The Power of Ten

Chapter 9-271: Truly Raising the Floor

“Then by all means, let us spread the knowledge of this. Low, broad strength is what science supports best, and is almost the antithesis of magic. As long as it does not interfere with the development of the higher Levels of the various races, this should be disseminated quickly!” the Angelos agreed.

“Yes. We are heading there now.” My smile was hard and cold. “We have found something Cultivators are actually good for. We can kill them in peace, now.”

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“Welcome again, I am Traveler. You may have seen some of my previous videos, explaining some truths of the magical world that we live in, which the people of the world can take advantage of in some form or another.

“I was very recently in China, a trip whose abhorrent and very distressful details I will go into in my next video, and expose the machinations of the Cultivation Cultures to the rest of the world completely. But, in their repression and subjugation of the peoples of Asia, the Cultivators have exposed something that has long been lost in the Akasha of our people, a way to Advance that had long been superseded by the benefits of the Class and Level system that you are all familiar with.

“Now, let me say this... the development of the Class system was, for humanoid races, a godsend. That was because of the existence of Soak. The ability to semi-magically avoid serious injury and regain that ability much faster than a physical body could heal was a marvelous invention of the humanoid races that allowed us then and now to rise to greater heights of power, specialize in magical abilities to further gain power, and advance the species as a whole.

“But, my friends, and I do not doubt this includes most of you watching this video, the Class system comes with a cruel and arbitrary cost, and that is Stat Requirements.

“In my video on the Helix method, I went over on how you need that magic 14 somewhere, in some Stat, to truly be able to get on the Leveling Ladder and begin that climb to power. If you do not have it, it does not matter how disciplined, driven, courageous, faithful, or clever that you fancy yourself, you are not going to gain the higher Levels that you want to, and you are going to be forever stuck as a One, Two, or Three.

“Without the Stats, there are no exceptions.

“But now, there is one!” I paused to let that sink in. “It is the old, old way, back before our ancestors advanced. It is not the best way for those who are seeking true heights of power... but for all of you who wish merely to be able to slowly improve over your lives, and climb that Ladder without having to go out and butcher things to do so, it is here, and it still exists; it was merely forgotten.

“And for all of you who are not human now, despite your ancestors being so... Racial Class Levels exist for all of you, and I will be going over each of them in turn.

“If you are wondering what the effect of these Racial Class Levels is, I can first and foremost say that you are going to be living healthier lives. You will be tougher, more adept, and be able to grow your soul, just like all the Powered heroes and not-so-heroics you see running about.

“If you can make Seven, then just like the Powered and the Forsaken, you will gain decades of relative youth to pursue your dreams.”

I paused to let the camera pan, and those watching to center their thoughts.

“There are ways to Level here that can take you past Six, although they may require a commitment many of you are unwilling to make.

“The Leveling Guides and Aids are going to be put up on the Heavenbound Hall website after this video posts, just like they were with the Helix Method.

“The Racial Leveling Classes exist for Primos, Forsaken, and Powered. Not all Powered are geniuses in their fields... there are plenty of ordinary people who are Powered, but simply do not have the Stats to excel in anything.

“You all have an outlet now, and a way to improve.” I paused again, as the symbol of Harse rose behind me.

“The very, very first requirement of this method is that you cannot have more than one Class Level to begin them.” Even as I said it, I could feel the gasps that would be rising from it. “Racial Class Levels are the opposite of Class Levels. If you take Racial Class Levels, you are naturally extremely limited in the Class Levels you can take, as limited as Racial Levels are when you take Class Levels.

“There have been, mmm, considerable numbers of people who have been going to Shroudzones seeking to get Level-drained by wraiths or spectres, so that they can correct their mistakes and retrain back along proper lines to greater heights than before.”

Videos flashed at the sides, images relayed to me on various walls of people being swiped by limbs of dark energy, or spectral hands, the instant whitening of their faces, ghastly expressions, and soul-shuddering pain all perfectly visible.

Dozens of images, scores, hundreds...

People were taking the Helix method very seriously.

“The Priests of Harse have been taking this problem into consideration, and have devised a solution. They are capturing wraiths and spectres, and arranging them in confined circumstances where random attacks and escapes by the creatures are not possible. Levels can be drained in relative safety, if not in any less pain or loss.” Frozen images of all those agonized faces slowly winked off around me. “The locations where such creatures are imprisoned will be published, and use of them be made available for a nominal fee to pay the Justices and White Necromancers for their time.

“You know the Ivory Church. They will not overcharge you. So, if you want to pursue this path, but the thought of going up a Wall and daring the killing attack of a wraith is not something you dare... you have a choice.”

New images began to come up behind me, a Leveling Chart where, if the Karmic numbers were fuzzy and approximates, it was still an obvious Leveling Chart.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to raise the floor of the Human and once-human Species to new heights. Let us begin, shall we?”

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“Here is your limit on Class Levels.” I pointed at the Attack Bonus progression. “Powered, here is the other one.” I pointed at the Racial Bonus Caster Level. “Neither of these numbers can exceed your Racial Level.”

“So, let’s say you reach Human Four. Your Attack Bonus is +2, but you are a Four.

“You can take two Melee Levels, which gets your Melee Attack Bonus to +2. They will ‘fill in’ those holes, unlike how they stack with Class Levels. You can take two Archer Levels... they will fill in your Ranged Attack bonus.

“And that’s it. That’s all you can take in those Classes.

“You can take ONE other Class to Two... it must normally be Noble, Expert, Vizard, or Scout. That’s it, there is no deviation... except a Theurgic Class!...

“If you are Powered... you may take Levels in the Caster Class exchanged for by your Racial Class Level instead, end-stop.

“You DO have to qualify for those Class Levels. If you don’t have the Stats, you can’t take them. Fortunately, those limits are low, as you are not relying on Class Levels for power.

“Thus, Human, Fighter/Archer/3^rd Class is it, no more.

“But, there is no limit to the height you can potentially reach. If you want to live like a Powered adventurer and chase glory, then you can do so. Will you have all the tricks and abilities a fully Classed person might have?

“No. But you will have enough to be very dangerous to those who think you are weak.

“Now, let’s go over the particulars of each Racial Class, and especially some of the things you are going to have to think long and hard about as you advance. Orcs and Goblins, this is especially true of you, because outside of this world are Powers who want to make you their minions and servants, slaves to a racial paradigm that only you have the mortal Free Will to resist.

“I am going to tell you all this anyways, because we all share that same root of mortal free will, and you have the power to tell them to go stuff themselves.

“I’ll keep Human up for the baseline. Medium attack bonus, Low Caster Level progression, medium Hit Die, two Good Saves, six Skill Points, and a focus on Feats and adaptability. I realize that Elves aren’t as common as others, but we’ll do them next, and then, oh, Halvyr, for some odd reason.” I smiled at the camera and gave them a wink. “Patience, everyone. I’m going to get to all of you, and show all of you a way.”

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“Damn, Fred, it’s a REALLY good thing we reinforced the lines coming in to Heavenbound Hall. The hits we are getting on this stuff are even bigger than The Human Tongue!”

Gregorigori was naturally playing around with the Gnome Planning Tool, looking at the combinations and the like for those members of his kin who weren’t as gifted as he was. Unlike almost all the humanoid races, the gnomes didn’t actually have any direct genetic ties to humankind, being ‘always there’ in their own terms, hidden away from humans, and only known to those rare people who could actually walk in the shadows and find and see them.

The coming of the Shroud had changed all that, yet even though they didn’t have the genetic connection that hyn and dwarves did to Humanity, the gnomes fit right into their niche without missing a beat. Tinkers, alchemists, and artificers, the gnomes were extremely comfortable with technology and weird science, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have their average folks, either.

Normal people have ambitions, too, Fred tapped back. Is it really a surprise?

“I suppose it shouldn’t be,” the holo-gnome admitted. “Speaking of which, your travels in southeast Asia are coming along nicely. Bringing them online is nice... they are so many years behind in their tech now it’s not funny.”

They’ll catch up soon. There are a lot of them, and they are very motivated, Fred tapped back.

“What with the stories that have been pouring out of there... yeah, that’s the truth.”

So, why the Vaccine, instead of the Markspace?, he asked neutrally.

“Uh, well, didn’t want news to spread there. Lots of mental eyes watching you there, you being the bodyguard of the Lady and all.”

Questions?, Master Fred tapped.josei

“Um, some of the pictures she popped up for internal use, not to be shared except to a short list...” The fact that he was on that short list pleased him immensely, of course.

Yes, I used the Hungry Kiss Pact in order to pull the angel out of the Greyfield he was in. It was powered by infernal flames, Traveler couldn’t enter it to get him out, even being fire-immune. There’s fire, and there’s Fire...

There was a long exhalation over his phone. “Should I even ask?” Gregorigori inquired.

Amazon Erinyes.

“Gkk!” The holo-gnome blinked at him. “So, why aren’t you-?”

I could swap Pacts and their Signs once I reached Five of them. It’s not required I manifest Pact-Sign. That includes the gender change of the Hungry Kiss.

“Well, I’ll be. Given what you’ve gone through to be allowed five Pacts, I don’t see that becoming a common thing, regardless...”