The dark red worm-like things were slithering about the street. Each of them was nearly as big as my arm. As I crept closer, I spotted the odd ooze they were leaving behind them as they squirmed about.
The ground was bubbling up under it, with parts cracking away even worse wherever they left their trail. How many of them were slithering away below the surface? Was my plan to use one of the basements still even viable?
One of them swiveled their odd eye stalks back toward me, having noticed my presence. A strange high-pitched squeal came from it, sending out the alert to the rest of the creatures. The sound went up across the entire swarm as they all turned toward me.
The closest ones somehow launched themselves toward me from the ground. I quickly dodged the first three, but the fourth one managed to connect with my upper arm. A deep burning pain hit my nerves at nearly the same time as the smell of my own flesh melting reached my nose.
I ripped it free, a small shock shooting through my fingertips as they made contact. While the pain wasn’t as bad from touching their back as it was their underside, I’d still prefer not to get any more of whatever acids their skin was secreting on me. I kicked the nearest one away from me, punting it down the road as I swung my sword low, killing two of them in mid-leap.
The next several minutes were a blur of quick slashes and rapid dodges. I did my best to avoid another of the creatures touching me. Without healing magic, any contact they made meant I’d have to take the long way toward a full recovery. But despite my footwork, a couple still managed to slip through.
Another level notification flashed in my vision as I finished off the last of them. I was sure there was still more below the ground, but I wasn’t willing to crawl in after their nest quite yet. Once Ash was on the path to recovery, though, then we could really start to deal with the problems that would be plaguing the planet.
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Enemy Defeated
Minor Acid Slug [20 Experience]
The Minor Acid Slug is the juvenile form of the monster. Usually, these creatures appear in giant swarms after an egg sack hatches, and they begin to prey on every living thing in range. Once their food supplies dwindle, they then turn on each other until only the strongest survives. Their flesh constantly secretes a moderately strong acid.
Further Information Locked.
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The first fifteen of them I had killed had been worth the full twenty experience, but after that, it had dropped to only two per kill for the next thirty of them. That could only happen if I had jumped above them by more than five levels, and while it was annoying, it did mean we were rapidly growing. And that wasn’t something to ever complain about.
Just how experience and leveling worked was something I’d need to have a detailed conversation about with Ash, once we had a safe place to do so. Knowing her, she already had all the questions prepared, and was just waiting for the right time herself.
She had loved school and learning every bit she could. It had been the first thing the cancer had taken away from her. We had done our best to replicate as much of the access to knowledge as we could in the house, but it wasn’t easy with how sick she had gotten. Hopefully, that would all change soon.
“Dad, I got a notification about classes. You said not to pick one, right?” Ash called from the edge of the forest.
Wait, damn, she was right, we had shot past the fifth level already. I had been focused on the level difference, and not the fact that we had hit level six. I ignored my own notifications for now. We would need to go over her classes first.
“You should have five right?” I asked, running back to her.
She nodded.
“Okay, starting with the one that’s furthest left, and give me the name and the description. Do not choose anything until we’ve gone over all of them,” I explained. The last thing we needed was her to accidentally pick something like Hedge Mage, leaving it a gamble on me to find a class to heal her, or attempting to push her all the way to level one hundred for a class evolution.
Ash quickly rattled off the classes, and based on her wording, I was pretty sure she did it exactly as they were presented.
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Class
Doodler
Type
Bard
Rarity
Common
The Doodler is a common Bardic-based class that focuses on using simple drawings to alter the reality around you. The Doodler is able to give life to their doodles and use them for all sorts of situations. As it grows, so does the power of the drawings.
Key Ability
Manifest Doodle
Using a personally drawn doodle, the Doodler may bring it to life, manifesting it into reality exactly as drawn on the page. The strength of the doodle will be based on the Doodler’s mental ability to accurately depict what they wish to create, as well as their spirit. The time a manifested doodle remains in the real world is directly tied to the Doodler’s spirit.
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Class
First Victim
Type
Bard
Rarity
Uncommon
The First Victim is an uncommon Bardic-based class that specializes in being the first person targeted. They are strongest in a group and near useless alone. Their abilities work as both a means of defense and empowering the rest of their group. The bonds they form with their allies are the key to their growth.
Key Ability
Primal Scream
Unleashing a Primal Scream alerts all of their allies to the danger they are currently facing, empowering them as they come to your rescue. It also draws any other enemies toward the First Victim, helping to save any allies from potential surprise attacks. The higher their spirit, the more their scream is capable of doing at once.
Class
Story-Teller
Type
Bard
Rarity
Common
The Story-Teller is a common Bardic-based class that turns the power of stories to their advantage. Through tales, rumors, and all manner of spoken word, they are able to influence anyone able to hear their words.
Key Ability
Have You Heard?
Every story spun by the Story-Teller alters the people who hear it, in ways dictated by the story itself. The more elaborate the story, the harder it will be for the teller to maintain the tale. A higher spirit allows for an easier time spinning their tales.
Class
Dog-Tamer
Type
Druid
Rarity
Common
The Dog-Tamer is a common druid class that specializes in a specific type of animal training. The dog is sometimes called man’s best friend, which is a tenet the Dog-Tamer has taken to heart as they build their pack. From the small to the giant, all the four-legged friends call the Dog-Tamer their leader.
Key Ability
Good Boy!
Good Boy allows the Dog-Tamer to treat any dog they meet as a potential friend. Even aggressive or scared dogs will recognize them as someone they can trust. At higher constitution scores, they can begin to sway dogs under the command of foes to their side.
Class
Student
Type
Universalist
Rarity
Common
The Student is the only common Universalist class. It is a class designed solely for learning. As it works to understand the universe around it, its growth can unlock devastatingly powerful options once the class evolves.
Key Ability
Knowledge is Power
Everything from abilities, skills, powers, and knowledge all comes from learning. Learning is the building block to advancement. The Student knows this, and for every scrap of information they manage to consume before their class evolves, the greater bonus they gain toward their evolutions.
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I had never heard of most of these, but I guessed that was just because they were tailor-made for things on Earth. Classes were rarely unique, and when they were, that was a special thing all its own, but names were often different on different worlds, across different cultures with different languages. There were just far too many variables to ever expect something as specialized as classes to be exactly the same.
But, some like Dog-Tamer was nearly the same as any class that worked with a common pet similar to a dog, and a lot of human worlds had dogs. It was one of the more common pairings throughout the multiverse. Humans and dogs just went together.
In any other circumstance, I would consider suggesting she take Student. It was the class I was most familiar with, and it being a common class was something I had always found strange. Then again, you had to put a lot of work into it to push it to the highest levels, and that just wasn’t something most people were capable of doing in a newly integrated world.
“Dad, none of these seem like they’d do much for healing. Well, maybe the First Victim would, based on the name, but it doesn’t say it does,” Ash said, a hint of panic entering her voice.
I could see fear starting to crush back down on her. But we weren’t done yet. This was just the first set of classes.
“No, don’t select that,” I said quickly, making sure she didn’t accidentally go down a path that would make this harder. “I don’t want you to take any of these. No panicking, it’s gonna be okay. This is just the first batch. There’s more at level ten.”
Reaching out, I pulled her to me, hugging her tightly as I did my best to calm the fear. I felt her tears start. Everything she had been holding in, ever since this all started, rushed out.
The words pouring from her mouth between the sobs were incomprehensible, but I understood the meaning behind them. She was still a kid, the world was possibly ending, her mom and brother were missing, and her dad was nothing like she thought he was. Toss on her pegging her hopes to the fastest cure for her cancer, and then not getting it, and she was overwhelmed past the point of rationality.
“Ash, it’s going to be okay. I promise.” Her sobs lightened slightly.
“But what if we still don’t find a class that will help then? There’s no way I can get any treatment, considering this,” she replied through tears as she gestured to the broken landscape that used to be our neighborhood.
“Then we keep trying. The classes tend to get a little more powerful, or at least rarer with every interval. That’s gonna happen until level twenty-five, where we have to pick something. But even then, we can force through to level one hundred if we have to.”
“Can we actually get there fast enough?” She replied, more of her tears drying. Even if she was still worried, some of what I was saying was getting through.
“I am a one man army, beyond anything anyone in this integration is expecting. I will not stop until you are safe, no matter what it takes. This sword has brought fear and ruin to empires. I promise it can save us from the fools who thought this planet would be easy pickings. You also have the benefit of everything I know, to help guide your choices. Trust me when I say this; that’s much better than how I lived through this the first time.”
Some of that was bluster. I doubted I could fight the entirety of the integration forces at once, at least not yet. At the peak of my strength, though? I’d have already stopped them.
“Wait, Dad, what classes did you get?” She asked, suddenly remembering my levels as well as her own.
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Class Selected
Class
Frog Stabber
Type
Fighter
Rarity
Common
The Frog Stabber is a common Fighter-based class. It specializes in fighting the frog, a subtype of an amphibian, using a stabbing implement. As it grows, so can the weapon specialization used, as well as applying the skills to other similar creatures.
Key Ability
Anura Hunter
Does it hop, swim, or croak? Then it may be a frog, and that means that Frog-Stabber is able to gain a bonus to all of their battles with frogs, as long as they are wielding a suitable implement for stabbing. Both strength and perception directly impact the effectiveness of Anura Hunter. At higher values, they are able to overcome their restrictive weapon requirements.
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—Memories of Adam Miller before he found Earth
