability to level up past the first couple of tiers. Of course, he would have to weigh the issues involved in that later. Being able to do something didn’t necessarily mean that he should do it.
Now, he wanted to focus on spending his character points. He honestly felt a bit like a child in a candy store, partially because he had so many points to spend but more so because he was going to spend them on the build he wanted instead of the build that he thought duty required of him. So where to begin? The choice was obvious. It was time for him to have more than just two different schools of magic. A brief moment of doubt crossed his mind, since he had already learned that he wasn’t able to use Essence Magic. Then turning his head and looking at his wife sleeping in their bed, he determined not to allow room for fear. He may be taking a different path but the power that he developed was still going to be used to keep his family safe. With that in mind, he first looked at Evocation Magic. Since he could take skills all the way up to forty now that he was Tier 3, his character points suddenly didn’t seem quite as numerous as he thought a minute ago. There was nothing to do about that, and he didn’t want to take half-way measures, so he immediately applied forty points into Evocation Magic.
Evocation Magic: This is the magic that all other magics wish they could be.
There is no subtly, no deceit. What you see is what you get. Raw unfettered power is what evocation magic is at its heart. It is about drawing forth the primal forces of Eloria and unleashing them upon your foes. Many magical snobs have stuck up their nose at the lack of finesse in a fireball. At least they did until they were turned to a crisp by that same fireball. Effect: Determines the highest tier of evocations spell available to you as well as increases the effectiveness of those spells by 5%/level. 1 spell of each tier 1st-3rd obtained.
Minor Force Stomp: Directed burst of force travels along the ground and target must resist or be knocked prone. Target takes 1-10 dmg + 1/level. Range: 30 feet. Cooldown: 20 seconds- 1 sec/level. Mana: 15. Tier 1
Lesser Brilliant Radiance: Burst of light erupts from caster’s body in all directions to a radius of 30’. Anyone failing to resist is blinded for 1 minute plus 1 tick/level. Targets within 5’ of caster experience double blindness duration and take radiant damage of 5-10+2/level. Undead, nightsworn creatures, or extra-planar evil creatures take double damage or regular damage if within 20’ of caster. Cast time: 1 second. Cooldown: 3 minutes -1 sec/level. Mana: 50. Tier 2
Thunder Arc: A bolt consisting of magical force,sonic and electrical energy shoots off of the caster’s hand after bringing his/her arm down in an arc beginning overhead. Somatic component is required.
If the target is a living being then it takes damage equal to 100-150+3/level. There is a 50% chance that the bolt will pass entirely through the target and deal 50% damage to any living being directly behind it and within range. Then there is a 25% chance that it will pass entirely through that target and deal 25% damage to any living being directly behind it and within range. Penetrates 50 points of damage resistance.