NOVEL NEXT Chapter 49: Knighted Damsel
The first thing Rayna did after Corban left was take a nice long bath. She wasn't sure where the water came from, nor where it went, but she couldn't be bothered to find out as she let the piping hot liquid soak into every pore. She scrubbed until her skin was raw and emerged from the bath clean for the first time in over a month.
According to Corban, there was a community bath house that, for the sake of hygiene, Amon was running for free. He apparently overruled Ronari's objection that the System couldn't handle the Essence usage and when Ronari had threatened their energy supply he threatened to tell Rayna everything.
Honestly, it was relief to know that Amon had a proper threat to use against Ronari. As long as it was Amon rebelling and not Rayna, Ronari wouldn't look too closely at their charade.
Clean and comfortable in a bath robe that came with the room, Rayna took a seat on her bed, trying to contain her excitement.
She was finally going to get her first Class.
Technically Warrior was her first Class, but the Initial Classes didn't feel like real Classes. They didn't come with a description or specialized skills. It was like being offered high end icecream just to find out that your only choices were vanilla, chocolate or strawberry.
Rayna didn't mind neapolitan ice cream, but she was ready for something with more flavor.
Are you sure you would like to begin the First Ascension? Once you have done so, you will be unable to use your Menu until the Ascension is complete.
Rayna hesitated. She didn't want to wait. The longer she waited, the more Experience she was wasting, since she couldn't gain Experience while her level was capped.
But if she didn't get any good options, she would be stuck with whatever she chose for twenty-five levels. Or worse, she would have to fight without her Menu while she waited for something better to pop up.
Rayna bit the bullet and accepted the prompt. She was gaining nothing by waiting, and she already proved during her System reinitialization that she could use magic without her Menu. She would be fine no matter how this turned out.
Ascensions mark an increase in power greater than that of a simple level increase. As such, the System gives every player a chance to reevaluate their progress and change their course at each Ascension.
You may choose to advance your current Class, which will increase the number of stat points you receive without providing additional benefits, or you can choose to change your Class and alter your path going forward.
Each Class comes with its own unique benefits and disadvantages. Be sure to read the description thoroughly before making your final choice.
You may pause the process at any time, but you will be unable to use your System Menu until you have made your final decision. Class options may change over time if you wait too long to Ascend.
Rayna read through the large text block twice before moving on.
She had no intention of waiting, so the last bit of advice didn't apply to her, but it was good information to have for the future.
Classes come in five rarities: common, uncommon, rare, epic and legendary. Higher Class rarities come with more stat points and more powerful abilities, but they require more Experience to level up.
Additionally, unique Classes are Classes that don't fit within the Warrior, Healer or Mage archetypes. Choosing a unique Class may come with unexpected consequences. Proceed with caution.
You may proceed with the list of Class options as soon as you are ready.
Rayna took a deep breath and accepted the prompt.
Warrior+ (Common) — You have tasted the path of a Warrior and you intend to stick to it. You will receive more stats per level and abilities related to the Warrior discipline will have heightened effects.
Stat increase per level
+4 Str
+2 Dex
+4 End
+3 Vit
+2 Free Points
Rayna immediately dismissed the basic Class upgrade. It was barely a boost at all. The Warrior ability boost would be nice, but Rayna could get the same thing just by increasing her stats.
She checked the next option.
Runesmith (Uncommon) — You have used rune enhancement on every step of your journey and after getting a taste of what it can do, you want to see how you can make this path your own. The Runesmith Class provides the player with a book on basic Runecrafting and focuses their stat points on Wisdom and Intelligence, allowing for more advanced rune spells.
Stat increase per level
+3 End
+3 Vit
+4 Int
+4 Wis
+1 Free Point
Runesmith sounded good in theory, but when Rayna added up the stat increases, it was only fifteen points, just like the Warrior+. She filed that one under 'maybe' and kept going.
Warrior Mole (Rare) — You spend most of your time in tunnels and caves. Are you perhaps a mole in disguise? In order to help you in your preferred habitat, this Class will provide extra boosts when you are in structures made of earth and stone.
Stat increase per level
+6 Str
+2 Dex
+6 End
+4 Vit
+2 Free Points
Special traits
+10% stat boost when underground or in a structure made of earth or stone
+5% stat boost when fighting unarmed
Rayna wrinkled her nose. Being in tunnels up to this point had certainly not been her choice. She would be perfectly happy never setting foot in another cave for the rest of her life.
She moved on.
Endangered (Unique) — As your race dwindles, so too do your hopes for a brighter future. This Class sacrifices battle prowess in favor of longevity and fertil—
Rayna closed her Menu. What was with these choices?! Was it because she was only at the First Ascension? Phira had mentioned how choosing to allocate stats too broadly could result in terrible Class choices, but this was overkill.
She scrolled through her remaining choices, only reading the descriptions if the names sounded interesting to her.
They were mostly common and uncommon Classes, with a few unique Classes thrown into the mix. Between the System's warning about 'unexpected consequences' and the Endangered Class description, Rayna wasn't really considering the unique Classes.
She reached the end of the list with no clear standouts.
Rayna groaned and laid back on the bed. She expected the choices to be a little more clear cut than this. If this were a web novel she would get some overpowered Class right out of the gate that broke the game and made her a monster.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Well, she did have horns… and she survived things that she shouldn't have by basically lucking her way through peril… maybe she was asking the universe for too much.
She went over the options again and narrowed her choices down the three Classes.
Runesmith (Uncommon)
Magic Swordsman (Rare)
Potion Master (Uncommon)
She was only considering the Magic Swordsman Class because it was rare, which came with twenty stat points per level instead of fifteen. She didn't like that the five percent stat boost it offered only applied to armed combat with a sword.
Potion Master was just a basic Class for brewing potions. It came with a book on the fundamentals of the craft and an increase in potion efficacy. Rayna thought it might be cool to brew her own potions, but the memory of the useless stat potion from the dungeon soured her to the idea.
If she was being honest, Rayna hated all of them. They gave her no new abilities. They didn't even double her stat gains and with the exception of maybe Runesmith, none of them sounded the least bit interesting.
"Phira, I need advice," Rayna said to the empty room.
Phira appeared on the bed next to Rayna, peering over her shoulder.
"You're choosing a Class?" the Tinkerer observed.
"Trying to," Rayna said. "But my options suck."
Phira gave Rayna a look that said, 'I told you so'.
"What do you expect me to do about it?" she asked.
"Just tell me which of these is likely to lead to a decent Class in the next Ascension," Rayna said. "Twenty-five levels didn't take me too long, but I hate missing out on stat points with an uncommon Class."
"Uncommon isn't bad for your first Ascension," Phira admonished. "You're getting ahead of yourself. The System is designed to ease you into the power, otherwise children would blow themselves up before they got the chance to master the basics.
"Classes build on each other. With each Ascension, your Class will get stronger. Although there are rare cases of a player reverting to a Class with a lower rarity in order to gain levels more quickly. The further you get in your progression, the less you can trust levels as an indication of strength."
"That makes me feel a bit better," Rayna admitted. "Other than Magic Swordsman and Warrior Mole, I didn't pull any rare Classes and I'm too much of a chicken to read the unique ones."
Phira blinked slowly at Rayna, her expression dumbfounded. "You were offered not one, but two rare Classes and multiple unique Classes in the First Ascension?"
Rayna opened her mouth and closed it again, a blush warming her cheeks. "Is that not normal…?"
Phira looked heavenward for patience. "It isn't abnormal for a player to receive one or two uncommon Classes in their First Ascension. It is impressive if they receive a rare choice, though the choice is often skipped due to the unpredictable nature of the Class system.
"A unique Class is usually only offered to players who meet very specific criteria and the boosts are more substantial. You should be looking at those first.
"If you find nothing in the unique or rare Classes, it is perfectly acceptable to pick the Runesmith or Potion Master Class. Either would be a good starting Class if you are planning to go into any sort of crafting profession. Runesmith was my First Ascension Class, you know."
Rayna was glad she called Phira for help. She felt a lot better about her choices now, although she would probably just end up with the Runesmith option in the end.
She looked over the list again, picking out four unique Classes.
She immediately dismissed the Endangered Class. She was not interested in repopulating Ember.
The other three were more random, and Rayna had to read each description a few times to spot why she was being offered these options in the first place.
Sacrificial Lamb (Unique) — You have shown yourself to be willing to stick your neck out for others, even if that means losing your head. The Sacrificial Lamb Class will make this tendency a little safer for you. The stats received during level ups will focus heavily on defense. Abilities gained from this Class will focus on personal or party defense with a heavy emphasis on barriers and shields.
Stat increase per level
+5 Dex
+10 End
+5 Vit
+3 Int
+2 Wis
Additional Boosts
+5% effectiveness for defensive spells
+5% effectiveness for self-healing
In a word: tank.
Rayna actually liked the description for this one, and each level came with five more points than the rare Class. However, there were two things that she got hung up on.
First, the description didn't mention the ability to fight. In fact, it sounded like she would be trading all of her fighting ability for defense. She didn't mind the turtle tactic, but it only worked if she had someone else there to hit the monster while she distracted it.
Second, it didn't come with any free points. The Sacrificial Lamb Class allocated all of the points it gave out, meaning that if Rayna wanted to improve her Strength or Luck, she would have to find a potion that gave stat points and hope it wasn't a dud like last time.
She moved on to the next one.
Luckless (Unique) — You have tried your luck at finding treasure and found your luck lacking, leading you to leave most of your treasure untouched in your Inventory. The System hopes to balance this out for you by allowing you to trade your luck for a little intentionality.
This Class does not award any points when leveling up. Instead, all monster drops and treasure chests will be converted into free points that the player can allocate as they wish. Additionally, the player's luck will drop to zero and all chests will be empty if opened by the player.
Warning: if this option is chosen, no monster parts, treasure chests or coins will be dropped by monsters until your Class is changed.
Rayna was excited in the first half, but the further she read, the worse it got. If she had no way of getting monster drops, she would have nothing to trade or sell. Not to mention, if she wanted to do something like learn to brew potions, which could be done even without the boosts from a special Class, she would have to buy any item that came from a monster, since she would be unable to collect the items herself.
Unique Classes were starting to feel like cleverly disguised traps. It opened with some overpowered skill, only to throw in a total deal breaker at the end.
Rayna pulled up the last unique Class, already considering how best to use her new Runesmithing abilities.
Knighted Damsel (Unique) — You are accident prone, and often find yourself at the center of catastrophes, but in the real world, there are no knights in shining armor, and you have dug yourself out of every situation by your own power.
This Class will equip you to do just that. With a good foundation of general skills and spells and an even points allotment, you will be prepared for any trouble that the universe throws your way.
Stat increase per level
+5 Str
+5 Dex
+5 End
+5 Vit
+5 Int
+5 Wis
Additional boosts
+5% to all stats when fighting alone
+10% Endurance when fighting in an area you have never been before
Rayna read it over again, trying to find a flaw with the Class. It had no free points, but with an even allotment, that wasn't as big of a deal. It didn't offer her Luck, but she wasn't interested in treasure at the moment anyway. And since she spent most of her time alone, she would get a five percent boost to all stats for most of her fights.
No matter how many times Rayna read the description, she couldn't find a catch. She read it aloud to get Phira's opinion.
"I wouldn't usually suggest a generalization Class," Phira said, rubbing her chin. "But it does seem like a good fit for you. The description is quite accurate."
The corner of Rayna's mouth quirked up. "In other words, this might save my clumsy ass?"
Phira chuckled. "I wouldn't have put it quite so indelicately, but yes, this will help you protect yourself without forcing you into a particular path, which you seem to despise. Another title for the Class might be 'indecisive'."
Rayna snorted. "Specializing this early in the game sounds like a terrible idea. The more I can build my stats early on, the better choices I should get in later Ascensions, right?"
"Not necessarily…" Phira said slowly. "But as it stands, I can't find anything wrong with the Class."
Just to be sure, Rayna reread the description one more time before accepting Knighted Damsel as her First Ascension Class.
She opened her Character Sheet to check that everything was in order.
Name: Rayna
Level 25 (Exp: 0/128,606)
Class: Knighted Damsel (Unique — First Ascension)
Race: Lerian — A'lerian (Essence: 0/8,000)
Core Status: Recovering (Progress: 80%)
HP: 1,830/1,830
MP: 500/500
Stat Points
{C-7} Str: 84
{C-5} Dex: 84
{C-3} End: 103
{C-1} Vit: 183
{C-6} Int: 50
{C-1} Wis: 50
{C-1} Luck: 15
[Free Points: 8]
Spells
Basic Heal — Proficiency: 100%
Calming Aura — Proficiency: 100%
Fireball — Proficiency: 100%
[Spell Choices: 0]
Skills
Rage — Proficiency: 100%
Meatshield — Proficiency: 100%
Night Vision — Proficiency: 100%
[Skill Choices: 0]
Titles
Volunteer — [+10 to all stats]
Traps Expert — [+5 Dex, +2 Str]
Masochist — [+5 End, +5 Vit]
Friend of Elementals — [No Stat Boost]
Quests
none
Special Traits
Immunity to Poison [Species Trait - inherited]
Immunity to Paralysis [Species Trait - inherited]
Immunity to Confusion [Species Trait - inherited]
Magic Sight [Species Trait - inherited]
Telepathy [Species Trait - inherited]
Low-grade Empathy [Personal Trait]
Calm [Personal Trait]
Indomitable [Class Trait]
Resistances
Fire — Level 10
Cold — Level 10
"128,000 Experience to get to the next Level?!" Rayna exclaimed. She had been expecting an increase, but that was four times the usual amount.
Phira nodded. "That is one drawback of choosing a rarer Class. The Experience needed to gain a level increases proportional to the number of stat points you gain, though this one seems a bit high. How many points are you gaining per level again?"
"Thirty," Rayna said. "Five in each stat except for Luck."
"Ah, that would do it," Phira said. "Unique Classes are notorious for having a more extreme increase than seems reasonable."
"And you're telling me this now?" Rayna shook her head. "It's going to take me years to level up like this."
"You're being dramatic," Phira said. "The monsters that are above Level 25 give a lot more Experience than the ones before it. And after Level 50 it increases exponentially. This is simply a case of having to kill four monsters instead of one; something that, as you have proven in the past, is well within your ability."
Rayna sighed. Phira was right, but it still felt like an unreasonable number.
Other than the Experience increase, Rayna found three more things that had changed in her profile.
Her race now had a subrace: A'Lerian.
She hoped that her race wasn't going to just cycle through the alphabet as she evolved. A'Lerian, B'Lerian, C'Lerian; it sounded even dumber when she spelled it out.
The second difference was that her tutorial was gone. When she asked her System, it informed her that tutorial quests could only be attempted until Level 25.
This was yet another piece of information that would have been useful before Rayna changed her Class.
Finally, she had a new trait. Only this time, instead of being a useless and unexplained word on her Character Sheet, the trait had a description when she focused on it.
Indomitable [Class Trait]
(inactive) +5% to all stats when fighting alone
(inactive) +10% Endurance when fighting in an area you have never been before
Essentially, it was the extra boosts that were listed at the bottom of the Class description. Rayna assumed they were inactive because she wasn't currently fighting. Would she have to hit a monster to activate them or would being in the vicinity of a monster be enough?
She definitely had some experimentation to do when she set out for the next hub.
Rayna threw all of her free points into Endurance and switched to the Essence Store.
She had to prepare to leave, which meant she needed to find some more affordable food. Rayna wasn't looking forward to dealing with the unorganized mess that was the listings, but the more food she stocked up before she left, the less likely it was that a System malfunction would leave her wandering and hungry.
She didn't intend on relying on the System more than she had to. Twice now she had gone more than a day without the System, and both times, it had been her resourcefulness and pure stubbornness that got her through it.
Rayna was now a Knighted Damsel, and she planned to live up to the Class name.