Chapter 200. Class Decision.

Tzes’zod wasn’t in the personal space, which was too bad. While he was no expert on my class, and the potential evolutions, he was smart, and it would be good to bounce my thoughts off him. There was always Gary, and I had a question-and-answer session with him still available to me.

That brought up the question of how much I trusted Gary, and I’d have to say, not very much. He was bound by the system not to harm me, but he wasn’t bound to offer the best advice. I could see a being like Gary getting his kicks on steering me toward a class and build that would seem great now but hamper me in the future. He’d probably just see it as an opportunity to get me to sell my soul for a better build.

The only person here now was Melvin. He had limited communication skills, but of all the strange creatures and people I’d met, he was the one I trusted the most to do what was best for me. A quick check of my personal space showed that he was inside the training center where he liked to spend most of his time.

“Hey, Melvin, do you have a minute?” I asked. He sent me an affirmative, and ended the training session he was in, his cubic form sliding into the main room a moment later. He sent me an image of a question mark to tell me he was ready to hear what I wanted to ask.

“I have a class evolution available, and there’s three for me to choose from. Can I get you opinion on them?” I asked. His cube quivered back and forth in what I took to be a yes. I gave him a rundown of the three classes as well as what I liked and disliked about each one. When I was done, I waited to see how Melvin would respond.

He replied in a series of images. The first was a combination of the Foe Splicer, and Foe Mirror class. I was alone, fighting against the various monsters in the training center. While I won each bout, I could see that Melvin was off to the side watching and waiting.

The final series of images was of the Foe Commander. Once again, I was in the training center fighting against the various challenges. This time, the team of minions was doing all the heavy lifting, and to my surprise, Melvin was there, draped over my armor in the final version of the slime armor he was trying to invent.

Along with the images he sent feelings of belonging, of camaraderie, and contentment. It was clear that he liked the summoner class and saw himself fitting into that class and build at some point. He had a strong desire to fight and explore at my side and for whatever reason, he didn’t see himself fitting in as well with the other two classes I was offered.

“I know you want to help me during my summonings, and when we’re back home. But be honest with me, putting your feelings aside, do you really think the Foe Commander is the best of the three?” I asked. Melvin was silent for a moment before he replied.

“Alone is danger, together is strong. Alone is sad, together is happy,” he whispered in my mind, adding the image of me alone in a dark dungeon, and then in the same dungeon with a team at my side.

“Thanks, I need a bit to think about all this, but whatever class I decide to pick, know that you’ll always be an important part of the team,” I told Melvin.

I mulled the choices over again, realizing that I agreed with Melvin. I wanted a team at my side, I didn’t want to face the horrors of these system-controlled worlds alone. I’d started my life with a class that summoned minions, and now I was being offered a chance to improve upon that class and become even more powerful.

You have chosen the Foe Commander class. Please wait as changes are made to your physical being, your personal space, and your inventory.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I began to feel sick as if my body started shifting and moving. My mana also began to change, and the process was far from painless. Barely making it to my rocking chair, all I could do was sit there and endure the unpleasantness, knowing that it would have to end soon.

Minutes passed, and the pain began to fade. When it was gone, I felt better than I had before the system had begun its work. I could hear things moving around in the training center and also in the armory, but I didn’t think it wise to go charging in either of those places until the system gave me the go ahead.

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The transition to your new Foe Commander class is complete. First, we’ll review the changes to your physical form. All your stats have improved, and here are your new baseline totals.

Strength, 14.

Agility, 13.

Constitution, 16.

Mind, 22.

Presence, 12.

Current Mana, 44.

Damage Resistance, 10%.

Going forward, your stats will improve as you gain new Tiers and Ranks. You will gain 1 point in mind for each new rank. Each point in Mind now adds 2 points to your mana pool. While your mana pool is now substantially smaller than when you were a Foe Summoner, your minions no longer need to reserve a portion of your mana.

Constitution and Presence are considered secondary stats for your class and will increase by 1 point every 5 ranks. Strength and Agility are tertiary stats and will increase by 1 point at every new Tier. Damage Resistance is a new feature of your class. All types of damage are reduced by 10% after all other factors are taken into consideration. At each Tier, you will be granted an additional 5% damage resistance. The maximum Damage Resistance for your class is 50%. Please note that some classes, items, and abilities may have ways to negate damage resistance.

The next class feature is your minions. Do you wish to begin that review, or do you wish for some time to examine the current information?

I requested a pause while I looked over the new stats, and how they worked for my class. At first, I felt a bit ripped off that I only got two points of mana for each point of mind, but not having to reserve mana for my minions more than made up for it. The reality was that despite my old class having a much larger mana pool, I usually only had somewhere between 20 and 30 points to work with after choosing all my minions.

Damage resistance was new, and while 10% might not seem like much, I’d been on the brink of death too many times during a summoning, and in the real world, where the extra resistance would have made a huge difference. It would also grow as I attained higher tiers. It was capped at a max of 50%, but that was huge when I already had minions to act as meat shields for me. I had a handle on the first round of changes, now it was time to dig into my minions.

As stated before, you may select one minion for every 5 ranks you possess. Once selected, you will be locked into that minion for some time. Choose carefully and look for possible synergies among the minions of your various Tiers and Ranks. At each new tier, you will have the option to replace 1 of your minions.

When you gain experience, your minions will also gain experience, though at a reduced rate. Each minion may increase its rank by a maximum of 5. Once a minion is at the maximum, its experience will be funneled into unlocking veteran status. To learn more about veteran status for the Foe Commander’s minions, you must reach the maximum rank with one of your minions.

Your minions no longer require mana to summon. To summon them, you merely need to concentrate on which one you wish to summon and choose a location for them to appear. The maximum range you can summon a minion at is equal to 10 feet per Tier. You must have line of sight on the location you wish to summon your minion at. A cooldown of five seconds must pass between each minion being summoned.

You may now select one minion from each Tier and Rank group.

Tier 0, Rank 0.

1. Rupert Stonehewer, Dwarf Commoner.

2. Mangy hound.

3. Dire rat.

4. Angry housecat.

5. Goblin spearman.

Tier 0, Rank 5.

1. Lillia Fairwind, elvish militia recruit.

2. Juvenile cave spider.

3. Humanoid zombie.

4. Human thug.

5. Gnoll scout.

Tier 1, Rank 0.

1. Ghoul.

2. Advanced skeleton.

3. Marvin Glum, human warrior.

4. Cave spinner spider.

5. Elida Silverbarrow, halfling healer.

Tier 1, Rank 5.

1. Grulnok, orcish weapon master.

2. Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin raiders.

3. Vaylon the Twisted.

4. Gnoll tracker.

5. Halfling rogue.

Tier 2, Rank 0.

1. Mana Slayer Drone.

2. Verminfolk assassin.

3. Kobold work gang.

4. Tiki warband.

5. Plague warrior.

It was quite a list. I was thankful that most of my old minions were still in the lineup. I knew them and how they fought. Several of my options were things I had fought, but never had the chance to choose as my own minion. The real challenge now was to craft a team from the five minions. If I made a bad call, I wouldn’t be able to change anyone out until I hit tier three.