Garnedell didn’t say anything with that, simply waving a lazy hand over his head in response and went back to rest in the corner where he joined Zilnek and Kilniara, already resting. He called out to Kilniara and simply gestured towards Joe and Kilniara leaped up eagerly, running out to join Joe just as Garnedell slithered down the wall to rest against it beside Zilnek. The rest of the day passed in similar fashion, each member fighting with him and they went through another three or four cycles before Joe called an end to it on the last cycle and settled in the corner to rest.
Today, he had not brought any lunch as he was fairly certain that he would have reached level thirty easily before lunch. In actuality, he had reached thirty before midmorning and ended up staying a bit longer to push on to level thirty one, which took another three hours. Joe shook his head in disgust, frustrated. Three hours to hit level thirty. Three and a half hours to reach thirty one! This… sucks! He had need to push a bit past their normal lunch by about twenty minutes or so, he wasn’t sure exactly, but still felt it had been a bit beyond their normal day.
He’d planned to stop but when he took a look at what his current experience was at, he found that he was just shy of making it, so decided to push on through. He did end up making it to thirty one, but also decided that doing so in the future was essentially useless. It was better if he just used the rest of his day to practice his other skills. Or get my freakin’ priest job and figure out sub jobs! Joe growled with some frustration. And figure how to open up my third sub job!
Joe was excited for both, but since nobili… clanners seemed to have secondary jobs locked up tight behind national security levels of defense, he really didn’t want to walk into the temple square set up for non-clanners and asking clanner questions. It seemed like a good way to get a lot of attention. But… maybe… I can get the next priest job? Should I try it?
Joe grimaced, lost in thought as the other three chatted before breaking in, joining them. He let them rest for a good chunk of time when Garnedell began complaining about the food.
“Isn’t it time to eat? I really am hungry!” Garnedell didn’t quite whine.
Joe laughed, “I was just letting you rest up. We can head back out now. Want to eat at the adventurer or dungeoneer guild?”
All three brightened at that, Kilniara replying first, “Yes!”
The other two, however, weren’t far behind and all three were soon packing up excitedly to head out. They exited to the bright light of day which was still a bit dim by Joe’s standards but was still enough to make all of them squint against the light. Garnedell danced ahead of them, Zilnek joining him as they both led the way to the closest guild hall to enjoy a meal. They enjoyed their meal, took a break at the bathhouse then headed back to the inn. On their way back, Zilnek and Garnedell whispered with each other a bit before turning to Joe, excited.
“Joe? Could we explore?” Garnedell asked with some excited expectation.
Joe smiled at his question, glancing back and forth between the two before asking, “What are you guys going out to do?”
Garnedell flushed a bit but simply said, “Exploring! Maybe buy some snacks and just… look around.”
Joe shrugged before nodding, “Sounds fine. Come back at sunset, though. You need rest.”
Garnedell nodded excitedly, happy for the option while Zilnek hid a grimace but then smiled happily as he realized they still had half a day. The two took off by themselves angling off from their path and Kilniara looked up at him, pulling him to a stop.
“Could we wander?”
“Hmm,” Joe considered, “And do what?”
“Well, stop by the temple square, for one. You would likely need to go, yes?” Kilniara asked, more tentative now than excited.
Joe smiled, laughing, “Actually, you know what? That would be… Is that OK?”
Kilniara suddenly smiled brightly, almost appearing relieved but Joe couldn’t figure why, so didn’t bring it up, “Of course.”
“Then after?”
Kilniara’s embarrassment was quickly replaced with her own excitement as she began rattling off a long list of options and foods that she was interested in before grabbing his hand and forcefully dragging him on towards the temple square. Joe laughed at her antics before joining in with her excitement although mostly listening to her comments, taking the time to learn of them a bit. When they reached the temple square, Joe realized he still hadn’t really looked over his latest stats and any skills he might have received and called for a moment of rest.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Oh. Uh, sorry, Kilniara. I need to check up on some things before I go in and do my check. Is it OK if we sit down somewhere then I’ll try my job change? I’ll need a bit of time.”
Kilniara paused a moment at Joe’s sudden interruption to the conversation but nodded quickly, without concern as she looked around for a seat before zeroing in on a bench, “Sure! Here! Let’s sit over there!”
Joe laughed at her excitement but joined her as he pulled him towards the bench. They both sat and she snuggled up into his side and Joe glanced down at her, his humor morphing to warmth at her cuddling before he opened his stat window and flipped to the skills tab. When he looked at it and scanned down to the new adventurer job, he was surprised to find he had four new skills instead of the normal three.
The first was ‘use staff’ which proved to be exactly as it was described and Joe, remembering the shuddering action of weapons which he was not allowed to wield, he pulled out his spear and held it for a bit, feeling once again the almost life like escape attempt of the spear. He held it firmly before taking off the spear head, replacing it with the cap that protected the threads which held the spear head. Once done, it was now a typical shaft and the juddering rejection he felt before was gone. He was even surprised by how calm the weapon felt in his hand and actually sighed at the feeling, missing it more than he’d thought. I… really need to be careful with this! This could really screw me up. I can’t clutch my weapons too firmly… this might royally screw with my skills! Really messes with my dexterity… and … the rings work… but they’re almost as bad as the current juddering… really mess up my grip. Feeling the calm return, he quickly considered the issue a bit. So… if sub jobs are just a job, could… equip a combat job and leave it… that’d work… or maybe work on freeing up another ‘char:’ skill for the weapon I want to use… Or use the ring… which would be a really, really bad idea for hand weaponry! Probably… opening up the combat job and seeing if I can ‘char:’ the weapon skill… that’d be the best. His thoughts turned to counting the time and he nodded. Still half a year left, so no problem… probably could get the right combat job and then unlock a ‘char:’ skill if I need to…
Joe nodded with some relief, a bit more certain about his chances before he looked at his next skill, which proved to be a basic increase to strength. Joe frowned at seeing it, but ultimately let it go. He did run the numbers to try to figure it out and was able to pretty conclusively realize that it gave a ten percent increase to his strength. It took a bit of math and comparing his current strength to his current job and adding up all the strength he was getting from all the other jobs as well, which proved a bit trickier and time consuming but once he’d started, he couldn’t let it go. He had to pull out his notebook at that point, to add up all the stats for his jobs but, considering he’d seen a lot of other bonuses like this, it seemed wise to make sure he understood what it actually meant. The end result proved what he’d though, it applied to both his current job stats as well as his bonus ten percent, which proved to be a decent chunk. He smiled, a bit happier with this skill.
His smile did not last too long as he looked at his third skill, the smile fading to disgust as he was quite unhappy with what he was reading. It proved to be quite disappointing.
Basic Map Reading: You are capable of seeing, reading, and understanding a map and how it translates to the real world.
I guess… not too bad? But still… could learn this on your own with just a couple hours every day … maybe a week at most. This… Joe sighed and turned to the next skill. His disgust only grew when he saw the next skill.
Back Pack: You have a greatly increased skill in packing, wearing, using, retrieving from, and unpacking a back pack. The weight of a back pack is decreased by 10%.
Seriously?! Really?! This is what’s… Joe’s anger overwhelmed his thought, his inner monologue sputtering out in indignation. While the reduced weight seemed interesting, the skill seemed to be utterly pointless and he wondered how anyone could accomplish much of anything when such basic skills and abilities seemed locked to specific classes. What am I going to find next? Carrying! You are now capable of carrying items! Breathing: You can breathe! This is just… but… I don’t understand either. Garnedell’s nowhere near level thirty, but he’s helped pack my bag… so have Zilnek and Kilniara… Is … something else going on here? Joe’s anger suffocated his thoughts but the anger slowly faded before his curiosity as continued chewing at the ramifications of the system. His mind wound through it all before coming right back to the beginning, his anger swelling again as he ground his teeth. Grimacing, he swiped his status window shut indignantly.
He sputtered a bit in his seat and Kilniara withdrew from him, looking up at him cautiously. When he saw her response, Joe sighed deeply and shook his head before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her back in.
“I’m sorry. I just learned… something very stupid and very… annoying. Don’t worry about me.”
Kilniara stared at him for a few moments more before smiling brightly and nodding her head, “OK.”
Joe chuckled at her response and looked back down at her, his anger overwhelmed quickly by his gratefulness for her easy acceptance, “Thank you.”
She looked back at him again, searching his face once more, but this time with a subtle smile before nodding, “You're welcome.”