As I explained the situation, realization dawned on her face. At least she has the shame to look sorry even before she hears about the attack. After which we quickly walked down the street and into the alley to help Bernardo. While she was looking at him she told me to collect anything I could from the bodies.
It wasn't much. Just a handful of daggers and some small pieces of jewelry. They weren't just robbing people for the fun of it it turns out. From the looks of things they were just like the other beggars on the street, accept these ones had the will and dedication to try to dig themselves out of their current position in society by any means necessary.
This city is sad now that I have seen them. These people don't hide in the day, they just blend in with the background. Seemingly doomed to a life of irrelevancy and struggle. In some ways I pity them. But stabbing someone who helped me is a step too far.
Venessa waved me over and we picked up Bernardo and brought him deeper into the city, leaving the alley empty except for the three bodies in the back. My skeletons have been long since recalled.
People looked at the victim with concern as we made our way through the now crowded street. Venessa led me through them with haste until we made our way to an out of the way section of town where we stop in front of a small building and Venessa sets him down to insert a key into the lock on the door.
"It's small I know but it's clean and I won't hear you being rude to me about it."
I agree as the door swings open to reveal a small home. Just a couch, bed, table small cooking area and closet in one room.
We laid Bernardo on the table and she quickly rushed over to a cabinet and took out a vial. Red liquid glowed faintly inside. She took the vial and opened it before pouring it out over the wound.
The soft red glow spread across the bloody bandages and faded.
"That should be enough to heal him. He should wake up given time."
"Was that a healing potion?! I knew magic could be used for a lot of stuff! I should have known. Thanks for using that."
"No problem. My irresponsibility is what head to this in the first place. He saved you from at the very least getting robbed. It's the least I can do."
Bernardo was now steadily breathing on the table. Now all that was left was to wait for him to wake up.
"While we wait there is something I need to check if you're ok with it."
"What is it?"
Venessa moved over to another cabinet and opened it. A glass ball sat on the shelf which she picked up and brought over to the bed, setting it on the blankets.
"If you touch this, you will be able to see what your abilities are clearly. And if you'll let me, I can also touch it and look at them as well."
"I'll allow you. If we are going to be together for any amount of time then we should at least know the basics of what we can do."
She turned away as I said that.
"Ok, anytime your ready."
I put my hand on it and it glowed brighter than it had before, and like the leather bound book, it showed me my skills and abilities. This time however it was like they were just floating in my mind. And there was much more detail than before.
Relevant Information:
NAME: Krieg
CLASS: Awakened Necromancer Apprentice
First tier necromancer class. This class provides bonuses in mana count, ease of skill acquisition, and stat gain per level when compared to the traditional necromancer route. Max summons: 150.
LEVEL: 20
ALIGNMENT: DARK
Grants affinity for other dark aligned skills and spells
CLASS SPELLS:
Summon Low Tier Undead:
Summons a skeleton warrior to do as you bid. Scales with level.
Creates a skeleton from pure mana.
Recall:
Send your summons back from whence they came.
Allows for the decommission of summons. Fifty percent of mana spent on creation is also returned.
Group Summon Skeleton:
Allows you to summon a group of skeletons with no limit in size in one spell. You may not summon more than you are capable of without this spell.
Creates a group of skeletons from mana. Group can be as big or as small as the caster wishes, though mana limits still apply.
CLASS SKILLS:
Basic Skeletal Tactics LV20:
Skeletons under your control gain intelligence with regards to tactics
Competent Skeletal General LV20:
Issue more complex commands and have them executed better to your will
ALIGNMENT SKILLS:
None Available. Acquiring these skills is possible.
SKILLS:
None Available. Acquiring these skills is possible.
NON-CLASS-RELATED SPELLS:
None Available. Acquiring these skills is possible.
Turns out that I should really check my book. Seems like I can upgrade all of the things with levels involved. Including myself!
Venessa doesn't have this reaction and goes silent for a while before she breaks away from the ball.
"You have a special class huh."
She sounds amazed by this
"See, I was telling the truth. All the skeletons I have made are just created!"
She stares a bit before she speaks.
"The mana cost for that would be absurd wouldn't it? It would have been a miracle if you could summon even two at a time as a first rank."
"Is it? I've been able to do that since I first woke up, though it has gotten a lot easier."
My mouth snaps shut, but it's too late. I can see Venessa's eyes flash as she takes in the sentence.
"Woke up you say?"
"Umm, no that was the wrong choice of wor-"
"That would explain it. In the forest, no knowledge of nearby towns, no supplies, no common knowledge of the world around you…"
She doesn't know, does she? Are there other people she knows who were transported here?
"It must be amnesia! That also fits your class name. Awakened. You lost your memories and woke up with a special class!"
She is unexpectedly enthusiastic about this.
"I guess you could say I have amnesia then. Are special classes rare?"
"Yes! At least out here they are. Almost nobody has one. If you can meet the unlock requirements, then anyone can get a special class. But out here in this part of the world, almost nobody knows the requirements for a given class. And if they were willing to sell the information, the cost would be extravagant, to say the least!"
So my class is unexpectedly a really rare thing huh? I wonder if I am special in that regard. I don't think I did anything special to earn this rank. That just leaves the option of me having it when I came to this world. Can people who are originally from this world really get this the awakened title on their own class?
Either way, I think I'm in a good position for now.
"Why haven't you ranked up your class yet?" She seems almost angry at me. "That's important! Ranking up classes is the best way to get stronger!"
I pull my hand off the gem and step back to take out my book from the inside of my robes. It's glowing brighter than I have ever seen it. Whether that's because of the class rank up possibility or the fact that so many things can be upgraded I don't know.
"At least you have your guild book. Trying to get one now would be a hassle."
"Guild book?"
"Right, when you sign up at the adventurers guild they give you that book so you can see your progress. You can do all the things it does without it but it is much harder and mostly relies on guesswork. For example, if you wanted to level up a skill you would have to keep using it until you thought that it was ready, and then focus on what you want until it happens. You don't even know if you have achieved the new ranked skill yet even then until you see the results of it."
"That sounds like a pain."
"Don't reflect! Open it already!"
"Ok, Ok…"
I open it to the first page and see the 'Awakened Necromancer Apprentice' class title glowing. So I tap it and three options come up.
Awakened Zombie Necromancer:
Adds zombies to the 'Summon low tier undead' series of spells. The cost to summon zombies is greater than skeletons by forty percent. This class reduces that to zero percent.
Awakened Skeletal Necromancer:
Unlocks spell; Summon low tier skeleton. This replaces the Summon low tier undead series of spells with skeleton options. The cost to summon skeletons is reduced by twenty percent.
Awakened Rounded Necromancer:
Allows zombies and skeletons to be summoned. Both at original mana costs.
Wow. Those seem helpful. And if it means I can start leveling again then it would also help me to raise the amount of mana I have once I chose a class.
But zombies huh. I don't like them in the slightest. Bones are all fine and good but when it is the rotting flesh of zombies… I don't have any motivation to pick that at all.
Before Venessa can even speak a word at what she thinks I should do I tap Awakened Skeletal Necromancer and my level is reset to zero.
"I hope you like skeletons. I was about to tell you that the best option would probably be Rounded, but if you like skeletons so much then that's a good option also."
"It's not so much a love for skeletons as it is a dislike for zombies."
"Ahh, yes. They aren't the most pleasant things. Even when you're in control of them."
A shiver goes down my back as I think about being surrounded by stinking rotted flesh.
I think I dodged a bullet.
After that, the skills were also leveled up to Competent Skeletal Tactics LV1 and Skilled Skeletal General LV1.
Seeing the effects of these is going to be great!