Chapter 9: Killing Pain I

Why are some classes weaker than others? Marcus was not the first to ask this question but he contemplated it a lot lately. The simple answer was: Some classes are just weaker, like people are differently capable. But this argument was flawed, Marcus found. Because the classes are not natural but designed. Who or what ever made the monoliths and created the portals has a purpose and intelligence. That would also mean they created weak classes on purpose and Marcus could not see any reason for that.

He believed that the difference in strength of the classes was mainly caused by humanities understanding of the individual classes. His evidence? The Fighter class. While the Fighter might never be as powerful or useful as a Paladin or Mender it is definitely not as trash as society believed. But if that was true for the Fighter would this not also be true for other trash classes?

And then there were the abilities. After comparing information and making lots of spread sheets, Marcus was absolutely certain that you needed 10 scaling attribute points to unlock your second ability. And yet, for many trash classes no ability besides the first has ever been found.

Sure, if people scale the wrong attributes it would take longer but they should unlock them eventually. That this has not happened could only mean one thing for Marcus. We missed them.

Figuring out abilities is a mix of luck and a lots of testing. The better you understand the class, the higher is your chance to figure it out. If, on the other hand, you are completely wrong about the essence of a class… you end up with the Hawkeye. Nobody knows what the second ability was.

These were the thoughts on Marcus’ mind as he watched Janette train. Also, women are beautiful beings worthy of song and tale. Marcus tried to pull his mind back from areas that would get him into real trouble. It only worked so much.

He stretched his muscles, took one last sip from his water bottle and got back to his bucket. A red bucket, filled half with water, stood on a small table and it was his own created torture device. He adjusted his armor one last time and then kicked the bucket with careful controlled power. Nothing happened. Too little power. He tried again and increased the power of Impulse Hammer. The bucket shook and water splattered over the table. “Damn” excessive power.

“You are still at your little game?” Janette stepped next to him removing the sweat from her skin with a towel in a way that would get her banned from the kids program. “hmmm” Marcus just grunted trying desperately to look somewhere else. He made another kick and the bucket went flying splashing water all over the training field. Janette laughed “Well, good luck!” and walked towards the showers. Marcus picked up the bucket and got a mop to clean things up.

I really need a girlfriend. He thought.

A full month has gone by and three more portals had opened up but nothing came through. After the excitement of the first portal the others felt very disappointing. The days were filled with routine and training. Marcus had become close with the team and especially Janette had warmed up to him. The two spent a lot of time together and Marcus was surprised how easy he found it to get along with the woman. Talking with her, playing games and having fun felt barely different from being with a “normal” friend.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

She teased him and stole his food but she also taught him much about the small things one needed to know to get by as an adult, like opening beer bottles with 42 different tools. If Marcus had known, getting along with a girl/woman was this easy he would not have worried about it in the first place. Maybe he and Janette were a good match in more than one way?

After showering he stood in front of the mirror and inspected his face. He hated that because the older he got the more of his father he could see in his own face. The sharp lines, the nose and chin all reminded him of his father. Only his dark brown eyes and his slightly curled dark hair reminded him of his mother. But was he attractive? He couldn’t tell. He sighed and went to his room.

“When the mind is idle, it invites the devil.” He had heard this somewhere before and to make sure no devil thoughts would get him, he made himself busy with creating spread sheets for class developments and ideas for abilities. He had no intentions to show this to anybody he just enjoyed thinking and planing about these kind of things. He already had one for Fighter dating back years but now Hawkeye and Windwalker had their own sheets. Once he was done with the Windwalker he would give Lancer a good look.

Next morning at breakfast, Marcus was surrounded by a small kingdom of food like every morning, as Janette barged into the room with a sour face. “One of the cameras on the last portal has stopped working...again.” Suddenly everybody seemed to be very busy with their food. “Who is coming with me? You know regulation says at least two have to go.” Janette looked around the room with men, who tried to be invisible.

“Sorry Janette, I would do it but I have a vid call with my daughter in a few hours, it is her birthday.” Lars excused himself. What a splendid excuse! Marcus thought.

The boss was also out because he had important documents to take care of, suddenly.

Janette moved next to Marcus’ food kingdom. “Pretty please?” Janette used “puppy eyes”: FATALITY.

Shortly after, Marcus found himself in full armor next to Janette in the big off-road car, shooting down the streets of Finland at excessive speed. Everybody knew Janette’s driving style and she might have super eye sight but everybody had only one life. The portal was some ways away and it would take three hours per car to get there, Janette intended to do it in two.

They had some small talk while Marcus gripped the edge of his seat and Janette barreled down the street and passed cars and trucks with centimeters to spare. Nobody would stop them because they had a special permit. Nobody would safe Marcus.

And yet. He was all alone with Janette, for hours. Far away from the rest of the team, in a big warm car and a very large backseat area. Marcus tried to keep his eyes on the landscape but somehow they moved back to Janette’s face on their own. He liked Janette a lot and she was pretty, at least Marcus thought so. Of course she was nearly ten years older. She was also the first woman/girl he had spent this much time with. This was stupid and he knew it. So, Marcus continued to fight with his inner demons while counting the seconds until the drive was over.

Janette put on her “music”. Instead of the car radio she used her phone that was stuck to the dash board. Marcus could see the phone’s background. It showed a tall woman with long red hair, glasses and a lot more curves than Janette. “Cute, isn’t she?” Janette said with a smile. “But you can’t have her. She is mine. My Cherry.” She looked extremely happy as she said it.

AHH. In an instant a lot of things made sense. Janette continued to fawn over HER Cherry while Marcus felt more and more like the biggest jerk on the planet. He deleted a lot of mental pictures and readjusted his thoughts on Janette as she continued to speak. “...can’t wait to see her again.” She ended her last train of thoughts.

Suddenly Janette pushed down the breaks and put the car to a total stop in the middle of the road. Her face had gone white and she stared at the road without blinking. “Have I just raised a giant red flag over my head?” she asked into the silent car. Marcus nodded in silence. Talking about, how happy you are going to be, once you return to the love of your life JUST before you go into a potentially dangerous situation.

Yes, that is one hell of an anime death flag.