Chapter 198: So Many Levels

With everyone having gone up at least one level and no particular order for them to go in, they ended up playing a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Except, as Jadis found out, the local version was called Sword, Shield, Arrow and had slightly different hand signs. When she told the group about her Earth variety of the game, she was met with no small amount of confusion.

“Why would paper beat a rock?” Kerr complained. “It’s a fucking rock. What’s paper going to do to it?”

“I have no idea Kerr,” Syd shrugged. “It’s just a kid’s game, I don’t think about it that hard.”

“Not very well thought out,” Bridget mumbled. “That rock is fine. Not affected at all, really.”

“Moving on,” Dys cleared her throat. “Let’s just do this.”

Swiftly getting through the games of Sword, Shield, Arrow, Eir ended up being the overall winner and went over her new levels first.

“I gained two levels in Beloved Cleric of Lyssandria, but no levels in my secondary class. I don’t think it benefited much from slaying those frost drakes since it isn’t a combat class and those weren’t demons. Still, two levels in my cleric class puts it at level twenty-two and my overall CLR at twenty-eight.”

“What skill did you get for twenty-one?” Aila asked. She had retrieved one of her books from her pack and was writing notes down, documenting everyone’s increased attributes and skills for further analysis and review. “And where did you put your two attribute points from level twenty-two?”

“Other than the Lesser Attribute Improvement skill we are all offered,” Eir explained, “I was offered a passive skill that would increase my Focus and Will both by five points each. However, I declined to take it since the other option was a rarer, and potentially more vital, skill.”

“I sense that recent events may have influenced your skill offerings,” Jay said dryly from where she sat next to Aila, watching her write.

“Undoubtedly,” Eir nodded. “And while I hope that this skill is never needed, I would be a fool to not prepare for the eventuality.”

“It is a rare skill, too,” Aila added as she finished jotting down her notes. “From what I’ve read, most clerics don’t get that skill as an option since the criteria for obtaining it is difficult to come by.”

“Happy to help…” Bridget mumbled from where she lay, looking somewhat sour.

“In any case,” Eir smiled gracefully as she changed the subject. “I split my two attribute points and put one into Endurance so that it is an even ten and the other into Focus, since I expended so much magic today healing all of you and the soldiers. My status sheet looks like this now.”

“Though my current magic reserve is actually near empty, currently,” Eir admitted as she finished updating everyone on her progress.

“Thank you,” Jay said, a sentiment echoed by the others as Eir settled back to pray and regain some of her magic power. “Who wants to go next?”

“I will,” Kerr volunteered.

Kerr had gained one level for her secondary class, Far Wilds Traveler. Exciting news, since that meant Kerr had reached CLR fifty-nine and was only one level away from unlocking her tertiary class. Since the level she’d gained was also an odd number, she’d received a new skill as well.

It was an improvement to her previously gained skill, Ambush tactics I, and took the extra damage it dealt up by a tier. A solid boost to her initial damage output and a natural progression of her skills. The skill itself wasn’t mind-blowing but that didn’t matter. Kerr’s progress towards CLR sixty was the big news.

“Can’t wait to see what I’m offered,” Kerr purred as she leaned heavily into Dys’ side. “Something lewd, I’m sure, since we’ve been fucking like teenagers in their first heat. At this point, the class being powerful is just icing on the cake.”

The last statement was punctuated by Kerr reaching down and giving Dys’ ass a firm squeeze.

“What does your status sheet look like now?” Aila prompted, interrupting Kerr before she tried to do anything more forward.

“Let me see…”

“Thank you,” Aila said as she made small updates in her notebook. “I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the classes you received was affected by the fact that you have both your Strength and Dexterity so high. You don’t see two different attributes at such high levels often, present company excluded, of course.”

“Of course,” Jay murmured.

After Kerr, Thea bravely stepped forward and went over her new levels. Both her primary and secondary class had leveled, giving her a new skill for each class. For her Imperial Soldier class, she received an upgrade, much like Kerr had.

A tier increase to her shield mastery was an expected choice for the shield specialist of the team. Again, not an amazing skill, but solid and dependable. For her secondary class, though, Thea received a far more interesting skill.

“Woah,” Syd let out a low whistle. “You’re becoming a one-woman army there, Thea.”

“I—I don’t think that’s t—true,” Thea said as her fingers fiddled with the edge of her shield. “But it’s a weird skill. I mean, how d—do you gain the b—benefits of a shield wall with no shield?”

“I’ve never heard of any skill like that, actually,” Aila shook her head. “Anyone else?”

The others all shook their heads in the negative as well.

“Definitely odd,” Aila mused. “I can see it being useful for synergy with any more shield wall skills you get from your primary class, at least.”

“My guess would be it allows you to increase the defensive value of your shield by the people standing next to you without them having to use a shield. But maybe it could also increase the defenses of the people you’re with despite not having shields? Like, maybe it makes their armor stronger or something like that?”

Jay’s speculation as to what Thea’s odd new skill could be used for was met with interest but no confirmation. The skill was simply too unknown for any of them to say for certain what it was capable of. They’d have to do some testing later to see what the ability could do. How they were even going to test it, that was a problem for another day.

With a little prompting from Aila, Thea also told them her current status sheet.

Once she was finished writing down Thea’s information, Aila looked up from her book and announced that she would go next.

“I actually gained three levels today. Two in my arcanist class and one in my cart driver class. I’m at CLR forty-two now.”

Her Cart Driver class had reached level twenty-four, which meant two more attribute points which Aila had promptly put into her Arcane stat. The last extra point she got from level eighteen in her arcanist class she put into Focus, bringing it to an even thirty. However, when it came to her level seventeen skill, Aila admitted to having disappointing news.

“The skills I was offered are not particularly welcome,” she said with a slight frown. “The first was a boost to my Arcane and Will. Not a bad option, but I’m already getting a large boost for my Arcane and I don’t need more Will so long as I have Jadis around.”

“Happy to be your fuel,” Jay interrupted with a grin.

“I know you are,” Aila acknowledged with a straight face. “But don’t distract me with your innuendos right now. The point is, it’s a decent enough passive skill but of limited use considering current circumstances.”

“What about the second skill?” Eir asked curiously.

Aila’s expression stayed placid and controlled, however her ears burned a telling red.

“It’s a lewd one, isn’t it,” Kerr said with an excited, lascivious grin. “Spill, what is it?”

“Yes, it’s one of those…” Aila admitted. “It’s a skill called Size is Everything and it would allow me to accept insertions into certain parts of my body that would otherwise be… anatomically dubious, at best.”

“Ha!” Kerr crowed in barely contained laughter. “You got a skill that makes it easier to stick big dicks in you!?”

“I haven’t taken the skill,” Aila hurriedly continued. “It doesn’t feel like I need a skill like that since the only person here I’m having sex with that has an impossibly sized, um, member is Jadis and she already has a skill that makes it possible. I have no idea why I would ever need this skill.”

“Maybe one day we have someone that joins us that packs as much meat as me?” Jay teased as she leaned into and over Aila, half-whispering to her from above. “It could come in useful. You know, Eir hasn’t done the ritual to get a dick yet. What if hers turns out to be a massive dong? How’s she going to fuck you if you don’t have that skill?”

“I presume you’ll have that covered,” Aila replied, pushing Jay’s smiling face away from her. “I don’t need to have sex with Eir in that way.”

“True, seems like you prefer being on the long end nowadays anyway,” Kerr said with a sly look before taking another drink from her bottle.

Once the teasing and giggles had settled down, Aila resumed explaining her thoughts.

“Instead of wasting the skill slot on something wholly unnecessary, I was thinking of taking a skill I previously skipped.”

“That is a good modification to your current spells,” Dys said with an understanding nod. “Especially now that you have the magic reserves to spare.”

“If I used it on Force Bolt, I’d be able to cast it nine times before being drained,” Aila said, thinking out loud. “Four times with Dart Spray. I have no idea what would happen if I used it with my shield spell. In any case, I wouldn’t be able to use it often, but I’m positive it would have been helpful to have against those frost drakes, and in the future against any more powerful opponents we might run into.”

Aila’s reasoning was logical and with no one able to put forward a non-lewd reason for her to not take the modification spell over the risqué one, she chose the Explosion Modification. Jadis was looking forward to seeing what effect the explosion would have in combat, especially when paired with her three different spells. However, she couldn’t say she wasn’t at least a tiny bit disappointed that Aila hadn’t taken the Size is Everything skill.

“Maybe hold onto that skill for later,” Jay whispered to Aila. “It could be a lot of fun in the future. You never know.”

Aila blushed even redder at Jay’s whispered words but didn’t object to the suggestion. After clearing her throat, she went over her own status sheet so that the others would hear it, since she’d heard all of theirs.

With Aila’s advancement reviewed, that left only Jadis and Bridget who had not yet discussed their new levels. Eyeing the orc, Jadis decided she would be the next to go, since Bridget still looked somewhat tentative. She could understand the hesitation, since coming out and telling a group of people you’d only known for a few weeks all your personal stat information was not something generally done, culturally speaking. But Jadis hoped that if they were all being open with their stats, then Bridget would feel more comfortable.

“Well, my Mirror Knight class went up one level, putting it at twenty-nine,” Jay said as she ran her fingers through her hair. “I haven’t picked my skill yet, but just looking at the two on offer, I’m pretty sure I know which one I’m going to take.”

“Fifteen points each!?” was Bridget’s startled reaction.

“That’s so much!” Sabina said at the same time, barely containing the volume of her voice.

The rest of Jadis’ team who had known her longer didn’t react as strongly. Eir, Kerr, and Thea only looked slightly interested. Aila barely raised an eyebrow as she jotted the info down.

“It’s a better version of the Knight’s Tenacity passive I already have,” Jay explained. “And yeah, adding on fifteen skill points to those two defensive skills would be good, but not as good as the other skill I’ve been offered.”

“Figured,” Kerr rolled her eyes. “Of course you’d get offered a skill that’ll give you thirty attribute points and say ‘yeah, it’s okay, but I’ve got better options.’ It’s a good thing you’re gorgeous and fuckable otherwise you might be insufferable.”

“Pot calling the kettle black there, but whatever,” Dys shot back before taking the bottle from Kerr’s hands and finishing the half that was left in it with one gulp.

“The other skill I was offered is also an upgrade on an existing skill, but it’s a better skill so I’m definitely taking it,” Jay told them as Dys coughed violently from the strength of whatever in D’s name Kerr was drinking.

“That is the better skill,” Aila said as the others murmured their own thoughts. “How much will your Strength go up when you take it?”

“A little more than thirty points,” Jay answered. “So, yeah. More stats than I’d get from the Tenacity skill, and the bonus will only get bigger with time.”

With that said, Jadis officially accepted the skill and watched her Strength attribute jump up by thirty-four points in an instant. With one choice, her Strength stat had become her highest attribute, exceeding even her over the top Eldritch stat.

“Your attributes are just as fucking huge as you are,” Kerr shook her head. “I’m glad I don’t have to fight you in a bar. Lyssandria’s tits you’re strong.”

“You’re not too bad yourself,” Dys said while wrapping her arm around Kerr and pulling her a little closer. “You’re two shotting frost drakes after all.”

With everyone having laid out their new levels and stats, the only person left was the still hesitant-looking orc lying next to Eir with her head propped up on a pillow. With all eyes turning to look at her, she shrank just a little, a frown tugging at the corners of her lips.

“So, Bridget,” Jay said, leaning towards her with a kind smile. “Do you want to tell us about your class and level? You don’t have to go into details if you don’t want to. I promise, we aren’t going to ever force you to reveal info you aren’t comfortable with giving out.”

Bridget stared into Jay’s eyes for a moment before she took in a deep breath and let it out in a big huff.

“Ah fuck it. Here goes. Where do I start?”

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