There was of course the looming Tribulation but up until now no one had seen it
That Sam reflected was having a strange psychological effect on Donnyton
They were constantly training grinding themselves to a point ready for the oncoming vicious sphinx Vigilant patrols scoured the area Any non domesticated monsters were killed seemingly seconds after they spawned All in all Donnyton had become a very safe and orderly place
Still everyone was waiting for the hammer blow to fall
But Sam shook his head focusing on his current task In order to provide at least a little differentiation he was making several types of pendants created through his Bone Shaping For the general groups that weren’t part of the squads they were given a bone pendant in the symbol of their use These were for the general corps that didn’t yet make it into a squad
A weird flame shaped bone for the mages A cross for the Healers An axe for Dozer’s squad a shield for Donny’s a curved dagger for Decklan’s This group of pendants was annoying to make due to their group size Sam was forced to spend most his mana pool and use mana potions to continue on with the project
Bone shaping by itself was simple Sam used his hands infused with mana to rub the bones It was a gradual process but some of the mana would sink into the surface of the bone and Sam would still maintain a certain measure of control over it
After a sufficient amount of mana was rubbed into the bone he pressed driving the mana up and forward into the shape he wanted The bone slowly twisted and stretched moving to fill that shape
Not enough mana and the skill failed and he was left with a strange twisted bone Too much mana and the bone exploded Press too hard and the bone exploded Press too soft and nothing happened for several seconds and then the bone dissolved into powder as the mana diffused
Sam had practiced obsessively these past few weeks slowly reducing the percentage of bones that he wasted through his skill
Although it wasn’t outwardly obvious Sam was a prideful man Early on when the village had been established his skill with an axe and construction had given him what he thought was a pretty significant head start in terms of paths which translated into higher stats
It was nice in a way protecting the girls and even that asshat Kal wielding his axes with wild abandon running solely on the thrill of adrenaline while monsters rushed forward
But as the Classers leveled that stat advantage disappeared And then Vivian Ellaine and Kal left wanting to flee to civilization All he had left was Lyra but of course by that point she no longer needed his protection Sam couldn’t fathom the extent and methods of her skills but he couldn’t deny the results she had achieved
In fact she had been visiting The Ghosthound these past weeks giving him lessons in the control of mana
Sam chuckled despite himself his smile grim Was even he beginning to just call Randidly the Ghosthound It was a sobering thought Although Randidly was clearly the most powerful and versatile person in the village
He bore so much weight on his shoulders
Sighing Sam turned back to his final project for the new stratification system For the squads he made the numbers 50 11 simple plain numbers of bone which would be worn by the squad leader For the final 10 however he used larger pieces of bone which would be worn on the squad leaders back These took a few tries but make them he did resplendent as graceful bones displayed in roman numerals
X IX VIII VII VI V IV III II and finally I
These would be the pride of Donnyton Sam hoped The honor that all the Classers strived for
And the non Classers Sam supposed There were several competing although there was sometimes some grumbling when they were included on your team It did raise their skills more quickly which was helpful It also was becoming increasingly obvious that having a NCC gave squads certain advantages
Often they knew most basic combat skills and could fill multiple roles in combat Healer Mage Tank
Unfortunately this versatility came at the cost of low health mana and stamina pools they usually rather quickly had to rely on potions
For the I the top ranked squad Sam reverently used a bone from the Tribulation Randidly had killed They were darker than normal bones a grey blue almost resembling metal This after all was the pinnacle It should be worth striding for
Then Sam examined the piece of equipment he had made then chuckled
Livery of the First Squad Lvl 29 A sigil made for the best Wearer receives +50 Health Mana and Stamina Those under the command of the Wearer receive +10 Health Mana and Stamina
Sam nodded pleased with himself The others had granted small amounts of health or stamina but this was a much more significant amount There were after all perks to being on top
They had already arranged a system of challenges so the lower squads could fight to gain rank but it hadn’t been used overmuch thus far Now the pendant wearers would try to obtain a top 10 ranking for the extra bonuses the larger pieces granted And those in the top 10
Would aim for the top
Wistfully Sam wondered how he would fare should he join the pool to be placed into a squad Although he felt he was slightly inadequate in comparison to the top tier he thought that he matched up pretty well in comparison to most people’s physical specs He was nearing 20 in almost everything Perhaps not super impressive but still
A throat clear caught Sam’s attention and he looked up Daniel stood there fidgeting slightly
Sam chuckled How long were you waiting
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