Chapter 538 - A Tale as Old as Time (Patreon)

AN: Patreon still being dumb. Things are likely to look this way going forward.

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… In conclusion, the Pekari, controlled entirely by Anurak Sathirat, are net beneficial. The danger is real for anyone choosing to fight them. The pressure and, correspondingly, levels, are impossible without a genuine threat. Their targets are those who are sick or injured, no matter the disease. It is naturally questionable if blowing off someone’s hand only to regrow it is the best course of action, but Anurak, in spite of being slightly mad, has vast quantities of data that he claims backs up the benefits.

They only go after places that Anurak deems to be ‘too peaceful’, too quiet and content. I have some doubts, mostly formed by my limited worldview when I first encountered the Pekari, but I can’t deny the seeming increase in attacks in nations that are utterly at peace, and the absence when there is a full-blown total war occurring. Attacks during medium-sized skirmishes and wars are where the boundary tends to get shaky.

I believe Anurak is semi-directly controlling each Pekari, and there are unconfirmed accounts of adventurers finding ‘deactivated’ Pekari. He denies both claims, but that is to be expected.

After having presented all the evidence, I further believe that Anurak attempts to bring buried ruins back to accessibility. The average distribution of ancient ruins and secret hideouts versus the odds of a Pekari tunnel running near them are too far skewed to be anything other than deliberate machination, an attempt to prevent anything from being buried for eternity.

The Pekari are designed as a challenge for mortals and low levels. Nearly anyone can reasonably start fighting the golems, which split up into smaller and smaller groups when on excursions, to the point where a farm boy can hit one on the back of the head. Their tracks are designed to be easily followable, and slow but steady escalation of threats and difficulty are designed to constantly pose challenges for growth, culminating in arriving at Anurak Sathirat’s palace, where they are congratulated and rewarded.

I have no doubts that many have chosen not to believe the ancient lich’s claims, and their bodies likely litter the chasm around his palace. The challenge is designed to be conquerable at around level 1000. The gulf in level is far too great for the average adventurer to overcome, and that is before the lich’s phylactery is taken into account.

The Pekari are also working on a number of different initiatives to help all civilization. From fighting Vorlers to battling the denizens of the deepest underlayer, they provide a tireless army fighting at no risk to a civilized mind.

This knowledge and information comes at a price. Please, I implore of you dear reader, do not tell others about this knowledge, unless the need is dire. Knowing the tricks to them, knowing the details, utterly ruins the challenge. When fighting the Pekari, full experience, levels, and class quality are available if battling them in earnest. They are out to kill the adventurer, and the adventurer is out to destroy them and “rescue” whoever has been captured. The knowledge that one can simply walk in, or never engage in fighting and the Pekari will not engage back, is a poison pill. What point is there to the noble [Knight] knowing the net benefit the Pekari provide? How is it a challenge to the cunning [Rogue] when they can just waltz in? What motivation does the [Farmhand] have to save the pretty girl next door, knowing that she is in a healing, restorative state?

What is the point, when the mastermind is unassailable and practically unkillable?

This is the great Secret of the Pekari. Teach others at their peril.

Susan Weaver.

I stared at the last few sentences in shock.

Fuck.

That’s what I got for not listening to other people. I was told reading the book wouldn’t help me fight the Pekari, and would have the opposite effect. Martin had been right.

The Eventide Eclipse was at the perfect level and class quality to fight through the Pekari. The challenge would’ve been great, the rewards even better. The entire thing had been obviated by a single book. There was no more challenge, and by the same token, there was no getting our name carved on the great board Anurak had, getting a present from him, having tea, and experiencing the grandeur of the place ourselves.

Oh! This was why the Pekari weren’t mentioned as a threat when Arachne was teaching me what I needed to know to become a [Loremaster]! They weren’t a threat, and didn’t rate on the scale, in spite of them seemingly being a green or possibly even blue-scale problem. 

Silver linings, silver linings… I suppose if I didn’t tell anyone else, Iona and the rest could still challenge the Pekari. She’d be pissed at the end though, feeling she’d wasted all that time. That, and there was no way I’d be able to keep this a secret from her. I’d start acting awkward, she’d instantly sniff me out, annnnnd yeah.

Fuck.

I closed the book - didn’t need to open it to read it, but it was the small pleasures in life - and put it back.

Well, I guess we didn’t have to waste our time fighting something that didn’t need to be fought.

In a bit of a daze, I left the hidden library, Martin shooting me an insufferable ‘I-told-you-so’ look on the way out.

Yeah, yeah, he was right. He’d known. He had to have known. He had tried to warn me off it.

I found Iona at one of the study desks, a half-dozen thick volumes about the Pekari surrounding her. She looked up at me, and her entire face just lit up.

Goddess, I loved her so much.

“Elaine! This book’s a fantastic resource! It’s got detailed descriptions about all the Pekari, what we can expect to find deeper in, rare variants, everything! It’s like the author knew exactly what I was looking for! What’s wrong?” She asked, picking up my mood.

I petulantly swung my hand at the book.

“It doesn’t matter.” I grumped. Iona’s eyebrows went up, and she looked around the room.

“Really? Can we talk about it here, or…?”

I sighed.

“Yeah, we should go somewhere private.”

“Should I check the books out?”

I shook my head.

“There’s no point.”

“This I gotta hear.”

======================

Twenty minutes later, and Iona was outraged in our room at The Wandering Inn.

“It’s all fake!?” She half-screamed. “The whole thing with the Pekari is a fucking scam!?” Bless the thick soundproofed rooms. 

I flopped down onto the bed, frowning at the ceiling.

“Yuuup. Seems like it.”

“Argh! Fuck!” Iona looked mad. Couldn’t blame her. My understanding was she’d actively fought against them repeatedly, and to learn it was all a game, a sham, some crazy Classer’s idea of fun?

“I had a friend that died to them!” Iona raged.

“Want to go beat up a bunch of them?” I suggested. “They’re one of the easiest enemies for me to fight. I don’t need to be concerned at all about them.”

Iona plopped down next to me with a disgusted noise, the bed creaking as I was catapulted up.

“No, what’s the fucking point?” She swore. “I think I’ll get right with the idea eventually, I’m just in a bad headspace.”

She put her head in her hands and swore again.

“Fuck. They fight Vorlers. Of course. Fuck. It all makes so much sense now.”

I patted Iona’s leg, nuzzling her arm with my head.

“Do you mind if I go to the gym? The School has some things designed to be hit really hard, and right now I want to beat the stuffing out of something.”

I waved a hand at her.

“Yeah, go nuts. Come back when you’re done though, I want to class up before we hit the Phoenix Peaks.” I’d run the risk-reward on classing up now, versus waiting. On one hand, quick and easy power. A ton more levels under my belt, a huge increase in my stats.

On the other, a bunch of new skills to get right with and adapt to and learn. I had my familiar skills that I knew like the back of my hand, and fully half of them would be upgrading or changing.

My analysis said it was worth it. Auri had been funneling all sorts of crazy experience to me over the last few years - experience that I paid for in massive worry over what she was doing - but it had leveled up my main class quite a bit.

What was waiting for me level-wise on my third class? It was worth it.

Iona nodded and left, gently closing the door behind her.

Oh!

Library, Phoenix Peaks - I should bug Martin again and see if there was anything else I could shake out of him about the area. For no reason, of course. My companion bond was a phoenix after all, she was curious about the place. And, well, she’d probably want to know more about it.

Where was she right now? Oh, taking a little vacation and having some fun.

Yup.

Completely plausible.

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I woke up in the world of my soul, greeted by a smiling Librarian. She was wearing a brightly dyed women’s tunic, a smile playing on her lips and a mischievous glint in her eyes. She looked happy, full of life and energy. My - her - our? - marriage tattoos were all over her hands and wrist, and I had no doubt they extended all the way to her back.

Was that me, now?

I supposed it was. Putting my worries over Auri aside, I was feeling at the peak of my life. I had it all. I knew Amber would shutter and mutter about cursing myself if I said it outloud, but I didn’t believe in that.

“Heya! Let’s get going!” I said. Librarian took my hand, and we ran up the stairs together, giggling like schoolgirls.

“Tada!” Librarian presented a more austere library, with plain desks and chairs, along with the rows upon rows of books. Mystical orbs hung in space, lighting the place with a soft, pleasing glow, one of the chairs slid itself out to accommodate me, and the books sparkled, then vanished, being replaced with another set.

“So! What are we in the mood for today?” Librarian asked as she clapped her hands. “You think you know what you want, but are you suuuuuuuure?”

I rolled my eyes and laughed at her antics. 

“Oh alright, give me the three top options after the Spatial wizardry class. Just the ones that include [Vault of Ages] and [Loremaster’s Library] or an upgrade, don’t want to lose what’s in there.”

She clapped her hand again, and four thick tomes dropped in front of me, all of them Spatial.

[Ancient Bookwyrm of Unending Tomes - Spatial]. [Keeper of Profound Knowledge - Spatial]. [Runemaster of the Fabric - Spatial]. [Erudite Archmage - Spatial]. 

I cracked my fingers, then cracked the books open and got down to it, skimming the start to see roughly what each one was about before delving deeper. I knew what I wanted coming into the space, but seeing the wizardry class be the blue [Runemaster of the Fabric] hurt. It was a high blue, sure, but the drop in quality was painful to stomach. Extra-painful that it was a 256 classup - I had 512 levels to go with whatever class I took, barring whatever levels Auri had earned and shared with me.

[Ancient Bookwyrm of Unending Tomes] was the pure reading class, the promised ‘reversion’ back away from [Loremaster]. I sort of enjoyed being a [Loremaster] - reading and knowing things was fun - but it had been a comfortable suit of armor, less so than what was truly me. Now that my reading class outstripped it, there was no reason to keep being a [Loremaster] in class. I could still act as one, and the knowledge was never going away, but I just wouldn’t level extensively by doing loremaster-like things. 

Checking that an ancient horror was still sealed away would get me dings on [Butterfly Mystic], not [Loremaster]. And I was fine with that.

It was a little like a [Lumberjack] using his stats and skills to build a house. Lots of overlap, fewer levels.

[Keeper of Profound Knowledge] was the predicted [Loremaster] evolution. It gave a little more stats than the current class, but with how the bar rose for quality each time a class was offered, it made sense to me that it had ‘dropped down’ a bit. Arachne had prepared me well earlier for the first set, but the class had mostly been dragged up hard by Auri. I’d spent years and possibly hundreds of my own levels pulling her up to meet me, so it only felt fair, but I was distinctly lacking in the ‘has acted as a [Loremaster] and done the wild and crazy things required to make the class good.’

[Erudite Archmage] was a small surprise, and I took my time digging into it, getting happier and happier with every word I read. Oh yes. This would do. This would do nicely.

[Erudite Archmage]: Boasting profound knowledge over countless topics both mundane and esoteric, both from personal experiences worthy of bards' tales and from countless hours scouring through ancient tomes, the [Erudite Archmage] never ceases in their quest to learn everything there is to know, to broaden their scope and deepen their understanding of the world and their place in it. Not simply a mere scholar, the [Erudite Archmage] seeks to apply this knowledge, carefully carving their own influence into the laws of reality through study, experimentation, and consultation with some of the greatest minds in the world.

+512 Mana, +512 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Control, +1024 Magic Power per level.

It was a reading-wizardry class! The two disciplines had quite a lot of overlap, the archetypal image of a wizard being in a tower, surrounded by dusty tomes, studying ancient books. It was beautiful. I’d keep basically all the wonderful Spatial skills I’d come to love and rely on, things merged and moved around the way I wanted, and the 8-year old in me was an absolute sucker for the class name. 

I had one last childish dream that had never been fulfilled, and the class name hit me right in the weak spot. I’d dreamed of being an [Archmage], flying through the air on a broom. Meeting Artemis had simply edited the dream a bit - I’d wear the robes over the armor.

I was at the School, one of the only places with wizard towers. I had the robes, I had the armor. I had a class hitting me in all the weak spots, that not only had the minor skills I was looking for - wizardry - it was also a reading class that preserved the fantastic skills I already had.

“You know,” I told Librarian as I grabbed the book, clutching it to my chest and shoving the rest down the table. “If I didn’t have Ciriel, I think I would’ve become a firm worshiper of the System right here and now, like some people do. I can’t believe it, it’s absolutely perfect.”

Librarian winked at me.

“You knew.” I accused her. “You knew this was going to be absolutely perfect for me, and you said nothing.”

She grinned.

“We all need to make our own choices, yeah? Much better to see and pick, than for me to just put it in your lap and say ‘take this, ignore the rest of them.’ How would that feel?”

I waved her off.

“Yeah, yeah, give me a moment to check the book out and do a bit of shuffling, then I’ll be right back in to upgrade [Butterfly Mystic].”

Librarian waved.

“Enjoy! See you soon!”

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I woke up, skimming my notifications, picking out only the immediately relevant ones.

[ding! You’ve upgraded [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial] to [Erudite Archmage - Spatial]!]

[ding! [Erudite Archmage] leveled up! 256 -> 712. +512 Mana, +512 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Control, +1024 Magic Power from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]

I did a double-take at that.

Aoife Auri Stentor. WHAT WERE YOU DOING!? I spun off a thought process to agonize, once again, over my bond and what mischief she was up to. I had to remind myself that she wasn’t a small child, that she was an adult and was allowed to find her own trouble. It didn’t stop me from infernally worrying over her though. 

[*ding!* Would you like to move [Lepidoptera] from [Butterfly Mystic] to [Erudite Archmage] and have it become [The Everflowing Quill of Phoenix Feathers and Whimsical Dreams]? Y/N]

The offer was good! Exactly what I wanted! But there was the issue of which skill to replace, or… ah ha!

[*ding!* [Blink] has merged with [Rapid Reshelving] to create [Teleportation]!]

Perfection. I had an open skill slot, and I accepted the skill moving over. 

[*ding!* [Technical Drawing] has merged with [The Everflowing Quill of Phoenix Feathers and Whimsical Dreams] to make [Reality, Writ As You Will]!]

Satisfied that I wasn’t about to utterly destroy a skill I’d spent almost two decades working on, I sat up, drank a glass of water, and gratefully devoured a sandwich Iona proffered.

“Thank you.” I put as much feeling into the thanks as I could, knowing how boring waiting for someone to class up was.

“Back down, or did you get something that surprised you?” Iona asked.

“Back down in a moment!” I confirmed. We quickly kissed, and I started to flex my hands.

“Hmmm. Can you pass me, like, anything to put together?” I asked. Iona shrugged, and quickly unscrewed the knob of the dresser by the bed.

“Like this?” She asked. I stood up and went over to the dresser, grabbing the knob back.

“Yeah, perfect.” I screwed it back in, the System’s ever-eager desire to offer skills - especially when I wanted a particular basic one - triggering and offering up what I wanted.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General Skill [Handy]! Would you like to take it?]

I accepted it. It was practically a crime to classup with open skill slots, and while I could just barely forgive myself on [Butterfly Mystic]’s open slot - actually finding something would be a little more effort than it was worth, even though I could pop over to any Radiance Sorcery class and get a basic, basic skill - so I was just taking a general skill. 

 I went back into the world of my soul, this time working on upgrading [Butterfly Mystic].

===============

Librarian gasped as I entered.

“Elaine! You rascal!” She scolded me, and I jumped.

“What!?” I asked, eyes darting around.

“Coming in here with a level 1 skill again? I thought we’d talked about this!”

It took a moment to recall what she was talking about, and I sputtered in outrage.

“[Handy] isn’t crucial to me the same way [Ranger’s Lore] was back in the day!” I protested. She laughed.

“Yeah, but the look on your face was funny.”

Classes classes everywhere! I wasn’t entirely sure where I was taking [Butterfly Mystic], and Librarian had found a nice selection of books to peruse.

[The Dawn Spear]. [Fluttering Polymath]. [Reborn Ancient]. [Sunlit Dancer]. [Seraph of the Dawn]. [Echo of Asura]. [Butterfly Cleric]. [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm] 

Going vaguely in quality order, [Reborn Ancient] was the phoenix class. Annoyingly, the Radiance heron had almost as much of an impact on the class, if not more, than Auri, but the two were both strongly represented in the class. It was a little more ‘simple-minded’ in some ways, but it was powerful. Besides the stats, a big draw was hanging out with Auri would be slow but steady experience. Leveling up for doing what I wanted to do anyway? Yes please!

It went more into ‘Radiance as the sun’s flames’ and less into the pinpoint precision that I was used to, in exchange for powering up. I also remembered Auri’s desire for me to not have a phoenix class, although I was unsure if it also extended to Radiance as an element, instead of Inferno. It was also just barely a black quality class, eking over the stat threshold by a hair.

The big issue with the ‘Radiance as the sun’s flames’ was the massive hit my skills would take. Across the board I’d drop dozens to hundreds of levels, and they’d work in completely different ways. I wasn’t super inclined towards the class, and ‘undo decades of training, practice, and instincts, and relearn how to fight from the start’ wasn’t appealing, even on a good day.

[The Dawn Spear] I dismissed early on. It was the blood and violence class, the offensive Radiance sorcerer. It was the class that wanted to kill Meng Ao, the class that fought the Formorians, the class that aggressively scythed down my enemies.

I’d taken the class and its direction in a strong self-defense direction from the earliest days of being a Ranger. But, in so many ways, my situation had changed from the young woman I’d been in the dwarven city, alone deep underground, and surrounded by enemies. I had Auri and Iona to protect and defend me, Fenrir’s gigantic bulk and investigative powers willing to be bent to my needs, just as I was willing and able to protect and serve them in any way. I didn’t need or want the ‘biggest violence’ class.

[Sunlit Dancer] was fun, but it wasn’t me. Dancing for a year straight under the high noon sun - or 23,456 years, the System occasionally seemed confused which one it was, which to be fair, so was I - had gotten me a killer dancing class on offer. It wasn’t quite as good as [Lady of the Dance] had been, but the vibes were the same.

[Fluttering Polymath] was the easy pick, the natural upgrade to [Butterfly Mystic]. It was the evolution of the class, wanting to do all the same things my current class did. Looking at it, almost nothing changed from my current class except the stats per level - it was still all about growth and self evolution. The big issue was, I felt I’d done the best I could with my skills growing this way. I struggled to imagine further growth in this style, not with everything I’d already done. It was high purple as well, which mattered when the stat ranges got so large.

[Seraph of the Dawn] looked fun! It combined phoenix aspects with divine influence, the angels I’d met and the gods who’d given me offers, along with my wings and current aspect of looking a bit like an angel, then mixed in some medium offensive aspects from [The Dawn Spear] and the growth and learning aspects from [Fluttering Polymath]. A nice little addition - the ‘fighting’ portion was strongly a ‘defend others’ aspect, which was exactly what I wanted to do when I was forced to battle. Less good at being the aggressor, but when was I ever? It was the ‘half and half’ class, not as good as either one alone, but able to cover for itself.

“Just triple checking.” I asked Librarian. “This class is not a divine ascension class. I’ll be a human, on Pallos, just with a fun flavored class.”

The merciless pedant shook her head.

“Nope! You’ll be an elvenoid chimera on Pallos with a fun flavored class.”

I blew a raspberry at her.

[Butterfly Cleric] was cheeky, and had me groaning. Papillon’s offer to become a cleric of his, nevermind that I was claimed by Ciriel in a sense.

“Am I stupid?” I asked Librarian. “I feel stupid. Butterfly Mystic, it’s practically right there on the label that it’s related to Papilion! Butterflies are sacred to him! Like… did I fuck up?”

Librarian shook her head.

“Every single class has elements sacred to one god or another. Dawns are sacred to Solaris, Goddess of the Sun. We’re not worried about anything with the name Dawn in it. Spears are sacred to-”

I waved Librarian off, getting her point.

“Alright, alright, I got it.”

[Echo of Asura] was only clinically interesting.

“It was light purple until you ripped out [Lepidoptera].” Librarian remarked. “It’s amazing what one skill can do for class quality.”

The last offering was a curiosity. [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm]. It was exactly the same as when I’d last been offered it, and I pointed to the book with a confused look on my face.

“The Formorians are extinct, yeah?” I asked. 

“They should be.” Librarian hedged. “They weren’t exactly subtle or restrained, and we haven’t found a single mention of them in any book we’ve ever read here.”

I frowned at that.

“There was no notification from Genie though…” I slowly said. 

“We were there when we killed the last of them.” Librarian countered. “The wish hadn’t been made yet.”

We traded a nervous look, and I shrugged.

“Well, if there are any around, Night killed their queens 2500ish levels ago.”

“Yeah, but they also level.”

I slapped my forehead.

“I feel stupid. We should ask Ciriel.”

“It’ll cost her.”

“Yeah, but she could know the answer.”

“Gods aren’t all seeing.”

“Formorians didn’t seem to have issues leveling, and looked Immortal from what I understood. At least one of them should’ve ascended by now, and ‘hey are there any gods who used to be Formorians, say, a Goddess of Formorians’ is a valid question she could answer.”

Librarian nodded in agreement.

“It’s also true that we still qualify for the class. It could just be as simple as ‘qualifications remain, class is offered again’.”

I smiled nostalgically at the book.

“Remember when this was the best class offered, not one of the worst?”

Librarian grinned.

“We were so tiny and cute!” She said.

“This kitten has claws!” I rawred, miming swiping the air with little kitten claws.

After goofing off a bit in the liminal space that seemed to slip oddly through time, I got back down to business.

While I did have Auri, Iona, and Fenrir to help me out, I wasn’t going to ditch all self-defense. I still liked the growth and evolution aspects that [Butterfly Mystic] had, and the angelic imagery of [Seraph of the Dawn] appealed. In this space, I wasn’t impacted by the bond’s vanity, but I still thought I’d look so fucking pretty with the wings. [Fluttering Polymath] could be just as strong skill-wise as [Seraph] was, so the two elements I put on the scale were simple.

Higher class quality versus easier evolutions?

It was almost a no-brainer. Earlier I’d reasoned that I’d gotten most out of the skill evolutions as I’d been able to.

[Seraph of the Dawn’s] stat spread was solid. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level.

“[Seraph of the Dawn] please!”