Pathbreakers: Multiclassing For Fun And Profit

4 Hours, 28 Minutes Until Reset

We meet up with Alicia at the cave entrance. She's gotten a signal and has already sent the Conversation Logs to whoever needs them. I can see the desert night sky outside. Thousands of stars in the twilight.

It's time for Mercy to make the trip back down and end this place. I want to say something clever and squad leader-y. Instead I say, “don't trip.”

She tilts her head in sincere confusion. “On something specific? Or just in general?” Alright, so maybe it wasn't sincere confusion but mocking mimicry.

“Just be safe,” I tell her, and squeeze her hand.

“Everything between here and there is dead. I got this.” And with that she flies off at high speed.

“That armor is really unfair,” Jose says, watching her fly. “I hope I can fly someday.”

I've just watched my girlfriend fly away in robot armor and my best friend, with all seriousness, is hoping to also gain flight. The Dracosys really has done a number on the world.

I time her trip down, waiting for the dungeon collapse notice. It comes seven minutes, 11 seconds after Mercy leaves.

“Warning! Warning! Dungeon will return to previous form in 600 seconds!” The voice comes from all around us, and is in English. I wonder if that's because we speak English or because that's just what the system uses.

Mercy has a whole ten minutes to escape, and I'm not that worried about her. Just, you know, I have a very mild panic attack. In ten minutes my girlfriend could die. No. Big. Deal.

Mercy actually makes it out with four minutes to spare. She really is something, that girl.

We're all (including Abdul Alhazred) waiting outside the cave for the CIA stealth heli-jet (not it's official name) to arrive when I hear a voice. He's smooth and confident. And American.

“Pathbreakers, good to see you.”

I turn to look. How the fuck did a guy in a business suit get out here? I can make him out clearly in the pale light of the moon. He's tall, thin and good looking. His suit is dark blue, his tie is red, his hair is short, black and slicked back. He looks like he belongs on Wall Street, not the desert.

“Uh, hey?” I say, and address the man who's just 50 feet away. Both Jose and Alicia draw guns. Jose fires.

A swirl of green wind energy spirals around Jose's bullet and brings it to a stop just inches from the man's face. That's when I remember that face.

“Desmond Pierce,” I call out. “Obviously with high levels and wind magic. What do you want?”

“Oh, mister Han, great to finally meet you. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances, I've heard great things.” His voice exudes smarmy, upper class glad handing. “I've got a message to send and you're the perfect ones to deliver it.”

I reply with as much smart assery as I can manage. “Great, I love delivering mail. The postal service keeps telling me to stop, but I have to follow my passions, you know?”

“Yes, quite. So I do need to ask if miss Bennet is recording and live streaming this interaction. I'm hoping for the yes.”

I turn to her. The six of us are roughly standing in a circle, with Alicia and I up front and Quins, Mercy and Jose behind us. We're all standing on the partially complete dark stone temple to Cthulhu. Desmond is standing in front of the sacrificial altar and that's not troubling at all. Abdul is currently running to take cover behind a large pillar. Smart man.

“Alicia?” I ask, one eye on Desmond.

“Yes, of course,” she answers. “Anything you do here is immediately known by the CIA.”

“Thanks so much!” Desmond says. “Because the thing is, the US hasn't really taken our operation seriously yet, so I need to make things clearer.” An item appears from his inventory and unfortunately I recognize it immediately. It's one of the nuclear bomb suitcases from the 10th floor.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

“So your handlers know, this is a nuclear bomb. It's one of several we obtained from the R-32 dungeon. We, the Ambrose Society, need to make our position clear.”

I'm holding my breath. I try to see if his bomb is counting down. It's too far away to tell.

“How did you get here?” I ask, suspecting the answer.

“I flew,” comes his short reply. Wind powers strong enough to stop a bullet from Jose's MK11 Mod 0 sniper rifle have to be top-tier. I'm betting he can fly using wind magic. I can fly too, but he doesn't need to know that.

“Anyways, I came to deliver the message that nowhere is safe now. We can stow these in our inventories to get through any security checks. We can deliver them anywhere, any time.”

“But what exactly do you want?” I ask. “You did think that far ahead, right? Or are you just trying to get your influencer rep up?” I was always a smart ass to bullies in school and in the Army.

“Mr. Han, you aren't actually required for this, so if you would settle down and let the grown ups talk-”

A bolt of lightning fires from Jose's rifle and gets deflected by a green energy barrier. The barrier takes bullets from Alicia and arrows from Quins. Mercy and I rush forward in tandem. Mercy's laser spear flickers on and my wakizashis fly out, just a few feet ahead of me.

A wide gust of air hits us like a gigantic slap, knocking Mercy and I off balance and sending us careening to the side. A five-foot-wide hand made of lime green wind grabs my wakizashis and crushes them, breaking them into pieces. Half a dozen three-foot-long wind javelins appear around Desmond. They dart out towards Jose, Alicia and Quins. I hear the tearing of flesh but just get on my feet and cast Create Shade with each hand.

My open hands shoot forward and two circles of shadow rise from the desert floor, leaving behind 3D replicas of my own shadow. The shades dash towards Desmond. He pulls wind into long green spears and throws them, missing one shade and lancing the other straight through. It pops like a balloon. I move forward as my remaining shade leaps onto Desmond with a dagger-like hand of shadow. Desmond brushes aside the shade like he did Mercy and I, and the shade pops as it impacts a sharp boulder.

He throws more wind javelins at my team and I turn to look at the scene of horror. Quins is missing an arm. Jose's right foot, his last remaining foot, is gone and he's fallen forward. Alicia is clutching her neck.

Mercy flies and rushes in with her spear as I run to heal my comrades. Mercy's spear clashes with a large lance made of wind. I reach Quins first and heal him just enough to stop the bleeding.

“Grab your arm!” I say to him. He looks utterly dazed, and just drops to his knees in the now bloodied sand. His bow is beside him, snapped in half. I get to Alicia and have to pull her hand away from the neck wound so I can heal it. There's so, so much blood. I heal the gash quickly and move to Jose.

Jose has his foot in one hand and says, “just call Biscuits and go!” I take his recommendation and summon my familiar, the winged kitten Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr., from a sphere of glowing orange energy. The kitten hops over to Jose and meows. Biscuits likes Jose. I can trust her to heal him up.

I turn back to the fight and Mercy's energy-bladed spear grinds against a whirling green lance of wind. Mercy is clearly putting everything she has into the attack but Desmond doesn't even seem to be sweating. I can make him sweat.

I rush forward and create two Burning Blades, then two more. My swords fly ahead of me, utilizing the 50% faster attack speed bonus from having over 100 Dexterity. Desmond's Reflexes and concentration must be extraordinary because he continues to fight Mercy with the lance in his left hand while creating another giant wind hand with his right. He intercepts the blades with the wind hand. The hand is engulfed in flames but remains active. He clamps down on my Burning Blades and they shatter, then Desmond fires the damn flaming hand right at me. I cast Sand Cloak and the desert sands whip around me, and I try to rush right through the hand. It explodes around me and my Sand Cloak is blasted away, but I keep moving forward.

I get in close to Desmond and create two more Burning Blades, followed by another spell. The blades fling forward but Desmond uses a horizontal swipe of his lance to slash away both the swords and Mercy. Unfortunately for him I used the blades to hide my real attack, and a Molotov drops down from above him, exploding over his head.

He's only stopped for a moment, then a mini-tornado spirals around him, snuffing out the flames. The tornado dissipates and Desmond Pierce seems totally undaunted, though his suit is scorched in spots and his jacket falls off in tatters. He uses a hand to put his hair back in position and just smirks.

“Sorry kids, but that 6th step is a big one.” A chain of air fist strikes plow into me and even though my Toughness is keeping me alive, it can't keep me on my feet. A giant uppercut knocks me up, then a series of giant jabs slam into me before a spinning haymaker sends me flying.

My sub-minds keep working even though I'm seeing stars. 6th step? He's got a 6th step class? How? The 6th step classes are that strong? My head hurts. My left arm is limp, I think it's broken. His powers definitely seem to have specific ranges, just like regular spells. That tornado seemed strong but maybe it has too high a cost to use repeatedly. Or maybe it's purely defensive. The molotov dealt damage, I'm sure, so maybe the tornado healed him as well. Yeah, that would keep him from wanting to spam it if it was higher cost due to-

I skid to a stop next to Jose. He's got Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr in one hand and a friggin chocolate chip cookie in the other. “Eat this and your naan.” Jose's rifle is bent. He must have blocked with it. Alicia is currently starting to pass out. Desmond and Mercy are both flying about 20 feet off the ground and slashing wildly at each other.

Desmond is too fast. He's moving at near Mach speed and Mercy is taking hits. I can see bits of her armor break off. I eat the damn cookie. I pull my naan out and fold it in half so I can eat it in two bites. And a swarm of lights begins to circle me.

Notice! Jose Amarillo's Chocolate Chip Cookie Of Leveling has been consumed. 18 levels have been gained. Spend at least 8 of your 18 levels in the next 60 seconds or they will be lost!

Notice! Jun Kyung Han's Naan Of Leveling has been consumed. 14 levels have been gained. Spend at least 22 of your 32 levels in the next 60 seconds or they will be lost!

5 levels immediately go into Phantom to bring it to 10, unlocking the Doppelganger 5th step class. And unlocking something very, very good.

Synergist, Level 75 - Level Zero

You are considered level zero in any class you're qualified for but have no levels in. This alters your effective level and how difficult it is to gain levels.

My average level shoots down from around 13 to 2.82 as I become level zero in 71 different classes. And I gain 12 more levels due to the difference. 39. I now have 39 levels to spend. I cram twenty levels into Doppelganger, and I feel something change.

Time slows, then seems to stop. I see Mercy, bleeding, and about to lose a fight and probably die. I see Jose, gritting his teeth through pain as Biscuits's magic mends his leg. I see Alicia, holding her neck and collapsing into the desert sand. I see Quins, on his knees, gripping his arm stump.

My eyes turn up. Up to the stars. They call to me. They call to me here, in this place, this temple to cosmic gods. I feel their pull. I could let them take me, let them take all of us. We could drift up into the stars.

That would have been nice. That would have been my choice a few months ago, to let myself go, to let everything go. But not anymore. I look again at the stars, and instead of letting them pull me, I pull them. I reach out and grasp stars by the hand full. I pull them down and they circle me as my telekinesis takes hold of them. I form shapes, constellations. And I know that this is my path to power.

Astral Pathbreaker

Wield the stars and create new constellations to enhance yourself and allies.

A 6th Step class. No known subclasses, no known class evolutions.

Time resumes but the stars haven't left me. There are almost 100 of them. One star floats over to Jose, another to Alicia and one to Quins. Each star is just a pinpoint of light, but I know each one carries within it any and all of my powers. I cast Healing Palm on all three at once.

Stars swirl and spiral at my back as I cast Flight and rise off the ground. The stars spin rapidly and I suddenly jet forward to where Mercy and Desmond are fighting. I float between them and they pause their battle. My eyes are on Desmond but I can feel through the stars. A star goes to Mercy and begins to heal her lacerated side.

Desmond smirks. “Flight and healing won't keep me from killing-”

Stars swirl around my right arm and I jet forward. I impact before he even gets the next word out, slamming 40 spiraling points of light into his gut. He goes flying back dozens of feet, skips off the desert floor and keeps going dozens of feet more before grinding to a halt in sand.

I fly after him and he recovers just in time to intercept my next punch. His air lance whirls into existence and parries my star punch. He flies back and prepares to thrust forward with the lance and I spin up my own lance of stars. We both charge and our lances collide, both exploding into their components. That's when my stars swarm him, delivering dozens of tiny blows. I cast a one-second Flame Thrower from 20 stars that are circling him and he summons his mini-tornado to dispel the flames and probably heal himself.

I pull back my stars and put five stars on my own arm to use Healing Palm with 5x speed. No, that wasn't Flame Thrower. Prominence Burn? Some of my abilities have changed. Some drastically. I don't have time for that now, though.

Desmond fires six air javelins at me. I step and dodge four, then smash into the last two with stars. My stars are marble-sized, each one reminding me of the Dark Motes I started all this with, except these shine with blue-white light.

He rushes forward with two wind hands and I shoot stars into each palm like bullets, then cast Solar Mote from inside each hand, blowing them up from the inside. I feel my Arcana Points drop low.

This power, my power, is incredible. And I can tell it's already running out. Desmond spits out blood. “Finally serious, then?” His once smooth voice is now scratchy. He flys forward, creating a set of six giant wind hands, each clenched into a fist. I fly forward to meet him and pull 10 stars into a circle in front of me. They turn neon purple and I cast a new version of my first spell, Dark Mote Grenade, 10 times. Then I pull my stars around me in a loose sphere to take the attacks.

The wind fists collide first, slamming into my still glowing purple stars. Each fist presses and pushes against my shield. My stars flicker and one by one they disappear. Then Desmond himself comes into range. The 10 baseballs of black and purple energy suddenly shoot forward in a barrage of deathly energy. Desmond tries to block with his wind hands and he manages to block most, but not all of them. That doesnt help though. Each Dark Mote Grenade explodes into dozens of Dark Motes, which home in on him from all directions.

Desmond's right ear is gone. His left eye is bleeding. His formerly handsome face is ripped apart. His shirt is riddled with holes. His left arm hangs limp and useless. His right leg is covered in blood. He does not scream. His voice still works. “Next... time...”

A rifle shot rings out and takes him in the collar bone. Jose always had more than one gun in his inventory, so I'm only surprised that this man's head is still intact.

Desmond flies straight up at high speed, blood trailing behind him. I should follow. If I were a soldier I would have to follow. But I'm not a soldier anymore. I'm going to help my comrades.

I turn to my teammates and check each one. Mercy's armor is demolished but she's fine. I rush back to Quins to reconnect his arm and check that Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr did a good job on Jose. (She did.) Mercy takes the extra nuclear bomb into her inventory. It had 12 seconds left on the timer.

The heli-jet arrives, we carry Alicia onto the transport, and five of the six who went into R-32 get to go home.

Plus a cat and a fictional man from the dungeon. I'm sure they're going to have a LOT of questions for Abdul.