Alan had already resolved himself to discussing the Body Tempering Manual with Su'ong, but he knew he wouldn't feel safe doing so anywhere other than within the disruptive energy field emitted by the Tower out on the island.
The likelihood of someone listening in was slim to none, but with potentially high stakes, Alan felt it prudent to be overly cautious. Mind made up, and everyone impatiently awaiting his response, Alan decided to change the trajectory of the conversation without making it too obvious.
Here goes nothing…
“Alright, so you were paying attention." He said, nodding his head appreciatively. “Alright, those twenty-five hundred experience pushed my Class to Level 6, so now I have three Class Upgrade Points to use and quite honestly, I'm not sure how I want to use them. I have a lot of options, and while they all seem useful enough, I'm worried about spreading myself too thin trying to concentrate on learning how to use forty-seven different Skills and abilities. So, I'm sort of stuck. I don't even know if I should purchase more Skills or focus on what I already have…”
Su'ong narrowed her eyes and peered at Alan. There was no doubt in his mind that she saw right through his charade, but thankfully she didn't voice any objections.
Reggie on the other hand looked at Alan with a creepy grin on his face. Alan tried to frown without baring too many teeth. He didn't want to appear hostile, but neither was he fond of the whole unhinged scientist look Reggie suddenly had going on. In his opinion, the Wraith seemed way too eager to offer his assistance.
Reggie's genuine excitement kind of made sense as he once again explained how he'd been the owner of the [Warden of Blight] Class Scroll for countless years and lacked the ability to open the damned thing. “Because of the unique nature of Dungeon Wraiths,” he said hurriedly, caught up in his own explanation. “we are born with our Classes fully integrated…”
“Well, usually. I'm getting sidetracked, but in my case, due to the flawed nature of my Dungeon, I too bear inherent defects. When I separated myself from the Core Consciousness, I was left with an incomplete Class. Which is why I lack several key abilities that all Dungeon Wraith's enjoy. Such as opening a way out of this blasted tomb.“
Alan wasn't sure how this information was of any actual use, but in the midst of Reggie's rambling, he latched onto a thread of information and decided to give it a tug. He couldn't help but feel that there was something useful was on the other end. If nothing else, he hoped it would bring an end to this line of discussion.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Alan lied. He could've easily waited for the Wraith to run out of steam, but he didn't feel like standing around for the hour it would take him to get to the point.
Reggie paused mid-sentence. Eyes narrowed, he nodded for Alan to continue.
“It might be a sensitive subject, so uhh… I'm sorry if I offend you, but several times now you've mentioned the Dungeon being flawed. How does a Dungeon become flawed?"
For several seconds of tense silence, Reggie stated deep into Alan's eyes. A heavy pressure fell upon Alan's shoulders, threatening to buckle his knees before vanishing just as fast as it had appeared. Suddenly grinning as if nothing had happened, Reggie did the last thing Alan expected. He shrugged his shoulders.
“That's a fair question! Unfortunately, I honestly can't say for certain… While Dungeon Cores are known to form under similar circumstances, each one is unique. Like most other sapient beings, Dungeon Cores start their lives in an infantile state. However, as beings born of raw Mana, we are quite literally products of our environment with no parents to help guide our development. Suffice it to say that sometimes one's environment isn't conducive to a proper upbringing. Perhaps as my Dungeon Core was forming it was subjected to some kind of experiments, or it could've been something as simple as an unexpected deformity… Or..."
“Ahem!" Rolling her eyes, Su'ong cleared her throat noisily. “Alright guys, it's about time to get back on subject. No offense, but we should leave the fine points of Dungeon development for some other time."
Instead of doing as Alan feared and starting up another argument, Su'ong's interjection had the desired effect.
“Ah yes… Let's have a look at this Class shall we?" Reggie asked, immediately stating that always wondered what the [Warden of Blight] Class Skill set was comprised of, and how exactly the fungal and bacterial effects would manifest. Would they be independent of one another, or could they be combined? Could the pathogens be stored away? And if so, could they be used by anyone while in their stored form or only by the Class holder?
For the next ten minutes Alan did his best not to nod off as Reggie droned on about the potential pros and cons of being a biological disaster walking around on two legs. There were a lot of benefits, most of them having to do with destroying monsters with ruthless pathogens, often drawn out over prolonged periods of time. The negatives were less numerous, but far more worrisome.
When boiled down to base components, the main issues were not knowing what the Pathogens were doing to Alan's body, and the very real risk of infecting everyone and everything he came into contact with. There wasn't much he could do about the personal risks, that ship had already sailed. But it was possible to protect his allies or innocent bystanders from accidental infection. For that reason alone, it was agreed unanimously that Alan's best bet would be acquiring [Pathogenic Inoculation] before anything else. While it wouldn't do anything to ease his fears about being mutated by the deadly organisms he now hosted within his flesh, at least it would provide a safety net for his allies.
As for what he should do with his remaining Class Upgrade Points, well, that was something nobody seemed to be able to agree on. Reggie was of the opinion that Alan should hold onto them, Su'ong was leaning towards acquiring the [Wardens Arsenal] or upgrading the [Warden's Wardrobe]. And Alan, despite being provided with their opinions, remained undecided and therefore chose to put some more thought into it.
Eager to get the attention off of himself, and curious about Su'ong's progression and the Skills provided by the [Spear Maiden] Class, Alan left the issue of his Class Upgrade Points to be dealt with when he got around to purchasing [Pathogenic Accumulation]. Instead, he chose to turn the tables on Su'ong. Taking advantage of a short lull in the conversation, he swiftly changed the subject by asking her to share what Level she currently was, and what she'd learned of her own Class.
With all eyes now focused on her, Su'ong groaned and opened up her PSA to the Statistics tab. She stated ominously before turning around to give everyone a clear look at her Status screen.
Name: Su'ong Zhú
Race: Beast Folk (F) Lvl 5
Exp to next Level: 416/653
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Class: (F-Uncommon)[Spear Maiden] Lvl 5
Exp to next Level: 128/1600
Beast Core: (Low-Copper) *Water Attuned*
Titles: Blessed Child of the Water, Citizen of the Multiverse, Tutorial Warden,
***STATISTICS***
Hp: 4752/4752
Mp: 4776/4776
Stamina: 4500/4500
Hp Regeneration: 198 /hour
Mp Regeneration: 187.5 /hour
Stamina Regeneration: 199 /hour
Strength: 162
Constitution: 160
Vitality: 156
Endurance: 162
Perception: 150
Agility: 160
Dexterity: 160
Intelligence: 150
Wisdom: 150
Resistance: 150
Willpower: 150
Luck: 150
Unallocated Status Points: 0
*** SKILLS***
(B)[Examine] Lvl 1
(C)[Multiversal Language Comprehension] Lvl 1
(U)[Water Manipulation] Lvl 3
*** SPELLS ***
***TECHNIQUES***
***RACIAL SKILLS***
[Right Eye of Hygea] Lvl 1- (Regen), (Cleanse)
***CLASS SKILLS***
[Spear Mastery] Lvl 1
[Shield Mastery] Lvl 1
[Spear Volley] Lvl 1
***CLASS ABILITIES***
[Warchest](Spear)- Lvl 1
“How the fuck am I a Level above you and still your Stats are so much higher than mine?!" Alan demanded as he studied her Class Skills, once again surprised at how shocking her gains from Evolution had been. As far as her Skills went, thanks to the knowledge of his own Class Skills they were pretty straightforward to understand.
After a bit of prodding, Su'ong informed Alan that the spear and shield mastery Skills were obviously her Class's version of Alan's mastery Skills, and functioned in a similar manner. [Spear Volley] was the rapid-fire stabbing attack she'd frequently utilized against the Almiraj, and similar to the mastery Skills, the [Warchest] Skill was her version of [Warden's Arsenal].
Unlike Alan's Class however, the [Spear Maiden] utilized the Class Skill Points that she was familiar with. Every other Class Level would provide her with a single Class Skil Point. Her Class Skill Points were applied to her Skills to increase their Level, and with it, their capabilities. Rather than having to purchase new Skills and abilities from a list, every ten levels she would be given an updated list of Skills from which she could select one to gain permanently at no cost.
At Level 1 she'd been provided with her initial three Skills and a list of four others from which she was only able to choose one. Needing a reliable weapon more than anything, she elected to choose [Warchest] without a second thought.
“Actually,” She said, summoning her unadorned silver spear, absentmindedly staring at the setting Sun's reflection on the lake as she thrust her spear in the direction of the sunset. “I still have the Class Skill points I gained at Level 2 and Level 4. I am about to apply one to [Spear Volley] and the other will be used to upgrade [Warchest] to the next level. Pay attention and you might actually learn something." She finished with a snort and held out her spear.
The spear suddenly floated out of her hand and up nearly ten feet into the air, slowly rotating in place as a strange circular distortion slowly passed down its full length. As the distortion traveled, everywhere it touched wobbled precariously, taking on subtle, but unmistakable changes before regaining solidity. By the time it was finished, Su'ong's spear had elongated by more than six inches. The tip flattened out, taking on the shape of an oversized arrowhead, honed to the point it gleamed. The final change Alan noticed was a new indentation halfway down the shaft that fit Su'ong's hand like a metallic glove.
“Nicely done!" Reggie cheered, wagging his thick eyebrows. It was plain for all to see that her spear had just benefitted from an all-around improvement. However, Alan had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to tell what, if anything at all, had changed with the [Spear Volley] Skill.
“Should've expected as much,” Su'ong grumbled sarcastically upon taking notice of Alan's lack of enthusiasm. Before he could start pestering her for information, she waved him over, recalled her spear and pulled up the updated description of [Spear Volley]. “Here,” she said, facing away and providing Alan with unobstructed access to her PSA.
[Spear Volley] Lvl 2 - This Skill allows the Spear Maiden to rain down a volley of (4) spear strikes on her enemies, dealing armor penetrating damage to all targets in a 2ft × 2ft area. The Spear Maiden can choose a target point within a 10ft radius, and her spear strikes rain down from any chosen direction, hitting all enemies within the designated area. However, using this skill requires a significant amount of stamina and concentration, and the Spear Maiden must take a brief moment to recover before using it again. Each additional Level of this skill further increases the area of effect and damage of her spear volley, allowing the Spear Maiden to hit more enemies at once and deal greater damage. At Level 3, radius increases by 5ft, base damage increases by 30%, amount of Spear strikes increases to (6), and the area of effect to increases to 4ft × 4ft. At Level 4, radius increases by 5ft, base damage increases by 40%, amount of Spear strikes increases to (8), and the area of effect to increases to 8ft × 8ft. At Level 5, radius increases by 5ft, base damage increases by 50%, amount of Spear strikes increases to (10), and the area of effect increases to 16ft × 16ft.
“Holy shit!" Alan whispered as he finished reading the description for the second time.
No wonder her spear attacks were landing all over the place! This is a fucking cheat Skill!
“Hold up,” Alan said, raising his hands in submission. “You mean to tell me that you can stand in front of an enemy, and as long as it's within the ten foot radius you can bypass its defenses entirely and stab it five times in the back?! And it tells you the improvements the next Levels provide too?“
“So basically, what you're saying is I got scammed…” Alan growled, unable to keep from comparing his own confusing Class to Su'ong's. Not only was she able to Level her Skills with the push of a button on her PSA, but if what she said was accurate, she could Level a Skill every other Class Level. One thing he didn't understand was why the Skill description cut off at Level 5. Luckily, Su'ong was able to clear up his confusion.
The way she told it, there was a very good reason for the reduction in potential Skill Levels. Su'ong estimated that she would have between eleven and fifteen Class Skills by the time she mastered her Class at Class Level 100. If her Skills Leveled up to 10, she would be limited to having very few mastered skills at best, and a bunch of low-leveled chaff. Unlike normal Skills, Su'ong's Class Skills Leveled up with Class Skill Points instead of through constant use or the acquisition of proficiency. So having a level cap of 5 assured that she could invest points in a wide array of Skills. It would still be impossible to master every single skill, but this way she had a bit of leeway.
Another stark difference between her normal and Class Skills was that the latter wouldn't evolve until her Class hit Level 100. Alan's first assumption was that this was a serious setback, but his opinion changed drastically when she told him that at Level 100 the Class itself would evolve.
At that point, every Skill she successfully mastered between now and then would undergo a Skill Evolution which would alter the direction in which the [Spear Maiden] Class evolved.