Tower Town Library was not, in Corvayne's humble opinion, the pinnacle of creative naming, but it was somewhere up there in efficiency. The white clay brick building looked to be an outgrowth of the alarmingly large structure that gave the city its name, bulging like a man-made tree root from the titanic vertical castle that loomed over them. It was notable not only in it's length but that it was covered in giant arched windows. The entrance was off of a backstreet, wide enough for two cars but in the shadow of large apartments that looked to Corvayne like keeps.
Spears paid the guide who had lead them to the Library a few silver coins, ruffling the urchin's hair as he scampered off with his prize. Grunt stepped forward and opened the door by placing the normal sized handle between three fingers and his thumb, then pulling with pinky sticking out sort of like one sipping a teacup. Mister I actually was the first one in, vanishing into the somehow even gloomier entrance.
Bell took his arm at the crook, which made Corvayne have to sort of slide around the half of the door Grunt wasn't holding, but he stepped into a surprisingly cold room, his breath steaming. Corvayne quickly adjusted to the gloomy lighting in the reception area and a large square counter manned by what looked like an ancient man who, from the way his lip was set, had just swallowed something sour, a woman with similar sharp features Corvayne guessed was his older adult daughter, and her in turn young daughter who pulled down her spectacles to look at them. All of them wore long sleeved robes over what looked like wool clothes, and heavy hats that covered their ears. There were wooden turnstiles and a price for entry, so he stepped forward to act as the purse for the group.
The two ladies were attentive from the get-go, but the older man startled a little and set aside a book, then sat up straighter and looked at Corvayne then beyond to where Lady Blood Claw was entering.
“Shut the doors!” The old man barked out, loud enough that Corvayne was concerned he'd hurt something. A moment later his expression changed as the extra light from the street went dark. No doubt because he was seeing Grunt for the first time. There was a solid thump as the big man urged the doors back into place.
“Price for six is six gold for the day. Special archives are more. Renting a lich-light is more.”
Corvayne shrugged and produced six gold. They had looted something like seven hundred pieces from chests over the last two weeks. “We are interested in books about Classes and Leveling.”
“Hmmf. Books on adventure for rookies is in the Q wing. Anything not there we have in special archives.
Bell tugged Corvayne's arm and gave the youngest Librarian who was looking at them a dirty look, pulling him through the turnstile. He did see Grunt standing before device and give a critical look at the Librarian before just stepping over, but the six of them got in and Corvayne lead them to the Q area. The sub sections of the library seemed to line up with places lit by windows: The alcoves of wood book shelves boxed in tables catching light spilling in from above. Corvayne pulled a jacket out of his storage ring and
“Can everyone read these books?” Corvayne asked, pulling out 'Basics of Classes'.
Spears nodded. Bell raised an eyebrow and opened one called 'ABCs of Support Jobs'.
Mister I and Grunt ended up wandering away. Mister I settled into a section packed with scrolls, and Corvayne lost track of Grunt but trusted his friend had some independent research he wanted to do.
Corvayne instead dipped into 'Basics of Classes' while everyone else made efforts to get into warmer clothes and then settle around the table in padded chairs.
The book in question was a leather bound tome but worn from brown to a tan color in places where it had been handled for untold years, the pages yellowed and curled with age. There was the scrape of wood on wood as Bell moved her chair closer to him. He also felt Spears place her foot next to his, and for a moment do a little footsie before settling into 'Tiers and You' which was bound with bright yellow glossy paper, clearly taped and repaired in places where someone had damaged the cover.
Corvayne began to read.
Classes and Levels are the basis of the most pervasive arm of the three known in the System. They form the blueprint for most powers the tower dwellers are offered and are almost universally the method used to grow. Unlike Artifact progression or Domain, the mechanics are far easier to study and better understood. It is this researchers theory that the other two are incomplete to a degree Class is not. Class as a system does have some issues where things cannot be quantified, mostly related to how they change, are assigned, and upgrade. That being said, much of what follows is what generally works for most people.
He frowned at this. No mention of Pacts, which seemed to also be a sort of progression system. Or was that Domain? He looked over and saw that Lady Blood Claw was rubbing her eyes and had changed to an off white color that [[Unity]] told him was her color for boredom. She unpacked a rather classy looking jacket, put it on, pulled out a stocking cap and put it over her silver hair, was unhappy with the cap, checked her pockets, moved the gloves between them, scuffed her chair on the ground, then wiggled to sit right, then tried to move her book so she was holding it up rather then laying on the table.
“Lady.” Corvayne said, wondering how nobody else was distracted by LBC. “If you don't mind looking for a book, can you find something about Domains and Artifacts? If you can't find it here, maybe ask about it in the special collection. You could also help by asking them about ' The Last Symphony of Amerhost' or '10,000 paths to power'.”
Lady Blood Claw stood, then paused. As usual, once she realized that Corvayne had read her skin color she jumped back to gray almost immediately. “Wouldn't someone else do better with talking?”
He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. “It would help me handle the reading and you could stretch your legs.”
She didn't need much more prompting, heading back to the desk. Bell, on the other hand, elbowed him. “Asking for help... she's going to have that Librarian tart who was staring at you in tow I bet!”
Corvayne looked at her. It didn't take [[Unity]] to see she was acting a little jealous. “I didn't notice, and I'm happy with you and Spears. As long as she doesn't interfere with our goals here. I am not going to respond to any provocations.”
Bell looked away from him at Spears and pointed at Corvayne. “Say something too!”
Spears put her book down and fished in her pockets with one hand while using another to reach into her forehead and start changing slime-stuff up. A moment later she looked like a librarian as rendered in some of the more mature publications he had found shoved between books back in the Watcher library. She leaned forward to show off her exposed watery cleavage, finger moving to her lips. “Shhh.”
“I don't think you are helping to allay her fears.”
Bell sat back in her chair, clearly embarrassed or perhaps worried that Spears-Like-Water was showing off. Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder and felt her relax as she put her ear to his hand. He felt through [[Unity]] Bell's worries and he tried to send her reassurance. Spears was radiating something like amusement and a faint trace of arousal, which made Corvayne clear his throat and pick up his book again lest he lead himself and his two girlfriends on a path that lead to getting thrown out of the library.
The first class one gets usually involves some sort of agreement between what the System thinks a person is and what they think, though for less flattering tier 1 jobs it might be also based on what others think of a target.
That might explain why Bell had been a 'Spoiled Princess' and 'Squire' when they met, and had shed them to just be a 'Warrior'.
Classes or Jobs change when the person's skills and goals change from those initial settings. There is a barrier to change that intent plays a large role in, as does training, methods one uses to solve problems, skill levels, powers, views others have about the person's role, certain artifacts, powers, scrolls, and job tomes, and sometimes the whim of the system all adding to the chance of a job change. While classes are the technical term, often times when someone thinks of something as their job the system moves to switch their class to match. One who hauls garbage eventually becomes a garbage-man. There is a high chance this happens during a period of extended rest, or during some sort of personal catharsis, or during a period of extreme duress.
Changing Classes does not generally (a word I must add to: everything I write has exceptions, sadly) remove the previous classes with the exception being tier up. Instead, there tends to be a folding effect on skills and powers the system previously gave to a person. This is why sometimes there are 'folded' dual classes, where one person is able to be multiple things as their 'true calling' or where the system just gave up, throwing it's invisible hands into the air as if to say 'I do not know what to do with a warrior that fights with weapons he baked should be. Warrior///Baker it is' [See Dunsing's book of oddities for more details on this example]
Subjobs are obtained in several ways and differ from a dual class. They are easier to change, and one may shift them between several roles one has obtained significant skills in. Often they are a profession that one seeks excellence in. If there are two professions, it may be that when one works with one duty, they are that subjob. The moment the Warrior hangs up their apron to go hunt monsters, that subjob moves from 'Line Cook' to 'Archer'. Some people are able to switch jobs more fluidly then others, which is why there is a hidden stat in many tomes for this flexibility. Depending on author, this might be 'Job Flexibility' or 'Class shiftatude' or 'Plasticity' and so on. It's not known to this writer if there's an official stat that governs this ability, or which stats do and their actual system granted names.
Corvayne was wondering if the book could give some more concrete examples if not rules, and then it did. It went into details about some of the very well known Classes that had specific conditions for change. An example was how anyone who picked up the class [Slave] had tremendous stat growth and would gain powers that specifically were designed to free themselves and kill whomever had enslaved them. Once the parties responsible died, they'd almost instantly switch back to a Class that was based on the skills they had used. A side note suggested that the class had changed at some point in the past to basically outlaw slavery in the Tower by giving people who qualified incredible stats, then again to stop nobles with some level of system knowledge from throwing their kids into slavery for a few years to level them up.
Other examples were people getting warrior, the most common class, by fighting and beating an opponent as a non combatant, then 'dropping' the class back to a profession as they finished an apprenticeship.
Corvayne skimmed a section about first jobs that was written for parents, as everyone had developed a class and that wasn't what they needed to know. It seemed intuitive to him: you wanted your kid to be a caster, them wanting it and trying to wave a wand around made it more likely. If they had a particular type of mage they fancied, they'd do that. If they had a secret affinity for an element in the family or because they stuck an elemental essence crystal in their mouth as a kid, that would influence what sort of mage they became.
Dual Jobs seemed to be some sort of low tier way of accepting a split focus of one particular thing. Reading along, it seemed that it didn't exist at higher tiers, with only a handful of tier 3s having a dual class.
The book sidetracked into a sub chapter about that there was some sort of pool for stats that even with a billion job changes, it wouldn't give someone who leveled warrior to 15 stats they already 'got' from that job, and the same with the number of class related powers would fade if they were not used or push to a dual class or subjob. It made sense to Corvayne, as even with a useful talent like his ability to cross weapon skills would be outshone by someone flipping through 100 variants of 'Warrior' to become extremely fast.
The next section was finally about the subjob, which boosted effectiveness but also tended to change readily.
It is a supporting role, and usually varies between one tactical option that's the 'true' or 'key' support job and then between all the other things a person might be secondary at. This can change rapidly depending on what the person's outlook is, as rapidly as every hour in some cases. Once more, the same hidden stat or a similar one to the one depending on class changes could be present.
Unlocking the ability to have a Subjob is usually done through one of four methods.
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1: Have a clear subfocus to your entire being. Usually this prompt is a racial subjob or an aspirational subjob that guides someone to a power or advanced class. Like Squire to Knight.
2: Overcoming a rite of passage as recognized by the system. Traditional trials with ritualized starts, challenges, and a conclusion tend to make it more likely. The hunt of a notorious monster by tribal youth is a frequent one, as are quests given by elders to hunt monsters for trophies that mark mastery of the environments they live in and the monsters who dwell there. The Kuplian ritual involving an insect larva, an unbroken portion of a giant crab, and the intact skull of a restless undead is a standard for Tower based groups.
3: Reaching a checkpoint in a personal goal. The longer the goal is held and more relevant to the system the more likely that reaching the first threshold will trigger said transformation.
4: Finding one of the climber break rooms on a floor multiplied by 5 where an expert on jobs waits, then requesting a subjob. This uses up that person's offer.
The advantage of an extra job cannot be overstated. Even at a reduced max level (again, controlled by a stat that we theorize to exist, some calling it 'Balance' or 'Multitalent' and some theorizing it's the function of Quintessence.
There are claims that some experienced adventurers have two or three subjobs. The one this author inquired after could not give them details, as they were not sure which tasks they performed lead to the system rewarding them with their third job. What was mentioned was dragon slaying, participating in large group battles to clear sub-tower dungeons, forming an empire, and reaching the 50th floor of the Tower. All of which seem to be beyond the scope of the lower floors this author can safely traverse.
Corvayne flipped through the book after that section and found some details about what Tier one classes had obtained in the past, further suggesting that there was an element of extreme randomness in the system. Someone who only wanted to fight with spears have been documented getting abilities that push them to the shield. There were also reports of people having the system line up exactly what they wanted. The author was obsessed with 'hidden stats' which was a subject that Corvayne had to consider. Either way, he moved forward to tiers, seeing as the light from the window had started to shift to yellow.
What we know of high tiers comes from competitive groups, keen to keep an advantage over their rivals and furthermore from people who have walked the path far beyond what most people are willing to dedicate their lives to, both considering risks and the toll fighting for years to advance. There is also supposedly paths where the broad entry jobs and variety of ways they are expressed lead to broad combinations, then supposedly as one moves to high tiers the eventual end path is one unique to the person. Such information tends to be restricted as the few self announced Tier 7s are notoriously difficult for scholars to access and do not often speak of their classes.
That said, there are more then a few Tier 2s and Tier 3s who had clear ideas of how they advanced their class. The Knight Tier 3 class is a result of reaching squire 25 while under the training of an honorable ally of a higher level, with variations based on what focus of martial combat they have. Interestingly there is also a Knight Tier 2, which is the result of a person being 'knighted' by someone the system recognizes in a social system.
The standard mage example and the one the reader probably is aware of just offhand is that a Mage or Fire Mage advances to Pyromancer by killing a certain number of monsters only using fire. The number varies but is around 200 for the average magician. They then can access the class by burning some sort of meaningful mark into themselves after meditating while looking at a fire. It is theorized that the number of kills is related to the skill level of their fire magic.
Advancing crafting classes can be reached by having an 'enlightenment' where the crafter makes a self-discovered breakthrough on a previously impossible crafting task or one that is related to a personal problem. Often instructors of crafting looking to nurture apprentices will block them from having all the information about how to overcome a challenge so they can use pre-set difficult crafting benchmarks to push novices to a tier 3 class comfortably.
Corvayne saw basics for advancing Warriors to several classes, and how to push priest and Monk further, but only a handful of concrete examples for tier 3 and only a sprinkling of support classes, mages, and a paltry list of tier 4s and the suspected path to upgrade them.
Known paths for Tier 4: Warrior 15 and one significant high level kill → Battle Squire to 25 under a level 40 Knight → Knight → Guardian (For thwarting 3 assassination attempts on their liege)
Mage → Pyromancer → Ashen Pyromancer (Using frequent spells focused on large scale destruction of flammable objects over two years) → Ashen Mage (Reaching level 50 skill in Ash magic, defeating a tier 4 monster using only ash based magic)
Wood Carver → Create 20 pieces of furniture that are sold to be used or a breakthrough to Carpenter → Create 20 mid sized structures made mostly of wood requested by others, or a breakthrough to become a Wood Carpenter → Design three major wood structures and construct them with a system quality of 'Acceptable' or Green-Yellow or 3/10 → Woodscaper
Pickpocket, Thief, Rouge → Steal 100 gold worth of objects from unsuspecting and potentially hostile targets to become a Sneak Thief → Infiltrate a location and steal an object with a market price of 1000 from a combined potentially hostile group of at least level 1000 → Apprentice Cat Burgler → Complete 3 Teir 3 quests from 'The Fixer' in the bar → Infiltrator.
As with much of the book, the stat theorists say they have found hundreds and hundreds of hidden stats with odd names they are unsure of that might adjust the numbers needed or if one can take the route. It's theorized that some of the stats determine how someone is able to tier up. Or that the system 'notices' people. It is a sad truth that while the above are reported to work for 95% of the Tier 4s who have these relatively well known evolutions, there will be 5% that must pursue a different path. Furthermore, as one goes higher in Tiers, these high benchmarks become less uniform.
With the afternoon light starting to fade, Corvayne looked over and found the youngest Librarian waiting half hidden behind a pillar, with Bell asleep with her cheek against a book and Spears using a little glowing ball of water to read what looked like her third book, but she was clearly sometimes flipping a few pages.
The young woman cleared her throat, a slight flush as she looked at Corvayne and turned her head down. “We are going to close for the night, Do you wish to leave your readings here and resume tomorrow?”
“We'll be back. Are the others still here?”
“The fellow who was interested in martial scrolls is leaving soon, your other two companions left and stated they'd be at the Inns you stayed at last night. They didn't specify which... if you remember the name I can give you directions.”
Bell startled awake and shot to her feet. “That won't be needed. Sir Corvayne recalls perfectly the way, and will need no further help.”
Corvayne smiled and nodded. “I appreciate the help. You can put my book away if you like.”
The Librarian girl pushed what looked more like a table on wheels forward, and gestured for them to put the books they did not need on it. Corvayne obliged and tugged at Bell, who sheepishly left her books where they were. Spears put two of the three she had pulled out and placed them on the cart.
Corvayne considered if he could just palm a book with his ring and walk out, but decided not to antagonize the library if there wasn't anything mission critical that required him to. After all, he had at least a better idea of what the class system was.
Mister I was practically bouncing as Corvayne watched him placing his scrolls for reading tomorrow, while Grunt was waiting in the exit past the desk looking subdued. Corvayne stepped away from Bell and Spears to walk with his large buddy through the streets. The warm air felt great, and Grunt himself smiled and gave Corvayne a friendly fist to the shoulder, gentle enough it didn't break anything. The setting sun made the tower loom over the town, which prompted a surprisingly cozy set of lights to be lit, more then matching Old Town with it's spotty coverage often blocked by girders.
“Did you find anything out?” Corvayne asked.
Grunt nodded. He motioned with his hands first a pair of walking fingers, then mimed surveying, then flashed his fingers 3 times to indicate 30, then held up a pair for 2, then gestured to the city around him before throwing his hands wide, and tapping his head.
“There's a really big city on floor 32?”
Grunt nodded, he gestured back at the library and made a pinched fingers, then threw his arms wide. He narrowed his eyes then and made finger rubbing motions with both fingers.
“It's very expensive. How much?”
Grunt mimed a 0, then flashed 6 fingers.
“A million gold?”
He fished out his bus card, but Corvayne made the connection.
“Oh it's one time for a pass? That's still a lot more then we have.”
Grunt raised an eyebrow: Oh really?
He produced a fist sized piece of black crystal, possibly one that Corvayne had shed when he forgot to flip forms while camping. It looked like the big man had cleaned off the blood and somehow shaped it into a hexagonal form. He held up his hand and made a 0 then held up 8 fingers.
Corvayne stopped dead. “That's not something I spit out, was it?”
Grunt smiled and nodded.
“Am I... rich?” He paused. “What about that shrine to Lythandies? Won't people desecrate it?”
Grunt let out a single gutteral laugh. He shook his head and did some finger signs that suggested lots of armed people, an army, surrounding it, and a bird motion that suggested sky knights, and a sneaky hood using his hands, suggesting assassins.
“I thought that was last time, is there really an army.”
Grunt plucked a leaf and pointed to it, and Corvayne was confused. “Leafy? Plant army? Green?”
A thumbs up. “Okay. Well, me and Bell owe Lythandies, and I'm not sure I can ever survive throwing out another hill of black gems.”
Corvayne glanced back at his girlfriends. He spotted they were discussing something, Spears holding up fingers and at one point touching one of the stark white scars on Bell's arms, and the Princess nodding. He wondered why Bell was worried about a librarian girl who looked too much like a judgmental Watcher, but then spotted the girl wearing a coat peeking around a corner a block back. Ah. Maybe the princess's instincts were sharper then Corvayne gave her credit.
Mister I walked by the girl, looking at her sideways but otherwise looking tremendously amused as he rushed to catch up. He waggled his eyebrows at Corvayne, who got that Mister I thought he going to put the moves on the young Librarian. She did look cute in the sense that she was terrible at following someone, throwing a book up to prevent Corvayne from seeing her face after they made eye contact, but he also got the feeling that she was a Tower-Folk and he wasn't as cavalier about them as Mister I and Grunt seemed to be.
They reached the plaza where their hotels were, and Lady Blood Claw waved from a table under an awning that extended from the rowdy hotel where Grunt and Mister I were staying.
There was a flush of blueberry from LBC's skin. Embarrassment! She flashed to gray almost as soon as she clamped down on [[Unity]]. “Sorry, I did what you asked Corvayne but trying to read anything I found, it was like pulling teeth. I instead went and bought us a map to a place where we might find that book... The Last Symphony of Amerhost.'”
She laid out a map that was part drawing part text. Some of the drawings were traditional map fare, showing sections of what looked like tower portions, others were first person showing what a floor SHOULD look like, and the text had information on potential threats as well as what doors they should look for if the route changed.
“I did learn from the Librarian the cost of the first layer of their special archives, which is rather steep. A hundred gold for a person for a day. I put down 10 gold for the map from a dealer.”
Corvayne pulled chairs out for Bell and Spears, then sat himself so they could sit around him. Spears surprised him by taking a chair between Bell and LBC, letting Grunt pull two up and sit next to Corvayne. Spears gave Bell a playful shoulder, and Corvayne could see Bell smile back. He recalled the two having a fight then making up, and he guessed that's why Bell wasn't jealous of her. He shifted back to looking at the map, which was long and looked like it covered twelve floors.
“That's from here to floor 17?”
“There's an adventurer's outpost near a ruined library that produces books as treasure, and the one we want is not an infrequent result. There's people there that we can trade with, though I suspect it's expensive because the Librarian guessed the dungeon produces the book itself maybe four times a year.”
“They have years?” Spears asked.
Lady Blood Claw shrugged. “It might just be a word we are translated into understanding rather then 'four every 300 days' or whatever.”
Corvayne rolled the map back up and handed it to Lady Blood Claw. “It may be faster after the changes that took the tower...”
LBC smiled. “I bribed some fellow adventurers to drinks to discuss that. In the last few weeks, they noticed more doors, more stairs, more monsters, and more chests. They also think the regeneration rate of all of those increased.
Corvayne thought about this. “So we might try a few times and see if this dungeon makes it, otherwise we have to pay whatever price someone at the site asks if they have it.”
Lady Blood Claw nodded, then caught a glance behind Corvayne. Probably the librarian again. “There was another option that the head librarian mentioned. He could get us the book, but...”
Mister I at this point had set his coat around a chair and was going into the restaurant to order.
“But?” Corvayne said as he turned back to Lady Blood Claw.
“But we have to do him two favors.”
Corvayne leaned back. “That you didn't just tell me suggests this isn't something I'm going to like.”
“He wants us to help his granddaughter get a certain class and set up her subjob...”
He heard the delay in her voice. “And?”
“And help her awaken. I don't think you are going to like the suggestions he had for that.”
Bell leaned past Spears, rattling the silverware on a plate in front of LBC. “What exactly did you agree to, Lad- Miss Blood?”
She put a hand on her half finished croissant. “I didn't agree to anything but to have Corvayne hear him out, but he hinted it involves Corvayne sleeping with her.”
Spears put a hand on Bell to stop her from lunging, quickly glancing back to confirm to Corvayne she knew the girl in question had been following them. “I do not mind other women, but I don't want them to be trivial!” Spears finished more heated then she started, then her blue cheeks flushed with pink spots when she cleared her throat.
Corvayne nodded. “We can help with a subjob quest, especially since I'm under the impression that some of us don't have them...”
Spears met his eyes and nodded but everyone else at the table suddenly looked the other directions, with Mister I even whistling. Corvayne wasn't sure why they were all doing that, but he had become used to sometimes people doing things that didn't make sense to him, and he'd probably figure it out later if he watched more movies and TV shows or asked LBC about it, though she was looking away with her skin a very uniform gray.
Corvayne cleared his throat. “Well, where was I... the goal is to awaken her, right? Let's look into that tomorrow and see what other methods we can go with, because I'm not doing to Bellithca or Spears-Like-Water something like that, and we can get the book even if the other options require some dungeon diving... which was on the list of things to do anyway.” He thought about Hari and Wick again, and a little part of his heart ached that he pushed down as he looked between Bell and Spears. “Let's order dinner, and talk about what we all learned, then tomorrow I'll talk to the librarian and we can see about figuring out more about awakening.”
Corvayne took a glance back, and couldn't see the girl, but it was an extra wrinkle and he already could feel that both Bell and Spears were not entirely happy, nor was Lady Blood Claw oddly. [[Unity]] had some weird moments it picked things up.
He shrugged. It probably was much ado about nothing.