Ivan sat with Marvin, his conjured scroll wavering and flickering like it was a purple and black candle in the gentle breezes that occasionally came into the sheltered garden space. They had gone over the basics of Attributes and most of how they worked.
Marvin generally seemed to understand the purpose of each, with at least one question remaining when they sat down.
“I just find it funny is all. Aren't Dexterity and Agility the same more or less?”
Ivan shook his head.
“Elves are born with the Perk 'Grace' for instance. It gives them a small portion of their Agility as Dexterity. Without it they would all still be fast, but you'd get one now and then that couldn't handle the speed and be a total klutz. You should know that if you ever looked into magic items to help your craft 'Warrior-Smith'. As a human having an enchantment to improve dexterity and endurance might be key to making a weapon just right with all those extra touches.” Ivan answered.
Marvin nodded, satisfied by the answer. It was clear to them both that the difference between Perception and Intelligence being akin to the basic concepts of Sight and Mind that Agility was Speed, and Dexterity was Control.
“-And Astral Familiarity- What's that?” Marvin asked.
“Oh um..” Ivan used his gaze upon the attribute to inspect it, pouring mana into the Infinite Library given access to him by the skill Basic Information. He blinked thinking about that. He had been inspecting things using only his own mental images and concepts and been getting answers ever since he claimed the Scholar job. Was that some hidden perk or was it just the change in his Intelligence attribute?
“It's a magic strength attribute that measures my means and capability of summoning creatures and maintaining conjured weapons. It also seems to be important in resisting the effects of something called Dimensional Transgression.” Ivan answered.
He sort of knew that answer instinctively, Demonology 1 giving him the intuition that it was related to his summoning, but never giving him the exact details he had now. He could of course have spent mana to learn what Demonology 1 had to do with it, but that wouldn't have helped answer Marvin's question as directly.
“Oh, teleports do that. It's all high magic stuff.” Marvin replied.
Ivan nodded, satisfied with having the attribute both with what he knew and hearing that.
“So we talked about Class Ranks. Everybody knows that. What I want to know is how you keep all your jobs straight. You've even been hiding Knight from us haven't you?” Marvin asked.
Ivan nodded lamely.
“I thought it might give me away.”
“You were probably right about that, but you said you had four combat jobs. So far what I can see of this mess you only have three.”
Ivan stared at where, not so very long ago, his Paladin Job would have laid upon his 'Block Tree'. He frowned at it, rage, and sorrow mixing somewhere deep in his gut, and tingling running up and down his arms where the magic had burst out earlier. He had washed off his arms since, but his sleeves were a total loss. He thought he understood what happened there, but he would have to ask Penelope to be sure. She would know.
“You're right. Of course.” Ivan began. “I uh...I don't have my Paladin Job any more.”
“And what rank was that? Adept?” Marvin asked.
“Standard. It's even with Knight, and doesn't replace it. It's sort of a unique case that way. Most Paladins can manage to have both Jobs level together.” Ivan answered dully, remembering his own plans to do so.
“How?” Marvin asked. “Andy's Militia and Fighter Job are close that like, and it just seems to take him forever to level them both.”
“That's because they suffer from split experience. There's a whole point system to that too, but there's no point in explaining it beyond that because it's an arbitrary point system meant to help explain how the levels work. The levels are all just soft of sort boundary thresholds more than steps on a ladder anyway. Or that's the way it should be. It's kind of strange and goes back to what I said before. We change things on some fundamental level by measuring and recording them. It gets weird when you look into records and journals people have left behind. So many people use the Halspus's model for Inspections that it's changing how the whole system works as a species.” Ivan answered, sort of mumbling as he ranted.
“That is quite possibly the most Scholar like thing I've ever heard you say.” Marvin commented, his voice kind and dry.
“Did you actually understand any of it?” Ivan asked just as dryly.
“Sure buddy.” Marvin answered, and pointed back to the chart.
“So how did you avoid split experience then?” He asked.
“The Knight is sworn to the Realm, and the Paladin is sworn to the Order of his Church.” Ivan answered, “Acting out Istania's will advanced my Paladin Job, and things I did on my own or for the people advanced my Knight Job, though it usually helped to use specific jobs skills to get the most out of combat. It's not just combat that gives you experience points though. Andy might not realize, but just standing watch gives experience. Doing any sort of duty like that does as long as it falls in line with one of your jobs.”
“What order did you serve?” Marvin asked as a natural next question.
“None. I served the Goddess. I didn't need anything else. There's not exactly a whole lot of Paladin Orders sworn to Istania anyway, they are all just Orders of Restoration. I guess she probably would have had me start a true Order of my own under her banner.” Ivan answered, feeling a little bummed out again as his mind filled with memories of his home and Goddess.
Marvin stared at Ivan for a few moments.
“I'm sorry I keep bringing her up.” Marvin said carefully.
“It's...fine..sort of. She's gone now. I have to face that calmly and normalize it in my head at some point. Might as well be now.” Ivan said, but he felt like he should be grinding his teeth and swearing or screaming or something. It took a good deal of his patience to manage to stay calm.
“Every time I saw you...” Marvin began, “She was with you. Did you live with her? Er..well one of her?”
Ivan nodded.
“She would split herself up. Literally. I don't know how it works, but she would sometimes run into herself too. It was actually pretty funny. We'd meet with the other families she stayed with and cared for time to time. Usually it was other Parishioners, people who ran her orphanages and schools. She was distracted most of the time, but at least she was there. -Always there...” Ivan answered, choking off and holding back the tears that suddenly wanted to flow from his eyes. His arms stung and something deep inside him writhed like a snake trying to force its way out of a still wet clay jar.
Marvin took the hint and dropped the subject finally as Ivan eventually glared at him with tear stained eyes.
“So you were calling them 'Job Blocks' right?” Marvin asked, pointing back to the information on the conjured scroll.
Upon its face the graph showed all sorts of information, but they focused on the squat building block-like structure of Ivan's 'Job Tree'.
“Well sort of. A Job Block refers sort of to the whole thing, from Standard to Champion, or Expert, or wherever you plan to stop or have stopped. In the big cities there's whole communities dedicated to explaining and helping people make 'builds' to follow.” Ivan explained, containing and setting aside his emotions for the peace he found in study and learning.
“Plan to stop?” Marvin asked.
Ivan took a breath and nodded. Although they shared the conventional adventurer knowledge of the colloquial 'X number Route' paths one could take, they were about to dive a little deeper. Istania hadn't left the planning of Ivan's progression to a single path. No, no. His Goddess had lived with him, poked, and prodded his mind and character until she had an idea of what Ivan really wanted for himself. She had refined it, learning and testing his interests in things, and changing the plans she had made for him based on what he enjoyed. Ivan touched the Scroll remembering her private lessons.
The graph currently showed all of Ivan's jobs, from Scribe, Gardner, to Scholar and Hedge Doctor; just like Warrior and Thief going up into Fighter and Rogue, all sitting like two story houses in a cramped little village. Occult Ritualist remained at level 3 for now. It sat like a little shack, a lean-to, next to the properly filled out jobs that made up Ivan's character.
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Ivan was going to expand out the Jobs, but hesitated. Fighter at level 10 would explode into its ten skills. The same would happen with Knight, Hedge Doctor, and Rogue and all the rest. A skill and perk for each level. There wasn't a static set of skills everyone got for each Job, it all depended on what one did, and how and why. There were shared skills and perks, and it was sometimes fun to find out that yourself and a friend had a shared skill or perk, especially if it was a personalized one.
“Keep this with you always. If you're ever lost, or don't know what you do remember that this path is what I know, in the very deepest places of heart, that you can do Ivan. Remember this, and use it as a map and guide to become who you really want to be.” That was Istania's voice, speaking in his memory as he dwelled on days long gone. He heard it as clearly as if she had spoken to him just then.
He touched the stout little 'Job Tree' that represented him with an idle will.
The solid lines of completed Jobs, and the open ends of Jobs yet to level to their maximum towered up, marked with dotted lines. The stout little structure of information on the graph grew like trees reaching for the top of the scroll. Scholar soared through the branches of Scholar of Divinity, Scholar of Restoration, Scholar of Biology, and Scholar of Ethics, the four Knowledge Mastery Jobs then unlocking Master Scholar. Master Scholar grew then through its many levels, and onto Master Scholar of Divine Right, Master Scholar of Education, Master Scholar of Justice and Law, Master Scholar of Agriculture. They made up the four pillars higher still that reached to Grand Scholar and beyond into the next four focused studies that would make Ivan an Avatar of Knowledge. That final Job would be colored by all the knowledge and mastery of understanding that came before it. And Istania had laid a path for him that would make him out to be a Judge, Teacher, and Healer.
But Scholar was not alone.
Knight and Paladin soared through the ranks together, side by side, dotted lines encircling Ivan's projected path and planned acquisitions of power. There were notes here, drawn in from his memory, of what to do to pass certain trials. Dungeons of certain difficulty, deeds that could be done outside of them, and more to help him advance. Combat classes sometimes needed deeds to surpass their limits and often skipped a rank when they unlocked their next job.
Knight grew from Knight of the Realm and leaped over the Advanced Class of Jobs to Land at its next destination at Expert. There it became Questing Knight, and that too would advance to its max level before leaping the Class Ranks yet again. With a Max Level of 40 the next stop on the Knight Job path brought it over both Master and Grand Class Ranks to land at Champion.
Champion of the Realm was a Job held by very few. The deeds that needed to be done to advance it further were the stuff of legends that lasted through the ages, but Istania had been sure; absolutely sure, that Ivan could do it if he tried. The warmth of her faith, spoken of what seemed so long ago filled his chest.
Knight leaped the ranks yet again and landed in its Avatar Class, called Avatar of Chivalry. In the projection it was joined there by Paladin that leaped along beside it, skipping over ranks like taking every other stair, becoming first Templar, then High Templar, onto Grand Templar, and Finally to High Champion with a max Level of 45 a step below Avatar of Chivalry's max level of 50.
Ivan remembered Istania's gentle smile then, and her kind words drifted from his memory to be heard once again.
“If you make it that far I'm sure absolutely no one will object if I give you the Title Job of Hero. You'll have earned it either way, and I'd rather give it to you rather than wait for something horrible enough to happen in order for you to earn that Job. This is what I hope for you my son. This is what I know you can do, and I hope shows you what goodness and bravery I see in your heart.”
Ivan stared then at the last of the four pillars Istania had laid out for him. The last was the most messy, and was filled with notes. He looked upon Hedge Doctor, and onto Medicine Man. It was labeled as 'The Hard Way' by his notes. Healer, starting at Standard Class, and moving onward was more direct, but required a spark that he would have to manifest on his own, made slightly unlikely by Ivan's insistence that Istania make him a Paladin with her gifted Divine Spark.
It was one of those things. Like Marvin with his apprentice job, it would be difficult for him to casually manage the Scribe or Student Job. To a point no matter what he learned, if it could be applied to his Blacksmithing it would be reflected in the skills and perks he gained there, not wasting his efforts, but perhaps giving an undesired effect. To gain Scholar like Ivan had Marvin would have to abandon Blacksmithing for a great deal of time, at least until he earned Scribe and brought it to its standard rank max level of ten.
Healing with the Paladin Job would do the same to Ivan's desire to gain the Healer Job. They were just a little too close; so instead of splitting experience as other jobs might, Paladin would just take it all. So the plan was to have Ivan learn the old ways of healing. The ways that came from the earth, its plants, minerals, and many magical creatures and animals thereby avoiding the experience split and gaining the job. That way, even if the Advanced Job, Medicine Man, caused a Class Rank regression by turning into the Standard Class job of Healer Ivan would still have it, and hopefully a spark of magic that matched well with it.
Istania's notes ended with Ivan gaining Avatar of Restoration. She never told him what he would need to do after, but always laughed.
“By then you'll have a pretty clear idea of what's next, but just know this is what I have planned for you. And this is just a hint at what you could be. There's plenty of chances for change and growth along the way, but I'll be there with you as much as I can so it's no problem. We'll figure it out together.”
Ivan remembered her bright smile and the fondness of her hands as she tousled his hair back then. He remembered her wild and somewhat earthy scent, and her quietly regal bearing, and silver-white tribal marks upon her cheeks. He remembered her sad eyes, shining with pride, and love and affection. She was only so much his Goddess as she was his mother. Even if Ivan could now recall his true mother's face, what came to mind when he thought of home and family was still the Goddess and her two dedicated followers who had raised him.
Marvin was staring, taking in the four pillars of tentative progression Ivan's scroll suggested.
“That...is one hell of a quad route.” Marvin muttered, he blinked considering.
“What would...if you could do it...what would you be then?” He asked after a moment.
“Imagine all the skills and perks.” Ivan commented idly, trying to keep himself from sniffling.
“Yeah...” Marvin agreed, leaning back, and brushing his hair back with his hands.
“You'd be no less than a God yourself at that point.” Marvin commented idly, “I've seen what the Hero Job can do by itself, but with all those supporting attributes, skills, and perks...there would be no stopping you.”
Ivan nodded reluctantly.
Penelope was standing near to the edge of the Shroud in that strange and shadowy dimensional space. Her own scroll was open, a copy of the plan Ivan had presented to Marvin upon it. Penelope's gaze was soft, her eyes not her own, but the same purple human eyes Ivan had. Her presence became a little gentler as she took in the information. It was a strange and subtle sensation. Was she just trying to comfort him?
“So is this how you think of things? How you manage it all?” Marvin asked.
Ivan nodded and touched the scroll again. The dotted lines of potential paths to future power drew away almost entirely. What remained suggested that Ivan wanted Rogue and Scholar to level 10, and Occult Ritualist to Level 5. He and Penelope had been talking, mostly at night, about where to go from there, but that much was sure enough in Ivan's mind to stick to this sort of mapping.
“I umm....well I was hoping sort of that my Dark Spark would bind to Occult Ritualist, and help me gain more magic, but it seems it's not going that way.” Ivan commented.
Marvin nodded.
“Isn't that a bit weird? Or will it just happen when you get that Job to Level 5?” He asked, genuinely curious.
“It will probably bond then, yes, but it's strange that it hasn't already.” Ivan answered.
“Is it bonding to another job already?” Marvin asked.
Ivan was about to answer when he remembered the dark ribbon tendrils shooting from his hands when he last used his Hedge Doctor Skills. That stopped him in his tracks.
“Maybe.” Ivan admitted.
Marvin kept silent, nodding from time to time, as he read the scroll once more.
“Touch one of the jobs.” Ivan instructed.
Marvin did without question.
Hedge Doctor became the focus of the Scroll, other letters and information shifting aside to display the Job on its own. From it came a pouring waterfall of text.
“Simple Surgery, Potent Potables 1 and 2, Administer Medicine, First Aid 2, First Aid 3?” Marvin read, going down the Skills list and reading from the list selectively.
Ivan nodded.
“First Aid is a spell School?” Marvin asked.
“Sort of. It's a Knowledge School that contains some spells. Goes up to Grade 5.” Ivan answered.
“What's after that?” Marvin asked.
“Surgery one through five. And then on to Advanced Surgery one and two, and then there's specific organ surgeries from there. It's incredibly risky stuff to do without magic to clean wounds and mend flesh, even if it's just some basic magic potions like I can make.” Ivan answered.
“Guess I never really thought of that.” Marvin admitted.
“What was your Dexterity before this job?” He asked then.
“Eight.” Ivan answered.
Marvin blinked at that, shaking his head.
“How do I look at Rogue?” Marvin asked.
Ivan reached up and pinched the surface of the scroll. The information condensed back into the job, and it went back into place with the others.
“Neat.”
Ivan smiled at his friend's earnest interest. Clearly he had been given some basic education in what was expected of him, but kept from higher learning. Otherwise he would have been walked through at least some model of this before.
Marvin opened Rogue's much smaller list, and seemed to read the attribute distribution breakdown more than once.
“So you'll gain what maybe ten or more points of Dexterity and Agility by the time you get Rogue to level 10?” Marvin asked.
“I'd be lucky to get ten, but yeah. More or less. Hedge Doctor only gave minor bonuses to Dexterity while Rogue gives Large Bonuses to Dexterity and Agility.” Ivan said and then thought about it.
“Actually large bonus means I can get anywhere from one to four points per level usually. So uh, maybe I will get more than ten.” Ivan mused.
“Seriously?” Marvin asked.
“Acrobat, Dancer's Standard Class Job, gives Huge Bonuses to the same attributes, and that's two to five points per level. It's kind of nuts, but you pay for it by not getting combat skills early on.” Ivan replied, sort of complaining a little too.
“So what's Moderate?”
“One to three.”
“Minor?”
“One to two.”
“So very minor is just one?”
“Or halves. The attributes round down or apply every other level or something then though.”
Marvin blinked.
“So you see it this way? With numbers and breakdowns and lists and graphs and such?”
“Yeah. Sort of. That's how I was taught to do it, but looking at all in numbers leads me to being disappointed or overthinking things. At the end of the day I just do the best I can. Or I used to, I suppose.” Ivan answered, actually complaining this time.
Marvin shook his head in disbelief, but smiled at Ivan. He took quite some time then looking through each of Ivan's Jobs, and even his perk list. Ivan was surprised to see that Remorseless was missing, but that wasn't all that bad a perk as compared to some. Marvin certainly slowed and eyed the Perks Ivan had earned from being so close to Penelope. He didn't say anything though.
“Thank you anyway. I think this actually helped me a lot. It's given me a lot to think on.” Marvin told him, but he didn't get up right away.
“The road ahead will be a little tough, but we'll make it if we use everything we have. Even if it takes a few awkward little talks like this one. I uh...well Isaac I want to be successful, all of us really, but Theadus has put all of us living here in a strange position. We have to take what power we can reach to defend ourselves.” Marvin said then, and stood before Ivan could answer.
His gaze had seemed very serious, and the feeling Ivan got from him provided by Taps Upon the Web told him that Marvin was almost angry that Ivan had been holding back in combat.
He stretched and yawned as he turned about to head toward the Kitchen.
“I'm hungry. You coming?”