Bacon Macleod
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Chapter 125: Long Awaited Destiny Finale
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 20:30:15 +0000 UTCStill cloaked in a cowl dyed the colours of the forest, Kaius’s class guide had led him away from the split boulders that had held his class skill options. It was time for him to learn his first hymn for his new Drakthar rune.
His excitement made him impatient, and it was an exercise in will to match his guide's comfortable pace through the forest.
Thankfully that faded somewhat as they walked, the warm breeze and sunlight working in concert with the soft noises of insects and chirping birds lulling him to a state of relaxation. Slowly, he started to enjoy their walk.
It would end soon, and he knew it would be a long time until he crossed through till the second tier and returned here once more. He may as well enjoy it, even if the real thing was waiting for him when Porkchop finished his own advancement.
By the time they reached their destination he was almost disappointed that their walk had been cut short, though that faded quickly as his excitement returned in full force when he saw where they had arrived.
The dense wall of trunks that surrounded them on all sides gradually began to thin. Through their reaches he could see they were arriving at another opening in the forest, though this one was heavily shaded.
It was easy to see why. A gargantuan elm dominated the centre of the clearing, its wide canopy and flat leaves shading all beneath it. Soaking up the sun with avarice, it allowed none of the life giving light to nourish any potential competitors.
Kaius gaped up at it in awe, pausing momentarily to drink in the sight. While he had seen some truly impressive specimens in the Sea, he had never seen one quite so majestic. It was enough to rival the tree that had housed the Grimclaw.
Yet even with its prodigious size, that only held his attention for a few moments. Taking in its trunk that was thick enough to encapsulate two of him lying end to end, he spotted something…out of place.
A door. Recessed into the thick and cracked bark of the elm. It was an elegantly carved, richly red mullions surrounding pale cream panels, with a trim of yet more red. A heavy brass handle was set into it, carved into the shape of creeping vines.
It was the kind of thing he would have expected to see in a rich noble estate in Deadacre, or one of the vaunted houses of learning that the wealthy and well connected sent their scions to.
It had absolutely no place being in a forest, but he supposed this wasn’t really the Sea. He hurried on, chasing after his guide who had not broken step and was heading straight for the out of place portal.
“A door?” He asked, breathing slightly heavy as he slowed to a fast walk beside the construct. “Doesn’t exactly fit the scenery.”
Kaius the Elder chucked, bringing one hand up to his scarred mouth. “No, it doesn’t. The advancement space is for the selection of your class, and your first skill of the tier. Not your spells, that has its own environment. There’s a little bit of leeway due to the innate connection, but it still means we need a little bit of change of location. Don’t worry, it’s quite seamless.”
Kaius hadn’t been, having full faith in the system's capabilities. People were transported by it every day when they delved the Depths, and he hadn’t heard one story of it causing any issues. Hells, even though he only had the vaguest memories of his own entrance, that only proved his point. If it were something major, he would have remembered.
Arriving at the door, his guide set one aged hand on the brass handle. Barely even breaking stride, the construct swung the door open and stepped through, pausing just through the precipice to hold the door for him and usher him through. “After you.”
Kaius bobbed his head in gratitude and stepped through the door, his eyes roving over the newly revealed space. It was… a study. Dwarven in construction, much like the study where he had first worked on his ruins in the city where his body still lay unconscious.
Stone and wooden construction was masterfully married in an exhibition of artisanal skill. A richly carved hearth covered the entirety of one wall, and an already roaring fire warmed the space immensely. The other three were dominated by floor to ceiling bookshelves, each one bursting at the seams with innumerable books of all shapes and sizes, one and all leatherbound and dyed in a myriad of colours.
It should have been dark, considering the lack of windows, but masterfully bracketed wardlights jutted free from the pillars of the book shelves, and another hung from a chandelier in the centre of the room, bathing the space with a soft yellowish glow.
Kaius grinned as he saw the desk. It was functionally identical to the one where he had first done his experimentation, except this time it had been scaled up slightly to properly fit one of his height. That was a nice touch, even in the villages he often found furniture a little too small for him, considering he was half a stride taller than what most would consider to be a tall man.
“Take a seat.” His guide said, closing the door behind them with a thunk. Kaius hurried over to the desk, pulling out the plush seat and reclining into it with a groan.
He leaned back, enjoying the way the masterful carpentry and upholstery cradled him, and looked to his guide for direction.
“This will be mostly similar each time you come in here. While I am here this time, you will have another construct to help you through future selections. They do not have the same complete connection with the overmind that I do, so they will have less to draw from. To you, the difference will be indistinguishable, and they will still be able to offer you the full range of assistance in choosing an adequate spell. The difference still needs to be mentioned though. By the high tiers, even if it is not an impediment, it is noticeable. A few rare individuals believed we had been hiding secrets maliciously when they noticed, so it is mentioned up front now.” his guide explained, walking through the room and trailing his finger along the spines of various books. Every now and then, he stopped, pondering on a book before making some decision to unknown metrics, continuing on or plucking it from the shelves.
“What do you mean, a difference? I assume by overmind you mean the system?” Kaius asked as his guide approached the desk and sat five books down on the polished wooden top.
“Just so. I have the leeway to answer many questions within boundaries, much like right now, in explaining how the constructs operate. At high tiers, there are many mysteries that become evident, ones that I am able to share once asked or it is deemed important. The construct used for spell selection does not have this leeway, and while it will be more than capable of having an idle chat, most of what it will be able to share will be directly or tangentially related to what you need to make your selection.” Kaius the Elder explained, picking up books and laying them in front of him.
“Now, spells are similar to classes in that you are not able to view every option potentially available like a class. The selection has been narrowed to those useful to you. Why don't you take a look?” His guide said, waving his hand over the titleless books.
Kaius sat up, snapping forwards as his chair moved with him. With barely constrained avarice he snatched up the first title. As soon as he held the book in his hand a system description popped into view.
Hyperius’s Shard Swarm:
Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)
Affinity: Arcane
Glyph: Drakthar
50 Mana
Selection Available!
This Hymn summons 12 high velocity condensed shards of pure mana that invariably seek your target until they impact an obstacle or travel more than 50 long-strides. Unable to target beyond specific individuals. Possess Reasonable general armour piercing capabilities
Kaius devoured the description of the hymn, eyes wide in delight. Talk about a first pick, it was almost exactly like a better version of his own shards. That in and of itself was almost enough for him to pick it on the spot, but he was nowhere near that foolish.
Biting back his questions, he reached for the next book, and then the next, reading through the varied abilities he had been offered.
Embered Orb:
Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)
Affinity: Fire
Glyph: Drakthar
70 Mana
Selection Available!
This Hymn summons a dense orb of superheated embers that may be hurled at enemies. Detonates on impact. Scattered embers adhere to surfaces and continue to burn for some time.
…
Traxan’s Lance:
Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)
Affinity: Light
Glyph: Drakthar
100 Mana
Selection Available!
This Hymn summons a piercing beam of light that nigh instantaneously hits a target within 100 long-strides. Pinpoint accurate, and possesses Moderate magical armour piercing capabilities.
…
Chotnik’s Sickness:
Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)
Affinity: Poison, Toxin
Glyph: Drakthar
60 Mana
Selection Available!
This Hymn summons a diffuse cloud of virulent spores that causes others to suffer a damaging Infliction that causes Significant disorientation.
…
Stormlash:
Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)
Affinity: Lightning, Storm
Glyph: Drakthar
120 Mana
Selection Available!
This Hymn summons a crackling lash of lightning that may be used to strike at a target within 20 long strides, chaining to another two foes within 5 long-strides. The lash persists for 3 seconds and possesses Reasonable stunning abilities.
Finishing with the last spell, Kaius arrayed the books in front of him. Now that he had seen them all, he could see that the coloured covers must have at least moderately aligned with the affinity of each spell. Considering the dizzying array of shades that blanketed the titles still on the shelves, there were a lot of potential options.
A blue so pale it was almost white for crystal, a brilliant orange-red for fire, mottled shades of virulent green for poison and toxin, brilliant white for light, and a riotous storm of electric blue and steel blue for lightning and storm.
That wasn’t the only thing he had noticed. “No rarity?” Kaius asked, tilting his head quizzically at his guide.
The construct shook their head. “No, they are intrinsically linked to their parent skill. All are of that tier, though plenty of variation still exists within it.”
“So my choice is genuinely just down to the generality of its use case then. I can’t go too specialised for my first.” He mused, mostly to himself.
“If that is what you wish.” His guide responded.
Tapping his fingers on the desk, Kaius took the time to think for a moment. “Chotnik’s Sickness, when it says others does it literally mean anyone other than me who is within the cloud?”
His guide smiled. “It does, though it is worth mentioning that that can work in your favour if you encounter an entity that can shield themselves from targeted spells. The same can be said of Embered Orb, but I noticed you seem far less uncomfortable with that.”
Kaius considered both spells. Chotnik’s was right out. Considering he had a soul-bonded companion, going with a spell that would indiscriminately affect Porkchop was monumentally stupid. After a bit more thinking, he decided to discard Embered as well. He fully intended to be in the thick of things for the rest of his life, and a spell that exploded with burning shrapnel would only be useful in situations where neither he nor Porkchop could effectively engage.
That just left Shard Swarm, Lance, and Stormlash. All three were Incredibly appealing.
Swarm sounded helpful, as the lack of need to aim would allow him to fire and forget, and if each shard held even half of the potency of his own Arcane Shard spell they would be incredibly lethal. The fact he was unlikely to miss and they seemed to be good at dealing with armoured foes was another major benefit, let alone the fact that they were both already familiar and had a comparatively low cost compared to the other two.
For Lance it was the fact that it instantaneously struck his target that had caught his eye, as well as its accuracy. If the spell had punch, that meant that he would both have an option at range, and that any person he targeted would be unable to muster a defence against his hymn.
Stormlash… was just cool. Holding lightning in his hands and using that to scorch, electrocute, and immobilise his enemies? Who wouldn’t want that. Plus, more than anything else it fit his dream of using spellcraft and blades as a cohesive whole. He could easily imagine how he could use the spell to tear through unprepared enemies, delivering fatal strikes while they were stunned.
Now he just needed to make a decision. Kaius leaned back, kicking his legs up on the desk while he drummed his fingers against his wooden armrest in a staccato fashion. After a moment of pondering, he stopped his drumming. He’d made his choice.
“Do you need any help to decide?” His guide asked congenially.
“No,” Kaius said with a shake of his head. “I know what I'm going to pick.”
Scarred and venerable, his guide gave him a wide and proud smile that reached his gold flecked green eyes. “In that case, it has been a pleasure meeting you, Kaius. You’ll wake up as soon as you have picked your spell. Until next time!” The construct straightened, turning away from the desk before they looked back over their shoulder. “When you leave, do be a dear and let Porkchop know I am looking forward to meeting him? Due to your soulbond, he is not bound by your restriction with other people in their testing period.”
Kaius nodded. “Thank you, and I will.”
Giving him a nod, his guide took a step away from the desk and vanished, leaving Kaius alone in the office to make his choice.
As soon as his guide left, he focused on his choice.
Stormlash.
A/N: I will now accept my awards for the longest class selection in litRPG ever, the longest deathzone survival start ever, and runner up for longest time spent without a class (damn LORG).
Comments
Dash Marley
I was wondering this too.
sorvol
it still is in the tutorial right now but the second floor had civilization and people in the tutorial so it can't really be called a survival though it still is a deathzone so the author isn't wrong just hyper specific
deushadow
I kind of fell of it but that hell difficulty tutorial was still in the tutorial when I was reading and I'm assuming from the title it stayed that way. I never know with things like that was the title implying the MC was in the hell difficulty tutorial or will the whole story be him on said tutorial.
The Human
Wouldn't porkchop count as the same person so be safe from the poison cloud?
Daniel
Took me a second to remember LORG. And yes, what was it nearly 1000 chapters before he got a class? I stopped reading not long after though. 🤷🏻♂️
Bacon Macleod
some IRL Italian longsword manuals have one handed sections. It's not designed to be a dedicated one hander, but there are ways to use it as such. It fits with how Kaius would use it, as he only really needs to take a hand off his sword long enough to aim and cast, which isn't very long at all.
Mimic
Legend of randidly ghosthound
Rick
I think you've a great job !!! Also as much as I hate the idea because I want see what's next lol ... Have a happy holidays and take a break ...just don't make us wait forever :) 😀
Robin Richards
He knows the runes for it. The only issue is it compatible with his new glyph
AverageGuy
Has he lost access to his prior spell(s)? I know it was kludged and not as good, but it feels like there's nothing to stop it from working if he really needed a ranged option in the short-term. Otherwise, Stormlash seems cool.
Aldhere
Can't believe it finished around a year ago, it's been around for so long
Wolven
Legend of Randidily Ghosthound
Alfcam
I checked and you beat The Primal Hunter's tutorial by 3 chapters as that ended at ch. 122!
nymaxilian
Wich novel is lorg cant place it
MrDragondude5
you might want to change his sword to a bastard sword then, the only real difference would be the grip, which is short enough to not be uncomfortable when wielded with one hand but long for the same to be true while two handing it.
Bacon Macleod
no shield, just longsword - a longsword is capable of being used one handed, and a big part of the mastery skill he just got is being able to weave the two together seamlessly
Mimic
I think you should retcon all this and make it go for 100 more chapters to secure that longest w no class award
joey
those awards are probably deserved lol. At the very least for the novels I have read and actually like.
Rheklr
Very fun chapter - but it would be good to get Kaius' reasoning against lance/shards. So far he's relied on long-range precision shots very strategically, so it's kind of strange for him to discard all that without reason. It would also be good to see some reasoning about how he plans to wield sword and shield and thunder whips - he's only got two hands (and is down two fingers).
Apoca
What makes him immune to his own spell when casting Chotnik? I assumed it's his soul, so a soul bond making Porkchop immune made sense to me
M van Dongen
Strange. You'd think he'd pick something he would have the most problems with. That's (long) ranged combat. As well as (magical) armor piercing. The Lance would seem more logical. It covers a big capability gap. Targeted Crowdcontrol/damage application would be the next best thing IMHO.
Bacon Macleod
I'm gonna tweak the bond skill when it goes live on RR, it was conceptualised as for any 'requirements' for various system challenges and rewards etc (more stuff than just xp and honours, but not intended for say, sharing a buff equally - though y'all have given me plenty of ideas for ways to advance the skill)
Bacon Macleod
His is much more reasonable lol, most of the reason his was so long was for thematic and character reasons, if I did the same with Porkchop it would *actually* just be padding haha
Mr.Spooks
The Lance was a close second imo, thanks for the chapter
Bacon Macleod
thanks for the catch, I was hemming and hawing between the two for this spell when writing
Tommy
I think the cool factor cannot be discounted. It’s his magic after all! If he’s gonna be engaging with it regularly then him thinking it’s cool will be of big benefit. I also think the affinity might be really important - it’s his first spell so getting a dual affinity of lightning and storm could be really beneficial for the future
Uroš
Aye, the bond says he and Porkchop are considered 1 entity in the eyes of the system whenever that's beneficial. He should have asked his guide at least, if for the purposes of the spell they count as one entity.
Uroš
Personally, I think Traxan’s Lance or Hyperius’ Shard Swarm would have been better options. They both offer some amount of armour piercing and given that they'll be going up against enemies above their level, they need something that's going to punch through the thick skin. Stormlash while cool, only offers a 'reasonable' chance to stun, whatever that means. But so far, every elite and champion they fought seemed to have a high vitality and I'd figure that'd also give a 'reasonable' resistance to various debilitating effects. Meanwhile, a hole through the knee might be a bit harder to fix. Hell, just go ham and unleash all your stored spells in an alpha strike on a critical limb part. With his current mana he can do what, 7 lances at once? Plus another 3 every 10 levels. That's one hell of an alpha strike. And finally, yes, he wants to be in the thick of things, but there is something about putting all your eggs into 1 basket. The lance hits instantly and the shards hit eventually. He's missing a ranged option, especially since he's no longer as good with the throwing knives due to the skill evolution.
TheNorns
Thanks for the Thanksgiving chapter! Small correction: "much like the study where he had first worked on his *ruins* in the city where his body still lay unconscious." ruins -> *runes*
Antiflower
Randidly Ghosthound spent a long time classless as well!
Apoca
Also, I think the bond would have helped with Chotnik, right? It says that they count as one when it helps. If Chotnik does not harm him then it should have been fine.
Apoca
I was afraid that you will keep a 1 option/chapter routine... :D
Tommy
“A blue so pale it was almost white for crystal,” -> earlier the affinity is written as Arcane, should that be switched to crystal or this switched to arcane?
Ozyen
Can’t wait to see the crazy combos this spell will offer
Uroš
Will you also go for the Longest supporting character (Porkchop) class selection ever?
omnis vir lupis
thanks for the chappy
Tommy
TFTC!
