William stared at the system analysis. He gulped at the sheer potential that had been provided to him just by surviving this entire situation with Zefor. Everything he gained was more than he could have imagined even though they were likely the worst things in the ancient beings inventory. The very bottom of the piles of treasures and awesomeness that collected the most dust. To him, they were worth a whole lot more.
He picked up the [Skill Shard]s, one in each hand and stared at the bright glow. They were not as amazing as the (A) ranked [Skill Shard] he had been tasked with analysing in the beginning, but they were still amazing to look at. A dull cold feel permeated into his palms, not uncomfortable but obvious. He laughed at his attempt at getting an (S) ranked one, of course he wanted something more impressive since the letter C meant barely passing in his mind, but this was still good.
Enough to build entire classes around and develop himself into a monster.
More so considering what Zefor had said before leaving back to his cell. (C) ranked [Skill Shard]s were likely enough to get him above level 5000 and become worthy enough for Zefor to take him seriously.
If this is unserious, I can’t wait until it is!
That number for a level was simply ridiculous, if he actually made it there.
It was so far in the future that he found it pointless to even make an attempt to dream or consider it a long term plan. His timescale and the red skinned ancient being’s were completely different.
William put them down and mentally pulled out the rest of his [Skill Shard]s, setting them on the table in three different lines. One for the two new ones, another for his [Sword and Shield Mastery], and the final one for all his (F-) ranked shards. Nice and organized. He had to now choose what other he wanted to combine with the two (C+) shards in combinations. There was no way he was about to use only one of them instead of both, more so that he understood that randomness played a part in the [Class] he ended up getting.
Having both gave him the best probability for something better and higher ranked.
That included the [Sword and Shield Mastery] shard as well.
It made his choices much simpler.
Alright. Two classes and keep the fifth one untouched just in case.
William did not want to end up with classes all below (C+) if the system so happened to stop him at five classes maximum. Everything seemed too organized to fall on a none five or ten type number after the whole experimenting he had done with Zefor. Everything was too orderly to be chaotic. He wanted something impressive for that fifth slot. An (A+) or (S) ranked class he could blast mountains and planets with.
Now was just the matter of choosing which other one he wanted to base his class around.
He already had a tank based class, even if it was pathetically weak and capped at level 500 compared to what he was about to get. It would be smarter to spread his wings a bit more and make an attempt at other types of classes for a greater chance at success. Maybe a dexterity or damage dealing based class that would cover the gaps in his skills and abilities. Survivability would likely take him further until he got that special class he could power level.
It was only a matter of time before he encountered an enemy that he could not defeat through conventional means.
Hence multiple varying class types would give him the best chance.
Dexterity it is, then.
William slotted the two (C+) shards and watched with bated breath as they settled into their spots, the system swirling and locking them into place. He let out a deep breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Murphy’s Law had bit him enough times for him to be mentally prepared for it at all turns and life changing moments. Thankfully, it hadn’t struck yet. He then slotted the other two [Skill Shard]s and watched the system compute what the hell was happening.
[Class]Unlocked!
YaKinov Venom Monarch Incarnation (C+)
Tips and Hints -
Certain Classes can only be harmed with ___.
They are immune to traditional abilities and attacks.
William made sure to ignore the tips and hints part of the notification. He had enough surprises and new information for the foreseeable future. Now was the time to thoroughly enjoy finally receiving a real [Class] with real power and a real ranking. No more suffering (F) ranked [Class]es. This was genuine strength he could take advantage of even if it was a venom class that gave no hints to its abilities.
He doubted that the undead would be harmed by it, but he didn’t need it to for now. He could take advantage of the massive boost in unallocated stats he would get every level up.
Probably more than his two (F) ranked [Class]es combined.
Can’t really deny how strange a class this is, as awesome as it sounds.
He could imagine how deadly it would be once he got out of the areas full of the Corrupted Dead and into places with living things. Or he could be misinterpreting the whole class.
William waited until the system spat out the [Skill Shard]s onto the table before he swiped the notification away and the urge to put some runes into it to level it up. He needed to take things step by step. Unlock his fourth class then worry about using up runes after that. One of the shards dropped to the ground. He got off his seat and picked it up while he was mentally preoccupied on what the next class should use.
Hardiness and endurance didn’t really inspire damage dealing in his mind.
Strength had the risk of giving him something too closely related to his [Knight Guardian Novice] class. While having a tank type that was at (C+) was all good and dandy, he preferred something with a bit more range to prevent having to get so close to the Corrupted Undead to attract their aggro. A rogue or mage would be optimal, even a heavily melee based one that had the option to use range abilities like a magical swordsman.
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Just not a tank which eliminated everything except for [Pathetic Strength Boost].
William slotted the original three [Skill Shard]s back into place and then [Pathetic Strength Boost] at the end. The system flared red and blared like a siren similar to the first time he had unlocked a second [Class]. There must have been some wait time between getting new ones that made the system react this way. It hadn’t done that with his shiny [YaKinov Venom Monarch Incarnation] [Class].
The system pinged him a moment later when they settled into place.
[Class]Unlocked!
Ruined Lightning Inquisitor (C+)
Now that sounds impressive and useful.
Being able to sling lightning around would be a massive boon, especially if he planned to continue his rune farming at the stairwell. Explosive power that could knock back was perfect. Get them into directional positioning and then fire away, knocking them off the ledge and to their dooms. He didn’t need to get close enough that they could kill him with a strike.
William pulled up his status page.
Status User William (1oPg72j9) -
[Class] - [Ruined Lightning Inquisitor (C+)]
Level - 0 [0/99]
Runes Held - 9740
Runes Needed for Level Up - 665
William’s face was bright with a massive grin. Having to make these decisions was a blessing he would forever be grateful for. Now was to question whether he wanted to reach level 10 with his [Knight Guardian Novice] before pumping the other two with runes, or if he should spend the ten thousand he currently had on hand on the (C+) [Class]es only. It took him only a few moments to come to a temporary resolution to make a better, more informed decision.
He would get the (C+) [Class]es to level 1, get the first level skill unlock, check out how many unallocated stat points he had, and how they worked in chemistry with one another. He was sure he could still hit level 10 with his [Knight Guardian Class] even after spending twelve hundred runes for the first levels.
William rubbed his hands and mentally ticked [YaKinov Venom Monarch Incarnation] to level 1.
Congratulations! Level Up!
+7 Unallocated Stat Points
First Level Skill Unlock -
[Venom Manipulation (C+)] [1/99]
Secrete and Manipulate blobs of thick slime Venom
Secretion variant on overall Level of individual [Class][Skill]
Manipulation variant on overall Level of individual [Class][Skill]
—
Subsidiary Skills Unlocked -
[Venom Immunity (D-)] [1/1]
If they are slime-like venom, then are they slippery? Can I use them as environmental hazards to make my farming easier? Might as well test everything out and be creative to keep it leveling up. Wonder if I can combine skills together. A heavy venom strike? Blockhead Venom Manipulation?
Being able to combine skills together would take his strength to a different stratosphere. It just required that he test a whole bunch.
William shivered.
Maybe he would do that some other time. After spending endless hours, more than he was willing to keep track, with Zefor experimenting, the thought of doing that again any time soon made him queasy. He was not a scientist nor did he have those inclinations. He was a normal person with normal people goals. Now that he was given an opportunity, William would take advantage of it to his fullest abilities.
That didn’t mean changing who he was completely. Just enough to excel and be the very best version of William possible.
William sent another six hundred and sixty-five runes into [Ruined Lightning Inquisitor]. He had much higher expectations for a class that had such an impressive name, it had to give him something special. Something to base the entire class around that he could take advantage of immediately. Much clearer to him than [Venom Manipulation] so he could start out blazing hot with it.
He took a deep breath and locked the runes in.
Congratulations! Level Up!
+7 Unallocated Stat Points
First Level Skill Unlock -
[Chained Lightning Domain (AoE)(C+)] [1/99]
Barrier of Lightning that surround the user
Starts weakened and gradually increases in power | Can be Manipulated | 7 foot Radius (14 foot Diameter)
Manipulation variant on overall Level of individual [Class][Skill]
Overall Power variant on overall Level of individual [Class][Skill]
Starting Power variant on overall Level of individual [Class][Skill]
Radius of effect variant on overall Level of individual [Class][Skill]
—
Subsidiary Skills Unlocked -
[Lightning Immunity (D+)] [1/1]
This was okay.
More than okay.
It wasn’t what William had been hoping for, closer to the lines of a lightning bolt would have been perfect for his rune farming plans, but this was perfectly fine too. It likely wouldn’t be able to blast the Corrupted Soldiers and Guardsman off the ledge, but it should affect them still. He just needed to chain a [Heavy Strike] once they were incapacitated.
More importantly, there were fourteen unallocated stat points just waiting for him to add to his attributes.
This is addicting. Seeing all these numbers fly up is too much of a dopamine rush.
William decided to level both (C+) [Class]es at the same time and keep them together. They wouldn’t reach the point of costing more than a Corrupted Guardsman for sometime so he could add one level to each with every win. Fourteen points per Corrupted Guardsman made him salivate.
Getting them to level 6 each cost him 4593 runes each, totalling 9186 for both. The remaining amount of runes held was not enough to level up any of his weaker classes.
He gained seventy unallocated stat points added to the fourteen he already had. A whooping eighty-four unallocated stat points to put into any attribute he wanted.
William pulled up his status page one more time and looked at his attributes.
Might as well keep the balanced growth as much as possible.
He dumped ten points into each attribute first and left himself the original fourteen stat points. Those he put seven into arcane and seven more into strength to bring that one to a clean thirty.
Status User William (1oPg72j9) -
[Class] - [Ruined Lightning Inquisitor (C+)]
Level - 6 [6/99]
Runes Held - 554
Runes Needed for Level Up - 1102
Strength - 13 (+17) -> 30
Dexterity - 10 (+10) -> 20
Endurance - 20 (+10) -> 30
Vitality - 15 (+10) -> 25
Intelligence - 10 (+10) -> 20
Wisdom - 10 (+10) -> 20
Arcane - 10 (+17) -> 27
That wasn’t with the boost to his attributes from equipping the dagger just yet. That would put him much further up the totem pole.
William couldn’t wait to get back and test his new found power against the Corrupted Dead.
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