29
Baron Von Tweet greeted them as soon as they made it back to Emma’s house. Sam had been wondering where the bird had been, but now that he knew, he wished that it would have remained a mystery. He sat next to Emma on a long sofa in her living room, staring at the bird, who was staring back with an unblinking gaze.
He was exhausted, both mentally and physically from the day’s events, and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. His brain wouldn’t let him, replaying the scenes from that night over and over in his mind. It didn’t bother him per se, or even leave a lasting impression on his psyche - he already knew why - but he still had a lingering sense of unease about the entire situation.
So here he was, still wide awake, and having a staring contest with a fucking parrot. His fingers were interlaced and tucked under his chin as he stared and the parrot stared right back. Emma was snoring lightly to his right, a thin blanket pulled up to her chin. Gordon was out cold on a rug in the corner, his new stick still clutched between his teeth.
Sam blinked and the parrot let out a low caw of victory, lifting his foot and flipping him off. Sam just shook his head and leaned back against the soft cushions, staring up at the paneled ceiling above his head. He could still see the small icon flashing in the corner of his vision, which let him know that there were notifications waiting for him, but he was loathed to check them out.
It had been a shit day and he really didn’t want to deal with anything else. All he wanted to do was sleep, but his brain simply wouldn’t allow him to do that. With an annoyed grunt, Sam allowed the notifications to begin flooding in. First, it was all the damage notifications, about killing this person or that person, as well as XP he’d received for each. Then the others started coming in and Sam finally felt his spirits begin to rise.
LEVEL UP!
Congratulations! You have reached level 10! You have 5 new attribute points to distribute.
Would you like to distribute them now?
Yes/No
TITLE GAINED!
Through your constant loss of composure, you have gained a new title!
You Won’t Like Me When I’m Angry: Gotta learn to control that nasty temper of yours, pal.
Effect: At the cost of the ‘Enraged’ debuff: +200% Increase to all damage
ABILITY RANK UP!
Congratulations! Your Mana Flare ability has advanced from Novice to Beginner!
Mana Flare: Send out a burst of mana in a sphere around you.
Level: Beginner 12 (31%)
Damage: 16-21
Cost: 55 MP
AOE Range: 10 Ft
Cast Time: 2 Seconds
Cooldown: 15 Seconds
Finally! He’d be able to choose a class.
Sam was so excited, that he completely ignored the awful title he’d gained and only briefly glanced over his upgraded ability. Going into his status, he selected the Class tab and selected Mage. This time, a more detailed version of the Class appeared and Sam eagerly read over the details.
CLASS OPTIONS (MAGE)
Congratulations! You have reached level 10 and may now select a class. Please choose wisely, as this choice will be permanent.
Mage: Mages are those who specialize in casting spells, and utilizing their intellect, over brute force. The Mage class, like all others, is only the foundation. You will only realize your true potential, once you choose a sub-class.
Mages gain +1 to Intelligence and +1 to Wisdom with each level gained. However, they will suffer penalties to Strength, and Agility, requiring that 2 attribute points be used, for every single point gained. Every 5 levels, you will also have the option to choose an ability. Your options will be based on the choices you make in your selected path, so choose wisely.
The Mage class is divided up into many sub-classes. At this time, you may choose from 11 different sub-classes. (More may become available, should you discover them)
Sam read the information over several times before closing the screen and staring up at the ceiling again. So, if he wanted to choose the Mage class, he’d need to put 2 attribute points into Strength and Agility , if he wanted them to go up by 1 . He shrugged.
I can live with that.
Sam pulled up his class options again and selected Mage.
CLASS CHOSEN
Congratulations! You are now a Mage!
As a Mage, you now have the option to choose 1 of 3 new abilities available to you.
You may now also browse the sub-classes available to you at this time. Please be aware that you cannot choose a sub-class until Level 18, and a specialization until level 26.
Corrosive Cloud: Summon a cloud of corrosive mana in a targeted area.
Damage: 25-31
Duration: 10 Seconds
Cost: 100 MP
AOE Range: 25 FT (Sphere)
Cast Time: 6 Seconds
Cooldown: 10 Minutes
Sonic Mana Blast: Infuse mana into your hands and clap to disorient.
Effect: Disoriented debuff
Duration: 60 Seconds
Cost: 120 MP
AOE Range: 30 FT (Cone)
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 5 Minutes
Mage Bolt: Fire a branching bolt of mana.
Damage: 20-40
Cost: 180 MP
Range: 20 Ft (Cone)
Cast Time: 2 Seconds
Cooldown: 6 Minutes
Effect: +20% Chance to inflict the Stunned debuff for 30 seconds
Sam looked over his available abilities and had to think carefully. Just what type of Mage did he want to be? That would decide which abilities he’d choose whenever one became available to him.
He immediately dismissed the non damaging ability, as he already knew that he wanted to be a damage dealer. None of that debuff shit. He also knew that he wanted to be able to unleash the most power in the least amount of time. Mage Bolt was looking the most promising in that department, though the damage output seemed to have a very large range.
He went back and forth for nearly five minutes and nearly chose to go with the safer, and more reliable Corrosive Cloud, but in the end, his desire to destroy stuff won out.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You have gained a new ability!
Mage Bolt: Fire a branching bolt of mana.
Level: Novice 1 (0%)
Damage: 20-40
Cost: 180 MP
Range: 20 Ft (Cone)
Cast Time: 2 Seconds
Cooldown: 6 Minutes
Effect: +20% Chance to inflict the Stunned debuff for 30 seconds
Sam grinned as the screen vanished, and he moved on to his next order of business; seeing which sub-classes were available to him.
SUB-CLASS OPTIONS
Congratulations! You have chosen a class and may now view your sub-class options. Sub-classes can be gained in one of three ways:
1. Find a trainer willing to teach you
2. Perform a specific action enough times
3. Find an item bestowing the sub-class
You currently have 11 sub-classes to choose from. Would you like to view them all now?
Yes/No
Sam immediately selected yes and a list of available sub-classes popped up before his eyes.
SUB-CLASS (MAGE)
Here are your available sub-classes:
Fire-Mage
Water-Mage
Plant-Mage
Force-Mage
Air-Mage
Psyche-Mage
Earth-Mage
Dark-Mage
Light-Mage
Blood-Mage
Super-Mage
Sam looked through his available options and began discounting the ones he knew he wouldn’t be interested in. By the time he was done, he’d narrowed his choices down to three: Fire, Force, and Psyche. All the rest sounded boring or stupid.
What the hell was a Super-Mage supposed to be anyway?
FIRE-MAGE
The Fire-Mage sub-class is one focused on the area of effect spells and widespread destruction. Fire-Mages focus mainly on damage, have very little in the way of debuffs, and no healing abilities.
Fire-Mages gain +2 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom with each level gained, but suffer penalties to both Strength and Agility.
FORCE-MAGE
The Force-Mage sub-class is one focused on causing as much devastation as possible with a single spell. Force-Mages focus mainly on single target damage, have very little in the way of debuffs, and no healing abilities.
Force-Mages gain +3 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom with each level gained, but suffer penalties to Strength, Endurance and Agility.
PSYCHE-MAGE
The Psyche-Mage sub-class is one focused on the area of effect debuffs and single target spells. Psyche-Mages have some healing abilities but have little in the way of actual damage.
Psyche-Mages gain +1 Intelligence and +2 Wisdom with each level gained, but suffer penalties to Strength and Agility.
After reading the descriptions for all three, Sam was fairly certain that he would go with either the Fire-Mage or Force-Mage sub-class. While Psyche-Mage had originally sounded cool, in reality, it didn’t live up to his expectations. Then again, he probably shouldn’t jump the gun on this one. According to the system, there were other sub-classes out there to choose from and maybe he’d be able to find a super rare one, or something like that.
He let out a long breath, rubbing at his temples as he felt a headache coming on. Exhaustion crept in at the fringes of his mind as the excitement of the previous day finally began to fade. Covering a yawn, Sam opened his status so he could assign his points before he went to sleep.
CHARACTER STATUS (ABBREVIATED)
Name: Sam
Race: Human
Level: 10
XP: 53/8,000
AP: 1
Class: Mage
HP: 120/120 (Regen 1.2 Per Second)
MP: 330/330 (Regen 2.8 Per Second)
STA: 90/90 (Regen 0.9 Per Second)
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: 5 (6)
Constitution: 12
Agility: 6
Endurance: 8 (9)
Intelligence: 33 +2 (+1 Class)
Wisdom: 28 +2 (+1 Class)
Charisma: 19
Luck: 11 +1
Sam closed his status, happy to see that the extra attribute points to Intelligence and Wisdom had automatically been assigned once he’d chosen the Mage class. It didn’t escape his notice that the cost to level up again had drastically increased since his last level. He wondered if the cost of leveling would be different now that he had a class. Yawning widely, Sam leaned further back into the couch and within seconds, was fast asleep.