System Change: Chapter 12

Derek, Leon, and Thomas moved farther down the stream, leaving the grieving family with their privacy. Derek found a small boulder beside the stream and used it as an impromptu seat. He could tell that Thomas was having a hard time with the scene behind them.

“Kid, this happens more than you would know. It’s something you have to get used to unless you plan to never leave your home again. Even then”—he pointed at the barren village—“that can always happen.”

He wasn’t going to coddle the kid. He’d already shown him the scene at the village, so this was nothing. The only difference was that the boy was close to the family. “It doesn’t get any easier… ever. You just learn to hide your emotions from others… and even yourself, better. I know it’s harder because they are people you are familiar with and care about, but unless you’re the next person to die, they won’t be the last you see.”

“He’s right,” Leon said. “And it doesn’t get easier. You just get better at controlling yourself.”

“I know,” Thomas said. “I’ve lost before… when my parents didn’t come home. In some way, I’m envious that they get to say goodbye.”

“It’s only natural,” Derek said.

He had some questions for the boy, but he didn’t ask them. Thomas had only ever talked about his grandpa and grandma, he had never brought up his parents. If he wanted to talk about it, he would. Until then, Derek kept silent. It was none of his business, anyway. He didn’t even know why he wanted to know.

As the trio sat in silence, Derek decided to clear up his interface by reading the notifications.

At least I know that this system still has the same shared XP mechanic as the other. He scoffed at the system, making his life harder. Clearly, he did almost all the work when it came to killing those three wolves. He moved on to the next kill messages.

In total, he killed 32 different monsters in the village, netting him over 1,000 experience and five levels. He stopped leveling when his level hit ten.

Derek pulled up his information.

I wonder what I should do next. Maybe I should choose a class… Derek snorted. He didn’t want to have to choose a class so quickly, but if his progress halted until he made a decision, he would have to choose one sooner rather than later.

Derek scanned the area, making sure there weren’t any threats wandering around. Seeing that everyone was relatively safe… sad, but safe, he decided to look over his options. He focused on the class tab.

He started reading down the list but stopped once he realized that there were over a hundred classes he could choose from. Holy shit! How am I supposed to choose from this many classes? He couldn’t believe his eyes. Before, when having to choose a class, there were only a couple dozen options and most were common classes.

Back then, very few of his class options were of higher rarity, so his decision wasn’t hard. Yet, it still took him forever to choose his class. Now, with so many options, including rare and even epic classes, he didn’t know what to do.

He looked over at the kid and Leon. Thomas won’t know anything, but I bet Leon can help me. “Hey, Leon,” he said, getting the man’s attention. When Leon turned around, he continued, “I have a couple questions if you don’t mind answering.”

“Whatever you need to know, ask. It’s the least I can do for you after saving my life and the lives of the escaping villagers,” Leon said.

“Okay. If I get too personal, let me know. You don’t have to answer,” Derek said. He wanted to let Leon know that he could refuse to answer if he wanted to. He wasn’t forcing the man.

Leon frowned but nodded.

“First, if you don’t mind, when you were choosing your first class, how many classes were available for you to choose from?” Derek asked.

Leon thought for a second before answering. “Well, I had it better than most. I had around 20 different classes I could choose from when I reached level 10.”

“Oh, so 20 is a good amount?” Seeing Leon nod, he asked his next question. “Out of the classes, how many of them were common, uncommon, rare… you know, different rarities?”

“Rare?” Leon shook his head. “I only know of a few people who were able to choose a rare class—especially as their first class. I was extremely lucky to receive a single class with uncommon rarity. Most people settle for common classes their whole lives. Especially villagers like me,” Leon explained.

“In fact… from what I’ve heard, even nobles in the big cities consider it good fortune to receive an uncommon class as an initial choice. If they’re able to choose a rare class, they’re considered a prodigy,” Leon said.

“I see…” Derek said. If that’s the case, then what’s up with all these different classes and rarities? Finding something suitable is going to take me forever. Hmm… “Say, do you know what the determining factor is when it comes to class selection? Like, why the system would allow some to choose a rare class while others only get common?”

Leon’s eyes widened, and he stared at Derek in alarm.

“What?” Derek asked.

“It’s the Great System. Calling the Great System… what you called it would be considered blasphemy,” Leon said.

Derek snorted. “What’s it going to do? Smite me?” He looked at the sky. “Smite me, oh system,” he said, then looked at Leon. “See? Nothing.” He didn’t know much about systems, but he knew that whatever they were, they had better things to do than punish a single individual over some words.

Leon let out a breath and shook his head. He didn’t comment on Derek’s antics. “I’m not sure about your question. There are some theories, but they’re all above me. The only common consensus is that the Great System gives out classes that are suitable for the individual.”

“So, what the person does before selecting a class is taken into account by the system, then counts toward the classes they might obtain?” Derek asked.

Leon shrugged. “Maybe… I don’t know. People have always been discussing the topic.”

Hmm… Derek had some ideas about why he was able to choose between so many classes but didn’t say them out loud. Except for wisdom, all my stats are already above 200, which I’m sure makes me suitable for tons of different classes. So the system definitely takes stats into account. If it was only experiences, I wouldn’t have half the classes available.

I see a lot of classes that lean towards me being a tank that uses heavy weapons. Those classes should be there because of a combination of my stats, personality, and experiences… Ahh… all these classes to choose from are going to give me a headache. He sighed and asked some more questions.

“If you take a common class initially, can you upgrade its rarity later on? What happens when you hit level 25?” Derek asked.

Leon looked at him, confused. Derek understood the confusion. How could somebody as strong as him not know the basics when it came to classes? Derek didn’t bother to explain.

“Some classes upgrade in rarity as you level. Those are called growth-type classes. All classes have some form of upgrade at different levels, like at level 25, but the upgrade isn’t in rarity. It’s in Class Skills. The skills may upgrade, or you may get new skills. Sometimes, and this is what most of us do if we are lucky enough to and can do it at an early upgrade, you will be able to choose a different, higher rarity class at your upgrade points,” Leon explained.

“And how does that work?” Derek asked.

“Well, it can be a problem… switching classes, that is. Some Class Skills may be suitable for your new class and carry over, but it’s also possible to lose whole skills. If a previous skill isn’t compatible with your new class, you will lose it and every skill point you spent buying it. So you have to take careful consideration when choosing to switch classes, even if it’s a higher rarity,” Leon answered.

“Those who start out with higher rarity classes are truly blessed.” Leon’s eyes radiated envy. “At some point, the loss of skills and skill points become too detrimental to make switching worth it, even with the extra skill points. Sure, you don’t lose much if you can switch at level 25, but if you’re at level 100, would you risk losing every skill you have? You may end up only having a couple of skills to go with your new class. Switching to a rare class at level 100 would give you extra skill points to spend but only a couple of Class Skills available to spend them on.”

“Extra skill points?” Derek asked.

“Yes.” Leon furrowed his brow. “Common classes give five skill points at each class upgrade. Uncommon gives seven and rare gives ten. I’m unsure of higher rarity classes. But say you reach your level 50 or 100 upgrade, do you want to possibly lose up to 10 skill points just to upgrade from a common to uncommon class? Remember, you lose the skill points along with the skills.

“If you read the class description of the new class and it is similar to the class you currently use, then it may be worth switching classes. Your new class may be suitable for your old skills. Then you wouldn’t lose them and the skill points invested in them… or the time invested leveling them up,” Leon finished.

“I see,” Derek replied. “Thank you for answering my questions, Leon.” He was truly grateful that the older man seriously answered all his questions, even if they seemed dumb or basic.

“Not a problem,” Leon replied with a smile.

Derek inwardly groaned at the decisions he was going to have to make. Let’s see if I can sort this shit out. He pulled the list of classes back up and winced at the number. There has to be a better way. He thought, then focused on the rarity tab. The classes tab sorted itself by rarity, and he took the small win.

This is more like it, he thought, then scrolled through a bunch of the epic rarity classes. Arch Sage… nope, sounds like pure magic-based, not for me. Sword Dancer… Blade Singer… too dexterity-based. He went through the list of classes, dismissing classes that didn’t suit his fighting style or personality.

He mostly kept classes that focused on endurance and vitality. He also kept some classes in that may have some higher resistance to magic. On Earth, he was very tanky, but some monsters and enemies that used magic took a toll on him. He’d like to have some defense against magic this go around. Soon, he had the list of classes he liked down to six.

Derek felt he made a very compelling class list. Now, he had to thoroughly go through each class and find the one that fit him best… or made the most sense. He started at the bottom of his list, with the least rare class.

That doesn’t sound bad at all. If I wasn’t a sucker for my glaive, I wouldn’t mind trying it out. I do like fighting with my hands. What if one of the skills lets me hide in the shadows and move around as I wish? That would be awesome. My survivability would definitely increase with that. After viewing Shadow Brawler, he moved on to the next class.

Hmmm… I really like my glaive… He imagined all the new glaive-related skills he would get by selecting Chaos Glaive. Still, he moved on to the next class.

Derek kept his eyes trained on the class description. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Eternal Guardian checks pretty much all my boxes, except for a focus on magic defense. But it may still have it and just doesn’t say. It is eternal. With the extra endurance and vitality, my magic defense would be boosted naturally. Still, Derek wasn’t so impatient to jump the gun and choose the class without thinking hard.

You fight, you bleed… that doesn’t sound fun at all. Pass. Just because he liked the survivability of classes didn’t mean he liked getting hurt. He wasn’t a masochist. Next.

Wow. The class name sounds kind of basic, but the description is crazy. And it’s a growth-type class… Does that mean that it may become a legendary class in the future? He couldn’t help but do a double-take at the class. He would get more defense, and that would go on top of his stats from his previous system.

Also, he would get more attacking power. With his class from the other system, he had great defense, but he lagged in attack power and skills. Plus, he would be able to use Arcane magic. Even in the other system, Arcane users were legends.

But, he calmed down. There was one other class he needed to look at. He had avoided the class and saved it for last. Not because it was awesome, but because it brought back bad memories. Memories of him being trapped in the darkness… in the void. However, it was also an epic growth-type class, so he would be an idiot to reject it just because he was scared.

Derek read, re-read, then read the class description again. What? Two skills? The other epic classes have four. I mean, what the hell? The 20 free stat points are nice, though. Really, Derek thought his choice was clearly made for him. He wanted to immediately back out and choose Arcane Knight. But something kept him from doing so. It was like an itch at the back of his mind. Almost like he had with his dormant skills.

Ahh! I just don’t know. Why is choosing a class so hard? I knew this was going to happen. It’s always a pain in the ass. Even class upgrades are a pain in the ass. He inwardly vented his frustrations, then looked back at the class description and went over the line ‘you will no longer become trapped in the void’ over and over.

He had planned to never get anywhere near the void again, but that phrase was an extra insurance for him. What if the class lets me control it? Not only would I not have to fear it, but I could use it. Still, only getting two skills is a real kick in the balls… maybe it’s a case of quality over quantity.

Derek sighed. His choice was down to the two growth classes. Finally, he made his decision. Screw it.

Yes.