``What should I choose?´´ said Hayate while looking at Lucius.
``Whatever you want, it's your build, not mine. But before you evolve your class, do tell me how many sp do you have?´´ said Lucius while opening his status page. ``Around 5k sp, why?´´ answered Hayate. ``were going to need to buy somethings from the system´´ said Lucius.
Status
Name: Lucius Aurelian
Race:[Human(F)]
Class:[Warrior (Medium)] LV:10 (Evolution pending)
Profession: N/A
Hp:450/450
Mp:120/120
Sta:150/150
System points: 4530
Stats
Strenght:45
Vitality:30
Defence:33(+5Def)
Endurance:7(+3End)
Perception:11
Intelligence:9
Agility:75
Wisdom:6
Willpower:8
Free points:0
He was speed, anyway, he did remember something, an exploit an old friend told him about the system shop and how it was the easiest way to get a rare stat, rare stats were pretty common past C grade and kind expected, but in F grade those were god tier things.
``Hayate, pick your skill and don't evolve your class just yet, just open the shop and search for the Broken 7 clouds brush, a whetstone, and a basic energy crystal.´´ While saying this, Lucius bought those things from the system shop. He'll be dammed if this doesn't work, but if it does, then hell be set.
Taking the items and using the basic combination function of the system, he obtained the item he was told about.
[7 Clouds brush (rare)]
A brush old and traditional, once used by a great painter and abandoned when it no longer served its purpose, now restored, it will give you one last masterpiece before its end, out of gratitude.
``How did you do that´´ said Hayate after seeing Lucius holding 3 things in his hand just before the brush flew into the sky and the stones became pure light, going into the brush as it repaired itself and flew back down into Lucius's hands. ``The system combination thingy´´ said Lucius with a deadpan face.
Bringing the brush to his interface and mimicking the painting gesture on the status panel, it all started to happen, he could faintly feel all his different energies merging into one, not quite soul essence, but similar. As fast as the rush of energy coursing through his body came, it was gone, and so was the brush. Opening his status, Lucius said A pleasant surprise.
Status
Name: Lucius Aurelian
Race:[Human(F)]
Class:[Warrior (Medium)] LV:10 (Evolution pending)
Profession: N/A
Hp:2050/2050
Qi:2050/2050
System points: 2300
Stats
Martial Power:82(+7)
Free points:0
He could feel it, he was a lot more balanced, a lot more effi-``WOOW!!!!´´ came a shout from Hayate at seeing the system work its magic.
``How do I use this?´´ and the expected question made its appearance ``just like brushing against your status panel.´´ After that little interruption, he decided to evolve his class.
[Class Selection]
[Aprendice Samurai]
An early stage of samurai barely knows the art but is willing to fix its flaws, and is more on the speed side. gives: 15agi 10per 15str 6freepoints.
[Aprendice swordman]
barely starting, simple and deadly, but not good enough, the start of your journey in the path of the blade. gives: 20str 15def 5vit 6freepoints.
[Aprendice knight]
a noble knight who fights for what he believes in, filled with chivalrous spirit and a mission. gives: 15str 15def 10vit 6freepoints
[Martial artist(2nd-rate)]
a basic martial artist, not the best nor the worst, able to use their internal energy to boost themselves in combat. gives: 40mar 20me 8freepoints
He did know what he was picking, it was obviously the only good one there, a martial artist.
[Ding] [Class Evolved to Martial artist(2nd-rate)]
[Ding] [Skill obtained Medidate(Common)]. That one notification made Lucius' eyes widen, meditate on a skill normally obtained at grade D and very important for later progression, and now Lucius was obligated by moral law to make shenanigans with that skill and get some of his skills back.
[Ding] [Skill obtained Basic Hand to Hand Combat (inferior)]
[Ding] [Skill obtained Basic martial reinforcement(common)]
Nice, he got a baseline for how the energy can be used, it was good. Now he just had to mess around with it until he found a way to efficiently use it.``Hayate asks the system where the city is because it's late, and I don't wanna sleep in the sand´´
``I FEEL LIKE A GOD AND NOTHING CAN BEAT ME!!´´ sighing deeply, Lucius smacked Hayate's head to kick him down off the power high that evolution gives.``Location of the city, now´´ said Lucius.
``OOW!- fine, fine. It's that way´´ said Hayate, pointing in some direction. ``Now, let's go to sleep´´ said Lucius, sprinting in the direction Hayate pointed at. Hayate is following a bit behind.
-------------------------------------
Hayate Takeda
Seeing Lucius run like it was nothing, it kinda was nothing after all, it felt weird, because he was now aware of the energy running through his body, and he was more efficient somehow. They have been running for 10 minutes, but he didn't feel tired, and neither did Lucius from what he could see.
Only after reaching the city did Lucius stop running. ``There is going to be a sandstorm tonight,´´ he said. Hayate didn't know how Lucius knew that, but that guy did seem dead set on that. ´´How do you know that?´´ Hayate asked because he had to know, he had to ask.
``Wind is too harsh and dry,´´ said Lucius while looking at the city pond? No, there was dried sand beyond the pond, so it meant it was bigger before. ``That doesn't answer anything´´ said Hayate, voicing his thoughts.
``It wasn't meant to mean anything. It was just an answer to the question you gave me, just a fact.´´ Hayate hated how Lucius seemed to lack common sense sometimes. But there was no changing the guy. ``You and your weird answers´´ said Hayate, shaking his head.
``This city is slowly dying, yet that man's hope keeps it alive even if barely´´ said Lucius, not really looking at anything.
Paying for a whole year, it came to a total of 6,898,500 berries. After that, Lucius just did the same he did last night and fell asleep instantly. Lucius was an enigma in Hayate's mind; the man was weird and weirdly knowledgeable on various themes, but lacked some kind of common sense.
The morning did show Lucius's words to be true, as a lot more dunes seemed to be around the city. After eating and getting more food, they set out again in search of more animals to level up.
``I don't understand why the rush to get to level 25?´´ said Hayate. He didn't really understand why Lucius wanted to be level 25 so much. ``Shennanigangs, and power´´ said Lucius, and yeah, that checked. That was Lucius for you. After countless questions during yesterday's hunt, he found out a bit of Lucius's personality; he was a chaos goblin.
``What kind of shenanigans?, And can I get in on that?´´ said Hayate, because he knew Lucius had some kind of idea to fast-track some kind of class or skill. ``If you want. Going to be weird to explain to be honest´´ said Lucius, barely looking at him.
It was a lot more efficient now, running for hours and bashing scorpions' heads or slashing lizards. Leveling up and gaining sp.
[Ding] [Class Martial artist(2nd rate) level up 10>11]
[Ding] [Class Martial artist(2nd rate) level up 11>12]
[Ding] [Class Martial artist(2nd rate) level up 12>13]
...
..
.
[Ding] [Class Martial artist(2nd rate) level up 20>21]
[Ding] [Race Human(F) level up 10>11]
[Ding] [Race Human(F) level up 11>12]
[Ding] [Race Human(F) level up 12>13]
[Ding] [Race Human(F) level up 13>14]
...
..
.
[Ding] [Race Human(F) level up 20>21]
He had gotten 11 levels in both class and race after a few hours, gaining the skills [Advanced combat sense(uncommon)] and [Martial arts proficiency(rare)] because Lucius made him choose them.
``So what are we doing after level 25?´´ It was kinda late to sign if that was the sun going lower into the horizon. ``Getting something very important, you got the martial artist class too, right?´´
``Yeah, it was the class that gave the most stats´´ said Hayate, not really thinking much about it. ``Well, we are going to get a lot more utility skills´´
``Why do we need utility skills?´´ asked Hayate, not really knowing why he'd need more than 1 or 2 utility skills and a ton of attack skills to spam at people to erase them. ´´Because utility skills are more flexible, and that gives us the ability to add them into our builds as passive buffs´´ said Lucius, clearly disappointed in Hayate for not going beyond the unga bunga mindset most gamers use in their first playthrough.
``That... is really clever actually,´´ said Hayate, because passives were always some of the most useful things to get early on some builds. ``Why do you think everyone does that?´´ said Lucius with the tone of a disappointed parent, only a lot more whiny and younger.
``Harsh, but fair, it does take time to adjust to everything that's happening. I'm pretty sure I'm not even over everything that has happened until now´´ said Hayate, not really knowing why he said that last part. ´´You'll get used to it´´ said Lucius with a nostalgic tone, probably remembering something about his past.
``So what's next? Are we going home or cont-´´ as Hayate was talking, the floor started to tremble and a big lump of sand was lifting near them, and slowly it revealed itself. A giant pink lizard, it was massive and rapidly approaching them.
[Giant-Lizard Lvl:26]
Well, that was just great, a lizard bigger than them and higher level than them. It was just what they needed. ``Those come in pairs´´ Hayate heard Lucius say. Yep, the situation was worse, and he didn't even jinx it. ``We running? Or are we going to fight that thing?´´ said Hayate, but he already knew the answer. Lucius was going to fight that thing alone, even if Hayate ran away. Seeing Lucius run at the lizard answered his question.