Joram sat there for some time going through the crazy lists of possible Classes, let alone the various options for selecting a new Path, before he finally started sorting them. Specifically, he found that there were filters that he could apply to what he was presented with. But not before he saw a couple that made him shudder.
Playboy (Uncommon)
- Requirements:
- Attributes:
- Strength: 5
- Speed: 8
- Constitution: 10
- Intellect: 8
- Spirit: 7
- Charisma: 10
- Luck: 10
- Skills:
- [Bluff]
- [Diplomacy]
- [Endurance]
- [Escape Artist]
- [Running]
- [Sleight of Hand]
- Special:
- Have at least 10 people fall for you without committing to anyone.
He was quite simply aghast with that one, but then the last one in that chain caught his attention.
Harem Master (Legendary)
- Requirements:
- Attributes:
- Intellect: 15
- Spirit: 15
- Charisma: 20
- Luck: 20
- Skills:
- [Bluff]
- [Diplomacy, Improved]
- [Endurance]
- [Escape Artist, Improved]
- [Running]
- [Sleight of Hand]
- Special:
- Must have the [Harem IV] Achievement.
- Must have at least 100 people romantically in love with you.
- Must be able to fully support at least 100 people.
- Must own at least 100 acres of land.
- Must employ at least 50 people.
Then he recalled that “Achievement” and it started making much more sense…
Harem IV
- You’ve captured the hearts of 5 sapients, making them only want to be with you forevermore.
- You’ve captured the hearts of 10 sapients, making them only want to be with you forevermore.
- You’ve captured the hearts of 20 sapients, making them only want to be with you forevermore.
- You’ve captured the hearts of 50 sapients, making them only want to be with you forevermore.
- Note: if you no longer house and provide for the enamoured sapients, the progress of this Achievement may regress.
- Benefit:
- Those who may see you as a potential romantic partner have their opinion of you increased significantly. Social interactions will favour you.
- Those who’ve fallen for you have a greater understanding of what will be looked upon favourably by you, making it easier for them to cater to you.
- Those who’ve fallen for you now have an instinctual knowledge of your current state of health and wellbeing. Greater devotion to you grants a more accurate insight.
- You now have an instinctual knowledge of how those who see you in a romantic light feel. Your insight increases proportionately to your feelings for each person.
“That’s such a…” he trailed off, not wanting to vocalize the well of… negativity that he found when contemplating that Class and that Achievement.
Then he looked at the last two points and let the sigh escape his lips. When Erys gave him a questioning look, he explained.
“I’m pretty sure that the Queen isn’t acting entirely as she would normally act…” he said, then expounded upon the [Harem IV] Achievement for her, which resulted in a reaction that he hadn’t been anticipating.
“Buah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!” Erys roared in laughter, falling to the floor because she couldn’t keep herself upright due to being wracked with such powerful guffaws.
He patiently waited for her to get herself together, pointedly ignoring Avi’s suggestion to use [Calm Emotions] on her. He wasn’t above being laughed at, nor was he above reproof or anything like that. No, it was best to not take oneself too seriously….
But as the seconds ticked by into minutes without any sign that Erys’ mirth would subside, a frown finally appeared on his face. Then, astonishingly, Erys sobered up quickly, causing him to wonder if that Achievement had prodded her or something, letting her know his displeasure.
That would get ridiculously annoying and inconvenient in the future if that was the case.
“So,” Erys said as she wiped away her tears and slid back onto her chair. “You’re worried that… your Achievement is unduly influencing the people around you?” she asked for clarity’s sake, actually managing to get serious.
“Yes,” he replied simply, not quite wanting to open the can of worms that was “autonomy” or “agency” right then.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter, does it?” Erys said with a wave of a hand. “The Great Protector influences everything in Creation. If someone winds up looking at you more favourably than another, what’s the harm? There are Skills and Spells that outright do much worse than that.
“Even Social Skills affect a person’s mind or emotions. It’s not very different from you going about sweet-talking anyone you come across. This just saves time,” she finished with a shrug.
Again, there was a lot he could have said to address various points in there, but ultimately it boiled down to him not liking that a person could- and would- basically be controlled by the System; a 3rd party, as it were. If he wanted to influence someone, he’d speak with them directly, not relying on the System to do it in the background. Especially when it wasn’t something that he wanted to do, let alone initiate.
But was he effectively “kicking against the pricks”?
This was how the world worked here, if not the whole universe. This was how people had lived their lives since time immemorial. Possibly since the foundation of this universe. So, who was right? Should he push the morals, mores, standards, and ethics he’d grown up with on this world? Or should be assimilate its morals, mores, standards, and ethics?
He was very glad that he had several additional minds going to help him work through things even faster than normal. Which, honestly, he’d been told that he normally did very quickly.
In the end, he decided to go with both worlds. Take a bit from here, a bit from there, and make his own thing work.
The major one was him accepting the fact that the System did what the System wanted. It would affect people however it wanted to affect them, and there wasn’t likely anything he could do about it. So, he decided not to worry about it, as it wasn’t something that he could change.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
On the other hand, he was determined to change how the world viewed people. Specifically: on slavery. He certainly wanted to abolish slavery if he could. He’d heard of one country where, although still legal, was incredibly strict when it came to the laws surrounding everything from when/how a person became a slave all the way to what happened to them after they were freed or died.
Perhaps he could read up more on those laws and start reforms from there. He still didn’t like slavery. At all. Even the fact that the three gals were still slaves bothered him more than a little bit. Especially if their actions were influenced by how they thought a slave “should” act. Did they really think that he wanted to sleep with every pretty lady that he came across?
“I’ll… deal with it,” he finally said a minute later. “In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do to… cope, with what’s going on with all that,” he said, shaking his head as he turned back to his open Status Screen.
Erys seemed to pick up on his wanting to drop the subject and mercifully let him do so in silence. That said, she did go back to the booze wall and picked up another bottle to drink, a huge grin on her face as she took a whiff of its contents.
Then he went and sorted the selections further and eventually came up with a shortlist of considerations, though he wasn’t unbiased with why he’d selected them. So, he arranged them by alphabetical order before looking at their requirements.
All-Seer (Mythic)
- Requirements:
- Attributes:
- Intellect: 30
- Spirit: 30
- Skills:
- [Identify, Improved] (or [Analyze])
- [Clear Mind, Improved]
- [Mana Well, Improved]
- [Multitasking, Improved]
- [Quick Casting, Improved]
- Spells:
- Able to cast any [Divination]-type spell or power that is able to get information on a target over 1,000 miles away.
Looking further into the description of the Class, he found that it was pretty much as advertised: a super-seer.
It would allow him to eventually bypass any protections a person, place, or thing had that would normally thwart divinations. Not only that, but he would eventually be able to gather information, or even see, a target from anywhere. Yes, anywhere.
Like, he could peek into other dimensions! Which got him thinking that it might be incredibly useful if he wanted to check on anyone… or on Earth.
What had happened after he’d been isekai’d? Were his loved ones worried about his disappearance? Or did they think he’d died in the… accident? Was Earth affected by Altaea’s intrusion like he’d read about in various stories? Like, if mana was suddenly “infecting” that universe and causing untold issues and all that.
So many questions with the potential of being answered if he took [All-Seer].
True Kineticist (Mythic)
- Requirements:
- Attributes:
- Intellect: 30
- Spirit: 35
- Skills:
- [Aerokinesis, Improved]
- [Hydrokinesis, Improved]
- [Pyrokinesis, Improved]
- [Terrakinesis, Improved]
- Any other 2 Kinesis Skills at Improved level.
- [Mana Manipulation, Improved]
- [Mana Well, Improved]
- [Meditation, Improved] (or [Clear Mind])
- [Multitasking, Improved]
- [Quick Casting, Improved]
This one called to him because, well, it was ridiculously amazing at blowing shit up, as it were. The actual description told of how he’d be able to “alter the very fabric of the universe”, which was both awesome and terrifying at the same time. And several other things in between, honestly.
It would eventually allow him to mold and melt the elements with but a thought. Scary stuff. But still awesome.
Then the next one wasn’t a huge consideration, if he was being truthful, but it stuck out like a sore thumb. Not just because of what it did, but also because of just how similar it was to a class in one of his favourite stories. It was just missing a “th” at the end….
Healer of Azarin (Mythic)
- Requirements:
- Attributes:
- Speed: 10
- Constitution: 10
- Intellect: 10
- Spirit: 10
- Skills:
- [Cure]: any
- [Heal: 3]
- [Identify] (or [Analyze])
- [Lucky]
- [Mana Well]
- [Meditation]
- [Pain Resistance]
- [Regeneration]
- [Toughness]
- Special:
- Survived 3 events where you should have died.
- Use [Cure] or [Heal] on 100 people without thought of recompense.
Sure, it was a [Mythic] Class, but its requirements weren’t anything to write home about. That said, it gave an impressive number of stats, though still in line with what he’d noticed for Mythic-level Classes.
What actually tempted him was that the description seemed to imply that there was a bit of Time woven into the Class and its Skills. Like, the healing was magical, regenerating or replacing damage with new tissue, as was needed. But it also implied that it would sort of “turn back” the target’s time to help repair or mitigate any damage that was “too severe”.
He was also both curious and impressed that, so far, two Classes had the [Lucky] Skill as a prerequisite. Though, he could at least understand why [Harem Master] would need lots of Luck….
Shaking his head, he knew that he wasn’t going to be a dedicated [Healer], or even anything close to that. Sure, he could heal people, but that wasn’t his focus, his calling, as it were.
What really caught his attention, and mostly kept it there, was the last one on his shortlist. Not only was it in line with what he really loved doing, but it also had the most strict requirements that he’d seen yet. Which was understandable given just how… OP it looked at first glance.
World Architect (Unique)
- Requirements:
- Attributes:
- Intellect: 50
- Spirit: 50
- Charisma: 30
- Luck: 30
- Skills:
- [Analyze]
- [Clear Mind, Advanced]
- [Control Dungeon]
- [Craft]: Any at "Greater"
- [Create Dungeon]
- [Dimensional Manipulation]
- [Lucky]
- [Mana Manipulation]
- [Mana Sight]
- [Mana Well, Advanced]
- [Multitasking]
- [Quick Casting]
- [Quick Manifesting]
- [Source of Power, Advanced]
- [Spatial Manipulation]
- Special:
- Has created an extradimensional space.
- Has created a dimensional space.
- Has created a Dungeon.
- Has created a demi-plane that can support a variety of life.
- Ability to create matter.
- Ability to create life.
Looking at the Attribute requirements, he wasn’t sure that too many other beings could qualify for it, given the whopping 50 for both INT and SPR. The CHA requirement confused him more than a bit, but the LCK stat threw him for a loop.
Just what did Luck affect anyways? He was sure that it had to do with random chance, or variables. Like, he was reasonably sure that the damage listed under his Mindbolt’s various forms was more than it should be, especially since he was used to seeing it listed as a range, like “d8 + x”, where chance determined how much damage would be done. Instead, it was listed as a flat number.
Now, that could just be how the System dealt with stuff. So, there was that.
But. What did Luck affect? He was reasonably sure that if affected what kinds of loot, and how much, he got.
He was also impressed that his Luck Attribute was at least 30. That said, he didn’t know if that was considered amazing, or below average. Heck, he hadn’t even been able to see the Luck Attribute at first, which led him to thinking that it was a “hidden” stat, and not something people were supposed to normally see.
But why did [World Architect] need Luck? Well, there were too many possible answers to that question for him to bother dwelling on it further. So, he went back to looking at the class.
That it was yet another [Unique] Class made him wonder if the System was trying to guide his Path, his growth. Or was it just that he was such a broken thing that the System had decided to go all-in with the “broken” theme and made him another [Unique] Class?
Still, the requirements weren’t remotely easy to fill. In fact, he wondered if that combination of requirements, both in Attributes and Skills, let alone the “Special” ones, were truly unique to him. Which was humbling, terrifying, and ego-boosting, all at the same time.
Then there was one last one that had caught his attention, one path that he’d seriously considered back on Earth. If it weren’t for the insane turnover of the profession, he might have gone that way instead of aiming for something else.
The Cook from Beyond (Legendary)
- Requirements:
- Attributes:
- Speed: 15
- Intellect: 15
- Spirit: 15
- Luck: 20
- Skills:
- [Craft: Cooking, Advanced]
- [Endurance]
- [Identify, Advanced] (or [Analyze])
- [Mana Manipulation]
- [Mana Sight]
- [Mana Well]
- [Meditation, Improved] (or [Clear Mind])
- [Multitasking, Improved]
- [Telekinesis]
- [Toughness]
- Special:
- Cook, and receive great and genuine praise, for 10 dishes that the world you are on has never seen before. Indeed, dishes that are unknown to your current world.
- Introduce 3 new devices to your current world that are used for cooking.
The Attribute requirements were pretty simple, overall. Though, he supposed that they’d be pretty hard for just about anyone else to meet. That said, he was still impressed with just how many Skills the Class required.
At any rate, the brief description mentioned that he would have access to a sort of cooking akashic record, [Chefs of the Universe, Unite!]. It was- to put it lightly- and incredibly weird name for a Class Ability, but who was he to criticize someone else’s naming sense?
Smiling again at a path not travelled, but still looked at fondly, he went back to [World Architect] and looked over it one last time.
‘You should totally do it,’ Avi piped in from over the Network, startling him a bit.
‘How do you know what I’m thinking?’ he asked reflexively before his mind had a chance to tell him how dumb that question was.
‘Enough said,’ Avi sent smugly before dropping the call, as it were.
“What’s up?” Erys asked as she gave him a searching look, as though she were worried about something. Or him.
“Just confirming my Class selection,” he said, then clicked on the [Accept] button.
Then came the array of blue screens, one popping up after another as the notifications came, informing him of this and that. But what really distracted him from enjoying the moment were the Attribute gains, causing his head to first swim, then spin, then to cause everything to black out.
* * *
Not knowing why mrrandii, was acting so weird, Erys watched as his eyes turned back to looking at the air, presumably his Status Page. A moment later, he seemed to get dizzy, then literally swooned and began to fall over.
She easily made it to his side to catch her mrrandii before he fell to the ground, cradling him in one arm while her other still held her bottle of d’Entruin wine; a good vintage that had aged for over a hundred years. Couldn’t go and waste that now, could she?
Still, she was a bit worried as to why he’d fallen unconscious after accepting the new Class, one that showed as [World Architect], of all things. Though she wasn’t sure what rarity it was, given that its text was plain white.
But. She could feel just how much he was changing because of his new Class. Specifically, she could feel his mana reserves increase dramatically, making her wonder just how monstrous he would get before he stopped levelling… if that was even possible for her ridiculous mrrandii.
Erys smiled as she thought of just how jealous her peers would be when she finally introduced her mrrandii to them.
If Joram had been awake to witness the smile that was growing on Erys’ face- let alone saw what she was thinking-, he would have seriously reconsidered keeping her around. As it was, Erys didn’t know just how much she’d lucked-out by Joram falling unconscious.