Todd Herzman

Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion - Chapter 55 - I Need To Use Any Power At My Disposal

Added 2023-07-14 19:00:05 +0000 UTC

Xavier, still sitting cross-legged by the tower door in the Staging Room, looked at the last two options on the class selection menu.

Bringer of Destruction – Epic Class

Soul Reaper – Epic Class

Xavier narrowed his gaze, reading the titles of the two classes. They both felt rather… ominous. He had an affinity for Spirit—though it was no longer his strongest attribute, as he didn’t have a skill that enhanced it like Magical Potency enhanced Intelligence—which he supposed was why “soul” was in the title of one of the classes.

Though, as he had that thought, something occurred to him. A skill he’d been neglecting to learn because it would take too long naturally—100 hours—and because he didn’t want to “waste” a skill point on it.

Meditation.

That sounds awfully spiritual, doesn’t it?

Now wasn’t the time to think about that. He had two classes to look at.

He looked at the first one.

Bringer of Destruction Class (Epic):

A Bringer of Destruction is a mage that focuses on magic of the spirit and mind. They are long-range fighters that destroy everything in their wake. As a Bringer of Destruction, each opponent they kill causes the slain Denizen’s body to explode. The size and damage this explosion causes is a combination of the level of the slain Denizen, along with the strength of the Bringer of Destruction’s Spirit and Intelligence attributes.

Bringers of Destruction do not leave anyone alive in their wake. They scour the land, leaving only death and desolation from their passing.

Attributes per level: +10 Intelligence, +10 Spirit, +20 free stat points.

Xavier leant back where he sat, blinking at the text he’d just read.

Bringers of Destruction do not leave anyone alive in their wake… and I get to choose this class based on my actions? He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Is this because of how quickly I was able to kill that army, and the Minor Butcher title I received?

Exploding his enemies upon death would cause a lot of mass damage—this seemed like it would be an exceptionally strong area-of-effect damage class.

If he’d had that ability while facing the elven army of five hundred soldiers, he might have been able to take them out twice as fast, as each kill could have caused another death, which would cause another explosion.

Perhaps twice as fast would be an understatement—it would cause a chain-reaction of death.

But… was that really what he wanted to become? A dealer of destruction? Did he really want to scour the land and cause only death and desolation?

No. He didn’t want that. He wanted to protect Earth, not leave it destroyed. There were so many ways an ability like this could go wrong. So many ways it could backfire on him. Protection and destruction were two disparate things. What if he were trying to protect someone from an enemy, and that someone was being held with a dagger at their throat?

If I killed the enemy, the person I wished to protect would die from the resultant explosion.

No. This class… this class seemed too volatile. Too destructive.

Besides, if he exploded every corpse when he killed, he wouldn’t be able to loot them. Well, that’s an awfully selfish yet practical thought…

But he couldn’t help but stare at the number of attributes it offered. The rare class he’d looked at offered 23 total attribute points.

This one offered 40 total attribute points. Even if half of them were in Spirit and Intelligence, he could allocate the rest wherever he wished. That… that would make him incredibly strong, wouldn’t it? It almost made him feel like he had to make this choice.

The System wants me to do this, doesn’t it? To become an instrument of destruction for it?

Xavier bit his lip, and looked at the last class selection.

Soul Reaper Class (Epic):

A Soul Reaper is a versatile mage that focuses on magic of the spirit. They can be a long-range fighter, a close-range fighter, or a mix of both, and they wield a scythe-staff in battle—a hybrid, melee/magical weapon. They can wear any armour they wish and have the ability to imbue Spirit Energy into their equipment to strengthen its qualities—though this lasts for a limited time.

Soul Reapers also have the special ability to harvest the souls of those they slay and can call upon those souls in moments of need. This differs from necromantic spells as the Soul Reaper lacks the ability to communicate with the souls they reap and lacks the ability to reanimate the dead.

Attributes per level: +2 Strength, +2 Toughness, +2 speed, +3 Intelligence, +3 Willpower, +8 Spirit, +20 free stat points.

Xavier leant back again, expelling a breath. Harvesting souls sounded… sinister, but far less sinister than exploding every single thing he killed.

I should have expected soul harvesting to be a thing, considering the name of the class is literally Soul Reaper.

He didn’t fully understand what the implications of the class would be—the Bringer of Destruction’s description seemed more straightforward in its illustration of its class’s abilities.

Call upon the souls in moments of need…

He had dismissed necromancy for several reasons, but this… though it sounded plenty sinister, seemed like something else entirely. He didn’t exactly want to trap souls, but he knew he would need to use any powers he had at his disposal, and it would only be the souls of those he harvested he used. And he supposed he wouldn’t be harvesting innocent souls.

If I need to use any power at my disposal, should I choose Bringer of Destruction? The power of that first epic class beckoned him toward it, but the consequences kept him away.

Xavier was intrigued about the part where it said the Soul Reaper could imbue Spirit Energy into their equipment. He always had an abundance of Spirit Energy, and wondered how that would work. Would it strengthen his physical resistance? Magical resistance? Both? Would it make his weapons deal more damage, or enhance the strength of his magical attacks?

Spiritual Trifecta does all of those things, so I suppose it would make sense that Spirit Energy could boost those things when imbued into equipment. Is the ability some sort of spell? A skill?

The scythe-staff was interesting, too. Though he’d grown attached to his Spirit Staff of Might, he’d long outgrown the weapon. The title of the class, and the staff he’d seen in the System Store… Stave of the Otherworldly Void Reaper… It made him wonder if that weapon was a staff-scythe.

What is an Otherworldly Void Reaper? Is it a class? And if it is, does this class—Soul Reaper—have a path toward reaching that one? Could I one day wield such a weapon?

It was a foolish, fleeting thought, given the price of that staff. It was well and truly out of his reach.

For now.

Xavier snapped his focus back to the two options in front of him. He instantly knew which he would choose. In his mind, it was no choice at all. Though he didn’t like the sound of harvesting souls, if it brought him power, he would do it.

This class? It looked like the right fit for him. 40 attribute points per level, and those that were automatically allocated being more varied than the last class. The ability to wear any armour he wished… it just felt right, calling to him in a way that the first class did not.

His mind returned once more to the staff he’d seen. Stave of the Otherworldly Void Reaper. This is connected to that, somehow, isn’t it?

He pushed the thought away again.

There was a part of him that, admittedly, was curious—very curious—about the soul harvesting aspect of the Soul Reaper class. About how those souls could be called upon in “moments of need.” What exactly did that entail? How would the souls help him?

He ached to discover what that meant.

Xavier looked over at the others. Howard, Siobhan and Justin were sitting on their loot boxes, their eyes glazed over. They must have been looking at their own notifications and status screens.

He didn’t feel the need to discuss his class selection with them like he thought he might.

This is my choice.

He willed his selection.

Are you sure you wish to choose SOUL REAPER (EPIC) as your class?

Becoming a SOUL REAPER (EPIC) may result in the loss of spells and skills that are incompatible with the class. This is a choice that cannot be unmade.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Xavier frowned.

I could lose spells, and even skills, by choosing this? Which spells would be incompatible?

He tilted his head to the side. He only had three spells to lose, but he had six skills, none of which he wanted to part with. He hadn’t even known such a thing was possible. I suppose it doesn’t matter what I lose if it means I can gain even more by choosing this class.

Yes, Xavier willed, I’m sure.

Class selection complete.

Evaluating Class Upgrade of Denizen XAVIER COLLINS from BASIC MAGE to SOUL REAPER (EPIC).

Checking compatibility of spells:

Heavy Telekinesis…

Compatible!

Spiritual Trifecta…

Compatible – Spell Upgrade Available!

Spirit Break…

Compatible – Spell Upgrade Available!

Checking compatibility of skills:

Staff Mastery…