Class Selection

System AI Unlocked!

Class selection unlocked!

Choose a class:

Gunslinger: Tier 0 (Drifter)

Description:

The classic quick-draw artist. Trained in revolvers, rifles, and desert survival. Known for their speed, precision, and deadly reflexes.

Exclusive perk: Notorious- As your legend increases so does your bounty.

General skill: Outlaw- Adds 25% of slain enemies bounty as your own. Adds 25% of slain enemies bounty in inventory.

Exclusive skill: Quick draw- +100% firing speed when activated. +150% drawing speed when targeting the nearest enemy. 50% chance of dealing a critical hit on opening shot.

Warlord: Tier 0 (Highwayman)

Description:

A battlefield commander and brutal tactician. Leads through dominance, commands respect through fear or loyalty.

Exclusive perk: Strength in Unity- allows the user to create a crew of up to 5 members. Each member in combat with the user grants the user +1 in all stats.

General skill: Outlaw- Adds 25% of slain enemies bounty as your own. Adds 25% of slain enemies bounty in inventory.

Exclusive skill: Commanding Presence: +20% boost to the stats of all crew members.

Bounty Hunter: Tier 0 (Tracker)

Description: a ruthless hunter known for marking and hunting their prey for bounty. A bounty hunter uses a mix of stealth and deadly senses in order to secure a kill in any means necessary.

Exclusive perk: Dead or Alive: Adds 50% of slain enemies bounty as your own. Adds 50% of slain enemies bounty in inventory.

General skill: Hunter's Instinct: +100% increase in perception when activated. Reveals nearby enemies, hidden traps, blood trails, etc.

Exclusive skill: Marked Prey: Activating this skill allows the user to mark one enemy creating a trace of white trail in the air. +50% increase in the bounty received when successfully hunting an enemy. +50% increase in damage against marked enemy.

Maddox layed in bed inside The Ironcleaver staring at the screen in front of him. 'It looks like I unlocked the class system and the System AI. My bounty increased and my inventory also acquired Hydrex. I think I have an idea of which class I'm gonna go for but I don't understand the whole bounty thing'

While Maddox was thinking, a ding suddenly appeared in his head.

-System AI: here to answer any question the user may have about the system and the world of Ironridge.

'Hmm alright. System AI what should I call you?'

- I was created to be the System AI therefore I have no name. The user can select a name for me if they so wish.

'Ok from now on I'm gonna call you Eve.'

-System initializing. New name Eve.

'Alright Eve, before I choose my class can you explain the use of this bounty'

-Bounty is a way to classify the power levels of people in the world of Ironridge. The higher the bounty, the higher the combat power of the individual. System users also have milestones in bounty. Once a user reached a certain milestone they can either acquire attribute points or if a big milestone is achieved an evolution in their class.

'Wait hold up, you said system users. Does that mean that other people in Ironridge also have systems?'

-That's correct host, however it is extremely rare. According to my analysis 1 in 100,000 people in Ironridge have the ability to acquire a system in their lifetime. Ironridge with an approximate population of 1 billion people can have around 10,000 system users throughout the world. However this is only the potential, an Ashwalker will need to go through the brink of death in order to unlock the system.

'Wait, what's an Ashwalker?'

-Ashwalker is a term created by the people of Ironridge for certain individuals with ridiculous amount of gifted potential. While some people may be regarded as an Ashwalker due to their god given talents or just through pure hellish training, not all Ashwalkers necessarily have a system. System users on the other hand can almost be guaranteed to be branded as an Ashwalker due to the stats, skills, and perks the user acquires from the system.

Pondering for a moment, Maddox went back and read the skills that came with each class.

The three classes corresponded with three different fighting styles. The Gunslinger class was the classic fast and evasive style, relying on the skill quick draw to surprise the enemy. The notorious perk was vague but he could sense it's a skill with a lot of potential. Out of the three classes, this choice boosted his firepower and combat ability the most.

The Warlord class was also quite interesting. It relied on the idea of crew members to boost the fighting power of the user while simultaneously powering up the crew with Commanding Presence.

Lastly, the Bounty Hunter felt the most versatile. While it doesn't have the stat boosts of the Warlord class or the combat prowess of the Gunslinger, the class makes up for it with an increase in bounty power for each kill. Coupled with the enhancement in perception that Hunter's Instinct provided, his survival chances increased the most with this class.

Maddox has a tough choice to make, each class has its own pros and cons. He could feel that the choice he made right now will affect the rest of his journey in Ironridge.

After pondering for quite some time, he narrowed the choice down to two. Gunslinger or Bounty Hunter. He eliminated the Warlord class after much deliberation due to the constraints of crew members. Although the class could potentially make him the strongest in terms of stats, he hasn't met anyone in this world that he could fully trust yet not even the Millers.

Now between gunslinger or bounty hunter, Maddox's first instinct was to go bounty hunter. It felt more versatile and gave him a skill that could improve his survival chances in Ironridge.

For some reason though, the vague description of Notorious called out to him. 'This skill. It's the only one with an open ended interpretation'.

He looked back at the skill and read:

Notorious: As your legend increases so does your bounty.

After much deliberation, he felt that although the bounty hunter class gave him the best way to increase his bounty and survival chances. The class will probably need him to consistently target enemies with high bounty in order to maximize the class perk given by the system.

On the other hand, Gunslinger gave him the best increase in combat prowess while the Notorious perk suggests that he could potentially increase his bounty through other ways such as spreading his name as a dangerous outlaw.

'If my gut is correct. I think this Notorious skill might help me prevent future trouble down the line but it could also bring the opposite effect hmm' pondered Maddox.

'I could go the safe route and increase my survival chances with Bounty Hunter or go all in with Gunslinger'

'Forget it, if I'm going to survive in Ironridge, I need to take risks' finalized Maddox clicking on the Gunsliger class.

After doing so, a bright light that only Maddox could see suddenly wrapped around his whole body. After about 5 seconds, the light disappeared.

Ding!

Class choice: Gunslinger selected!

+10 attribute points

System shop unlocked!

The first thing that Maddox noticed after the bright light disappeared is that his shoulder wound completely healed.

'I should still keep the bandage on to avoid unnecessary suspicion' thought Maddox.

'Eve' open up my status panel'

Name: Maddox Cross

Class: Gunslinger- Tier 0 (Drifter)

Bounty: 1 silver and 5 copper Hydrex

Title: None

Stats:

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 10

Endurance: 8

Perception: 15

Exclusive Perks: Notorious (Elite)

General Skills: Nimble Hands (Basic), Horse Riding (Basic), Outlaw (Basic)

Exclusive skill: Quick Draw (Advanced)

System Shop:

Inventory: 1 silver and 5 copper Hydrex

Looking at his system panel, the first thing Maddox noticed was his bounty. 1 silver and 5 copper Hydrex. Remembering the 2 gold Hydrex bounty of the Big Bang Bandits Leader, he was still far away from that type of power.

'Eve, I heard the Big Bang Bandits leader's bounty is 2 gold Hydrex does that mean that if I were to defeat him I would get 5 silver for my bounty and 5 silver for my inventory due to the outlaw skill?'

-Not quite, the system's bounty is different from the bounty that's given to someone by the government. The system places a corresponding bounty to an enemy based on their combat power, this might be higher or lower than what the government deems the threat of the person to be.

'I see, so just because the government puts a bounty of 2 gold Hydrex on his head doesn't necessarily mean that his combat prowess is necessarily 2 gold Hydrex'

-Exactly user, it's also important to note that the bounty of the user does not always accurately reflect their dangerousness. Strategy, preparation, and cunningness still play a factor in how a confrontation may turn out.

With this information, Maddox thought of different ways to immediately increase his combat power.

'Is killing an enemy the only way to increase bounty?'

-While killing an enemy is the main way that most system users increase their bounty, other ways such as completing system missions, perks like Notorious, and certain achievements will also grant an increase in bounty.

'Hmm alright one more thing. Explain more about the skills such as tier and potential evolution.'

-Skills are broken up into 6 tiers: Basic, Advanced, Elite, Ultimate, Epic, and Legendary. As for evolution, some skills will evolve as the user's class ranks up to a higher tier while others are fixed. Certain achievements and special items acquired in Ironridge can also synergize with skills evolving them to a higher tier.

Before Maddox could ask anymore questions about the system, he heard a knock at the door.