Chapter 502 - Nine Options (Patreon)

This is the chapter for December 15th.

Classup with the colors here!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14i2sCGCJC7_ANCwJajJUUHICL0ZGlFtM8Org44IZYUg/edit

For fun, there's a form you can fill out to rank your thoughts! I'm curious how it'll shake out. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uiK5Oa9AdqKvYOBdI33fUnwAG4VHGL3z8PNz5d97HJU/edit#responses

PLEASE NOTE: I AM GIVING IT ~24-48 HOURS TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTERS, TO ALLOW DISCUSSION AND SPECULATION ON ELAINE'S PICK.

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With the major rock in my class options analyzed, I went back to the more ‘normal’ offerings.

If five strong black quality classes could be called normal.

I decided to slow roll it a bit. Take it from blue to black.

One thing I quickly noticed was that each of the books talked extensively about my healing accomplishments, and they all overlapped. Some focused a little more on different parts than others, but all of them mentioned all my achievements. I had filtered for Celestial healing classes, and the bulk of my accomplishments was in the field of medicine, so it was no surprise.

The top number, the biggest one, was also one I sort of felt I cheated on.

Healing has touched more than a million lives.

A million was a lot of people, but every time I’d walked in a city, [Cosmic Presence] had been active. The Han Empire’s population was so dense that it only took a little bit of time to qualify, let alone all the traveling I’d done and cities I’d visited.

Directly saved more than 500,000 people from imminent death.

That one I was crazy proud about. That accomplishment was worth bragging about.

Wrote the Medical Manuscripts.

That, and the tens of thousands of knock-off effects were mentioned throughout my accomplishments.

Healed a dragon. Healed/bonded a phoenix. Healed an angel. Healed…

I had a long list of creatures my healing was just barely able to heal, and I’d helped with.

Huge battle numbers. My willingness to heal both sides - including, to my surprise, someone who’d been actively firing shots at me just minutes before. That was one highlighted hard in [The First Oathbound Healer].

Survived attacks from a Guardian. Survived dragonfire. Survived phoenix flames. Survived the wrath of a God. Survived…

I was an [Undying Cockroach] through and through, and my achievements reflected it.

I had achievements from the start. From doing every little bit I could in Aquiliea, to healing the bandits who’d captured me, to my desperate run for Kallisto. Perinthus and the plague, Ranger Academy and injuries. My work as a Sentinel, the last stand against the Formorians. The angel, the dwarves, and the dragon. Elves and centaurs, phoenixes and wyverns. Healing when it was illegal, when it put my life at risk. Healing when it was safe and easy. Biomancy, and how I tried to improve lives with it in my own little way.

Wars and plagues. Mass casualty events, all the way down to casually healing scratches on individuals. My offerings listed them all.

It was worth mentioning that many of the skills were upgraded in similar manners. Every class, for example, had [Wheel of Sun and Moon] merging with [Dance with the Heavens], opening up a new skill slot for me to use. Additionally, the restrictions for the healing at range aspect of Wheel vanished entirely. I no longer needed to be under moonlight or sunlight, seeing the stars, caressed by the sky, or anything like that. Simple distance was the only criteria, although the penalty and range were different class to class. All of them boosted the potency of my already-existing healing skills, but to different degrees. Apart from the subtle differences between existing skills, each class had their own range of entirely new skills offered, and arenas of operation.

I remembered the old angel constellation from when I was making [The Dawn Sentinel], and it was clear that even the ‘worst’ healing skills on offer had basically the entire constellation filled out. Petrification was an excellent example of something I could easily handle now. The only thing missing was medium and strong cursebreaking. Even strong cursebreaking tended to no longer be a healing skill, but a dedicated [Cursebreaker] skill in different elements. Like how Water healing couldn’t restore limbs.

Another major aspect was nearly every class had minor ‘biomancy’ included in it. It wasn’t true biomancy, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the ability to fix a number of genetic defects and flaws were included. Things like sickle cell anemia, immune diseases, certain types of diabetes, etc. Changes to the base template that were otherwise not allowed. The type of fixes that were occasionally offered in [Midwife]-type classes.

My study of biomancy helped and informed the upgrade though, permitting me to do everything I knew was possible, healing all sorts of defects.

Suffocation was another one I would no longer need to worry about, although food and water were an eternal requirement.

Each offering was naturally different from the rest, focused on an aspect that the others didn’t. They also each had a slightly different offering of additional skills.

With a polite request, I got some paper and a quill to start writing down notes on each class, building a grid to best compare apples to apples when I could. Writing down which classes offered [Celestial Authority] and which ones gave [Mastery], for example, along with technical notes on each upgrade. Given how similar the classes were to each other, the devil very well could be in the details.

[Saintess of the Dawn] In the pantheon of sacred callings, the Saintess stands as a paragon of light and protection, a blazing beacon in the darkest hours. This hallowed class is revered not merely for its profound healing abilities, but its ability to protect, shield, buff, and more! The Saintess is the avatar of the first light that scatters the shadows of despair, bringing hope and renewal to all in need. Her presence is a sanctuary, a shield against malice and corruption. The Saintess embodies the very essence of divinity and benevolence. The powers vested in a Saintess transcend conventional healing. Her touch mends the most grievous of wounds, her prayers shield the weak from harm, and her calling upon the stars purges corruption. She is a wellspring of divine energy, channeling the very gods and goddesses themselves. She is filled with divine wisdom and guidance, able to soothe all those who come to consult with her. The path of a Saintess is one of selflessness and sacrifice. Her journey is filled with trials that test her spirit and resolve, yet her conviction never falters. She is a radiant force, the glowing sunrise that drives away the darkness! +100 Magic Power, +100 Magic Control, +800 Mana, +800 Mana Regeneration per level!

I had to admit, it was a little more off-base and interesting than some of my other healing classes. It was strongly healing-centric, but not only did it have fantastical healing, but my barriers and shields were promised to be greatly empowered, and I’d have access to a wide variety of buffs that I could bestow on people. What was nice was not only was I offered strong single-stat buffs, but also amazing omni-improvements that helped with everything. [Untarnished Icon], [Lady of Life], [Bastion of Hope], [Hand of Ciriel], [Answer the Whispered Prayers], [Sworn Ally], [Unblemished Apex], [Avatar of Rebirth], [Faith in her Protector]... the skills just went on and on and on!

If that was all, it’d be amazing.

It wasn’t. The class also made it clear that it would be much easier for me to request miracles from the gods and goddesses. I knew there were quite a few divine entities interested in me, and I could possibly request help from several of them, not just one.

The class ran screaming headfirst into the ‘8 skill slot problem’. Dozens and dozens of powerful skills, but only room for 8. If I took [Invoke Miracle] I might not have room for [Sunrise]. I didn’t want to give up [The Stars Never Fade] for [Fated Intervention] or [Your Destiny is Life], but I only had so many slots, and unlimited options on my skills.

It was a good problem to have. Sort of like ‘Oh no I have 40 thoroughbred unicorns but my stables can only hold 8 of them, what ever shall I do!?’

If [Saintess of the Dawn] appealed to me, I’d need to dig hard and deep to figure out my exact build. Unlike [The Dawn Sentinel], where I’d massacred a huge amount of potential to make it work exactly the way I wanted to, with [Saintess of the Dawn] I’d be able to keep tinkering with the skills until I had the exact configuration I wanted.

It was clearly a religious class, all of which were ‘hamstrung’ at ‘only’ blue quality. Generally far higher than anyone could hope to achieve, but I wasn’t exactly normal.

Activity wise, it was a wild departure from [The Dawn Sentinel] in many ways. The core healing aspects remained, but it would reward me far more for staying in a temple, handing out blessings, buffs, and healing, than it would for attending meetings and marching on the road.

I… might’ve screwed up a little. Right now, that was super tempting. I’d just spent three and a half years in a warzone, witnessing the worst humanity had to offer. A class that went ‘nope, sorry, we’d like you doing the cleanup but not watching your brothers and sisters in arms die horribly next to you’ was super appealing.

Heck, it looked like I could still function as the Sixth’s War Sentinel. My healing range would increase massively. I just wouldn’t be getting as much experience for it.

Right. One class down. [Saintess of the Dawn] was a strong option, and the biggest mark against it was the quality. Blue was good.

It wasn’t black.

[Crow’s Acquaintance, Dove’s Nemesis] was up next.

[Crow’s Acquaintance, Dove’s Nemesis] The loom turns, and the threads of fate are spun out in ten thousand glorious colors. Black Crow//White Dove are the cutters, the snippers of the threads of destiny, cruelly pruning the tapestry of life. Crow’s Acquaintance, Dove’s Nemesis is one who would grab the shears of death and wrench them again, allowing the threads to continue spinning and weaving out in beautiful harmony. It is a class for one who has seen the divine manifestation of both Crow and Dove, who has defied them to their face. They refuse the finality, the end, the great death and the cycle of samsara. They help the defiant throw off Black Crow, and challenge the peace White Dove offers to all souls. The Nemesis is more complex than a mere battle against death. It is steeped in the moral quandaries of eternal life, carefully navigating the ethics behind Immortality. How much is too much? Will preserving too many lives here and now simply cause further, more violent bloodshed in the future? By preserving the parents, are you robbing the children of their future, one in which no elders make way for the younger generation? Conflict is at the heart of the Nemesis, from conflicts of the body, to conflicts of the mind and soul.  +1313 Free Stats per level.

The title was interesting, and a dive into the story of what my life would be like with the class was revealing.

In short, it was the Immortality class. With [The Dawn Sentinel], I’d taken the bare minimum on the Ouroboros of Immortality, and this class maximized it. There’d be no cooldown on the skill. No limitations on the types of creatures I could make Immortal. It would be permanent Immortality, and I’d gain much finer control over ages.

Interestingly, I could also make someone older. I could be 8 years old one minute, and 98 the next, then bounce back to 18.

My funds would be unlimited. I could spend a day charging thousands of Immortality gems, and while flooding the market that way would cause the price to crash, there was still a lot of money to be made doing it.

The direct healing abilities naturally upgraded and improved, but the shields and barriers stayed the same, as did [Sunrise]. It was a fascinating option, but I didn’t quite feel like it was right for me. I was fine with my current pace of being able to hand out Immortality, although stretching the skill a bit and making it permanent was very appealing.

Not critical though, not in the way I’d needed the skill before.

If my life had been even a fraction less strange, I would still be level 500 and change, bouncing around in Remus. I felt a pang of loss at the sentiment, all the people I’d known who were gone, but boxed the emotion up. Put it in a pile with the rest.

The philosophy hinted at was interesting, but more interesting if I was taking the class, versus having the Immortality skill with a cooldown and restrictions. It might be worth having some long discussions with Night about the nature of being able to endlessly produce Immortals, and the ethics involved. He’d naturally done a ton of thinking on the topic.

I was classing up here.

[Medic of the Dread Sixth Legion] - You are the lifeline of the Sixth Legion, the glowing savior that negates death and brings life. You’ve healed…

Take this class, and may your brothers and sisters in arms never fall! +888 Strength, +888 Dexterity, +888 Speed, +888 Vitality, +888 Magic Power, +888 Magic Control, +888 Mana, +888 Mana Regeneration per level!

Uhhh no. I had a few regrets even going through the class. It was basically a hyper specialized [Medic] class, but I’d lose so much, namely in what I got experience for. A simple upgrade of [The Dawn Sentinel] would have everything [Medic of the Dread Sixth Legion] had, without the drastic narrowing in scope.

It was one of the only classes without the minor biomancy, which made sense. By the time someone joined a Legion, they were already fit and healthy.

The only interesting part was a side-path that was available. [Repair] was a class skill, the basic one simply helping me repair armor and gear a little better. As I gained experience - both with the skill, and physically repairing thousands of armor sets in all the different ways they could break - the skill could slowly evolve into letting me repair things magically, into a ranged repair, into a massive area of effect ‘repair’ skill. Of course, I’d run into the ‘only 8 skill slots’ problem again, and it’d take decades of semi-normal operations to level the skill that far, but it did exist.

It was academically interesting as a fun skill, but didn’t appeal to me as something I wanted to have.

To the bottom of the pile! The stat distribution was nice. One level and I’d have strength again!

[The Last Sentinel of Remus] You were crowned in glory and laurel wreaths, the first woman Sentinel of Remus. Now, in this day and age, you are the last one who can claim the title ‘Sentinel of Remus’.

My heart practically stopped at the line, and I skipped the rest of the introduction, speed reading through the book at top speed. I relaxed with a sigh.

Night was still alive. He hadn’t died, although I strongly suspected I would’ve been told before I even landed that something had happened.

No, from the tone and the sense I got, Night had simply been around too long. He had done too much, been in too many places, held the title of Sentinel in too many countries and iterations of Exterreri. He just didn’t qualify as a Reman Sentinel anymore, he was far, far more than that.

I suspected as time went on, as my identity was married to Exterreri, that the option would fade away to dust. That one class up, I wouldn’t get the option to become [The Last Sentinel of Remus].

It… wasn’t thrilling me. It was more about being the final Sentinel of Remus, carrying that torch, rather than being a Sentinel. It was a legacy class, a historic class, not a modern day Sentinel class. Oh, sure, it still had healing at its core… but fundamentally, it probably should’ve been filtered out if I was a little more careful with my words.

Four classes, and I was fairly confident I wasn’t taking three of them. [Saintess of the Dawn] was still on the list.

Onto the good stuff! Onto the goodies! Onto the black classes!

I started with the one that was my name. Because I could.

[The Elaine] - The Healer. The Elaine. +100 Strength, +100 Dexterity, +400 Speed, +400 Vitality, +500 Magic Power, +500 Magic Control, +6666 Mana, +6666 Mana Regeneration per level.

I was nodding along on the offered stats until I got to the mana and regeneration portion, where I felt like doing a double take.

HOW MUCH mana and regeneration!? By all the goddesses that sent me invitation letters…

I knew my current issues were primarily around mana and regeneration these days. [Oath] was boosting my magic power and control to absurd levels, to the point where I couldn’t keep up with my mana. I needed more mana, and the class delivered.

The class description was great! I loved the short nature of it, the weight and impact it offered. It sadly told me very little about the details of the class, and for that I needed to go digging.

I delved deep into the class, feeling an innate affinity for anything named after me. I wasn’t just a healer, I’d be the healer.

The class was fame-focused. It didn’t have me resting on my laurels, but doing things that spread the knowledge of medicine and the Medical Manuscripts were strongly rewarded. Also, to a certain extent, being myself. Could I level simply from eating mangos? What a life!

The fame focus meant I’d passively gain good amounts of experience. My leveling rate would be extremely quick, possibly dragging Auri along with me. I hadn’t had time to check the rest of the classes, but I’d be surprised if any of the other ones could level faster. On top of that, it had a broad mandate, and I suspected that basically everything I did would result in good experience.

It was hard to be sure. The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft didn’t exactly have a lecture titled ‘When your accomplishments are epic enough to rename a profession and tag after you and there’s a class offered with your name on it’. I’d be carving new territory in that respect, venturing into parts of the System that maybe only the eldest dragons and Night himself had tread.

Even then - given the low profile Night tended to keep, hard to tell.

I’d gain experience going around and meeting other healers. A little for me, a lot for them, and the more I interacted with healers, the better it was for everyone. It dovetailed nicely with what [Loremaster] and [Butterfly Mystic] wanted to do.

It had a fun skill - [Sing My Name]. Anyone calling my name - well, to be fair, or for a healer - inside a generous range would get automatically healed. A less fun, but more important skill revolved around my presence. [Cosmic Presence] would get an upgrade that not only would it passively heal people, but it’d boost everyone else using healing skills in the area. A little like Auri’s [Domain of Fire], and I suspected there were more depths to the skill that I’d find out when - if - I took the class.

It was a strong contender, but didn’t make my heart beat wildly with anticipation. Then again… I’d known it was coming. It was the most direct ‘upgrade’ or version of [Mother of Modern Medicine] from my third class offerings. I’d had my expectations met, I knew the class was waiting. There was no denying that a class named after me fit just right.

I had more options to look through!

[Healer of the Stygian Dragon, Rainbow Phoenix] The healer is a caregiver of all creatures in life, from the smallest plants, all the way up to the greatest creatures in existence. They understand the deep interconnectedness of all living things, from the tiny ant to the leaping antelope. They see the intrinsic value in all life. From nurturing the smallest seedling from the humble mustard plant, all the way to the ancient dragons and massive titans, the [Healer of the Stygian Dragon, Rainbow Phoenix] loves them all. The healer is also extremely capable, able to use System magic, all the way down to simple herbal remedies, a broad spectrum of cures are available. They are as comfortable concocting a potion for dragon scale rot as they are in prescribing a delicate balm for a phoenix’s feathers. Their practice is an art form, requiring an intuitive touch and deep resonance with the natural world. From the tops of the highest clouds, down to the abyssal bottom of the oceans, the healer is comfortable moving around, able to survive and thrive in all environments. In their journeys, the healer also finds themselves the guardian of sanctuaries, places where creatures both rare and mundane can find rest and respite. From the Stygian Dragon to the Rainbow Phoenix, from the crawling insects to the newly blossoming flower, from the titanosaurus to the microraptor, the healer is knowledgeable and able to care for all life under the vast sky and bountiful sun. +512 Strength, +512 Dexterity, +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control, +2048 Mana, +2048 Mana Regeneration per level.

Seeing both Lun’Kat and Auri named in the same title was intimidating. I cracked the book open, and got reading.

The class was basically as described. My current classes and most of the offerings I’d seen so far were heavily focused on elvenoids, although I was able to heal most other creatures at a steep penalty. [Healer of the Stygian Dragon, Rainbow Phoenix] completely removed that penalty, and let me branch out into plants, fungi, and basically anything and everything living.

Speaking of branching out, the light potion-making and environmental travel were nice, but I was failing to immediately see easy use cases. My healing combined with my biomancy and stats made me extremely tough, although I suppose being able to swim easily at the bottom of the ocean was nice. Not that I had any plans of going that deep.

“I’m a healer and I’m here to help.” would sound like “glub glub glub” to a hungry kraken or leviathan, who might lack the intelligence to understand what a healer even was. My Radiance was practically useless in the oceans, and yeah. I wasn’t going down there anytime soon, nifty underwater travel skill or not.

That wasn’t to say I disliked the class! Just that I found the particular element less than impressive.

All in all I liked it. My focus had been hard on elvenoids, but I welcomed the option to expand my abilities to all living things, great and small. Fenrir would be the biggest winner of me getting the class. His massive bulk combined with the penalty I needed to eat healing someone so far outside what [The Dawn Sentinel] was built for was painful.

Auri, thankfully, was a little stupid in how she handled damage. That, and our companion bond already gave me perfectly efficient healing; my increased healing abilities didn’t matter for her.

[Where She Treads, Life Springs Anew] looked like so much fun.

I wasn’t axing the class. I kinda liked the idea that I could heal everyone, everything. I knew I was having a bit of a bleeding heart after the Han empire and everything I’d seen there, but there was something so… aesthetically pleasing about being able to walk through a field of grass, and the grass and plants I stepped on came back stronger and better than before in my wake. My mango grove would be the healthiest one around.

Next class!

[The Arbiter of Life and Death] - The Arbiter is revered and feared in equal measure, a figure of awe-inspiring authority and power. The class is the embodiment of decisive judgment and unwavering resolve, both on and off the battlefield. With a mere glance against the chaotic tapestry of battlefields, both mundane and medical, the Arbiter decrees who will live, and who will die. In their hands lies the balance of life and death, a responsibility carried with a solemn sense of duty and an unshakeable moral compass. Their decisions are not marred by doubt; each choice is made with a clarity that cuts through the fog of war like the first light of Dawn.

The mantle of the Arbiter is one of immense power and responsibility. Every decision made carries the heavy weight of lives and the looming specter of death. Unwavering moral strength is a requirement, for the power and burden to decide the fate of others is a heavy one, laden with both salvation and sorrow.

[The Arbiter of Life and Death] has no room for hesitation or dithering. Their decision is final, their judgment absolute. They decree who lives, and who dies.

That is it.

+400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration per level.

The description was ominous, and I went reading.

To my surprise, the class was the natural upgrade of [The Dawn Sentinel]. It leaned on my snap decision making in battles, where I quickly evaluated who I could save, and who I had to sadly let go. It also took in and referred to my combat prowess and my extreme lethality when I did need to fight, including the ‘duel’ I had with Meng Ao.

Wonder of wonders, it included an armor skill! I’d be able to reinforce my gear with vitality, no longer chewing through armor sets like hotcakes. My gear could actually survive an encounter, and be useful. I was starting to lean towards ‘why bother’ on account of armor being like tissue paper in the face of attacks that could hurt me.

A number of the classes included minor cursebreaking, but [Arbiter] had a smidge more. I’d still be vulnerable to some of the most famous curses in the world, like the werewolf’s curse, but I’d be able to shake off a few more things. Not that I had particular experience with curses - I’d been lucky to dodge them most of my life.

It was also worth noting that I’d explicitly picked out and built [The Dawn Sentinel] for me, and I resonated closely with it.

I didn’t want to make decisions about who lived and who died, but I recognized reality for what it was. I did make the decision, and no amount of reluctance made me any slower to do it. The class cut to the mean heart of triage and limited resources, but it wasn’t wrong in doing so.

Another interesting skill was [The Dawn Has Arrived]. In short, a large-scale healing that didn’t require an image, with an utterly absurd range and long cooldown. The intention seemed to be that I’d rush from place to place, and the moment I arrived, I could trigger the skill to immediately restore everyone in the range. I could’ve used it in Shuixi, and healed the entire city in a single go.

Interesting - I wondered if I could replicate the effect with clever use of my other skills. Naturally, I couldn’t do anything about the cost, but the effect? Maybe.

The class included a brief note that it could restore the runes I’d carved into my bones, confirming that my current healing and images couldn’t handle it. Good to know! I was being careful with those runes, and had only used them a few times, hoping to get a skill to handle them before they degraded too far. I was using them less than anticipated, and it wasn’t critical that I get the upgrade now, but it was something to note. Another tickmark in favor of the class.

An aspect I hated was [Cosmic Presence] could now be used to deny healing.

That was not me. That would never be me, and I believed it would violate my [Oath] if I used it that way. It wasn’t a killer on the class - I could always take it and not use it - but I disliked that it was even possible.

What about the hydra? A little insidious voice whispered to me. What if stopping his regeneration saved lives?

I put the ethical conundrums around preventing others from healing into the ‘future Elaine’s problem if she even takes this class’.

Next!

[Savior From the Stars] From the sprawling tapestry of the cosmos, where countless worlds spin in the dance of existence, there emerges a special type of person. A special type of healer. The [Savior From the Stars]. This rare and prestigious class is bestowed upon those whose profound knowledge of the healing arts transcend Pallosian boundaries and conventional wisdom. The savior is not merely a healer, but a beacon of hope, a bringer of life, and a guardian against the shadow of death.

A savior is the pinnacle of medical mastery. With unparalleled skills, advanced interstellar knowledge, and a deep, intuitive understanding of life’s fragile balance, the savior brings her own practices. Any tool can be bent to her whim and will, and her simple presence soothes tortured minds. Her knowledge unlocks the mysteries of maladies unknown. Her compassion and love for life is boundless, healing all with no regard to race, status, species, or creed. She is the tireless guardian of health and wellness, the harbinger of healing.

She is the promise to end suffering.

+64 Magic Control, +64 Magic Power, +7777 Mana, +7777 Mana Regeneration per level.

The class was interesting. There were strong references to my otherworldly origins, and it was the closest to a ‘pure healer’ upgrade/class that I could see. The stats reflected the pure healer nature as well - a little bit of magical power and control, a huge amount in regeneration and mana.

[Savior] also included a note about the runes on my bones, giving me more options.

What was fun was [Celestial Spirit] was offered directly. No work to upgrade it, no epic journey to make it happen. I’d get the top affinity skill off the bat, which had a subtle influence over the cost of all my skills and abilities. It would stack well with the other bonuses in the class.

A careful reading of the class sadly indicated that I was unlikely to gain a transformation skill. I couldn’t turn myself into a moonbeam and zip around the world, as cool as that would be.

Nothing was super flashy in [Savior], and as far as I could tell, it was the best ‘pure healer’ class on offer. What it lacked in flashiness it made up for in all my current skills being upgraded harder than any other class. [Celestial Spirit], for example, over [Celestial Mastery] that most of the others had.

With that said, it did have a few skills available for my last skill slot. [Chosen by the Stars Above], [Star-Crossed], [Guiding Light], [Constellation of the Crown], [Galactic Laurel], [Stellar Blessing], and [Cosmic Champion]. Fantastic names, so-so abilities. If the tiebreakers came down to the last abilities though, they were decent.

The last class was also the easiest one to figure out what was going on by its cover.

[The First Oathbound Healer] First, do no harm. These sacred words are the beating heart of the Elaine’s Oath, the creed that healers devoted to their craft take. Your words, first spoken over the funeral pyre of your first friend, have set into motion a legacy that would span millennia. [The First Oathbound Healer] represents not just a commitment to the art of healing and medicine, but embodies a profound spiritual bond between the healer and those whose lives they save. It is not just the medicine and knowledge that makes the healer, but the philosophy and heart.

With deep respect for the sanctity of life, [The First Oathbound Healer] has triggered endless generations of healers to follow in her footsteps, lighting a torch that has been passed down for eons. The Oath is so powerful, so ingrained into the cultural psyche throughout dozens of cultures, that it has withstood attempted eradication, efforts to supplant it, and most insidious of all, the deadly test of time.

[The First Oathbound Healer] is a bulwark against despair, a beacon of hope when the sun doesn’t shine, and a reminder that as long as there is life, there is unlimited potential. The healer’s mastery of the medical arts is such that she’s turned the tide of battles, not by sword or spell, but by saving lives and maintaining the fighting spirit of her allies.

The legacy of the [The First Oathbound Healer]  has thus become a symbol for the highest ideals of medicine, serving as a sacred covenant which binds all those who would take the title of healer. In a world where the line between life and death is blurred by strife and suffering, she has taken the noble high road, the principled stand.

You are [The First Oathbound Healer]. Once again take up the torch, and carry it into the darkness.

+64 Magic Control, +64 Magic Power, +12000 Mana, +3000 Mana Regeneration per level.

My [Oath] would move up and become a class skill, without the major obligation and forced behavior modifications that I was threatened with the last time I’d been offered an [Oathbound] class. It would also upgrade, moving up to 8% change per level, and that was before [Sentinel’s Superiority] kicked in and did stupid things. It also came with a flat 50% discount on healing efficiency, which was insane. I ran some quick numbers and was disappointed to find out that even a .1% reduction per level would’ve been stronger than a flat 50% discount. Ah well, can’t have it all. The reduction in and of itself effectively doubled my stats when it came to healing, and that was before the skills themselves upgraded with additional efficiency.

The healing efficiency would stack with a change to [Celestial Mastery] and a buff to [Dance] reducing the cost. The triple cost reduction would make healing cheap to the point of absurdity.

The scope of the class was relatively narrow. It would be hard to find things that exactly fit what the class wanted to do, although my experience and leveling rate should be alright. The class had a minor fame aspect to it, granting a trickle of experience from other [Oathbound Healers]. It wouldn’t be massive and epic the way [Oath] jumped to the cap and stayed there - it would only be experience moving forward, not historical experience - but it would be enough to keep the class on track and moving forward, as long as the institution of [Oathbound Healers] didn’t get eradicated.

Even if that did happen, it would be naturally mitigated by Auri and our companion bond. She’d gotten on the right side of the leveling curve, although hopefully her newfound resolutions would slow her down a bit.

Frankly, if neither of us gained a level in the next decade, I’d be fine with it. I didn’t need to level now, today. I didn’t need to gain power as fast as I could.

I had a long, long time. This was a marathon, not a sprint.

The mana to regeneration ratio was interesting as well. It lent itself to huge bursts of healing all at once, then a slightly longer time to fully regenerate my pool. It was a different take than some of the other more regeneration-focused distributions, but with enough discounts on my healing, I would be fine. It wouldn’t be a game of ‘can my regeneration keep up?’ so much as mana management.

With only three out of my ten options eliminated, and all seven classes looking good, I looked over my notes and which classes had survived so far.

[Angel of Mercy]. [Saintess of the Dawn]. [The Elaine]. [Healer of the Stygian Dragon, Rainbow Phoenix]. [The Arbiter of Life and Death]. [Savior From The Stars]. [The First Oathbound Healer].

It wasn’t terribly easy to compare everything to each other, but there were some similarities between the different classes. For example, [Celestial Affinity] was upgrading in each class, but to a different extent. My notetaking had proven fruitful.

[AN: There's a table at the end of this chapter that Patreon formatting utterly massacres]