Saintess Summons Skeletons

Honestly, this is starting to be a lot.

I’ve hit the breakpoint where I can channel an Angel’s bolt forever and keep my mana full…

I could also have the Erredian Rot constantly on. How stupid does that sound?

And four more skill slots is all I get. I’m guessing that my tree of spells thing is starting to be too full? The spells I’ve memorized that don’t take a slot still take up space… And I still have to Subclass coming? I might really run out of space soon. I’ll have to get rid of stuff…

[Saintess’ madness] Is the only skill I could see myself dropping. I could probably make some space with skill fusions, though, no? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] did free a slot when it fused.

Should I check the keywords or the Sub-classes first?

I’m too impatient to do the keywords now. Mr.Scribe! Give me the Sub-Class!

[Congratulations on unlocking the Sub-Class System (Experimental)]

[Model successfully loaded, beginning Sub-Class creation]

[You will now get to pick attributes for your Sub-Class, these choices are definitive, please choose carefully.]

[Start by picking a main role for your Sub-Class]

[Deepen]-[Support]-[Diversify]

[Deepen]: A Sub-Class meant to deepen your focus on a specific aspect of your main class, for those who do not want to spread themselves too thin.

[Support]: A Sub-Class focused on supporting and having a good synergy with your main class as a whole, a balanced choice that can never go wrong.

[Diversify]: A Sub-Class unrelated to your main class, some challenges are just better tackled with a different set of tools.

Starting with a tough choice straight away. Support is not it, I think. It doesn’t sound bad, but it feels like it would not make a big difference. Valeure’s advice to focus all my stats on mana has worked out incredibly well, and I would tend to believe specializing in one thing is generally the way to go. So Deepen should be an obvious choice, but…

One of my main issues with my class as of now is that I have too many different tools. Just choosing which skeleton to use from Bookie can be a headache, the Choir also has different skull types and formations, Saintess’ Madness has way too many different effects, I have to manage the shape and weight of my armor… It’s becoming a lot. From that point of view, Diversify could be an even worse option, but if I could get a Sub-class with only brainless passive skills then the variety could be a great boon…

Let’s get an opinion from Mr. Scribe.

[Suspending process]

Sofia watched all the system windows close one by one until she was back in complete darkness, only then did Mr.Scribe regain the ability to write to her.

[We only have four slots left to begin with, we can totally spend them to get four passive slots on the Sub-Class.]

[As for the contents of the sub-classes themselves, I am in the dark.]

[The dagger is like an offshoot of the Database High-Scribe, it is archaic and has only a fraction of the power and information of the real thing, but its security is basically unbreachable.]

Understood, thanks!

When all the previous system windows reappeared, Sofia picked [Diversify].

I really need more abilities that I don’t need to worry about. Let’s hope this isn’t a mistake.

[You chose ‘Diversify’, now, pick a Diversify Sub-Role]

[DPS]-[HEALER]-[TANK]-[SUPPORT]-[DEBUFF]-[CRAFTING]-[CHAOS]

[DPS]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about dealing damage.

[HEALER]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about keeping yourself and your allies alive.

[TANK]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about making you hard to kill.

[SUPPORT]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about making your allies stronger.

[DEBUFF]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about making your opponents weaker.

[CRAFTING]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about creating things.

[CHAOS]: The Sub-Class will have no specific aim or direction.

A lot of options. Chaos could be funny but it’s not a gamble I’m willing to take. Crafting is a no. I have no time for that. Debuff and Support are both decent options. Tank could be an interesting idea, especially now that I will be unable to move when my health gets low. I cannot always rely on Pareth to take the hits for me. Healer and DPS I do not need. Bone dominus and Angel’s bolt got me covered when it comes to healing and killing.

Also DPS is such a weird name, I would be scared of taking it just because the name is so strange.

So, Support, Debuff, or Tank.

Technically Support is a great pick because I can make the skeletons stronger. But at the same time, this is the Diversify category, if I wanted to do that I should have picked the first Support choice.

Wouldn’t it be weird to turn down support on the first pick and to change my mind on the second? Wouldn’t picking support right from the start be stronger? This showing up again means this second support choice is to strengthen allies that aren’t related to my class in particular.

That’s a no for me.

Leaves me with Debuff or Tank. Both are good… But ultimately I can’t be everywhere, so if me and the skeletons split, Debuff will only be useful to me. While Tank would allow Pareth to move more freely in all situations and have to worry less about me.

And all the resistance skills and such are cost-less passives. Exactly the kind of thing I want.

Tank it is!

[You chose ‘Diversify-Tank’, now pick a Sub-role flavor]

Flavor? Are we making dessert or a class?

This one is taking a while to give me the options…

Oh, there we go.

[Taunt]-[Sustain]-[Mountain]-[Wall]-[Physical Protection]-[Magical Protection]

[Taunt]: A tank who attracts enemy attention and gains decisive bonuses for receiving damage.

[Sustain]: A tank who regenerates health and stamina at an incredible rate.

[Mountain]: A tank whose health pool is the size of a mountain and is immune to most debilitations.

[Wall]: A tank with many layers of protection who gains bonuses for standing still.

[Physical Protection]: A tank specializing in surviving and countering physical attacks.

[Magical Protection]: A tank specializing in surviving and countering magical attacks.

So Pareth qualifies as a Mountain? I like the image. With a good enough skeleton and his new transformation skill he might actually be mountain-sized someday.

As for me… Taunt is a big no. It’s the opposite of what I want. Sustain is terrible with my low health and stamina. Mountain also does not fit. The mention of immunities is interesting, but I’m never going to be investing much in Health so I won’t take that.

Wall sounds incredible, I get to take advantage of my Racial malus of losing mobility at low health, and it’s also good for the Order state of [Dodge - me]. The only drawback is that this is really incompatible with my fighting style in demon form.

Magical Protection is irrelevant when I already have [Heat Death]. Now that I have so much mana, I will be able to straight-up negate most magic attacks thrown my way without having to worry about it emptying my reserves.

Physical Protection is the only real contender other than Wall, it makes a great pair with [Heat Death].

Well… Wall is a bit of a silly name, but…

[You chose ‘Diversify-Tank-Wall’, generating Sub-Classes!]

[Please wait]

Alright.

Waiting.

Waiting…

It’s been like ten minutes already. How long is this going to take? Mr Scribe? Are you alright?

Hello?

This better not take too long…

Ah!

Sofia was startled out of her improvised meditation about two hours later, from her perception of it, by the sound of a new system window opening. But she saw nothing except for the same [Please wait] in the middle of her vision which had shown no sign of moving at all.

A few seconds later, a window actually opened, without the usual notification sound, prompting Sofia to choose one of three Sub-Classes.

[Sub-Classes Successfully generated! You may pick one or reroll to generate three more choices (Current set of choices will be lost). Rerolls attempts left : 2]

Choice 1:

[Firewall]: The Firewall transforms the battlefield into an ocean of fire, they can create fiery shields, and deal damage to their attackers, capable of retaliating even against spiritual attacks.

I don’t like this much. This would be good for Alith but not so much for me. Also the protective power of fire sounds a bit compromised, does it not?

Choice 2:

[The great wall]: The great wall can extend its protection far and wide, without lifting a finger, it can defend many places at once for prolonged periods of time.

This would be great if Bookie’s skeletons weren’t already literally immune to damage half the time. As it is, I cannot see myself picking that.

Choice 3:

[Iron Bastion]: The Iron Bastion can become an immovable object, greatly enhancing physical resistance and gaining temporary strength bonuses when struck.

Not terrible but not great. Immovable objects should be like Asty’s skill, so it is a really strong defense, but I wouldn’t be able to move at all, not even to cast spells.

Hmm. I see how it is. No infinite attempts like the specializations. So I can throw these out but there’s no guarantee the next three will be better.

I’m almost tempted to pick one just to skip the wait but… None of these really speak to me.

After weighing her options for a full five minutes, Sofia decided to try her luck.

Let’s reroll.

[Please wait]

This sucks.

After what felt like another two hours, Sofia got her second set of possible Sub-Classes.

Choice 4:

[Spirit Guardian]: The Spirit Guardian can summon totemic spirits to take blows in their and their allies’ stead.

Totems. En would have loved that. I wonder if she’s doing well. She should be almost eighteen now. Well. Not my thing though.

Choice 5:

[Impaler]: The Impaler can exert influence on objects in their surroundings to use them as weapons and shields stronger than their base materials.

That’s a defensive Sub-class. I wouldn’t have guessed from the name. I don’t like it. This is starting to look like I will have to use my last reroll… Maybe picking Tank was a mistake…

Choice 6:

[Arrogant young master]: The Arrogant young master is one who benefits endlessly from just existing. Dumb like a brick wall, they can count on their betters to take the hits for them, and get to enjoy abundant wealth and resources without even trying.

What in the Lords’ name even is that?!

And am I stupid for thinking it might not actually be that bad?

Being rewarded for just existing sounds pretty sweet. Abundant wealth and resources are nice as well, depending on how that materializes. The issue is I don’t see how it would make me more resilient, though, if I am being honest, having others take the hits for me is kind of the point of being a necromancer…

Dumb like a brick wall, though?

I don’t think I’m particularly arrogant either…

I still have one reroll. But five of the six choices until now have been shit, with this one just being overall weird.

There isn’t a world where I actually pick that…

Is there?