[Tiss] "Myriad Stinger!"
[Wade?] "Stick Strike!"
Tiss points both of her fists forward at the STRING THEORY and the magical crossbows appear on the back of her hands. She fires a rapid volley of small magic arrows at the monster. At the same time, I equip my trusty stick and smack the orb in its head. My stick bounces off, but it looks like I confirmed just a single point of damage with the help of a critical hit. Go me!
The STRING THEORY writhes in pain as the onslaught of magic arrows riddles body. The monster screams out, creating a pulse of pressure around it. Both Tiss and I are stunned, ending her attack and dropping us both to our knees. It seemed like we were in trouble, but I watch as the STRING THEORY starts to become pixelated and break apart piece by piece. Those pieces glitch out a few times before finally disappearing. Ten seconds later, the monster is gone and two shining orbs remain, which float softly to the ground.
<11000 EXP gained>
Excuse, the fuck, me?
[Tiss] "Well I got a good amount of EXP from that thing. But why did it seem weaker than the one we saw before?"
I'm still stunned from the amount of EXP I suddenly gained. Is it because I contributed damage in the fight?
But I can figure out what to do about the level up later. Right now, I'm curious about how we defeated that thing. And also... what are the things it dropped?
I open my Inventory and check Nearby. One item is called
[Wade?] "Hey, what's up with this item?"
[Tiss] "Superluminal Ring? I don't know. Have to equip it and learn the effects."
[Wade?] "What about the other one?"
[Tiss] "I don't see another item. Just the ring."
Hm? Then only I can see it? I'll just go ahead and collect it then.
As the thought goes through my mind, the item vanishes, but doesn't go into my Item Box. Instead, a System message appears in front of me.
Fatemancer? I navigate to the new Jobs menu and I'm immediately overwhelmed by the content available. So many jobs listed for me to choose from, each with an information window that appears when selected. I read down the list to see what options I have and try to find Fatemancer.
- Warrior
- Mage
- Ranger
- Thief
- Monk
- Cleric
- [Adv] Berserker
- [Adv] Knight
- [Adv] (Fire/Water/Wind/Earth) Wizard
- [Adv] Red Mage
- [Adv] Magic Archer
- [Adv] Beastmaster
- [Adv] Assassin
- [Adv] Spy
- [Adv] Brawler
- [Adv] Soul Striker
- [Adv] Priest
- [Adv] Seer
- ???
- ???
- ???
I scroll a bit down through a bunch of hidden Jobs and eventually see what I'm looking for.
- [Secret] Fatemancer
While Tiss is picking up and equipping the ring, I look at the information window for the Job.
- [Secret] Fatemancer
Obtained: A miniscule chance to obtain from defeating any enemy of any level. Must have witnessed the death of a perceived ally.
Requirement: Must be at least Lv15. Must have at least 20 INT. Must have at least 30 LUC.
Bonuses: Skills for the Fatemancer Job are available when any Job is equipped. Each Job Level adds a permanent increase to the user's stats. HP increases by 10 for every level. MP increases by 20. INT increases by 2 for every level. LUC increases by 3 for every level.
General: Fatemancers can manipulate events to become more or less fortunate for a target. An attack hitting the Fatemancer or an ally can be undone. An attack that misses a target can be changed into a hit. Fatemancers have low combat power on their own. With the help of skills from other classes and by teaming up with others, Fatemancers can control the flow of of all events with expertise.
Looks to me like this Job is tailor-made for me. I might just choose this as my starting class.
[Tiss] "Hey treasure freak, you going to check what's in the chest behind you or not?"
I close the System window and Tiss is standing close to me, staring at me.
[Tiss] "It's rude to stare at System windows too long when you're with a beautiful woman."
[Wade?] "Oh? Where is she?"
I put my hand over my eyes like a visor and look around over her head. She responds by punching my gut. It's a solid hit. Her STR must not be very high. It didn't even really hurt, but I felt the impact.
[Wade?] "Give me just a moment. I got a lot of EXP from that monster, too. I can choose a job."
[Tiss] "Oh, that's exciting! What are you going for? I started as a Ranger."
[Wade?] "Fatemancer."
[Tiss] "That's not one of the starter classes."
[Wade?] "I picked up an item that added it to my list. I can use my stat points to reach the stat requirements, it seems."
[Tiss] "You have a Secret Job, then? Sometimes they appear as items. Never thought I'd meet someone with a Secret Job. You should equip it. It might come in handy for getting out of here."
With a nod to Tiss, I open my stats.
[HP: 30/30 | MP: 10/10]
[Stat Points: 38]
[STR: 1]
[DEX: 1]
[VIT: 1]
[INT: 1]
[RES: 1]
[LUC: 5 (x2)]
I start by adding 19 points to my INT, bringing it up to 20, which also raises my MP by 10 per point for a total of 200. My remaining points are left at 19. I put 10 points into LUC, bringing the starting total to 15, but the actual total to 30, which I can thank my System for. I have 9 stat points left. They go into my VIT, bringing that to 10 and giving me 30 HP per point for a total of 300.
I navigate back to the Jobs page and see that I can activate the Fatemancer Class. Once activated, there isn't some epic flash of light or fanfare. I just get a notification saying that the Job is active and then I obtain a couple skills.
The first skill I obtain is called Weal.
[Costs 50 MP]
[The Fatemancer changes fate in their favor. If the Fatemancer or a target is struck, this skill will edit the event to prevent the attack from doing any damage.]
It seems to me like Weal is pretty useful. Overpowered, almost. The cost is pretty high and I don't know what my MP regeneration looks like yet. I have a limit of 4 uses of this with a pool of 200 MP.
My next skill is call Woe.
[Costs 50 MP]
[The Fatemancer changes fate to become unfortunate. If the target would avoid taking a hit from an attack, this skill will edit the event to ensure that the attack collides.]
So I can guarantee a hit. Weal and Woe together seem to be extremely powerful skills. I can really influence to course of battle, even without fighting.
In this moment, I swear to myself. I will absolutely grow stronger and I will use my new power to get Tiss and I out of this place.