The World of Tactics

Chapter Sixteen II: Moving On To Promotion

"The act of changing a class from a lower grade class to a higher grade class is called class change or promotion for short. Those that we're able to change class to a higher grade class would get strengthened throughout their entire status. Whether it was strength, magic, skill, speed, luck, defense, magic resistance, or vitality. In certain cases, a class change can not and does not always increase within each stat. This depends mainly on the base class and the higher grade class. For example, an apprentice that changes class to a mage would have an obvious increase in the magic stat. However, the strength stat would not increase. The same is true for a militia becoming a soldier. There would be an obvious increase in the strength stat and there would not be an increase in the magic stat.

This is known as the promotion gains and it varies throughout all kinds of base classes." -A passage written by a crest researcher.

---

Seeing the string of messages for the first time, he felt elevated to see the gains due to his class change. For the first class change, he was still feeling envious of the fact that most of the other trainees gained growth rates when they changed class into the militia. Nothing can be said about that since he knows that he is completely different from others in the beginning. He just felt relieved that he could gain some points when he changed his class. Even so, something does not add up at all.

Once again, he found something quite unusual. Instead of fixed gains like the two before him, what he got was eight unallocated points. Nothing seems major about that, considering that he was able to allocate the points that he got at every new level that he got. He, also, obviously can not change the fact that his health points would naturally increase by one point at each level. Likewise, he could tell that his health points increased by four, like Kevin's, because of the same class. He already knew this and knew that it was the same for all of the other trainees that changed class to an armored knight.

However, what he did know was that among all of the trainees. When they changed their class, their other stats excluded health points. Every trainee could only get just six points in total. It was the same for Kevin and Plucker, but him and the rest of the trainees. There was a difference between the two points. He got eight instead of six like everyone else. He had assumed that he would be getting only six points allocated automatically, but he unexpectedly gained eight unallocated points.

He was tempted to put every unallocated point into defense, but it was an afterthought and he decided that it was best to use only half and leave the other half for unexpected situations. He also realized something else as well throughout the year that he had been here. What he lacked the most right at this time was magic resistance. He could roughly tell that he would not survive if he had encountered multiple mage apprentices that had at least six or so points in the magic stat. That is also attributed to the magic tome used during the battle. Even so, he is confident that he could easily get rid of a few or so apprentices. If there was a mage, then he could fall even faster during battle.

This was not something he wanted to see, so he did not hesitate and added four points to his magic resistance. Seeing that it reached six points, he smiled and turned towards the two that had been staring at him. He did not say anything and the two did not ask either. For now, he has left things as is.

He said to the two, "Come on, it's time to graduate."

Seeing the two surprised looks, he carries on while the two follow him from behind. Today is a good day to graduate from being a trainee and go back home. He was badly homesick, so his steps were a few notches lighter than before and he quickly continued forward. He just needed to get the badge and that was it. Nothing more and nothing less. Time waits for no one and the two quickly follow him.

Since he was quite in a hurry, he, along with the two, reached the barrack's passing site a few minutes earlier. The passing site was compromised by the interaction of the hallway that is connected to multiple fronts at the same time. Along the way, they had also met up with those that had successfully obtained a badge. Those people came from the opposite direction to where they were moving. He briefly viewed their class and most were:

[Soldier (Grade 2)]

[Knight (Grade 2)]

[Cavalry Knight (Grade 2)]

[Archer (Grade 2)]

It was quite obvious that those four were the most common class that came up. However, he did see that some other classes were on the rarer side. There were also the other classes that he dubbed the armored class series. The armored class series was:

[Armoured Soldier (Grade 2)]

[Armoured Knight (Grade 2)]

[Armoured Cavalry Knight (Grade 2)]

[Armoured Archer (Grade 2)]

Accordingly, most of the ordinary classes that he saw along the way did not have an absolute percentage of gaining class skills. This excludes the cavalry knight class and its armored class series. It does not matter, since both classes gain the same skill. The [horseback] class skill. However, on the other hand, the rarer series of classes of the common classes do have an absolute percentage of getting a skill. Likewise, all of the rarer classes that he encountered along the way had one skill.

He was the first to pass through the gate of the passing site. The nameplate above reads: Promotion Hall. It was nothing fancy. Through the gate, the first impression that he got from the promotion hall was that it was quite desolate but orderly. Something else caught his eyes while observing from the back. The promotion hall had quite a unique room structure. It is strangely shaped like a narrowed and stretched-out trapezoid.

From where the sides are, the entrance wall was stretched out into a wide space on the right and left sides. Coincidentally, he was at the centermost. Then the two-sided wall narrows down to the back wall that he is currently facing. At the end was where three old men in mage garb were stationed along with a huge globe-orb that was the size of a basketball. Every person coming to get a badge needs to go through the motion of inputting their mana into the crystal ball. Then the three mages would mutter a bit before the three nodded and the middle mage would hand over the badge.

The action was easy and as long as a person had reached grade two, the badge was surely given. Even so, he finds out that this will take at least a while, so he leaves his mind wandering around and sneakily looks at the nearby people's status screen. After being able to read, the first three people had already left. He felt a pat on the back of his left shoulder. He turned his head over but found no one. It was only when he fully turned his body did he notice that it was Claudia who was giggling.

Since he was quite occupied with himself, he did not even notice that Claudia was coming from behind. Alongside Claudia, Sam and Miller also happen to line up from behind Claudia. He noticed the gaze of the two besides Claudia and it was not friendly at all. Kevin and Plucker were quite jealous of him. The two's petty looks were quite obvious and it was not until Claudia turned her attention to the two did the two finally stop their gaze at him. He smiled helplessly because this happened so often that it was getting uncomfortable even though they were quite friendly.

Sam and Miller were quite engaged in their talks and the same goes for the other three. He did not mind no one giving him any attention because he was also not giving the five any attention. His attention had already landed on Claudia's status screen and her class had given him some new perspective. Claudia's status screen reads:

[Name: Claudia][Class: Fire Mage (Grade 2)][Level: 20/40][Rank: 2][HP: 15/15] +1

[STR: 2(10) / [1][2][][][][][][][][] ] +0

[MAG: 10(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] [9] [10] [][][][][][][][][][] ] +2

[SKL: 5(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[SPD: 4(20) / [1][2][3][4][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +0

[LCK: 6(30) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[DEF: 3(10) / [1][2][3][][][][][][][] ] +0

[RES: 5(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +2

[Hidden: [CON: 6][MOV: 6][SKILL: [Magic Up]][EXP: 0/100][WEA: Fire D -> C, Thunder E]

[Growth Rate][HP: 19][STR: 6][MAG: 48][SKL: 21][SPD: 18][LCK: 16][DEF: 13][RES: 23]

Along with Claudia's class specification, her class specification major is fire magic. Ordinary, mage seems to be the base class change for apprentice and a mage would automatically unlock two other magic mastery without needing any sort of talent for it. However, in the case of a fire mage. It seems that a fire mage would only be able to unlock one other magic type when an apprentice changes classes to a fire mage. Likewise, as a fire mage, Claudia's magic mastery of fire magic had directly increased by one rank automatically. Claudia was only able to get a fire magic mastery of rank D in the past three weeks and it paid off to change into a fire mage.

He also felt quite lucky that he added four points to his magic resistance because he could at least ward off six magic damage from magic-users now. Even so, from Claudia's current magic stat. She was able to deal a significant amount of damage to him through his previous magic resistance. It was quite frightening from this perspective because he felt that he could not last long against three mages of the same caliber as Claudia. He is confident of defeating a mage like Claudia in a one-to-one battle. Even if the mage has an advantage with a strong fire magic tome of rank c.

He turns his thoughts away from Claudia's status screen and moves on to Sam's and Miller's status screens. The two had quite a difference in class and it might have been since one preferred one over the other. Sam chose to become a cavalry knight while Miller chose to become an armored cavalry knight. It was quite unusual for the two since the two would typically choose the same thing in almost most matters. It might be due to the difference in perspective. Sam's and Miller's status screen reads:

[Name: Sam][Class: Cavalry Knight (Grade 2)][Level: 20/40][Rank: 2][HP: 22/22] +3

[STR: 6(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[MAG: 0(10) / [][][][][][][][][][] ] +0

[SKL: 6(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[SPD: 8(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[LCK: 3(30) / [1][2][3][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[DEF: 5(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[RES: 6(10) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][][][][] ] +1

[Hidden: [CON: 9][MOV: 6+2][SKILL: [Horseback]][EXP: 0/100][WEA: Sword D, Lance E]

[Growth Rate][HP: 34][STR: 23][MAG: 4][SKL: 23][SPD: 37][LCK: 7][DEF: 28][RES: 40]

[Name: Miller][Class: Armoured Cavalry Knight (Grade 2)][Level: 20/40][Rank: 2][HP: 23/23] +3

[STR: 8(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[MAG: 2(10) / [1][2][][][][][][][][] ] +0

[SKL: 5(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[SPD: 9(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[LCK: 8(30) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[DEF: 6(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[RES: 4(10) / [1][2][3][4][][][][][][] ] +1

[Hidden: [CON: 8][MOV: 6+2][SKILL: [Horseback]][EXP: 0/100][WEA: Sword D, Lance E]

[Growth Rate][HP: 39][STR: 25][MAG: 13][SKL: 14][SPD: 45][LCK: 42][DEF: 31][RES: 20]

Sam and Miller were quite strong with a high movement and the ability to use sword and lance at the same time. If the two were up against lance users, there would be no need to worry about the weapon triangle and lose out on their sword disadvantage when up against lance. As for ax users, swords were a natural predator that had an advantage over axes. For the even rarer ax weapon, which could contradict the weapon triangle, the extra lance would still enable the two to have advantages against the ax.

However, this is only for the cavalry knight's class. He was not even able to overcome the difference in weapon disadvantages unless he specifically had an ax breaker. Unless he had one in hand, he would not be able to change the disadvantage that he had against ax wielders. The sad truth had been laid out before him and he followed along the line while deep in thoughts. Once he got home, he would ask if his father was able to acquire such a weapon. If so, he would be able to have an advantage against ax-wielders.

The long line had not thinned, it was only because they had got closer to the front, since those that were in the front before no longer needed to be tested again. Five people left, then the three were in front of him that he quietly peaked at their status screens, and finally he had reached the forefront of the line. He quietly observed the mages' status screens. He did not take long to quickly glance at their names, classes, levels, rank, and, finally, their health points. The three statuses read:

[Vhan Frank][Class: Fire Mage (Grade 2)][Level: 29/35][Rank: 2][HP: 21/21]

[Boyle Ragnis][Class: Fire Sage (Grade 3)][Level: 41/51][Rank: 4][HP: 30/30]

[Tree Hulk][Class: Fire Mage (Grade 2)][Level: 31/45][Rank: 3][HP: 19/19]

The left and the right images did not garner his attention, even though the two had the same class as Claudia's. What shocked him the most was the mage, no, sage in the middle. The sage was not just any class because it was a fire sage, along with the fact that it was grade three as well. It was only when the fire sage in the middle gave him a loud cough did he come back to himself. Then, he went to get the badge and the line was still long. He can not just do nothing and wastes everyone's time.

It was then that he heard the fire sage's voice, "Put your mana into the Vitality Orb."

The firefighter's voice was quite booming even though it was pretty quiet. His face heated up in shame and he could only give a fake, shameless smile before putting his left hand on top of the vitality orb. The orbs give a simmering glow for quite a while which attracts some attention. The faces of the fire sage dimmed for a slight bit before the three started to mutter. His results were unknown to him and he crossed his fingers.