It turned out, Grimoire knew a little bit about first aid, and was happy to help with a dislocated arm. He’d distracted me as soon as we’d gotten into the foyer, asking me questions and even got Paige involved. Right as I’d been asking Paige a question, he had taken my arm and shoved it back into it’s socket.
“Please, cast your Heal spell now.” He informed me after letting go.
I did as he said and the ache went away. “You could have warned me…”
“I could have.” He responded, but did not elaborate.
“Why didn’t Heal work before?” I rotated my shoulder to make sure everything was fine.
“Because everything was technically healthy.” He replied simply, “The spell only fixes injuries, but even though a dislocated shoulder is considered an injury, there is nothing ‘damaged’. You’ll need a different spell for that.”
Would Regeneration taken care of it? I’d taken the trait, but hadn’t really noticed it doing anything for it. I asked the butler.
“Regeneration?” He considered the question. “I don’t’ believe so, but I am also not a medical professional. I only know the limitations of Heal because I have the spell myself. It is rather useful.”
“You do?” Paige asked, staring at the butler. “How?”
“Miss Paige, do you think I have always been a butler? While changing classes is not a common practice here, I have done so numerous times throughout my life. One of those gave me the ability to cast some spells, though not many.” Grimoire explained. It was the most I’d learned about the man. Thinking about it, I also hadn’t really asked that many questions about him. I really do need to try harder with this social stuff.
“Really? I thought class changes besides advancing were dangerous.” Paige looked at me, “Am I wrong?”
I shrugged, “I’m not a good person to ask about it.”
Grimoire cleared his throat, “It can be… unpleasant. We should continue this lesson in the training room, I think.”
We went up the stairs to the training room. Once the door was closed, I started to setup the targets, intending to try and help Paige get throwing. Grimoire set up a table near the throwing line for the training daggers that he set on them.
When everything was ready, he resumed speaking. “When it comes to a class change, all of your stats will reset to whatever they were at the start of that tier.” Grimoire explained to Paige and I made a few throws of my own, still not able to hit where I wanted most of the time.
Paige made a curious sound, “Does the system warn you what they’ll be changed to?”
*Thunk* The knife hit the outer ring of the target.
“Yes, though you keep all skills, spells, and traits you earned. It can be quite beneficial to do so a few times within a person’s life.” Grimoire confirmed. “Even if the side effects are… unpleasant at first.”
*Thunk* I got it closer to the center.
“What side effects?” Paige asked.
I was the one to reply, “You’re losing stats. Probably a significant amount if you’re high enough. I can lower them myself, so I’m aware of how much it sucks.”
“Why would you want to do that willingly?” Paige asked with a mild amount of horror.
“Training.” Both Grimoire and I said at the same time.
Grimoire was the one who continued. “Stats gained through Training, and as I’ve discovered through Lady Dani, Skills do not go away. If you get them high enough, I imagine the downsides of changing your class will be negligible.”
*Thunk* The next knife hit the center and I pumped my fist at the success.
“How high would you need to get them?” Paige asked.
“Lady Dani?” Grimoire prompted, “I believe you’ve some insight into this.”
I paused before throwing my last knife and thought about it. “30 in each stats is the limit. I think I know what he means about the changes being negligible too. The last few improvements didn’t feel as painful, and they were all for stuff over 30.”
They both looked at me and Paige asked, “So… what would that be for me?”
I did some quick math. “150 Physical, 120 Mental, and 90 Magic.” I really should just have the numbers put down somewhere. “That’s if your stats are all balanced out, though.”
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“My Physical stats are at 104… How do I tell if they’re balanced?” She asked.
I shook my head, “I know your Endurance is low. Probably Strength and Constitution as well. If you were a Sneak, you were getting Agility, Dexterity, and Perception each level.” I paused and considered something. “If the classes have the same distribution as when I take them.”
Paige furrowed her brow, “The guild texts just say that it increases speed and precision… That’s not wrong… but I didn’t realize it was related to the Physical stats.”
Grimoire grunted, “Most of what I’ve learned from Lady Dani’s unique perspective has been something people have figured out over time, but never put a name to. Physical stats have always been confusing, since two people with 100 Physical could have drastically different builds and capabilities.”
“Most of this is speculation, though, since I can’t access someone else’s system.” I walked over and collected the knives. I paused. “Well, I probably could, but I think it’d be expensive and it’s not something I’m worried about.”
“What, like a priest?” Paige asked.
I shrugged and walked back over, offering the knives to Paige. “Why not? My system is weird compared to everyone else’s and I don’t really have an idea what it’s capable of.”
Paige took the knives with a bit of confusion, but took her spot at the throw line. “Are you going to keep trying to push yourself?”
I nodded, “That’s the plan. I’m not sure how to push something like Perception. I’m not gonna try with Constitution, since training that sounds like it could be dangerous. And I want to focus on physical stuff this week, so no Mana, Power, or Control.”
“Would you like a couple of exercises for Dexterity that also aid with Perception?” Grimoire offered politely.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked, wary. His suggestions are usually good, but were often draining.
“Juggling.” He said as he pulled out a few balls from inside his jacket pocket. He started to toss them into the air, catching and throwing them in a simple circular pattern. It was only three at first, but he added a fourth and fifth from somewhere. “Not a useful skill, but easy to practice.”
I watched him start to change the pattern, moving into a crisscross pattern except one ball always seemed suspended above the balls. Watching, I noticed he was hitting that one with the other four to keep it airborne. Just how fucking high is his juggling skill?
He stopped and offered me a single ball, “Try with one. I’ll toss you a second when I think you can handle it.”
I shrugged and took the ball. I tossed it into the air a few times, catching it with the hand that threw it. After a little, I started to toss it back and forth. As I did that, there was a steady *Thunk* as Paige threw the knives at the target. Her aim was somehow worse than mine.
I almost missed the second ball, having been distracted looking in Paige’s direction. After a little fumbling, I glared at Grimoire as I started to try and get used to juggling both balls. A notification popped up after a minute and I let it display.
Skill Gained: Juggling Tier 0, Rank 1
Juggling
A classic of performers in nearly every society, and a great way to increase a person’s physical dexterity. Just make sure you’re really sure before knives get involved.
Tier 0: Don’t worry if you drop the ball, it’s part of learning.
Grimoire tossed me a third ball and I fumbled all of them soon after reading the message. With a grunt of annoyance, I started again, tossing the third one back at Grimoire while I got comfortable with two again. When he threw in the third again, I managed to keep it in the air for a few seconds before having to start over.
“This… is harder than it looks…” I said, having trouble talking as I concentrated.
“It is, but it is excellent for hand eye coordination and spatial awareness.” Grimoire said with a matter of fact tone. “Miss Paige, would you like to try?”
The girl looked at me, then back to Grimoire, “Maybe later?”
He just nodded and set the two remaining balls he’d had on the table. “I believe I will leave you to attend my other duties. If you need further assistance, one of the staff will know where I am.” The elven butler gave a bow that encompassed both of us and then made his way out.
When he was gone, Paige sighed, “I’m still not getting it.”
I stopped juggling, and checked the skill. It had already gone up a couple ranks, which made me happy. “It could just take a lot of practice. I got it because…” I paused. With a sigh, I held out a ball to Paige. “Let me try something. How many times have you hit something with a throw?”
“Besides a wall or target.” I nodded and she let out a frustrated breath, “Never. It’s ridiculous, things always move before they get hit.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I held out a ball, a little more insistently “This is going to sound silly, but I want to try something.”
She took it, confused, “Ooookay. What?”
I walked over to the target and turned to face her. “Throw it at me.”
“...what?” Paige asked, confused. “Why?”
“Just… try and hit me with the ball.” I said, an idea having formed in my head. I got the skill when I hit Calmar with… something. Maybe it requires a living target?
“I don’t want to hurt you, though…” She said, even as she took a stance to throw the ball.
“I’m gonna try and catch it, don’t worry.” I knew it was still going to sting. “And if it doesn’t work, we can work on something else, okay?”
She looked hesitant, but threw the ball anyway. It went wide, but I reached out and caught it. I lightly tossed it back and Paige caught it easily. “Again.” I said.
This time she threw it harder. It still went a little wide, but I caught it and tossed it back. We went back and forth like that a few times until…
“I got it!” She cheered as I rubbed at my nose. I hadn’t been paying attention and had even considered trying to practice juggling when she had thrown without a warning. It had connected with my nose pretty hard, but a heal spell took care of it.
“Congratulations.” I said, a little muffled. “Now you should get credit for practicing with a target.”
“Why doesn’t it count when I hit a target?” Paige asked, staring off into space. “Like, why should it matter if I hit someone?”
I shrugged, “Systems weird. Let’s see if we can’t get you Freerunning too.”
We went over to one of the walls and I started trying to help Paige learn to run up a wall.
We spent the rest of the day on it.