Vraxious- Hopes Path

  Vrax left Torvald in charge of Jonathan's twitching body and went downstairs, getting Stereos to join them all in the top-floor room for a strategy meeting. Stereos looked long and hard at Jonathan’s still twitching form.

  Stereos’s mana flared briefly as he obviously tried to examine what was causing the crazed mana fluctuations accompanying the man’s jittering form. “HMM alright, I consider myself rather well versed in most basic magical phenomena, but I cannot ascertain what you have done to him.” He finally said, looking to Torvald and then Vrax questioningly.

  “He will be fine, probably...it’s a class change to king’s guard, whatever that means.” Vrax said, starting to look slightly unsure himself, he was expecting a big flash and some dramatic notification, not a fifteen-minute seizure.

  Stereos scooted in closer, intrigued. “Fascinating! Also the amount of things that single sentence revealed is telling. “Congratulations. When I said to find a faction to protect you, I certainly didn’t expect you to simply found a new one.” Everyone jumped a bit as Jonathan’s convulsions suddenly stopped with one last grand flash of moss green mana.

  Vrax couldn’t wait, identifying him before the man even woke up. He was a farmer before; let's see what level of King’s Guard he is after all that! [Jonathan Clearwater Tier-1](lvl29) [Living Weapon Master]. EHHH? That’s not a king’s guard… Oh shit, is the class he gets based on the king that he swears to? I don’t know why I just assumed there was a blanket class for guarding sovereigns; that’s way too boring for the system tastes, I’m sure.

  Jonathan burst from the chair with an unnatural fluidity, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling as he underestimated his body’s ability. “YES!! “Oh my gods, all the years practicing, being beaten down by guards for experience, months slumming in the dungeon, barely able to stay alive to scrape out essence, finally worth it!!” Jonathan shouted for all he was worth, fist raised high. Then, almost embarrassed, he lowered his fist and looked at his slightly stunned companions.

  Vrax didn’t waste a moment. “So what can you do? I’ve never seen a class title like that before!”

  Torvald looked confused. “Wait, it’s not King’s Guard?”

  Jonathan looked around the room until he found a potted plant neatly nestled into the corner; it was a somewhat poorly tended tree with dull red leaves sparsely populating its thin gray branches. Jonathan focused on it, his face almost contorting with the effort of using a skill for the first time. Mana swirled from him to the tree, and he made a sharp gesture with his hand.

  The tree branches compressed in onto themselves before sharpening with an audible creak, forming into a stunningly natural-looking red and gray blade, and then the entire tree swung itself violently by its roots, bisecting the pot it was in. Jonathan's smile widened as he rushed over and grabbed the rough weapon by the roots.

  The moment he grabbed it, he began channeling more mana into the plant. It quickly lengthened and then sharpened itself further into a red-flaked halberd. The trunk made up the gray handle of the weapon, and the blade was a fine sweeping crescent of wood that looked far more sturdy than it had any right to. The handle was wrapped in those same dull red leaves like a leather grip. Jonathan twirled the unreasonably light weapon in a brief, dizzying display of dexterity, smiling the whole time.

  Before anyone else could ask, he answered everyone’s questions. “So I got two main starting skills; this is [Adapt Weapon]" he gestured at the halberd he was holding. "And that was [Living Weapon]" he gestured at the bisected pot. This class is fucking amazing; it lets me do everything I wanted to do better than a farmer, and the world around me is a weapon now!”

  Vrax whistled slowly. “Damn, that looks good. You scared the hell out of me for a moment. I was worried you had gotten adapt life too, but that makes sense that halberd is a hell of a lot better than the one I made, and you made it about ten times faster too.” Jonathan just looked smug in response.

  Torvald was practically bouncing on his toes. “Yes! A sparring partner that I don’t have to baby so they don’t turn into a red paste!” Vrax gave him a murderous look; Stereos stifled a small chuckle in his robe.

  “Bring it, big guy! No one even asked what talent I got. Go ahead, ask what talent I got,” Jonathan said while cradling his new halberd to his chest.

  Stereos raised a hand. “I am absolutely interested to know what kind of talent would go with such a strange mishmash of abilities.”

  “[Awaken Weapons], and no, I’m not going to explain that one; it takes a bit to get rolling, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” Jonathan said proudly before walking over to the washbasin in the corner and fondly watering his new weapon.

  “That’s not ominous at all...alright…we have me, the nightmare hugger, a monster of muscle that can fly. What I'm assuming is now a murder gardener and a blood mage. How about we go show the dungeon a good time?”

  “Stereos interjected, “You never did actually identify me, did you? My class is not blood mage; I just try not to openly practice the second half of my class. It tends to...upset some of the holier types who start throwing inaccurate accusations around.”

  Vrax frowned. Stereos was right; he had just taken him at his word before. Wait, he's something worse than a blood mage? What the fuck would upset the holiest worse than “Don’t mind me, I’m going to make your friend pop”? His predator's gaze told him, and immediately Vrax wanted to know what unholy tome Stereos had learned from to get that class. [Stereos Threndell Tier-1] (lvl 30) [Puppeteer Of Blood and Shadow].

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Ohhhhkkayy...I’m not one to judge, but jeeze man……” Stereos nodded appreciatively.

  “The rather grim nomenclature of my class has led to many issues in my life.” He said simply,

  Everyone settled in to discuss dungeon prep and party strategy for a few hours. Jonathan made a brief trip to a nearby store and came back with a half dozen sapling trees and a climbing vine to practice on. Jeff and Stereos engaged in an intense conversation about the different kinds of blood magic and their applications. Vrax made sure to mention that anyone who had essence should spend it now.

  Vrax saw that everyone was settled for the time being or deep in conversation and made his way to the sitting chair. Alright, time to level up before we start this trip. I'm hoping to make it to at least the secret dungeon and hopefully clear one of its floors, maybe more if that's practical. Things are probably going to come to a head next time I go home, and I want to be ready for it.

  Vrax slid into his sanctuary while his friends kept his body safe. It was weird to think about, but at this point they all probably were his friends, even Jonathan and Stereos, despite the short amount of time they had spent together.

  His sanctuary materialized around him, and Vrax strode straight through the coursing grass and around a gullet diver that twitched nervously as he walked by. Vrax didn’t feel like spending too much time soaking it all in today; he had spent more time here recently than he would like. Vrax went straight up to his newest sculpture.

  [Cistern Of Bloom And Decay] It had a simple but foreboding appearance, his armored form, one hand cast down, rotting a circle on the left side of the statue. The right side held its hand facing up, and a bloom of wildflowers was growing in a semicircle emanating from that side. Vrax looked at the lake behind him; it was flooding again to the point the lapping waters nearly splashed the Spriggan on its island.

  Vrax gathered a thin streamer of essence from the lake and began winding it through his statue's fingers like water pouring from a basin over the hands. Then he focused on giving the essence purpose. He needed more control. The Cistern was an amazing tool, but right now it was far too binary, with him using vast swaths of it at once to create cover.

  His mind hardened the essence’s purpose into that of control, of selection. He imagined the life energies leaking from his hands, swift but agile. Raising tall grass and trees in a thin line while leaving the surroundings barren. Essence poured from him smoothly into the [Skill Sculpture], cascading down in rivulets that became less and less as the essence realized its goals.

  Once that was finished, Vrax grasped the essence once again, this time in thick ropes of power. This, if it works, will be a game changer, but it’s going to cost a hell of a lot of essence. Vrax placed both hands on either side of the sculpture, trying to use his body as a conduit for the powers he wielded.

  This time as essence flowed over and through him, Vrax imagined the same thin, controlled streams of life not growing what was gone but remaking what was already there. Streamers of raw life energy coursing through wounds and knitting them closed. Across the bark of a dying tree, washing its sap away and healing the flesh.

  It still wasn’t enough. Vrax felt a mountain of weight on him as he tried to push through the massive change. He grunted, reasserting his grip on the slippery, writhing essence, and buckled his mind back onto its purpose. He imagined himself near death, impaled by the spears of his foes, standing alone in a field of wildflowers. The ground around him darkened and then turned black as he drained the field of its precious life.

  That power flowed into the cistern. Then in his mind’s eye he saw the power ease across his body, slowly sealing great rents into scabs as muscles pushed free the implements impaling him. The sanctuary seemed to heave around him for a moment as the gargantuan drain on his essence suddenly stopped; the sculpture had accepted the changes.

  [Cistern Of Bloom And Decay](lvl6)

  Manipulate the cycle of decay and regrowth around you. Life changed to decay in this way is stored within the cistern, stored life leaks away over time. Targeted decay will be reborn as what it once could have been. Improved control over what is reborn. Stored life may be used to heal the wounds of nearby entities.

  [Mana Cost Moderate]

  Vrax looked back at the lake; that change had taken a huge gulp of it. He wasn’t sure why, but anything to do with healing the system seemed to consider extra powerful. He jogged to the cave with his Stigmata. He placed a hand quickly upon the armor; it was a small change, and he was hoping he could do it before Vurune could butt in again.

  Vrax gathered a sheet of essence behind him and pushed it violently into his stigmata with one simple goal. To expand his garden, he held that image in his mind as he pushed the essence in as fast as it would be accepted. He felt the changes click into place just as the hungering eyes above began opening. Nope! Vrax pulled back from his stigma before Vurune could have his fun.

  [Stigmata Wrath Of The Grove](lvl 16)

  Woe befall those that would cause harm to those under the sacred canopy of our protection. Life is a struggle. Life is pain. Life is hunger. Life is fear. Let those who threaten our beloved feel naught but the wrath of the grove until they are returned to the cycle.

  [Stigmata Garden, Sixteen slots available]

  Entities in the stigmata garden will make copies of themselves. The life drain of the stigmata garden will now affect a larger area and affect essence-bound entities that oppose Vurune’s chosen. Your garden now contains a menagerie of predation, allowing adapted creatures to be added, only the strong will survive.

  Your Stigmata will drain the life from your surroundings to shield itself.

  When clad in your stigmata armor nothing shy of the mightiest of divining magics will reveal anything other than you are [The Paladin Of The Forsaken Lands](Chosen Of Vurune).

  It was a simple quick change, just expanding the room in his garden to sixteen; the rest he left untouched for now. Vrax still had a good pool of essence left behind him, and he had two things he was thinking about next. Do I finally stop mostly ignoring my Smite? It’s good; it’s just starting to fall behind and struggle to do meaningful damage to some foes even with my increased mana. Or I could raise my base stats higher to help with my difficulty against bruisers up close.

  I could always try and craft a talent as well, but...if that goes poorly, I could just end up wasting a whole paladin or three worth of essence. Crafting those from scratch is notoriously hard. Hells, I might have enough to force another evolution too if I spent all of it. Decisions, decisions...