The Dart of Chance once again manifested and shot forth with vigor as well as precision. However, after becoming an Itemancer, Darius felt like the outcome had already been predetermined and that this entire process was just the Supreme System going through the motions. As such, he just waited for the spinning board to stop to see what subclass he was granted.
[Congratulations! You have acquired the Magus class!]
He sighed deeply. So, he had ended up as some sort of bizarre combination of a talented magician and item appraiser? Well, that wasn't too bad. While Darius would have preferred mercantilism, he understood that he was now in the world of Faust.
On Earth, there had been rules and laws designed to protect the weak and hamper the strong, giving a false sense, as well as, a thin level of security to all citizens. And while the Andrato Kingdom had their own laws, those were not strictly enforced.
It was a predictable issue. With the existence of people who could shoot fireballs, swing swords like they were in an action movie, or move like the wind, how exactly was one supposed to go about enforcing the law?
One would have to already call it a blessing to not have all those powered freaks terrorize the populace, rebel, or try to steal authority for themselves, so who would have the time and manpower to hunt them down over what would be written as 'petty' crimes?
This wasn't even Darius being pessimistic about his new surroundings, no it just was part of the knowledge he had gained through the Small Database Infoblock.
If all the countries and people of this world were like those of this Kingdom, then he would suffer going forward… for they were extremely backward. Their customs, mentality, and laws were not too different from medieval Europe on Earth, only slightly worse and less accommodating.
Not only that, but magic, swordsmanship, and power blurred the lines in terms of power struggles. There were too many factions and powers in existence, all of them living in a strange state of equilibrium that was barely stable.
The slightest push, and it would all crumble down!
And yet Darius did not lament getting sent here. No, he actually planned to become that one push to start the conflict, but only after he had ensured that he would be able to keep his own neck attached to his head after the deed had been done.
He had caused and manipulated wars on Earth, but always on foreign soil in places like the Middle East and Africa where most first worlders didn't know or care about, in order to further his own goals.
While many perished due to his actions, he had been halfway across the world from them and hidden in the shadows. Darius had only ever acted by proxy, but even in the very unlikely case he would have ever been found out, he had possessed enough money and power to extinguish the truth and turn it into fiction.
Here? Not so much. Perhaps in the future, with the help of the Supreme System, there might come a time when he would stand above all living and dead, but that was far away. Currently, he was a 13-year-old chap who had no background, no history, and no ties in this world.
He had literally been spawned from nothingness.
Luckily, worlds like these had excruciatingly poor technology, so methods like national IDs or whatnot did not exist. Darius should easily be able to gain an identity for himself later on, so all he needed to do for the time being was to find his footing in society.
And that circled back to his classes, which were paramount to achieve this. He wasn't too sure about the significance of his Itemancer main class, but the Magus subclass was very welcome.
It granted him power - a direct means to protect his life and property - and status - as he had learned that mages were highly valued in Andrato's society - meaning that he had a backup plan.
Switching to his Character Menu, Darius was happy to see that each class had granted him one new skill. He had been slightly worried that he would only get one in his main class, as his Supreme System appeared to have been programmed with a heavy bias against subclasses judging by Caesar's earlier explanation.
[Analyze - Level 1 Skill
Cost: None
Description: Deduce the characteristics of any item or person. The effectiveness of this skill is based on the Intellect stat.]
Pretty direct. He could glean information from anything he saw and it was only as thorough and detailed as his Intellect stat allowed. Darius realized that Intellect would be his go-to stat from now on, given his main class and subclass.
[Sparks - Level 1 Spell
Cost: 1 MP
Description: Send out a sparkle of electricity that can zap foes into a short paralysis. This deals 5% Lightning damage.]
Darius frowned. "Caesar, what is lightning damage? And how is such damage calculated?"
{Hello, Darius Stone!}
{Under the Supreme System, each type of attack originating from you is granted an element or property! For example, if you slash an enemy with a blade, it will be calculated as sword damage! If you pierce an enemy with a lance, it would be spear damage!}
{Similarly, magic is calculated as fire damage in the case of fire spells, and water damage for water spells.}
{Each damage type has a different hidden effect! To elaborate with the mentioned examples, sword damage has a bleeding effect, spear damage has an armor penetration effect, fire damage has a burning effect while lightning damage has a stun effect!}
{For the numerical calculations, you need not worry about those since you will not see such things during battle. However, to sate your curiosity, such damage is calculated by the relevant statistic value it is tied to.}
{In the case of magic you will even be directly told about the percentage. Your starting spell Sparks will deal 5% of your 21 Intellect to an enemy for a grand total of 1 damage point to their HP. Of course, that is only the case if they do not have any type of magical defense.}
{As you level up, you will gain skill points which you can use to empower your spells. The higher the level of the spell, the higher the percentage calculation. Naturally, if you increase your Intellect stat, the base damage of all your spells increases accordingly!}
{Once again, allocate points carefully and wisely!}
Darius rubbed his forehead. His main class had no combat capabilities, and his subclass was as good as useless at level 1 because the damage was pitiful.
It remained to be seen if he could kill so much as a rat with his spell. He would have to see the effectiveness of the spell in battle before he could draw a relevant conclusion.
This chapter creates some confusion.
Please listen carefully.
The segment where it states that Darius started wars and profited from them, also says he never SAW the effects of his actions.
He was in the first world, the victims in the third. Not only was he NOT in this alone - as should be obvious - but he wiped his ass well enough that never got to feel any GUILT.
Why am I explaining this? Well, some people misunderstood Darius' moral compass, so I wanted to point out that there is a caveat.
Well, now that Darius had his classes and skills, it was time to activate the Class Catalyzer and Actualizer. The former would grant him a random tool to help him with his main class and the latter would grant him a special ability for the same purpose. He had been greatly looking forward to it, but that was before he became an Itemancer.
Still, although his enthusiasm had lessened a bit, since both the Catalyzer and Actualizer had been classified as Supreme Quality, he was nevertheless hoping for something to surprise him and perhaps even convince him of the usefulness of his main class.
He selected the Class Catalyzer first.
[A random tool will be drawn for you based on your luck! Are you ready?]
"I am." Darius replied gently.
This time, there was no board. Instead, a small screen manifested before him with a plethora of options. It began shuffling at a mind-numbing speed before he had any time to fathom what just happened, making him question the need for all of this flashiness.
Darius was forced to look away so that he wouldn't become dizzy, and only refocused on the screen once some light fanfare played.
[Congratulations! You have acquired the System Brand!]
Darius naturally had no idea what that was, so he inspected it.
[System Brand - Unique
Durability: MAX
Description: A special tool that grants willing parties a sub-routine of the Supreme System. All parties branded via this tool will be tied to the system and will be unable to betray the owner to the core system.]
Darius' eyes widened and his breathing hitched slightly. Such a useful tool was beyond his wildest expectations! Darius may be new to the world of Faust, but even he could understand how great the Supreme System was to be able to grant him such power with just one tool.
If he could bestow a small bit of the Supreme System to chosen natives and individuals of this world, would this not allow him to form an army which would grow endlessly through battle?!
Most importantly, those who he branded would be unable to ever betray him! This theoretical army would be totally loyal! This tool definitely deserved to be called Supreme.
Darius looked forward to testing out once he joined civilization and met a few people. In fact, many new plans hatched in his mind, some viable and others not yet viable until he saw the actual situation in the various pockets of civilization in the Andrato Kingdom's borders.
Darius was itching to head out to the nearest location on the map, but he was aware that it was the better choice to finish everything he needed to first. As someone who had lived a full life, Darius understood the need for patience at all times.
He turned his attention to the Class Actualizer and activated that as well. If he would gain something even half as good as what the Catalyzer had given him, he would truly be set for his journey in this world.
[A random ability will be drawn for you based on your luck! Are you ready?]
"Please go ahead." Darius assented.
He had already turned his head away to prevent himself from being dizzied by the rapid shuffling of the various options. It was only when the choice had been made that he looked on and inspected what he had drawn.
[Congratulations! You have acquired the Transmutation ability!]
[Transmutation - Unique Ability
Cost: Unique
Description: You are a living Philosopher's Stone, able to convert any substance or matter from one form to another. This ability has its own unique cost for conversion and ruleset listed below.
Rule #1: The ability to transmute is tied to your available Conversion Points. At your current stage, you will be capped to 10 Conversion Points.
Rule #2: Conversion Points refresh each day at 12 am. Unspent Conversion Points are discarded and replaced.
Rule #3: Only items and non-sentient organisms can be transmuted at your current stage.
Rule #4: You can only transmute items that already exist in the world of Faust.
Rule #5: Items that are owned by the user can be converted into Conversion Points.]
Darius was silent for a long while as he read and re-read this ability's details. Darius understood that what he had just gained was no longer just game-changing, but had directly trashed all his plans so far.
With this ability, he would have to redraw everything from scratch and carefully consider how he would move forward in the world of Faust. Many new doors had been opened for him, but not all of them were safe.
A power like this… Darius knew that it had to be kept a secret. If anyone were to find out that he possessed such an ability, he would likely be apprehended and turned into a faction's item producer for the rest of his life.
Since his goal was to become a Supreme in this world, such an outcome was intolerable. Darius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while rubbing it slowly.
He felt a mixture of frustration and excitement. It was the same feeling he had gotten when the bank had approved his loan of 30 million dollars during his twenties when his company had shown promise in the business sector.
At the time he had been excited because he had been granted the funds to develop upon his plans and expand his company further, yet frustrated because he now owed a big amount of money to someone else. In case he would have faltered at some point, everything he had built so far would have come crumbling down. Given his ruthless ways, Darius had made sure, that no such thing would happen.
Still, as the saying goes 'never look a gift horse in the mouth'. Darius checked out the System Brand which was in his Inventory and removed it. It wasn't anything too fancy, just a silver ring with a lovely diamond atop.
Darius wore it on his right hand's middle finger. Interestingly, the ring automatically expanded to fit his finger perfectly, not straining the flow of blood there at all.
[Soulbind the System Brand?]
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