7 New Class
Adrian's surroundings shifted as a translucent screen materialised before him. The screen was filled with floating holographic symbols and intricate lines of words depicting his newfound status.
[Due to changes within the User, you will be allotted a new class.]
"What? No! I can't lose my Analysis skill!" Adrian panicked, trying to revert the change.
When someone's class changed, they would usually lose their existing abilities and be provided new ones. While in typical cases, the replaced skills were better than the existing ones, Adrian wasn't sure what kind of class or skill his new body would give him.
That's why he was opposing the change as he had gotten used to his [Analysis] skill, which he had maxed out. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the system intended to listen to his pleas.
[The change cannot be cancelled or interrupted. Please wait till said changes take place.]
"This stupid luck won't leave me even after dying!" Adrian sighed, smacking his head.
[System has been updated. It is suggested that the User familiarises themselves with the changes.]
"It's not like I have a freaking choice in the matter, do I?" Adrian shook his head and swiped to open the [Status Page].
[Status Page] flashed in bold, luminescent text at the top of the panel. Intrigued and wary of the changes the system might have made to his former stats, Adrian took a peek at it.
However, he was surprised by the myriad of new options that appeared beneath his existing skill.
"What is all this...?"
___
1. Status: [Active]
2. Health: [100%]
3. Mana Capacity: [85%/90%] (Enhanced due to the presence of a Mana Core)
4. Skills:
- Analysis [Level 8]
- Enhanced Strength [Level 1] (passive skill)
- Enhanced Agility [Level 1] (passive skill)
- Illusionary Eyes [Level 2]
- Monster Codex [Level 1] (Passive skill)
- Organ Absorption [Level 1]
___
Adrian, who was probably the one to spend the most time dwelling on the [Status Page], immediately noticed the changes. First was his status itself.
To Adrian's knowledge, one could have only two types of output as their <Status >, either alive or deceased. But his status was showing him as 'Active', perplexing him.
The second thing that caught his attention was his increased mana capacity. In all his years in Nexaria, his capacity had been stuck at 10%. But now it had risen to 90%!
"What the hell did that bastard do to me?" Adrian tried to act offended, but his excited voice betrayed his thoughts.
It was all because of the shitty mana capacity that he had been unable to cast proper magic and couldn't expand beyond his [Analysis] skill. He couldn't even imagine what he could accomplish with his increased mana capacity!
But while he was enjoying the change in his mana, the thought of losing the [Analysis] skill crossed his mind, and he immediately jumped to the skill section of his bio.
"Thank god it's still here!" Adrian sighed in relief.
Although the skill level had taken a bit of a hit, going down from level 10 to 8, Adrian was happy he hadn't lost the skill entirely. His happiness was increased even more when he saw the five new skills he had obtained.
While most were passive skills, someone like Adrian, who only had one skill his entire life, was on cloud nine. [Enhanced Strength] and [Enhanced Agility] were skills he needed no explanation about.
It was the same with [Illusionary Eyes], as Adrian had already used the skill once an hour or so ago. However, the skills [Monster Codex] and [Organ Absorption] were foreign to him.
Intrigued by his new skills, Adrian selected them, and a short summarised description appeared on a second page before his eyes.
___
>> Skill: [Monster Index] records information about encountered and defeated monsters. Recording more monsters will increase its level and provide more detailed options later.
Upgrade Requirement: Register ten monsters in the Index.
Progress: 0/10
>> Skill: [Organ Absorption] is the ability to absorb the organs of defeated monsters. Organs must be absorbed immediately after a monster's demise to extract their essence fully.
Absorbing more organs would upgrade the skill to unlock better options later on.
Upgrade Requirement: Absorb five organs from different beasts.
Progress: 4/5
___
Adrian was a bit surprised with the skills he had received. But the [Organ Absorption] skill creeped him out a bit. While he could guess it was an overpowered and rare skill, he was worried that he would have to eat monsters to absorb them.
"...I'll cross that bridge when I have to," Adrian mumbled as he selected the first option: [Status].
Instantaneously, a holographic projection appeared before him, depicting an avatar representing himself. It was an animated rendition of his patched-up form, with Ogre skin and Kitsune eyes.
The avatar would have looked cute if not for the strangely misshaped skull. Underneath the avatar, a detailed breakdown of his status appeared:
___
[Current Status]
Name: Adrian
Race: Chimaera, Human (former)
Class: Devourer, Analyst (former)
Affiliation: None
Level: 1
Attributes:
-- Strength: 31
-- Agility: 34
-- Precision: 32
-- Intelligence: 45
-- Magic Affinity: 55
-- Defence: 36
-- Luck: 15
-- Charisma: -32
___
A human in Nexaria on an average had ten stat points in each attribute. So, a cumulative stat of 70 points was considered level 10. But Adrian suddenly had more than thrice of that, ignoring his charisma for obvious reasons.
"Charisma took a hit... didn't it?" Adrian chuckled, scratching his deformed face. "But other than that... those are the stats of a level 30 beginner, not someone level 1- WAIT LEVEL 1!?"
Adrain grabbed his head. How did he go from level 47 to level 1? While he had better off stats than previously, some dungeons and quests required high-level, not high stats to be admitted into!
"Wait... why am I even worried about such things?" Adrian sighed, realising his situation. "It's not like someone like me would be able to enter such places anymore."
It was essential to get stronger for his revenge as he remembered the level of those assassins. With his current stats, he won't be able to defeat even the weakest of the three, the one with red hair with a level of 50.
"I have to grind my attributes and upgrade my skills to go up against him," Adrian shrugged.
The easiest and quickest way would be to enter a free dungeon for beginners and grind. However, even if he were to ignore his appearance, there was one more problem.
"I would need a new identification to enter those dungeons for free," Adrian mumbled. "I can't use my old identity as they won't allow someone level 47 to enter a beginner dungeon.
Secondly, using my former identity would alert whoever had hired those assassins, and I can't afford that."
He continued, "I must remain anonymous until I'm strong enough to deal with the entire Nexaria. Until I know who my enemy is, I'd have to treat the entire world as my enemy."
Still, brainstorming in the wrong direction wasn't going to help his situation. While he could try to kill a beginner to steal their identity, it might cause him some trouble down the line, and Adrian didn't want that.
He could also try to steal someone's identity card and imitate them to enter the dungeon.
"But that won't be possible with how I look," Adrian remarked. "I'd be thrown into prison or executed if someone noticed my eyes or skin. I guess I'm left with one choice... Plundering."
