Chương 140: 55. Keep Our Options Open

After skillfully evading Fargo's difficult questions, we return to our room to figure out new classes for E'ava, Vi, and Allie. I flop down by our little table and give Nipper a little scratch. The poor guy is still slobbering all over our fingers with his venom, but putting up with an itchy hand is the least we can do after leaving him alone for so long.

"Okay, let's review the plan," I mutter.

"I've already kind of forgotten."

"I've got notes," Vi says. I roll my eyes.

"Of course you do." Not that there's anything wrong with that, per se, all of us write stuff down, but Vi takes notes on everything. I swear, if she could, she'd log every fucking thought that runs through her head. I get maybe three pages into her ridiculous stack before giving up.

"I'm not shuffling through all this shit, Vi, get them yourself." It's not that hard to find. We don't have any folders or binders, so I've kept my notes roughly sorted in order of when I wrote them. Since our classes haven't actually changed since we arrived in the city, my notes on those were one of the first things I did once we got our hands on some writing supplies. Thus, they should be near the bottom.

Riffling through them for a second, I find what I'm looking for and pull out a few sheets of paper, leaving the parts above and below separate so that I can put them back in the same place later. It's not a perfect system, but it's better than no system, as the messy pile dominating the rest of the table demonstrates.

"Here we are," I muse, scanning my eyes down the first page.

"Why did you write all that down anyway?" Allie asks.

"I thought we were supposed to keep our classes secret." I focus on the first line so that she can read it properly. Magic related class. Utility overshadowed by existing classes and abilities, but high potential for useful fusions.

"See? No specific information," I explain.

"Nothing that can be used to determine the exact skill, tier, or related attribute, even if someone reads our language. Just personal reminders. If I want specific information, I can always just do this." [Tier 0 Adept]* One who has learned to observe the metaphysical with only their own senses. Skill - Magical Awareness: Increased Awareness when trying to perceive the metaphysical. Attribute bonus: Awareness. Advancement: Peer beyond the veil of reality.

"Right, okay," Allie says.

"Makes sense."

"I've also got some more detailed plans in shorthand." I flip the page over to reveal my summary of the plan we came up with last time. PF + SV = NC, CC + NC = FC (GF)"What the fuck is that shit?!" Maggie snickers.

"Something, something, carbon copy, girlfriend?"

"It says to combine [Pathfinder] and [Savior] into a new class, then fuse that new class with our core class to make our... final class? Fourth class? I don't remember what the letters stood for, exactly, but I know what it's referring to. GF should mean Grade Four, I think."

"Should? You think?"

"The point of shorthand isn't translatability," I remark.

"In fact, it's arguably the exact opposite. All that matters is that it serves as enough of a reminder for me to figure out what it means."

"Goddess, you're such a nerd."

"Moving on, the other plan was to merge [Teacher] and [Student], but we weren't as firm on that. You also never really explained your intentions behind [Tamer], aside from lying to Fargo about integrating it into our four-star class."

"That wasn't a lie, actually," Maggie says.

"I think we should change our plans." Of course she does. I sigh heavily.

"That would introduce a huge delay to the advancement of our core class. Can you justify it?"

"Yeah, I can."...

"Would you, please?" I groan.

"Well, since you asked so nicely," she begins, and I can hear the smirk in her voice.

"Combining PF and SV would be a mistake. NC, whatever that is, will be about exploration and helping. We're not exactly in a position to be doing much of either."

"We should at least look at the options before dismissing them," I argue, ignoring her mockery of my shorthand.

"Sure, but I also think we should look at other options. We shouldn't just blindly stick to a plan we made over a month ago—a lot has changed since then." I suppose she's right.

"Why [Tamer], though?"

"Are you saying that Nipper isn't important enough to be worth supporting with our core class?"

"No, of course not, I'm just not sure it's worth making a priority."

"Well, I've got my reasons," Maggie says cryptically.

"Care to share them?" I press.

"No." Ugh. Why did I even let her waste my time with this? I'm just going to move on. I wrote down a shortlist of tier zero classes that we were considering before, which helps me pare down the list in my head. Adept Adherent Apprentice Ranger Linguist Orator Scientist Social Butterfly This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"You forgot about Instigator," Maggie says.

"No I didn't." In addition to those, there are a few new options for me to investigate. [Tier 0 Dreamer]* When the external world becomes too tiresome, you retreat to a world within, where you are limited only by your own imagination. Skill - Daydream: You can draw forth vivid images within your mind, based on your subconscious. Attribute bonus: Ego. Advancement: Dream. That's odd. I'm not sure what we could have done to unlock something like that.

Allie has mentioned a few odd dreams, but if having dreams was all it took, everybody would have a skill like this one available. It doesn't seem particularly useful, but I take note of it to ask Talla or Anna about it later. It would be a good excuse to visit Anna again, since we haven't had the chance yet. And speaking of Anna, we almost certainly have her to thank for the other new option. [Tier 0 Solver]* Puzzles, problems, conundrums.

From the mechanical to the philosophical, you leave no trial unchallenged, no question unanswered, and most critically—no puzzle unsolved. Skill - Intuitive Analysis: Increased Awareness, Ego, and Will when attempting to solve a novel problem. Attribute bonus: Awareness. Advancement: Solve problems.

"Hey, have you ever noticed that the class descriptions seem weirdly inconsistent?" Allie asks.

"There are a couple of different distinct styles."

"They seem pretty consistent to me," I reply.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, some of them say 'you can do this' while others just say 'do this.' They mean the same thing, but the phrasing is inconsistent."

"So? I'm not sure what you're getting at."

"Well, it just seems to suggest that they were written by a person, or maybe even multiple different people." I shrug.

"Maybe, but I think you're probably reading too much into it. Talla said that the descriptions are partially derived from us. Maybe it's inconsistent because we are."

"Maybe..." She doesn't sound convinced, but it's not worth arguing about. Maybe we can ask someone about it later, if we remember.

"Anyway, I'm going to check the fusions now, alright?"

"Go for it," Allie says.

"Just don't make any final decisions, yet," Maggie insists.

"I won't." First, the new three-star class options, combining [Pathfinder] and [Savior]. [Tier 2 Itinerant Hero]*** A selfless wanderer, roaming the countryside as a knight errant, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Skill - Quest for the Meek: You have an intuitive sense of where to find those in need, and may mark up to three willing wards at a time whose location will always be known to you.

Skill - Succor: Each marked ward in your presence gains increased Resilience and Will, reduced fatigue, and reduced hunger. All attributes increased for each ward affected this way. Skill - Relentless Vigil: While at least one marked ward is present, dramatically increased Resilience and reduced fatigue. Skill - Shoulder the Burden: At a touch, you may take on the fatigue, hunger, and/or injuries of another. Attribute bonuses: Resilience, Awareness, Ego, Will.

Advancement: Search the world for those in need and offer them your aid. I'd almost forgotten just how strong the three-star classes are. I can see why Fa'aun society would collectively agree that they give the optimal amount of power for the time put into acquiring them. That said, I can already see what Maggie was warning about. This class is no doubt powerful, but advancing it would be a nightmare. The skills are great. Especially if I'm able to assign Allie and the others as my "wards."

The healing skill seems like a step downward from [Revitalization], though, and I doubt I'd be able to trick the advancement conditions the same way.

"It's unfortunate that we'd lose the ability to heal ourselves," I muse.

"But we may be able to work around that with thaumaturgy. My main concern here is that taking the class would be a significant boost to immediate strength, at the cost of growth."

"That healing skill can be better or worse than it looks," Eva comments.

"Though it doesn't say so in the description, transfer skills like that use the difference in Resilience between source and target."

"What does that mean?"

"A high level person can take on mortal injuries from a lower level person and walk them off, but in the opposite case, you could end up killing yourself by trying to heal a minor wound from a much higher tier patient."

"Ah..." That sounds pretty dangerous. It's a good thing we have Eva's knowledge to draw on.

"Thanks for the warning, Eva. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Interestingly, there's a second option for fusion here. That hasn't usually been the case, but it does happen sometimes. As far as I know, it's just random. [Tier 2 Travel Guide]*** You forge new paths to pave the way for those who follow. A guide for the lost, and a valuable escort for those who seek the undiscovered. Skill - Traveling Light: You and any traveling companions are affected less by fatigue and hunger, and you gain an intuitive sense for natural resources.

Skill - Peerless Escort: You have a flawless sense of direction and gain dramatically increased Power, Resilience, and Awareness while leading others. Skill - One Step at a Time: You may stabilize the condition of one person, temporarily preventing them from succumbing to exhaustion or injury. Skill - The Road Home: You may register a home location. You can never become lost, and may always divine the way back to your home. Attribute bonuses: Resilience, Awareness, Ego, Will.

Advancement: Guide others on their journey. Hmm. This one seems to draw more on [Pathfinder] rather than [Savior] though I can still see elements of both. I'm a lot less interested in this one now that we're in the city, though it might be good to have in our back pocket if we have to flee. If we were planning to join Jira's crew, I'd take it in a heartbeat, though it still has the issue of being hard to advance. I'm starting to think that difficult advancement is a hallmark of higher grade classes in general.

Obviously higher grades also have more potential, but they come with additional constraints that make that potential more difficult to realize. There might be more to the tendency to favor tier over grade than just access to the time and resources needed to cultivate the stronger classes.

"I can't say I'm fond of this one," I say aloud.

"It's too focused on travel and reliant on others."

"Same," Maggie declares.

"I say we bin it."

"If we're putting off the combination for a while, why not keep our options open?" Allie suggests.

"It might come in handy later."

"Fair enough," I say.

"Let's check the other fusion, then." Now that [Teacher] and [Student] are mastered, we should be able to fuse them together as planned. But when I look at the list of valid classes to merge with [Teacher] I encounter something unexpected. [Classes available for fusion with Teacher] Student Dreamer What? Hold on a second. I focus on the [Dreamer] class, not as a new class, but as I would for one that we currently have active. [Tier 0 Dreamer]* - Level 10/10"How is this possible?" I ask.

"Evelyn, is this one of yours?"

"No, I've never heard of that class," she replies.

"Did one of you somehow change classes and then master this one... literally overnight?"

"It wasn't me," Maggie says.

"Me either," Allison confirms.

"Do you think it has something to do with the nightmare we had?"

"What happened in that dream?"

"I don't actually remember," Allie says.

"I just remember that we were really freaked out when we woke up." We? Allie's been trying to do better, but as her recent slips have demonstrated she's got a long way to go. She almost never attributes something that she experiences or does to us as a group. Especially if it has to do with our emotional state.

"Does that mean you weren't in front when we woke up?" I press.

"Uh, I mean... I guess?" she hedges.

"Allie was acting pretty weird when we woke up," Maggie reminds me.

"Before you ask, it wasn't me either," Eva adds. Now I'm starting to get worried. Do we have another ghost in our head? One that's apparently doing things of its own accord, without any communication or consultation with us. Evelyn says she was trapped before, unable to do anything and only conscious for brief episodes between waking and sleeping, but whoever this is had enough time to master a class without any of us even noticing.

"Okay, forget everything else," I declare.

"We need to get to the bottom of this right now."