image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/6d6be54a-3682-4755-94cc-82130f42e659/0_3.png]
The main idea behind what Vincent was aiming for was to find a class and a species that synergized and then decide if he wanted to stay or leave. What he had said to Irene was true; he did want to stay, but… a part of his heart and mind were not yet convinced.
He started by checking his stats.
Name: Vincent Valaška Age: 28
Level: 12 (12 tokens available).
Species: Human (Species selection available)
Class: Not selected (Class selection available)
Body 25 (+4) / Mind 18 (+4) / Spirit 24 (+4).
The first step was to raise his Body by five, then rest a bit—knowing from various sources that each point invested in a stat or skill required a few minutes in a quiet environment to set in.
The second step was using a device measuring strength he got from one of the engineers, a dynamometer, now enhanced with a magic sensor. Before the summoning, his grip was in the hundred and twenty pounds range, twenty pounds more than the human average but normal for a climber. Now, it has approached two hundred.
Vincent concluded he wasn’t thrice as strong as a normal man at thirty in Body, but only twice. It was like his ten stats were multiplied by one point zero three and something. He did the math on his phone six times, and it checked out.
Half an hour later, he tested his grip strength again. It had increased following the logarithmic progression, meaning any buff from perks or equipment would work on the same idea.
It was clear to Vincent that investing in stats was a good thing. The idea behind the build he was aiming for—if he decided to stay—was to get over seventy in stats, the point where he would gain more than with an arithmetic progression. And if he went for the cap, he would be twenty times more powerful than the average human, which sounded extremely dainty.
He put four more points in Body to reach a plain thirty without the buff, then went for a nap. Skills were good, too… probably, but so far, he knew they consumed resources, Mana, Stamina, whatever, while a stat was always there. And his bullets have made short work of a thirty-level foe, so…
The next step was to check all the available classes and species. To his great satisfaction, the descriptions were clear and to the point. Some incompatibilities resulted in penalties. Halflings made poor melee fighters, and Orcs were disadvantaged if they wanted to be bards.
Wait until somebody shows them Heavy Metal, Vincent giggled.
The list was long, with specialization paths and species variants. Elves were high—which invited obvious puns—mid or dark. The first were divided into Solar, Moon, and Star elves, the second into Forest, Sea, or Steppe, and the latter into Drows, Shadow, or Night. Vincent didn't see himself living in caverns or moons set in perpetual night, neither living in a tree house nor dispensing justice and light at every step, so he dismissed Elves first.
Dwarves or Halflings were out of the question. He liked his height, and the descriptions mentioned there were changes in his appearance.
Combinations were also possible, and Half-Elf didn't sound so bad, having the all-roundness of the humans and many perks from the elves, but somehow, he still hesitated. Some mixed races, like Dragonkin, were tough and powerful, but scales weren't his thing.
Dusk was setting, and he wasn't yet sure what to pick. Vincent leafed through the class options to clear his mind, bumping into the same problem. He didn't see himself in any of the options; they lacked the versatility he wanted. Those good at giving or soaking blows were supposed to jump in combat, roaring taunts, and the ranged or magic damage dealers were weak in close quarters, like in a vanilla RPG.
All of a sudden, a dark silhouette obscured the window. A man wrapped in a hooded cloak. Vincent jerked up, searching for his gun, but the stranger raised his hands in an appeasement gesture.
[Hubris (the Archetype of Darkness and Wisdom)]: Don't be afraid; I'm here to help. You only see the classes Kiara offers. There are many more and better.
"Let me guess, you want me to come to the dark side?" Vincent sighed.
[Hubris (the Archetype of Darkness and Wisdom)]: But is there a dark side? A knife is an object; you can use it as a tool or a weapon. Assassin is but a word; when you kill bad guys, it means Hero. Do you want fun? Swashbuckler or Gunslinger can be yours, just say the word.
[Kiara (Archetype of Light and Fortune)]: What are you doing here? He's my summon.
The red text felt like yelling in Vincent's mind. Her bright figure contrasted with the obscurity in the room, making Vincent protect his eyes with the back of his hand.
[Hubris (the Archetype of Darkness and Wisdom)]: You just got lucky with your summoning. It's clear you can't offer him what he desires.
[Kiara (Archetype of Light and Fortune)]: He needs a little time to figure out his class, that’s all!
[Hubris (the Archetype of Darkness and Wisdom)]: He needs help from someone more intelligent.
[Kiara (Archetype of Light and Fortune)]: You want a piece of me, old fart?
The next moment, the two jumped at each other throats, melting in a clew of black and white energy.
"Hey, cut it off!" Vincent yelled, instinctively jumping to separate them. As he touched the mingled forces, he got thrown back, flying. His head hit the headboard of the bed, and everything went dark.
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Groaning, Vincent crawled out the bed sheets, his eyes half-shut. The morning light was too strong; he forgot to pull the curtains.
"Shit! That was not a nightmare!"
The curtains were closed, and the light was a blue text floating in front of him.
You have made [Kiara (Archetype of Light and Fortune)] and [Hubis (Archetype of Wisdom and Darkness)] feel ashamed of themselves. Consequently, they worked together to offer you a unique class and species based on your achievements and personality.
Accept class, staying on the Realm, or Refuse, returning to your former home?
"Can I see the class?"
FAQ: Can I see unique classes bestowed by Archetypes?
Answer: No. Unique classes cannot be inspected beforehand, or there's a 50/50 chance they'd lose their powers.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"You're going Schrodfraudster's Cat on me?" Vincent replied with something he remembered from the nerds' discussions, although it felt slightly off. It was worse than when he started. At least, then, he could see his options… C'mon, Vincent… Remember what your shrink said: You already know what's best in your heart…
And he realized he did. The young people in the group came to his mind. Some were afraid, yet stayed; the dancer had that vibe… Others were courageous, like Jong, and kept cool even when facing battle for the first time. Some were ingenuous, like Jorge. And Irene, the beacon who truly led the guild, with her big eyes lightened by the desire to prove herself and make the world around her a better place…
"Fine, I accept… Better be good, class," he grumbled.
Class: Dichotomic (Unique, Mythical)
Elements: You can wield elements from the schools of Light, Darkness, Fortune, and Wisdom, altogether or separately.
Name buff: Valaška/Velasco.
Due to your class, you can choose the name you want to display. CD: 24h.
Under the Valaška name, you gain +10 in Body and increased damage when using a shepherd axe and light spells. While displaying the Velasco name, you gain the Blessing of the Raven: +10 in Spirit and an increased effect of all Darkness spells.
These buffs activate only in combat.
Species: Outsider (Mythical)
You have refused to embrace any of the Realm's higher species, continuing on your own path.
Species Perks:
Resilience (Passive, Elite): Enhances your overall physical resistance. You age 4x slower than a normal human. Evolvable at Skill levels 50 and 100. Current Skill Level: 10
Slippery (Passive, Elite). High Resistance to Magic Damage, Mind Control, and against all forms of Identify. Evolvable at Skill levels 50 and 100. Current Skill level: 10
Disguise (Passive, Elite): Set a name, class, and species to display as a tag. Recommendations: Scout, Ranger, Warmaster / Half-Elf, Evolved Human.
Passive Proficiency (Elite): Your passive skills work +25% over their expected performance. Allows most of your passive skills to evolve at Skills levels 50 and 100.
Passive skills:
Battle Instinct (Passive, Elite tier). You don't need to look at a target to judge its movements or the distance. At skill levels 50 and 100, you can evolve this ability to include an active effect. Current skill level: 12.
Quiet Leadership (Passive, Elite tier). With few but wise words, you manage to make others follow you. Increases the stats of your followers by +1. Gain +4 in every stat for yourself as long you have at least 30 followers. Evolvable at levels 50 and 100. Current bonus: +4. Current skill level: 15.
Animal Empathy (Passive, Elite tier). You feel the mood of the animals around you. You can detect hidden predators in an area of a hundred feet if they observe you with malicious intent. Current skill level: 13. Evolvable at Skill levels 50 and 100.
Spying (Passive, Rare tier). Your presence and attention are barely noticeable, and you are prone to finding secrets. Current skill level: 30.
Mentor (Passive, Elite tier). You are exceptionally gifted to teach your skills to others. Current Level: 10.
The notifications continued with a list of available skills and a warning that buying them would consume tokens. The cost varied, so he supposed the more expensive skills were better, but that was a worry for later. Vincent was famished. His skills could wait, but his growling stomach could not.
Choosing to display the evolved human species and the Rogue class, he dressed and went to the main hall. It was late morning, and there were few people there. Irene was one of them, wearing her hoodie. The tiger cub was playing around her feet, pushing herself into them, like a cat wishing for attention or a good scratch. The status displayed a Healthy tag, which was great.
"Hi," he saluted the girl. She mumbled something unintelligible and pulled the hoodie forward, covering more of her face. "You OK?"
"She messed her evolution," the remaining dancer said. "The requirement was to be alone in a room, but she took the cub with her. Instead of a Moon Elf, she's now a Nekojin."
"You rat!" Irene blurted.
"He was going to find out eventually," the girl shrugged.
"What's a Nekojin?" Vincent asked.
"This is a Nekojin," Irene yelled, pulling her hood back with the gesture of someone ripping a band-aid.
Vincent gasped. She was not wearing her glasses anymore, which allowed her now slightly bigger and green eyes to shine. Her pupils were horizontal slits. The ears had changed too. Now higher on her head, they were furry, pointy, and rotated independently, maybe scanning sounds. For the rest, she had the same facial traits as before. A pretty girl with cat ears.
"Go ahead, you can laugh," she hissed.
"I wouldn't do that," Vincent waved his hands in protest, aiming for the buffet. "Want anything? Do you still eat normal food?” If looks could kill, her eyes would have beheaded him on the spot. “What? It’s an honest question.”
"You're a Rogue!" she noticed.
"Yeah… but I can disguise it," he told her a half-truth. "And you are a Sorcerer," Vincent Inspected her in his turn.
"At least that part went well," she sighed, coming to the buffet to pour herself a glass of milk, then blushing, realizing she had just played into cat stereotypes.
Vincent finished making a sandwich and returned to the table. "Do you want to join me when I return the cub to her folks?" Vincent asked.
"We have to return the cuuuuub?" Irene wailed. "I thought we were going to keep it… OK, let me grab some clothes," she slapped her hands on the table to push herself up.
Ten minutes later, they were leaving the inn, the tiger tucked in Irene's arms. Jorge and Jong on the street, with a screw wrench in hand, busying around a sort of bogie.
"All OK, no Mongols," Jorge yelled.
Jong's eyes widened. "H-hi… Irene… are you going somewhere?"
"Not your business, you perv!" Irene sneered, striding onward at a faster pace. "He asked if he could touch my ears," she explained to Vincent.
"I see…" They walked on, him with the revolver in hand, ready to fire. Somehow, the forest felt more… peaceful. He could sense some beasts in the distance, and they could feel him, too, but none dared approach. Did the tiger tell them I'm his protegee, or do they fear me after killing the wolf? Vincent wondered.
"The mayor agreed to release jackalopes and pigs in the wilds," Irene said. "They multiply very fast.
"To compensate for the imbalances in the ecosystem?"
"Yep… Thank you for treating me like a normal person," she said out of nowhere. "Many see me like a freak now…" her voice choked. "I'm getting the silent treatment."
"Eh, they just want to spare your feelings… or find you cuter," Vincent shrugged, understanding his jokes had comforted her, weirdly enough. "Jong likes you, by the way."
She waved her hand dismissively and tried to smile, but it didn't transfer to her eyes. Seconds after reaching the clearing, the tiger family arrived. Irene laid the cub on the grass and stepped back. The animal whimpered, looking back and forth between the girl and her parents.
"I think she prefers staying with you," Vincent said. Food, a soft bed, and a cute girl to cuddle with, what's not to like?
The adults arrived, licked the cub a few times, and then pushed it toward Irene with their noses. Meowling, the little feline rushed back into the woman's arms.
"I will bring her to visit you!" Irene started to sob. "I'll call her Cupcake… Bwaaaa... I have a baaaaaby…"
"Mazeltov," Vincent said.
“I have to get her a bath and find a pink ribbon,” Irene ran back on the track.
"Fuck… Wait for me!" Vincent yelled, but for naughts. "Pfff… here's some food," he threw down a few old steaks he had brought in his backpack before hurrying to catch up with the girl. He found her at the edge of the woods, looking longingly at a low branch sticking out from an oak.
"I have a species skill about acrobatics and climbing," she said. "But I never—"
"Put the cub… Cupcake down, I'll teach you the basics," Vincent said. "First, you'll have to train. Squats and pull-ups every day. And the most important part is that the legs count as much, if not more, as the arms. For basic climbing, you must find anchors and move one limb at a time, keeping the other three in place."
His explanation was not the best, but he demonstrated it by pulling himself up the tree and then climbing up twenty feet. Jumping down, he gestured toward the tree, inviting her to try. Irene nodded and jumped up, catching the branch with both her hands. She tried to mimic his pull-up, struggling against her own weight and gravity, and for a moment, she looked like she would succeed. Noticing the crispation preceding the muscles giving up, Vincent grabbed her midriff, pushing her up.
Because of the momentum, her T-shirt slipped up. Irene's skin was soft, warm, slightly sweaty, and had a bit of a very fine fluff, maybe from the species change or not. Her waist was thin, but her tushy was firm and curvaceous… A jolt of desire went through his body, and suddenly, a fluffy dark blue tail slapped his cheeks, a new feature that somehow had escaped his attention.
"Now what?" she asked, panting and grabbing the branch with her arms and legs, the tail wagging wildly.
"Now you mount the branch, then push on your feet and go up," he said, hoping his cheeks were not beet red. "Don't be afraid; I'll catch you if you fall."
"Uh…" With small heaves, Irene proceeded up. She was slow, weak, and inexperienced, so it took time, time for which Vincent was grateful, allowing him to calm down. When the girl arrived back on the ground, his flush had disappeared, and his heartbeats were normal again.
"Thanks, it was fun!" she jumped on her toes, clapping her hand.
"You're welcome," Vincent replied curtly, turning his back on her and walking toward the town.