“Please. tell me you can teach me how to fly,” I said as we landed on the stone platform.
“It’s a Tier 6 Air spell. If you don’t have a high affinity for air, the mana cost will drain you faster than you could fall from the village wall. I’ll explain how to create the construct after you’ve progressed, and maybe you’ll be able to use it one day.”
We walked towards the forest to find the drones huddled together in a clump. As we moved closer, they seemed to awaken from their sleep or whatever they had been doing. They immediately began to walk towards the forest in a single file line, us following behind.
Entering the forest and looking around was eerie, at the least. It seemed devoid of all animal life, with no insects or birds making sounds. “What’s going on? Are you getting any readings?”
Lastaf looked around the forest, his pink ferns slowly dancing to a hidden rhythm. “Nothing, even with these drones close by. I’m picking up almost no traces of mana except from the direction of the crater.”
We walked for a few minutes behind the line of drones until they stopped and began to dig themselves into the ground very quickly. Within a handful of moments, the only trace of them was a line of dirt on the forest’s floor. “Oh, that can’t be good,” I said.
I heard a tree crack and then crash to the ground, followed by a chest reverberating roar from our left. “I believe that’s what spooked our little friends,” retorted Lastaf.
“You think?”
Even having seen it before, I was in awe when the darkish blue armor snapped around the Axoli. Instead of his usual sword and shield, Lastaf pulled a long blade-tipped spear out of the air. I readied an ice lance, and we faced the crashing trees in the distance. A moment later, a gigantic, and I mean gigantic, spider built like an armored tank from back on my world came rushing towards us.
Lastaf looked at his spear and tossed it to the side. The spear vanished before it hit the ground. I watched as the Axoli pulled a large Warhammer into being and began rushing towards the oncoming beast.
I tossed the lance over Lastaf’s head, and it shattered on one of its front legs just before Lastaf shouted something, jumped into the air, and began to spin. The Axoli turned into a whirlwind of movement before crashing into the spider. The Warhammer cracked off three front legs before Lastaf bounced off and was thrown to the side. I began constructing a higher-tier ice lance, only taking a moment for the new construct to click.
Releasing the lance, I marveled at the spear’s details for a moment before tossing it forward with all my strength. The tip barreled into the side of the spider with the single missing leg and ripped into its abdomen before exploding, sending shards of ice in all directions. The explosion didn’t create a larger wound, but I could see a dark oily substance pouring from it. I felt my chest burn a moment before the pain vanished.
The spider shrieked, the sound causing me to wince in pain and clamping my hands over my ears. It turned towards me and charged. I stumbled backward and did the first thing that popped into my mind. I raised a solid stone pillar between us. The spider crashed into it, sending stone flying in my direction. One large piece of stone hit my leg, causing me to cry out in pain before I realized the spider was upon me.
I looked into its half smashed face for a moment before the face, and the rest of the spider vanished. I blinked a few times, lost to what just happened before I heard a tree crack to my right. I looked over to see the spider folded in half around the tree. Looking back to my left, I took in Lastaf as he rested his chin on the hilt of his Warhammer. “Damn, meant to use fifteen percent power, not fifty.”
“Fifty?! What the hell?!”
“Ah, If you thought I was a mage, well… Where the hell did it go?!” shouted a very surprised Lastaf as the gigantic spider began to turn into blue dust and swirled into a round ball before dropping an Azure Core to the ground.
“I have the Trait, Auto Loot. Anything I fight always does that. I’m hoping I won’t need to hunt for food in the future with that always happening. There would be no meat for me to harvest.”
“You always get an intact core for every creature you’ve defeated? That could destroy entire economies, Zeal. Cores aren’t always harvestable and are always in demand. I had no idea Classless had such an advantage. Do you have any idea how much that Azure Core could fetch?”
“I have an idea, but I don’t need money right now. I need to grow stronger so years don’t fly by,” I said as I made sure the core was clean before popping it into my mouth. Lastaf was next to me in a heartbeat watching me. He said, “ahh,” and pointed to my mouth. I opened up to show my now empty mouth.
“As soon as the core enters your mouth, it just vanishes, dissolves?”
“Dissolve, would be the best description. Also, it leaves a faintly sweet aftertaste. When I arrived here, I also got the Core Consumption Trait with the Auto Loot Trait.”
[ System Notification ]
Rank B Azure Cores has given 48 Energy
10 Energy converted to 100 Mana
Cardiovascular System: 200/200
I pulled up my systems and selected Respiratory before hitting ‘Yes.’
[ Respiratory System: 23/200 ]
“I could use a bunch more of those Azure Cores to level everything to Rank 2 to hit Level 3 and 4.”
“You’re only level 2? How in the world do you have so much mana?”
“I’m not sure how much mana I have, honestly. I wait till I feel weak to know when I’m running low. I’m pretty sure a Classless with Rank 2 systems are lower than a Class’s level 2 in strength. I still got my ass beat by Gurig in sparring, and he hasn’t gotten a class yet. If it wasn’t for my blue Fireball, I'd have been killed many times already.”
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“Full Status, say it, now. After we finish this up, I’m going to teach you everything, starting with what every youngling should already know.”
I said “Full Status” under my breath, and a large box with tons of details came into view.
[ Full Status ]Name: Zeallendric
Race: Elefvian
Level: 2
Classless
Perk Points: 2
Mana: 1000/1000
Rage: 0/200
[ System’s Status ]
+ Nervous: Rank 2
+ Sensory: Rank 2
+ Cardiovascular: Rank 2
+ Respiratory: Rank 1
+ Muscular: Rank 1
+ Skeletal: Rank 1
+ Epidermis: Rank 1
+ Endocrine: Rank 1
+ Digestive: Rank 1
+ Toxin: Rank 1
[ Magic Stigmata ]+ Void: Rank 3
+ Fire: Rank 2 *Restriction
+ Ice: Rank 2
+ Air: Rank 1
+ Water: Rank 1
+ Earth: Rank 1
+ Light: Rank 1
+ Nature:Rank 1
+ Aura: Rank 1
+ Blood: Rank 1
[ Physical Stigmata ]
+ Rage: Rank 3
+ Hammer: Rank 1
[ Luin’s Stigmata ]
Race: Kobold
Evolution: Rank 4
[ Traits ]
+ Core Consumption
+ Auto Loot
+ Cartographer
+ Ocean’s Pilgrim
+ New Origin
+ Spoken Common
+ Enchanted Magic
+ Written Common
+ Fae Touched
+ Darkvision
Why didn’t anyone ask about my status before? Did they think the Classless lacked one? This window had so much data all in one accessible location. Lastaf went bug-eyed after I told him my mana was a thousand. He mumbled something about it probably being a Hero or Classless bonus.
I asked Lastaf to explain what I was seeing under the Stigmata section. I detailed to him what was shown. He said each school of magic listed was an affinity I had with it. The ranks showed I had used a construct with the corresponding tier. I had used a Rank 3 Void spell to show Rank 3 next to that school.
He was at a loss when I said I had Stigmata for Luin. I even showed him the outline of her head with the four rune at its center. He was more stumped when I told him I had ‘*Restricted’ next to Fire.
He quickly explained that every combat class used the Physical Stigamta section containing my Rage and Hammer skills. It was the most common stigmata people developed.
Luin’s Stigmata showed her name and evolution rank. Lastaf had never heard of anyone being able to see the state of their Bond, and maybe it was a Hero or Classless benefit.
I listed my Traits for the Axoli. When I tried to say ‘Fae Touched,’ I began to mumble. I tried over and over to get it out, but I couldn’t. Lastaf seemed to catch on and explained.
“If you’re trying to read a skill and can’t say it, it’s possible it’s a soul-enforced skill or Trait. These skills often have a compulsion attached to them, so you can’t talk or even write about them. Many skills are passed down through families, sects, and organizations with these compulsions added to them, so they’re expected. I could sit here for days listing off skills most commonly put under such rules.
I believe just about everything abnormal about you is being both Classless and a Hero. The combined perks of these two seem to be staggering, and as you said earlier, you are weak, very weak. Yet, you are what some of my old adventuring buddies would call a glass cannon. You can cause massive damage, but you’ll break easy enough.
With the leveling of the systems, can you level up a particular system over and over?”
“I think so. Once I level a system, it goes back into the list with a higher requirement to level it.”
“Hmm, I wonder if you can specialize at a later time. Getting your body stronger should be your primary goal with the amount of mana you already possess. I wish I could help you understand more about your Class or lack thereof. Even in the larger cities, Classless are rare. Those I know of are very private and don’t often reveal their secrets. Your choice to go the magic route was wise, even though you went without someone to guide you.
Once we descend into the hive, I will make sure to let you strike at each foe so that you may grow at a faster pace.”
“Thank you, Lastaf. Any knowledge you can share will raise my chances of survival. Are there schools or places where someone can learn magic or combat abilities and skills?”
“There are many academies throughout the lands I know of. Getting into one is extremely difficult and is normally reserved for those with money or ties. Once we reach the capital on the mainland, I could speak with some colleagues who have ties with some of them. I’m sure they would agree to a conversation or two about your peculiarities in exchange for their recommendation.”
“If you trust them, I'd very much be interested in a school on…,” our conversation was cut short as two deep roars sounded in the distance.
“We’ve been standing idle for too long. Drones, show us the way to your queen!” shouted Lastaf.
It took a few moments before a few of the drones dug themselves out of the dirt before they began to scamper forward at a far quicker pace. We followed behind the drone in the lead, its partners still climbing out of the dirt, and tried to catch up.
It wasn’t long before our two guests showed themselves. They came at us as if they only cared about stopping a threat, us. Lastaf stopped the one coming on our left flank cold with a single swing of his mighty Warhammer. My upgraded Ice Lance tore into the other enemy, coming right down the path we traveled. I dove off to the side and pushed myself past a large trunk of a tree as it kept moving forward.
I scrambled to my feet and began preparing another refined lance when Lastaf came from the other side of the trail and jumped onto the back of the massive Gnit. His hammer came down in an arc, hitting the Gnit's back. From my viewpoint, I could see a hole explode from the bottom of its carapace and blast ichor all over the forest’s floor. That spider began to dissolve before the rest of its body fell to the floor, the Axoli jumping off and walking towards his first kill.
I walked over, my gaze on the Azure Core that lay upon the ground. I flicked a piece of grass off its surface before popping it into my mouth before I watched as Lastaf begin hacking into the other corpse’s body.
[ System Notification ]
Rank C Azure Core has given 32 Energy
5 Energy converted to 50 Mana
Respiratory System: 50/200