It was already the next morning. As I sat on top of my bed, I opened up my messages from the system. Elena and I exchanged contact information and messaged each other once I got home, confirming our place and time we would meet. Since I had access to all of the facilities, we decided to go to the mage floor. I also chose to invite Kia, since she was actually a big fan of Elena. This floor was also a good choice because I have a decreased chance of running into Elijah and Jaelyne since they don't have access to it. I want to hold off our encounter for as long as possible until I'm sure I can take down both of them. For all I know, the two of them could be attacking me all at once, so I need to take precautions.
I do need to watch out for the mages on the floor I'm headed to, though. Since it's well-agreed upon Venators that mages are the most powerful class at the moment, with their wide skill pool and high damage potential, most mages have somewhat of a god-complex. Call it stereotypical, but the statistics don't lie.
A few months ago, a survey was sent out to Venators asking about their opinions on different classes.
Many of the warriors and tanks despise each other because they're worried that one may replace the other. With more warriors gaining skills that allow them to sustain more damage, and tanks gaining skills that allow them to dish out more, the line between the two is starting to blur more and more as years go on.
Assassins and rangers seem to be in a good place with all of the other classes. Their roles are distinct, and they're both backbones of a good team.
Of course, mages were voted to be the strongest class among them all, but also seemed to be the most disliked because of the people in there. Well... not the most disliked. There were the supports of course, which somehow made it into the survey. Even though they're practically extinct(with the exception of me), they're still a class, whether people like it or not. Plus, their hate for supports is still being practiced. A LOT.
I got tripped and someone spat on my shoe on my way to work. It wasn't day-ruining, but I'm still waiting for the day when I actually put myself out there. I'll be sure to show people that supports aren't as useless as they think! That's sort of what I assume the Goddess of Alleviation wants me to do, at least. I'll be sure to ask her once I meet her, but I still have to focus on getting used to my skills.
Aside from the trip to the building, I got pushed out of the elevator and onto the mage floor. Not the best entrance ever, but at least no one was there to witness it.
I was looking for room 923. Each of the floors for each class has reserved rooms, which are specifically for Venators ranked A and above. Talk about privilege, huh?
I was on my way, but of course, someone had to notice me. Inside room 919, someone called my name. "Iason!" The door swung open and pushed me to the side. If I remember correctly, it was that one mage from yesterday who was with Max. Getting a better look at him, he was tall and had sharp features. He wore baggy pants and a black, oversized hoodie that added to his stature. It also seems that he had a girl inside with him, too, who was holding onto his shoulder from what I caught a glance of earlier. A lot of the time, these rooms are often abused to have some privacy, be it for hanging out or to have private conversations. Still, this girl seemed strangely... nervous? Like he forced her to go inside there with him. Could it be blackmail? Peer pressure, maybe?
"Hey, asshole! I'm talkin' to you! You think you can just stroll in here just because you're allowed? You better watch yourself!" A gray block of energy rose from the ground and rushed towards me, hitting me and forcing me to tumble a couple of rooms down. It hit me right in the ribs, rendering me unable to breathe for a few seconds before I regained my composure and healed myself up.
"Ugh... What's your problem, man?!" I say while slowly pushing myself up.
"You're the problem here!" He cast another skill, causing five hands to appear from the ground and hold onto my legs. I look down at them, trying to break free before hearing a warbling and crackling sound. He was charging up a huge lightning bolt in his hands! I can't dodge this! Most lightning attacks of this caliber force their target's skills to be rendered useless for a few seconds. Even if I survive the initial shot, I won't be able to heal it right away. If this lands and he launches another attack on me, I might actually die!
The lightning bolt fired.
That is, I should have died to this, but thank the goddess this guy pushed me a few doors down. Specifically, room 923.
A large blue energy screen appeared in front of me, reflecting the purple lightning bolt.
"Crap!" The mage cried out, putting his hands out, but was ultimately struck by his own skill, electricity flowing through his body, and causing him to fall to the ground. So this was the strength of Elena Vermilyea.
She opened the door of her private room and stepped out, with Kia following close behind her. Guess this is instance number two of getting saved.
Elena looked down the hall to the left, looking at the mage's body sizzling with lightning, twitching every few seconds. "Hmm... I'm sure he'll be fine. Come, Iason. You're late." She chuckled, with Kia beaming in awe behind her. Like I said, Elena was basically like a celebrity to her.
The hands holding me to the ground disappeared, and I let myself into the room. The interior was a little smaller than the open space of the one Kia and I were in yesterday. However, there seemed to be more technology and such here. As I stepped in, a scanner above the door beeped, causing the TV screen on the wall to the right of the door to put up a picture of me, and surprisingly, the list of my skills, the diagram of my skill tree, and the name of my class. Thankfully, it didn't show the Null-Ranked skills on there. That might cause them to be a little suspicious.
"So it really is 35% overlapping..." Elena whispered to herself as she took a seat on the couch facing the TV. Kia took a seat in the middle next to her and looked over at me. Her eyes widened with a smile, right hand pointing over at Elena. It still seems like Kia was still surprised she was in the presence of her idol. I laughed quietly and sat down on the couch as well.
"I told you. No reason why I should lie, remember?"
"Still... Even looking at this now, I still can't believe it." Elena says as she inclines back in her seat.
"Wouldn't this mean that Iason has access to 17 unique skills? Since the current theory is that every 2% that's overlapped gives the owner one, right?" Kia asks, leaning forward a placing her elbows on her knees.
The research on skill trees overlapping only began a few decades ago. Although they did find out a lot about both things, many of the claims of overlap are based on a few examples of them, since most of those who have overlapping classes aren't at very high percentages.
Elena chuckled. "You're a smart one. But yes, that's the case with me, as well as other people I know with the phenomenon. The one question I have about this, though... Why don't you fight back? You have access to enough skills to do so."
She says, peaking over at me, her eyes giving off a faint glow, the sign of [Lie Detection], a skill that does exactly what the name states. This was bound to be a question sooner or later. Thankfully, I came up with a response beforehand.
"I have a goal to beat Elijah Stone and Jaelyne Nguyen. Keeping my skills at a low profile is probably the best way of making sure I can do that." It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't a lie at all, either. And it appears that was enough.
Elena nodded and turned back to the screen. Well... I hope that was enough. For all I know now, she could've read that as a lie and become even more suspicious of me. But still, she doesn't seem to have an intense reaction, so I should be fine.
Kia raised an eyebrow. "Really? Didn't take you to be the type of person for revenge!" She says, hitting my arm again, this time with more force. Like last time, I roll my eyes and heal. Although my healing skill had a low cooldown and didn't cost much energy, it still felt annoying to use for small things like this, especially since it's coming from Kia.
"That's Elijah the duelist and Jaelyne the tank, right?" Elena asks aloud, beginning to stand up.
"Yeah, that's them. Why? Do you know them?"
"Well, not personally. I do know their classes, though. But in that case, let's spar. Kia and I against you."
My eyes widened as I looked at the two in disbelief. Me against them?! Would I even be able to survive? Kia is a B-ranked Venator whose ranged attacks are just as strong as her close combat. She's also incredibly fast, which makes swapping between the two types of skills fairly easy for her. Even if I do manage to land a hit on her, Elena could just protect and reflect my attacks!
"Hey, this is a joke, right? There's no reason why we should do that-"
"Of course there is. Elijah and Kia share one part of their hybrid class, and so do Jaelyne and I. Quite convenient, isn't it?" Elena chuckles, pushing her arms out to her sides. As she does so, blue energy surged throughout the room, causing the walls to shift and furniture and appliances to merge into the floor and walls. In a few seconds, the entire room turned into an empty white space, with Kia and Elena on one side and me on the other.
"Alright, Kia. No holding back." Blue energy envelops Elena's hands, several screens created by her skills appearing around my childhood friend.
Kia clasps her hands together, forming her fingers into a certain position before performing a Persian snap. The sound echoes throughout the room, and the tips of her hair set ablaze, the leather jacket she wears suddenly flipping its material to a bright yellow, with fire caution signs appearing on the sleeves made to look similar to a firefighter's uniform. The edges of the sleeves loosened as well, giving the jacket more of a "fantasy mage" look. This was the special jacket she told me she requested last night. Apparently, it enhanced her flames even more and allowed more control over her skills.
Kia puts herself into a fighting position, her flaming fists held up in a boxing defense, slightly covering up her face but not enough to hide her smile.
"Yes, ma'am!" Kia says aloud, sprinting towards my direction and appearing in front of me in less than a second. Her arm raised, fist clenched, and inches away from my face.
I'm screwed.