Chapter 157 - Future Build

Tom sat patiently outside Dimitri’s office.

The volunteer had collected him to be ready right on time for the appointment, but Dimitri was running things like a doctor’s surgery.

If the wait was only thirty minutes, he thought, it would be a win. Not that he cared about wasted time. His avatar waited impatiently and moved from seat to seat channelling the absolute essence of boredom while his consciousness spent the time ensconced within his system room.

Finally, having access to the experience shop, even if it was read only was a godsend. With the progress he had made during this life, all the detailed planning he had completed in the tutorial was no longer relevant. He had to update his entire planned build.

Back then he had structured his class selections around a single trait called Fate’s Agility. It had granted him up to an extra four attributes per level but only two extra if he fed the wrong ones. In simple terms it gave him extra hoops to jump through if he wanted to optimise his growth. Basically, his possession of that trait meant that he had been forced to restrict class selection exclusively to those that directed attributes exclusively into strength and vitality or alternatively classes that gave a big burst of points to a single attribute on threshold levels. For him, that bonus on threshold levels only, had been an Elemental Summoner class that granted all the accumulated attributes into magic every four levels.

On an individual class level, his attribute allocation had been terribly lopsided, but across the build he had progressed all five attributes mostly in unison.

This time, with his wealth of free points from titles he couldn’t implement a similar strategy.

For this life, he had freedom of choice and it was exhilarating, but an abundance of possibilities created its own paralysis. There were so many options to select from that he was glad he had five years to pare the list down.

Prerequisites mattered and naturally nothing from his first life countered apart from the benefit of the titles that he had brought through. Of particular relevance was the title that reduced the requirements he had to meet to gain a class which ballooned out the possible combinations he needed to wade through, particularly when he was also attempting to model for five further years of prerequisite accumulation.

That title Tom had decided at least for his first class was going to go toward negating the prerequisite that required you to either possess a required number of class slots or a class with a rarity of only one less than the one he was purchasing. There was no way he was going to allow himself to be restricted to just advanced level classes, which meant he had to hit the other requirements.

The question was where should he push his focus. He had classes available that he hadn’t even known had existed back in the tutorial.

Ones where they boosted his bodies strength rather than supplying abilities. He focused on the wall and text appeared.

Class: Attribute Hog – Tier Epic – Cost 45,000

Maximise the strength of your attributes.

Receive a starting bonus of 20 attributes and a percentage boost of 10% to Attribute Maximisation Percentage (AMP).

Per level receive 8 free attributes points and 0.5% to Attribute Maximisation Percent (AMP).

Gain Attribute Maximisation: Multiply each attribute by (1+AMP) and a single chosen attribute by (1+AMP * 2)

This was a class that once he got purchase access to the shop that he could buy immediately. Its prerequisites was the possession of an expert class (negated by his title), underage titles delivering four free points per level and possession of a different title or trait that grants four more attributes per level.

Despite its Epic status, Tom judged it as below average amongst the options he had available already, which was an indication of how spoiled for choice he was. Once he would have salivated at the chance of getting something like this. At a hundred eighty levels, this class bonus would double his attributes.

But despite the class’s power it did not suit him at all. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, he had two traits that benefited from Tom having lesser attributes than his opponent. Gaining this class would most likely negate the value of that trait.

However, the idea of attribute boosting was an awesome one, it was just this wasn’t the best class given his overall build.

The text on the wall changed to something more appropriate. If he was going down a path of using classes for attribute optimisation this was what he would choose and it was not because it had a legendary rarity.

Class: Attribute Modification – Tier legendary – Cost 105,000

If you specialise in relative scaling of attributes against opponents, then exploit a loophole to make each of your attributes work harder to gain an additional advantage.

On acquisition have all physical attributes be 10% more effective.

Per level improves the effectiveness of physical attributes by 0.55% and gains 12 attribute points.

Requirements:             

·       Epic or higher class – Not Met

·       Acquire at least 16 extra attributes per class level.

Surprisingly with his doubling of class granted attributes if he got a legendary rarity like this class he could already meet this requirement.

1.       Possess a technique to improve attribute performance. – Not Met

This title would suit his aims better and if his mana strengthening approach worked he would be able to satisfy that third requirement and be able to select the class

He currently had an ability that closed seventy percent of the gap between him and an opponent. Once he had forty or so levels in this skill, providing they didn’t have a similar ability, he would be able to match everything in Existentia on a physical level.

That was everything, no matter how much they outranked him he would be able to match them. It was an extraordinary thought. But then again so was gaining over four times more attributes per level than what was granted by a basic class just from titles. Add a hundred levels to the class and he would be guaranteed to be stronger by twenty percent in strength, agility, and vitality.

And it couldn't be stressed enough that this advantage was against everything. If he ran into Throm at least on a physical level Tom would exceed the open competitor’s power. 

Unfortunately, attributes were only half of the equation. Abilities mattered, and Tom’s own direct experience of beating enemies with significantly more attributes proved that. Back when he did the contender contest and fought in the coliseum in his first life, he had beaten people with three times his attributes without a darkhole trial trait to partially bridge that gulf. That memory made him reluctant to go all in on attributes even if it seemed to be the fastest way to true power, which was a consideration given that he was on the clock and only had twenty five years now to make a difference.

Even if he chose to focus on skill-based classes, it barely reduced the number of options that he needed to investigate. There were just so many to review. Ones that leant into his precognition, others that would improve his spell casting or even simple weaponry classes.

As it was tuned to his brain, the wall flickered to show a class that matched his thoughts.

Class: Spear Master Legendary – Cost 100,000

·       Plus 32 to physical attributes and 8 skill points on acquisition.

·       Plus 4 to physical attributes and 1 skill point per level.

It did not seem to be much at first glance, but he had strongly considered biasing his build in his first life toward gaining this class. Twelve attributes per level were standard for legendary classes and this particular choice locked them to specific attributes, which were theoretically the worst type of distribution. Tom wasn’t worried any imbalance could be addressed by a secondary class.

It was the class skill points that made this choice desirable. The wall flickered and changed again as he drilled further into the class descriptions to show one of the skill trees.

·       Plus 25% enhancement to Power Strike (0 of 8)

Basically, on acquiring the class he could improve the power of his key spear skill by two hundred percent and then once he had spent those points the next set of upgrade options would become available.

·       Explosive Boost – Create a localised explosion equivalent to the inherent energy contained in the blow. (0 of 4)

·       Duplicated Strike – Every strike carries an echo possessing all the power of the initial blow. (0 of 2)

·       Magic Busting – Magic defences are struck with 4 times the power of the blow (0 of 4)

What was incredible was that all the bonuses were multiplicative. For a piddling investment of the acquisition bonus and ten levels, he could increase the deadliness of Power Strike by a staggering twenty-four times!

It was astonishing, strength beyond his imagination, and that was the true power of a legendary class. 

If there were magical defences in play, then the strike would land with a stunning hundred and twenty times more power. Combine that with his magical breaking skill, then he was talking about wielding the power to bring down city wide defensive shields. A basic Power Strike from him would be the equivalent to siege magic sent by teams of specialised mages.

It wasn’t just Power Strike that could be boosted. There were similar trees for all the different spear skills that were out there.

Lunge would no longer be limited to ten metres but could be extended to work over eighty and the upgraded version would also let him run on air. If he fought one of the four story tall giants instead of worrying at the ankles he would be able to launch a lunge and reach its eyes and unless he was fighting people in the triple figure ranks he would be able to do so before they could react. Then to make it even better one of the upgrades would allow him to retreat. He could be in and out in a blink having unleashed devastating damage.

Of course, he didn’t meet the prerequisites of the class yet as he was missing the tier five spear skill but he was confident if he dedicated his remaining five years to creating such a skill he would be successful. The irony of the situation was that because he had created all the abilities from scratch he would fulfil the mastery requirements which were probably the hardest for most to get, well he would if he built a tier five skill without the aid of a trainer or skill stone.

The possibilities available to him were extraordinary. The fact a legendary spear class might not be the best option stunned him.

It was humbling that his hard work could have this sort of payoff.

For a moment he paused to remind himself of the build that he wanted to create.

He intended to become a teleporting, magical spearman who combined earth, lightning and soul attacks along with precognition to destroy singular threats.

That was the build he had decided on six years ago and that was what he was going to focus on achieving.

The problem was that there were so many choices of initial classes that would help him achieve that vision.

As he sat there, in the system room with the monitor showing what was happening with his body, he tapped his fingers thoughtfully.

He needed an intelligent approach to determine the direction he wanted to take. He glanced up at the wall that showed the number one. That was a single question with a yes-no answer. Before he turned fifteen, he would be able to ask around sixty questions. That was a piddling amount compared to what he had burned through in the tutorial, but it had to be enough.

The door on the screen opened abruptly and a child of about seven tramped out. It was not anyone he knew, as he had only bothered to learn the names of the three reincarnators in the lower age cohorts, and she was not one of them.

“Tom,” Dimitri called out from within the office. “You can come in.”

He did as instructed, marvelling at the passive obfuscation magic in the doorway that not even his titles enhanced abilities could pierce. From the outside, the room felt empty and insignificant, but Tom knew that Dimitri at least was in it.

He strolled through the doorway and then froze as he crossed the threshold. Dimitri had organised another ambush.

“Door if you please.” Dimitri said dryly.

Tom was thankful that his shock had stopped himself from blurting out something he would have regretted. The passive magics were strong but nowhere near as powerful as the active ones.

He used a single hand to push the door shut without breaking his study of the two people in the room with him.

Dimitri stamped a foot and a moment later the impacted runes lit up and set off a cascading waterfall of spreading light.

He tore his eyes away from the beautiful flow of light to stare at the woman sitting beside Dimitri.

Why was she here?

Was it a coincidence that his past kept finding him?

Then more invasive thoughts took over.

Did she hate him? While he wasn’t directly responsible for her or what happened, grief could do funny things to people.

“Hi,” he said with a small wave. “Dimitri, you’re not alone.”

Dimitri sighed. “Sorry for the surprise, Tom. This is all routine. Bao is here as an observer.” Dimitri said formally, raising a single finger to warn him to silence. They waited for the seals to fully activate and guarantee their privacy.

Tom hurriedly glanced around to confirm that all the corners of the room were empty. He shivered when he remembered when the assassins had literally been in the orphanage, hanging there, hidden away, on the ceiling, watching them and making judgements as they searched for reincarnations. As they tried to find him or people like him. Four people had died to that incursion, they were not just an empty threat the danger had been terrifyingly real.

The final rune lit up.

“And we’re secure,” Dimitri proclaimed.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Tom demanded immediately.

“I’m here because Everlyn asked me to be.” Bao answered.

“She’s here for a full six days.” Dimitri said mildly. “Officially, she’s observing everything I do. To see if she wants to retire here briefly. We’re struggling to find a volunteer.”

“And the struggle’s going to continue because I won’t be accepting any offer no matter the terms.”

“You’ll come around,” Dimitri said with a laugh.

“Never, you were crazy signing up for ten years.”

“I’ve made a bigger difference here than I would’ve elsewhere.”

“Whatever.” Tom interrupted angrily. “Intent or lack thereof or not, isn’t this a bit dangerous.” He spluttered. “Two Heroes of humanity doing this must be creating suspicion. And they’ve both happened to be here to have a one on one with me.”

“There’s like fifty students in your shoes,” Dimitri said waving the concern away.

“And this is only my second of three week long shifts.” Bao told him, sounding annoyed. “By the time I do the last that number of double exposures will increase.”

“and there’ll be a dozen that’ll have multiple visit’s with her. They're the ones assassins are going to look at closely.”

“That’s Dimitri’s concern.” Bao said, indifferently. “I’m only here because Everlyn insisted, and I owed her a favour.”

Tom wanted to argue, but if she was spending three weeks here to get fifteen minutes with him, then he was probably protected. That sort of redundancy meant security was paramount.

“And it’s not that big a deal, anyway.”: she continued. “It’s not like a child called Tom is going to be in any danger.”

She placed a sheet of papers on the desk in front of him. He recognised the typeset immediately. It was the competition gazette.

“Have you read this week’s summary?”

He looked at her puzzled. “No, I can’t say I have.”

“Do so.”

“I will. But first about Thor.”

“What about him?” She interrupted with a suddenly dangerous tone. Because he was looking he could see the edge of sadness that still hadn’t fully healed.

“I’m sorry.”

She let out an explosive breath. “Forget about it. There’s nothing to be sorry about. He died being the man he was, bigger than life and a true hero. It hurt and when it was over and I had time to grieve, I did. It happened years ago and I’m over it.”

She was and she wasn’t. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what. You probably care more than me. For you it was six years for me it was more than fifty.”

“I wasn’t his partner.”

“It was fifty years ago, Tom.” She didn’t physically do it, but he could hear the eye roll in her words. “Its ancient history. That’s not.” She gestured angrily at the papers in front of him. “Now stop delaying and read.”

Reluctantly, he did as instructed. It was the same format as always. The different species listed in order of their current competition rank along with their points and relevant commentary. He skimmed over it and saw nothing surprising until he reached the human section.

He stopped and looked up at the two adults across the table from him.

“It’s real.” Dimitri assured him.

“But.”

“What did you expect. You knew you were active on the ladder, at some point someone was going to take notice. But read it. The speculation is the important bit.”

Tom Mark Brayshaw has been accumulating points steadily for three years and this week entered into the top five.

The name has been confirmed to be identical to one of the dead heroes of humanity and is assumed to be the same person.

Up until the points run began, and he became visible on the ladder, we had no confirmation of his existence and he was unknown to those who keep the reincarnation registry. It’s theorised that the sudden burst of points is because he has reached rank hundred and twenty and is able to take individual action against country level threats.

It’s assumed that he was reincarnated 30 years ago in one of the isolated human communities that remain separated from the central governing body. Given the lack of information on his build or his location we can’t speculate whether his current point run is sustainable.

Tom looked up to meet the eyes of the two adults in the room with him.

“I had nothing to do with it.” Dimitri told him immediately. “But your name in that particular publication is great news. The assassins definitely read all of these. If they’re looking for you, they’re going to think you’re forty years old. There’s no way they’ll assume that you, a 10-year-old, is responsible for this burst. It means you’re safe unless you do something really stupid like shout out about you being the real Tom Brayshaw but even then they might not believe you.”

“Surprisingly I didn’t need that explanation. I was able to work out those implications directly from the article and having it published is great news. All of that is amazing but it doesn’t explain why Bao is here”

“I already told you. I owed Everlyn a favour.”

“Are you here to present a gift?”

“Well, no, I wasn’t planning on it. But seeing you here I remember what you did, and you’re obviously not squandering the resources given to you, so maybe I might have something.”

Tom ignored the flair of his inner greed demon. “That’s great, but if it’s not to give me something then why are you here?” He suspected he knew what she was going to say, but he wanted to hear it in her words without him leading the conversation at all.

She licked her lips. “Um. I want to repeat Everlyn asked me to do this, but as you’re a hero of humanity.” She paused an uncertain look on her face. “Because you died doing the single most important thing for our species and because Thor counted you as a friend I might have come in any case.” She brushed away a tear that had started to form and took a deep breath. “Tom, hero, as you are, you’ve done your bit for humanity. You shouldn’t keep pushing like you are and you should stop risking your life.”

Tom grimaced. “It’s not word for word, but they’re the same lines that Everlyn delivered.”

Bao shrugged. “I just think you’ve done enough. Others should take up the mantle, not you.”

Tom studied her. That second sentence had been more in sync with Everlyn than the first. Different wording but the same intention. “Interesting,” he muttered. All too clearly, he remembered how the geas had worked when he had tried to save Kang from the trick GODs were playing. He recalled being forced to say things he hadn’t wanted to when he got too close to revealing the truth to Kang. That it had resulted in him saying stuff that was the direct opposite of what he desired to convey. Everlyn and now Bao were both using very specific words and phases, potentially skirting a dangerous line. You’ve done your part. Stop doing more. A consistent line delivered without any further explanation.

And when he’d pressed Everlyn for why she had been unable to give him a reason.

“I see,” He responded quietly. “And if I try to guess why you are giving this specific advice, it won’t work will it.”

“You have done enough for humanity. You don’t need to do more.”

He massaged his temples.

“I’ll put you out of your misery. If you ask any more questions on this topic,” Bao said, “I won’t answer, not a single word. So if that is what you’re pondering, then stop.”

“And you came all this way to tell me that?”

Silence.

Dimitri chuckled. “I think this is where she stops answering you.”

“Understood. Bao I’d like to thank you and Everlyn for making the effort you have. I’ll keep what you’ve said under advisement.”

She nodded. By her expression, it was clear that her promise not to answer had its own hooks in her. While the initial offer might have been voluntary it was now clearly binding.

He turned to face Dimitri. “Well, that conversation is over. Now Dimitri is there any specific items to cover today.”

“This is the standard meeting all ten year olds get. Usually, I do all the talking and explain to overeager ten-year-olds how to interpret their new system room and the information contained within, but that’s kind of pointless for you, isn’t it. So I’ll reverse things. Is there anything you need to share?”

Tom shrugged. There was only one relevant thing he could think of. “I have a berserker curse given by a GOD.” there were two sharp intakes of breath which he ignored. “But we had already guessed that.” He touched the bracelet on his arm. “It’s obvious, to me in hindsight at least, based on Mr Cricket’s caution, but the curse also enhances this.” He tapped it. “If I rage without this protection, I’ll hit three times harder than normal.”

“Useful.” Dimitri commented.

“What’s this?” Bao asked.

The big man said nothing, respecting his privacy.

“Tom, can you share?” Bao pressed. She wanted to know and having seen Dimitri's stubborn look she knew Tom was the only  path to satisfying her curiosity.

He was so weak that he couldn’t see any harm in doing so. Before his individual strength started to matter against people in this room, he expected to possess multiple skills more powerful than his current soul abilities. “This,” he waved the arm with the bracelet in the air. “Suppresses soul attacks.”

She raised an eyebrow at that. “It’s not a good pathway. The skills you need are expensive to purchase and very hit and miss in terms of usefulness. Through, a number of high ranked parties swear on the utility of having one person in their group that is capable of those sorts of strikes. Why did you get it?”

“It served a purpose. You know Bao you’re more talkative than you used to be.”

She shrugged neither confirming nor rejecting the comparison. Instead of responding directly she glanced at Dimitri. “Don’t tell me you supported this.”

“He did,” Tom interrupted coldly. Bao outside of her duty and without Thor to moderate was prickly. “It was deemed worthwhile, and he sourced a tier five ability for me. I’ve since developed three more, ranging from tier six to three.”

It was her turn to look surprised. “That’s impressive, but not necessarily enough. All the practitioners I know of also have traits to boost their damage.”

Tom shrugged. “I got it for a specific purpose and I’m pretty sure it’s return had paid for itself. Investing in it was right.”

“Aren’t you worried about driving up the cost of more important skills.”

“Reincarnators create many skills themselves,” Dimitri told her. “And those abilities don’t go against the experience counter. Most of us can carry some niche talents because of this.”

“I’m not going to argue with the experts. If someone specialises in soul, it’s their choice and if Tom’s doing that I trust him. He was always one willing to embrace short-term weakness for long-term gain.”

“Yes, he is a bit like that. Which leads me to my next question?” Dimitri said. “Do you need me to do anything different?”