Chapter 60 (2/2)
“Almost five minutes,” Daniel replied, probably only half joking. Although with Daniel’s patience, it would no doubt get spent after even that short amount of time… and judging by the way he was bouncing from foot to foot…
“Well?” Sam asked, folding his arms.
“...The first stage of the Class Trials happened today,” Daniel gushed, his eyes bright. “I have the results.”
The Class Trials, as Daniel called them, were his brainchild, were he would take volunteers and oversee their training, promising them support in exchange for information about their paths and stats, and having control over when they chose a class. He had taken in 20 individuals for it, 17 men and 3 women, and had been working them to the bone since the Newbie Barrier had fallen.
Based on the original plan, one was long term, while the other was short, and he had likely made the short term group take a class.
Before Sam could say anything else, Daniel handed him a clipboard. Upon closer examination, it was covered in stats, lists of skills, physical descriptions and measurements, paths, and general psychological assessments. Unfortunately, most it was marred with underlines, circles, and seeming random lines drawn around between strange bits of information.
Sam gave Daniel a level look.
Shaking his head, Daniel said with an annoyed expression. “Okay, okay, the short version, right? The total stats, rather than the distribution, made a difference in quality of the classes received. Due to some variables I haven’t been able to identity, some individuals level skills faster generally, while others displayed particular affinity toward a certain skill, and leveled only that very rapidly. It was only two weeks, but I was surprised that the difference between the lowest individual and the highest was approaching 20 stat points-”
“Focus.” Sam growled, rapping his knuckles against the wood of the worktable.
Blinking, Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it was a scowl. With an exaggerated sigh, he said, “Alright fine. As I stated, total stat amounts made a difference in terms of quality, but stat distribution doesn’t seem to affect class type. A person with high intelligence could still become a berserker. Class type stems from the Skills you have leveled. Heavy Blow leads to warrior, Herculean Strength to defender, Mana Bolt to mage, Healing Palm to acolyte.”
“Perhaps unfortunately,” Daniel continued. “The one individual who was best at leveling probably got the worst class out of everyone; Jack of All Trades. The stat gains are fine, but the skills he’s gotten have been lackluster so far. Just general proficiencies. Since he was good at everything, I just had him level everything he could. Spells, fighting skills, cleaning and cooking, construction, potion making, etc. But because he had everything, he had no dominant skills that lead to his class. As such, I’ve agreed to take him on as an assistant. It seems that in terms of classes, what matters is the really is the flavor of the skills.”
“An assistant will be useful for you,” Sam said half heartedly, mulling over the news. The stat total increasing the quality was good, but the general skills making classes more difficult was not great news to hear. After all, all of his production skills were spread out quite a lot. In addition, he had a fair amount of combat related moves. If he took a class now, what would he get…?
“Not really,” Daniel’s said with a smug grin on his face. “Ever since my class granted me the Memorize skill- Wait, you were being sarcastic, weren’t you? Well I’ll be leaving then. No need to stay around and be mocked.”
Daniel affronted face as he turned and stalked away was so comical that Sam had to laugh. They were embracing this world quickly, Sam thought. Perhaps too quickly. Becoming too used to their positions of power. Hopefully this strange pseudo peace didn’t last too long…
“Oh, one more thing.” Daniel said, still hurrying away. “I’ll leave the pleasure of speaking with the Ghosthound about this piece of news to you. Good luck.”
Now it was Sam’s turn to scowl. Randidly was never in a good mood these days. He was taking the tribulation absence harder than anyone else. Sam knew that he wanted to go out and hunt it down, but didn’t know where to start. So Randidly could only wait. All the while, his gaze turned towards the south.
In one of their evening strolls through the area, Regina had confided in Sam that the strange, wistful gaze had started when she mentioned Rawlands. Perhaps there was a connection there, the past of the man who would become The Ghosthound, hidden there. Some connection or relationship that could draw him, even now.
What exacerbated that wistful mood was that apparently the mana lessons with Lyra weren’t… going well…
****
Sam walked passed several farmers who were tending their fields, their eyes studiously on the ground, the raised voices already audible.
“What do you mean you just do it?” Randidly growled.
“I just do it, so why can’t you? What do you want me to say!” Lyra answered, and Sam could picture her furious face, her mouth pressed into a thin line. Sam hurried closer.
“Some instruction would be a welcome change of pace.”
“Okay, I have a skill that lets me see mana. After that I just reached out and played with it, shaping. I figured you could skip the seeing step and just control it, but I didn’t realize you had a giant dick for a brain.”
“I can feel it’s there, sure. But I haven’t been able to touch it! I just want you to tell me how to touch it!”
“If you can feel it, aren’t you touching it already? Just do it, want it, feel it! What the fuck are you waiting for?!”
The farmers were beginning to blush. Sam arrived at the small gate that surrounded Randidly’s house, granting him some privacy, and let himself in, making as much noise as possible. He was met with two hostile glares.
Luckily, or unluckily, those glares quickly switched and settled on each other.
Lyra tapped her foot on the ground lightly. “This is where the teacher has to spank the naughty student, right? Good thing I’m into role play.”
“Try it.” Randidly’s voice dropped dangerously, and suddenly Sam felt like he wasn’t actually very impressive physically. If it came to blows between them…
“How could you even stop it? YOU CAN’T EVEN SEE MANA. That’s the whole reason this is so annoying! Just-”
“You know what’s annoying? Your attitude. How am I supposed to just ‘do it’? If you just behaved like a reasonable person, just once-”
“Would you even listen? Aren’t you too busy treating me like a little girl to take me seriously? Oh there’s Lyra again, just joking around, she’s so snarky and unapproachable, I’d rather pat her on the head and then leave her alone so she just-”
But then Lyra stopped speaking, and spun on her heel and walked towards one of the walls. With a wave of her hand, she conjured a bear made of mana, that smashed its paws against the wall and ripped a hole through it like it was made of gauze. Lyra calmly stepped over the broken wall without altering her gait, and proceeded away, passed the area now completely vacated of farmers.
Inwardly, Sam sighed. He hadn’t known Lyra well before the system arrived, but he had spent a good amount of time with her since then, and Randidly too.
Lyra was always raised to be an actress, and the best actress. She grew up under constant pressure and observation. She felt seen constantly, and judged, and only a stubborn disposition and her natural talent and intellect had helped her through it.
Now, facing Randidly, a person who she was obviously attracted to, she was infuriated that he wasn’t behaving how she expected, by viewing her as a woman. To him, she was just a teenager. 17 might be old enough for some people, but to a 23 year old Randidly, that 6 year age difference was more than enough to balk at.
Honestly, Sam respected that about him. And he had some fatherly instincts towards Lyra still, so he wanted her to end up with someone her own age. But even Sam couldn’t deny that their interpersonal issues were beginning to color their other interactions.
These lessons, for instance, would likely go much more smoothly if one wasn’t clearly broadcasting her sexual frustrations, and the other dismissing her outright.
“So,” Randidly said, turning his furious gaze to Sam. “What did you come here for?”