“What do you know about religious Classes?” I asked Morgan with my mouth full of chicken.
“An unusual line of questioning, but one I can answer,” Morgan said as he elegantly sliced his food with a fork and knife. “Religious Classes are one of the more powerful Classes available. They are known for being able to harness their god's divine authority, granting them powers under their deity's domain. However, in exchange for that power, there are harsh constrictions that limit their freedom. Most people see those constrictions as not worth the power, hence, only the most devout believers willingly choose a religious Class.”
“What kind of constrictions are we talking about here?”
“It depends on the patron god's teachings. Bahanelle is known to be the most lenient on her priestesses, requiring only that they heal a certain quota every month. On the other side of the spectrum, we have the dark gods who often demand sacrifices and brutal practices from their followers. Moreover, as religious Classes evolve, the patron god gains influence over the person. At Elite-tier, priests merely receive divine visions from their patron god. At Lord-tier, however, their gods can descend upon their bodies at any time and take control until the body expires.”
I was already certain that I wouldn't choose religious Classes because they gave me a bad feeling, but Morgan's explanation solidified my mind. There was no way I'm going to let some divine asshole up there take control of my body like a puppet.
“May I ask what brought on your curiosity regarding religious Classes?” Morgan asked.
“I just reached level 25, and the System gave me a choice to reset my levels and choose a new Class. It's just that the choices all consist of religious Classes,” I replied.
Morgan leaned forward with an interested look. “Can you tell me what these Classes are?”
I told him, and as I finished reading out the choices, Morgan was rubbing his chin absently as he studied me. “You are a very interesting person, Mister Bob. This is the first time I have ever heard of someone being allowed to reset their levels, and without the help of a World Crystal at that! The gods must be really interested in you. Tell me, Bob. Are you special?”
“My Ma did always say I was different from the rest of the kids my age back in the day.”
Morgan leaned forward even more. “Oh? How so?”
“I never washed my ass when I took a dump,” I replied. Morgan gave me an unamused stare. “What are you staring at me for? That was years ago, I wash my ass now. The City Hall's comfort rooms have bidets, you know? Water pressure is nice and strong, knocks off those bits of turd that get tangled in your ass hair sometimes—”
“Enough!” Morgan massaged his temples. “Remind me not to eat with you next time. I just lost my appetite. I'll see you later, I suppose. I just hope the raid could get the image you clearly painted out of my mind.”
“More for me,” I said as I dragged Morgan's plate over to my side of the table.
Now that I was alone, I put all my focus on my Class Evolution options to see what kind of bullshit the people up there decided to give me this time.
[Congratulations! You are now Level 25. You are eligible for a Class Evolution.]
[Please choose a Class Evolution below.]
1. Murderous Bastard - Perfect for the resident serial killer on the block. This Class offers offensive Skills aimed towards increasing your capability to murder. Each level-up focuses all improvements on strength and ignores all other aspects. Go kill 'em all, you bastard.
2. Masochistic Bastard - When they hit you hard, you get harder. This Class specializes in turning pain into pleasure and injuries into strength, as well as the ability to reflect damage at enemies. Each level-up improves resilience and strength. Show the world the power of whips and bondage.
3. Gluttonous Bastard - You are what you eat, so stop eating shit. This Class gives you the ability to eat anything, including magical attacks, and store them in a separate dimension in your stomach or incorporate them into your body. Each level-up improves your mana capacity and mana regeneration. Eat up.
4. Undying Bastard - Death is wondering when you'd give him a visit. This Class specializes in resisting damage and improves all abilities related to healing and recovery. Each level-up focuses on improving your resilience and survivability. If you still manage to die with this Class, you deserve it.
The choices were certainly interesting. Except for Masochistic Bastard (fuck that Class), I was completely hooked on the three remaining choices. Murderous Bastard seemed to focus on offense, Gluttonous Bastard looked like a balance between offense and defense, and Undying Bastard was all about defense and survival.
Murderous Bastard was a very solid choice because of the allure of offensive Skills. My current repertoire had an extreme lack of offensive capability, and sooner or later, I would eventually run into a situation where my lack of attack options was gonna bite me in the ass.
Gluttonous Bastard, on the other hand, was a very tempting choice because of its peculiar ability. An infinite storage space in my stomach sounded extremely useful, but what caught my interest more was the ability to incorporate stuff I eat into my body. If I ate a hunk of steel, did that mean I could turn my body into the same material? That sounded metal as fuck.
Lastly, Undying Bastard was what I would argue as the safest choice that I would likely choose. After all, what other argument could you pit against the choice that literally offered the ability to not fucking die. Of course, the description didn't say anything about being impossible to die, but it was heavily hinted to be the case. Moreover, my current state was already extremely hard to kill. What more if I gained a Class that further improved that aspect?
I spent the next few minutes thinking, and I meant really thinking, which was very unusual for me. When was the last time that I took the time to truly think about an important decision that might decide my future? Never, actually. Even my most important decisions in this world, like becoming a damn Constable, were decided in less than a minute. I was never one for dwelling on hard decisions, because when life was already as stressful as it was, it was always simpler to just go with the flow and see where life took me. Admittedly, life took me in a very shitty situation most of the time, but that's what I get for not thinking about things carefully.
After everything that happened tonight, the burned children, Warner's death, and Camille's stupid ultimatum to Carmen that almost led to my demise along with Warner, I've had enough of my habit of not giving a shit about anything. That was a habit I developed in my past life when everything sucked so much that I had to adjust the way I thought accordingly to not give in to despair. Not giving a shit meant no stress felt, after all.
But this was supposed to be a new life, and so Bob should also be a new Bob. No more of this stupid Bob who loves to remain stupid because life gets much simpler when you don't know shit. As much as I wanted life to be as simple as working an honest job every day and doing a little hobby in my free time, life was not simple.
At least, not currently. If I wanted to get that simple life that I craved so much, then I should start working towards it. The first step was to choose the correct Class.
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After half an hour of deliberation, I finally made my decision.
[Congratulations! You are now a Gluttonous Bastard. You have gained the Class Perk ‘Eat All You Can.’]
[Eat All You Can - Your stomach now acts as an extradimensional storage space with an infinite capacity. Anything you eat is automatically stored inside and put in stasis. You can decide whether stored objects are to be digested, kept in storage, or regurgitated at will.]
[You have gained the Active Skill ‘Suck It Up, Buttercup.’]
[Suck It Up, Buttercup (I) Lv. 1- Upon activation, anything that touches your body is ‘eaten’ and automatically pulled into your stomach. Size, vitality, nature, and presence of mana in the object affect the mana cost of the Skill. Mana cost: Variable]
[You have gained the Active Skill ‘You Are What You Eat.’]
[You Are What You Eat (I) Lv. 1 - Replace your body's composition with a material that you have in your stomach. Mana cost: Variable.]
[Warning: Experience received from all sources are now reduced. Killing entities one Class Tier below you no longer yields experience.]
The moment I chose my Class, a powerful burning sensation erupted all over my body for the umpteenth time tonight. But unlike the burning from the fire or the sensation of poison coursing through my veins, this variety of burning felt more ethereal and unreal, like phantom pain, and it also came with the electrifying sensation of mana.
The pain didn't last long. After half a minute, the burning receded and I collapsed on the table, my face landing right on the bowl of stew I hadn't finished yet. If I knew the Class Evolution would be painful, I would have done it in a more private setting and not in front of a bowl of stew. Fortunately, there were few people in the cafeteria at this hour.
The change that came with the Class Evolution immediately made itself known. I felt far stronger than before, and I instinctually knew that my strength had doubled in an instant. Before, I was confident that I could leave a large crater on a wall if I punched it. Now, I could shatter the wall entirely with a single punch.
And even though I couldn't test it right now, I instinctually knew that my body's resilience had doubled as well. My bones were already extremely hard before my Class Evolution, but now, I may as well have a skeleton made of structural steel. My flesh could now absorb and dissipate force more effectively, my skin was more resistant to punctures, and my organs could take a hell of a lot more beating. Even my body's natural rate of healing was made more robust.
But despite the huge improvements to my physical body, the biggest change happened to my mana pool. I could feel my body utterly suffused with the electrifying sensation of magical energy like I had a very faint version of pins and needles. That's because my mana reserves had ballooned tremendously from the pitiful cup it had been to an entire fucking water tank.
Everything felt fucking amazing. My body felt so invincible that it honestly made me wonder if I made the wrong choice. If my physical traits had doubled from a Class Evolution that was supposed to focus on improving my mana, then how much would my body have improved if I chose Undying Bastard? I wouldn't be surprised if it made my entire body indestructible.
However, there was no point to these speculations. Don't cry over spilled milkshake and all that shit, it was time to move on.
After pulling my shit together, I headed straight to the showers to clean up before starting my preparations for the raid on Carmen's mansion. The call time was still two hours away, but I wanted to spend that time thinking about my future plans after this fiasco was wrapped up.
As I stood beneath the shower and let the hot water wash away the dirt and stress, I reassessed my decision to choose Gluttonous Bastard over Undying Bastard.
First, I was already extremely hard to kill thanks to my Greater Regeneration, which was further compounded by my ‘Unbreakable’ Accolade that made sure nothing could mess with my healing. Unless something could completely disintegrate my entire body in one go, my ass was practically unkillable already. Further strengthening my unkillability would just result in diminishing returns, so I might as well invest in something else.
That brought me to my second and most important point: I had a severe lack of versatility. Before my Class Evolution, my fighting style was composed of just two aspects: hitting things hard and outlasting my opponents. Against simple monsters, that was enough, but against smart people who already knew of my abilities? They could easily develop an ingenious way to defeat me, and when that happens, I'd be a sitting duck. The anti-healing poison used against me was just one example of it, and given this world's magical shenanigans, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bajillion other ways to defeat me.
Hence, I concluded that versatility was the name of the game. I needed something that had a lot of utility for various situations, and thank Skorm's hairy ass that Gluttonous Bastard ended up bringing the versatility I needed. With how lackluster the descriptions of the Class Evolution choices had been, it was a complete gamble if the Class I chose ended up being the one I wanted. Fortunately, my new Class gave me such useful Skills that had plenty of applications.
My new Class Perk ‘Eat All You Can’ was a massive addition to my combat capability. Aside from the infinite storage space in my stomach that I could fill with weapons and tools for various situations, the main prize was the ability to straight-up eat magic. It didn't say so in the Skill description, but it definitely said so in the Class Evolution description. Coupled with ‘Eat Up,’ which allowed me to ‘eat’ anything that touched me, I was practically immune to magic attacks now, though there was the fact that Eat Up had a mana cost. But given that my new Class gave me a larger mana pool, hence that painful burning earlier, and would further improve it as I leveled up, the mana costs shouldn't be too much of a problem.
As for my other Skill, ‘You Are What You Eat,’ I could sense a lot of potential with it, but it was going to need a lot of testing. The description said I could replace my body composition with a material I had in my stomach, so did that mean I could turn my arm into a hotdog if I ate one? And if I cut off said arm, will it regenerate into a hotdog? That would stupid and funny, but it'd be useful.
My new Class likely opened a ton of other possibilities, but I had no more time to dwell on them. The time left before the raid was dwindling and I had preparations to make.
As I dressed up and made my way to the City Hall's armory, I couldn't help but feel eager for the upcoming battle. I'm gonna make that Carmen bastard regret having been born at all.
•••••
[Status]
Name: Bob Dinkle
Age: 35 years
Level: 25
Race: Human
Class: Gluttonous Bastard (II)
[Class Perk]
Stubborn as a Roach - You no longer tire and natural regeneration does not consume calories.
Eat All You Can - Your stomach now acts as an extradimensional storage space with an infinite capacity. Anything you eat is automatically stored inside and put in stasis. You can decide whether stored objects are to be digested, kept in storage, or regurgitated at will.
[Languages]
Arcadian
[Passive Skills]
Greater Regeneration (III) Lv. 1- Increases the rate of natural healing.
Unarmed Mastery (I) Lv. 3 - Provides a boost to proficiency in unarmed combat and enhances the damage of unarmed attacks
Physical Resistance (II) Lv. 9 - Reduces all physical damage taken
Masochist (I) Lv. 4 - You gain strength proportional to the level of pain you endure.
Poison Resistance (II) Lv. 1 - Slightly reduces effects of poison.
Axe Mastery (I) Lv. 4 - Provides a boost to proficiency in wielding axes.
Minor Heat Resistance (I) Lv. 6 - Slightly reduces the effects of heat.
[Active Skills]
Hard as Fuck (I) Lv. 5 - You can harden specific parts of your body, massively increasing their physical resilience. The number of body parts you could harden depends on Skill level. Mana cost: Low
Blood Bag (I) Lv. 3 - Convert mana into blood inside your body. Mana cost: Moderate.
Suck It Up, Buttercup (I) Lv. 1 - Upon activation, anything that touches your body is automatically pulled into your stomach. Size, vitality, nature, and presence of mana in the object affect the mana cost of the Skill. Mana cost: Variable
You Are What You Eat (I) Lv. 1 - Replace your body's composition with a material that you have in your stomach. Mana cost: Variable.
[Traits]
Divine Body - Your body has been constructed by a god. Your body recovers faster and is resistant to ailments.
[Accolades]
Champion of Carnage - The God of Battle and Carnage has chosen you as his Champion. Combat proficiency and battle intuition are significantly improved.
Dauntless - You have fought with no fear or regard for death. You are now immune to magically-induced fear.
Unbreakable - You have suffered through unimaginable pain that would have broken any sane man but still came out whole in mind and in body. Your mind is now unassailable from external influence and all healing on your body is Absolute.
Brain-Damaged - You managed to continue fighting even while your brain was severely damaged. Your thought processes are now decentralized and can occur throughout your entire nervous system.