HC:Pacifist | Ch. 93 - Flags (Patreon)

Hello friends,

Thank you for all your support!

Recently I made some changes to the tiers. Did you know that for 10 euros a month, Lit Bishops now have access to 30 extra chapters? Check it out!

***********************************************************************************************

Roth looked at the window in front of him. He couldn't stop shaking. Here it was. Here was the class that he needed. Pacifist. He liked the sound of that. So far, there had been no clues to a class that suited him. Even after studying the information available to most players in the Pegasus guild, he still could not find any clues to a class that worked for him.

And now, here it was. It had fallen on his lap. He decided to accept it.

"Thank you, your honor."

Congratulations. You are now a Pacifist.

Pacifist (Hidden class)

Class Description: In a world of war and strife, you tread the highest path, that of peace. As a pacifist, you bring harmony to the world and make it a better place.

Class characteristics:

+10 wisdom;

+10 intelligence;

You can wield flags;

You can only learn skills that do not deal damage;

You can have 5 professions, but they can't be deleted once you learn them;

Your profession experience also levels up your character.

Your experience as a broker helps you to level up.

[Level up!]

Roth couldn't believe it! He read each of the bonuses and effects his new class gave him. He was given wisdom and intelligence, explaining how these stats would be vital to him.

He checked his character page and sighed. Wisdom and intelligence were his worst stats. However, he wouldn't have been able to get this far if he hadn't used some of his free stat points in charisma and dexterity.

Fortunately, he'd used the free skill points sparingly and had almost 70 he could use. Additionally, he had his race! That was the biggest strength of being a zoomorph. He could somewhat control where his free stats went even after using them. He could always use his badger or corvid form to gain a boost in intelligence and wisdom.

He hadn't expected that flags would be equipment he could use. He hadn't seen anyone using a flag so far. He only saw them in buildings or rooms such as this one. He wondered what they were used for. He'd have to look into it later. Now that he had the [Witness Protection] mask, he could finally shop peacefully at the auction house.

Regarding his skills, he was thrilled with it. You can only learn skills that do not deal damage. He didn't care about his skills dealing damage since he didn't plan on hunting mobs or fighting players. This also meant that he had access to skills from all different classes as long as they didn't deal damage. He couldn't wait to explore all the different mad combos he could pull off with this.

Finally, this class also answered how Roth could progress his character! The fact that his professions awarded him actual XP would go a long way in helping him level up! Additionally, he was now able to have not 2 professions but 5! This was an even better boost than the one given to Drake when he became a cyborg. On top of that, unlike Drake, who was stuck with being a programmer, he got to choose whatever professions he wanted!

“I thank you, Lord Magistrate” Roth had tears of relief rolling down his face. He could now see a way out of imprisonment in the game without compromising his principles. This class was perfect for him.

“It’s my pleasure to help a friend of peace. This is an arduous path you've chosen for yourself. I hope you find your inner peace in bringing peace to others."

"Thank you!"

"I know it's tradition for whoever shows you a path to guide you into it. However, as you can imagine, I'm quite busy these days. I have a gift for you though. It might help."

She waved her hand, and one of the many books flew off a shelf and headed toward Roth.

Magistrate Mirra has traded you [The Way of Peace].

Roth checked his inventory. The new acquisition was sitting right next to his Broker's Ledger.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Safe travels."

Roth took this as a queue to leave. However, just before he exited the door, he removed his scanner and put on the mask. He felt the mask prickle his skin and then change shape. That wasn't all; he looked down and saw how he'd become a little shorter. His arms became slightly thinner.

He left through the door and hurried to find a mirror. He settled with a soldier with a piece of armor so polished that he could see his reflection in it, albeit slightly distorted.

Perfect. This is what he needed. His avatar still had a fox face but had now a bigger nose and a smaller mouth. His hair and fur had also changed colors. From dark brown, it had become orange. Above his avatar, instead of Pax, a random nickname had been generated. YellowSnail3456. This could only mean that once he was in human form his appearance would change as well.

What a relief! Now he could do his business in peace and stay away from his former guildmates’ radar. Roth took a moment to message everyone on their chat, telling them he found a class and had finished a quest. There were instantly many congratulatory messages and thumbs up. He couldn't wait to show them what he could do as a pacifist. But for now, he still had a lot of exploring to do.

Now outside of the palace of justice, Roth took a deep breath. He'd forgotten what freedom in this city smelled like. It smelled like horses and coal, tinged with leaves and nature. He looked back at the palace from outside. It was an impressive building.

In front of him was the largest statue that Roth had seen in the game. A woman held a pair of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Unlike the statues Roth had seen in the real world, here, the representation of Lady Justice didn't give her a blindfold. Beneath the statue, it read. 'Justice isn't blind.'

He thought the blindfold in Lady Justice's eyes was supposed to represent her impartiality. What did this sentence and statue mean? Roth admired the sculpture for a few moments. The statue made him think of the magistrate that had offered him his profession. What a powerful NPC.

What impressed Roth the most was her voice skills. She had something about her voice that demanded absolute compliance and obedience. What kind of skill was that? He had thought he had looked pretty cool when he had used [Shepherd's Shout] in the sewers to break up the battle between Scar and the oozing monsters. Now he felt like a child showing off his sand castle to a bridge engineer.

Hopefully, he'd be able to interact with the magistrate more often. Roth consulted his map and headed toward the location of the auction house. It wasn't far from there.

Roth walked north toward the center of the city. It felt good to be able to walk under the sun, knowing that his identity was protected. He spared a few moments of pity to observe the many animals being used as beasts of burden. This was probably the next big quest that he had to tackle. He also had to find the reputation store, become a tailor, and finish exploring the sewers. There were so many things to do and so few hours in a day.

For a moment, Roth felt something he had never felt before. He was missing the sewers for some reason. Here it was too crowded. Too many people, too many eyes, too many things that could go wrong. He was pretty sure he wouldn't miss it if he hadn't been able to negate the stench with his plumber's set effect, but the truth was that he felt somewhat protected down there. It could also be because none of his animal friends were up here. There were no ratans, snakes, or obnoxious cyborg alligators.

On his relaxing walk, Roth checked what the forums said about flags. He had no idea if they were cheap or expensive or what they did. He went to the forums without any hope of finding relevant information. Boy, was he wrong.

Unlike other information hidden behind a paywall, there were thousands of references to flags in the forums. Roth was lost for a few moments. Why were there so many references to them? He began opening post by post until he understood the reason.

Flags were used by organizations inside the game and never by individual players. Guilds were The most common organization that used flags the most. When guilds established their campaign tents, they had the right to hoist a certain number of flags.

Similar to the museum inside the tent, the flags gave bonuses to all organization members that hoisted them. It was one of the benefits that lured people into guilds the most. Guilds flaunted their flags to attract new players, hence the wealth of information on the subject in the forums.

For example, the most basic flag, obtained by a dungeon run in the Salamander Cave in the Fire Pits, gave players of its organization a unique skill: [Immolate]. This skill allowed players to set their weapons on fire, sacrificing durability for a huge damage boost.

Since many bosses had dangerous berserk phases, this skill was immensely popular with players who enjoyed running dungeons. They would wait until the boss was down to 10%, and all use [Immolate] to give them a burst of damage that increased the chances of defeating the boss.

The strongest guilds could hoist three flags, giving all members access to three skills. Taking into consideration that some of the guilds had thousands of players and that even the cheapest skills for players over level 10 were sold for silvers, by having a flag, a guild could potentially have a benefit that could only be calculated in the thousands of gold.

Many players decided that they would join guilds after they found out about this development. Guilds welcomed the rush to their ranks, and the flag race had officially begun. So far, to the knowledge of players, at least the ones in the forums and the Rescue Library, flags could be only gained from dungeon runs.

Roth felt a headache coming. If he was competing with guilds for a piece of equipment, he was doomed! According to what he was reading, this was one of the most sought-after types of equipment in the whole game. The drop rates also seemed abysmally low!

Perhaps Roth was worrying for nothing. Nothing guaranteed him that these flags that guilds went crazy for were the same flags he could equip as a pacifist. Roth sped his pace toward the auction house.

He would try to buy the cheapest flag that guilds used that he could find and see if he could equip it. If he couldn't, he would sell it right after experimenting.

Finally, Roth made it to Hilsford's central square. He'd forgotten how big it was. It was so large and impressive that Roth felt he was in an open field for a while. The majestic façade of the auction house with its glorious marble columns was similar to the one he'd visited in Greensburg. The only difference Roth could find was the kind of plants that grew on the sides of the building and up its columns. Unlike the pink of Greensburg, here, plants with yellow flowers gave the auction house a joyous look.

Roth couldn't wait to spend his gold on skills, equipment, and whatever he fancied. These gold coins had been burning a hole in his pocket, and wanted out! As he was crossing the central square, someone touched his shoulder.

"Excuse me?" The voice sounded familiar. As Roth turned, he jumped in fright. It was Gary.

Ch. 92 - Ethos

INDEX

Ch. 94 - Maximus Secundus