Syl: Chapter 199 (Patreon)

Chapter 199: Spider Classes

"Well... I guess welcome to Dhoggurum, Vee!" The scholarly dwarf said politely.

Vee nodded, which gave the dwarf much delight as she basically gave the dwarven equivalent of a happy squeal.

I guess she's a fan of monsters. I suppose it makes sense why they sent her to administer the test.

"So, can we get her registered with the guild?" I questioned. "Missive or not, I'd like her at least officially recognized."

"Most certainly!" She said happily.

She gave the gate guards the okay, and after Vee shrunk down again and perched upon my shoulder, we walked inside. Vee was awed by the amazing city.

"Holy crap!" Vee exclaimed. "To think all of this was right nearby. But why is everything so... Square?"

"Ha! I had a similar reaction. Apparently, it's a giant cube for efficiency," I replied.

There were some odd looks at a spider sitting on my shoulder, but it seemed most people shrugged it off as adventurers doing adventurer things.

"By the way... My name is Jasgra," the scholarly dwarf introduced herself. "I'm sorry for that whole debacle. I hope it hasn't negatively affected your opinion of the guild."

"No, I understand you were doing your job. Grumpy, on the other hand..." I muttered.

"Kratot? Aye... Grumpy is a diplomatic way to describe that bundle of sunshine," Jasgra responded.

"I have a question: Once Vee is registered, can I get her a class?"

Jasgra nodded. "While it's not a rule, it's so extremely encouraged that it might as well be a requirement. After all, if the [Bonded Companion] has its experience distributed toward a class, then it becomes much easier to stave off any craziness from evolution."

She smiled relievedly. "You actually made my job a lot easier. I thought perhaps you might have requested she not get a class."

Vee and I tilted our heads as if in sync. Clearly, neither of us understood why that was the case.

Jasgra chortled at the sight.

"Most monsters, even companions, do not get very good class selections," Jasgra explained. "You'll get some rather simple classes, and it's generally seen that it would weaken a monster by extension, as every race level would normally be towards the next evolution, which just cannot compare to what most basic classes would offer it."

"Oh, that sucks!" Vee complained.

"I don't think that's the case for us. I mean, I had a lot of good classes to pick from," I reassured her.

We arrived at the guild without much issue, although our entry caused a scarce few adventurers to shout or scream in surprise. Anyone throwing a wild [Identify] at Vee would be in for quite a surprise if they had it at level 6 to see her tier.

"We'll handle the quest and... Everything else tomorrow," Jasgra said. "But for now, let's get Vee registered, and then you can go home for a well-deserved rest, no doubt."

The registration process was considerably simpler than I thought it would be. They effectively took my tag and linked it to another sub-crystal.

"I'd suggest the smallest one we have available so as not to interfere with her shrunken form, although it will cost a bit more," Jasgra pointed out.

"No problem, I'll gladly pay the extra," I confirmed. "I appreciate the suggestion."

Jasgra was happy and went to fetch the crystal. It was tiny, and even at Vee's smallest size, it looked like she wouldn't have any problem with it being too cumbersome.

"Although... I'm not sure what to do about her necklace or chain to keep it equipped," Jasgra said, scratching her head. "I suppose we could commission one to be made with the highest-grade resizing enchantment we have available and hope for the best?"

"Bah! Don't bother with any of that!" Vee said, holding out her little front legs as if reaching for the crystal.

"Vee has an idea. Can you hand it to her, please?" I asked Jasgra.

She handed the little crystal to Vee, who grasped it gingerly between the two legs. Then she began spinning a web, using her control over the spider silk to thread it and bind it to herself.

"There! My threads grow with me, so no issue of it snapping or slipping off," Vee declared. "I would've said this feels almost like a dog collar, but this crystal is remarkably lovely, so I'll treat it as glorious jewelry instead!"

"Phenomenal!" Jasgra said with awe. "I presume Vee's thread grows and shrinks with her?"

"That appears to be the case," I confirmed.

"Fantastic!" Jasgra shouted, clapping her hands. "Now, I guess just the class selection, and we can let you go home?"

"Sounds great. Do you mind if I do so privately with Vee?" I questioned.

"Not a problem. Enjoy! I hope there's maybe at least one decent class for her," Jasgra said, handing over the crystal and vacating the room.

"This little crystal lets me get a class?" Vee questioned.

"I also didn't believe it right up until I actually saw it sitting on my profile," I admitted. "Want to take a peek?"

"Yeah! Let's do this thing!" Vee cheered, waving her little front legs.

Vee touched the stone and gasped.

"Oh wow... I have a lot to choose from!" Vee said excitedly. "Scout, Mage, Rogue, Hunter, Ambusher, Trapper, Assassin, Lurker, Silent Thorn, Crafter, Weaver and Tailor!"

"That... Is certainly a lot, I haven't even heard the name of most of those!" I admitted.

"Why the hell are Crafter, Weaver, and Tailor class options?" Vee questioned. "Seems kinda stupid."

"There's actually a whole profession system," I explained. "I'd even suggest you should grab Weaver and just grab whatever the first skill is. I assume it will be thread-related, and you could probably passively level it up. If you ever swap to Weaver again, you'll be compensated for the progress made."

"Okay, while that sounds cool, what would be the purpose? I'm not exactly looking to be selling sweaters."

"Well, one of my friends was an Enchanter, and he unlocked a unique class that used his Enchanting profession in combat situations. I thought you might be able to unlock some thread-related classes."

"Works for me! Time to become a Weaver!"

<Vee's class has changed to Weaver.>

"Woah, what? My class tells me about skills? That's crazy! Why didn't my race give me anything this cool?" Vee questioned.

"Definitely something we should suggest to Gramps," I pointed out. "The only way I've been able to find traits is by eating monsters and very rarely from my class."

"Classes give trait suggestions, too? That's so unfair! Well, at least I have one now. Better late than never!"

I nodded.

"Profession Points? You weren't kidding about there being an entire other system... Crazy... Well, I'll just pick [Weaving]... Oh, it leveled up automatically? Uh..." Vee paused as it looked like she was bombarded by some notifications.

"Well, that was unexpected. I'll just grab [Stitching] and [Braiding] then..." Vee paused. "Damnit more? Okay... [Embroidery]?" Vee sighed. "Okay, good, it stopped!"

I quickly threw an [Identify] at her.

<Vee [Bonded Companion]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25; Weaver LV 11.>

Wow, did she get 10 levels just by selecting it? I guess her [Weaving] skill must have been retroactively boosted from all the crazy stuff she did with her spider threads. Meanwhile, I had no prior [Rune Etching], so I got nothing...

"Okay, so what should I pick for my next class?" Vee asked excitedly. "Assassin sounds cool, but Silent Thorn sounds even edgier!"

"I have to assume those are advanced classes, but the advice I was given is to start with a basic class and work your way up," I informed her. "From what I understand, picking an intermediate or advanced class permanently affects your experience gains. You want to get some easy levels from a basic class first, especially since I'm assuming you're starved of Skill Points?"

Vee nodded. "I have two... I've been scared to spend them. So, Mage, then? I guess that woman is getting her way after all..."

"It's definitely the one I can train you the most on. You might unlock some great hybrid classes. I'd thoroughly recommend Shadowcaster if you get it."

"Okay... I guess it's better than a Scout, which just sounds boring!" Vee admitted. "How come I got nothing better than Mage, though?"

"You're probably missing the prerequisites..." I paused and tried to recall what I had at the time. "I think I had [Mana Manipulation LV 3] at the time?"

"Oh... I don't even have that skill, so it makes sense," Vee nodded her little head in agreement before touching the crystal again.

<Vee's class has changed to Mage.>

"Oh, free Skill Point!" Vee said excitedly. "Wait... It didn't show me a skill this time? That seems unfair!"

"I got shown [Water Magic]... Which was my only basic affinity at the time."

"So I'm supposed to learn a basic Mage class with an advanced form of magic? That seems pretty garbage."

"Let's see if you can learn [Corrosion Magic] now?" I suggested and showed her the skill. I had received a revelation from an intermediate class, but now that she had a spellcaster class, there was some hope.

"Oh!" Vee said excitedly. "[Acid Dart]? And the entire thing was just installed into my head! Why couldn't [Dimension Magic] be this simple?"

I shrugged. "If you have two other skill points, let's grab [Mana Manipulation]."

"Sure, you're the magical teacher here... Any other recommendations?" Vee asked.

I thought long and hard while giving her [Identify] would be a good general convenience; to further her magic and make my job easier, [Magic Efficiency] was probably the winning choice. I had received the skill from an intermediate class revelation, but she could buy it without issue.

Can you buy skills one class tier ahead? Or is there something else at play here?

"How are your trait points looking?" I questioned.

"I'm sitting on a few; I was saving to buy the next level in some traits, but they get really expensive," Vee replied. "I had to buy the next level of [Spatial Sense] to keep track of you."

I felt a small part of me die on the inside. She'd been spending all her points to buy upgrades? What about saving for uncapping? I dreaded to think of the points she had effectively flushed down the drain, and I hoped I would never find out.

"I'd... Suggest not buying upgrades. If a trait or skill gets to 10, then you can spend 10 points to unlock it going to 11 and beyond."

"Oh?" Vee tilted her head curiously. "That's a lot of points. Although I don't know if I'd ever get a trait or skill to level 10... That seems like a lot of work."

"Okay... Let's see if you have any of the Mana and Magic traits... I got a few I can show you."

We spent some time reviewing her traits. She had [Mana Circulation], [Mana Reinforcement], and [Mana Infusion], which explained most of what she did with her threads.

She lacked [Mana Well], and I explained to her that it could be combined with other mental traits to form [Soul Mastery]. I offhandedly mentioned that if she picked up all the physical traits, there would also be a [Body Mastery] fusion trait.

I'm a little sad I can't get that one since I don't exactly have a body... Still, with [Chimeric Mimicry], I can just keep borrowing the stuff I can't buy for myself. I absolutely need to uncap that immediately when it gets to max level.

She didn't have [Mana Sight] to my shock and horror. I could not believe she had gotten as far as she had without it, and I practically screamed at her to buy it on the spot. I felt some minor sympathy for Mother and understood why she gave me the quest to teach Vee.

When we finished our impromptu trait and skill lesson, I noticed I had some unviewed notifications. I pulled them up.

<Proficiency gained. [Companion Training LV 1] improved to [Companion Training LV 2].>

<Proficiency gained. [Companion Training LV 2] improved to [Companion Training LV 3].>

Oh! But I just showed her some traits and skills? That counted as training? Wait... Was she allowed to buy [Corrosion Magic] and [Magic Efficiency] early because I was "training" her? If that is the case, I feel a little better about her getting access to them early.

I waved my thoughts away and turned to Vee.

"Let's go home. I have some friends to introduce you to."

"Sounds good. I'm starving for some of that delicious food you promised me," Vee said, responding excitedly.

I wonder if Thern and his family like spiders?