Hey my friends, welcome to this humble chapter!
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Dale remained silent for a few moments before coming to a decision.
"I'm thinking about this from the wrong perspective…"
'Who cares about what my Focus is? It's too soon to be thinking about that… Or so I would've hopped...'
"I need to make a choice between 3 options, Sword, Spear, and Self. Otherwise, I'm stuck…"
'I was given 3 pre-determined choices so I have to choose one of them, there is no 'leaving things for later'...'
'My options are limited from the start…'
'But if I have to follow a certain path to grow, then I can only try my best to make the most suitable option…'
'However, what is a suitable option?'
'It isn't just a matter of it being the one I want or am most comfortable with since, in the end, I may find myself regretting this very choice.'
'I don't even know what'll happen once I choose the Class…'
'Sigh… I can't see the future, besides, it'll take a long time for me to regret it… Or hopefully, I never will.'
'After all, I first need to learn the ways and techniques that are bound to this Class before diving into what makes it unique.'
"I have made my choice."
Dale took out his book from his inventory…
[Consuming the book will give you access to a new compatible Class]
[You have chosen, Alma Conqueror (Self)]
[Never let your Will be subjected to the Will of others, even in the direst of circumstances, as that is the path of a Conqueror]
As Dale read the messages, the book in his hand burned to cinders, leaving behind a strange, floating green rune.
"Hm?... How is there such an effect when this is just a mere copy?..."
[You have met the requirements for a Class Change]
[Would you like to receive a New Class?]
"Yes." Dale replied
Before he even had the time to process what it was, the rune broke into many brilliant pieces, and those same pieces rushed into Dale's eyes at incredible speeds!
He felt his body turn cold than hot in the blink of an eye...
[Your Class has changed from Heavy Spearman to Alma Conqueror]
[Previous Class benefits are being overwritten]
[Constitution Ratio has changed from 1.1 to 1]
[You have gained a new Skill, Confluence 0-Star]
[Hidden Stat, Soul Power has been revealed]
As the clear sounds echoed in his mind, rivers of information poured into Dale's mind.
It wasn't foreign knowledge though, instead, it was the practices and techniques of the InnerLight Cult, information he had read about previously, but not quite understood due to how vague the book was about it.
But now, all of it was revealed to him, making him understand a lot more…
"Urg…"
Dale felt the greatest headache he had ever felt, and it wasn't short-lived as this process would last for a little while longer…
…
/10 minutes later…/
"Arg!... Finally… Phew…"
As the words and images stopped passing through his mind, Dale finally let a sigh of relief as the pain subsided.
He rested his head on his trusty pillow, but he thought about nothing, letting his mind rest...
Instead opened the Game menu and brought forward his stats…
[Player: DareDevil (Dale Houston)
Attainments: Body Reformation; Eclipsed; Massacre of 100; Culling Blade; Forged Heart amidst desperation; Minor Enlightenment; Heart Gate Open
Level:27 (89.3%)
Class: Alma Conqueror 0%
Character Status:
Strength: 104(129); Constitution: 104(139); Dexterity: 104(129); Mental Power: 79(94); Reflexes: 79(94); Mana: 104(129 -> 258)
Soul Power: 10(25)
Skills:
Slot 1-> Spear Technique 3.5-Star (Neutral)/ Mana Conduction 2.5-Star (Neutral)
Slot 2-> Close quarters Combat 3-Star (Neutral)
Slot 3-> Stable Emotions 3-Star (Passive)
Slot 4-> Spatial Awareness 1-Star (Passive)
Slot 5-> Fighting Spirit 3-Star (Active)
Slot 6-> Miasma Immunity 0-Star (Passive)
Slot 7-> Vital Heart 0.5-Star (Active)
Slot 8-> Confluence 0-Star (Neutral)
Temporary Skills: None
Current Effects:
Aspect of Might -> All Stats +15
Molded Heart -> Mana Ratio = 2
Heart Gate -> Mana +50
Body Reformation -> Natural Healing and Stamina recovery speed have been greatly increased
Blessed by Ju-Arkesios -> Constitution +10 while within a 5Km radius of any of his Temples
Injured Heart -> All Base Stats -50 /Received treatment/(1 Hour 46 minutes...)
Inventory (+)
]
As expected, nothing much changed, it hadn't been long since he checked it after all.
But some things seemed to be added…
'My constitution dropped significantly… It's okay though, I'll recover it one day.'
'A new Stat… A new Skill… And at the very end, the description for the Injured heart changed from -50 to all Stats to -50 to all Base Stats, probably due to the appearance of this new stat.'
"Overall, I would say it's pretty underwhelming for something I found in a hidden safe of the Office of a Corps Commander…" Dale said with a serious face
'Regardless, I have no comparisons anyway...'
"As for what I gained from this..."
'It may not be much...'
'But the reason for this is hidden within the information I gained after my Class changed.'
'Power is not given immediately, I have to work for it.'
Dale focused his gaze on his Class:
[... Class: Alma Conqueror 0%...]
'0% huh...'
'This is it. Currently, I'm far from this Class' true potential, so I have to work hard for it... You know, walk down the path and all of that.'
'The closer I get to it, the better the benefits… As to how?'
Dale changed his focus to his new Skill.
'This is the way how.'
'Although it's not much, the memories I gained gave me a better and clearer idea of what this Cult works with, their techniques and methods.'
'And all of it is centered around this simple Skill, Confluence.'
'Confluence is the term given to the junction of two rivers, but it can be extended to other things such as roads, and in this case, it's the junction between the Mind, the Soul, and the Body.'
'It may seem strange at first, how I'm I going to make those 3 aspects come together when in theory, they should already be together?'
'But this isn't something that should be viewed only in a physical way, but more in a metaphysical way...'
'When my Mind alone can influence both my Soul and Body and vise versa… That is when I will have reached the first requirement to become an Alma Conqueror…'
'At least by this Cult's perspective…'
'But to achieve that, a lot of training will be required…'
Dale smiled.
"The fact this Class has a percentage gauge already proves its Uniqueness, something I wasn't aware of at all…"
'However, it would be hasty of me to assume this is a progress bar, it could very well be something else...'
Dale looked at David, noticing it was still sleeping.
"The day is still long…"
'One less thing for me to worry about, but as soon as it went away, something else filed its place.'
'Now I have to worry myself with training, studying, completing my quests, and the progress of Resko and everything around it…'
Dale opened his inventory and took out a pre-selected book.
It read: The Inner and Outer Circuit Volume 1 out of 2, Version 3.4
It was a rather thick book, at least 200 pages long…
But Dale was determined to read it.
"I need to understand more about Mana before trying to play with it…"
'Time to dive in…'
With a focused smile, Dave rested his back on the wall as he read the book under the faint sunlight coming from his window…
…
/At the same time, somewhere in Japan…/
An old man rested his back on his very expensive chair with a pensive look as he waited…
/Knock knock!/
"Come in, I've been waiting." The old man said as he looked at the door
"Excuse me Mr.Robert…" Said the woman who entered
She was the perfect definition of a sensual secretary, with her glossy black hair and glasses, and her curvy figure as she walked inside holding a thin pile of papers.
However her expression wasn't sensual in the least, and it could even be said to be cold and professional... Perhaps even tense?
"Did you do it?" The old man asked coldly
"Yes, we collected everything you asked for." She replied professionally
"What do you think of it?"
The woman remained silent for a while before saying:
"It's… Odd? I don't quite see how and why we… Pardon me. I simply found nothing unusual about it." She said
"..."
Robert looked at her with an inquisitive glance before saying:
"Is that so… Let me take a look."
The woman nodded and gave him the papers.
/Flip flip flip…/
At an incredible speed, the old man read page after page, as if he was flipping through the pages with no aim…
"Hm?"
But he then stopped.
"There's indeed nothing… How unusual."
'I didn't expect this… So why?...'
'Is this really that same person?'
/Poof…/
Robert placed the papers on the table and frowned.
"Sir… How about we proceed from this for now and go on with the rest?" The lady asked
Robert took out his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes.
"Yes. I'll think about this later, it seems one or two readings aren't going to be enough." He said with conviction
'I need to make sure I didn't miss anything… This is crucial.'
'I can't commit the same mistakes they did.'
The secretary took out a small square object and unfold it like paper, revealing a tablet.
"I'll be sending you the weekly and daily reports… It's been a day since the explosive Launch of Azimuth, and we…"
Robert shook his head and said:
"Leave this talk for later, I'm not in the mood to hear numbers…"
"Yes sir."
The woman knew her Boss very well, she knew that he wouldn't hear anything she said at all if she were to continue talking.
Even though she felt it was a bit unfair since she had to put all of this info together, it was just a part of her job.
"If we jump all of this… Were left with a single piece of news."
"Oh? What is it that requires my attention?" Robert asked with a smile
"Our teams in America have detected some Unusual activity from the Blue Candles…"
"What?" Robert asked with a surprised expression
'Have they started to move? But why in America of all places? That's far from their area of influence...'
'On the contrary, they're moving into my territory...'
"Do we have a place and a date?"
She nodded and said:
"Around 4 hours ago at New York…"
She proceeded to say even the finest details such as the city block and street.
"They didn't try to hide, instead… It seemed they were in a hurry to get somewhere?"
"Hm…"
'A hurry? This means they haven't gone senile with the years of silence...'
'So what is it? What is it that they want to get, so much so they would risk revealing themselves at this time?...'
Robert thought deeply… But then…
"...!!"
/BAM!/
He smashed his hands on the table, breaking the solid wooden table in half!
"THOSE FUCKING ASS EATERS!"
He got up from his chair and jumped over the girl in a way unimaginable for his age.
He turned around and screamed at her:
"Dammit! GO! GO NOW! Call out Task Force Blue Dice and prepare the fastest Jet we FUCKING HAVE! FOR YESTERDAY!" He said as he rushed out of the room
"!"
The secretary also rushed out at high speeds, entering a call with someone through the device on her ears…
It seemed this wasn't the first time she did something like this as she completely ignored the old man's strange actions...
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Notes
I hope you all liked this, I'll try to increase the pace slightly, I know we've been talking a lot.
In any case, peace!