Fox Tale Of A Dungeon Boss

So that left the two classes related to spirits unique to his bloodline...

'That masked guy said our souls had been changed to the minimum... cause we were given the forms most compatible with them? So I indeed wasn't always a foxkin... but how does spirit ancestry relate to my soul?'

Almost every class he had available was based on using the latent magic of this very bloodline... so it seems like it's important for his "compatibility" or whatever it is.

"Many seek out the strongest technique or fighting style, but the strongest technique is always the one best suited for you..." he mumbles under his breath, and for a moment he could smell cigarette smoke and whiskey, the gentle creaking of a rocking chair and chirping crickets in his ears... then it was gone.

'Are those sensations related to whatever memory that was?'

"What was that?" The parrotkin asked, looking at Kai curiously.

"Oh! Sorry... I think it was something I heard once. Like a tidbit of wisdom I guess?"

The parrotkin nodded, looking down and focusing on something.

'Oh, did Michael remind him to open his status? Nick and that tiefling... yeah they're still arguing, and now that owlkin is involved.'

"Uh... HEY!"

Everyone froze at the sudden yell, and Kai squirmed a little under all those eyes.

"Uh..." Kai noticed the tiefling opening his mouth, and hurriedly spoke, "check your status everyone!"

"...status?"

And then almost everyone suddenly flinched in shock as text boxes appeared before them.

'If they have anywhere near as much as I did come up right now, they won't be saying anything for a short while.'

He gave a small nod to the automaton who had observed the happenings.

"You choose your class yet?"

Michael nodded his head, then paused... then shook it?

"Yes, but I'm waiting to figure out what the others will be. We're supposed to be in 'groups' right? As 'adventurers'? Since my two possible choices out of my options are heavily weighted to either offense or defense, I'll wait to find out which would work better with whoever I end up with." Michael shrugged, while Kai's eyes widened.

"Whoa. You like... thought this through huh?"

"What about you?" The shutters squinted on his lenses.

"Eh... I have like three spellcaster class choices and one melee... one of the spellcaster classes and the melee one use a unique aspect of myself? And the other two magic classes are... hmm..."

He trailed off, in thought.

Sorcerer is basically a mage with some limited instant spells, but he would have no control over what spells he learned from his bloodline, just which ones he'd learn to channel. What if spells are hard to learn though? If he got a bloodline spell which he had already learned to channel, should he just cry or take it as he now could use it a few times instantly?

'Warlock I have no control over what spells I have, and only have one familiar which is an actual physical monster I'd have to bring everywhere. Meanwhile spirit summoner has to use mana to summon the spirits to fight, but there are multiple spirits I can have, and I can still learn to channel magic through the spirits as a second party, whatever that means.'

So slightly upgraded mage, or the two spirit classes?

Michael broke his thoughts. "This might just be my opinion... but I think you should choose one of those classes you said were unique to yourself."

Kai looked up. "Why's that?"

"Well... if we were given these bodies," he gestured to himself, "then I wasn't always an automaton. I might've been organic once. But we were given these bodies because it's compatible with us. But if it were, why would our souls need to change? Wouldn't our original bodies be the most compatible with our soul?"

Kai frowned. "What are you trying to say?" He felt frustrated he just wasn't quite connecting the dots Michael was clearly trying to guide him to.

"Well... what is compatible? In living? I doubt it, someone capable of shaping our souls and giving us new bodies wouldn't care to give us something more convenient for living in this world. They want us to fight, right? And as you said... the most powerful technique is the one most suited to yourself, right?"

Kai's eyes widened. "We came to this world... to fight as adventurers."

"Exactly."

'Of course!' Kai nearly facepalmed. 'We were given bodies most "compatible" to fight! Most compatible with how we CAN fight, which means a class unique to this body's bloodline is...'

'Intended to be the most compatible classes for me.'

But he had two choices... spell casting or melee. But his other classes were all spellcaster.

It was like a giant arrow pointing at Spirit Summoner once he realized how they(whoever they were) set this all up.

A part of him felt some annoyance at the obvious manipulation, but at the same time...

'Everyone is constantly manipulated and shaped by their surroundings and life, and the higher powers that be, whether rulers or a god, always shape those things. Should I be mad at being manipulated just because I can see it this time?'

And it had been working, he'd been biased towards choosing a spell casting class and had been steadily eliminating the non spirit classes... Spirit Summoner would have eventually been his choice.

'Should I mention this to the others? No... it's set up so that even without knowing I was already about to choose this "most compatible" class, so they should be led to do the same without realizing. If I tell them they might just choose a class that isn't as suitable for them, and if they do that they might not survive if this world is truly dangerous...'

He shot a look to Michael, who gave him a silent nod in return.

'I choose Spirit Summoner.'

<Confirmed! Spirit Summoner selected, new skills added!>

<Soul Summon(Lv1): summon a spirit using a source of soul energy. The spirits strength is decided by the amount of soul energy, the level of the summoning, and a bit of luck. Their attribute is decided by the soul energy's source and the surroundings at the time of the summon. Chances for higher level spirits increases with skill level.>

<Spirit Contract(Lv1): A binding contract in which you take the spirits core within your own to protect its life and feed it your excess mana. In trade, the spirit shall fight for and with you. Amount of contracted spirits you can have increases with skill level.>

<Materialization(Lv1): Use your mana to construct the spirit's form so they can fight without their core being at risk. This "body" will collapse without mana to sustain itself, but is immortal as long as mana is supplied. Less mana is needed as the skill levels up.>

<Congratulations! By choosing the most suitable class for yourself, you have gained the title "One in a Million">

<One in a Million: out of the many classes out there, managing to find the one most suited for your mentality and soul is not only rare and requires luck in your choice, but near impossible as many cannot choose the most compatible class when it is unavailable to their race! You are the one in a million to get so lucky! Reward: +5% Mana>

<Please note that passives will stack, but not multiply. So getting two 5% boosts to a stat will result in a 10% boost, not in you gaining a 5% of your base stat, and then a additional 5% of that new amount on top of that.>

Kai blinked. 'Oh. Well... we'll probably all get that title if my guess is correct.'

As if to confirm his thoughts, a fire genasi pumped his fist and shouted suddenly! "Yeah! Got a title for choosing the most compatible class!"

A small hubbub rose as people asked him to tell them the description of the title.

He looked back at the next notification.

<Notice! Both your class and race give the talent "Spirit Kinship", the fusion has allowed Spirit Kinship to be able to evolve to improve your relationship with a specific attribute of spirits, or improve your relationship with all spirits to a lesser degree. Note: previous amount of affection is still there with other attributes not chosen.>

Kai raised an eyebrow. 'Wow. This is absolutely main character shit right now... except there's like a bunch of main characters all in here. So maybe we're just given advantages to help with our late start as the denizens of this world could level up since young while we start at level 1 only now?'

He shook off his strange thoughts he barely understood the origin of, if at all understood.

<Choose one of the twelve natural attributes of the mortal plane to gain +75% affection with that attribute: fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, ice, lightning, metal, wood, sound, poison. Or choose to gain +10% affection with any and all spirits.>

'...attributes instead of elements. Also sound and poison are elements-I mean attribute... equal to the four of fire, water, earth, or air. Alright. Sure.'

Kai thought for a second. 'I'll actually... leave that unselected for now. I'll wait to get a few spirits and better understand the situation before I make that kind of choice.'

He stood up, dusting off his pants and offering his hand to Michael who looked at it for a second.

Michael's echoing voice spoke. "Are you sure you can pick me up?"

Kai froze awkwardly... and withdrew his hand. "Sorry."

Michael nodded, a slight creak to it as his gears in his neck had been bent by the impact slightly.

"How do you... get fixed?" Kai asked with concern.

"Apparently it'll happen on its own given time... or I can use some of the power in my core to fix it now, but if I use too much I'll shut down until I generate more by absorbing mana to convert it to my own energy."

Kai nodded curiously. "So you use some power every time you move?"

"Yes, but it says that it generates twice the energy needed for me to be constantly moving in casual life, like walking and talking, so if I stop moving my energy regeneration doubles. However to exert more strength, or fix myself I have to spend lots more, including what I store up."

"Your race is pretty cool huh." Kai smiled, a lifted a hand. "So... I guess you're the person I 'know best'. Wanna party up?"

A laugh came from the automaton. "Sure, we can team up."

<Party member added! Party: Kai, Michael. Party Bonus: None>

They both paused, then Michael continued. "I can be either a heavy attacker with mid-to-close range and decent defense, or a heavy defense with decent mid-to-close range attack."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "So... you basically have a choice between the same class, just specializing in either offense or defense?"

"Yes. They even both have the same prefix to their names, haha." Michael laughed a bit, albeit still quietly as they had been soft spoken so far.

'Makes sense, I had the same prefix of "Spirit" too.'

"Warframe Artillery or Warframe Bunker are the two I can choose between."

Kai frowned. "Why wait? Isn't one of them more compatible? The rest of your class options either focused on attack or defense right?"

Michael paused, then slowly nodded. "Yes, they did focus on one of the two. But I value being able to make our team survive more, and if we need a tank then I'll choose Bunker."

"So Artillery is your most compatible..." Kai reasoned that it must be if he specially said he'd only choose Bunker if they needed a tank. He spoke with a small smile. "Well, let's figure out who else we'd have..."

He looked around for a second, while Michael turned to talk to the parrotkin.

'Batkin seems nice, a little timid, but I'll ask what her class is. If it's useful, then we can work on her nerves by getting her used to more intense situations and fights. If it's not useful... well someone else will probably help.'

'Who else? Someone who can be another defender, so Michael can choose Warframe Artillery safely, or can at least share the burden with him.'

<Party member added! Party: Kai, Michael, Pedro. Party Bonus: None>

After a short pause from surprise, Kai's thoughts continued. 'We will also need someone specializing in up front combat, like a swordsman or ax wielder, I dunno... hopefully Bat girl can fill one of those roles.'

He stepped over to her and crouched down next to her, smiling. "Hey, wanna join us?" He pointed to Michael.

She blinked in surprise, looked down, then looked back up and nodded slightly.

<Party member added! Party: Kai, Michael, Pedro, Layla. Party Bonus: None>

Layla the batkin flinched at the sudden notification, and Kai paused to let her settle down.

"What class do you have? I'm a summoner, he's more a heavy damage and defense type." Kai said, careful not to move too quickly or speak too loudly.

"I'm... an Echo Scout."

'A... scout? That actually might be very useful...' his mind began working away as he offered his hand, lifting her up when she gave her hand to him, and she walked over to the side where Michael and the parrotkin were.