Chapter 129: Smalltalk About Class Upgrading

POV Eliza

I prepared myself to go to the shrine in the cave tonight. But first I talked to Tamina, who was already waiting for me excitedly outside the office. We sat together in her room and I told her about my progress in the nature dungeon in a modified form. However, I left out anything to do with the heroes. Otherwise she would only worry. Two hours later, it was late evening and she was getting tired. We arranged to meet for breakfast the next day and went to bed.

But I just pretended and waited in my room until after midnight. Then I took a blanket with me because it wasn't very warm in the cave. The last time I was surprised by this, I didn't want it to happen to me again tonight. I cast Shadow Movement and got into Master Freyna's office unseen. There I opened the doorway and closed it again directly behind me. Down at the shrine, I wrapped myself in the blanket and touched the statue of Luna by leaning against it.

"Hello Eliza. Nice to see you." <Luna>

"Hello Luna. This time I'm back at one of your shrines. So we should have more time than last time." <Eliza>

"I'm glad to hear that. Tell me, how have you been?" <Luna>

I told her how the heroes had changed their tactics and were now starting to look for capable people with potential and hire them after a test. That I had undergone one of these tests and was now in the extended circle of recruits. I reported on my progress in the nature dungeon both solo and in a party. And that I was now planning to do my class advancement.

“So, do you already know everything you need to know or do you still have questions?” <Luna>

"I do still have a few questions. But they're less about my current advancement and more about what comes next." <Eliza>

"Go ahead, don't hold back. You know I'm a goddess, I know everything. Well, almost everything, but at least I can probably answer everything that has to do with the system of the world." <Luna>

“Okay, but then I also expect answers that satisfy me.” <Eliza>

"Fufu, we'll see. Go ahead."<Luna>

“How do I become your priestess?” <Eliza>

"A very important question right at the beginning, but haven't we had it before? Anyway, I'll be happy to explain it to you again. There are two ways once you meet the requirements. Firstly, you can improve the Acolyte class. Just like any other class, you need to have the necessary skills at advanced rank, with Religious Rites and Dark Magic being mandatory. An acolyte of Lumos, called a cleric by them, needs Religious Rites and Light Magic. The remaining skills should have something to do with stealth or the night, but you can also use other skills without any problems. Unfortunately, your racial skills are excluded from this. There's another solution for them, but it's still far too early for this knowledge.

You can also take skills that you have already used for your first class. However, it is advisable to choose other skills, as otherwise you will be going too much in the same direction and will have to spend development points unnecessarily if you still want to increase them further. But there's nothing wrong with using the same 8 skills as before, but I don't recommend it." <Luna>

“Is that all I need to consider?” <Eliza>

"No, because it's not quite that simple. A ritual must be performed as part of the advancement, the initiation. Every priest of a deity can learn and perform it." <Luna>

"So I have to find one of your two priests? But Ayla is a wanderer and you don't even know if the second one is still alive. I don't want to wait that long." <Eliza>

"Calm down, there is a second option. Who else do you think can raise people to the priesthood? Who do you think raised the first priestess?" <Luna>

“You, perhaps?” <Eliza>

"Exactly right. Of course, the deity itself can also perform the ritual and consecrate someone, even if they don't want to. How useful that is remains to be seen." <Luna>

“Phew, so you can make me a priestess right here?” <Eliza>

"Unfortunately not, because that's where the other prerequisites come into play, which have to be fulfilled. As this is the second class in your case, advancement is more difficult than with the first. Instead of 10 development points, you need 20, although you realize that you need a significantly higher level, otherwise you won't have enough developement points. You should be at least level 40, but you've already exceeded that." <Luna>

"I have the level, but unfortunately I don't have the additional 20 development points. That's because I was forced to upgrade some of my skills to advanced. That's why I only have 23 left in total. I won't be able to get the missing ones in the two dungeons around here. I've already reached the end of my abilities in the nature dungeon. That means I have to travel to another dungeon." <Eliza>

"It looks like that, although the points you used to improve your skills are definitely well spent. You can hardly increase resistances and special skills in any other way. The closest dungeon is the Lightning dungeon in the north of the Empire. The others are further away." <Luna>

“That also answers one of my other questions for now.” <Eliza>

“Which one?” <Luna>

“Which is the next dungeon I should fight in.” <Eliza>

"But you should be careful. The Lightning dungeon is different from the two nearby. To be more precise, almost all the other dungeons are different from those two." <Luna>

“What are the differences?” <Eliza>

"You'll find out as soon as you enter the first one. But I won't tell you any more, because then Lumos will be allowed to reveal the relevant information too. Although I doubt he'll be interested. Nevertheless, I'll stick to the rules of our competition." <Luna>

"Too bad, but I can understand that. It's not that important, I'll just be a bit more careful. But there's one more thing I'd like to know. You can increase skills to expert from floor 25. In the Nature Dungeon, I didn't increase any skills on the steles for the bosses on floors 25 and 30. Can I still do that afterwards?" <Eliza>

"Yes, that is theoretically possible. Unfortunately, you have completed the dungeon solo and you can no longer get to the floors below 31. In a group it would be different, as you can get to the bosses again in other constellations of members. And the only other option is not relevant. I can't say any more without giving too much away." <Luna>

"Okay, I've understood that so far. Which floors give skills on expert? Only 25 and 30?" <Eliza>

“No, 25, 30 and 35. After that, you can upgrade to master.” <Luna>

"A dungeon has 50 floors. Are 40, 45 and 50 for master then?" <Eliza>

“No, only 40 and 45.” <Luna>

"Is there no stele on 50? I always thought I couldn't improve to more than Master. What do I get as a reward then?" <Eliza>

"Oh, yes, there is a stele. But you'll have to find out the reward yourself." <Luna>

"Phew, that's quite a big hurdle. So I won't find out until I've completely beaten a dungeon. Has anyone even managed that?" <Eliza>

"I'm not allowed to answer that, after all, it's part of your job. You'd better ask around to see if there are any legends or tales to that effect. I don't know everything in that area either. But I can't rule out the possibility that there is a member of one of the long-lived races who has achieved this." <Luna>

"One more question, Luna. After I level up, I can only increase to expert tier 10, isn't that right? What comes after that? How can I become a master?" <Eliza>

"By making a second class advancement in the same class or spending a development point. That's another use for developement points. The second class upgrade costs 30 points. This should be common among the more long-lived races, while there are few humans who can pull it off. And before you ask, for another 40 development points, you can upgrade your second class." <Luna>

"Let me do some quick math. 10 plus 20 plus 30 plus 40 is a total of 100 development points I need for all the advancements. There are probably 50 floors in each dungeon. That's 10 boss fights in 10 dungeons. Does that mean I have to explore 10 dungeons up to floor 25 or defeat 5 completely? How many dungeons are there anyway?" <Eliza>

"Calm down, because you've forgotten something. Theoretically you're right, but you can fight each boss twice, alone and in a group. That means you can collect twice as many points." <Luna>

"That sounds very different. But how else does the second class advancement work?" <Eliza>

"Like the first one, except that you now select 6 skills at expert tier 10, which you can then increase to master. Very often these are the same as the first upgrade, unless you have unlocked the upgrade separately with a development point. Normally, the skills that can be mastered are limited, but you can unlock additional ones. They can then be increased and improved up to that point. However, you still need the EXP and the right master." <Luna>

"How many EXP do I need for master skills and where do I get the instructor if there is no living one? Just from the steles?" <Eliza>

"You need 300,000 EXP to become a master. That sounds like a lot, and it is. But the effects are also very powerful. Resistances, for example, give you far-reaching immunity, while percentage-based skills always work under ideal conditions. It becomes difficult with competing skills when both are at master level. One example is the skill heavy armor, which completely compensates for the deductions to speed and agility and grants protection against critical hits. Daggers or the spear, on the other hand, can both always perform critical hits against unprotected targets or largely ignore the armor skills. If the two meet, the effects on critical hits negate each other." <Luna>

“Wow, that's powerful.” <Eliza>

"But that's not even the most powerful thing possible. In magic, it's already too powerful in some cases. In fire magic, there's a spell for masters that triggers an explosion strong enough to raze everything within a radius of several dozen meters to the ground. In earth magic you can create a small earthquake, in air magic a hurricane and in water magic a tsunami. All of these have the potential to level a small town and should therefore only be used in extreme emergencies.

However, there are also very useful spells that are available early on, but only become truly effective with Master. Take darkness. This makes everything around you so dark that no light source can illuminate anything and only light magic on Master can counteract it. Even the Night Vision advantage is limited. As the caster of the spell, you yourself are immune and therefore have an immense advantage. Some spells are very useful, but not earth-shattering. The elemental arrows, for example, no longer cost MP to cast. But you can say that a master is one of the best in his field. However, the requirements for this are gigantic.

To come back to the question about the master, there are a few living masters in addition to the steles. At least as far as I know, although I don't know how many of them are human. You'll have more luck if you turn to elves or dwarves. With magic, you may also find some with the demons. This makes it all the more important that you get through some dungeons to the end so that you can increase the skills for which there are no masters. But there you can at least choose which ones you want. You already have an idea of which one can do what. But the decision is entirely up to you. I won't talk you into it, but I'm happy to give you advice." <Luna>