Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 40 (Patreon)

“Is reading comprehension not your forte?” Drathok asked, eyeing him with a sneer.

“There’s like… a hundred different classes here. More.” Markus blinked, still able to see the black and blue screens behind his eyelids. “Wanna tell me how to narrow it down, or something?”

“Try using discernment.”

“That’s… really fucking unhelpful.”

Drathok rolled his eyes. “You can filter by type, or by tier. Have you ever actually tried speaking to your system? Or do you just blindly accept whatever scraps of information it bestows upon you?”

Markus felt as if he’d been smashed in the face with the idiot stick.  “Wait, I can ask it to do stuff?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

Markus slowly blinked. In all this time, he hadn’t even considered that his system was an entity he could request things of. He thought stuff and it gave him information. He’d found that pretty intuitive, but assumed that’s where the possibilities ended, besides menu scrolling and accepting or dismissing prompts. 

He’d not really had much time to give it thought, though. He’d spent most of his time here fighting, healing, or trying to figure out mana, and spent the rest of the time hurriedly spending skill points or dozing on a way too comfy bed.

But now that he knew… better late than never, huh?

 “Okay… system, can you please filter my class selections by ‘type’?”

Another text box popped up instantaneously.

[Filtering available subclass selections by type. Martial, Magical, Hybrid, Crafting, Command, Stealth, and Miscellaneous option lists curated. 39 Martial, 49 Magical, 56 Hybrid, 40 Crafting, 23 Command, 14 Stealth, and 289 Miscellaneous classes available.]

Wow, fuck. Don’t know what’s more crazy, the number of classes or the fact that this thing’s so responsive. 

[Would you like to filter each list by tier?]

“What are tiers?” he asked Drathok.

The system answered before Drathok could, thrusting another text box in his face.

[Tiers are analogous to rarity in that they denote the general commonality of a class, but are not to be confused with rarity’s common function of denoting the strength of a choice. Classes of a higher tier may indeed be powerful and have restrictive prerequisites, making them rare for reasons of prestige and difficulty to attain, or may be highly tiered due to their status as a niche or in some way unfavourable class that few opt to run, despite the classes’ prerequisitves being relatively low or unrestrictive.]

That was a mouthful. In other words, high tier didn’t always mean good, but sometimes did?

“Well, is there another way to filter it?”

“I see I’ve been relegated from this conversation,” Drathok said.

[Classes within types can be filtered by tier, compatibility, average user level, attribute primaries, or five year mortality rate. Keyword searching may also be utilised to further filter results.]

Damn, that was pretty thorough. Crazy to think that this world had a database that even accounted for things such as death by class, or that he could even access it. 

Curious, Markus decided to sort martial classes by five year mortality rate.

[Bomber (tier 3): Users of this class combine various chemicals in order to create devices that explode, corrode, melt, detonate, and stun. Progression in this class augment’s user’s Arcana attribute by one point per level, and can be combined with classes such as Chemist to allow for class evolutions such as Splash Healer or combined with Trapper to allow for evolutions such as Demolition Planner.]

Huh. Classes can be combined? So you can have more than one…

[Many bombers die either within their own explosions, during their own experiments, or following a failure for a key device to detonate when needed. 5 year mortality rate is 73%. Your compatibility with this class is low due to your complete lack in relevant engineering/chemistry skills. Growth within this class would be stifled until relevant skills have been learned.]

Right, so compatibility was a driver for Growth… If Markus didn’t know anything about a specific class, he’d have to put time into training up his abilities and invest his points to bolster said skills if he wanted to get levels in it. Looked like picking an outlandish, low compatibility class was probably off the menu. He was meant to be doing this so he could survive a fight today, after all.

“Just how many classes can I have, anyways? Is it going to overwrite my Otherworlder class when I pick one?”

“You can have—” Drathok started.

[Usually, creatures are able to select up to two classes. Otherworlder is an innate governing class which provides a Growth boost to all skills unilaterally and is exempt from this two class ruling. Furthermore, Otherworlder only allows one further class—treated as a subclass—to be selected and active at a time, but allows class evolutions to be taken normally if the user has managed to train two requisite classes to a high enough level. Unlike most, an Otherworlder is able to select and use anywhere up to five classes at one time, with an additional option offered every fifty levels, starting at level one. This allows for class evolutions that factor the traits of up to three different classes.]

When the system had finished speaking, Drathok had acquired a rather sour look.

Markus glanced at him sidelong. “What? You’re the one who told me to ask it questions. Not my fault you get baited every time I speak.”

Drathok cocked his head. “...baited?”

Markus ignored him. His head hurt too much to bother explaining, and he was still trying to get what few brain cells hadn’t been bashed out of him earlier to do their job and compute what the fuck he’d just read.

He was usually good at this shit. Right now he was tired.

He tried to break it down in his own head. People usually got two classes which they could use in tandem. Those classes could evolve after a time. 

He, however, got access to up to five at once, with a new one being unlockable every fifty levels, though he could only use the features of one at a time. This meant he could unlock evolutions that drew from three separate classes, which in of itself sounded super special owing to the fact that most other people couldn’t do that ever.

Well, assuming there weren’t other governing classes like his that modified class options.

…yeah, that didn’t matter. He was overthinking it. Point was, the concept fo being able to have super rare hybrid evolved classes was fucking dope.

He was really hoping he’d live long enough to see what one did. 

Markus sighed. Getting distracted in the mechanics of this shit was a decent tactic to innure himself against the rampant, dismal shittiness he was facing. Treating the whole thing like a cool, interactive game with endless possibilities and marvelling at his own ability to form feats of magic and power from his wildest imaginings, alongside appreciated the kind of menus and options he’d have once been so excited to see in a game expo, was calming to his spirit for a time.

But it was just that, at the end of the day. A tactic. A means to attempt to keep himself sane, marred by the crushing reality that whatever choices he made were only flimsy assurances against the black, hateful inferno of carnage that this world exhibited towards him every time he interacted with it.

Still, staring over the sprawling list of classes, Markus chose to smile. He wore that smile as if it were an impenetrable shield. 

Eventually, Drathok interrupted his perusal, right about the time he’d finished reading about the Gunsmith class. 

“Is there a reason you appear to be so happy?”

Markus glanced up at thim. “There was a time not long ago where I would’ve spent hours, days looking through all this stuff. All these classes and traits and attributes and skills and Paths and evolutions… all the ways to combine and contrast them and figure out new ways to play around with them and to pull off cool shit, I would’ve absolutely loved it.”

Drathok nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling nostalgic… but you don’t have days. You don’t even have hours to spend on this.”

“I know… but I’ve got a little while.”

Drathok stared at him for a time, penitent, almost as if he didn’t want to disrupt the brief harmony of the moment, as forced or as needed as it might’ve been.

Eventually, however, he chose to take a sledgehammer to it, coated in reason. 

“You need to make decisions quickly and trust in them, or you will die. That’s how this works.”

“I know,” Markus nodded, back to staring at the screen, smile a ghost on his lips. “It’s a shame that this world is so fucked up and evil. You guys have magic, and really cool stuff. Look at all the crazy shit you can do. A world like this could be super fun if the people in it weren’t such massive assholes.”

Drathok stared at Markus, then stared down at his hands. He allowed a plume of electricity to dance from his palm along his fingertips. 

“For a long portion of my life, I was unable to cast any magic,” Drathok admitted, staring at his hand. He snaked the electricity up and down his forearm, then allowed it to fade. “I do suppose it is… cool.”

“Yeah,” Markus said. “Yeah. Fuck you.”

Drathok stared up at him. “Excuse me?”

“I remembered who I was talking to,” Markus said. 

It was true. He was only talking so he could keep his head straight. He didn’t give a flying fuck what Drathok thought about magic. Hearing him speak made Markus angry. The fact that for a moment, hearing him speak DIDN’T make Markus angry made Markus far angrier.

No more talking. Despite his disdain for him, Drathok was right if anything he’d said about Randall’s appearance at the next fight was to be trusted, or even if it wasn’t. This was a potential advantage, and he didn’t have time to fuck around and be wistful. He needed to lock the fuck in and make his decision.

Two classes. That’s what he’d be able to grab right now, and he could only have one active at a time. Considering that, and considering this fight was coming up within a few hours and he wouldn’t get a chance to level or evolve two, he only needed to pick one right now.

Markus began reading more martial classes. He ignored Pike Man, Ranger, Crossbowman, Archer, or anything that required a ranged weapon. He didn’t have time to learn to use a bow, and he had no prior experience. Grabbing a class like that later definitely wasn’t out of the question, but right now it was laughable to consider.

Then there were more fringe ranged options, including both the Gunslinger and Gunsmith classes. 

[Gunsmith (Tier 7): Users of this class combine metal-welding and engineering skills in order to create their own firearms and ammunition, as well as maintain, repair, and customise said firearms. Gunsmiths receive an extra point in Agility and Arcana per class level. Gunsmithing as a profession is exceedingly rare in Firrelia due to the art being a fringe one usually disseminated and practiced by Otherworlders and unlikely to be practiced by born Firrelians.]

[Due to the advanced skillset and general non-combatative, trade-oriented lifestyle of Gunsmiths, 5 year mortality rates are at 6% for this class. This class requires at least a rank four Mastery in a relevant forging skill or a detailed mechanical understanding of firearms alongside a rank two Mastery in two relevant forging skills. Your rudimentary understanding of firearms and complete lack of engineering knowledge make your current compatibility with this class low.]

Yeah, figured as much, but the fact that guns of any kind were not only something that had been built before in this world, but that there was a whole class dedicated to their creation…

The wheels in Markus’ brain were beginning to turn. He hadn’t thought about it for more than a few moments before as it wasn’t like he could ever get his hands on a blueprint or even hope to memorise one, but with the help of skills and classes and the enhanced Growth he bolstered…

If Markus could learn to build something like a gun, could he… manifest one?

It wasn’t something he’d be able to find out the answer to any time soon, but the possibilities that Manifestation might bolster were surely almost endless, assuming he could ever get good enough with it and learn how to make the necessary things. 

It was an interesting thought, and almost an exciting one, but right now, it was just that. A flight of fancy against encroaching danger. 

Markus began to dismiss every class he saw that seemed as if he wouldn’t be able to utilise some benefit from it immediately. Speaking of which…

“Hey, does anything happen when I unlock a class, besides me growing in it faster and getting some points?”

[You—]

“You may select a skill or passive relevant to the class,” Drathok answered, a tad hurriedly.

“Th-thanks,” Markus said, almost alarmed by how quickly he’d snapped it.

Was he… being undermined by a computer voice right now?

That was… kind of hilarious. Markus wasn’t sure if it was a desire for control or a hatred of being interrupted, but he decided he’d test the theory next time Drathok decided to try and talk.

For now, though…

He’d get to select a skill or passive in whatever he got. From the looks of things, the rarity chances of the skill depended on compatibility, AKA how close of a fit the class was to him with his current skill-set. The system also informed Markus that special skill and passive class options would be made available by levelling a class, and that many of these were difficult to attain without said class, or in some cases, impossible.

Then again, as an Otherworlder, he seemed able to attain a variety of skills. Still, there was always the chance there were thousands more potential skills than he was even realising right now.

Knowing how thorough this place was, there probably were millions.

Considering how many of these there were, Markus needed to narrow his focus. He tried typing the word ‘glaive’ into the keyword search, then ordering by compatibility.

[Blade Adept (Tier 1): Users of this class are more proficient than most with bladed weapons, and able to better learn combat skills which take advantage of specific stances, movements, parries, guards, and attack patterns. Increasing this class’ level increases your Agility by 1. This proficiency is exceedingly common on Firrelia, especially amongst conscripts who may have to fight with varied bladed instruments and do not have the luxury of a permanent weapon of their own to specialise in.]

[This class can be combined with various other martial classes in order to bolster them, its versatility and complementary nature making it a staple pick for many of Firrelia’s soldiers, bandits, and other fighters, but that same commonality leading to this class’ 5 year mortality rate standing at 23%. This class also has viable evolutions with an extensive list of other classes, including many hybrid classes, any martial classes that use a bladed weapon, multiple crafting classes concerned with bladework, some magical classes, and multiple miscellaneous classes. Your compatibility with this class is high.]

This… didn’t sound bad. Sure, it was tier 1, as commonly selected of a class as there got, but it sounded like there was a good reason for that.

This was a good baseline class. It supported and complemented a big variety of other classes and skills and enabled a ton of evolutions.

For Markus, who could combine up to three classes but would likely need them to be already compatible, assuming he didn’t find a way to cheat that, this class might end up being the versatile glue that was able to bridge two other classes together and bolster them even further.

But was it something he wanted to pick now? 

He’d instantly get a Blade Adept skill choice. He’d be more likely to get rare ones because his compatibility was high. Now, even the rare options from this class tree might not necessarily be as impressive as some of the more common skills and passives from a higher tiered class, but that was an assumption. In truth, Markus had no idea if higher tier necessarily meant better. It meant less picked, but that could be for many reasons. There were less food tasters out there than there were fast food workers, and yet who had the higher skillset?

What the fuck kind of job was ‘food taster’, anyways? Since when was having discerning taste buds a skill? Anyone could taste food.

...not the point. Point was, common didn’t necessarily mean bad. There was a reason everyone was picking it, surely, and that reason seemed to be necessity. Something about beggars and choosers. In this case, from how the description read, literally.

“Have you made a decision yet?”

“Don’t you think if I had, I’d have told you?”

Markus scowled. He could hardly do with being rushed right now. He already understood the gravity of the situation. He wasn’t deliberating because he thought it was a fun and zany thing to do. He just didn’t wanna fuck this up.

Ugh…

Markus switched to the magical skills section. He began flicking through them. Frost Mage stood out to him, as did Exsanguinator. They were both things he was already capable of doing, and he had access to Frost and Blood Mana in pretty much every fight. They offered specialised skills, faster growth, and Arcana and Spirit increases. 

They couldn’t be combined with as much as something like Blade Adept could, but they were both still pretty versatile and worthwhile to consider. Leaning on things he already partially understood seemed like it was the best thing he could do right now, and picking a more experimental or lower compatibility option could always wait until after he was facing his imminent demise.

He decided to look through Hybrid options just to see. Spellsword stood out for a moment, but Markus soon realised that it didn’t seem to offer much that a high Affinity in his Malichor Blade didn’t already give him.

Then there were the more fringe options like Blood Medic. Commanding blood in combat to heal allies or yourself, a concept which sounded like a permutation of the [Rend] ability. 

A lot of hybrid classes seemed to focus on a specific intersection of skills, rather than a big picture, general concept kind of thing. They seemed to be for those who wanted to hone in very specifically on a single or select few attacks or moves that took advantage of what they were already proficient in and didn’t branch far beyond that.

Markus would rather find his own meeting points between the skills he had, make his own compounds. Hybrid classes didn’t seem to offer much that he wanted right now, as most of the more interesting ones sounded way too outlandish for him to even unlock right now, shit like Rune Brawler and Artifice Beastmaster.

Speaking of which, there was a specific Beastmaster class in the miscellaneous section. It would’ve offered him better and more direct command over Ember in combat and in general.

He didn’t like that option. He would rather she fight of her own volition and that they trust in each other. They’d worked well as a team that last fight.

Speaking of which, he wanted to pet her and feed her something expensive as a reward for how she fought. He also wanted her to heal him a little. He was so fucking tired right now, and his body felt as if it’d been through a woodchipper.

“Hey.”

Drathok stared at him, resting bitch face in full effect.

“I get a reward, right? Get me a few steaks for this fight. Big ones. And a healing pot.”

“Of course, you may have another potion, but can you really stomach all of that before you go out again?”

Jesus, what a last meal that would be. Markus almost laughed as he shook his head. “Don’t worry, they’re not all for me. Bring like ten.”

Which was true. Last thing Markus was right now was hungry.

But he felt like Ember probably was, and that was probably why she slipped out of their cell so often. Could be something else, but he doubted she’d be averse to a nice bowl of meat.

“Are you picking something? I have things to attend to, you know.”

“Yes! Give me a minute!” Markus shouted, swatting at him with an arm he could barely raise above the elbow right now. 

“Fine. But in five minutes, I’ll be forced to make a decision for you.”

Markus hitched an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘make a decision for me’?”

“What I said. Time is of the essence. Choose or I will.”

“How the fuck are you gonna choose? It’s my fucking class!”

“I own your soul,” Drathok stated simply. “I can make whatever executive decision I need to if I so wish.”

“Can you make the executive decision to shut the fuck—wait.” Markus pointed at him, lowering his status screen. “I thought Randall owned my soul now. What’s the deal.”

“I… no. No.” Drathok shook his head. “Randall owns the right for you to be sold. I’m still in possession of your soul.”

“Yeah, sure. Okay, you know what? I have no leverage. So pick for me. You clearly know best. How does my class work? How do I accrue skill points from my attributes? What’s my strongest attack? What do I do with mana cores after I absorb them?”

“I… I understand many of the core principles of Mana Manipulation, I—”

“Really? So what would you choose? Have you ever been a Mana Manipulator, Drathok? Have you ever met one? Plus I’m an Otherworlder. Do you have the slightest clue of how that combination works?”

“I’ve read books concerning Mana Manipulation in the past, and…”

“Really?” Markus nodded, looking oh-so-interested. “Then why didn’t you answer any of my questions, huh? Why don’t you tell me what you’d pick for me? What’s the best option that I’m so clearly missing?”

“It’s…” Drathok scrolled through the system menu. He squinted. Squinted some more. “Dark Knight.”

“Really? Well let’s just take a look at that!”

Markus pulled up the class in question and spent about ten seconds perusing it.

He smiled at Drathok. “You know what? Not bad. This sounds like something that’d fit pretty well with me. It uses Spirit as a core attribute, it favors long weapons, and it even has some magic resistance passives available.” He paused. “Only one problem.”

“But the class I selected doesn’t—”

“Oh!” Markus feigned shock, mouth open. “Oh, really, Drathok? Does it not?”

“No, it says—”

“That you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about? That you tried to recommend me a class built for fucking cult paladins that use huge swords and heavy armour?”

“You put pressure on me to choose something, and—”

“Yeah, it’s hard when someone’s constantly badgering you while you’re trying to make your damn mind up, isn’t it?!”

“STOP interrupting me!” Drathok roared, kicking a hole straight through his desk.

“Okay!” Markus smiled, picture of innocence. “I’ll stop. You pick my class, Drathok. You know better. You should pick it.” 

Silence.

“Oh, what’s wrong? Don’t wanna pick it? I thought time was of the essence,” he repeated in a crude approximation of his voice. “I’m not interrupting you. You can speak. Wanna pick my class for me? Wanna command me and tell me what to do? Go for it! You should!”

Silence. Drathok slowly began levitating up the broken pieces of his desk, attempting to patch it together.

“Right. So maybe, you should shut the fuck up about things you don’t know anything about and let me fucking think. You’re so desperate for me to win this fight, after all. Wanna tell me why that is? Seems only fair after you drag me through all this shit. Wanna clue me in? Huh? Huh?”

“JUST!” Drathok sighed. Drathok breathed. His chest heaved as he leaned back and titled his head up, then released a huge breath, reminiscent of a dragon about to release a torrent of flame. “Just, please, make your decision and—”

“Way ahead of you buddy.”

Drathok began to bite his fist. “Grr!”

Okay, lack of impulse control aside, fucking with him was kinda fun.

But now Markus needed to pick something and fast if he didn’t wanna lose face. He was so much better at this shit, after all, right? 

After roughly five more seconds of deliberation, Markus made his decision.