Soul of Blades - Chapter 16: A Class above (Patreon)

[Select a Class of your choosing. Classes are based on your actions and achievements during your induction, and will aid you in spearheading your displayed strengths. Grow strong, and serve your imperial masters well]

[̷͎̠̠̖̿́o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅt̶̢̻͉́̕͜ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓ṷ̷̭̓͆͛̋Sys̵̞̈́͆̓̓t̶̢̻͉́̕͜ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠emi̷͎̠̠̖̿́c ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠Reg ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ent ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ (Unique): This cla ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ss grants bonȕ̷̳̮̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓es to sṷ̷̭̓͆͛̋b ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠verting th ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠e system, manip ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ulating its functi̷͎̠̠̖̿́o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅns, and gain ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ing unique in ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠sights int̷͎̠̠̖̿́o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅ the mṷ̷̭̓͆͛̋ltitude of energ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠iȅ̷̳̮̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓ and path̷̳̮̏̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓ to power in exi ̷̷̳̮̳̮̏̄̏̄͝͠͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓tence. This class̵̞̈́͆̓̓ is assigned ‘Forbidden’ and its acceptance will res̵̞̈́͆̓̓ult in imperial action.

Levelling bonus: all stats +10

Skills: Energy Affinity, Control]

[Eternal Sword Sovereign (Unique): The Sword Sovereign is a class that emphasises strength, agility, magic, and strong sword skills. A Sword Sovereign utilises their mana to enhance their sword strikes, speed, and evasion. They are particularly adept at using their advantages in battles. rapid strikes. Mana combat. Controlling their blade with mana. swordplay and martial prowess. Sword Sovereigns use their mana to understand and execute complex sword techniques, as well as comprehend the profound essence of their weapon. They often integrate metaphysical mana into their fighting style, channelling essences of magic and its many forms into their blade. This class is more in tune with affinity for swords.

Levelling bonus: Strength +4, Dexterity+4, intelligence+6, 4 free stats

Skills: Mana Blade, Boundless Dodge]

[Karmic Rift Blade (Mythic): The Karmic Rift Blade class emphasises precise, devastating sword strikes that disrupt the flow of mana in opponents, akin to creating karmic rifts. It possesses the ability to disrupt mana around itself, thus interrupting enemy attacks. This class possesses high agility and attack stats, enabling swift movements and powerful offensive capabilities. The Karmic Rift Blade's focus is on manipulating mana, to disrupt and incapacitate foes. With their exceptional agility and mastery over mana, these warriors excel at delivering impactful strikes that unravel the magical abilities around them.

Levelling bonus: Strength +5, Dexterity+6, intelligence+4, 5 free stats

Skills: Karmic Severance, Flux Barrier,]

[Nature's Sentinel (Legendary): a class that focuses on encounters with magical, alien, rare, or floral wildlife, harnessing the power of mana to navigate and thrive in these diverse environments. Through the mastery of mana, class holders tap into the intrinsic magic of nature, enabling them to enhance their survival skills and interact harmoniously with their surroundings. By channelling mana, they gain heightened sensory perception, allowing them to sense the subtle movements of creatures and perceive the underlying magical forces at play. Furthermore, their connection to mana grants them the ability to communicate effortlessly with animals of all kinds, forming an unspoken bond that transcends language barriers. As the class progresses, Nature's Sentinels can shape and manipulate mana to manifest protective barriers, tame creatures, create natural illusions, and even momentarily infuse their own being with the essence of nature mana, bestowing them with increased and new capabilities. With this arsenal of natural and magical abilities, Nature's Sentinels become formidable guardians of the balance between civilization and the untamed realms of nature. grants bonuses to survival skills, nature magic, and the ability to commune with animals.

Levelling bonus: Endurance+3, Intelligence+4, Widom+4, free stats +4

Skills: Wildstep, Nature's Aura, Fell Forestation]

[Apex Predator (Rare): This class, harnessing the power of mana, becomes a formidable force in the realm of hunting and vanquishing apex creatures. Mana, the essence of magic, infuses their every move, granting them unparalleled abilities. They can manipulate mana to enhance their hunting skills, enabling them to track elusive targets with remarkable precision. Furthermore, this infusion of mana provides them with heightened senses, allowing them to view and analyse the weaknesses of powerful creatures, making them exceptionally efficient at exploiting vulnerabilities. By utilising mana, they can detect the presence of apex creatures from a distance, attuning themselves to their unique magical signatures. Apex Predators are exceptionally devastating, dealing amplified damage to apex creatures, leaving no doubt as to their dominance in the realm of hunting.

Levelling bonus: Endurance+1, Strength+5, Dexterity+2, Intelligence +2, free stats +2

Skills: Hunters Shroud, Mythic Maw, Mark of the Hunted]

[Cursed Blade (Mythic): This class utilises mana to shave off and harnesses the user's soul and life-force, infusing it into their weapon and body to unleash devastating attacks and movements bordering on the realm of imperial masters. A small portion of life force is consumed upon selecting this class, permanently boosting the stat gain by three times the standard of mythic classes. This class drastically reduces the holder's lifespan, and excessive power results in a guaranteed untimely death. This class is assigned ‘Forbidden’ and its acceptance will result in imperial action.

Levelling bonus: All stats +10, free stats +10

Skills: Unholy Resilience, Soul Sacrifice, Devour, Death's Embrace, Mortal Frenzy, Blink step]

[Crafter (common): This class is skilled in crafting and utilising weapons, items and equipment. The Crafter class is a specialised role focused on the creation, enhancement, and modification of various items and equipment. Crafters possess unique skills and knowledge in gathering resources, refining materials, and crafting powerful gear for themselves and other players. They can also unlock and upgrade recipes, imbue magical properties into items.

Levelling bonus: Endurance+1, Strength+2, Dexterity+4, free stats +3

Skills: Blacksmith's Touch, Artisan's Eye]

The words hung in front of him, more significant than any he'd witnessed so far. The system claims the classes reflect his past actions and hint at futures where his strengths can be fully realised.

A smorgasbord of power. An all-you-can-eat buffet of potential.

Alex stood there, deep in thought, notifications flashing around him, each one carrying implications, and possible meanings and clues to the wider multiverse. He immediately dismisses the clearly broken and strange class called 'Systemic Regent'.

A glitched class? A hard pass.

The text is jumbled and hard to read, but he managed to parse its meaning. He stood there, pondering its meaning, implications, and possible relation to his glitched unusable second skill. The Class, would most likely be no better than the glitched skill. He would shackle himself to a path of uselessness with that choice. Although... the choice itself is strange, and the description was admittedly tantalising. Subverting the system could be useful. That is, if the skills ever managed to work. Until then, It remained a liability. The glitches are unpredictable and have proved useless so far. He can't even use his glitched skill, so how could a glitched class help him? His skill did not activate a single time, despite all the times he teetered on edge between life and death. Its listed as passive, but could he even trust it to even work like a normal skill? No, he had surmised that the skill doesn't work at all. Passive, or active, he feels no different; the skill changed nothing.

Could a glitched class be any better? Doubtful.

His eyes caught sight of the stat boosts. Tempting. Plus ten to all stats, with strength, dexterity, endurance, Intelligence and wisdom all receiving a boost of ten stats each, that was fifty stats in total. Fifty per level is insanely powerful, and 'Cursed Blade' was even more so, at sixty. But he had already witnessed the power held by the outside worlds, and wondered what kind of power a group that holds dominion over such worlds- the Imperials, could have. He had no idea what effect the glitches could have. What if they played havoc? And he couldn't risk an untimely death, shaving off pieces of his soul, and lifeforce.

Yet a thought nudged him - his Dao. True immortality. Could it help? Revive or rebirth his soul? He is unsure. It was too risky, too filed with uncertainty.

And why was he offered the cursed blade? It had the highest rarity but came with the steepest cost, not only his life and soul but also immediate attention and intervention by the ones powerful enough to control the system. Although it did seem to offer the power to combat them. Could he choose it and gain enough power before they arrived? What if they arrived immediately? Could he defeat them with the plethora of powerful skills the class offered? It seemed doubtful, but the skills all seemed immensely powerful — unholy resilience, devour, blink step. No doubt, he would gain an insane stat boost of some kind with soul sacrifice and likely a permanent one.

His gaze slid to the other classes, each carrying potential. He pondered each class's potential pros and cons. Mana Blade was clearly some kind of blade made of mana. Outside of his dao and personal techniques, he lacked offensive capabilities. The description hinted at versatility and "controlling his blade," or “the blades essence” which seemed like a skill that could make up for what he lacked. Boundless Dodge was also pretty clear — some kind of dodging skill. The "boundless" aspect caused him to feel it may allow him to dodge without constraint.

Very useful.

The glitched class offered energy sensing and hinted at paths to power beyond magic. The idea caused his thoughts to return to the immortals and the phoenix. Perhaps the skill could allow him to tap into their methods. It was something extremely interesting and tempting, but the uncertainty and thought of facing an imperial stayed his hand. Facing someone strong enough to rule over the masters in his vision was now an impossibility. He just wasn't strong enough. How could he face a blow that could cleave a mountain in two? He would simply die as soon as they arrived or be captured.

Control, the other glitched skill, held no meaning to him. For all he knew, it could be just as useless as his existing one. The class was undoubtedly offered to him because of his glitched skill, but now, because of it, he had a hint as to the nature of his useless skill. It would be safer to learn how to use it than to select a dangerous class and set powerful monsters on his tail. If he could, he would subvert the system without a spotlight siccing world conquering masters after him.

Karmic Rift Blade was clearly because of his Dao and the Phoenix's ability to interact with karma. Could he do the same using the dao? If so, this class was redundant. Why choose a class that does what he already can? The Phoenix could sever karma and create barriers. He didn't know how, but he was sure he would be able to do so with his dao once he gained understanding. The class would not be useful at all.

Nature's Sentinel made him smile. It must have been because of his encounter with Plantie. It was an interesting class, extremely versatile, and came with what looked like combat skills, but the stat boosts per level were paltry. In more peaceful circumstances, he may have chosen it and grown stronger while fighting with an army of monstrous plants and tamed animals, but it couldn't help him here. It wouldn't give him the edge he needed to survive and make it back to Earth.

Apex Predator, however, was a top contender. Hunter's Shroud must have been some sort of stealth skill, Mythic Maw an attack of some kind, and Mark of the Hunted could have many meanings, all of them impressive. The stat boosts focused on strength but still didn't outshine the other classes. It was no doubt offered due to his slaying of the pack leaders and floor guardians. Deep down, he felt he didn't deserve this class. That had barely even been a fight.

And ‘Eternal sword sovereign’. Another ‘unique’ class. Although mythic, legendary and rare classes offer more starting skills, the unique rank suggests it may have been made just for him, and it feels that way. He does not need a class that mimics his dao in a much weaker way. His vision had shown him that the dao was supremely powerful when compared to magic. What he needed was versatility, something that plays to all of his strengths, and this class seemed perfect for his journey with the blade.

He glanced at the classes one last time, searing the details into his memory for future reference.

So... He thought, Common Classes give stat boosts of ten per level,

Rare Classes give twelve,

Legendary Classes give fifteen

Mythic Classes is twenty, according to the class description

and Unique Classes give stat boosts anywhere from eighteen to sixty per level... Eternal sword sovereign gives eighteen, and Systemic regent gives fifty... Damn, unique classes are OP. I wonder if i can evolve them... you can evolve race, probably. Why not classes?

Alex rubbed his chin in consideration. Should he ever encounter someone with a powerful or even weak class, it would be good to know what he was dealing with, and what stats, and strength, they could potentially have.

After pondering all of the skills and classes and which of his actions could have possibly led to them being made available, he decided to choose 'Eternal Sword Sovereign'. The class was clearly created due to his dedication to the blade and attempts at creating an immortal sword style. It's perfect. He selected the class, received a notification of class confirmation and skill confirmation, and felt the mana within him deepen and expand. A warm feeling spreading throughout his body, centering on his heart.

Pain seized him.

The holographic panel turned blood-red for a second time. A jumbled mess of glyphs crossed it, bleeding off the screen and into reality, a confusing mess of symbols that hurt Alexis gaze. His eyes unfocused as he struggled to understand, and His heart skipped a beat as he saw the crimson message warp, twist, and change.

[Class:  ̷͎̠̠̖̿́ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓Sys̵̞̈́͆̓̓te̸̪̟͇͕͂mi̷͎̠̠̖̿́c ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠SwO̷̟̮̙͚̔rd S ̷͎̠̠̖̿́o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅve̶̷̵̴̲̳̱reign̶̡̮͋̕͝ selected!]

No. Not again.

His heart jumped, and his body convulsed, seizing and falling over as pain engulfed his every nerve. The pain, white-hot and blinding, lashed through him, causing his muscles to bulge and contort.  A deep ache filled his being,a wrongness. It felt as though the very essence of who he was was being torn apart and altered. For a moment, all he knew was pain. But it was over as soon as it began. The pain stopped and vanished completely, as if it had never even happened. He was back, crumpled on the jungle floor, the moist earth cooling his heated skin. He rose to his feet and viewed the fading blood red panel.

[Class:  ̷͎̠̠̖̿́ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠Sys̵̞̈́͆̓̓te̸̪̟͇͕͂mi̷͎̠̠̖̿́c ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠SwO̷̟̮̙͚̔rd So̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅve̶̷̵̴̲̳̱reign̶̡̮͋̕͝:

The Sword Sovereign is a class that emphasises strength, agility, magic, and strong sword skills Ab̷̷̳̮̳̮̏̄̏̄͝͠͝͠O̷̟̮̙͚̔ve ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ all. A Sword Sovereign utilises their energ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠iȅ̷̳̮̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓ to enhance their sword strikes, speed, and evasion. They are particularly adept at using their advantages in battles. rapid strikes. Mana combat. Controlling their blade with mana. swordplay and martial prowess. Sword Sovereigns use their mana to understand and execute complex sword techniques, as well as comprehend the profound essence of their weapon. They often integrate metaphysical mana into their fighting style, channeling the essences of energ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠iȅ̷̳̮̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓ and their many forms into their blade. This class is more in tune with affinity for swords.This cla ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ss grants bonȕ̷̳̮̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓es to sṷ̷̭̓͆͛̋b ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠verting th ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠e system, manip ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ulating its functi̷͎̠̠̖̿́o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅns, and gain ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ing basic in ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠sights int̷͎̠̠̖̿́o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅ the mṷ̷̭̓͆͛̋ltitude of energ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠iȅ̷̳̮̄͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓ in exi ̷̷̳̮̳̮̏̄̏̄͝͠͝͠s̵̞̈́͆̓̓tence.

Leveling bonus: Strength +4, Dexterity+4, intelligence+6, 4 free stats]

[Class Skill: Mana Blade gained!]

[Class Skill: Boundless Dodge gained!]

[Class Skill: Due̸̪̟͇͕͂l of C̷͎̠̠̖̿́orruption gained!]

Alex blinked, the glitching system messages still seared into his vision. His choice, his action, had been completely subverted, and the very nature of his class twisted into into an unexpected consequence. He had chosen the Eternal sword sovereign, but whatever was causing his system to malfunction had warped the class and granted him something else. Something unknown, and something he hoped was more than it had once been.

[System Inductee level 27 - Unclassed threshold exceeded by: 2 levels]

[Class selected: 2 class stat boosts assigned]

[Strength +8, Dexterity+8, intelligence+12, unassigned stats +8]

[Floor reward - Unique skill allocated, please proceed to the portal to create skill]

So the glitch didn’t boost my stats to 50 per level. How disappointing. But at least there’s no threat of ‘imperial action... maybe overpowered stat boosts trigger the warning? He had 52 free stats, but decided to wait to see what the next floor had to offer before assigning them. A small part of the reason he had chosen the sword sovereign class was because it's natural state gain matched what he had intended. He supposed that was why the original class had been offered to him, ‘based on his actions so far’, it had said. This was life and death, and he would happily dump all 50 stats into strength, dexterity, or even endurance if it meant he would survive, it could even be an evolution. He understood the need to hone his path more than anyone, to focus himself to become the sharp point of a blade. But deep down, he felt that only a fool would treat their life flippantly, dying because they were attached to some silly ideal ‘build’. What if you met the perfect counter to your specifications? Would you die with a smile? Alex wouldn't. In his mind, a true fighter had to be fluid, adaptaple, able to change at a moment's notice.

Like water.

He inhaled sharply and rubbed at a phantom pain in his chest, it still tingled and ached, as if some part of his being had been burned, hammered and twisted. The ghostly pain interrupted his train of thought.

That ache during the class gain… What was that? it was strange… it felt like my soul was on fire… I could’ve sworn the pain was stat growth, but my stats hardly changed… To Alex, it had felt like he’d been rolled down a hill in a sack filled with glass while being chased and beaten by angry hobos- or at least how he imagined something like that would feel like. The second of pain had seemed to stretch longer than possible, as if time had stood still for minutes. But somehow he knew it had only lasted an instant, passing through him in milliseconds. He stood, and dismissed the notifications and stat boosts- it could wait. He was more interested in testing his new skills.

He thought the words "Boundless Dodge," but nothing happened, although he felt his mana dip slightly. Instinctively, he felt that if something were to be striking at or attacking him in that moment, once the skill had been activated, he would be able to see what the skill was truly capable of. It was almost as if he’d always known that information and just remembered it.

It was an odd sensation. To Alex, having feelings and knowledge planted in his head so subtly felt strange. And while it was convenient, it just didn’t feel right.

Eh, whatever. I'm sure there’s ways around it. He vividly remembered one of the three powerful wolves spamming ‘Phoenix Leap’ without any of the cooldowns he was subjected to, all three lf the wolves in fact. That told him there were ways to get past the system's skill limitations; he just needed to figure them out. Let’s hope the new class lives up to its description and isn't as useless as the glitched ‘Agemo’ skill. He thought. Actually… Agemo, activate?

Alex stood there in silence, amidst the aftermath of chaos, the scorched jungle swaying, caressed by the wafting winds of dying flames and growing embers, his mana not budging an inch at his attempted skill activation. Still nothing. Well it was worth a try.

Alex's gaze lingered on the holographic panel, its glitching text a buzzing reminder of the unexpected twist in his fate. The scorched jungle around him, littered with the remnants of battles, seemed almost peaceful compared to the turmoil in his mind.

Okay, let's break this down. The system's clearly gone haywire. 'Systemic Sword Sovereign' instead of 'Eternal Sword Sovereign'?

The existence of multiple glitched classes and a procedure for ‘imperial action’ suggested a broader phenomenon. It suggested that the glitches weren't new, they must've happened before. “You can't forbid a class you've never seen,” he muttered to himself in deep thought. The warnings around overpowered stat boosts could suggest that other glitches or forbidden classes were all based around overpowered stats and growth. That makes sense. If I was an imperial ‘master’, I wouldn't want a serf to get too strong, or as strong as Phoenix. The fact that there was no Imperial action or warning around his new corrupted class implied that the nature of both his glitches and class was truly unique. It had to be something the system, or the Imperial had never seen before, that could explain why it wasn't forbidden. Or maybe it was the basic stay gain. But either way, why him?

Although the new class might allow deeper understanding of the system, on reviewing the changes in the skill description, it seemed to Alex as though ‘systemic regent’ was more powerful than ‘systemic sword sovereign’, although it wasn't geared towards the sword.  Systemic Regent offered ‘unique insights’ rather than the ‘basic insights’ of systemic Regent. But the fact that his class choice had been subverted at was a slight cause for concern. Perhaps any choice he made would’ve produced a warped, glitched, and twisted version.

Is the system even reliable, then? And if the imperials created the system, wouldn’t they have free control over it? Why would it even have forbidden classes? An idea was creeping on the corners of his mind, the idea that maybe his class and the glitches had nothing to do with the Imperials at all.

Well, this is a fine mess. He moved on to his second latest skill, deciding it was better to focus on the things he could control.

“Duel of corr-“ His instincts screamed a warning. Without a target, this skill would do nothing, and its cool-down would last a whole day.

Huh, at least it works, sort of. I wonder what it does? Another glitched skill, his second one so far- ‘Duel of Corruption’- It hadn’t been in the original class description, that meant whatever malfunction twisted his class had added that skill in there. This 'Duel of Corruption'... sounds ominous. It’s got to be an attack skill of some kind. What's it going to corrupt? The system? My enemies?… Or me? He guessed he wouldn’t find out what the skill did until he had a target.

Mana Blade' and 'Boundless Dodge' are still there, at least. Same foundation as the eternal sword sovereign class, but it could be the skills have changed somehow. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, the sensation reminding him of the youthful vigor in this new body. Despite all the changes and uncertainty, a small part of him revelled in the forgotten feeling of youth. Resigned but relieved, he moved on to the final class skill.

Mana Blade, he thought.

The skill, 'Mana Blade' coated his blade in a thin, barely visible sheen of pure mana. He sensed that he could influence the mana somehow but had no idea how to do so. Strangely, this time his instincts didn’t tell him how. Curious, he rested the blade on a nearby log, only for the blade to sink in as if the log was made of butter. His mana reserves were almost exhausted from the brief use.

It seemed that the skill had a constant drain while activated and could only be used for a minute at most. It wasn't something he'd be able to use indefinitely.

Still, it was a start.