[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 45: Advancing

Sam’s grin grew wider with each sentence he read.

Komachi also got excited, even though she had no idea what he was looking at. He wished he could somehow show her the Shardscript.

And then her eyes lit up. “Cool!”

“Are you seeing this too, Komachi?” Sam asked, incredulously.

“Yep!”

Now that’s handy.

Komachi had been able to see his Shardscript before at times, but it never seemed entirely intentional. Now that he could willingly share it with her, they could both take a look at what he had to choose from.

And maybe, when it came time for Komachi’s Cleric to Advance, Sam could see her options and help her choose.

[Swordsman]

Specializing in the art of warfare, the Swordsman wades into battle armed with a suite of skills for every occasion. Their dedication to the sword is rare, and though they are the first step toward Knighthood for many, they are yet a dying breed.

Swordsmen possess unwavering discipline and are wholly devoted to the use of their blade in combat, eschewing all other weaponry in exchange for unparalleled command with their weapon-of-choice. Flexible and versatile, a Swordsman is more than capable of being a front-line fighter, drawing the ire of enemies to their sturdy armored frames, or dispatching their enemies by the dozen with their command over Stances and Arts. As a Second Order Job, Swordsmen gain the following Stats per Level Up:

+4 Strength | +4 Vigor | +2 Agility | +2 Dexterity

+2 Bonus Points

Starting Skill Spheres

[Swordsmanship Foundation], [Battle Tactics]

Starting Ability

[Switch]

Starting Trait

[Max HP Up], [Armored Aura]

Mana Types

[Metal Mana]

Health Growth: B+

Mana Growth: B-

“Finally,” he said, “something that fits me.”

It was as perfect a fit as he had seen among his choices. It even had a serious upgrade to Fighter’s mana growth. Raising it all the way from what was a D+ to B- while keeping his Health growth the same. What that meant, Sam could only guess, but he hoped it meant his MP would stop being so wimpy.

And even though his Health growth remained the same, the [Max HP Up] trait should mean he was a good bit higher.

“Let me guess,” Raiko said in a mock-sincere tone. “Is it a Job with weapons, armor, incredible stats and skills that actually complement your fighting style?”

“Hey, that’s like everything good! Too general,” Komachi groused.

Sam gave her a level look. “Hah hah. Super funny. You know, I do have access to a Job that has weapons and no armor, I’ll have you know. But I don’t want to pick it because I’ll scare everybody off with my massive—”

Komachi looked into the middle distance in shellshocked horror. “Not the bathrobe incident again!” she wailed. “Komachi thought Sam was smuggling a summer sausage!”

For some reason, this caught Raiko’s fixed attention.

Rolling his eyes, Sam patted the air between them. “Okay, okay, calm down. For one, my towel slipped when Komachi clawed at the edge and in my defense, I was in my bedroom trying to change clothes.”

“Do you tell all your new lady friends this story?” She grinned, amused.

“I would,” Sam said, giving Raiko an unusual amount of scrutiny. “If, for some reason, I didn’t stop getting dates after you showed up hassling me at my job.”

“I’d tell you I’m sorry for interfering with your burgeoning romantic life, but honestly, I’m not.”

Komachi looked from Sam to Raiko, then back to Sam. Then, because she was Komachi, she began to groom herself by assuming the shape of a donut.

“It’s not like it matters anymore,” Sam said, looking at the glowing doorway that would take them out of the Dark Vault. “Nothing much on Earth matters anymore. Not unless you’re clinging to the past.”

“Komachi want Fancy Feast. Real bad.”

Sam scooped her up and held her with one arm. “We better find something to eat and soon, our rations are running out.” He looked at Raiko. “You deliver that message to Kale?”

“Yes, I did.”

“How was he?” Sam asked with almost parental worry.

He’d always been there for Kale, even before the accident. It felt like a betrayal of everything their friendship had stood for to leave him alone with Darren and who knows what.

Raiko grimaced. “Alive, and better now that he knows you’re alright. That he knows there’s hope, and the rest of his future isn’t being manipulated by that cretin. I believe he picked up a kingdom quest as well, for what will essentially be your island, so there’s higher odds of finding him again.”

“Thanks, Raiko. That means a lot. Might as well get on with the Job selection and get out of here.” He looked at her and then Komachi. “Did either of you get a Second Order Job thing?”

“You’re the highest level here, I think.” Raiko hung her head. “I’m just level 8 Nomad. It’s been rough being quasi-dead, but the quests offer good rewards.”

“Heh, I’m level 9 Cleric.” Komachi practically oozed smugness. “Being a [Pocket Healer] is great.”

“Dammit.” Raiko put her face in her hands. “The cat is higher level than me!”

“That’s not a Job that I saw,” Sam said, though he did remember that coffer. “I thought everybody received the same starting First Order Jobs?”

“Those from Earth, most likely. Having been a Sage, and the training and glyph trials I underwent to become one, altered some of my opportunities. Being stuck on my own island wasn’t that great. Or rather, isn’t.”

“Huh, I never thought about that,” Sam admitted. “I guess that makes sense. How far are we from… wherever you are? It sounds weird to phrase it like that. I feel like you’re standing right next to me, but you’re really half-dead somewhere, aren’t you?”

“Not exactly, it’s just easier to explain it like that. I could say to think of it like astral projection, but I’m not even sure that’s a good comparison.” Raiko floated away while thinking before drifting back. “My physical body is back on our island, whereas my spirit is here. Normally, I could just go back to wherever my physical body is, but the problem is how I went down. It’s a good thing you’re higher level than me.”

“Why? Wait, hold up. Why did you say ‘our’ island? Is there somebody else there?”

“Other than the monsters, and the tree, no. By ours, I mean yours and mine. Point is, if you want the island settlement, the Sacred Tree’s benefits, and for me to stick around, you’re going to have to fight Chaos hollow me.”

“Oh, is that all?” Sam asked. “What if I kill you?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

Sam looked at her. “Easier said than done, Raiko. What exactly do I need to do if I can’t kill this Chaos hollow of you? I don’t exactly have the skill set to knock you out unga-bunga Caveman style.”

“As appealing as that is, we’ll figure that out when we get there. As for how far the place is, our island has drifted closer. The currents of mana have been favorable. What remaining sheer distance between it and the starting island might be an obstacle to overcome, though. If we’re lucky, we can get you, Kale, and whoever else you want on it.”

“I miss Kale.” Komachi’s ears flattened. “And Matt, Kai, Chris and Kylie. Not Darren though, screw that guy.”

Sam was surprised about Matt and Kai, but kept his thoughts to himself.

“They’re good people. And while things from Earth don’t matter the way they used to, your friends do.” Raiko continued. “The island will need resources, though. Anything to add landmass, and I strongly suspect Tiles.”

“Which are what, exactly?” Sam asked. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen the mention of Tiles and it still confused him. Surely Tiles didn’t mean bathroom or kitchen tiles.

“We’ll see when get one.”

Sam turned his attention back to Swordsman, and just to be sure, he went over the whole list again.

In the end, if he judged based on stats as a tell for how rare or “good” a Job was, then Assassin, Barbarian, and Swordsman were all equal.

Assassin, while undoubtedly stylish, would require him to give up most of his abilities and skills, morphing them into whatever Assassin’s were.

That was good to know if only because it meant he could switch to a more fitting Job at a later point and not have to worry about all the skills he already had being mismatched.

In the end, there was only one option that suited him and that was Swordsman. Just like when he chose Fighter, what felt like a lifetime ago, Sam began to download the knowledge of his Job straight to his brain.

Eager to see what all his new toys were, Sam pulled up his Status sheet, only to get another notification. One that gave Sam an immense amount of relief.

Level Up!

Your [Swordsman] Job has reached Level 11.

+4 Strength | +4 Vigor | +2 Agility

+2 Dexterity

+2 Bonus Points

And if that wasn’t good enough, he received another level to his Legend, confirming his nascent theory that it seemed to go up every three levels he attained in either his Path or Job.

Considering what Volquist had said, it seemed that his Legend was more like his total level in the sense that most people were judged by it rather than their Job level.

Now that he thought about it, that made sense. There were three types of progression. Profession was the only one he hadn’t attained so far, but he could imagine most people would have a Job, a Path, and a Profession. A level in each would ultimately mean a level in your Legend too, making it a rough average of total strength.

There were plenty of outliers, but it matched up quite well with his own running theory. It felt nice to be proven right. Or at least, right for now.

Level Up!

Your [Adventurer] Legend has reached Level 5.

+1 to all Stats

+2 Bonus Points

All told, that gave him a whopping 5 bonus points to spend where he liked. And, considering not only the Greater Blessing he had to both Awareness and Insight, but also his Path’s improvement to Insight, Sam spent 3 points on Awareness, and 2 points on Insight.

That brought what was once two of his lowest stats, to what should have been 15 a piece. But owing to his Greater Blessing and his Path’s Insight Talents, they each ended up as 17 with Awareness having a point in it from his equipment.

Metal Mana Attunement has morphed into Metal Mana Affinity.

Your Metal Mana Affinity has reached (★ Common).

So new attunements added to pre-existing affinities increase their rarity? Good to know. If Sam had to choose between two or more Jobs, he didn’t need to worry about wasting the affinity it would give.

[Status]

Name: Samuel Hunter

Race: Human

Legend: [Adventurer (Lv.5 - Unranked)]

Job: [Swordsman (Lv.11 - Unranked)]

Path: [Void (Lv.4 - Unranked)]

Profession: [N/A (Lv.0 - Unranked)]

Health(HP): [269/269]

Mana(MP): [84/84]

Attunements

[Void Mana] (F-Class Apocalypse Gate) (★★★★Legendary IV)

Affinities

[Fire Mana] (F-Class) (★ Common I)

[Metal Mana] (F-Class) (★ Common)

Physical Stats

Strength(STR): 41 (+4)

Dexterity(DEX): 24 (+1)

Agility(AGI): 23

Vigor(VIG): 43 (+4)

Awareness(AWR): 16 (+1)

Magical Stats

Arcane(ARC): 13

Control(CTL): 8

Resonance(RSN): 13

Mind(MND): 14

Insight(INS): 17

The first thing Sam noticed, of course, was his massive HP boost. He went from 175 to 269, nearly a hundred-point jump in just a few levels. How much of that was his [Max HP Up] and how much of it was the plethora of Vigor points, he wasn’t sure, but he was happy either way.

And to think I was happy when I finally crossed 100 points!

His MP had similarly made a large jump, relatively. While not as large, since MP appeared to grow slower, it was still a significant boost. Far larger than any previous levels had given him.

While 24 points might not seem like a lot, that was nearly half his total MP before switching over to Swordsman. And while it was still far, far beyond his HP—even more considering his recent growth—he was happy with the large jump.

But the most important, at least to Sam, of everything, was the fact that his HP and MP were full. He felt… perhaps not the best, but at least he was no longer tired.

“Do you feel better?” Sam asked. “I mean, your HP and MP, did they fill back up too?”

Raiko nodded.

“Komachi didn’t even need to [Regen] bomb ya!” his cat said, happily nuzzling up to him.

Sam gave her a loving squeeze. Whether it was something that Volquist had done and he missed it, or the changeover to the Second Order that had topped him off.

He was more than ready to go and said as much to Raiko. He could look at his new abilities on the way to wherever they were going.

There was no telling where the doorway would lead, but Sam at least hoped it was out of the ogre’s reach. Long enough, at least, for them to get off the starting island.

The timer for the quest had hardly moved, but it hadn’t stopped entirely.

Quest: Battle Royale I

Escape the starting island to survive the ogre’s coming rampage.

Time remaining: 3min

Sam steeled himself before stepping through the light-filled doorway, hoping it didn’t deposit him right beneath the enraged ogre.