Elessar Lore
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17 — Class Selection
🕑 Added 2024-04-25 09:21:20 +0000 UTCAlex didn’t feel the warp of space as he was summoned. Instead he was simply in one place one moment, and somewhere entirely different the next. Normally, instantaneous transport like that might leave him nauseas and dizzied, but it spoke of Nightmare’s exorbitant budget that there was none of that.
Regardless, his mind spun.
[Room 0 - Holy Grounds]
His mouth lolled ajar its lower jaw and he’d just been about to ask the undead blacksmith what… Christ, he had no god-damn clue what he’d been about to ask him! There were so many questions he hardly knew where to start.
“How do you know all that?!”
“Who are you?!”
“Hell—what even are you?!”
“How did a master blacksmith like you end up in chains?!”
“Can I have your autograph?”
Alex quickly bit back his response when the notifications came. There was nothing worse than spilling out your closest kept secrets before the most powerful, omniscient beings in the known multiverse—and all because you simply hadn’t been paying attention to the countdown. He winced as he awaited the soul shaking chill that always came from being in the presence of the constellations.
Strangely, it didn’t come. He pried one eyelid open.
As far as he could tell he was completely alone here, wherever ‘here’ was. And as he thought more on it he realized that wasn’t so strange at all. The Constellations weren’t known to wait around on a mere mortal’s arrival afterall.
Alex found himself in a dark corridor.
His path was littered with dirt and rampant overgrowth, notwithstanding that the cobbles had clearly once been meticulously laid. He sniffed and noticed the air had a musty pungency that only came from being underground.
Taking in his surroundings, it wasn’t hard to note that this room lacked the intentionality of all the others he’d visited. For lack of a better term, at least. The feeling could be hard to put your finger on if you didn’t already know how pocket world’s worked.
See, it wasn’t necessarily that this room was dirtier than the others—though it definitely was. The feeling lied in how everything in the previous rooms felt as though they’d been strategically placed almost— a stray totem pole off to the side here, a small sign of erosion in the wood over there— as if to create the most quintessential tiki bar of all tiki bars. Or like how during the tea party, none of the clouds seemed to block the sun in their drift, because god knows an English gentleman wouldn’t have any glower with his tea and biscuits.
The VIP rooms were glamorous and convenient, but when you looked past that it wasn't hard to feel something unnatural about all of them, as if every little detail were by design.
Because they were.
Pocket worlds in truth were not worlds so much as their own pocket-sized dimensions. They were anchored to existence, but their separation allowed them to veer from its continuity to an extent. That made it possible to bend the very fabric of reality, and the wonders that could be achieved with that were innumerous. You could even manipulate time itself.
An orange haze of lantern light approached Alex from down the tunnel.
It had been approaching him for two minutes now, the stretch of time since he had first spotted it in the distance. The leisurely pace made the math of things quite simple. This room had to move at a slower pace than the others, otherwise his queue would’ve been shorter. It was seeming this wouldn’t be the quick meet and greet Alex was hoping for.
Unfortunately.
“Alex Smith.” An even voice intoned. “Follow me.”
The man carrying his lantern had short cropped hair and a cloth mask draped down to conceal his eyes. He wore the long black robes of clergy bordered with a crystalline threading, and adorning his left breast was the insignia of the Ozullen priesthood.
Alex didn’t need to see it to know he was one of the Empty— the eerily robotic cadence in his speech conveyed it well enough. And neither was he surprised when the man didn’t wait for a response before walking back the way he came.
“Wait!” Alex called after him, “Where are you taking me?”
Alex hadn’t expected an answer. His fingers traced the walls as they walked. Being accompanied by an Ozullen Empty was practically the same thing as being on his own so he let his thoughts wander.
It’s not my imagination, this room is different from the others.
Perhaps the Architects had simply paid closer attention to detail where the Constellations would be visiting, but that didn’t explain all of it. The walls of the tunnel were engraved with some sort of hieroglyphics—runes perhaps, some of them—but not like any he’d ever seen. They seemed vaguely familiar and as Alex looked closer he thought he recognized the crude etching of a tortoise on one of the tiles.
Akash.
Alex corrected his analysis of his situation. The constellations weren’t actually the most powerful beings in existence, the Primordial Gods were. And Akash, the Aspect of Space and Time, was one of them.
If there was anyone who might know what had happened to Alex it would be him. But the Primordial Gods were hardly involved in even Immortal affairs, so he didn’t know what to think of that. Just that he’d be dead already if Akash truly wanted it.
He controlled the shiver that ran down his spine.
“How far are we going to walk? Answer me!”
The Empty didn’t answer. Their footsteps echoed on the cobbles and Alex found his mind straying from the questions as he asked them.
The Constellations don’t know I’m from the future, he concluded.
Was it conceited of him to think that? Most definitely. A small pocket dimension was one thing, but a disturbance in spacetime on that large a scale was unimaginable. Someone had to have taken note. But It was simply one of those things he had to take at face value; a false premise assumed for the preservation of his sanity. Because if the Constellations did know, then the fact that they hadn’t smited him yet was a goddamn mystery.
It was supposed to be a calming thought but Alex didn’t find himself reassured.
“We’re here.” The Empty said. “Go in.”
A pair of large doors half the width of the tunnel scraped open against the cobbles. Alex did as asked and the man stayed behind as the doors closed on their own. An illogical thought sprang to mind unbidden, and Alex’s rationale was helpless against it. He remembered that the last time a room did that, he hadn’t made it out of there alive.
It didn’t take long for him to find that he wasn’t alone as a sudden thwoom passed through the air and firelight chased away the darkness.
Candles, countless of them, illuminated what looked to be a throne room. Only a strip of walkway from the entrance where he stood to the far-end dais was left uncovered, and rather than a throne the dais instead beheld a structure resembling an open-faced temple. Silky, translucent cloths were drawn behind its two forefront pillars to create a fluttering floral curve, and behind them three young women sat kneeling on plush and decoratively adorned cushions.
These women were astonishingly beautiful. In such a way that made Alex feel like he was already in the presence of gods. Like the man from earlier, their eyes and upper face were concealed, but their cloths were bejeweled and their charm could be felt even just by the fullness of their lips. Their priestess robes were worn more like dresses than traditional garb, accentuating all the right places. And as a blissful touch of incense wafted to his nose he struggled not to gulp.
“Alex Smith.” Their voices were unnaturally serenading. “Welcome. You may kneel.”
It was only the knowledge that they were Empty and the emotionless cadence in their words that kept Alex’s eyes from wandering.
He kneeled. And finally he felt the chill he’d been waiting for.
The bidding for Alex Smith has ended! The three highest bidders may now approach you with offers of Sponsorship. You retain your right to a System Guide for Guidance.
WARNING. You are in the Presence of a Constellation.
[Auriga “The Charioteer”]
Alex shielded his gaze as a column of light consumed the middle priestess and when he lifted his eyes back up the priestess had changed. She was still the same person, her charm was still there—more powerful now, even—but her demeanor had completely shifted. She no longer kneeled so prim and respectfully. Instead she shifted uncomfortably, looked at the cushion below her, clicked her tongue as if annoyed, then stood.
No, not she.
Auriga was the Constellation of Weaponcraft. And primordial or not, the Constellations were undeniably things of mythos. Each represented their own domain and their mastery over it was so dominant that their very existence was etched into the night sky. And now the Constellation of Weaponcraft of all things was towering over him. The weapons Auriga created were the things of legends.
Alex could feel his fiery gaze on the back of his neck and there was so much power behind it that he dreaded raising his head.
“Raise your head.”
Alex obeyed. “Are you a–”
“Am I a god?” Auriga interrupted him.
He began laughing; a gruff-toned thing that felt like it shouldn’t come from the voice of a goddess. “Ohh always the same question with you mortals. Never change, never change. Now answer me this, what is a god?”
Alex didn’t need to fake his bafflement at the sudden question. Why was the god the one asking him that?
“Any minute now, I don’t have long before the others arrive. Just because I put through the highest bid doesn’t mean I’ll entertain a boring prospect. Do not bore me, Alex.”
Alex steeled his nerves, still reading over the System’s notifications. This all felt so weird, like something a younger him might dream about only to forget when he woke up. Dregs of the twenty-four invited to this place he may be, but in his last life he was the one who had to approach the Constellations. To have them—three of them no less—to have them bidding on him of all things…
It doesn’t matter. I already know what I want.
It was a false reassurance. Be it as it may that he didn’t need the constellations help, the fact that he was being approached here still entirely mattered. Unfortunately, rejection was no simple thing when dealing with creatures so powerful, but if boring them was the easiest way out, he’d take it.
“I’m an atheist,” Alex said at last, “Or I was…I can’t be sure anymore.”
He shuffled nervously from one foot to the other. He opened his mouth as if to say more and then closed it and Auriga sighed, turning to sit back down on the cushion.
“An understandable, albeit, disappointing perspective,” he said, “A river fish can sometimes find itself dumber in ocean waters, I understand that. But I’d hoped that not of you. Let your mind swim freely now, tell me, what do you think of the Constellations? How are your beliefs changing, having met one yourself?”
The question held little of the haughtiness that Alex would have expected from a lesser existence. The being before him was clearly superior to all mortals and immortals, and that would’ve been evident to anyone even without Alex’s trait to scream it at them. It wasn’t because of the beauty radiating from the Empty priestess, but from something deeper that touched his soul simply from being in the same room as the Constellation.
He remembered the first time he’d met one, and how easily such a feeling could spur a blind fanaticism.
“You’re a god.” Alex sputtered blankly.
“And?”
“Auriga… I’ve heard that name. Greek mythology, I think. Are you from Earth?”
The god’s demeanor betrayed yet more disappointment as he hung his head.
“No, I am not. I know the tales you speak of, and they are just that, tales. The stars speak true for those willing to listen, but mortals always love to put their own spin on things.” Aurige jerked his hand as if to wave away another sigh. “Perhaps it is too soon to expect any different from you. No matter. Actions speak louder than words, and for us, our creations speak even louder. I know the Title you have been given, Alex, but I have yet to lay eyes on the weapon itself.”
Alex struggled not to flinch. “It broke in my most recent battle.”
“So you discarded it?”
“No,” he said, “But it requires a gentle handling.”
Stricken by a sudden nervousness he had no need to fake, Alex retrieved the Undeaths Bane from his inventory and approached the dais at Auriga’s beckoning. The Constellation took it in his hands and went silent.
Standing this close to the priestesses, the scent of bliss drove Alex close to mad and it was with slight unease that he realized there was no incense lit. It was not his first time meeting an Ozullen priestess, but never this many at once, and their allure was an all encompassing reverence rather than purely sexual.
But they were not goddesses, Alex knew. Nor were they undead creations like everything else in Nightmare. The priestesses were flesh and blood humans, chosen from birth for the very qualities they displayed, and he fought away their charm with that bitter knowledge.
By the time he could steer his mind back on topic, Auriga’s expression was unreadable.
“This is not bad. The shape suits the material, its design shines beneath its limitations. Even if you did have some help, it’s clear that you know your trade. I would not expect this level of craftsmanship from someone inexperienced with Oslumnen ore.”
Alex wondered about those words ‘had some help’. He didn’t know why Auriga thought that, but the assumption could only be good for him. It did seem rather unbelievable that someone so new to the System could create such a blade in any case.
The constellation tapped the blade’s tip and a chime filled the air.
“Moreover… I can see that you poured your soul into this piece. It’s not often that a freshly awakened–” Auriga paused. “Hm… Is it time already? Very well. Here is my offer Alex.”
He handed his blade back to him with an uncharacteristic amount of deference. And it was only when Alex returned her to his inventory that he realized his heart had been thumping the entire time. To have his precious blade in the hands of a god, and then to have such a fabled craftsman praise her… it was both a terrifying and deeply exhilarating feeling.
Look at you, being sucked into their gravity once again.
It didn’t matter, Alex wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. He already knew what path he was going to–
His breath caught.
[Elemental Forge-master]
A powerful blacksmith class that specializes in infusing their creations with elemental magic. They can craft weapons and armor that harness the powers of nature, and can more easily blend Auras of Elemental Aspects together, offering unique abilities in combat.
Alex tried not to gape. He tried not to show too much recognition of what all this meant.
Ultimately, he couldn’t tell how well he hid his reaction as his mind had momentarily stopped working. All paths led to conflict in the apocalypse, he’d always believed that but it wasn’t strictly true. Craftsmen classes were a dime a dozen, but with such a rare and powerful class there would always be someone willing to protect him once he got out of Nightmare.
Years later, when the Invasion ramped up in intensity, the skilled craftsmen were the first to be poached from Earth. It was practically a free ticket onto Noah’s arc. And that class in particular… wasn’t that the foundation class Auriga was fabled to have gotten all those eons ago?
“Alex,” The craftsman gave a rueful smile, “I have no doubt the other Constellation’s offers will be good, but they will not see in you what I do. All they will see is a broken blade, but though she is broken she is far from lost. If you accept my offer without seeing the others, I will personally instruct you in her reforging. And additionally, I will take you from the Integration this second and place you under tutelage of one of my prized pupils.”
Alex sputtered “You can do that?!”
He was a Constellation, of course he could. ‘Why?’ was the question.
In a twisted way, the people of Dykriest weren’t wrong—the Integration did give a peculiar advantage to those who rose above it—but there was still a whole universe out there, and more people to choose from than a mortal mind could imagine. Alex knew well that talent was not the real reason that they were sponsored.
Auriga spoke as if he’d read his mind.
“It will be costly to take you this early,” he admitted, “I might have to forfeit some rights perhaps, but I don’t have much at stake in this Integration. You can just take this offer as proof of what I see in you. On your current path your light will inevitably gutter out, but under me, your name will echo across the stars in centuries—maybe even within a human lifespan! My eye is never off about value.”
He tapped the cloth draped over his face and Alex found himself thankful it was still there.His heart thumped so noisily in his chest. And where before he’d been fearful his reaction might betray too much of his knowledge, he now thought it’d be more unnatural for a mortal not to be awe-stricken by such praise.
Still, he quickly brought his emotions back under wrap. Auriga may have an eye for value, but there were still things a Constellation couldn’t see. There was some information the System wouldn’t relinquish even to them, and if he’d been uncertain before, now Alex was certain they didn’t know what he really was.
He can hear her voice. He might suspect my bloodline, but he doesn’t know my trait. Nor the fact that I’ve touched Lilith’s Bond. He was undervaluing Alex if he thought he wouldn’t make it through Nightmare intact this time.
And yet, for all the determination he’d walked in here with, Alex found himself hesitating. He’d never met a blacksmith greater than his Master, and yet here was a Constellation offering to take him under his wing. He recognized it for what it was, an early retirement.
“Ah! That’s right, how could I forget!” Auriga clearly had taken Alex’s silence to mean something else. “I can take your immediate family as well, and one lover of your choosing.”
“My sister! Is she still–”
Alex nearly forgot everything else for a second as the god put his hand up for silence. “Ah– apologies, mortal. In my excitement I seem to have forgotten tact. There’s decorum to all this, I cannot give you information on others in the Integration until you agree to my offer.”
A pit opened in Alex’s stomach. That was one rule that he knew Constellations had little regard for. He feared that his refusal to say really meant something else, but he quickly let that fear pass through him, taking any leftover hesitation with it.
He wasn’t done with this world, and if the cost of retirement was putting himself under the thumb of another constellation then he wouldn’t take it. Again, not that it was so simple a thing to say.
“I got three offers right? I… thank you, but I’d like to see what else there is first.”
Distaste oozed from the gods words. “I see. Then you may find my offer less satisfactory when you take it.”
The offer on display before Alex amended itself and the parts about tutelage quietly vanished from his interface. Then as suddenly as that another column of light flashed and the Priestess to Auriga’s right was consumed by it.
When it vanished, Alex hardly noticed any difference in demeanor. The priestess sat as perfectly straight as she had been before, or perhaps she’d gone even more still if anything. The chill that went down his spine then was cold and unwelcome.
Nocturn, “The Dark Star”
Constellation of Shadow.
Nocturn… her Constellation wasn’t visible to the mortal eye in such close orbit to the sun, not until the integration at least, but Alex had heard of her. She was powerful, but elusive, and he’d only heard rumors of her sponsoring anyone in his last life.
She whispered only one word, and an inhuman hiss sounded in the priestess's voice.
“...take….”
[Soul Reaver]
Soul Reavers are skilled assassins who harvest the essence of their victims. Their abilities revolve around absorbing and manipulating souls, which enhance their power and abilities.
A stealth class.
Alex knew that the Constellations were capable of altering his Essence Signature to an extent, but he didn’t know it went this far. His stealth skill may be at apprentice level but he still only had the one. And for him to still receive something so powerful… if all he wanted to do was assassinate his enemies, he’d have probably leapt at it in an instant.
But that wasn’t all he wanted. And he couldn’t help feeling disappointed about it compared to Auriga’s original offer.
“...not… good enough…?”
Nocturn didn’t turn her head an inch, but Alex could tell the question wasn’t directed at him.
“No,” Auriga said, “Not even close. You’ll have to do better than that.”
“I… see…”
Not ‘good enough’?
Alex re-examined his own disappointment, feeling a bit horrified. The offer would’ve been unimaginable in his original life, to turn it down like he did just felt wrong.
It was weird, but he thought he might be starting to feel a strange sense of imposter syndrome. All he’d really done was act on the knowledge and experience he already had. And he was certain that if Jordan had experienced Nightmare he could’ve been standing right where Alex was as well. He’d probably have accepted one of the offers too, he’d been a paladin afterall. It worked out for some people.
For most people, he amended.
Having a sponsorship was common by the time the invasion ended, and Alex had to remind himself that his situation was not normal. The idea of putting his fate into the hands of a more powerful being still terrified him, but maybe he was just being stubborn. There would always be dangers, always things that he couldn’t control, but he could watch out for them now.
Fine. I’ll consider it then. If the offer is good enough.
Alex watched the third priestess with bated breath.
Light flashed and her poise was gone in as she spread her legs, her arm coming to rest on her knee casually. She looked across the dais at the others, and gave a small chuckle, then the priestess’s lips stretched into a callous grin that besmirched her beauty.
The chill Alex felt from his gaze was both violating and all too familiar.
Orion, Constellation of the Hunt.
“Kid,” the bastard spoke, “I’ve only got one shot at this. I can grease some hands if you’ll tell me what these two are offering.”
“Orion, you bastard! You know that’s not how this works!”
“...not…you…agaain……”
The Constellation laughed at the other’s curses, a wry-natured wheeze that Alex was all too familiar with.
Why is he here?
Again, this was the second time! Hell, why had he sponsored him in his first life?! Alex had his suspicions but he’d never been able to confirm them before he… before he’d…
Orion made a tongue-clicking, half whistling sound as he curled his finger at Alex. “Over here, kiddo. Show me the sword will ya?”
Alex masked his emotions purely out of habit. He felt like a deer in headlights as he handed his sword over to the man.
The Hunter looked down its slanted edge. Then lashed out recklessly, slicing through the pillar to his left. The temple-esque structure half collapsed and its roof slanted overhead, nearly crushing the priestess he possessed before coming to a stilted stop.
Alex’s heart leapt out his chest.
He only barely stopped himself from snarling and going to take his sword back when he saw she hadn’t taken any more damage. Then Orion seemed to examine the cleanly sliced pillar for a second, before giving his blade a second glance.
“Huh.” he laughed, “There’s power there, but it doesn’t cut well. And it’s broken.”
He tossed it back carelessly and Alex hid it away in his inventory.
Nocturn hissed. “...Orion…..!”
“Oh shut it, serpent. The roof’s still holding, ain’t it? And you, Auriga…” Orion pursed his lips, “Weren’t you taking it easy this time around…?”
“Orion,” the Constellation said testily, “I know you’re just here to outbid the Seven Sisters. Don’t do anything you might regret.”
The only indication that Orion had heard him was the shit-eating grin that spread across his face when he looked back at Alex.
[Celestial Paladin]
Celestial Paladins are holy warriors blessed with divine power. They wield enchanted weapons and can heal or cleanse their allies, making them powerful in both offense and support. With enough devotion, they are capable of channeling their patron Constellation’s power within their body.
For a long moment no one spoke.
“.....good…bye…”
The only indication that Nocturn had left was the uncomfortable shiver the priestess gave before fading into the background.
“Hey, it looks like Nocturn’s out of the running. You’re first bid Auriga, you can adjust your offer now if you want.”
Orion cackled madly. And as he whipped his head to the side, the priestess’s eye mask fluttered for just a second.
To become a medium for a god… it was no simple feat. Without the power of such a legendary class, a person had to be emptied completely to make room for such a being. And as that mask fluttered – as Alex saw the scarring of gouged eyes on the priestess woman – he remembered that it was not only meant in spirit.
“Curse you, Orion! I could call your bluff! I know you can’t afford to give out such a powerful class this early!”
The other priestess curled her lip in anger and Alex thought then that she couldn’t have been much older than he was.
“You could, and I might be in a bit of trouble then. But…” Orion looked back at Alex, his expression thoughtful, “You won’t.”
The two gods began bickering then, completely forgetting a mortal like him was even there. But when you removed the magic, when you looked at it all through the lens of the purely mundane, it was just two tortured, broken young women forced to act as vehicles for a cat fight. Alex lived in a universe where that was simply the way of things.
He turned to new information to distract his mind.
The Seven Sisters. Together, they made up the Constellation of the Hammer as a singular existence. It wasn’t hard to imagine they carried the same interests Auriga did, but they were a minor constellation. And Orion was one of the most powerful in existence, it couldn’t have been hard for him to outbid them.
Then there was the fact that someone had apparently already received a class so powerful as [Celestial Paladin]. That also wasn’t a mystery to him. Xuan Yuxuan was by far the most powerful human under Orion’s sponsorship, it had to be him.
But what about that mysterious Constellation who’d gifted him the gauze? He’d almost wondered if they might show up here, but they hadn’t bid on him so Alex could only assume he’d been right and he was just a convenient pawn to keep alive. Yet another morsel of trouble on his plate.
Wait, the gauze! Is that why Auriga thought I had help?
Oh… he thinks it's the Seven Sisters…
Alex turned each new piece of information over in his head, examining it all closely. His mind focused on anything and everything except the offer floating on his interface before him. It was a no brainer, an offer he couldn’t refuse.
But Alex was a blacksmith. He’d refuse it.
For a second, everything seemed so simple. He saw the world in black and white, and as Auriga harrumphed and acquiesced, the puzzle pieces all clicked together.
“Fine.” The Constellation said. “Alex, consider yourself lucky. I wouldn’t normally do this to someone who hasn’t proven themself.”
Offer has been Amended. Upon reaching a suitable level, an additional Class Upgrade Quest will be guaranteed for Elemental Forge-Master.
“But I have one condition. You have to leave Nightmare.”
Alex closed his eyes. The puzzle clicked complete in his mind’s eye.
It all made sense now. Leaving the Integration, taking him from Nightmare. Blocking out the Seven Sisters, giving him either Warrior or Blacksmith but not what he really wanted. They were scared for some reason. Alex was unwanted in Nightmare, his path was unwanted. He’d always known that, but to elicit this kind of reaction?
Alex finally looked over his options.
I don’t enjoy killing, he thought. And with such a powerful smithing class, he could see it. A path he could take, a future where his loved ones were all protected, and where he didn’t have to give anything up to accomplish that.
But that wouldn’t do. And as much as he didn’t like it, there were people who needed killing.
And Alex wasn’t just a blacksmith anymore. He was a warrior too.
I already know what path–
Congratulations! A Constellation has used their Special Privilege to Upgrade your Foundation Class options. Class Requirements for Alex Smith have been upgraded.
[Blacksmith-Warrior] has been upgraded to [???]
[???]
You must raise Eligibility or have this Class appraised to view this information.
Eligibility: 66%
ERROR. You must purchase a Skill Path or raise your eligibility to view Class Requirements.
Alex found himself half collapsing as he stepped back. Orion gave him a subtle wink.
“Wait– what’s happening,” Auriga said, “What did you– oh. You know you only get to give one of those, right?”
“Consider it my amends,” Orion said, “I could see it in his eyes. The boy was about to reject you.”
Alex could hardly hear the words as the hunter said them. He felt small in the God’s sight, like he was nothing but prey.
It had happened again. He’d been stolen from. But why?!
What had he ever done to earn this?!
And how were they able to just do this to him. Didn’t these kinds of gifts go through the System first?
Alex stilled. Then regained his footing. When he spoke his next words he almost struggled to keep the venom from them. “I’d like to see my System Guide.”
“If that’s okay,” he added a beat late.
***
Within mere seconds, Velrick sauntered into the great hall with ruffled hair and the grumpiness of a man who’d had his afternoon nap interrupted. He shot Alex a piercing look.
Velrick: [I thought told you to call me if you were offered any Sponsorship]
Alex could practically hear the man’s sardonic bite through the interface’s message. Yet for all that he claimed otherwise he seemed displeased to have been called there.
And you also told me not to accept any Sponsorships without having you present. Which Alex hadn’t planned on doing in the first place. It was a petty difference, he knew. And he didn’t care to quibble at the moment.
Alex: [Did you approve this?]
Velrick narrowed his eyes and his hands worked rapidly, moving across the air in front of him faster than could be traced. Alex assumed a neutral expression, but he watched the Guide’s reaction like a hawk, reading his expression for even the subtlest changes.
He kept waiting to feel even the slightest bit of ill intent from the man, but there was nothing. As far as he could tell, Velrick’s confusion was genuine.
“This isn’t correct,” he finally said, “Special Privileges must be approved through the System. They must reach the System Guide, and the awakened in question must consent before they are approved. This Privilege has been used unlawfully.”
Orion’s smile finally dropped.
“System’s representative or not,” he growled, “I won’t put up with this farce! I requested it through the proper channels and the System approved my request.”
“Maybe,” Velrick said dully, “But I didn’t receive it and there was no consent. I will file an audit for internal investigations. If there is corruption at hand then the consequences will be severe.”
Orion snorted. Alex might’ve as well if there was anything at all funny about this situation. An upgrade that he didn’t know the requirements for wasn’t a gift, it was a death sentence.
No, it was a trap.
Alex: [And how long will that take?]
Velrick stifled a yawn..
[A few days. Maybe a week to thoroughly investigate]
Fists curled at Alex’s sides with lost heat. A desperate burning sensation that had no direction, no clear kindle to light its fire.
Xii-Velrick… he still didn’t trust the man, but there was no way to prove he was part of anything amiss. Alex was cornered, and there was nothing he could do about it. There was only one way out for him.
“Some day your schemes will backfire, Orion.” Auriga said. “For now, Alex, my offer is still on the table.”
The Hunter put his hands up innocently but a smile still tugged at the corner of the priestess’s mouth. And at that moment, Alex remembered what he’d done to invoke the God’s wrath – the reason Orion had given him that curse.
He swore he would do worse this time.
But he buried his anger, locked it in that dark place in his mind, and stepped forward. The anger he showed now was a joke in comparison. The contained indignity of a newly awakened who still didn’t understand what gods were, just that he shouldn’t mess with them. He felt three gazes on his back as he bowed down.
No, he felt only two but he knew Velrick was watching anyway. There was only one sane answer, one logical decision for him to make. Only one that didn’t end with his head on the chopping block.
But I just can’t do it.
“Auriga, Orion, thank you for the offers. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend you, but I can’t accept them at this time.”
Instantly, the Constellation’s overpowering gazes that before were almost tolerable seemed to seethe with malice and Alex could tell that they were more than just offended.
He’d made the gods furious. Again.
[Room 86 - Brazilian Bar]
“No, the whole bottle please,” he said tiredly.
The bartender handed Alex the entire jug of Columbia George and he drank the Orange Juice thirstily. Velrick, who had for some reason followed him there, was staring at him.
“That was beyond stupid,” he scolded. “If you were trying to get yourself killed, then congratulations.”
No, you were trying to get me killed, Alex thought. Though he knew better than to voice groundless accusations.
What was his deal anyways? nothing about the man added up. Velrick held the Xii honorific, which made him a member of the twelth order beholden to the System, and placed him fairly high up as well. But despite his status he carried himself with all the care of a brat who hadn’t worked a day in his life.
Still, system representative or not, Alex had seen the way he’d threatened Orion back there. He wasn’t a Constellation known to take intemperance kindly, and yet he’d seemed to regard Velrick with more weight than his position should give him. Was it all just a ruse?
Most likely. But something was still off.
Alex finished the jug of orange, wiped his mouth, then regarded the Guide with wary eyes. He was surprised to see his calculative expression thrown back at him.
“I assume you have a plan?” Velrick asked.
“No, I was just angry.”
Velrick hmm’d noncommittally.
“It’s the truth,” Alex said.
“Don’t double down, it just makes you look guilty.”
Alex suppressed his annoyance as he stalked off. It was the truth. Just not all of it.
[Room 44 - Smithy]
Alex paused outside the smithy’s doors again, calming himself as he listened to those melodic strikes, the undead still hard at work inside. He didn’t know who it was who could already afford to hire the undead, but whoever they were, they were a lucky man.
Xuan Yuxuan probably, he thought with a scowl.
Alex waited by the entrance some beats longer while he willed his heart to cease its rapid pounding. The smithy could be more precious than a home to some blacksmiths, and you did not barge into another man’s home with anger.
Gracefully, he opened the door.
The blacksmith stopped his work immediately this time, his skeletal body turning to face Alex. The glaze of forge fire danced orange across his ivory bones, and in his eyes Alex saw a world’s worth of depth once more. It might’ve overwhelmed him if he hadn’t just spent the last ten minutes surrounded by the Constellations.
No, it was overwhelming even then.
Alex had to tear his gaze from the undead's eyes when he saw too deep, when he saw the pain.
“I see you didn’t accept their offers,” the skeleton said. Alex had half a mind to ask how he knew, but he found himself distracted.
The undead’s chains… were they tighter now? And their runic glow seemed to shine more intensely as well. He followed them with his eyes, from the manacles around the undead’s wrists and ankles to…
Alex peered around the corner and found that they didn’t have a perceivable end. They just stopped suddenly, disappearing into warped reality. It was all just another mystery to add onto the building pile. Alex had more important things to worry about for now.
“No,” he sighed, “I didn’t. More importantly, when I was about to leave, you were saying something. That it was possible to reforge my blade, I want to know how.”
“Alas, that’s not mine to tell.”
Alex narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t his imagination, the chains really did seem to be getting tighter.
“But that’s also not why you’re really here, is it?” The skeleton continued.
“No,” Alex admitted, “This is mostly just a hunch, but I have something else on my mind. Your… style of blacksmithing, it reminded me of someone.”
“Did it?”
Alex thought he sensed humor in the remark. “Yes, he was the most knowledgeable blacksmith I’d ever known, and I was hoping you could help me in his absence. I don’t know why the Constellations have you chained up here, and I won’t pry, but at a glance I’d guess your relationship isn’t all that amicable. I know that doesn’t grant me the right to ask this, but they’ve blocked me from my path—or upgraded it at least. And they’ve given me a quest I can’t see the requirements for.”
“Yes… that doesn’t sound ideal.”
“If you could help me, I— It’d be more than I could ask for.”
I would be forever in your debt.
Alex stopped himself before he said the words aloud, he would not be swearing blind fealty to such a creature again. If nothing else, not that. Silence stretched and it took all he had not to stir awkwardly. It was hard for him to read the body language of a thing that didn’t have much body, but the undead skeleton seemed to regard him unperturbed and when those bones finally moved again, it was with a rattled sigh.
“I’m afraid I can’t give you the knowledge you seek. I likely won’t be here when you return.”
That pit in Alex’s stomach reopened as if to swallow him whole. His shoulders slumped. It had been a wild gamble – no, perhaps this was all just the tantrum of a child who couldn’t come to terms with how the world was – but in truth he’d already known how this would play out.
The rejection was such that Alex’s eyes had all but clouded over by the time he heard that last part. “Wait… you won’t be here? Why–”
“There, that should do.”
The undead grasped the lowest rung of its rib with bony hands and snapped it off.
[???]
This item must be appraised to be identified.
Alex now held it in his hand, speechless.
“Oh, and that too.”
ERROR has been overridden. [???] Class Requirement revealed
Create a Named Weapon.
The undead shook out its hand as if it had just touched something it didn’t want to. And once again, Alex just couldn’t quite find the words for what he wanted to say.
A named blade…
“I would make quick if I were you,” the skeleton said.
“I…”
Alex didn’t know what he’d been about to ask but he cut his question short the instant he felt it. The whirr of magic – a spell so powerful it could tear down mountains. The runes along the undead’s chains lit up, shining with a white glow, and only then had what the rest of what the creature had said fully settled in.
‘I likely won’t be here when you return’
The room was blindingly bright now as the chains constricted and their magic sung with fever pitch. Alex scrambled to get away, sparing only a glance for the creature who had so willingly – so puzzlingly – sacrificed itself for him.
“A shame,” the undead muttered at his workstation. His decrepit expression felt almost forlorn at that moment. “Unbecoming of me to leave a commission unfinished.”
***
Alex stepped out of the portal and back into Starter Town’s smithy, almost dazed to see the place exactly how he’d left it.
He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised to see the sun in the same position in the sky as it had been before. And he should’ve expected the pain as well. It hit him like a truck the second he stepped out of the gate.
“Ah– fuck…”
Alex rolled collapsed on the ground, clutching his sides in pain though it was his whole body that hurt. Distantly, he was aware that he was being watched.
“Why are you still here?” he spat.
Velrick just shrugged, but Alex saw more than just boredom in his eyes. “Like I said Alex, you’re a curiosity. And I’m not the type who can go back to sleep just after being woken up.”
Alex scowled.
“As your System Guide, everything I am privy to here is under strict confidentiality.”
Well that at least, Alex knew to be true. Guides had to take an oath for that sort of thing he recalled.
Not like I can tell him no in any case.
With tender care and unsteady legs, Alex stood up and started arranging his work space. He returned the anvil and all the other tools he’d taken into his inventory to their rightful places and examined his blade to ensure that she was truly undamaged by Orion’s antics. Once that part of his mind was appeased, he then set his the rest of it to the matter at hand.
There was a reason Alex had been so surprised to see such a skilled Blacksmith in the VIP rooms. And he was starting to understand at least some of why the Constellations were so vehement about denying him his path in Nightmare.
The way Alex saw it, if you took two blacksmiths—assuming neither were terrible—and gave them the same quality of material, most of the time they would produce a weapon of similar grade.
That was all and well, but what the more skilled blacksmith would do is tune it to suit its user. Alex knew first hand the difference it could make. He had been nothing special after he’d fallen from grace, and the synergy he’d had with his Wyvern blade had been the only reason he’d kept pace with the others. As a mere C rank he’d been able to demand B rank wages and it didn’t take a sharp mind to see why the Architects didn’t want that here.
While the Blacksmiths in Nightmare hadn’t been terrible they didn’t go the extra mile with their materials. What you gave was what you got.
Nightmare had a purpose after all—hundreds of thousands of lambs to the slaughter, all to create a handful of monsters. It was a fair System on the surface. If you gave one of those lambs the right weapon, then suddenly their horns might be sharper than they should be.
And they might not take kindly to being slaughtered.
Alex rolled his neck, listening in satisfaction to the cracks along his spine’s tip. He’d already known most of this going in, and if it were just that, he couldn’t have comprehended even a fraction of the ire he’d garnered. But as theory tended to go, the picture began to warp when you considered extremes.
Say you took two blacksmiths and gave them both potent ores or the right mix of materials. But this time, rather than just being skilled, say one of those blacksmiths was an absolute master at their craft.
That master didn’t just make a well-suited weapon, they made a named weapon.
Alex was no master. He’d only done that once in his life and he considered it a fluke more than anything. But if that skeleton was truly gone then he was the closest thing Nightmare had.
And the man that gave all those lambs their horns?
He would end up a very rich man.
Alex almost let out a hysterical chuckle at the realization but he cut it short, remembering Velrick was still there. He let everything fade into the background of his mind as he focused on the forging.
So what to do?
Alex turned his attention to the worktable as he scratched his chin, feeling for a beard that wasn’t there. His Undeath’s Bane shimmered a flickering dark purple from the forge’s fire, and above the shamshir’s midsection, at two-thirds her length, began the cracks.
He traced them with his fingers.
Yup, all the way through. And much too deep to grind out.
Truthfully, the fact his Undeath’s Bane had broken didn’t surprise him. Heck, on some level he’d even expected this to happen. He’d hoped to get her through the night without a nick, but Oslumnen metal was as beautiful and captivating as it was hard and brittle. In the end he was always going to have to put her in the closet or break her down for materials.
What Alex hadn’t expected was to grow so attached.
“It’s puzzling,” he whispered, “What exactly did you do back there?”
He didn’t know whether to expect an answer. Like those glimmers of eagerness he liked to imagine from her during bloodshed.
Nothing came.
“Hungry?”
Warily, he pulled out the core of one of the Captain rank undeads and tapped it against her edge. Nothing, still.
“Maybe talking to your swords really is a poor coping mechanism for loneliness…”
The lights of the fire danced across her blade in agreement.
Okay, so reforgement it is.
***
Hey yall!! Sorry this chapter's came late. My work started me early and it ended up a little longer than I thought it would be, but once I got rolling I really came to enjoy writing it :)
I got some floof for yall. This one's called "Pls move" and it details the sight I come back to every single time I get up to make some tea or use the restroom ;n; Don't worry though, I don't actually make her move. I just sit on her. She likes being squished for some reason :/
Comments
Nicholas Del Rossi
No problem and thanks for the response can’t wait for the next chapter good luck mate it’s been an amazing read so far
Elessar Beverly
Hey there! Sorry if this response is a little late, wanted to read through everything first, but nome cognome is correct about the Blacksmith-warrior being taken away and its upgraded version now being on offer. I definitely think I could've written it to be a bit more clear though, not just in this chapter but in earlier ones as well. I think the Class System isn't as well represented in the text right now as I'd like, but I'll try to give it more definition in future chapters as well as when I edit the earlier ones some more probably.
Adam McGuire
You're forgetting the 3rd survivor of the first scenario. She threw a mysterious energy blast at Alex for dismissing her like a teenage girl. Eat and drank as much as she could in the tavern. What was supposed to happen when the sacrifice ritual completed? There is a hint from an earlier chat that the divine core is still active to some degree. The girl's name has been left out intentionally.
Elessar Beverly
mmh yeah I think you're right. I may adjust that a bit
Elessar Beverly
as one should
nome cognome
I don't know if i am correct about him now getting a class better than blacksmith warrior but i'm fairly sure. I sort of understood on the first read but do keep in mind that i read quite slowly, i also reread some parts multiple times so i can't really say that i only read it once. About the skills, as far as i understand you can't get them on your own, you have to buy them, unless you already had them in the past like alex, in which case they are free. I do think that you should be able to get skills on your own, but it likely requires a LOT of talent and effort so alex might not be able to do it but who know, maybe one day his talent will increase somehow. I have to admit that i don't understand many things about this system though, it might be intentional or maybe i just have poor reading comprehension. About orion, i think he is male. As for them not wanting a blacksmith in the tutorial, i think it's because he could break the balance, he could help people get stronger, i don't see why but it seems that they don't want that.
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
Nicholas Del Rossi
we do see some context about the above from the inner monologue's of both Alix and un when fighting the boss, as well as when Jun tortures the undead, along side Alix during some of his levels, they comment on the feeling and nature of the soul, life, intent, self and the two known energy's present being essence and mana. well also Vitality, and stamina, oh and the attributes, and maybe the system itself counts though that could simply be a construct of these forces, then there is the affinity's that also seem like a form or flavor of Essence, mana or another of the arcane forces at play, possibly vital essence which seems connected to vitality, though i am not sure if there is even a difference or what it might specifically be.
Nicholas Del Rossi
2 Completely unrelated, skill slots and way's to fill them along side there permanence on a persons skill sheet, you can purchase them from the system if you have the correct shop holding it unlocked though the details on unlocks are limited, Alex seemed to gain one earlier on when using the newly crafted and now cracked undeaths bane/ death blade/cleansing blade, called pierce, they can also just be learned i believe, though context on this is hard to remember, and i my be mixing it up with Alex's ability to relearn ability's from his last life. there also seems to be none system essence and mana ability's though again we are to early in the story for more context on other users, Jun seems to be able to use ability's essence and mana better then any other currently seen character, well not better, but he is the beast character whose use of the magic system comes with either a pov or comment aside Alex who himself stated he can't compare to Jun, and the undead had levels despite not having a system so there use of essence and mana is also an unknown as far as details go.
Nicholas Del Rossi
i like talking about this story, so i am going to do it some more, the last 2 things i don't understand are 1. Orion. Orions motives, there gender if they have one, there knowledge about Alex. them targeting Blacksmith warrior seems odd at that time unless Orion also know Alex's reason for nearly refusing the offer, it could also be all classes now require an added achievement, but it seemed to target Blacksmith warrior,
Nicholas Del Rossi
so in conclusion if i am understanding it al;, this is how it went, first Alex had to repair his sword and acquire one more skill, of the blacksmith or warrior path. then for unknown reasons Orion chose to make his counter offer in such a way as to block that path and add the hidden requirement of crafting a named item, though it seems odd not to also need a warrior path achievement as well but that may be due to it being an add of placed by a constellation, or the nature of the upgraded class leaning towards crafting or even only being part of it and the skeleton blacksmith was unable to see the part about the warriors path, anyway, after that he now needs to meet another 44% requirement that can be filled by repairing his sword, gaining the skill, and crafting a named item, plus maybe other unknowns though with the given knowledge it seems likely that's it.
Nicholas Del Rossi
just reread it again and i think i see what i missed. Later on Velrick calls it a class upgrade, and the class below blacksmith warrior is listed as (???) i still feel like i am missing something but now it feels like something not yet shown rather then something i or the chapter is missing, it seems like it was just the formatting around that part of the story, and the fact that my mind seemed to skip over context to view character reactions over box text, with it being a bit unclear when the tension of the scene made me want to keep going rather then pause to think it all though, it makes a lot more sense once i put more time into it, not sure if its worth an edit by the author or if i was simply being impatient with my reading speed during my first 3 reads, (nome cognome) did it make sense to you first read or did you have to go back to figure it out without character's or Alex explaining it? feeling a bit silly for missing it now, and hopping i am not alone
nome cognome
You know, i'm worried about alyssa, i originally thought that she would survive due to his sms but now i worry that the gods might target her to hurt him. The story doesn't have the tragedy or grimdark tags though so hopefully i'm wrong...
Nicholas Del Rossi
that's an idea i did not think of after rereading it a few more times it almost seemed like it was a prerequisite to getting a class at all but with a bonus when/if you do, but then i am not sure where the text about blacksmith warrior comes in unless Alex brought it up himself and it's just not mentioned in text and instead goes straight to showing us the requirements for blacksmith warrior, as context without having anyone give dialogue to provide the bit of context to connect the dots.
nome cognome
"This room moved at a slower pace than the others, otherwise his queue would’ve been shorter." Isn't it the contrary? This room moved at a faster pace than the others, otherwise his queue would’ve been longer.
nome cognome
As far as i understand he can't become a blacksmith warrior, the path was closed forever, unless what the god did is undone. He has been offered a new class though and considering the supposed difficulty of crafting a named weapon it's likely better than blacksmith warrior so it's actually good for him.
Nicholas Del Rossi
A little bit, but it also felt like it built character for the blacksmith for me. It will depend on whether or not we see that character again, and the language used by characters with a similar origin such as Alex‘s master from his last life it doesn’t seem like we’ll see too much of the skeleton blacksmith soon but more flashbacks of his master seem possible that being said, I do think the line could benefit from being changed slightly if we’re not going to interact with the skeleton blacksmith or that style of slang from here on out
Nicholas Del Rossi
Good chapter I reread it, but I still can’t quite figure out what the class quest means if I’m understanding this at least partially the skeleton blacksmith told him that complete the class quest he needed to create a named weapon, but I’m not sure what the reward for that is or what The consequence for not completing it is it sounds like he won’t be able to become a blacksmith warrior without completing the class quest given The rest of the chapter I understood at least as much as I believe I’m supposed to. We haven’t gone into detail about some of the areas of the system yet, but this one felt like something. I should’ve understood aside from that, though it was a really great chapter.
Mariposa
This was an excellent chapter. I really enjoyed reading it.
Aesoir
“Yes… that would suck.” For some reason a master undead blacksmith does not strike me as someone using adolescent slang in a serious situation. The chapter is awesome, but this singular line really broke the flow for me.
James Faulkner
Tftc!!
Dash Marley
Also, great chapter! Really enjoyed it!
Dash Marley
Regarding the floof, this is a tale as old as time. There's a story from islamic folklore that I heard a few years back about the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad awoke one day to the sounds of the adhan. Preparing to attend prayer, he began to dress himself; he soon discovered his cat Muezza sleeping on the sleeve of his prayer robe. Rather than wake her, he used a pair of scissors to cut the sleeve off, leaving the cat undisturbed.
Touch
And the man that gave all those *lams* their horns? > lambs? Oh boi, I can’t wait for the next chapter/when he get his class! Plz stop edging us!
