Author’s Note: I intend to make a somewhat significant change in one of the concepts of this story in this chapter. The reincarnation system is a good idea, but it needs to be retooled slightly. I’ll explain more after the chapter. I think this change will be best for the story, and will flesh out the world a bit more.

--

Chapter 5: Indebted Happiness

One of the most important things for a soldier to do when they are in foreign territory is to take time to properly observe the terrain and then acquire basic resources. If they are among a foreign people, they need to observe the nature and customs of those people. In many ways, being suddenly left alone in a foreign country is similar to arriving in an alternate reality. The rules of survival still apply. Knowledge was everything.

Scott had spent the last few days hunting rabbits in the morning and evening. However, during mid-day periods he had stopped wasting his time in the wilderness. Instead he had gone to the local library to study as much of the world as it was possible to learn from books and scrolls.

His map function, an extremely useful device, had updated constantly with several new locations. That would prove useful in the future, but new locations were not the topic of his current study session. No, today he wanted to know more about the path of the sorcerer.

The newly youthened man rubbed his chin. What he was reading now seemed to run counter to what he thought he had learned from the friendly guard sergeant. “So, reincarnation is not the only way forward?”

It seemed that reincarnation was used to completely reset your status, but you would be able to keep a maximum of twenty-percent of your stat points. If you kept the same race, you could keep ten percent of your stats. If you kept the same class, you could receive an additional ten percent. It was a fairly simple arrangement, but given the random nature of level-based stat increases, it might not actually improve your position in the long run. Of course, you would also keep all of the ability points you had collected prior to reincarnation.

However, it seemed that it was impossible not to be stronger after reincarnation, at least not for the first time. There was a catch, however. All skills and abilities were reset to zero, and you lost any skills not related to your class. There were a few exceptions, such as someone who has found a legendary grade lore crystal. Skills learned from those crystals could be kept permanently.

It went without saying, but such crystals were never found in stores. You pretty much had to receive them as a direct gift from the gods, or found them as rare drops from elite class monsters. Sometimes they might be found in chests that were located in ancient unknown dungeons as well.

Scott read through the information presented then nodded. He would have to plan his way forward carefully. “So, I can make my first major class decision at level ten?”

At level ten he would have to choose his basic focus for his class. He could choose to focus on magic, unarmed combat, or a blended style. Each of these options opened new options in the future, but removed others.

If he chose the magic option, he would immediately gain the ability to use second-circle spells, and would gain more abilities that allowed for the increase of intellect and mana. However, he would receive few ability bonuses for the physical stats. Special unarmed combat skills would take longer to develop, and some would not be available at all. Though, he would have more overall spells to work with.

If he chose the physical combat option, he would immediately gain access to two powerful combat abilities. He would also be able to increase his health and physical stats more frequently. However, his intellect and mana would not receive as many bonuses. He would not learn far few spells as he gained a level, and some branches of magic would be denied to him. He would have many more physical skills to work with, however.

The balanced path would prevent him from gaining the strongest skills in either the magic or physical branch. However, he would be able to gain most of them, and be able to keep his stat growth balanced. It was the true hybrid option.

Scott considered his options. He still needed to gain six more levels before he could make his choice. At the moment he heavily leaned toward the balanced option. His magic and physical skills would take longer to develop, but at least he would have his bases covered during his first trip up the power ladder.

“Now, once I make my decision at level ten, my options for class advancement will change.” said Scott aloud. He sometimes talked to himself when he worked out a serious issue.

There were five important considerations for each class. At level ten he could make a basic class advancement decision. At level twenty-five he could make a similar decision. At level forty he would become eligible for his first class upgrade; basically he would be able to achieve a second-tier class based on his first two decisions.

If he went full-magic from the start, he could use fifth-circle spells at level forty. If he went full-combat he could use stronger physical skills and attacks. His health would also increase greatly. The balanced class would grant access to fourth-circle spells, and a moderate number of physical skills. At this point it would become the more difficult class option.

Scott nearly dismissed the balanced class option, but he noticed something that could become worrisome about the other two options. If he chose the pure magic option he would have to choose an elemental magic path, and the other spells would become unavailable after sixth-circle. His seventh-circle spells would be of one element.

If he went pure combat, he could not learn any sixth or seventh-circle spell through his innate class upgrades. He would basically be a melee fighter with only intermediate-tier magic. The seventh-circle was the first level of advanced magic.

The harder path, the balanced option, would allow for sixth-circle magic; and moderate stat growth across the board. It would be hard to fight monsters on equal level later. He would probably have to constantly grind against weaker monsters. However, he would not be missing out on as much.

At level seventy he would be able to make a new advancement choice for his current upgraded class. This choice just determined whether you gained more physical or magical stats. It did not change final skills.

Level one hundred allowed for the second class upgrade. At level one hundred you would be able to decide on your advanced class.

Pure magic sorcerers would gain the ability to learn spells beyond seventh-circle via lore crystals. However, they could only do so based on their specialized element. A flame sorcerer could only use lore crystals to learn flame spells, for instance.

Pure combat sorcerers would increase their physical stats a great deal, and would gain access to powerful unarmed combat abilities. They could use lore crystals to learn spells of the sixth-circle.

The balanced class would be able to use lore crystals to learn seventh-circle spells. They would have solidly balanced stats. However, they also possessed an option not available to the pure magic or pure combat grade.

Scott’s eyes lit-up when he read the information. It was considered nearly impossible due to the fact that most people who attempted it died. However, a balanced sorcerer could attain the first level of enlightenment and upgrade to an advanced class that allowed for unique abilities not available to the easier class options. Only someone who had truly mastered their mind and body could obtain the most difficult to acquire sorcerer class.

Of course, difficult did not necessarily mean that it would be the most powerful. Yet, if this world really operated on game-mechanics then it should at least be something that few people could do. He would be able to choose a path in life that he could walk without feeling like a cookie-cutter copy of someone else.

“Yes, the balanced class.” The fear of death was a real one, but supposedly he could survive almost any encounter in one way or another. The potential for death would scare off most who chose this path, but Scott could possibly take it all the way to the end. Besides, if people who could only die once were capable of taking on the class, he had at least a chance to obtain it. If nothing else, he could always just reincarnate and try a different path in life if the path of balance did not work out for him.

--

The soft *tiriing* of the store bell-chime alerted the shop owner that a customer had arrived. He smiled widely as Scott walked in and headed straight for the counter.

“Ah, good morning sorcerer. What can I do for you?”

Scott smiled at Erido, the owner of the shop. He had come in now and then to discuss equipment with the man while saving up money. After living in this world for two weeks, Scott had amassed a princely sum of thirteen hundred Fayth. He intended to spend most of it today while finally buying equipment.

“I’ve come to spend money, Erido. I’m sure it will be a burden to take it from me... it can get heavy after all.”

The man’s eyes lit-up and he grinned. “Oh, I enjoy a life of burdens. What would you like to see?”

“Well, honestly... You know I am just starting out. I’ll only be able to afford some basic equipment.”

Erido nodded. He knew that complaint well. Actual combat grade equipment was expensive. Normal clothes and items did not have attack or defense bonuses. “What do you need most?”

“I’m an unarmed fighter, so armor would probably be best for now.”

“Armor, eh? You probably can’t afford leather yet... Are you looking for cloth?”

“Sadly, yes. Even if I could afford the leather, the slight agility penalty would make it useless.”

Erido smirked. “Yeah, you sorcerers and monks do suffer from the burden of heavier armor. You’d lose what, four points of defense for every loss of agility?”

“Yes, unless I can find cheap leather armor that has a base defense higher than what the agility would cost me, it would be pointless.”

“Ah, cheap leather armor? Is there such a thing? Quality costs money, you know.” Erido laughed at Scott’s sour expression then gestured for the sorcerer to follow him.

Scott snorted at the man. “Maybe I should learn to make my own armor and run you out of business.”

“Not a bad idea lad, but good luck with that. It’s nearly impossible to find trade-skill lore crystals on the open market, even basic ones.”

“Yeah, I’ve looked.” Scott laughed a little. His dreams of forging and crafting his own weapons and armor had been dashed. Regal Alice had come to town two nights ago, and he had seen both the price of her crystals and the selection she offered. Her offerings were hideously expensive, but he could see the value of such items. It was one of the only ways to acquire non-class related skills and abilities.

Erido gestured to a quilted armor set on a nearby mannequin. “This is probably within your price range. It’s nine hundred fifty Fayth, and it covers the important parts.”

Scott looked it over. There were pants and a long-sleeved jacket in the set. He read the tag and noted that it increased defense by two points. Why even bother to buy armor of this level? Even one point of agility did more for him. Still, every little bit would help... he guessed.

Erido saw his face and nodded. “Yes, I suppose this sort of armor would not be too helpful for you. Maybe something a bit sturdier that covers less?”

“That could work.”

Scott followed Erido to another room. They stopped in front of another mannequin. This one was wearing a black lacquered breastplate that had leather straps.

“This is wood armor. It has close to the same defense rating as a light leather breast plate, but it weighs half as much. It has only a slight agility penalty since it is a small section of armor. It is twelve hundred Fayth.”

Scott looked the armor over. The glossy black finish was nice, but how was the defense rating? He checked the tags and blinked. It would increase his defense by twelve, but would lower his agility by one point. The trade off meant that his defense would still increase by eight points. It would provide four times more defense than cloth armor for only a slightly higher cost. He could see classes that did not care about agility penalties going for this sort of material early on.

“I can see you are interested. I’ll point out that you can actually wear this over padded cloth armor. If you can afford it, you can buy the padded armor and this sort of armor and double-up your defense.”

Scott did not have that kind of money at the moment, but he could easily see the value in that. Were he to purchase the cloth armor suit, and a few accessories that did not have agility penalties, he could offset the defense loss from the agility penalty.

“I’m by no means a wealthy man. I’ll definitely take this armor today, but can you show me something that would match well with it from the ironwood section? I can’t afford to buy anything else and still feed myself, but I do want to have a complete armor set before I wander off into the world at large.”

“Absolutely! We have greaves, vambraces, gauntlets...” Erido rattled off a list of wood items that would match well with Scott’s needs.

“Ah, I see. So, you also have a cuirass made from leather and cloth reinforced ironwood?”

Erido pointed at another mannequin against the far wall. Scott checked out the item Erido pointed out and his eyes widened. The cost was thirty-six hundred Fayth! Still, he was definitely interested. The entire armor piece had an agility penalty of three points, but it provided thirty-seven defense points! It was clearly the premium wood item in this store.

His defense would increase by twenty-five points total after the penalty adjustment.

“Man, why do I have to be so poor. It almost seems like ironwood armor was made for me.”

“It was, in a way. Wooden armor is the primary defense of many novice monks. Sorcerers aren’t much different.”

“Is it?”

“Certainly. Though, most of the time they tend to only come in to buy it after they reach level ten. I’ve noticed that the ones who focus more on their physical skills tend to wear ironwood or leather. The magically inclined tend to focus on cloth with only a few bits of wood here and there.”

Scott nodded. That made perfect sense. One of the perks of the sorcerers who took the pure combat route was quicker access to higher grade armor materials. All branches of the sorcerer class had that option to reduce agility penalties to some extent, but the pure combat class might even be able to wear some steel and other metals at higher levels with only a minor penalty. No sorcerer could wear a full-plate suit without major penalties however. Only knights and similar classes could do that.

He considered the overall agility penalty if he wore an entire suit of reinforced ironwood armor and then compared it to the penalties known for the pure combat sorcerer. By the time he reached level seventy, the penalty would cease to exist. If he chose a full-body armor made of materials like this, and went pure combat, he could have a defense bonus of just under two hundred points with no penalty.

Scott was not going to go pure combat, however. If he had wanted that sort of lifestyle, he would have been a dark knight. By the time he reached level one hundred with that class he could have used fourth or fifth-circle spells and would have been able to wear full body steel armor without penalty. In fact, by that point he would have been receiving bonuses for wearing all metal armor that easily compared to the defense bonus based on sorcerer and monk agility and could look forward to being able to upgrade to a heavier metal. A paladin could have much higher defense with the same set-up.

“I really need to earn more money.” Scott sighed wistfully at the armor.

Erido saw the look on Scott’s Face then casually said, “Well, we do finance...”

“Finance? Really?”

“Yes, you would have to sign a contract and pay double the amount borrowed. However, if you made your payments on time you would not have to worry about late fees. Though, you’ll still need to make an initial payment.”

“A chance to become crippled by debt? How could I give that up! Can I see what the contract would entail?”

“Certainly. I love to charge people double.” Erido cracked a smile. Financing accounted for a large part of his profits.

Scott followed his potential money-lender into his back office. On the way, the sorcerer noticed that someone else was manning the counter. He had not realized that anyone else worked here. It made sense, though. The place tended to get busy at times.

“Here is the standard contract. The blank spots are for the actual value of the items, the item names and inventory numbers, and signatures.”

Scott read through the contract and realized that it was a six month loan, with an automatic extension provision that would increase the total cost by fifty-percent of the remaining balance and allow another six months. In his homeland such a contract would be invalid due to the massive amount of interest, but he didn’t mind it personally. He had no money.

Honestly, it was a terrible deal. If he was not desperate, he would not do it. Yet, he would not find a better deal any time soon. Plus, with such a massive upgrade in equipment and stats he could start to adventure further out from town.

They discussed the deal for a time, and eventually settled on terms. Scott received a set of reinforced ironwood armor, padded armor, a reinforced leather helm, Blade-boots, and steel claw gauntlets. He would have preferred a stronger gauntlet style, but the agility penalty for a stronger set was too high when you compared it with the rest of what he was going to be dealing with.

Overall his attack had increased by twenty-seven points. His agility penalty was twelve points, which decreased his defense by forty-eight points. In fact, his agility was only one point at the moment, and he had a base defense of fourteen points. However, his armor and weapon defense upgrades equaled one hundred eighty-six points! The gauntlets and boots had both an attack and defense rating.

He would not be dodging much in the way of attacks at the moment, but his total defense was one hundred fifty-two! Of course, this amazing upgrade in defense came at a disturbing price.

“So, your total comes to fifty-four thousand, eight hundred eighty Fayth for your equipment.” said Erido.

Scott’s anal sphincter involuntarily clenched. It was the best possible equipment he was going to find for the moment. Even if he found better gear and sold this stuff, he would still only receive a fraction of the cost back. Still, for someone who had no prospects otherwise it would be a great deal.

Of course, if he defaulted on his debt, he would be hunted down and murdered. His entire life would be consumed with earning money for a while.

He already knew the first place he was going to go after he left here, however. Scott had a theory to test.

The sorcerer handed over one thousand Fayth, the agreed upon first payment. He would have to pay a minimum of four thousand Fayth per month after this to avoid late fees. Was he stupid for accepting such a deal? Yes. Still, it was better that fighting in jeans and a t-shirt. Of course, he didn’t have to buy the entire suit at one time. Buying it piece by piece would have been far more reasonable.

The sorcerer wanted to explore the, however. He wanted to see what he could find. He craved adventure. At his current rate, he would have spent months in the area just to earn basic equipment. The expense would be worth it if he could see new places.

Scott took his new equipment and equipped it all in the fitting room. He cut a rather dashing figure in his black lacquered armor. He had chosen the glossy finish used for the lesser breastplate.

*Ding!*

You have equipped a perfectly matched set of armor. Overall defense rating of the armor increases by ten percent. Agility penalty is reduced by one point.

Scott’s eyes widened excitedly. Wearing a matching armor set increases the overall capacity and reduces the armor burden! That was good to know. He checked his status to see the difference.

Name: ScottClass: SorcererRace: HumanAge: 18Level: 4EXP: 179Next: 121Ability Points: 32Health: 28[28]Mana: 45[45]Attack: 14[98]Defense: 10[229]Strength: 13[13]Agility: 13[2]Accuracy: 11[11]Intellect: 19[19]Luck: 12[12]

The change in his stats was absolutely ridiculous! He was barely able to hold his own before when fighting rabbits and grass rats, but with this increase in combat potential he should be able to crush them easily. The lower agility was a problem, but it was not much different than when he was level two.

“I should probably focus on raising agility for a few levels to offset things.” If he pumped a few points into agility he would be able to keep it somewhat close to his strength and accuracy. It would also increase his defense overall, so there was no reason not to do it.

“Agility till level ten, health till fifteen... then focus on mana and intellect till twenty-five?” It was a solid plan, but he would have to see what his stats were like by the time he reached level ten.

He shook his head. “No, agility till level five, then health until level ten.”

Scott would spend any ability points that he earned until he reached level five on his agility. First, the level-up modifier, and then the individual gains. He already knew that he could only choose a level-up modifier once per stat at his current level.

At the moment, he only needed enough agility to move around freely in his armor. It did not weigh enough to slow him down much, but it did force him to adjust his motions slightly due to the design.

“I should go test this out.” It was still too early to go hunt for a rabbit. Scott decided to head off into the grasslands. He had not visited that area since the grass rat hoard had descended upon him.

Once he reached the grassland he received a message informing him that baleful eyes had noticed his presence. The grass rats remembered his blasphemy.

It did not take long before a grass rat popped up and attacked him. His agility was high enough to allow him to partially dodge its speedy attacks, but he took a hit early on. He was elated when a big red number zero floated upward. The rat couldn’t even touch him!

Scott danced with the rat for a few minutes, and another rat appeared. He was not wearing the grass skirt, so they did not appear in a hoard. However, they were still pissed at him. They were a natural swarm creature. Every few minutes another rat appeared.

Whenever the rats attacked he took the hit, but his armor completely stopped the damage! This was amazing!

He whirled and danced with the dog-sized rodents for about half an hour before something happened that changed his mind. Scott stumbled a little and a rat leapt toward his face!

Critical hit! You defense decreases drastically!

The sorcerer screamed out in pain as the rat tore into his cheek with its oversized teeth. He ripped it away, but he was immediately attacked several times in rapid succession. Each attack hit for a small amount of damage. His health rapidly dropped. He lost nineteen hit points in the space of two seconds.

Scott managed to recover from the critical hit and his defense returned. However, he was no longer taking his fight for granted! Normal attacks from the rats were useless in the face of his armor. However, if he were to take another critical hit it would mean almost certain death!

He lashed out with a freeze spell to slow four of the seven rats attacking him. The three remaining rats continued to jump and attack, but he ignored them due to his higher defense. Instead, he focused on finishing off the four half-frozen rodents.

Steel clawed fists raced out to slam into hapless monsters. He punched his steel gauntlet clad hand into the side of the closest rat, killing it instantly. A bright red number seventy-four floated upward. He noticed it, but tuned out that bit of information for the moment.

Scott continued his assault but slapping his elbow out and to the side in order to catch a leaping rat in mid-air. The attack was followed by a sudden shift back to his right that allowed him to punch the other leaping rat with the same hand via a powerful reverse punch. Both of the furry little bastards died instantly. Not, only was his level a little higher than the rats’ level, but the equipment he wore had given him a massive advantage!

Another rat appeared from the grass, but it was not a concern. Scott unleashed another Freeze spell and finished off three more of the remaining rats. Now, it was a one on one battle. The eighth rat did not stand a chance. After around a minute the battle music faded away and victory music began to play.

*Ding!*

Victory!

You have defeated eight grass rats!

+8 Experience

+8 Ability Points

+8 Fayth

Item(s) Acquired:

Rat Eye X 1

Rat Fang X 1

Rat Tail X 4

Rat Pelt X 7

Scott panted slightly then felt his cheek. His leather clad fingers came away with blood on them. That had been close, and stupid. He gained no special bonuses for making battles last longer. Yes, he needed to see how bad his agility was, but he could have died.

Thoughts of agility reminded him of his currently purpose. He opened his skill upgrade menu and spent forty ability points to increase his agility level-up modifier by one point. A cheerful sound effect erupted from the screen then the modifier was applied. From now on he would have an additional point of agility when he gained a level. Given his current bonuses that meant that he would acquire a minimum of two points per level, but he could gain as many as six points.

“Can’t choose the modifier again right now. Still, that should help. I need to head back before another swarm pops up.”

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. Had he focused on defeating the rats as quickly as possible, he could have spent hours grinding them for fun and profit. Now he would need to go eat some lunch and rest before he regained his health.

Another rat popped up before he could reach the road, but it was easily dispatched. With his current equipment, he should be able to grind the rats for a while to drastically increase his stats. Given the speed that they popped up, he could probably gain a few more levels this week. However, he would need to find a more lucrative area to hunt soon in order to make his payments.

“Fifty four thousand Fayth... What would earn that much money in six months?” Scott was uncertain. Obviously he would need to find and defeat stronger monsters, perhaps even raid a few dungeons. His equipment should allow for it, though he would probably want to increase his health quite a bit first. If seven rats could do this much damage, he shuddered to think what a stronger monster could do with one critical hit.

On his way to Neerdles he considered his options. Maybe he could ask the friendly guard sergeant for a few ideas.

--

AN: Alright, now that you’ve read this chapter, please tell me your thoughts!

Currently, I intend to make these adjustments to the world.

1) Instead of leveling to 100 and reincarnating, there are class paths. Reincarnating after reaching 100 is done to restart as the upper level class, and to obtain much higher stats. Beyond that, people only reincarnate to avoid dying of old age.

2) Reincarnating will cause you to restart at a random location in the world, near a town. You are not likely to know the area unless you are widely traveled.

--

Now, as you know; I am in the middle of developing the world using this story. As such, things will change here and there. I have given Scott a major equipment upgrade (It’s not elite gear by any measure of the word, but it’s the best he can buy at his starting location.)

This is the sort of equipment that he might have had after sitting in that same town and grinding rats and other things for months on end. I opted to move things along so he could go off and fight other monsters and learn new things about the world. This would be perfect for a real game since it can increase play time. I consider moving things along to be better for a story.

Do you think that I should have had him buy things one piece at a time, even if it meant that he would spend the next four or five chapters just grinding rats and doing low-tier scrub requests?

I personally think that having a massive (for a low-level person) debt would be a lot of extra motivation to explore and fight higher level monsters. The grass rats, though useful for ability points, won’t be useful for much else after a very short while. He could grind them for months. So, either way it could work.

I think moving things along with the best low-level equipment is a better idea. What are your thoughts?