"Do you mind if I check out your new classes, Rimmy?" Daz asked as he struggled to hide his joy. If there was anyone that he wanted to get stronger besides himself, it was Rimmy. Madison came in a close second while Hamson occupied third place.

"Rimmy!" Both the core and main body nodded their heads enthusiastically.

Daz didn't hesitate upon seeing that, so he immediately used Higher Identification on his friend's new classes.

[New!] The Jewelled Pathforger Description

This class is the direct upgrade of [The Jewelled Pioneer]. It is owned solely by the Grand Summon Rimmy McShineston's main body and is a new class made specifically for him.

Good for the big guy. Forging his own path? It's poetic. Here's a virtual handshake from me to you, Rimmy. You, Daz, you piss off. This isn't for you.

Class Bonuses The stats Strength, Constitution, Defense, [New!] Regeneration, [New!] Patience and [New!] Luck are increased by 50% [+30%] of their base values. The skills [Fortune Of The Forger], [Path Creation] and [Compass To The Truth] have been granted to the host.

Daz nodded several times. "A bit barer than mine, but you actually have class-generated skills on your main body now. You don't mind if I check them, do you?"

"Rimmy," inclining his head ever so slightly, the humanoid core answered.

"Thanks. Higher Identification," Daz said, revealing the information of the three skills to him.

[New!] Fortune Of The Forger [SS-Rank (Lower Tier)] Description

Gifts the one who successfully forges new paths.

An excellent skill. As expected of Rimmy. You should learn from his example, you filthy peeper.

Level 1 Abilities Gifts the host with a single item or piece of knowledge which is equal in value to the newly forged path.

"This asshole writing these notes... He's really getting on my nerves." Daz held his earring for a few moments and mumbled 'Death' to forcefully calm himself. "Well, as much as I'm not his fan, he at least respects Rimmy, so he can't be all that bad."

The golem in question just cocked his head to the side curiously, so Daz moved on to the next skill.

[New!] Path Creation [SSS-Rank (Middle Tier)] Description

Allows the host to create a new path which must be forged immediately upon creation.

Ha-ah, I wish I could sigh in admiration a bit louder to get the point across more clearly. Rimmy outclasses you in almost, no, in every possible way.

Level 1 Abilities Grants the host the ability to create an unforged path. Limit: once per day.

"And I'm angry again. But yeah, this skill is perfectly suited for the previous one. What an amazing class. Of course, it depends on the items or knowledge gifted, but I can't imagine it'll just be shit stuff. I'm looking forward to it," Daz said to his best friend.

Rimmy wished that he had a face with which to smile as he replied, "Rimmy!"

"I know how you feel, buddy. I'm sure you'll get a face with another evolution," Daz encouraged as he looked at the third and final skill of Rimmy's main body.

[New!] Compass To The Truth [SSS-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description

When all else seems lost, follow this skill to the truth.

Huh. Bit of a head-scratcher, but I'm sure it's a wonderful skill considering who owns it.

Level N/A Abilities When the time is right, the host shall be pointed towards the truth.

"Triple-S-ranked and higher tier? Jesus..." Daz was happy. He was very happy. "I've no clue what it does, but congrats, Rimmy. I'm proud of you."

The massive main body straightening its back and banged its chest in sync with the core. "Rimmy!"

"You're really good at controlling your main body now, huh?" Daz commented as he looked at Rimmy's core's new class.

[New!] Jewelled Knight Description

This class is the direct upgrade of [Jewelled Warrior]. It is only awarded to those of extreme loyalty and unwavering dedication towards their lord.

Admittedly, it's a bit plain, but I can see the complexities within it. No doubt, it was the perfect class for the little guy. Far better than another particular knight-based class I know of.

Class Bonuses The stats Agility, Dexterity and Strength are increased by 50% [+30%] of their base values. The skills [Jewel Rampart], [Crystal Fist] and [Proof of Thy Loyalty] have been granted to the host.

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Daz immediately had a good idea of what the first two skills did, but the last intrigued him greatly. Without hesitating, he took a look at all three of them.

[New!] Jewel Rampart [S-Rank (Lower Tier)] Description

Allows the host to create ramparts made of jewels.

A simple enough skill. It's such a shame that class skills are made by the system. There's no flare to their descriptions.

Level 1 Abilities Grants the host the ability to create a large wall of jewels. Limit: The walls have a max thickness of three meters and a max height/width of six meters. Cost: 500 Jewelled Core energy per rampart regardless of its size.

Daz had to agree with the description's footnote writer. It was mildly annoying that he couldn't learn any new information from the skills' descriptions since they hadn't been designed by another person. Regardless, he liked this particular skill of Rimmy's. It was a clear improvement from his previous Jewelled Wall skill.

[New!] Crystal Fist [A-Rank (Lower Tier)] Description

Allows the host to charge their fist with energy, creating a powerful force which contains a certain side-effect.

Pretty interesting, this skill is. I can't wait to see Rimmy hit you with it in the face.

Level 1 Abilities Grants the host the ability to charge energy into their fist. Cost: Minimum of 10 Jewelled Core Energy. Maximum of 1,000 Jewelled Core Energy. If the host successfully lands a hit on a target with a charged fist, there is a 10% chance that upon impact, the target will be covered in jewels and the affected area will then become paralysed. The Luck and/or Fate stats will impact the likelihood of the 10% chance triggering. Limit: The paralysis and jewels will only last for 5-seconds before disappearing.

"Interesting," Daz mumbled. He'd definitely have to get Rimmy to test this skill. Not on his face, preferably.

[New!] Proof Of Thy Loyalty [B-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description

Empowers the host when they are fighting to protect or to further the goals of their master.

Well, would you look at that. A skill that'll benefit you more than it will Rimmy. I suppose when life gives you lemons... you squeeze all of the life out of 'em.

Level 1 Abilities Increases the host's stats by a factor of 0.2 when the host is fighting to protect their master or to further their master's goals.

"Wow. Not as dramatic of a change as your main body, but that makes sense. Your core is far younger and had a far more normal starting class than your main body did, huh?" Daz commented as he began stretching.

Rimmy inclined his head at an angle of twenty-degrees before answering, "Rimmy?"

Daz nodded. "Yup. Let's fight. To the death. We're in a training room, so a death won't actually count. Like at the auction, I suppose. Go all out on me, 'kay, buddy? I'll go all out on you as well."

"Rimmy!" The crystal man was happy to test his new powers against the man whom he trusted and respected the most in this new life of his.

He happily floated up to his main body and slotted himself back into its centre. He had far better control of the main body this way, plus, he had to keep his core safe. He knew that Daz wasn't an idiot, so he'd just be a sitting duck if he wasn't protected by the outer shell of his main body.

"First thing's first, Rimmy. I won't use a new skill I got called 'Astral Crystal Control'. It lets me control all crystals and has no restrictions on living crystals." To demonstrate, Daz pointed his hand towards Rimmy, and his massive thirty-foot-tall body then began to float. "See? It'd be unfair as hell if I used this."

"Rimmy!" Needless to say, Rimmy was surprised beyond belief.

"Yeah. It'll be really useful if you can't move out of the way in a tough situation since I can basically ignore the laws of gravity and save you or move you in a weird way, but for now, it's off limits," Daz said as he released Rimmy then summoned Hamson from its brand on his right hand.

"Rimmy," with a massive bob of the head, Rimmy agreed.

"Reika, fuse with Hamson," Daz ordered. The lazy soul did as she was told, making the blood-red shovel glow with a crimson hue. "Let's start."

Immediately, thousands of jewelled spikes littered the entirety of Rimmy's body before he tucked in his knees and held them with his arms. His body began spinning wildly as it barreled towards Daz.

The reaper had to marvel at the speed which the humongous golem made of crystal was approaching him. His Agility stat was clearly no laughing matter.

'Shovel Art: Shovel Earthquake is off of the table. Rimmy's Great Roll can ignore the laws of physics, so it'll do nothing to him. My Strength is far lower than his, so blocking it is also out of the question despite my decent Defense and my halo's healing capabilities... Hmm, dodging will be tough too since he can track me... Great Roll is a pretty damned good skill when combined with Spiked Body Transformation, isn't it?' Daz's Wisdom allowed him to ascertain all of this in a fraction of a second.

He waved his free hand, resulting in some of his death energy leaking out of his body which quickly turned into his two clones. In unison, the three of them used the most powerful move they owned to attempt to stop Rimmy dead in his tracks. "Justice Chains!"

Like a deer caught in the headlights, Rimmy stopped in place as twelve pale-grey ethereal chains rose from the ground and surrounded his lumbering figure, four from each Daz. The young reaper was somewhat thankful that he had left Rimmy to finish off Matt's cronies when he had first met Dorian and Fiona. That felt like a lifetime ago when he thought of it.

Rimmy was still rolling, but he couldn't move, so Daz and his clones made their move.

The clones occupied Rimmy's flanks and fired Death Beams while Daz used his Shovel Art: Shovel Smash - which he had retained despite getting the better version, Shovel Earthquake. His Shovel Arts skill was great in that regard since it kept both of those class-specific skills after absorbing them.

Rimmy was actually very calm and steady of mind despite being forced to relive the way that he had punched and obliterated those thugs with his fists and his formerly unofficial skill, Crystal Shotgun.

He had already died once before. Experiencing four different deaths three times at once repeatedly was easy enough for him to manage. "Rimmy!"

With a rumble, three massive six-meters tall, six-meters wide, and three-meters thick, Jewel Ramparts sprouted from the training room's floor, blocking both of the Death Beams as well as Daz's Shovel Smash.

The reaper smiled. "That's my best friend for you. Justice Chains are nothing to you, are they? This is going to be fun..."

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Thirty minutes quickly passed as the two fought.

Due to Rimmy's absurd regenerative capabilities, even if Daz did manage to sneak an attack past Rimmy's walls, the damage would simply be repaired instantly. Even his Laughing Skull skill couldn't finish the golem off, though it did completely drain one and a half of Rimmy's main body's Jewelled Energy Cores.

On the flip side, Rimmy was able to hit Daz at lot since he was faster and the reaper had no defensive skills to speak of apart from Hamson's ability, Earth Wall, which was so weak to Rimmy that it may as well have not existed. This resulted in the young man getting hit far more than Rimmy did.

Thankfully, Daz's halo was incredibly powerful, so it kept restoring his lifeforce, and hence, his body since he always protected his vitals with Hamson's blade when it was impossible to avoid one of Rimmy's heavy strikes.

Eventually, the two both ran out of energy at the same time. Rimmy's main body would no longer move, so he had to forfeit to Daz.

While not directly stronger than Rimmy's core as far as stats went, Daz's ability to move Hamson with his mind as well as the constant attacks of his clones would eventually lead to Rimmy's defeat.

Daz had initially said that they should fight to the death, but Rimmy saw no reason to do that when the winner had already been decided.

"Wow..." Daz was panting as the system restored him back to his perfect state. Both he and Rimmy's core lay on the ground next to each other. "I'd say we're tied. You're really fucking strong right now. I'm definitely going to buy more cores for you, better ones too. As much as your main body can hold. I'd have unquestionably lost if you even had a single extra core."

"Rimmy..." Rimmy replied as he lay there, content that he had proven his worth to his master.

"You're too self-conscious, Rimmy. You've always been useful to me," Daz countered.

"Rimmy," the crystal man said as he sat up and tilted his head.

"Yeah, I guess." Daz sighed lightly as he bounced back up to his feet. "Well, I'm gonna exploit the shit out of the whole 'restoring daily limits in the auction' rule for a bit to upgrade both myself and you even more."

Rimmy liked the devilish grin on his master and best friend's face. It was clear to see that he'd found some way to exploit the system. He was greatly looking forward to seeing exactly how Daz would strengthen them both even further.