After a while, we end our reconciliation make-out session when we notice that Eclaire also shows signs of onsetting stage three infection.

She sighs and then rolls her eyes, "Guess it is my time now, huh? Jared, you know what to do."

"Yeah, I do. Don't worry, dear."

I quickly look over her new skills to look for something that we can sacrifice without it negatively affecting her.

Burial Vestal Growth Rates

25 HP, 51 MP, 30 SP, 4 STR, 3 DEX, 4 VIT, 8 MAG, 8 FTH, 6 WIL, 6 CHA Earth Magic (Rank 1)

You can use earth magic of ranks 0 to 1.

The rank limit increases to 2 at skill level 15 and 3 at 30.

The maximum rank can raise up to 5 with appropriate classes. L̷i̶g̷h̸t̴ ̴O̷r̶b̵

Concentration

Create a floating orb of ice that emits light equal to a torch and follows you.

You can also direct it, but it can't be further away from you than two arm lengths. Energy Boost

Passive

Increase max MP and SP each by 3% and (3 x skill level).

Not too shabby. The weird source of light may come in handy sometimes; despite being creatures that prefer the night, vampires don't come with night vision in this stupid system.

Gentle Monk Growth Rates

51 HP, 28 MP, 37 SP, 5 STR, 5 DEX, 8 VIT, 2 MAG, 6 FTH, 6 WIL, 5 CHA T̴h̷i̸s̵ ̵A̴r̸m̸

500 SP upkeep

Your unarmed and weapon attacks inflict 10% of their damage additionally as fracture status damage. Armor of Faith

Passive

While equipped with no armor heavier than cloth, increase VIT and WIL by (1.5% base FTH + skill level). Peacemaker

Concentration

Your unarmed and weapon attacks inflict damage to SP instead of HP.

Gentle my ass. Brutalizing someone with fractures and broken bones isn't peaceful in the slightest. Maybe I should be worried about a deep darkness hiding behind her angelic smile?

N̴̗̓e̶̻̽ć̵̝r̷͉͒o̶̗͗s̶̖͑ā̵͇ỉ̵̱n̶͈̈́t̸̰͗ Growth Rates

-6.6 HP, 44 MP, 35 SP, 2 STR, 7 DEX, -1.3 VIT, 8 MAG, 5 FTH, 4 WIL, 9 CHA R̷̳͘i̶̢̿c̶̿ͅè̴̳ ̴͛ͅD̴̹̊ě̸̢a̶̻̽ď̷ͅ

-87 SP

Create a R̷̳͘i̶̢̿c̶̿ͅè̴̳ Zombie from a sufficiently large pile of r̴̳̉ĩ̴͈c̶̾͜ê̴̩.

Its level is equal to half of this skill's level. F̴͚̎ḭ̶̇e̷͕͒n̷̫͛ď̶͚ ̶̲̂t̸͇̎ȏ̵̧ ̴̲̑ạ̵̍l̸̺͝ļ̸̽ ̴͓̈L̵̐ͅĩ̵͜v̸̟͐i̶͍͂n̶͈͝g̸̜̓

Passive

Mindless undead see you as one of their own. C̸̕͜r̶̪̃ỳ̶̦p̷̤͆t̸̨̒o̷͔̾c̵̈́͜u̸̼͒r̴͔̔r̷͙̀ḙ̸̍n̶͙͑c̷̟̄y̴̘͆

Passive

When you destroy an undead, or any creature within a tomb or crypt,

you receive an amount of s̴i̷l̶v̶e̸r̸ coins equal to this skill's level or the victim's [Undead] level, whichever is lower, minimum 1.

I guess this is the class she complained about breaking. I can't even guess from this what she originally wanted. I assume it is similar to what I experienced with Survivor, the overlap between the current version and the original may as well not exist.

I assume this happened because as a spirit she is a part of me, of my soul, and her new class was written to a section of my soul that was thoroughly infected with glitches...

I'm sorry, Eclaire...

So deadbrain friendship, braindead friendship, and eventually scam money? Eh, why not, I've heard worse.

War Cleric Elite class Growth Rates

49 HP, 37 MP, 34 SP, 8 STR, 4 DEX, 8 VIT, 2 MAG, 8 FTH, 5 WIL, 3 CHA Cure Spark

Passive

Whenever you successfully use Cure Magic or destroy an undead creature,

you can immediately use a 20% FTH cure effect on a different target within proximity. Life Sense

Passive

You can sense the proximity and relative health of living creatures within your vicinity. H̵o̵l̶y̷ ̸S̴m̸i̴t̸e̶

947 SP

Deliver a mace strike that inflicts physical lightning damage equal to double your regular melee attack power to everyone within 5 meters of the point of impact.

I don't really see what's so "war" about this cleric; it looks like a fancy field medic to me. And the third skill looks nearly unusable; aren't you yourself always within five meters of a target you strike with a melee weapon? Well, it is a glitched skill so what do you expect - certainly nothing sane.

Hallowed Witch Growth Rates

28 HP, 54 MP, 33 SP, 4 STR, 5 DEX, 3 VIT, 5 MAG, 8 FTH, 7 WIL, 4 CHA C̸u̸r̶s̸e̵ ̵o̵f̵ ̶E̸x̸h̸a̶u̶s̴t̷i̴o̶n̷

829 MP

Place a curse upon the target if its WIL is below your CHA.

While the curse is active, the target cannot use or benefit from skills or effects that improve or restore mobility in any way, like [Wings] or [Flash Step]. As with all proper curses, ending the effect requires [Break Curse]. Sanctuary

Concentration, once per day

For up to one hour you sanctify an area with a radius of 100 DU around the point where you activated the skill.

The effect ends prematurely if you leave the area.

The sanctified area provides a bonus to VIT of 2% of the caster's FTH, as well as HP regeneration of (0.25% of the caster's FTH) every minute. Benediction

400 MP upkeep

Increase 2 base stats of choice by (3% FTH + skill level) points.

Affects up to (2 + skill level / 7) allies, can include the user.

Called a witch, but provides boons instead of curses, something is wrong here. And aside from the one messed up skill I can't even blame it on glitches this time. Whoever designed this class has a very abnormal idea of what a witch is...

But overall it seems Eclaire is heavily leaning into her image of the Holy Maiden. Healing, boons, the works. She even skipped on any hints of her blacksmithing hobby, I thought that was more important to her than that. But that may have just been a frustrated Lucia's rebellious phase, what do I know?

"I'm a bit surprised, Eclaire. You've completely eschewed any hint of your smithing past. Considering how much Lucia hangs unto it, I thought..."

Eclaire cuts me off, "No, you're right, I will miss working on my crafts, but I feel this is more important. I'll have a lot of work to do with the church and everything, which is something I also enjoy, mostly. And let's be real, once all of this is over and things have settled down to an acceptable state of normal I've all the time in the world to take this hobby back up; thanks to you, we're immortal now, right? Or... maybe..."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

She never finished her sentence, so I have to ask, "What?"

While discussing this, I continue to search through her skill list, looking for skills that are a suitable sacrifice for her Hybrid class.

Lucia buts in, "What Ms. goody-two-shoes over there is worried about is the faint possibility that we two may become one again. We were one person before after all."

They could fuse again? Why would they? At least as far as I can see both are their own person now and not a pair of emotionally half-empty human shells. Rather, they've become quite distinctively different from both each other and the original Lucia, and not only because the human was changed into a vampire or a spirit...

Ah, better watch which buttons I push, I'm still in that menu.

"Do you have more than a gut feeling about that? Because I don't see how or why that should happen. From my view, both of you have already grown so different from one another that such a reunion is simply out of the question."

Eclaire explains, "That's just something Lucy came up with, I don't believe in it either. But I can't deny that the possibility nags at my mind ever since she told me about it."

"Yeah, that's not happening", not on my watch. I like them separated as they are.

Or is that just the title making me feel that way again? Argh, who knows, we have a different problem right now that needs addressing.

"I don't think this worry should influence what choices you make. You'll have lots of time later to make up for what you're missing out now."

Eclaire pats Lucia on the back, "Yeah, and when I'm totally rusty, Lucy can coach me back into shape."

"Good, that sounds like a plan", a bit distracted, I finally close the menu.

...?

Shit, I already clicked on the confirmation button, I thought it was the leave menu button!! Damn, I forgot to add some skill sacrifices to the Hybrid class. Undo, undo!!

Damn, too late to change it now, I screwed up.

Before I can admit my mistake, the signs of infection have already disappeared from her. Out of us three, she had the fastest recovery from it, and she doesn't show any monstrous changes either. She looks exactly the same as before.

Eclaire looks confused, "Uh, I just got a Hybrid class and... that's it? I expected... something different."

"Seems like it is only a big deal if the infection has already progressed a lot. Say, can you still see Lucia's shadow?"

She mocks me, "What, no weird questionnaire to get back at me? Check if I'm still the same person?"

"No, don't need to. I feel I can trust you on this, Eclaire."

She pats my head, "Whatever, thanks. So as far as I can see now, Lucy's shadow is gone. What do you suppose this means?"

Lucia teases her blonde counterpart, "That you're no longer hallucinating."

Eclaire scratches her head, "Was I? I... no idea, it didn't feel like it. Uh... But maybe I was, the glitches get to you in the sneakiest ways it seems..."

Just like I did with the block dots. Yeah, I can relate. It doesn't feel fake but it undoubtedly is.

"So... any idea what happened to my weapon?", Eclaire takes out a can.

"No, sorry, no clue."

Eclaire waves it around, trying to figure out how to operate it. And fails by getting it to let out some spray right into her face, "Bwah!!"

She coughs, "Gah, it still burns!"

Oh, so it was functional pepper spray. Whoops.

She throws it away in a fit of anger, "Useless thing!"

After calming down, she creates again a regular mace, "I'll stick with this. Goddamn pranksters..."

"Maybe you should hand it to Karen and let her figure it out."

She still coughs, "Yeah... will do."

So what exactly is her new Hybrid class like?

Hybrid P̴a̷r̵a̷d̷o̴x̶ ̶W̴r̶a̴i̵t̷h̷ extra class Growth Rates

17.5 HP, 34 MP, 26 SP, 3.5 STR, 2 DEX, 2 VIT, 4 MAG, 3.5 FTH, 4 WIL, 2 CHA H̵͚̔o̴̰͆l̵̙̽ỳ̴͍ ̴͙̋Ȗ̵̩ṅ̷̟d̶̨́e̸͓̽a̷̪̓d̵̝̈́

Passive

Gain weaknesses to earth, dark and holy damage.

Gain resistance based on skill’s level to peanut and poison damage and effects.

Adds immunity to general mind effects.

Adds affinities for c̶͕͂h̸̩̊e̸̲͐ë̴̙́s̶̢͌e̴̱̋, m̵̰̓ĭ̴̺ĺ̶̪k̷̝͝ and a̸f̴t̴e̸r̵l̶i̵f̵e̸.

Breathing is no longer necessary.

Unable to produce biological children.

Healing effects from hostile sources will be harmful instead at four times the original strength but subject to WIL.

Exposure to sunlight will inflict mild discomfort.

Cannot use potions.

Unable to add classes that would grant iron affinity. R̷e̷a̵l̸i̶t̸y̵ ̶L̴a̸g̵

Once per day

Choose a target.

For 1 minute, all beneficial or harmful effects (user's choice) that would affect it are delayed until this skill's effect ends. F̸̠̏a̵͉͑t̷͉͗e̷̩̊ ̸̨̒A̴̜͝ǹ̴̝o̶͇̊m̵̨̛a̵̲͒ḷ̶̇ÿ̵̱

1000 SP, once per day

Interfere with an ongoing attack and replace the effect with a different one the attacker could use.

This replacement does not cost the attacker anything extra or affect their skill usage counts.

The affected skill cannot deliver more hits than either the original or the replacement could deliver, whichever is lower.

E.g. you could manipulate a dragon's fire breath to behave as if the dragon only performed a claw attack; the breath would then only hit one target for claw damage and pass harmlessly through everyone else in the area of effect. B̷o̸r̴r̵o̶w̶e̸d̸ ̷T̷i̴m̵e̶

Passive

NO EFFECT

Completely glitched out but could've still been worse. More once-per-day stuff for our little one-hit-wonder and nothing actively detrimental to us.

Her first skill strongly reminds me a lot of my [Undead] skill, a corrupted version of it.

Undead

Passive

Gain weaknesses to fire, light and holy damage.

Gain resistance based on skill’s level to ice, dark and poison damage and effects.

Adds immunity to general mind effects.

Adds affinities for earth, ice and dark.

Breathing is no longer necessary.

Unable to produce biological children.

Healing effects from hostile sources will be harmful instead at four times the original strength but subject to WIL.

Exposure to sunlight will inflict (20 + highest class level + highest race level) damage per second.

Cannot use potions.

Unable to add classes that would grant light affinity.

Yeah, quite similar, but hers seems less detrimental.

I confirm her for now final status and notice that the weird wannabe-divine class did not level up again. Does it only level up when I make some sacrifices? The description didn't hint at that restriction.

Name Eclaire Delacroix Status none Age 18 (frozen) Classes Grave Cleric 16, Burial Vestal 11, Gentle Monk 11, N̴̗̓e̶̻̽ć̵̝r̷͉͒o̶̗͗s̶̖͑ā̵͇ỉ̵̱n̶͈̈́t̸̰͗ 11, War Cleric 11

Hallowed Witch 11 Race Sunbound (human) 11, Imp 11 Extra Hybrid 20, Spirit 20 Divine Holy Maiden 12 HP 1741/3422 MP 1254/1442 [4442] SP 1568/3549 STR 754+16 (mace) DEX 613 VIT 679+26 MAG 741 FTH 1005 WIL 865+26 CHA 712 Equipment Spirit Mace, Spirit Mace Skills - Weapon Mace Training 16, T̴h̷i̸s̵ ̵A̴r̸m̸ 11 Skills - Magic Cure Magic 11 (Rank 2), Earth Magic 11 (Rank 1), Expel Undead 16, Fire Magic 11 (Rank 1), R̷̳͘i̶̢̿c̶̿ͅè̴̳ ̴͛ͅD̴̹̊ě̸̢a̶̻̽ď̷ͅ 11, Sanctity of Life 16, Sanctuary 11 Skills - Status C̸u̸r̶s̸e̵ ̵o̵f̵ ̶E̸x̸h̸a̶u̶s̴t̷i̴o̶n̷ 11 Skills - Special F̸̠̏a̵͉͑t̷͉͗e̷̩̊ ̸̨̒A̴̜͝ǹ̴̝o̶͇̊m̵̨̛a̵̲͒ḷ̶̇ÿ̵̱ 20, L̷i̶g̷h̸t̴ ̴O̷r̶b̵ 11, R̷e̷a̵l̸i̶t̸y̵ ̶L̴a̸g̵ 20, Spook 11, Wings 11 Skills - Passive Ageless 1, Armor of Faith 11, B̷o̸r̴r̵o̶w̶e̸d̸ ̷T̷i̴m̵e̶ 20, C̸̕͜r̶̪̃ỳ̶̦p̷̤͆t̸̨̒o̷͔̾c̵̈́͜u̸̼͒r̴͔̔r̷͙̀ḙ̸̍n̶͙͑c̷̟̄y̴̘͆ 11, Cure Spark 11, Familiar 1, F̴͚̎ḭ̶̇e̷͕͒n̷̫͛ď̶͚ ̶̲̂t̸͇̎ȏ̵̧ ̴̲̑ạ̵̍l̸̺͝ļ̸̽ ̴͓̈L̵̐ͅĩ̵͜v̸̟͐i̶͍͂n̶͈͝g̸̜̓ 11, Hard Worker 11, H̵͚̔o̴̰͆l̵̙̽ỳ̴͍ ̴͙̋Ȗ̵̩ṅ̷̟d̶̨́e̸͓̽a̷̪̓d̵̝̈́ 20, Life Sense 11, Sleepless 1, Stamina Boost 11, Summoned Spirit 20 Self-made Spirit 11, Word of Refinement 11 Weakness Ice, Earth, Dark, Holy

Her stats went up by a lot, but that is to be expected when she gains a total of six classes with several levels alongside them.

Well, what's done is done, and we go back to doing couple things for a while.