Origin A.R.S. (8 page)

“I’d like that.” replied Scott.

“Would you, childe? Would you, really?” Regal Alice smiled seductively then adjusted various adjustable portions of her outfit before turning toward the insistent crystal sphere. Scott waited until the privacy curtain went up before leaving the room. He would need to head back to Neerdles and purchase shower time, lots and lots of cold shower time. The adjustable portions of her outfit had been quite skillfully crafted, and arranged in such a way that it left Scott in quite the state.

On the way back he shuddered involuntarily. A strange sensation washed over him. After it passed he briefly wondered if that was the same sensation that a fly must feel when it manages to escape from the web of a highly experienced spider.

One of the most important things for a soldier to do when they are in foreign territory is to take time to properly observe the terrain and then acquire basic resources. If they are among a foreign people, they need to observe the nature and customs of those people. In many ways, being suddenly left alone in a foreign country is similar to arriving in an alternate reality. The rules of survival still apply. Knowledge was everything.

Scott had spent the last few days hunting rabbits in the morning and evening. However, during mid-day periods he had stopped wasting his time in the wilderness. Instead he had gone to the local library to study as much of the world as it was possible to learn from books and scrolls.

His map function, an extremely useful device, had updated constantly with several new locations. He was certain that the newly acquired information would prove useful in the future, but new locations were not the topic of his current study session. No, today he wanted to know more about the path of the sorcerer.

The newly youthened man rubbed his chin. What he was reading now seemed to run counter to what he thought he had learned from the friendly guard sergeant. “So, reincarnation is not the only way forward?”

It seemed that reincarnation was used to completely reset your status, but you would be able to keep a maximum of twenty-percent of your stat points. If you kept the same race, you could keep ten percent of your stats. If you kept the same class, you could receive an additional ten percent. It was a fairly simple arrangement, but given the random nature of level-based stat increases, it might not actually improve your position in the long run. Of course, you would also keep all of the ability points you had collected prior to reincarnation.

However, it seemed that it was impossible not to be stronger after reincarnation, at least not for the first time. There was a catch, however. All skills and abilities were reset to zero, and you lost any skills not related to your class.

There were a few exceptions, such as someone who has found a legendary grade lore crystal. Skills learned from those crystals could be kept permanently. You would have to upgrade them through the system once more, but they remained permanently accessible. It should go without saying, but such crystals were never found in stores. You had to receive them as a direct gift from the gods, or find them as rare drops from elite class monsters. Sometimes they might be found in chests that were located in ancient dungeons as well.

Scott read through the information presented then nodded. He would have to plan his way forward carefully. “So, I can make my first major class decision at level ten?”

At level ten he would have to choose his basic focus for his class. He could choose to focus on magic, unarmed combat, or a blended style. Each of these options opened new options in the future, but removed others.

If he chose the magic option, he would immediately gain the ability to use second-circle spells, and would gain more abilities that allowed for the increase of intellect and mana. However, he would receive few ability bonuses for the physical stats. Special unarmed combat skills would take longer to develop, and some would not be available at all. Though, he would have more overall spells to work with.

If he chose the physical combat option, he would immediately gain access to two powerful combat abilities. He would also be able to increase his health and physical stats more frequently. However, his intellect and mana would not receive as many bonuses. He would learn far few spells as he gained levels, and some branches of magic would be denied to him. He would have many more physical skills to work with, however.

The balanced path would prevent him from gaining the strongest skills in either the magic or physical branch. However, he would be able to gain most of them, and be able to keep his stat growth balanced. It was the true hybrid option.

Scott considered his options. He still needed to gain six more levels before he could make his choice. At the moment he heavily leaned toward the balanced option. His magic and physical skills would take longer to develop, but at least he would have his bases covered during his first trip up the power ladder.

“Now, once I make my decision at level ten, my options for class advancement will change.” said Scott aloud. He sometimes talked to himself when he worked out a serious issue.

There were five important considerations for each class. At level ten he could make a basic class advancement decision. At level twenty-five he could make a similar decision. At level forty he would become eligible for his first class upgrade; basically he would be able to achieve a second-tier class based on his first two decisions.

If he went full-magic from the start, he could use fifth-circle spells at level forty. If he went full-combat he could use stronger physical skills and attacks. His health would also increase greatly. The balanced class would grant access to fourth-circle spells, and a moderate number of physical skills. At this point it would become the more difficult class option.

Scott nearly dismissed the balanced class option, but he noticed something that could become worrisome about the other two options. If he chose the pure magic option he would have to choose an elemental magic path, and the other spells would become unavailable after sixth-circle. His seventh-circle spells would be of one element.

If he went pure combat, he could not learn any sixth or seventh-circle spell through his innate class upgrades. He would basically be a melee fighter with only intermediate-tier magic. The seventh-circle was the first level of advanced magic.

The harder path, the balanced option, would allow for sixth-circle magic; and moderate stat growth across the board. It would be hard to fight monsters on equal level later. He would probably have to constantly grind against weaker monsters. However, he would not be missing out on as much. 

At level seventy he would be able to make a new advancement choice for his current upgraded class. This choice just determined whether you gained more physical or magical stats. It did not change final skills.

Level one hundred allowed for the second class upgrade. At level one hundred you would be able to decide on your advanced class.

Pure magic sorcerers would gain the ability to learn spells beyond seventh-circle via lore crystals. However, they could only do so based on their specialized element. A flame sorcerer could only use lore crystals to learn flame spells, for instance.

Pure combat sorcerers would increase their physical stats a great deal, and would gain access to powerful unarmed combat abilities. They could use lore crystals to learn spells of the sixth-circle.

The balanced class would be able to use lore crystals to learn seventh-circle spells. They would have solidly balanced stats. However, they also possessed an option not available to the pure magic or pure combat grade.

Scott’s eyes lit-up when he read the information. It was considered nearly impossible due to the fact that most people who attempted it died. However, a balanced sorcerer could attain the first level of enlightenment and upgrade to an advanced class that allowed for unique abilities not available to the easier class options. Only someone who had truly mastered their mind and body could obtain the most difficult to acquire sorcerer class.

Of course, difficult did not necessarily mean that it would be the most powerful. Yet, if this world really operated on game-mechanics then it should at least be something that few people could do. He would be able to choose a path in life that he could walk without feeling like a cookie-cutter copy of someone else.

“Yes, the balanced class.” The fear of death was a real one, but supposedly he could survive almost any encounter in one way or another. The potential for death would scare off most who chose this path, but Scott could possibly take it all the way to the end. Besides, if people who could only die once were capable of taking on the class, he had at least a chance to obtain it. If nothing else, he could always just reincarnate and try a different path in life if the path of balance did not work out for him.

***

The soft *
tiriing
* of the store bell-chime alerted the shop owner that a customer had arrived. He smiled widely as Scott walked in and headed straight for the counter.

“Ah, good morning sorcerer. What can I do for you?”

Scott smiled at Erido, the owner of the shop. He had come in now and then to discuss equipment with the man while saving up money. After living in this world for two weeks, Scott had amassed a princely sum of thirteen hundred Fayth. He intended to spend most of it today while finally buying equipment.

“I’ve come to spend money, Erido. I’m sure it will be a burden to take it from me... it can get heavy after all.”

The man’s eyes lit-up and he grinned. “Oh, I enjoy a life of burdens. What would you like to see?”

“Well, honestly... You know I am just starting out. I’ll only be able to afford some basic equipment.”

Erido nodded. He knew that complaint well. Actual combat grade equipment was expensive. Normal clothes and items did not have attack or defense bonuses. “What do you need most?”

“I’m an unarmed fighter, so armor would probably be best for now.”

“Armor, eh? You probably can’t afford leather yet... Are you looking for cloth?”

“Sadly, yes. Even if I could afford the leather, the slight agility penalty would make it useless.”

Erido smirked. “Yeah, you sorcerers and monks do suffer from the burden of heavier armor. You’d lose what, four points of defense for every point that you lose in agility?”

“Yes, unless I can find cheap leather armor that has a base defense higher than what the agility would cost me, it would be pointless.”

“Ah, cheap leather armor? Is there such a thing? Quality costs money, you know.” Erido laughed at Scott’s sour expression then gestured for the sorcerer to follow him.

Scott snorted at the man. “Maybe I should learn to make my own armor and run you out of business.”

“Not a bad idea lad, but good luck with that. It’s nearly impossible to find trade-skill lore crystals on the open market, even basic ones.”

“Yeah, I’ve looked.” Scott laughed a little. His dreams of forging and crafting his own weapons and armor had been dashed. Regal Alice had come to town two nights ago, and he had seen both the price of her crystals and the selection that she offered. Her offerings were hideously expensive, but he could see the value of such items. It was one of the only ways to acquire non-class related skills and abilities.

Erido gestured to a quilted armor set on a nearby mannequin. “This is probably within your price range. It’s nine hundred fifty Fayth, and it covers the important parts.”

Scott looked it over. There were pants and a long-sleeved jacket in the set. He read the tag and noted that it increased defense by two points. Why even bother to buy armor of this level? Even one point of agility did more for him. Still, every little bit would help... he guessed.

Erido saw his face and nodded. “Yes, I suppose this sort of armor would not be too helpful for you. Maybe something a bit sturdier that covers less?”

“That could work.”

Scott followed Erido to another room. They stopped in front of another mannequin. This one was wearing a black lacquered breastplate that had leather straps.

“This is wood armor. It has close to the same defense rating as a leather breast plate, but it weighs half as much. It has only a slight agility penalty since it is a small section of armor. It is twelve hundred Fayth.”

Scott looked the armor over. The glossy black finish was nice, but how was the defense rating? He checked the tags and blinked. It would increase his defense by twelve, but would lower his agility by one point. The tradeoff meant that his defense would still increase by eight points. It would provide four times more defense than cloth armor for only a slightly higher cost. He could see classes that did not care about agility penalties going for this sort of material early on.

“I can see you are interested. I’ll point out that you can actually wear this over padded cloth armor. If you can afford it, you can buy the padded armor and this sort of armor and double-up your defense.”

Scott did not have that kind of money at the moment, but he could easily see the value in that. Were he to purchase the cloth armor suit, and a few accessories that did not have agility penalties, he could offset the defense loss from the agility penalty.

“I’m by no means a wealthy man. I’ll definitely take this armor today, but can you show me something that would match well with it from the wood section? I can’t afford to buy anything else and still feed myself, but I do want to have a complete armor set before I wander off into the world at large.”

“Absolutely! We have greaves, vambraces, gauntlets...” Erido rattled off a list of wood items that would match well with Scott’s needs.

“Ah, I see. So, you also have a cuirass made from leather and cloth reinforced ironwood?”

Erido pointed at another mannequin against the far wall. Scott checked out the item Erido pointed out and his eyes widened. The cost was thirty-six hundred Fayth! Still, he was definitely interested. The armor piece had an agility penalty of three points, but it provided thirty-seven defense points! It was clearly the premium wood item in this store. His defense would increase by twenty-five points total.