Chapter 5 - Class Select
With a wave of his hand a table and chairs appeared where he and Ash settled. Luna, due to being in guide mode, couldn't actually sit. She hovered over the chair, just as she had lowered herself to the floor earlier when she'd spoken.
Sidus almost never showed his horns to anyone including his oracles as they could be used to judge his current state to those that knew anything about their growth. The opportunity to see them was rare and it was not one he had likely been intending to offer her, in her own opinion.
Once settled, he conjured four small figures on the table, "The base of all three classes is quite simple. I will explain the fourth figure here last though you will likely know it by then since you have played games in the past. Defenders keep their companions as safe from damage as they can," the figure with a shield raised it as if to deflect an incoming blow.
Ash frowned slightly at the simplistic class description, worried that despite its ability to mimic magic well the game would be boring otherwise. He went on to explain the other two obvious ones, that damage dealers focused on attacking and healers on healing.
"Last is professions. Everyone may choose a profession and a gathering skill. The gathering skill changes what you can pick up based on your profession rather than being a uniquely named skill such as herbalism. An alchemist can pick up items related to alchemy and so on."
Ash frowned at that, seeing room to be able to gather outside of what people might assume was the norm based upon normal video game rules as she knew them. Depending on creativity and the rules of the game, after all, it could theoretically be possible for each profession to use every single gathering material available.
She was curious but doubted Sidus could give any information, a fact he confirmed when she asked. Instead she pivoted back to the class system, "Having only three classes, archetypes really, seems quite limiting."
"Ah," Sidus smiled softly, "That I can explain a bit more in depth. While there are only three and you will choose one of them while you are here with me, this is far from the limit. Each class separates further into those that use magic to accomplish their job, those that use some magic to do so, and those that prefer to use none. Further separation occurs from there based upon what exactly you make use of and how, resulting in some very unique classes. Certainly, a good chunk of the player base at the current point in time has restricted themselves to building something they know from somewhere else but there are no such limits here."
Ash nodded slightly and asked another question that would determine her choice, "Does choosing one thing keep me from doing the other in any way?"
"No," Sidus said softly, "You may change your course entirely at any time or even combine things to some degree. You will always lean towards being better at one thing than another, of course, but there are very few limits otherwise."
She nodded slightly and picked healer. While she could fight and often did if left with no other choice, Ash preferred very much to help people. She would be able to learn more, both Sidus and Luna assured her, once she was properly playing the game.
Sidus smiled slightly, not particularly surprised with her choice, "Next is something that I deeply look forward to, though you may have reservations, I fear. You will have a choice of home bases, as it were, and a budget with which to purchase them," he waved a hand and a screen appeared, "There are places that will take most of your budget, some are free but bare and choosing them allows you to use the excess funds to design the space to your liking even allowing you to keep a portion of what is left over for yourself. You may even choose to be nomadic in nature, purchasing a camping set or just taking the money for yourself," he hesitated suddenly, obviously at the part where she would have reservations. She'd already noticed that most all of the screens he swiped past were grey, options she wasn't allowed to choose for some reason, "Given your nature, though," he moved through the screens until they stopped on a serene glade with a deep and beautiful pond, "You are restricted to only one location for your home base. However, it is free to you so that you may still pursue nomadic options or building as you choose. You may add to it as you like and build a home as you please."
Ash frowned at the picture as it was very familiar to her. It was her own glade, just as she'd seen it when she'd first opened her eyes and stumbled around it looking for warmth and food. Luna's family had been there not too long after, the small child that was Luna, barely walking at the time, helping to hold her trembling body steady as someone offered a bottle with the sustenance she needed.
It was a place that felt like friends and family and home no matter how many times she returned to it and one she had no desire to leave in any permanent way. She was just a bit annoyed, though, that she was restricted in her choices due to what she was.
"What's the catch for owning the secret unicorn glade?" She asked flatly, "Do I have to start as a filly again or…I don't know, something else?"
Luna laughed from beside her, "The catch, from what I can see, is that you probably don't have enough funds yet to fully furnish whatever home you build there this time."
Luna was right and Ash spent a little time working on designing as much as she could of a nice home, getting the structure down and some essential furnishings. She left a bit of money in reserve, just in case something prevented her from returning to it for a while in the beginning.