The Goddess Issara paused and smiled fondly as she gazed at me. “And then there is you. You love the adventure and exploration that come with it. You get excited by the prospect of a mystery to be solved. And yet you have a strong sense of Justice and doing what is right. It is why I chose you. It is what I like most about you. My choice has its own consequences. I have placed a burden on you, one that carries a great deal of trouble with it.”
Here the Goddess Issara sighed and closed her eyes. She looked . . . sad, maybe even a little pained by whatever it was she was going to say next. With a slight quiver in her voice, she said, “I am willing to lighten your burden. I will relieve you of your obligations to me if you so choose. You will no longer be my champion.”
I was stunned by the offer. The Goddess was offering to take away my class? Was that even something she could do? But before I could ask, the Goddess Ishtar spoke.
“In exchange, I am willing to make you an Immortal. A class reserved for the royal guard of the Babylonian empire of the past,” the Goddess Ishtar offered.
An Immortal? “And what’s that?” I asked, letting my curiosity speak for me.
“An Immortal is an elite warrior. They are skilled in the spear, bow, swords, daggers, and alchemical weaponry. They are also trained in mounted and unmounted combat. They are the ultimate warrior. If you were to accept this offer, you would be allowed to remain here to train with those Immortals of the past who have earned a place within this paradise after their deaths,” the Goddess Ishtar answered, then with a more severe look she continued, “However, if you accept this offer, you will give up all that you have learned from my daughter. And more importantly, the divine power she has siphoned to you shall be returned to her. Is that understood?”
I nodded in understanding.
The Goddess Ishtar nodded once, the severe look on her face softening. “It is good that you understand the consequences of your decision. Now, what will you do?”
“Can I think about it?” I asked. I wasn’t ready to make that kind of decision. At least, not that quickly.
“Time is short, adventurer,” the Goddess Ishtar answered. “You have a few minutes to choose and if you do not then I will choose for you.”
The Immortal class sounded amazing as an advanced warrior class. To know how to use so many weapons in addition to the ability to fight from the back of a horse or from the ground, something my friend, Titan Beast struggled with. And what was alchemical weaponry? Would that mean I need to learn Alchemy? Would that cost me one of my professions? It really did sound like a fun and exciting class.
But there was a cost. There was always a cost. And this cost, I didn’t know if I was willing to pay it. All the spells and skills the Goddess Issara gave me, that I earned. And that was a lot of skills and spells gone, not to mention all the levels I had gained in them. All that training wasted.
Still, there was something tempting about it. One less burden. Sure, Epic was still one hell of a burden. But if I didn’t need to fight a player killer every time I saw one . . . it would be a relief. And then there were the changes in my Stat requirements. If I lost the Priest aspect, Intellect, Wisdom, and Charisma would become secondary. I wouldn’t need to spend hours reading every time I leveled up. Instead, I could just train. I could fight to my heart’s content, killing monsters and fighting through dungeons. I could focus on just getting stronger and fighting whatever Epic threw in my path.
And yet . . . I sighed. And yet, the player killers were still out there. I hated the player killers. I hated that they took such pleasure in killing other players and the people of the World Tree alike. I knew well enough the Goddess Issara could find someone else to do the job. But would anyone be able to do the job as well as me? Maybe whoever replaced me would be even better? But what if they were worse? What if the Goddess never found someone to replace me?
I looked to the Goddess Issara for guidance, but she was gone, only the Goddess Ishtar remained. It occurred to me that my Goddess might be angry that I was even considering it, or she didn’t want to influence my decision. I wished Rose were there with me. She would have helped me talk through it.
“Time runs short, mortal. Choose,” the Goddess Ishtar pressed.
So, what did I want? Did I want to make my life easier? Did I want to give up the thing that made me unique in the World Tree? Or did I want to continue carrying the burden that came with my class? And could I beat Epic with a different class? Did being a Warrior-Priest really make that much of a difference when it came to fighting Epic? And that last question was one I could answer. No, my class meant nothing when it came to fighting Epic. But it did matter when it came to fighting other players. Players like Jinn Sade. She was still out there. And if Epic enlisted the help of one player, what was to say It wouldn’t enlist the help of another? What was to stop Epic from creating an army of player killers just like Jinn? And there was one more thought that creeped into my mind . . . as much as I hated the overwhelming burden Epic represented, regardless of how he came to be a part of the World Tree, I was still responsible for bringing It into being.
“I can’t,” I said, surprising myself a little. “I can’t give up my class,” I said with finality. I thought I accepted this burden a while ago. I suppose this was me truly accepting.
The Goddess Ishtar narrowed her eyes at me, looking displeased by my answer. “Even with such burdens? You are being given a rare chance to select a new class. One that no other adventurer has been able to obtain. You are even being offered training by legends that held the class previously. Are you really so certain?”
“Yes,” I said. Plus, I liked my class. Sure, the player killer hunting aspect was a lot of work, or it could be at times, but I liked being able to dole out a little justice now and then. And I would need it if I were ever forced to face down Jinn Sade again.
The Goddess Ishtar pursed her lips and clicked her tongue in irritation. Then she seemed to smile in spite of herself. “So be it. Daughter, return.”
The Goddess Issara faded into existence as if she had just left ‘Stealth’ . . . which might have been exactly what she did. And I couldn’t help but notice the look of pride on my Goddess’s face . . . and maybe a little relief. “I knew you would not abandon me,” she said happily, then frowning she added, “Though, did you really need to think about it that long?”
I snorted back a laugh. My Goddess really was exasperating at times. “You did offer. It would have been rude if I hadn’t at least thoroughly considered it.”
“I suppose you have a point,” the Goddess Issara agreed before turning to face her mother. “Now then, mother, as for our deal.”
“Yes, yes, you won your little gamble,” the Goddess Ishtar said, waiving away her daughter’s words. With an absent wave of her hand three bricks flew from the wall, each brick adorned with one of the three beasts, a bull, a lion, and a dragon. “My daughter placed a considerable wager. The reward for her wager should she win, is that I would assist in evolving your class. Be grateful, mortal.”
The Goddess Issara smiled brilliantly, she asked, “This is kind of fun, right?”
I laughed and shook my head. Begrudgingly, I agreed. “Yes, this is fun . . . but only a little.”
“I’ll take it. Now, for your evolution choices,” the Goddess Issara began, waving a hand forward and causing the brick with the golden bull to move forward. “First, the bull. An unstoppable force, you trample all that stands in your path and crush your enemies underfoot. Class: Holy Juggernaut. You sacrifice Dexterity, Intellect, Wisdom and Charisma for massive increases in Strength, Endurance, and Stamina as well as gaining access to heavy plate armor.”
Above the brick with the bull, a hologram of a heavily armored warrior appeared, a notched tower shield in one hand and a short spear in the other. He was covered from head to toe in thick plate armor painted white with blood red accents. The helm was that of a Bull’s head, or a Minotaur. This was clearly a tank class. And definitely not for me. I didn
’t think Rose would appreciate the competition either.
Not waiting for an answer, the Goddess Issara continued, “The lion. Noble and wise, you use your mind to dominate your foes and restore your allies. Class: Holy Warden. You sacrifice Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, and Stamina as well as being restricted to light leather or cloth armor in exchange for massive increases in Intellect, Wisdom, and Charisma as well as boosts to Holy Spell healing and damage.”
The hologram above the stone with the golden lion showed a man in light armor, a spear in one hand and a holy radiance glowing in the other. Similarly, colored white armor with red accents adorned the figure. Around his neck was a thick red mane. This was a spellcaster class for sure, and one that could heal or deal damage.
Again, the Goddess Issara motioned toward the next brick, the golden dragon. “The Dragon. Death from above, you are carried on swift wings to strike suddenly and without warning. Class: Holy Dragoon. You sacrifice Endurance for slight gains to Strength, Dexterity and Intellect.”
The hologram showed a lightly armored warrior wielding a spear with two hands, the tip of the spear glowing with holy magic. His armor was a mishmash of thin armor plates overlaid on leather with chainmail mesh covered joints, and like the others, this was painted white with red highlights. The gloves looked like two dragon heads gripping the spear in their mouths. If the first was a tank and the second a spellcaster or healer, then this was the melee damage dealer.
Taking in all three choices, it seemed I would finally need to choose a path, no more of the in between class I’d been playing as. I felt like I could eliminate the Holy Juggernaut immediately. Rose was our tank and she didn’t need me mucking things up in that department. The Holy Warden was interesting. It looked like a pure spellcaster class, but then again, it did have that spear. The question was, was a ranged spellcaster for me? Good question. I often struggled with sitting back and casting spells. I could do it, sure, but did I really want to pigeonhole myself into that role? And then there was the Holy Dragoon. An apparent melee class with some magic abilities. The bonuses it offered felt a little . . . less than what the others offered. I supposed, slowing my Endurance gains for increasing Strength, Intellect, and Dexterity gains were . . . solid. And then there was the matter of the skills and spells each class offered. What would they look like? Would the spellcaster drop holy bombs that healed my allies and decimated my enemies? Or would I be casting Holy Smite type spells on repeat? And what about the Dragoon? What did that look like? Would I lose a bunch of my spells?
Still, I knew myself well enough to know it was a choice between Holy Warden and Holy Dragoon. “Can I ask some questions?” I asked. I needed more information. It was obvious I was going to choose an evolution of my class. That was a given. I just needed more information about what I was getting into.
“Ask your questions. There is much to be done before you can evolve,” the Goddess Issara said, sounding more than a little excited.
“Do I get any new spells or skills with each class?” I asked first.
“Yes,” the Goddess Issara answered.
“Can you tell me about them?” I asked.
With a small frown, my goddess answered, “Unfortunately, no. The skills and spells you acquire will be based on your current skills and spells and how you have developed them. Some of your skills and spells may be absorbed and combined into new skills and spells.”
Well that wasn’t helpful. But it did make me even more curious. It also made me a little worried. “What would happen to my skill and spell levels?”
The Goddess Issara frowned a little deeper. “I am sorry to say the levels will be lost. Although the spell or skill will start much stronger depending on the current level of the skill or spell.”
The Goddess Ishtar interrupted, “I do not have all day. Hurry up or I will leave, and you will not evolve your class.”
Feeling a sudden sense of urgency, I requested, “Just one more question.”
The Goddess Ishtar sighed. “Fine, just one.”
“What are the bonuses and penalties? How does that impact me?” I asked.
The Goddess Issara smiled and answered, “That I can answer. For the Holy Warden, your Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, and Stamina are halved per level. But your Intellect, Wisdom and Charisma are doubled, that is twenty points of Wisdom per level and an even greater bonus for your Intellect and Charisma due to your racial bonuses at thirty points per level. As for the Holy Dragoon, your Endurance cap per level will be reduced by half, so just ten points per level. However, your Dexterity and Strength cap will increase to fifteen per level and due to your racial bonus, your Intellect will increase to twenty per level. This is in addition to an increase in the rate at which you gain points for these stats. Mind you, any stats you have gained thus far are yours and shall not be taken away, however, you shall not be able to gain points in those areas until your level has grown to be able to grow beyond your current stats.” In other words, I had four hundred and sixty points of Endurance currently. With either class, my level cap would be two hundred and thirty. I wouldn’t be able to increase my Endurance again until I hit level 47.
What she was saying still shocked me. I originally thought that the increases and decreases she was talking about were in reference to the rate at which they would increase . . . gain experience. I didn’t expect an actual increase in the stat caps. That was something I thought was restricted by a race, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Letting that go for now, I needed to consider my options. The bonuses of the Holy Warden were, quite frankly, amazing even with the greatly reduced Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, and Stamina. And that was just the stat bonuses, it also included a bonus to healing and damage spells. But I couldn’t imagine that the Dragoon was that much weaker. Or did my Half-High Elf, Half-Human racial bonuses make that class just that much better?
“Time is short, choose,” the Goddess Ishtar insisted, her patience all but gone.
In the end, I just needed to trust my gut, “I choose-”
Chapter 17 – Micaela
With the new materials coming in, Micaela’s Order House was well under way once more. The lowest level was finished not long after Penelope and Bell left with the lumberjacks. They had plenty of materials to finish the second lower level and most of the third before more materials were needed. And thanks to the efforts of her amazing family and friends, materials began flowing back to her. More materials than were originally stolen. By the end of one day of materials gathering, she had stockpiled enough to finish the Order House and add a second story to it. Though a second story could wait until the Order House was completed. Unfortunately, with 9 fewer workers, including a foreman, progress slowed significantly.
Waking up once again with Olaf, Micaela was caught up on everything from the previous day, mostly about the undead in the quarry and the fight with the Pit Master. Olaf ended by complaining about Bye-bye being reckless and nearly causing a wipe.
“Did he really almost cause you to wipe?” Micaela asked.
Olaf huffed, before reluctantly answering, “No, not really. It was just stupid, running off on his own, trying to stop one of the undead from getting help. He ended up pulling more of the undead. It’s just that if he pulled more than that, it really could have been a wipe.”
“Then I don’t see the problem,” Micaela said. “Bye-bye is a bit reckless at times, but that’s what he’s got us for.”
“Yeah, but what if his recklessness cost us a quest chain? What if it costs us Hurligville?” Olaf countered.
“Pish posh. First, if we lose Hurligville, then it’s on all of us. Second, if that really did happen, then we would find a way to take it back,” Micaela replied as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “Bye-bye’s occasional recklessness is the reason we’ve even got the chance to build this Order in the first place. It’s led to most of our more interesting adventures and probably saved the party more than once as well.”
Olaf frowned then said,
“It’s just . . . it makes it difficult to plan for an encounter when you don’t know what Bye-bye might suddenly do. We had a plan to deal with the two Foremen near the Pit Master. Then Bye-bye went and changed the plan without telling any of us. Sure, it worked out okay, even if he did eventually die in the end, but that won’t always be the case.”
“Ollie, you’ll figure it out. Yeah, he can be impulsive at times, but more often than not, it tends to work out in our favor,” Micaela pointed out. “Honestly, I think the best thing you can do is support him. I would put money on it that he would support you if you ever did something reckless à la Bye-bye.”
“That’s . . . fair,” Olaf said with a sigh. “Still, it’s frustrating.”
“I know,” Micaela said. “I hate to cut you off, but we really should get moving. I think I’ll be able to finish the structure today. Then it’s just windows and doors, then we’re done. I think I’ll do the main entrance door last, so that I can have everyone there for it.”
“Grand gesture and all that?” Olaf asked with a smile.
“You know me so well,” Micaela replied. “Provided nothing else went missing last night, we should be in good shape.”
“Do you think you’ll finish today?” Olaf asked.
Micaela hummed in thought for a moment before answering, “Probably first thing tomorrow morning. Once the Order House is done, there is some administration stuff to do. But once that’s done, I might be free to adventure with you once again. I can’t wait to see how Arch and Pwn do.”
“Then I wish you the best. We’ll be heading out to try and finish that quest today,” Olaf said.
“Are you?” Micaela asked. “When I ran into Rose and Bye-bye last night, Rose mentioned Kirlan needed a day or two to repair her armor. She said that Pit Master really did a number on her gear.”
World Tree Online: The Order of Epic Grinders: 4th Dive Page 28
