บท 34: Chapter Thirty-Three: Natto's Basic Skill Class 101
Natto popped her head out of the small pile of stones, carrying her bag of food above her head, with a gasp." Puwah.. What is the big idea!" she complained, digging herself out, careful not to spill her bag of food.
"Skills. Now. Or no more roasted nuts." Drake said.
Natto gulped audibly as she nodded.
"Ok ok. From what I saw, you are trying to go for an all round magic fighting build?" She asked.
"Yeah that's about right. I want to model it after one of my favorite games, powerful mage and physical attacks that are supported by passive buffs and items. Think I can do that?" he asked.
Natto looked at the pile of stones and placed her bag of food into one of her sleeves, almost like it had sucked up the bag. "Let's see what we have to work with. From your memories you have a few rare stones, can you grab them. Also you haven't added any sub-trees to your second class, so pull out any sub-tree stones you have as well." She said, walking up to the pile.
Drake looked at the pile of stones and shrugged, placing the entire pile into his inventory again, and pulling the stones she asked for into his hands. Then placed the rest in a pile again on the bed. Right on top of the small construct.
"Ah!!" She screamed as the tidal wave of stones fell on her. After a moment she poked her head out again, with a gasp for air. Staring daggers at Drake. "You are doing that on purpose are you not!?"
"Of course not." He said with a grin, holding the stones she asked for in-front of her. "I would never be so petty."
Natto gritted her teeth but kept her mouth silent. Grabbing the stones and inspecting them. After looking through them she was amazed. "You have a legendary skill stone here, how did you manage to get that?" She asked.
"I got lucky, I also have a legendary Main Class Tree Stone, although I couldn't use it." He lamented.
"Is it also a Necromancy stone?" she asked wearily.
"Yeah, why is that bad?" he said looking down at her slightly confused.
"Very bad. Every Legendary Skill Stone is regulated in the multiverse by their respective Primordial or High Races, some are even part of the Races that were Originators of the multiverse. And the Necromancy Path is only used by one race, the High Liches. The Primordial Undead make sure to snatch up these stones because they are in a way a part of their race, as the stone will change you into a High Lich." Natto said with worry, as she continued, "If you are lucky, they will not be the sponsors of this tutorial and from what I have seen from your fights there have been no undead. So I think it would be likely they are not. But if you are super unlucky and they are…" she trailed off.
"I'm boned. So what do I do?" He asked.
"I would say throw them away and let them be someone else's problem, but a rampaging Necromancer in any baby universe is a recipe for bad sauce. So I would keep it in your inventory and never show it to anyone. There are not any skills that can steal from your pouches or see inside your inventory, but there are powerful identifying and mana sensing skills that you can get that would be able to notice the magic coming from the stone," she advised.
"Magic from the stone? It just looks like a shiny stone to me." He said, grabbing the stone from her hand.
"That is because you don't have a proper identifying skill and aura control skill just yet. Once you obtain those it will be like hitting a magic threshold for you. Control, perception and precision goes up exponentially." She told him.
"Oh I like that. Does that mean I get to shape my spells into other spells?" Drake asked, starting to get excited.
"Yes and no. It will depend on what skill you receive, skills are random after all. And we are mostly dealing with low quality stones in tutorials so you have a wider amount of skills you can get," she answered, her hands rifling through the stones and placing some to the side.
"Then where does rarity come into play?" Drake asked, watching her sort some of the stones out.
"Rarity of skill stones only do a few things. Increase of effects from a skill. For example if you get a skill to hit something for say… 1 to 1 damage from a common rarity skill stone, a legendary would increase the multiplier and have additional or more substantial effects, say 1 to 5 instead while also having an additional multiplier or a status ailment," Natto said.
"Oh that's kinda cool, it's like everything in this system is gacha. Although I was kinda screwed over by it.." He said trailing off.
"Again yes and no. But you will start seeing when you go through gaining your skills. And sadly that is one of the unfortunate side effects of being a forerunner for new worlds. You only really get to use common and uncommon stones outside of the free rolls, meaning the people coming after you will reap all the benefits of your hard work when they either buy or receive higher rarity stones from you in one way or another." She continued, "Now I think we have everything we can use for now, and sadly it is not a lot. Thankfully you have some unusual rare stones that will knock out some of your vital skills. But first here," she said, holding up a skill stone.
[Sub-tree Stone: Weapon Mastery] [Common]
[Unlocks Weapon Mastery Sub-tree branch]
[Requirement: Have one or more empty Sub-trees. Have the Main Class-tree unlocked.]
"For my Shield Miller class?" Drake asked, raising a brow.
"Yup, this Sub-tree is common but it will synergize very nicely with what you'd like to do. I guarantee it!" Natto said proudly, thumping her hand against her chest.
Drake looked suspiciously for a moment at the stone then the construct.
"I'm not going to blow up again am I?" Drake asked.
"No, no, no…. At least I would not think so since we are going to have you hold off on the last Second Secondary Sub-tree for now regardless," She said, a weary grin tugging at the side of her mouth.
"Good, because I'm out of water, and I don't like feeling like I'm on that kids TV show that covers them in green goo all the time." Drake snickered, "Also why would we hold off? Wouldn't that keep me intentionally incomplete and weaker?" He asked, standing up.
"Why did you mention that show… Now I am having flashes of bad game gags going through my head." She said putting her hand on her temples," And yes you will stay slightly weaker, but it will not affect you adversely. We can also get away with it since you have a total of 30 skill slots, leaving 5 and one Sub-tree would not do you too much harm," she finished.
"And the reason..?" Drake asked, gripping the stone in his hand, preparing himself to absorb the stone.
"All I can say right now is that every tutorial has a store at the end, which you are accumulating your TP for. And you want the stuff in that store if my hunch is right," she said, her arms crossing as she waited for him to subsume the stone.
"Ah… that makes a lot of sense, so it might be worth killing people for TP then if that's the case." Drake said, straight faced.
Natto suddenly loosened her arms and looked at Drake slack jawed. "I did not take you for an evil mass murder. Well… At least a human mass murderer. You do not even have the title!" she said nervously.
"I've been just biding my time…" Drake said, looking at her to gauge her reaction, "I'm just kidding. I'll admit I've become pretty coarse over the past week or so, but I'm still me, and I don't want to go around indiscriminately killing people. I'll just kill more monsters!" He retorted.
Drake ignored the suspicious glare that Natto was giving him and began absorbing the stone.
[You wish to consume, Sub-tree Stone: Weapon Mastery [Common]
[Confirm?]
[Yes] [No]
Here goes nothing, please don't make me blow up again. Drake thought.
Drake felt the flash of heat, then the cold as the small stone was absorbed into his body. Power began welling up inside him once again, Drake continuing to pray for himself not to pop like a balloon of black gunk for the second time.
But a few held breaths later the power inside Drake settled and he was fine. A sigh of relief leaving his mouth once it did.
[You have unlocked the Secondary Sub-tree Weapon Mastery [F Rank]
[Passive effects have been applied]
[You have unlocked 5 new skill stone slots in Weapon Mastery]
[You have unlocked 1 of 2 Primary Sub-trees]
Weapon Mastery - Proficiency 1(0%) [F Rank]
Increased competence of weaponry
Passive: Increased overall weapon damage of 1% (Increased based on Proficiency)
"Certainly that is wonderful! You did not blow up this time!" Natto's voice said from far away on the other side of the bed. At some point she had scurried over out of range, just in case he had blown up.
Drake just laughed softly as he gave her a sidelong glance.
Natto returned next to him with hurried steps a few seconds later. Another stone in her raised hand. "Alright! Now for the Skill Stones. Because this is your first time consuming one, I will tell you how it works," she said, her nose raised high into the sky like she was doing Drake the biggest favor yet, " You can mentally select which Main Class Tree or Sub-tree you want to learn the skill in through your status window. Just think of the Tree and then consume the stone. Simple enough, even someone like you can do it!" she finished with a slight jump in her voice, as she guarded her head from the incoming finger flick.
Drake thinned his eyes at the construct but looked at his status. Excited to learn a new skill. Going through his status screen Drake noticed the new title that he had gained when he reached F Rank earlier but was too busy to look at it. He was interested now that he remembered as it was the first title that he had a notification for.
[First of Your Kind]
[You have become a person who has strayed from the beaten path. Be the first person to obtain a F Rank Dual Class in your respective tutorial. +10% to all Stats]
Drake's body began to shake with excitement as he read the percentage gain. It was the largest yet and it was for every single stat he had. And he had been the first to do it. It was the first time he had come first in something so significant. Sure he had won some things here and there, but this. This was something that people were fighting life and death in.
Drake allowed himself to feel a smidgin of pride as he read the description again, a smile slowly creasing his face.
"Gross. What are you smiling at like that?" Natto jabbed, recoiling slightly in faux disgust.
Drake looked down at the small construct and snatched the stone from her hand. "Just give me that. You know the first thing I'm washing out when I find soap is going to be your mouth. Who raised you? Where did you get this attitude from?!"
"You, dolt." She sneered, bringing out her bag of food and pulling a roasted nut from it.
Drake just looked slack jawed at the small girl for a moment, unable to come up with a witty reply. Instead he looked at the skill stone he now had in his hand.
[Skill Stone: Guardian] [Epic]
[Unlocks a random skill from the Guardian tree.]
[Requirement: Open Skill Slot. Have a Warrior Based Main Class-tree or Sub-tree Branch unlocked]
"And what am I hoping to get with this? It's my only epic Skill Stone so I feel like it should be pretty powerful, right?" Drake asked, gripping the stone.
"I am hoping that it will give you one of the core abilities you need. Skills are random like I have mentioned. But, they will fill your needs in certain ways the more skills you learn. That is why we are only going to do the skills in a certain order, as to do our best in filling in the gaps." Natto said, plopping down at Drake's feet. Continuing to eat her food.
"Ok, but what skill? I could use a lot of things right now. Movement, passive abilities, better regeneration, defensive skills." Drake asked.
"Movement skill or an analyst skill would be the top two you need at the moment. Passive skills will come later once you have filled out a few active skills," she answered, continuing after taking another bite of the roasted nut, "But what do you mean defensive skills, have you not looked at your Shield Miller description yet?" she chided, her brow raised as she turned to look up at him.
"I-" Drake started hesitantly but quickly closed his mouth and looked at his other class he had passed over in his excitement of gaining so many things in the short window of time.
Shield Miller Proficiency 1 [F Rank] 0/2
A battle tested frontliner.
Passives: +5% to Vitality and out of combat Stamina regeneration. (+5% Endurance)
Actives: Bulwark P1 (0%), Unbreakable P1 (0%)
[Bulwark] Proficiency 1(0%)
The active ability to summon a temporary shield around yourself based on your Vitality. The Shield Miller is the shield that takes on and advances through any adversity.
Skill: Bulwark - "I am the shield, I am the rampart. Bulwark."
Temporary Shield skill. Creates a barrier of health based on a 0.25 to 1 per Vitality. Shield lasts 10 minutes, or until broken. Cooldown does not start until the shield has expired.
Moderate Stamina Cost.
10 Minute Cooldown.
[Unbreakable] Proficiency 1 (0%)
The skill that activates a passive buff to defensive effectiveness of items. Your body is unbreakable, a wall on which your enemies fall.
Skill: Unbreakable - "I am the wall on which my enemies billow. Unbreakable."
Temporarily increase your defensive effectiveness of items based on a 0.1 to 0.5 of combined Vitality and Stamina. Unbreakable effects last 5 minutes. Cooldown begins when effects dissipate.
Small Stamina Cost
Cooldown of 5 minutes
"Wow. I guess I won't really need to worry about anything defensive, looking at these two alone. It said the class wasn't a tank, but these are pretty tank-esk type skills." Drake said.
"They are very good for a versatile melee fighter, but once you go against a defense oriented monster or person, you will quickly see you are going to be outmatched in defensive capabilities." Natto said with a wave of her roasted nut.
"You're saying these are only mid?" Drake asked, confused as he read through the descriptions again.
"Mhhm," Natto said through stuffed cheeks, "Look at the ratios. Specialized classes have above a 1 to 1 in most instances. Only the craziest of people would think to fight alone after being transferred to a zone literally meant to try to kill you in an attempt to make some people stronger."
Drake only smiled wearily as he scratched the back of his head. He had done exactly that. Not because he was crazy, but he had thought of it more as a game at first and wanted to get ahead. The whole experience was beyond difficult but it had allowed him to shape himself into a stronger person both mentally and physically.
It was honestly why Drake had joked earlier about killing people. Although Drake had his misgivings about taking human life, he wasn't ignorant of what was going on. People were killing people for their own benefit, it was as simple as that. Which meant that Drake would either be targeted himself or he would possibly be put into a position where he had to kill someone.
Drake just wanted to delay that as much as possible. He wasn't some self righteous red cape wearing, gun toting outlaw with funny hair and yellow tinted glasses. But he wanted to at least know that he only did it for very good reasons or if he had no other choice.
He had already become jaded to the killing of monsters. Sure they were only humanoid shaped, but back before the system Drake had never even gone hunting or killed anything outside a bug on occasion. And now he could savagely kill groups of monsters without batting an eye, he wouldn't go as far as saying he enjoyed it just yet but he was quickly getting there. The adrenaline and euphoria of leveling up and conquering anything that stood in his way was electrifying in a way.
Drake snapped back to the present when he heard another crunch as Natto bit into a roasted nut. Now just looking up at him from his sitting position, with a facial expression that just screamed. 'Are you going to get on with it?'
Drake coughed uncomfortably and tried to pretend he hadn't seen her expression.
[You wish to consume, Skill Stone: Guardian [Epic]
[Confirm?]
[Yes] [No]
Drake breathed out, preparing himself for the influx of power from consuming the stone. And mentally confirmed it.
Another steely pinch of cold pierced his hand, more potent than before. The length of the feeling lingered longer than it had previously as well, for a long drawn out moment. Like someone was dripping ice into his body slowly.
Then a flare of heat burst forward and soon encompassed his whole body, filling him with a warm radiance that emanated from his hand. Almost a pulse of warm heat going out through his veins.
After a moment he could see a faint green glow come from his hand as he opened it to see the stone finally dissipate and sink into his skin. Then, the power hit him.
[You have consumed Skill Stone: Guardian [Epic]
[You have unlocked Skill: Guardians Reprieve [F Rank]
The immense feeling of gaining the power contained within the Epic Skill Stone was nothing like he had felt before. The level ups, the increase in stats, nothing even came close as it swirled within him like a hurricane, refusing to be quelled.
Drake began to breathe more heavily, his breath becoming increasingly ragged with each one. He looked over to the pile of skill stones and began grabbing them, subsuming each one with rapid pace.
He heard a distant voice screaming at him to stop as he continued but ignored it and the notifications that piled in as he went from one stone to the next.
[You wish to consume, Skill Stone: Leader [Uncommon]
[Confirm?]
[You have learned Skill: Aura of Command [F Rank]
[You wish to consume, Skill Stone: Strength [Uncommon]
[Confirm?]
[You have learned Skill: Martial Blow [F Rank]
[You wish to consume, Skill Stone: Warrior [Common]
[Confirm?]
[You have learned Skill: Warrior's Stamina [F Rank]
Drake went through stones in rapid succession. He was on a high like he had never felt before, an instantly made addict. Every hit felt better than the last. He reached for the next stone he saw, but was stopped by a knife going through his hand pinning it to the bed.
Without thinking Drake pulled his hand and it from the bed, grabbing what had stabbed him in his other as he rose.
"I- I said… stop, you… fucking psycho…!" Natto grunted out through Drake's grip.
Drake finally heard her and immediately dropped the small construct. Shivering at what he had almost just done. He recoiled in shock as he realized he had almost just killed her while he went after the stones like some sort of drug, like a mindless beast.
"I'm- I'm sorry, I don't know what happened.. Are you alright?!" Drake asked, kneeling down to check on the small construct.
"Ugh, do not touch me!" she shouted with her hoarse voice as she waved at him. "Have you no self control?! You nearly ruined your entire skill progression by getting high off the skill gain power trip you mindless gorilla!" she yelled, still coughing.
Drake couldn't say anything and looked down towards the ground with fear of what he could have done.
Natto looked back at him and composed herself. "It is not all bad," she sighed. "I knew it might happen, that is why I pulled those stones and lined them up like that. I am just relieved that I stopped you before you pulled from somewhere else."
Drake was slightly annoyed that she hadn't warned him beforehand but he couldn't complain as he had almost killed her twice within an hour.
"No, I need to apologize. I could have killed you again," he said, and did the only thing he could think of. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head deeply to the bed. "Please forgive me. All jokes aside, you have helped me more than anyone so far and I was raised to not be indebted to anyone. I will do my best to never again go so far."
Natto was taken aback by how sincere Drake seemed to be. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she crossed her arms. "It is fine... It is not like I would really die anyway. Constructs just disperse into mana and enter a dormant state inside their owner until they recover. Now hurry up and remove my dagger so we can finish up your skills, we have a billion to go," she finished, her tail twitching up and down.
Drake looked over to his hand and suddenly he felt the pain of the dagger going through it, as his eyes widened and he screamed inwardly in pain. His mouth opened but the only thing that came out was a single, "Oh."
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