Monster Hunter wasn't a lousy class. But it just wasn't him. However, he couldn't say the same for Spellsword. Frankly, compared to the rest of the classes that focused on blade work and magic, it was absolute shit. It seemed like a direct upgrade path for his Warrior focusing more on magic. Although, for what seemed like such simple magic, he didn't need a class to help him anyway.
With the uncommon classes eliminated that left only the rare and epic classes. All of which seemed like excellent choices. While it was true that the epic classes seemed significantly more powerful, he didn't know what potential side effects might come with the higher rarity classes. Specifically the Disciple of Destruction class seemed like it would come with some significant downsides. After all, to be able to escape death surely didn't come for free. and the Blade of Ruin seemed like it would probably mess with his mental state.
Honestly, he didn't want to go full Chunibyo. Even thinking about the concept made him cringe mentally. But then again the ability to escape death is the fucking ability to escape death. Countless uses for it would get him out of a plethora of sticky situations. Even if it did leave him in a weakened state, better a weakened state than dead.
He sighed, realizing that he was making excuses. However cool Death’s Embrace was, he just couldn't pick that class. Opting to bench his thoughts on the Disciple of Destruction, he instead investigated the rare classes.
It was immediately apparent that they were lesser in most aspects compared to the epic class. They gave fewer stats. Their skills overall seemed weaker. Luckily he did not feel too bad about not choosing the Sword of Aspiring Elements. After all, he could probably figure out how to at least mimic the skills it offered using his legacy.
The same couldn't be said for the warping blade. Spatial cut was not that impressive. Sure, it had a lot of versatility, and the ability to open a rift would be cool. But the skill didn't seem to vibe with his mojo. Blink Step was a completely different story. Frankly, that one skill would solve a large majority of his problems.
One of the main aspects of using a sword as your primary weapon is making sure that you stay in close quarters with your opponent. With the heightened effects of stats, this became even more prevalent. With a nigh-on infinite amount of skills and the raw power provided by stats, there are innumerable ways to extricate oneself from close-quarters combat. And by that logic, the ability to reclose the gap would be invaluable.
In addition, it would allow faster movement if the Mana cost wasn't too high, and it would allow him to reach higher places. For example, the issue that he had facing the Buffalo was its size. He couldn't easily reach its vulnerable parts because he was too low to the ground, but this skill would easily solve that problem.
It would also help him get out of sticky situations like being pinned to the ground by said buffalo and then being captured. Or chained up by goblins. The skill would have also been helpful when he was pinned by the wolf.
But he always knew what class he was going to pick. Sure, the Disciple of Destruction sounded impressively powerful and the ability to cheat death was, again, undeniably valuable but that class just didn't speak to him. Something about the versatility yet still untapped destructive power of Blade of Ruin, in his mind, just fit his style perfectly. Not to mention the awesome skills.
Mana Avengers seemed downright broken. Kinetic absorption with his Mana pool seemed to be almost endless, and the versatility of the skill was great. The unkillable, never-tiring machine just seems like a solid, flat boost rate. And the ultimate skill seemed like it had few drawbacks. The only downsides were, apart from that cool down, of course, the weakness; but he didn't really mind due to the fact that he would probably only use it as a finisher. So he did the very logical thing and selected the Blade of Ruin.
A second passed, then another, then a minute, and nothing happened. Nothing at all. He just stood there, stone still in the middle of the square, surrounded by mounds of goblin corpses, for a solid minute or more, looking into the void.
Until just like a raccoon something shiny distracted him. Looking down he finally remembered the sword in his hands. And with a moment of contemplation, he realized how awkward he looked in the situation. But best not to dwell on that; instead, he needed to upgrade his skill. But if it was anything like the class selection process, he didn't want to do it right now.
So he followed his reptile brain and looked at the shiny thing really hard.
Then something somewhat unexpected happened.
Voids Edge [E] (Rare)
A prototype for a blade forged within a dying star. This sword can cut through space itself. Unlike many other blades of its grade, this sword can be enhanced using spatial cores.
He was surprised at the menu but then he quickly remembered the analyze skill that he had only recently obtained. The sword was also quite a pleasant surprise. The blade seemed sturdy and replaced at least half the functionality of spatial cut.
It was the first time he saw an item labeled with an E which he assumed meant E grade. Which, of course, confirmed his suspicion that the system ran off the school lettering system. It was at least nice to know that the blade could upgrade, although he had no idea what spatial cores were but he'd figure that out later.
Finally done examining the blade and getting distracted, it was time for him to bring up his menus and upgrade his Splitting Strike.
Enhanced Splitting Strike. (Initiate)
This skill is the direct evolution of Splitting Strike and equally improves both its potency and mana efficiency. In addition, this skill allows the user to conjure an astral blade that will dissipate upon usage.
Quick Charge Strike. (Initiate)
Quick Charge drastically reduces the amount of time it takes to fully charge Splitting Strikes. In addition, this skill allows the user to conjure an astral blade that will dissipate upon usage.
Crippling Strike. (Initiate)
This skill increases the amount and efficiency of mana Splitting Strikes can take.
In addition, this skill allows the user to conjure an astral blade that will dissipate upon usage.
Upon seeing his options he was both underwhelmed and relieved. Unlike his class choices, there didn't seem to be anything truly spectacular within his options here. And therefore the choice was much easier.
Crippling Strike seemed most useless to him due to his large Mana pool and Quick Charge Strike struck him as wasteful of the upgrade. That left the enhanced version of Splitting Strike which frankly was the best all around. Now, certain of his decision, he selected Enhanced Splitting Strike. But unlike when he chose his class, something happened.
It started as a light tingle on his back. Then it felt tiny. Then like bites from ants that evolved into a burning sensation and then into what felt like being branded. Then it was being dunked in lava and pulled out just at the moment he was about to face his end. But it didn’t end for he was dunked over and over and over again, all the while hearing the sounds of children's screaming within his head.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't over quickly either. He writhed on the ground in pain, slowly watching the sun finish its agonizingly slow descent below the horizon. Yet the pain didn't stop; it didn't falter; it continued to increase just like the height of the Moon before finally reaching its apex.
Finally, the pain began to ebb. When it had all vanished, he lay there for a moment, simply enjoying the lack of pain coursing through his limbs. But he was certainly curious about what kind of thing caused that much pain.
So he did the perfectly rational thing and examined where the pain originated. It came from his back, and only felt the tatters of clothes and perfectly smooth skin. So to find the answer to the agony that had hounded him for hours he looked around for something like a mirror.
He noticed that his eyesight had massively improved. Back on Earth, he could maybe see 10 or 20 m in front of him at night but now it was almost like it was mid-afternoon. Although the colors weren’t nearly as vibrant, he could see hard shapes in texture extremely well. This was probably an effect of his massively increased perception.
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Unfortunately, as he scanned the courtyard, he didn't find anything that would function as a mirror. So he opted to move on and more fully explore his surroundings. Walking the streets of goblin city, all the buildings were slightly smaller than his size and they were all almost entirely empty.
He didn't see a single Goblin during the hours that he searched. But finally, after roaming the city and getting lost two or three times, he reached a familiar sight.
The Lord's Manor and the courtyard in front of it were lavish; its large, ornate fountain just might provide a clear enough surface to use as a mirror.
When he removed his shirt it hit him how much the system had changed him. The little fat he had had been completely erased revealing lean, powerful muscle. He also looked at least five or six centimeters taller which, stacked on his already significantly above-average frame, made him quite the intimidating figure.
Overall his entire look was just, well, better looking: his facial features were sharper, his jaw was wider, his hair was glossier, etc.
But eventually, he got sick of being a narcissist and turned around to see what the hell had happened to his back.
For a moment he just stared at his back and all of what was on it. Eventually, he realized looking at it wouldn't do anything to it. It obviously had something to do with his skill evolution, but he wasn't sure what the full ramifications were.
Covering nearly the entirety of his back was what looked to be a tattoo of a sword. The sword was unadorned, simple but beautiful in its efficiency. The only thing that separated from the basic line work was a small Rune placed at the top of the pommel.
Suddenly a small pop-up appeared in the corner of his vision. He realized it was a notification and that he must have missed during the torturous agony.
*Ding*
You have reached level 11. Your stats have been increased and you have 4 status points to allocate.
Go forth and grow fast and let your strength be a testament to your resolve.
Opening his status screen he was greeted with some pleasant changes.
Name:
Emmanuel Agerico
Level:
11 F
Class:
Blade of Ruin
Stats
Strength: 102
Constitution: 80
Dexterity: 87
Agility: 89
Perception: 63
Wisdom: 102
Intelligence: 117
Unassigned attribute points: 4
skills
Swordsmanship:
Rank novice 1
Fire Magic:
Rank novice 1
Lightning Magic:
Rank Novice 1
Mana Manipulation:
Rank Novice 1
Iron Bones:
Rank novice 1
Iron skin:
Rank novice 1
Class Skills:
Enhanced Splitting strike:
Rank Initiate 10
Unkillable Untiring Killing Machine: Rank Novice 1
Kinetic Absorption: Rank Novice 1
Mana Avenger: Rank Novice 1
__________________________
The Final Strike: Rank Novice 1
__________________________
The Gift of Gab:
Rank universal
Analyze: Rank universal
Titles
Big Shot:
+5 to all Attributes
Mover and Shaker: +10 to all attributes
System Heretic: +5% to all attribute points
Beaten but not Broken: +2 to all attributes
Forged Mental Foundation: +20 to intelligence and wisdom,
Heritage: +5 to all attributes
Legacy Progenitor: +10% to all attributes
Lesser Prodigy: +10 to all attributes
True Prodigy: +10% to all attributes
The First Step:+ 25% to all attributes
Legacies
The Cataclysmic Swordsman: F
Grants to the holder of this Legacy
+25% to intelligence Agility
+15% to Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom
+10% to Dexterity, Perception
Increase the leveling speed.
Sword adjacent skills increased by 250%, with 75% greater effect
Fire magic and adjacent skills increased by 175%, with 50% greater effect
Lightning magic and adjacent skills increased by 175%, with 50% greater effect
Iron-Forged Body: G
+5% to all stats Legacies
The Cataclysmic Swordsman: F
Grants to the holder of this Legacy
+25% to intelligence Agility
+15% to Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom
+10% to Dexterity, Perception
Increase the leveling speed.
Sword adjacent skills increased by 250%, with 75% greater effect
Fire magic and adjacent skills increased by 175%, with 50% greater effect
Lightning magic and adjacent skills increased by 175%, with 50% greater effect
Iron-Forged Body: G
+5% to all stats
Before he could contemplate the ramifications of the skill upgrade and his new level the world decided to interrupt him. He first heard a rather large creak so he turned around. What he witnessed was all of the Goblin buildings rotting and then collapsing into blackness.