Two Copper, 20 minutes, and a double cheeseburger from ‘Searin’ Sammy’s’ later, my stomach is no longer grumbling and yelling at me to eat. I’m not sure how much longer ‘The Misfits’ are going to be on their dive for, so in the meantime I’ll go and talk with Brock, and while it’s doubtful, I’ll check to see if I can afford anything he’s got in stock.
I make my way back toward Brock Breaks, smiling to myself as I see some kids running around in the now empty fountain, playing with fake swords. Ting Ting Ting. Ok. Not play swords. The realization that these kids are probably at a higher level than me makes me shrink inwards a bit. The world post-collapse is so different. Those kids could probably kick my ass into next week.
That thought still echoing in my mind, I waltz into Brocks store looking for some kind of clearance section or discounted goods. “Good afternoon, sir. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for? You’re a pretty big guy; I bet that strength stat is pretty high too. We have a big and tall section for- MIKE??? I saw you two hours ago! How the hell did you grow that much?” I hear Brock say from behind me, interrupting himself as I turn toward him.
“I finally got my class, Brock. It’s a doozy,” I say, grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re telling me! I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone grow from picking up a class before. What did you end up picking? I’m guessing it’s got to be something with pretty decent strength scaling since you’re back so soon. Lemme guess, plus four?” Brock says.
“Is plus four high? I don’t have anything to base it on, but my strength scaling is plus seven,” I answer.
“Plus seven!” Brock exclaims, “I thought my strength scaling was the highest around with my plus 5, and even then, I had to take a small movement speed debuff to get it. What’s your class called?”
“It’s called [Titan], and yeah, I had to take a pretty hefty penalty as a result. I can’t increase my defense by wearing armor,” I respond.
Brock sits there for a second, just staring at me, mouth agape. I get kind of uncomfortable in the awkward silence before Brock says, “Mike Ward, you have GOT to be the dumbest mother fucker I’ve ever met. Armor is arguably the most important part of diving, and you’re telling me that you chose a class that won’t allow you to wear it? Mike, I’ve seen you make hundreds of bad decisions, but this takes the cake. Did that bar fall on your head before it hit your chest? Please tell me you have some crazy strong abilities, or else I’ll have to knock some sense back into you. I can’t imagine you’d be able to survive fighting an enemy over Level 50 with no armor. Even monk classes wear armor, and their whole thing is not getting hit.”
I deflate a little bit. “I thought it was a good class. The skills looked good enough to keep it strong,” I protest. “I got four passives and an active skill, but one of the passives didn’t show up until after I chose my class. It’s still hidden and tells me I haven’t met the prerequisites for it, but the reason I chose this class at all is for [Overwhelm]. It allows me to increase my strength stat by building more muscle; it’s also the reason I grew 6 inches, and it speeds up muscle growth by 15%.” I rattle on, regaining a bit of confidence the more I talk about the skill, and after a moment of silence, Brock speaks again.
“Mike. You’ve either gotten the best martial class I’ve ever seen or the worst. No one else I’ve met has had a skill that allows them to progress their stats outside of a dungeon. Not a single one. I see why that debuff is so detrimental now.” He looks down, thinking, then laughs, “You’re going to be the only bodybuilder in the new world. If I were you, I wouldn’t go around telling everyone about that skill. The Recursion Cult might start thinking you’re god-touched.”
A couple of dots connect from my conversation with the Void Lady, and I ask, “Do you mean Incursion? Does that word mean anything to you?”
"Yeah, that’s the one. The Incursion Cult. They’re a bunch of mask-wearing assholes that go around trying to convince people that ‘the gods are displeased, so they brought forth the collapse down upon humanity’,” he says in an overly dramatic voice. “They might have even gotten some people to listen to them if running around sacrificing people in the name of the gods. Regardless, I’d recommend staying far away from them. At best they’re bad company to keep, and at worst they’re a bunch of psychopaths intent on killing the rest of humanity to appease the gods.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Duly noted,” I say. That must be what that Void Lady was talking about with only a few people searching for the answers, but it’s no wonder no one listens to them. I wouldn’t listen to a bunch of murdering cultists either.
“Anyway, back to your weird fucking class. A hidden skill isn’t anything super rare; usually there’s a level requirement to unlock it or some type of weapon you’ll need to use a certain amount of before it will become available. Just try some things out and you’ll figure out what it is eventually,” Brock ends with a grin, saying, “Now all that aside, what do you say we put that insane strength scaling to good use and find you a decent weapon! What’s your budget?” Brock asks.
“It’s still pretty small since this was only my first dungeon trip, but I do have 53 Copper left after my meal and buying out this bracer drop that increases my grip strength,” I say.
“Add two Silvers onto that, Brock. He just took out a small loan from the Bank of James,” James says from behind me. “I told you guys we’d find him here. Knowing Mike, I can’t imagine him ever picking a class that didn’t revolve around stre-,” he stops speaking midword, looking up at me, “Aw, what the fuck? Why are you so tall?”
His sentiment is echoed throughout ‘The Misfits’, except for Maria, who says, "I don't know, he kind of looks the same to me.”
I smile down at James and say, “It’s not like you didn’t already look up to me as it is. This just makes it more apparent.”
“What the hell type of class did you pick that makes you taller?” Carlos asks.
“I can’t wait to see the look on your faces,” Brock says with a knowing grin that stretches from ear to ear.
I take a minute and explain everything I just told Brock. I assume these guys are probably safe to tell since they’re with James. I do ask them to keep it between us, following Brock's advice in that regard.
“Damn bro, if you wanted to join our party that badly, you could’ve just asked.” Abe laughs, “James is the only one that calls us ‘The Misfits’. You didn’t have to go and pick a class that hinders you; we would’ve let you dive with us once you hit a high enough level. You know you’re stuck with that class, right?”
“I know, I know. The only reason I chose this class is because it’ll let me grow outside of the dungeon. I don’t have to risk my life to grow stronger,” I say, defending my choices.
“You just chose it because it gives you an excuse to go back to bodybuilding. Also, I guess I should’ve told you before, but you can still train your skills outside of the dungeon,” James snorted, trying to hold in his laughter. He followed it up by tossing me two Silver coins, saying, “Go get yourself a decent weapon; I’m going to talk to my party for a second.”
Turning to Brock, I hold out the two Silver and fifty-three Copper, asking, “What’ll this get me?”
Brock shows me around to the lower level gear, saying, “Most of this is older equipment people don’t really buy anymore. I keep it around since some people like to get it for their kids or for testing out a new weapon type without a hefty investment.”
I look at the miscellaneous heavy weaponry, noting a few great swords, some large hammers, and even a car engine attached to a long chain. I peruse the items for a bit before I come to a lightly glowing barbell. A gruff laugh pierces the air as Brock says, “Yeah, you would choose this one, wouldn’t you? This was one of the local enchanters' first pieces. It’s got a minor strength enhancement of [+15] and a shoddy durability enhancement that also unfortunately, or I guess fortunately in your case, doubles its weight. No one else has been interested, so I'll tell you what. I still need to make a profit on it, but I can’t imagine anyone else wanting this. It works perfectly for your class, and you’re an old friend. How does one Silver and 20 Coppers sound?”
I guess Brock isn’t just good at lifting weights and selling gym memberships. It looks like the businessman's life suits him. I smile as I count out the coins and say, “It sounds like you’ve got yourself a deal.”
I pass the coins to Brock and heft the 90-pound steel rod onto my shoulder. Over 100 strength is nothing to sneeze at (I think it sounds pretty high), but this thing is still crazy heavy. I definitely need to train up my strength before I go diving with this. I thank Brock for his business and his insight and head outside to meet James and crew.
There's a slight unease in the air as I meet up with them. I’m not sure what they were talking about, but Abe and Robin have neutral looks on their faces, Robin and Carlos are frowning, and the only smiling face is James’.
“We talked it over, and we’re all willing to train you up. We want to invite you to our party and carry you to level 50, give you some combat training, and then we’ll hold a vote to see whether or not you’re a good fit for ‘The Misfits’. It’s just an offer, and you can feel free to refuse or leave at any point if you want to try things out on your own, but for now, Mike, would you like to join our party?” James asks.
[Party Invite Received, The Misfits]
[Accept] [Decline]