Levels, Lather, Liquor, and Linguine?
While Luna and Io could be heard giggling and horsing around in the bath, I decided to look into the achievement notification from earlier. I called up my HUD. There on the main menu, flashed a new menu item: Achievements.
I brought up the achievement menu, and the only item in there was a single achievement.
Completed: Defying Expectations I
Click to Redeem
I followed the clear instructions and focused on the redeem button to get the reward for the achievement. I heard a little trumpet fanfare and some virtual confetti rained down in the HUD. I felt a rush of power as I gained three levels and 500AP. I reeled at the crazy amount of AP I was just awarded. I hopped back to the main menu, where I saw a new notification on a few different menu items; Status, Skills, and Quests.
Opening the status screen, I scrolled down to where my new sum of AP was listed. I now sat at level 16 with 1038AP total! I couldn't even start to think how many skills I could get for that amount. I flicked open the Party Window to check on Luna's status. She got three levels as well! Dang, plus she almost got enough XP from the mission turn-in. After we deliver this last letter, she should have a fourth level.
Excited by these bonus level-ups, I could not wait to spend all the new AP on new skills. I opened my skill menu, expecting to have the usual list of all the abilities available to my Race and Classes.
New Class Available: Choose 1 of the below classes.
This never-before-seen message sat at the top of the skill list. My eyes shot open; this System has Multi-Class builds! I wonder if I could get more than two classes. Wait... I guess it should have been evident that Multi-Classing existed. I already had two classes since I was a Magebreaker and an Adventurer, after all.
I quickly pulled up the Encyclopedia entry in my HUD for the keyword "Class."
It stated that classes could be earned through hard work, given by official recognition by large groups (such as my Adventurer class by the Guild), or that could be 'gifted by the gods.' I guess my Magebreaker Class and whatever new one I pick would both fit in that last category. However, all the other Magebreakers must be considered one of the other two. I wonder if the Class is acquired through the Church's recognition or the Church's training. Maybe I should try to teach someone the Class one day. Well, that is in the future as we are too busy on our journey right now.
Back to my new Class options, I clicked the drop-down arrow, and the section below the text expanded, showing me an extensive list of choices.
Basic:
-Warrior
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-Ranger
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-Mage
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Intermediate:
-Knight
-Weaponmaster
-Cleric
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-Thief
-Hunter
-Spellslinger
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-Evoker
-Druid
-Diviner
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Advanced:
-Paladin
-Bloodknight
-Shieldmaiden (Gender Locked: Female)
-Berserker (Gender Locked: Male)
-Barbarian
-Magebreaker
-Monk
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-Assassin
-Trickster
-Archer
-Treetopper (Gender Locked: Female)
-Woodsman (Gender Locked: Male)
-Scout
-Bard
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-Elementalist
-Necromancer
-Summoner
-Forest-Lord
-Witch (Gender Locked: Female)
-Warlock (Gender Locked: Male)
-Esper
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Meta Classes:
--Locked--
Of the listed classes, all seemed to be available other than the four that were greyed out. As I already was a Magebreaker, that option did not appear selectable, neither did the two "Gender Locked: Female" Classes. The Locked entry under Meta Classes was the final grey line of text.
I am going to need to read through what all of these classes do. First, let's see what the difference between the three tiers is. After scanning through the entries for Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, I uncovered the differences.
It essentially came to how specialized the role was. Each higher tier, the skills a class could learn were more suited to a specific role in combat.
Before I could really dive in and read through the descriptions of each Class, I heard the door from the bathroom open. I closed my HUD and looked to the door that led to the bedroom where the bathroom was attached. I saw Luna and Io come into the sitting room with fresh sets of clothes and towels wrapped around their wet hair. Two things confused me. "You don't hate beast people?" I asked Io.
She shook her head while explaining, "No, I have never really understood what people think is all that different about them. Besides, their ears are so cute!" As she said these last few words, her gaze had wandered up to focus on Luna's ears that sat atop her head. With everyone's eyes focused on them, the ears twitched a couple of times where they stuck out through the towel.
"Also, where did you get those clothes?" I followed up with the second question as my eyes returned to focus on the light pink single-piece dress that Io now wore. "Umm, Miss Lune said it was alright if I had them." As she said this, her ocean blue eyes slowly lowered as if though she thought I was upset that she had been given clothes from our possessions.
I had only been confused as we did assumedly not have any clothes for her since her body type was so different from Luna's. To dispel her worry, I took one of her hands. She froze as I did, but I quickly lifted her arm above her head and spun her around. As she spun, the hem of the dress swirled, and I nodded in appreciation for how it complimented her womanly figure. "It looks fantastic on you. I think the dress must be pleased to grace the fair skin of such a beautiful maiden." As her spun came to a stop, and I took her other hand in mine. She looked up as I stared right back into her eyes.
Like a tableau vivant, we held our respective positions as the action and words from me seemed to take a few seconds to sink in. Once they had, Io's cute round face lit up red as she looked back down again. "U-uh... umm... I-I-I..." She tried to respond.
"Now, I best go bathe so we can go have lunch." I walked away from the two girls as they finished drying and brushing their hair. "A towel and clothes are laid out for you already there, Honey." I heard Luna call out as I entered the bathroom. This is going to be my first time bathing without Luna in a while. I better be careful that I do not become too spoiled by her attentiveness.
I washed myself quickly in the shower, not bothering to soak since I was in a hurry. I noticed my hair had gotten a bit longer. I ordinarily kept it pretty short in a buzzcut for the sake of convenience back on Earth. Now that I have these fantastically chiselled muscles and these combatant skills, maybe I should go with a warrior type of cut. I will have to find a barber tomorrow. Finishing my scrub, I shut off the water, and as I stepped into the changing part of the bathroom, Luna came in.
She took the towel from me and fastidiously dried my body before handing me the deodorizing powder that I rubbed on my body. Helping me slip into my clothes, which consisted of a classier button-down shirt and a pair of slacks, I kissed Luna.
I also took a moment to hold her at arm's length and take in the beautiful dress she wore. "Stunning." She kissed me in response and took me by the hand.
The three of us headed downstairs, where we went to the fancy diner and had this world's equivalent of a cocktail supper. After several hours of great food and cold drinks, Io seemed like a member of the party. Unfortunately, I knew from the discussion that her father was sick, and she took care of him. Plus, she did not have the desire to wander. I hoped that this charming girl could be a party member alongside us one day in the future.
After escorting her home, Luna and I returned to our hotel to get some sleep before going tomorrow to visit the Dwarf Runesmith, Cecelia Stoutdraft.