Kilniara nodded, moaning as she stood and staggered back to the corner. Joe kept his chuckles in as he watched her go before he picked up the stick he’d been using to draw in goblins. He opened his status, then smacked himself firmly over his open arms. His hit points dropped pretty fast, but he had more than enough to take a dozen strikes before he zeroed out. As the strike hit, he felt a twinge, but nothing really more. He increased his strikes until he was losing dozens of HP each hit, both across his bare stomach, legs, and arms. Each hit was soon at full power, but didn’t really hurt him that much. He grimaced and ground his teeth, then finally struck himself between the legs. Despite his intentions, he pulled back at the last instant, fear of striking his tender family jewels causing his strike to slow.
Even with the fear holding him back, the stick hit with a hard thwack and the expected pain did not come. It was a phantom, like the stab he felt with the knife, and he realized that just as much as the other three were unable to really function with their stamina zeroed out, they would likely be floored by the pain of actual physical damage if their HP were to be zeroed out. He frowned, tapping his arm with the stick a bit, seeing his HP already at half. As much as he wanted to keep experimenting, the buffer would be very useful for any lucky strike a goblin might get on him, so he stopped and tossed the stick at a goblin, grabbing its attention. He killed the first goblin, got his first level, then popped open his status to see how his new job helped him.
Status
Blessings
Current Job
Available Jobs
Current Skills
All Skills
Joe McConnell
Status
Physical Resistances
Magical Resistances
HP
10.00
Physical:
Wind
1
SP
10.00
Piercing
3.00
Water
1
MP
10.00
Crushing
3.00
Earth
1
Attack
5.00
Slashing
3.00
Fire
1
Defense
5.00
Ice
1
Magic
4.00
Gravity
1
Magic Defense
4.00
Magnetic
1
Strength
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5.00
Light
1
Dexterity
5.00
Gifted
1
Shadow
1
Agility
5.00
Space
1
Speed
3.00
Spirit
1
Endurance
3.00
Mental
1
IQ
10.00
Sound
1
Wisdom
10.00
Electricity
1
Will
7.50
Learning
1000.00
Luck
5.00
The first thing that caught his attention were all the nice resistance stats, especially the physical resistances. He was smiling when he looked over at the stats and felt his eyes pop open. They grew wider until he looked at his learning, then his jaw dropped. He froze for a bit, not moving and unable to really take in the insanity of it. He gulped a few times before chuckling, then full on laughing. He looked back at the other three, then laughed some more and turned back to look over the goblins around him.
If only I could share… wait! That’s right! I can share my learning! Should I shift my ‘char’ skill over to the teachers … Joe trailed off, grimacing, as he realized that his bonus would only affect Kilniara and Garnedell. He didn’t know how much of an effect it would have, but if it was significant, it would end up possibly sending Zilnek back into his anger. Besides, the anger wasn’t something that seemed normal. Joe grimaced, then realized that even if Zilnek wasn’t a criminal, there was no way to get him in their group anyway. He almost decided to do it anyway, but then stopped again when he realized that ultimately, right now, their levels were pointless. Kilniara wasn’t a combat job, nor was Zilnek, and ultimately Garnedell’s job was only tangentially combat related.
Getting them leveled up would be ultimately meaningless if he couldn’t convince them to change jobs. Even though he tried to convince Garnedell to do so, and even showed him the results, Garnedell still resisted, and he was left stymied. He said… he might… would… let’s… let’s try to push him soon? He took a few moments, then returned to the other three. Let me at least ask the others… one more time, right? Zilnek’s job is a criminal job anyway so… wait!
Joe paused again, his breathing ramping a bit before he came to settle before the group, concern writ large in his posture. Joe took a deep breath and looked at the three.
“So… I’m curious, but do jobs affect people’s emotions or thoughts?”
The three looked at each other before shaking their heads, Garnedell replying, “I have never heard of such.”
Joe thought carefully before looking at Zilnek, then Kilniara, “Has your brother gotten angry easily before?”
Kilniara frowned in thought while Zilnek cocked his head as well, before shaking his head, Kilniara denying it as well, “No. He doesn’t get angry like this often.”
“But he has been kind of… upset over the last couple days… weeks?”
Kilniara frowned but nodded her head, “Yes.”
“Is that normal?”
“No, but… he is in … unusual stress.”
Joe nodded then looked to Zilnek, “Does it feel normal to you?”
Zilnek thought carefully, but ultimately remained uncertain, “I really… don’t know.”
Joe thought for a bit, then tried another tact, “Have you ever heard of kind or considerate criminals?”
That drove the eyebrows of all three up, each quickly shaking their heads. Joe thought for a bit then tried again, “Are you sure.”
This time, all three seemed a bit more uncertain. They seemed sure that criminals were known to be a bit belligerent and not exactly the kindest members of society, but Joe still wasn’t convinced and was unable to make a decision. Finally, he stood and walked away, calling Kilniara after him.
“Did you use to tease or joke with each other growing up?” Joe asked quietly.
She quickly nodded, “Yeah.”
“Who usually took it better? Who was the first to get angry.”
Kilniara frowned then ducked her head in a bit of shame, “I always got angry first. It almost seems like nothing I said could really bother him, even if I said some pretty crazy things. He was always able to just laugh at it and say something else back. It always made me so angry when he did that!”
Joe thought for a bit then sent her back to rest, but asked her to try something, “Go back and start teasing him like you did when you were younger. See who gets angry first. Don’t do anything really angering. Try to make it… good hearted; things you remember and know that he could always just laugh at.”
Kilniara thought for a bit before she began to nod, “Yeah. I can do that.”
Joe nodded, smiling, “Just see how he reacts, then please tell me.”
Kilniara took off back to the corner and Joe watched her go, thoughtful and just a bit worried. If his emotions aren’t as under control, then Garnedell and Kilniara leveling up so fast will really be evident to him, and … that’s bad for keeping him in equilibrium.
Joe sighed, putting his plan on hold, another thing that had to wait until he could get his priest job up and ready to go. Joe picked up the stick again, halfheartedly tossing it at a goblin while keeping his attention on the corner. The goblin charged at him, and Joe efficiently dispatched the goblin, two strikes to the torso and a final one to the neck downing it immediately. He made it to level seventeen with that one kill, grinning when he saw that on his stat sheet, but then turned to look back at the group.
The good natured ribbing had begun, but Zilnek already had storm clouds circling his head and Joe had to walk back before things got out of hand. However, Kilniara had only offered another couple jokes, Zilnek trying to take the ribbing politely but ultimately failing before exploding in anger at Kilniara. He stood, looming over her and Joe arrived quickly, but didn’t physically intervene as Zilnek simply towered over her while screaming at her. After a few moments, Zilnek calmed down and Joe looked to Kilniara.
“Zilnek. Sit down. Kilniara, is that normal?”
Kilniara frowned, anger tinged with fear sparked as she kept her emotions a bit better wrapped, “No. He never does this.”
Joe looked at Zilnek, thinking carefully, before asking, “Does this … feel like you? Does this feel normal?”
Zilnek growled, his anger pretty sharp and he paced a bit before Joe had to ask again.
“Zilnek. Sit down. Calm down. Now, talk to me. Is this normal? Have you gotten angry like this over your sister joking with and teasing you?”
Zilnek stopped with the pointed question, and began thinking, the train of his thoughts plain on his face as his emotions began running the gambit from anger to realization, then horror. He quickly turned back to Kilniara.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Kilniara sighed, but was still angry,” OK, but that was still… way too much, Zilnek.”
Zilnek groaned and leaned back against his wall, having sat when Joe commanded him the second time. He didn’t cry, nor did he seem overly upset. He just seemed surprised more than anything else.
“Is that normal, Zilnek?”
“I… I… I don’t know, but I’m feeling just… really angry.”
“Have you felt this angry before, as angry as this? Before we met?”
Zilnek shook his head, “No. Not really.”
“How about after your parents died and what that jerk usurer was trying to do to you and Kilniara?”
Zilnek frowned at that, thinking carefully, “I was… really angry then… but… not like this. I feel like if that happened now, I would try to take a weapon and go kill him. I never felt like that before, though. Before, I was just determined to keep her safe. Now, thinking about it, now I just want to make him pay!”
Joe frowned, nodding, “OK. We… need to take care of this as fast as possible, OK? I think something… not good is happening. Please try to remain calm and relax. Whenever you get angry, I want you to tell yourself. Literally speak out loud to yourself, saying something like, ‘I’m not usually this angry!’ Or maybe, ‘I don’t usually get angry.’ Something like that, anything like that. Something not good is happening, OK?”
Zilnek’s cool returned quickly, and he nodded, “OK. I will try.”
Joe nodded, the smile no longer there, “Good. It’s still going to take some time, but I want to make sure you are safe, and I’ll make sure this is fixed as fast as I can, OK?”
Zilnek quickly nodded and Joe sighed. He stared at them a bit before moving the topic on, “You guys ready to go out then?”
All three said no, still recovering and feeling exhausted so Joe went out alone once again, decimating the dungeon goblin population. Two goblins had gotten him to level seventeen. He smacked the next goblin with the same stick he’d been using, and quickly dispatched a third, driving himself all the way up to twenty three. Joe smiled at that, shaking his head. The amount of learning this job had was so great that it was actually almost more than all the learning he was getting from all the other jobs combined. This job was utterly absurd. If he was able to get this job above thirty, he was certain that he would have doubled the learning he was getting.
He had been keeping track of his stats carefully, and his learning stat proved to be the one he watched most closely. He wasn’t sure of the exact amount he had now, but he’d remembered the last time he’d checked putting his total learning amount around thirty thousand. That gave his base learning, without any boost from titles or other special abilities and skills about three thousand. This one job, however, was giving him the same amount as all other jobs combined. Granted, he had some job still as low as level ten, but as most of those only gave him a single point per level, he wasn’t sure those even really mattered. There is something… special about this job. I just… feel it!