Her eyelids felt so heavy… Isla struggled to wake up. A soft, early morning light bathed the room. She was back in their common home, Grace’s bed and breakfast, in one of the guest rooms.
I survived…
“Core, are the rest OK?” she croaked, her throat dry.
[The Butler]: Everybody’s fine.
“Thank goodness… How much time has passed? It can’t be the same morning.”
[The Butler]: You Rezzed one day ago and slept until now. There is something amiss with your stats. I suggest you review them before the rest of your family wakes up.
“Thanks, I’ll do just that.”
Name: Isla Culloden. Lvl. 66. Main Class: Enforcer??? (Rare), Secondary Class: ???
8 AP available
STR: 64 / DEX: 64 / CON: 64 / INT: 75 / WIL: 25 / CHA: 25
What the fuck?
She switched the Class Menu, and the notification popped out immediately.
You’re suffering from a possible Class Glitch because one of your secondary stats (INT) is higher than your main stat (STR). Make an informed Secondary Class selection to correct this error.
1: Trainer (Rare, INT type). Unavailable for selection. Even if your free APs are invested in your main stat (STR), they will still be lower than the secondary stat (INT).
2: Hunter (Rare, INT type). Unavailable for selection. Even if your free APs are invested in your main stat (STR), they will still be lower than the secondary stat (INT).
3: Mana Monk (Legendary, INT type). Conditioned. Unarmed combat specialist. Imbue your strikes with Mana and Elemental Damage.
4: The Artist (Legendary, Unique, INT type). Conditioned. You are the first person on Earth to use your Energy Shield for other purposes than intended. You have discovered a higher form of Forcefield: Aura. Learn to shape it into Mana Sculptures, Disguises, Illusions, Constructs, or Combatives applications.
“Artist! I take the artist's stuff,” she blurted. It was a dream come true. Finally! Isla was ready to prove to the universe and Rowan that she was smart! An artist!
Warning: An Aura artist is a Legendary tier class and offers many bespoke choices because no two artists are the same. Michelangelo and Leonardo are worlds apart.
Sure, their bandanas have different colors.
She dismissed the thought. Now that she was an artist, she couldn’t afford to think like a ‘Merican. Promising herself to read all that was to read about Mama Lisa or even watch the musical, she continued reading the notification.
Nevertheless, a Secondary Legendary Class is still two tiers over your Main class, which is not allowed.
Noooo… Please, pretty please, I wanna be an artist!
After all, is Douanier Rousseau remembered for his Customs job? Mussorgsky or Chabrier for being civil servants? Bukovski for being a postman?
Fuck… how many more ninja turtle teams are out there?
To obtain The Artist class, it has to be promoted as a Main Class, and your Enforcer relegated to secondary. All the Perks will remain the same. The mutation will produce severe pain and dizziness. Accept mutation: Y/N.
“You bet I accept!” she yelled.
Isla closed her eyes, waiting for the pain. The dizziness was real, her head turning around like a carousel. The pain… meh. She was used to much worse. When the switch was done, she giddily summoned her new Character Menu to see the news. The old job’s perks were the same, plus DPS, minus damage, blah blah blah. She read the new perks in one go, then returned to the beginning because the emotion made her forget everything.
New Perks obtained.
Secondary (former Primary) Class: Enforcer
INT
First Perk: Quick Thinking. You can react instantly to any menace and find ways to counter it.
Third Perk: Tactics. Reading of the battlefield. Works well together with your husband’s Strategic Sixth Sense.
Yeah. In your face, Grace. Who's the best wife now?
Please choose your INT second threshold Perk:
1: Read the Flow. Understand the opponent’s movement better and find counters easily. +25% to Parry, Evade, or Block.
2: Go with the Flow. +25% Critical Chance if your strikes follow each other less than 1.5 seconds apart.
Two, of course. It's OP if you know what you're doing.
Main Class: Aura Artist (Bespoke displayed name The Artist awarded for being the first person on Earth to unlock it)
STR
First Perk: When using your Aura as a weapon, your strikes have +25% damage against a target’s Energy Shield
DEX
First Perk: When using Aura as a weapon, your strikes have +25% Critical Chance against a target’s Energy Shield
CON
First Perk: Your Aura melds its first layer with the surface of your body, enhancing its Beauty (permanent passive, no cost), Toughness, and Regeneration by +25% (active effect, Cost: 5 MP/second).
Isla erupted, rushing to the bathroom to check herself in the mirror. She looked a few years younger, much like she did in the first years of college. Really cute.
In your face, Cora. You think you’re the only one able to make puppy eyes, pucker, and pretend you need a strong man to open your pickle jar? Ha ha ha!
Returning to the bed, she read on.
INT
Perk 1: Aura Weapon (Legendary). You can shape your Aura into either a melee or ranged weapon. The simpler the shape, the better the results. Projectiles can travel up to 10 yards before losing energy, but practice can increase the range. Mana Cost: 20 Mana per projectile (ranged weapon) or 20 Mana per second spent in combat (melee weapon). You can also use this ability to imbue normal weapons with your Aura.
Perk 3: It’s Alive! (Legendary). This perk allows you to create constructs that behave like animated art, dungeon monsters, or living beings. 1 Mana per second is transferred to the construct, acting as its Energy Pool (EP). Controlling a construct consumes Mana equal to 1/10th of its EP per second. Current Control Range: 100 yards.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Stationary Constructs: Art creations or turrets can be programmed to feed on local Mana Leylines.
Mobile Constructs: These can be programmed to attack or defend, but this drains their Energy Pool. If the construct's Energy Pool reaches zero, it will cease to exist.
This opens possibilities.
WIL
Perk 1: Look, no hands! You can use your Aura to grab or push things away. Consumes 20 MP/second if in Combat or 10 MP/second out of combat. Current reach: 15 feet.
CHA
Perk 1: Disguise. You can use your Aura to hide yourself or others behind an illusion. Your chances of success increase if you know the disguise well. Cost: 10 Mana/second.
Hmm… interesting.
Please select your new Main Class second threshold perks:
STR:
1: It’s Alive and Dangerous! Constructs made with your INT perk 3 can deliver attacks with 50% of your STR base damage (default level is 10%)
2: Concentrated Power: Increase the base damage power of your Mana weapons by 50% by consuming an extra 20 Mana/second spent in combat. The power coefficient is +100% against Energy Shields.
Let’s go with two.
DEX
1: Critter. Constructs made with your INT perk 3 can deliver attacks with 50% of your Crit Change (default level is 10%)
2: Wieldy. You strike +50% faster with Aura weapons at an added cost of 20MP/second spent in combat.
OK, so it looks like the first choice in Strength and Dexterity helps constructs, and the second myself. But since I went with the second in Strength, I’ll also take the second one here. Maybe I should have stuck to reading everything before deciding… Nah, I like close combat; it's OK.
CON
1: Enhanced Stamina. Less need for rest or sleep, and resist mild poisons. An Artist needs to resist long hours of work, abuse of alcohol, or orgies.
Nope. I'm not that kind of an artist. Go with two, whatever it is
2: Body Fusion Powerhouse. Your STR, DEX, and CON stats all contribute to your Health Pool. Current Pool (Physical Stats+Level)x10=2580
That’s more like it.
INT
1: Harmonics. You can resonate with other forcefields. 50% chance to dismiss or take over other people’s shields or pass through Border-like forcefields.
2: Mind Fusion Powerhouse. Your INT, WIL, and CHA stats all contribute to your Mana Pool
What did Thomas say? Always go for utilities. One.
Your new class has retroactively awarded 2 APs/every ten levels to INT, WIL, and CHA. The points previously acquired in STR, DEX, and CON will not be rerolled, but you won’t get more APs in them at the every ten-level threshold. Your new stats are:
STR: 64 / DEX: 64 / CON: 64 / INT: 87 / WIL: 37 / CHA: 37
Having obtained so many new and cool perks made Isla so happy that she was on the verge of crying, but all of a sudden, noises outside her room attracted her attention. Voices speaking aloud and, for whatever reason, slowly. Cora and Grace. The first asked:
“You think she’s awake?”
“I don’t know.”
“I wanna check.”
“Let her be!”
“I wanna go shopping for clothes and need her advice.”
“I can offer you advice.”
“You? You’re dressing like one of those nineteenth-century damsels. I need someone classy and modern, like Isla, showing me the ropes.”
I didn’t know Cora had such good taste, Isla thought. Don’t worry, kid, I’ll be your Fashion master, and you’ll be my Padawan. No one knows sportswear better than me in the whole County.
“Hi, girls,” Rowan's voice appeared as well. “Is Isla awake?”
“I don’t know. What do you have there? Flowers? When’s the last time you brought me flowers?” Grace’s voice raised in pitch.
“I swear I will… just not now. Sorry, I have to check on her.”
A timid knock on the door. Before Rowan knocked the second time, Isla yelled. “Come in.”
In Rowan’s hands were a bouquet and a box of chocolates. He rushed to hug Isla, kissing her hair. “I was worried sick. Are you OK?”
“I am. But my Main Class changed. I’m an Artist now,” Isla beamed.
“An A-artist? I’m m-married to an artist?” Rowan blurted, widening his eyes and covering his mouth with both his hands.
“Two artists. Two!” Grace yelled from the corridor. “I’m going to teach my art classes. See you later.”
“Isla, I badly need new… err… sports cloves, sorry, clothes… do you think you can find time today to help me choose some?" Cora asked from the door, a half-crumpled paper in hand on which she was peeking furtively.
"Of course, little grasshopper. What about in the afternoon? I need some time to experiment with my new Class." Isla said enthusiastically, nodding, her eyes shining with happiness and repressed tears.
"It's a plan," Cora cheered, clapping her hands merrily. "Cya, I'll check the County’s settings and prepare the absorptions. Join me when you can… Rowbunny,” Cora said, running away after the last word and evading the pillow Rowan threw at her.
The day was as perfect as it could be, Isla decided. First, she needed to have some morning sex with Rowan, then she’d check on Mama Lisa and other shit.
The Town Square had its secrets. One of the mansions built by Cora when she was acting as a fake AI had a hidden passage behind it that led to a portal to the Town’s Core Control pocket dimension.
Cora had insisted on the term to differentiate it from the pocket universes that were the dungeons. While she was talking nerdish technical stuff and he pretended to listen, they arrived in a large round room with another portal on the opposite side and a console in the middle.
“What’s there?” Rowan asked.
“The town’s storage. Care to see it?”
Rowan didn’t care, but it didn’t matter too much as long it made her happy, so he nodded. “Yeah, why not.” After passing through the second gate, they arrived in a gigantic subterranean cavern, miles wide and at least one in height, the light provided by floating orbs, and in the middle lay the Traipenent. He stopped and gasped, impressed by the ship’s and the cavern’s size. “I thought you’d dismember it.”
“I'm salvaging parts,” she pointed to lines of components lying in rows. “The Technoforge is still too low to disassemble it; for the rest, it’s only one of me. Reliable bots are hard to build; they tend to go Skynet as soon you make them smart enough.”
He realized that almost on her own, she had put together stuff for a fully armored company, plus many other useful things, without bragging or taking credit. “You’re doing a great job,” he kissed her on the temple, and she purred. “Could we… err… make it fly again?”
“No, but once I repair them, a couple of shuttles can make it around the Solar system on warp drive. However, interstellar travel is impossible without a proper Ship Core.”
“Eh, Solar System is fine, I guess. We can mine stuff, right?”
“Or build colonies using some cores.”
“Wow… Well, we’ll see. Should we?” Rowan gestured to the portal.
Back in the control room, they sat at the table, and Cora summoned a holographic map of the surroundings. “There’s a problem with the core you claimed. You have to make a choice.”
“Problem?” Rowan frowned.
“It’s much higher in level than the County.”
“So?”
“It’s like a shark trying to swallow a whale. It can take bites, but most of the body will go to waste.”
“Which would be a pity,” Rowan nodded. “And if we absorb the other cores first?”
“Won’t be enough. It will barely raise us to level forty-eight. We need to be at least sixty for an honest chance and seventy to be pretty sure. But…”
“But what?” Rowan said.
“Sorry?”
“Cores can also merge with other cores. We’ll have to expand the county if we do so. Maybe doubling its size. The XP loss will be only about twenty-five percent. It’s still enough to reach level fifty and be safe against a catastrophic event.”
“So, safety now, or more XP later…” Rowan rubbed the nape of his head. “Let’s go for safety. We have taken too many risks lately.” Will we be the only ones at fifty?”
“Vegas is close at forty-five, and Rome at forty now. Rome could level to fifty with ten mini-cores, and they have four in storage, but Calveor is too big for that. So, where do you want to expand?” Cora pointed to the image.
Rowan examined the map attentively, furrowing his brows occasionally. “How many mini-cores do we have again, thirteen?”
“Yep,” Cora said curtly while pressing various buttons.
“How about spreading to Barbour, Tucker, and Pendelton? We give six cores to Rome, help them reach level fifty, keep the rest in reserve, and go hunting for another true dungeon to help Vegas.”
She turned her eyes toward him. “You know half of Barbour was nuked, right?”
“The southern part, yeah. But you said it’s almost back to normal… Can we restore it if we take it?”
“Consuming a few mini cores should do the trick, including building a new town for the Swarthy Elves. You’re their Great Dane, after all.”
“Thane, the Great Thane,” Rowan yelped.
“Must be the Universal Translator bugging," Cora frowned. "That’s exactly what I said. Great Dane.”
“Forget it,” Rowan waved his hand. “So? About those counties?”
“Let me check,” Cora nodded, tapping again on buttons and a keyboard. “Yeah. Three low-level cores should do the trick. We could rebuild Bellington. However, according to the System rules, we must ask the landowners, survivors, or refugees. The new city will be on their lands.”
“Put a word out there: we clean the area and rebuild their town if they agree to give up some land for the elves. And please, don’t build anything until you check with both groups. I have no idea what elves like, but humans prefer large bathrooms.”
“I noticed," she creased her nose. "Wasteful on space and water if you ask me, but whatever."
"You did a real good job renovating the houses we bought," he complimented her to raise the mood. "Papa likes his for sure."
"Of course he does; he's a gentleman with exquisite tastes. OK," she leaned forward, inspecting the virtual screen, "The voting is live. We’ll have to wait… oh, Barbour is won. That was fast. Guess they prefer us to a government that nuked them. I’ll send them some info about The Swarthy Elves and their culture.”
They stood in silence, waiting for the rest of the results, numbers, and percentages going up and down. Rowan kept staring at the cat girl busying over the keyboard, biting the tip of her tongue, concentrating. He recalled how she was confined on the bridge of the Traipenent for two months, with her only activity being taking care of him and Randolph County.
“It's done,” she said after ten or fifteen minutes. “So, by the rules, new county, new name. The suggestions are Turapeba, Bara—”
“No!" Rowan blurted. "Fuck those silly combinations. I want something totally original.”
“Like what?” she widened her eyes, surprised.
“Cora County. You deserve it.”
“That’s so sweet!” she exclaimed, coming to sit in his lap. “Err… won’t Grace and Isla… you know… be mad?” she asked sheepishly.
“Oopsie,” Rowan bit his lower lip. “Guess I got carried away. You think it should be something like Gracecorisla, then?”
[The Butler]: I preemptively messaged your other wives, master, telling them you want to offer them each a symbolic gift. Countess Isla doesn’t care about the County's name but is happy to be awarded a contract to create ten public monuments, aka statues. Countess Grace was promised you would build a theater named after her and that you will act alongside her in musicals. I hope this modest intervention is not upsetting you, master.
You manipulative bastard! “No, it’s fine,” Rowan sighed. Performing in public, even badly, was worth having a happy marriage.
