Infinitium

(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

Freya led them downstairs and out of the room and after a very short walk they came to the dining area that reminded Adam of one of Lords and Ladies chambers that he’d find over in England. No one asked for any payment and they each picked up a tray that had already been prepared and an actual crystal, he checked with his nanites, a crystal goblet with some type of wine in it. Freya led him to a table with a window that looked out onto the same garden they’d been above before, just from a different angle.

They both tucked in and ate in silence. As they were finishing Freya took a sip of her wine and asked, “What is a nanite?”

“You saw that ability on my interface did you?” he said with a smile.

“Yes, and the word has no meaning to me. I cannot put it into any kind of context.” She said.

“Better if I show you,” he said as he ordered his nanites to create a second crystal glass filled with water.

“Nanites are a conjuring?” she asked, confused.

“No. nanites are small, very small, things that you cannot see that can create any common substance that I have knowledge of. This includes things that they have just scanned. In my homeworld for instance. If I went 20 miles in any direction I could have my nanites there create an exact copy of this entire city, down to the last cracked brick, of course, I would have them repair the cracked brick.” He said with a smile.

“So, like a Divine, you have the power of creation?” she asked.

“Not exactly. When I arrived here my nanites caused an adjudicator to be sent to me. He explained to me that the nanites that are part of me can temporarily be utilized in a very limited fashion around me. So, I can make this glass, and fill it with water. And do many other things but any Universe that contains magic. The fundamental rules for those Universes are anathema to my nanites if I move out of range; they are immediately, not slowly, immediately reabsorbed into the stuff of this Universe.”

What kind of range do you have?”

“In my Universe, infinite, eventually. Here, about a foot per ability level, so 500’. However, I should let you know that if I remove the nanites after I create something it will remain. So, this goblet and its water are real and here to stay” he said as he picked up the goblet with the water and took a drink.

“These nanites seem powerful?”

“They are, and in the wrong hands they’d be devastating as they can destroy just as easily as they can create.” With that he had them destroy the goblet of water.

“It didn’t even turn into dust?” she said excitedly

“Nope, I made it from the air, so I returned it to the air. Well, except for the water I drank of course.”

They both finished off their wine and left their trays. Freya led Adam outside and they walked in the Garden for the next two hours. Adam’s Herbalism skill activated, and he realized that this garden was packed with uncommon, unusual, and scarce herbs. They discussed the various properties of each plant and what they could be used for as they walked around. Checking something off to the side, because he knew his nanites could recreate life, he tried making copies of some of the plants. He was successful so long as the plant was Common. Anything considered Uncommon or higher though, the nanites could make something that looked like it, but his herbalism skill would not identify it as other than a weed of some sort.

Freya watched with interest and commented.

“Are you using nanites to try to make copies of the plants?” she asked.

“Yes. It looks like anything that is considered Common can be copied and created, which is good news. Anything considered advanced or higher though must have an aspect of magic as part of its core structure and the nanites cannot create magic of any form.”

“So, you can create life?”

“Well, yes. In my Universe, my counterpart is even now seeding worlds with life so that humanity can expand. Though I wouldn’t try that here. Magic is in everything. I fear anything I create will be inferior. A glass here. Water to drink. Small things like that should be all right but I wouldn’t try to create a person or even a small animal. I can’t affect them with the Nanites, I‘ve tried. Also, the results might be very bad. No, I need to learn how to thrive here, and to do that I need to learn about here.” He’d said. Freya smiled and then started leading him back towards her office and the chairs in front of the window. When they arrived to sit down, a new pitcher of tea was there.

“Which ironically enough brings us to our next subject. Remember how I mentioned that the Adventures Guild tries to make sure adventuring groups have everything they need? While I am absolutely sure you could probably walk into Dungeon and stroll around with very few worries they wouldn’t allow you access because they wouldn’t know how to classify you. Which brings us to your questions about classes.

“I was hoping we’d get to that subject sooner than later,” Adam said with a smile.

“And here we are.” She said, taking a drink of her tea. “There are five basic classes: Cleric, Fighter, Monk, Rogue, and Mage. There are specialized classes as well but those have more prerequisites. As an example, Holy Knights. Describing the five basic classes will give you an idea of the choices that should be available to you.”

Freya paused for a moment then said. We’ll do this alphabetically. Clerics dedicate their lives to a Divine and are granted spells by their Divine. They have the same number of spell slots as a Mage which is basically equal to their Intelligence, but they also gain a number of spell slots equal to their levels added together. So, a level 3 Cleric with a 12 in intelligence would have 18 spell slots. Also, clerics can use armor, and depending on their Divine, they can use any item their divine favors. Though most, including myself, prefer staves, clubs, and maces. The other thing you should know is that class levels grant additional hit points and attributes per level. There are other bonuses that become available as your level gets higher of course. As I am a cleric I can tell you that at level 100 I gained the ability “Far-Healing” which allows me to use any healing spell that requires a touch at a distance equal to my Class level in feet. At level 200 I earned the Ability “Commune with Divine” which allows me to directly contact my Divine for guidance once a week. Different Divines will grant different abilities to their Clerics at different levels depending on what the divine thinks the cleric needs. Also, other classes could have different benefits on the skills and abilities. Not every Fighter will gain the same ability at class level 100.

Additionally, all classes earn 4 attributes per level and Clerics grant 4 hits points per class level.”

“Fighters can use any armor or weapon, gain 4 attributes per class level, and grant 5 hit points per class level.

“Monks are known for their prowess in unarmed fighting style as well as blunt and exotic weapons. They gain 4 attributes per class level and 2 hit points per class level.

“Rogues are known for their Stealth, lock-picking abilities, and general sneakiness. They prefer light armor and typically utilize weapons like short swords, daggers, dirks, and the like. They gain 4 attributes per class level and 3 hit points per class level.

“Finally, we come to the Mages. Like clerics, they gain 1 spell slot per level cumulative. Additionally, they do not need to permanently memorize spells. Instead, they can charge spells into their spell slots. Once cast those spell slots cannot be filled again until the mage has fully rested. They can then study a spell and their spell slots can be used again. Usually requiring 1 minute per spell level.”

“I do remember noticing that your spell slots are permanently tied up for your bolt spells. I believe those eight spells are tied up because you learned them while you only had a Character Level ‘class’ from your home Universe. That is not unlike what happens for two of our specialized classes in this Universe. Once the spells are learned in that way they are permanent and can be used multiple times so long as the caster has the mana, and the cooldown has elapsed. The actual classes that would work like that are the Sorcerer and Warlock. It sounds like your Character Level defaulted to that type of magic casting, at least for those eight spells, though you didn’t get the spell slot bonus for intelligence.

“Which brings me to the question of multi-classing, is that possible?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s possible. Though it is expensive. Anyone can choose to multi-class, but the cost continues to go up each time. You know that it costs 1,000 experience per level for the new level right?

“Yes, that’s the standard cost for my character level?” he answered.

“Really? We’ll come back to that in a moment. If you were a fighter and you picked second class, say a rogue. Level 1 would cost you 2,000 experience. Level 2 would cost you 4,000 experience and so on.”

“So, remember a few minutes ago I said the Adventures Guild wouldn’t know what to do with you because you wouldn’t have a class that their spells could Identify? That’s because you’d appear as a zero-level human or as nothing. Unless you were being sentenced to ‘Death by Dungeon’ for some crime against the crown you wouldn’t be able to enter the Dungeon as they control all access to and from it.” She paused for a moment then grinned. Let me guess that while you were at Village by the River and relearning all your skills you were looking to pick your ‘first’ class?”

He wondered why she was emphasizing the word “first” and then said, “That’s right, I was trying to learn all the prerequisites I could so I could choose my first class as soon as the prompt popped up. So far that hasn’t happened.” He said.

Silvanar looked at him intensely for a moment and then laughed delightedly.