novelraw Chapter 6-10
Chapter 6-10
When it comes to the nature of Barrier and barriers, many researchers have thrown up their hands in disgust and walked away muttering to themselves. Rumor has it that the most common phrase used under these circumstances is ‘System fuckery’.
There are many unanswered questions about barriers, and the System is unforthcoming about all of them.
- Rufus Veres, Level 29 Prolix Historian, Oddities of the System
Now that JJ was done yelling at us, we got to experience the differences for ourselves. The instructors had a half-dozen sets of leather chestplates in a few different sizes. They had actual straps on the back so they could be worn without attaching them to our baselayers. We formed into lines by size, and had to remove our own chest armor and store it in our Inventories.
Once we got to the front of the line, we had to put on the leather and secure it with the straps. Then, we each got punched right in the ribs by one of the instructors. When Leon punched me, I felt the air get driven from my lungs and suddenly I was struggling to breathe, yet my barrier hadn’t shattered.
It had stopped the blow, but not before it compressed into my own ribs and the remaining force of the blow fractured one of them. A very irritated Lydia was on hand to patch us each up. Then we had to pop the leather back into shape and attach it to our baselayer, so that our barrier would treat it as Class Armor. After that, of course, we got punched again.
The second time, my barrier didn’t even break, and he frowned.
“Ah, I forgot you have a higher Barrier than most. Don’t move.”
He hit me a third time, and my barrier shattered, his fist crashing into the armor. The difference from the first blow was obvious, as I staggered a bit but didn’t lose control over my breathing. I removed the armor and handed it to the person behind me. Glad to be done with this stupid drill, I wandered off to find my teammates, grumbling about how this whole demonstration was just an excuse for the teachers to get to punch us.
Don’t they get enough of that in Melee Combat?!
Once they’d had their fun with everyone, JJ resumed the lecture.
“We’ve just shown you the biggest disadvantage of wearing non-Class armor! But remember, there are advantages too! First, you can wear anything you’re strong enough to handle, not just what your baselayer is compatible with! Second, your barrier won’t trigger on any attacks weak enough to be stopped by your armor!
“That means you’ll still have its protection when a blow gets through, even if it squeezes you a bit. Imagine the strike that comes through isn’t a fist, but a sword or an axe – you might get a broken rib or two, but it would stop the blade from cutting right through your flesh! So, for those of you that have piddling light baselayers, consider if you want to have a set of heavier armor around. It will take up a lot of space in your Inventory, but it might save your life!
“There’s one more thing for today. Most defensive-oriented Classes will get offered a Skill, usually in Tier 1, that will let you pull your barrier back under your armor even when wearing Class Armor. TAKE THAT FUCKING SKILL! TAKE THAT SKILL, NO MATTER WHAT ELSE YOU’RE OFFERED!
“It is absolutely Wasted essential if you’re going to be a tank or frontline fighter! Part of the art of being in the thick of combat is barrier management! You’ll learn to keep your barrier retracted under your armor when facing weaker foes. Then you’ll push it back out over your armor when you’re about to take a powerful strike! If you get a chance at one of these Skills, remember my advice!”
With that, he dismissed us to Skill Theory & Classes, our last class of the day. Thompson spent most of the session going over different common advancement paths, none of which applied to me. I forced myself to pay attention, even though my mind wanted to think ahead to the duels tomorrow.
It was good to be reminded that even though we called Zaire an Earth Mage and Jayce a Sound Mage, almost all Tier 0 casters just had the Class ‘Mage’. The distinction between them really came down to their affinity Skills. At Tier 1, a Mage was likely to be offered a more specialized Class and become a ‘true’ Earth Mage or whatever. That would be their Class Refinement option.
For Class Evolutions, a common Mage variation focused on casting fewer, bigger Spells – those got more points in Power. Another might have higher Control and specialize in complex, subtle Spells. A third option would be more points in Absorption, to be able to cast smaller Spells over a longer period of time. Finally there could be an option centered around higher Acuity and learning different Spells faster as well as identifying Spells cast by others.
“I’ve just described one Class Refinement and four possible Class Evolutions. Keep in mind that you won’t have your choice among all of them! You’ll always have a Class Refinement option and typically two or three Class Evolution options. And the ones I’ve described to you are just some of the possibilities distinguished by what we call the ‘primary’ Stat of the Class.”
She went through a similar example for possible evolutions from Fighter, which had an equal level of complexity. I would have to ask Wolf and Thompson both if they knew anything about possible Gunner Class Evolution options. However, that would have to wait until the fucking duels were over and I could think straight.
This content has been unlawfully taken from NovelBin; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Dinner that night was a quick, tense affair, and we skipped a trip to the bar to gather in my room, bringing in chairs from some of the others so we all had a seat. We spent a couple hours just talking about the duels, what we knew about our opponents and so on. It was most important for myself and Raylan, since our opponents weren’t in the same combat track as us.
Our melee fighters shared what they knew about Yuri’s style and Skills, and I gave Raylan all the insights I could on Marta. The most interesting piece of intelligence came from Arlo, however, and it was regarding the quietly pretty Polina.
“She’s deaf,” he explained to us. “Has been since birth, so it's not something a Healer can fix. She’s quite good at reading lips, and can hear over Comms since that’s not a physical sound. She often gets by without most people noticing.”
Jayce frowned. “We were among those that did not notice. Thank you for telling us, though we’re uncertain how it would change the effect of our Spells on her.”
None of us had any real insight into that, but we did come to one obvious overall conclusion.
“They’re going to be relying on expensive items to win, at least most of them,” Tara stated confidently. “We’ve done enough sparring to know that Gullen and Vera aren’t a match for either G’hala or H’ruk one-on-one. They might win one or two out of five times – they’re quite skilled, but not enough to make up the reach and strength gap. I can’t imagine their entire team issuing challenges against us unless they’re stacking the odds in their favor.”
Everyone agreed with her logic.
“What does that mean, though?” I asked. “What kind of items could they have, besides any Spell gems or Skill gems they already used? Aren’t they limited by the item Level anyway?”
“The number of possible options is huge,” Arlo took over. “I don’t think there’s any good way to predict what approach they’ll take, given how much money Yuri could have spent on them. As for the item Level, well, that doesn’t narrow things down too much. Are you familiar with one-shots?”
I shook my head, and a glance told me the other recruits weren’t either.
“One-shots are items that have been, well, essentially pushed beyond their limits. You can put a Tier 1 enchantment onto a Tier 0 item, it just won’t last more than a few uses at best. Sometimes even a single use is enough to shatter the enchantments. They’re also really expensive, much more than a regular Tier 1 or even Tier 2 item. No one buys them except
for the wealthy, since you’re throwing away money when they break.“I wouldn’t worry about them pulling out a wand that shoots seeking death bolts, or whatever. There are limits, you can’t make a one-shot with a Tier 5 enchantment that a Tier 0 can use. The strongest I’ve ever heard of are two Tiers up, and those are rare. And the mana to power it has to come from somewhere.
“This is the reason items with mana crystals are banned from duels here and everywhere else too. It prevents things from getting completely out of control, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have some nasty tricks. I would count on every one of them to have some kind of one-shot to use tomorrow.”
Tara nodded. “Arlo is right, though not everyone calls them that. People also call them toys, expendable items, disposables, emergency tokens, and other names.”
“I prefer one-shots, of course, but then I’m probably biased,” the Pistoleer said with a smile, and I agreed with him. One-shot was descriptive, even though it sounded like they weren’t strictly limited to just one use.
“Should we be worried about them using unexpected Skills or Spells?” I asked, curious. I hadn’t noticed Clarice or Marta – or the quiet Polina – showing off more than the usual number of Skills. “I know Clarice can cast Lightning as well as Fire, but I guess I’m surprised they didn’t all get a bunch of Skill gems before they came here.”
Tara and Arlo both chuckled at my comment. It was the blonde Defender who answered me. I tried to pay attention to what she was saying and not the way her top fitted her – ehem.
“Az, you’re underestimating how hard it is to get a Skill gem. And overestimating how many of our parents would be willing to pay for them. I’m sure Yuri used at least one himself, if he was carrying around several unused ones. But he’s the exception.
“They’re not just expensive, they’re rarely on sale – usually they’re auctioned off, but you can’t just go to the auction house any given night and expect to find one. It takes connections, patience, and a huge amount of money.
“Look, you should know a bit more about how trainees end up here. Our families are almost entirely business owners – Merchants, Enchanters, Traders. Maybe a few others – Healers, Lawyers, and so on can also make quite a bit of money. So, the family business is a non-Combat thing for almost all of us.
“A few families – like Arlo’s – want their kids to take a combat Class in Tier 0 and then try to switch at Tier 1. Some of us just didn’t get a good non-combat option, and some of us just wanted to fight no matter what our parents thought about it.
“Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that even if our families can afford it, most of them aren’t going to put in the time and money needed to find Skill gems for their kid. Not when they’re just sending them off to get them out of the house for a year or to indulge their kid’s fantasy of becoming a high-Tier powerhouse.”
“That makes sense for Skill gems,” Raylan put in, “but Spell gems are cheaper and more available, right?”
“Sure,” Tara replied, “but without a magical focus, they aren’t very useful at Tier 0, so probably only the Mages would get anything. And even a Mage can only apply one modifier at Tier 0. I personally didn’t get any gems from my parents.
“I’m honestly surprised that Yuri had so many, because I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here until two weeks before we left LA. And as far as I know he wasn’t planning to come until he heard I was. So his family must have been planning to buy them anyway, or have already had them.”
“Defender Tara, this is fascinating, but I fail to see how it helps our chances tomorrow,” Zaire put in, and we all laughed.
“It won’t help as much as a good night’s sleep, that’s for sure!” I added, and we separated to get ready for bed.
I must have jinxed myself with that statement, because it took me quite a while to fall asleep that night. I was pretty sure that I was going to be just fine physically even if I lost the fight with Yuri. My pride was something no Healer would be able to fix up if I lost, though.