A shortcut that Arthur hadn’t known of beforehand was that he could open his Identity Screen with just an opening motion with three fingers. By spreading his fingers open in something like a peace sign with his thumb going the opposite direction, it would bring it up immediately. Mira refused to share how she ended up finding that out. Furthermore, if he focused on whatever he wanted to find while in the Identity Screen, it would also come front and center right away. The Identity Screen was something like a central node for everything he currently had, with him able to access everything with just a thought once he entered it. This was, of course, only applicable if he had access to the information in question. With this information, he brought up his class information.
[Audacity Knight](Legendary): An [Audacity] variant of the [Knight] class. [Knights] are a versatile class, with strong attacking and defensive capabilities both, with the tradeoff of being mostly slow and physical combatants. They have few ranged skills and are usually the slowest out of the group, though there are some variants of [Knight] classes that have magical capabilities. The [Audacity Knight] variant blends defensive and attacking capabilities like the base [Knight] class, but with greater potency. It also allows for the use of [Audacity] stacks to augment certain skills, buff allies, and more. [Audacity] stacks are the backbone, the bread and butter, and the lifeblood of the [Audacity] classes.
The [Audacity] variant of classes are restricted due to their power and potential, with only one variant allowed per class, per System conquered universe. This is regulated by a first come first serve standard.
Difficulty Classification: 3/10
Arthur blinked, unsure if he was understanding correctly. If he was, then what this screen had just told him was that his class was a rare variant, one that was unique to him. It was saying that he was the only person in the entire world, no, the entire universe with this class. There were many universes in this Macrocosm, but in this one, he was singular. Arthur didn’t want to believe it. He wanted to believe that he wasn’t special, and was unsure how to feel about the System essentially telling him that he was.
“What’s the matter?” Mira noticed Arthur’s warring face. He glanced at her before looking back at the screen and took a breath. “It says here I’m an Audacity Knight. It’s a melee focused class with a lot of attack and defense.” Mira tilted her head, her eyes still piercing Arthur’s, as if trying to look into his very soul. “That doesn’t sound bad. Why do you look disappointed then? Did you want a magic focused class or something?”
“No, it’s perfect. It’s just…” Arthur curled his lips in, unsure of what he was about to say. “It says I’m a rare variant, that I’m unique. If I’m understanding it right, it says I’m… the only one on Earth…” He trailed off. The absurdity of what he was saying striking him truly when he said it aloud. He was certain that Mira wouldn’t believe hi-
“You’re upset because you’re special? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?” Mira looked down and shook her head. “If this class of yours is special, then that can only mean you’re also more powerful. Do you know how many people will wish they were you? Think of how MMO’s used to operate. Whenever someone got a unique skill or gear item, they became legends. Gods and goddesses among men and women, who were never reachable because what made them better was unattainable. Being the only one of anything is an enormous boon, with the sole exception of race or species. You are essentially complaining that you are the chosen one.” Mira looked straight at Arthur again, her ice hard demeanor sterner than ever. “If anything has been clear, power is what matters most in this new world. While you shouldn’t go shouting about what you have to the world, you have the potential and the chance to stand on top of it. Don’t you dare waste it.”
Her and Arthur’s eyes lingered on each other for a long, silent moment. Arthur hadn’t thought of it that way, but it didn’t change his feelings all that much. He felt that there were millions of people more deserving than him, trillions even. He couldn’t help but feel like he was undeserving, but at least in this situation, it would help him find his friends. Mira sat down in one of the chairs, folding her legs like a queen sitting on a throne. “We should go through the rest of your skills.” Arthur went to join her in the other chair, plopping down in an undignified manner and bringing up his skills.
[Audacity Knight]: Passive - Grants the user a stack of [Audacity] upon entering combat. Grants further stacks of [Audacity] upon performing selfless and/or worthy actions both in and outside of combat.
Arthur assumed this was his main method of gaining Audacity stacks, but was unsure what it meant by ‘worthy’. He put that to the back of his mind as he focused on the [Audacity] in the text.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
*[Audacity]: Grants bonuses up to a certain point based on level. Stackable buff. Permanent buff. While effects of [Audacity] stacks have a limit, the capacity for the amount of stacks does not.
It seemed that Audacity gave some kind of buff, but was unsure what that buff was. He’d thought that it would only be used for skills, but finding out it had other functions was a pleasant surprise. He moved on to his other skills.
[You and Me]: Inflicts [Enraged] when an enemy strikes your shield. Expend a stack of [Audacity] to inflict damage in retaliation.
*[Enraged]: Inflicts a debuff that increases damage taken. Enemies who are [Enraged] are more inclined to attack you, and take continuous and mounting damage when attacking anyone who isn’t the one who inflicted them with [Enraged] while [Enraged]. Enemies with sufficient willpower may resist [Enraged].
Arthur leaned forward as he read, unable to keep a smile from creeping onto his face. This was exactly the kind of skill he wanted, something to get aggro with. This only confirmed that his class was indeed tank optimal, which pleased him greatly.
[Mighty Escutcheon]: Passive - Empowers your shield to enhance durability according to rarity.
A simple one, but a good one regardless. He was unsure of how things worked exactly, but making his shield harder to break can only be a good thing. He read on, Mira watching him calmly, hardly moving a muscle.
[Not Today]: Expend a stack of [Audacity] to conjure a circle of shields around an ally. Allies under the effects of [Not Today] have increased stamina regeneration and mana regeneration. Upon taking damage, the damage is absorbed, and the buff expires.
[True Heart of Devotion] Applicable.
Arthur tilted his head at the text on the bottom. He knew he had the Heart of Devotion title, but he didn’t think it had the word ‘True’ in front of it. He decided to check it out later, and moved on to the last two skills. They had similar names, so he assumed they were related in some way. They also seemed to be a bit long, so he tried his best to focus.
[Intricacies of Exaltation]: Changes bonuses gained from [Audacity] stacks to a small bonus to VIT, DEF, and damage reduction. Allies within party deal greater damage to enemies with the [Enraged] debuff. Gain a stack of [Audacity] whenever a party member defeats an enemy. Gain enhanced experience whenever a party member defeats an enemy. Expend a stack of [Audacity] to grant allies increased stamina and mana regeneration, as well as offensive skill cooldown. No cooldown.
[Intricacies of Engagement]: Changes bonuses gained from [Audacity] stacks to a small bonus to STR, DEX and damage. You deal greater damage to enemies with the [Enraged] debuff. Gain a stack of [Audacity] whenever you defeat an enemy. Gain enhanced experience whenever you defeat an enemy. Expend a stack of [Audacity] to grant yourself increased stamina and mana regeneration, as well as offensive skill cooldown. No cooldown.
Arthur leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. This was a lot to go through and take in, starting with the fact that these skills explained what bonuses his audacity could give. Exaltation would make his stacks increase his vitality and defense, as well as a boost to overall damage reduction. He didn’t know what percentage it would be, but assumed it was low. Engagement, on the other hand, would shift the bonuses to strength and dexterity. With a bonus to damage instead of damage reduction. Arthur already knew which one he would use the most, but he supposed that being able to switch between the two was nice.
The second significant thing with these skills was that he or his allies could do extra damage to enemies with the enraged debuff. This was also significant, because the same debuff already lowers the recipient’s defenses. This would mean that if he “pissed off” his enemies, they would take a lot more damage instead of just a bit more. The next thing was that if he spent a stack of audacity, he could give his allies or himself better stamina and mana regeneration. While giving them or him reduced cooldowns for their offensive skills. This was interesting because if he used Not Today as well as this, he assumed he could stack the effects. Essentially, this could give himself or his allies vastly better resource recovery. It would be expensive on his audacity stacks, but that issue was solved by the last thing the skills did. During the duration of the skills, he would gain a stack of audacity for every enemy he or his allies took down. If he combined all of these things, he could become a powerful anchor for a team as well as be an effective tank. While, if it came down to it, he could scrap a bit on his own. He would much prefer to be a pure tank for a team, but again, it was nice to have the choice.
Arthur looked toward Mira as the screens minimized to the side of his vision. She was still as a statue, as if frozen. Her patience seemed bottomless, and her eyes had never strayed from Arthur. He tried not to focus too much on that, though, as it made him uncomfortable.
“I’m mostly done. I’m a tank type, after all, with brawling capabilities like we thought.” Arthur said. Mira motioned for him to continue, and Arthur explained his skills. He explained what he could do with his stacks of audacity, and what his theories were for possible combinations. Mira sat through it all, mostly silent but for a hum of contemplation here and there. After he was finished, Mira nodded to herself.
“I can see why you’d be excited. that’s a lot of synergies between your skills already, and you only just got your class.” Her cool gaze landed on Arthur like a gentle but chilly breeze. “And yet, you have six skills already. I’m assuming the reason you have so many has something to do with your class being super rare, as I only have three.” Arthur’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “What? Why do you only have three?”
Mira sighed. “I just said that it might be our class’s difference in rarity, but it could be anything. I don’t know and honestly, right now, I don’t care. We have more important things to worry about.” She brought up her own Identity Screen. It was blurred out for Arthur, but he could tell that she was bringing up the same screens he had. “Do you want to hear about my class and skills now?”
“Wait,” Arthur said. “There’s something I need to check first. It might be important, but it also might not.” Mira turned her head to look at him, but said nothing. Arthur met her gaze.
“It’s something called the True Heart of Devotion. I have a feeling it’s important, so I’m gonna find out what it is.”