Following the oddly invasive prompt, hundreds of class names were suddenly projected all around him. The high-resolution white texts were etched in a blue background and slowly orbing around him like a multitude of planets to a single star.
As if sieving through puzzle pieces, Daisuke began filtering through the seemingly endless assortment of production and combat classes—from an architect, carpenter, stonemason, and blacksmith, to a warrior, mage, healer, and assassin.
But those were the common classes. The more bizarre and unfamiliar ones consisted of choices such as a fortune teller, cartographer, journalist, and rancher, and for combatants: anti-paladin, scoundrel, war-priest, and plaguemancer.
While perusing the options, Daisuke deduced that his missed opportunity to select a class during the character creation screen was now presenting itself upon achieving a level where players typically had the chance to change or enhance their class at a higher level.
Finally, a class stood out amongst the rest.
[Are you sure you would like to assume the combat class, «Dual Blader»?]
[Your choice will be irreversible upon confirmation. Are you certain this is the class you desire?]
Daisuke hesitated for a moment.
[Congratulations! The combat class «Dual Blader» has been acquired.]
[In acknowledgment of your exceptional skill and ingenuity against a vastly superior foe, additional options will be incorporated into your class description to reflect your outstanding performance.]
Casting defense to the wind, a second blade is brandished to enable swift attacks accentuated with a varied range of attack patterns and agile maneuvers.
▪︎ If a Lightning Bead is present within the inventory, there is a 20% chance of activating the passive skill «Lightning Edge», which doubles the cutting-edge of any sword or dagger-type weapons being wielded.
▪︎ While the «Lightning Edge» skill is active, there is a 5% chance of inflicting «Paralysis», which can be stacked with the same effect on other equipment.
▪︎ Whenever the «Lightning Edge» skill is activated, the blades in use will be automatically sharpened and durability will be reduced by 0.2%.
▪︎ A sharper blade is likely to cut deeper. There is an 8% chance of triggering «Bleed», which can be stacked with the same effect on other equipment.]
[Electricity discharged from the Lightning Bead envelopes the blade. The voltage enhances the sharpness of the weapon and introduces a layer of Elemental Damage to one’s Physical Attacks.
Skill Duration: 25 Seconds
Skill Cooldown: 1 Minute
Skill Requirement: 2 Bladed Weapons Equipped]
“Are you three alright?” asked Daisuke when the trio shuffled toward him.
“More or less,” uttered Rexar.
“Still a bit light-headed,” responded Milo, his arms draped around his friends’ shoulders for support.
“That’s not really surprising,” replied Daisuke. “You may be healed, but a potion doesn’t restore blood loss or fatigue.”
"That reality is painfully clear to me at the moment," Milo murmured back in response.
The cavern still echoed with the lingering impact of the battle. The dust settled to reveal the remnants of the once-undefeatable golem, shattered and lifeless, and Vernie, utterly defeated and nearing death’s cold embrace.
The man coughed as his enemies converged on his location, the entirety of his lower half buried beneath large rocks and rubble. Despite the excruciating pain surging through his body, he felt irritated when he spied a tinge of pity in Elena’s eyes as she stood stock of his predicament.
“He’s in pretty bad shape,” said Milo as his gaze copied Elena’s. “I can perform first-aid, but we’ll need to take him to a priest to get fully healed—”
“Are you out of your mind?” Rexar snapped at his friend who had evidently lost some of his marbles after being slapped around by the demons.
Vernie heaved a bloody grin. “This is the reason,” he murmured between coughing, “why your kind is always on the receiving end of misfortune; you’re all a bunch of fools.”
Peeved by the remark, Rexar angrily moved in to drive his heel into the man’s face. But Daisuke lifted his arm to block him before shifting his gaze back to the dying villain. “Here’s the deal.”
“If you tell us about this place, the demons, and who you work for… we’ll help you.”
“Wait, what?! Are you being serious right now?” Rexar lashed out again, but when Daisuke shot him a serious pair of eyes, he took a step back in fear.
Elena and Milo watched meekly as he hissed his teeth and turned away. In the distance, he aggressively kicked a rock like a small child throwing a tantrum.
As for Vernie, he didn’t need to consider the offer. He tried spitting into the face of the man who was single-handedly responsible for his downfall, but he ended up coughing up blood instead. Then he sighed. “Shit. This really isn’t how I envisioned my final moments would be when I die.”
“…I’m still waiting,” urged Daisuke.
Vernie allowed what seemed like a mix between a chuckle and a laugh, and his entire body jerked. “Oh. You were being serious?”
Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed.
“You morons evidently have never been a part of a secret society before,” scoffed Vernie. “If I talk, I’ll be tortured and killed. So what’s the point of being treated here?”
“And you don’t think I’ll torture you?”
“You don’t have the balls,” responded Vernie with a challenging gaze.
“That’s what I thought,” the man continued in an undertone, his eyes fluttering close. “So do me a favor… and go fuck yourself.”
Daisuke clicked his tongue when the man went still and silent, while Elena hung her head in a mixture of emotions.
“…He’s gone,” uttered Milo in a rueful tone. “He’s lost too much blood. We could’ve saved him had we acted—”
When Rexar noticed Vernie’s passing, his roar of frustration drowned out Milo’s final set of words. The infuriated Wolfkin turned his attention to Daisuke, but he wasn’t confident enough to confront him. Needing an outlet for his rage, Rexar began defiling the corpse with a series of stomps and kicks.
The unpleasant sounds pierced the deafening silence of the room unceremoniously. Elena and Milo hung their heads; their anger long since changed to sorrow, and they shivered as Rexar’s mindless rampage endured.
Before they could succumb to the tears burning the back of their eyes, Daisuke called out to them with a hint of urgency. “Split up and search the chamber. Be careful of traps.”
The duo nodded and quickly disposed themselves to the task. At the same time, Daisuke passed a fleeting glance at Rexar who was still engrossed in his unsavory act of revenge.
But he couldn’t find it within himself to put a stop to it—after all, although his reasoning was sound, he had selfishly stolen the trio’s chance of exacting vengeance on the man who had decimated their village.
Knowing that anything of importance would likely be hidden, Daisuke activated the Eye of Verity. Vernie was an Enchanter, he thought to himself, deep in contemplation. His ability to take over the golem after whatshisface died suggests he had some kind of power to control demons. The real question is: where exactly did the demons originate from?
The chamber branched off into three different rooms: a pair of bedchambers that boasted a splendor that rivaled what the main hall looked like prior to the devastation, and a small kitchen that was in desperate need of cleaning.
Elena and Milo didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy in these rooms. And after reporting back to Daisuke, they both went to give Rexar some desperately needed moral support.
Instead of fumbling around, even if he was blessed with the Eye of Verity, Daisuke paused and cupped his chin in contemplation. On their way into the cave, they had seen Beastkin engaged in manual labor—they were being forced to mine the precious materials sleeping within the mountain.
On their way to the main hall, Daisuke remembered seeing a few wheelbarrows containing said materials that were already cleaned and prepped for storage.
He didn’t recall seeing any wheel tracks or blemishes on the plush carpet inside of the main hall. And he highly doubted Vernie and whatshisface would have tolerated traffic through their private chambers.
Which means the passage to the storage chamber should be situated within the tunnel that divides the main hall from the work area.
As the revelation dawned in Daisuke’s mind, he pressed his hand against a section of the wall that exuded a trace of mana invisible to the naked eye.
But, as opposed to the mechanical click he heard from the bookshelf at Reginald’s mansion, a section of the wall simply fell away like a puzzle being done in reverse.
“Figured they would want to keep this hidden.”
Elena and Milo stepped forward curiously. Rexar wore an indifferent expression. Before them was an expansive chamber layered with cobblestones. Red and gold embroideries hung from the walls, and in between them were lamps illuminated by Mana Crystals.
A finely weaved flooring reminiscent of a spider web spanned all four corners of the room. The hundreds of pounds worth of Mana Crystals, ores, and other precious materials formed a slight indentation in the middle, and beneath it was a dark, gaping hole.