"If everyone wants to do their class change now, we can wait here. Then you can show it off when you return." Cain suggests, distracting everyone from their reverie.
"Good idea, I got so caught up with the new Companion that I almost forgot that I reached level 100." Char says before her eyes glaze over as she enters the class selection screen.
The others have done the same, leaving four immobile group members standing like statues in the desert, surrounded by summons. All is quiet for a few minutes before Mythryll returns to her senses with a deep frown.
"All I can pick are crappy versions of advanced nature mage that barely qualify as an upgrade. I think I'm going to hold off until I can get to the library and get some new skill books made that might unlock something better. I mean it didn't even offer me Druid as an option. How lame is that?"
She's got a point, with so many of her Guild mates choosing between great hidden and second advancement classes, an advanced nature mage would just feel like a letdown.
Maybe don't mention that to Carlos though, as he picked an advanced Barbarian tree and has been in it for over 90 levels.
The next to return to the land of the living was Elmira, and she's in a much better mood than Mythryll was.
"I got the Specter class. I get a bunch of new ranged poisons and curses and now I can go invisible at will. There's a high chance to notice me in the sunlight, but I've got the Royal Guard Cloak to help me blend in, and it should make me almost impossible to find in the dark." The happy Pixie explains. That's actually pretty sweet, and Cain wonders how many points she had to put in to get full uptime invisibility, but their friendly neighborhood pocket Pixie will be a very good Assassin now.
Belle awakens next, nearly as happy as Elmira. "I Unlocked Pack Leader. A werewolf exclusive Ranger or maybe Hunter type class. I get a huge bonus to night sight and tracking, but I can also use [Command] on Wolves and werewolves. Plus, there's a bunch of added damage skills and I get my very own Companion. It's the [Second in Command] skill. It's pretty much a Vala without all the extra bonuses you give her."
"Well, let's see this second in Command. You never know what abilities a Companion will get until they appear for the first time after all." Cain smiles at the werewolf. If she had a tail right now, it would be wagging so hard she'd hover like a helicopter.
Belle summons her Companion and a burly tanned skin man in dark brown leather pants and a black silk shirt open almost to his navel with the sleeves rolled up appears. He's got shoulder length brown hair and golden eyes that have the look of a man who's seen too much. Like a seasoned combat veteran, but set into a face that looks to be in its mid twenties.
He smiles at Cain, sizing him up. The werewolf is a bit shorter, at about 185cm, but much wider. His arms are thicker than Belle's waist, and the little werewolf is nearly drooling looking at him.
"What are the ethical rules on Summons?" She whispers, making Cain and her companion both laugh.
"Whatever you want them to be Princess. I'm Xander, and it is a distinct pleasure to meet someone as lovely as you." Everyone in the dungeon can see that Belle is getting flustered by her smooth talking Summon, even before her face goes red and she stutters out a response.
"It's suddenly very warm in here isn't it? Yes it got much warmer."
Xander laughs and gives her a kiss on the forehead, and Cain pulls a cloak from his inventory, silently handing it out the big werewolf.
"Ah, thank you. Here, Princess, shade to keep you out of the sun." He says, moving the cloak over her head and stepping close to her. From the look on her face, it's not helping her overheating issues.
"If you're all done teasing Belle, I think we're done." Char laughs, having caught the majority of the interaction while everyone else was distracted by the appearance of Xander and his antics.
"Not yet, what did you get? I got Specter class, and Belle got Xander, and Mythryll is waiting until she can get some new skills from the library." Elmira informs her.
"I picked Totemic Shaman. It gets bonuses to duration and effects, plus a bunch of new types of Totems. I can even set up long lasting defensive Totems called Fire Towers. They last 30 days and attack anything flagged as hostile." Now that's a useful skill for base defense. Set a couple of those up in the yards of the Beginner's Valley Guild Houses and not even a Guild Raid would likely take the house.
[Carlos, are the preparations for the party almost ready?] Cain asks, hoping he wasn't too distracted watching Symbia work today.
[Just arrived. The Puppets you left in the house have set up the buffet, cleaned everything, and they're putting up the party decorations now. These things are incredibly useful.]
Well, if he just assigned the Puppets, there shouldn't have been any time constraints. Other than that, there's just hoping everyone does show up. They just had a party, but level 100 is an important event.
Cain didn't need to worry. When they step out of the dungeon they're greeted by the entire Guild, it's staff, dozens of Dwarves and Elves from the Beginner Valley and even Earl RhickJaymz.
"This is impressive. How did you gather so many?" Char asks.
"Well, Lickity and Cid told all of us in Sunnybrook that you were going to reach level 100, and brought us through the Guild House." An older Elf Cain doesn't recognize answers, but Char smiles, so it must be a friend of hers.
"Triss told us the pub was closed for a level 100 party, so we brought everyone." Ragnar gestures to the swarm of Dwarves and Belle laughs.
"Anything for a party, right?"
"We brought good food and Ale by the keg. The little Smith even brought cakes. You should see the hammer she finished, a true thing of beauty."
Dimnys comes forward with a box in her hands and gives it to Char. "Congratulations on level 100. I made this from the finest Mythril just for you."
Cain isn't sure if that's an axe or a hammer. It's got a large flat face on one side, but a wide axe blade on the other that makes him reluctant to call it a Warhammer. It's two handed and crackles with lightning the moment that Char takes it in her hands.
"A Legendary Hammer of the Thunder Gods. This is beautiful, thank you Dimnys. You must have spent forever working on this."
"Just a little while you know. It was too good not to make it for you." The Dwarf smiles, finally releasing nervous hands from the skirt of her party dress now that she knows Char likes her gift.
"Just a little while for sure. Girls been holed up for an entire week." Bertha, the Hostel manager laughs, setting kegs out to be poured. Cain looks around a little more, finding even the Orphanage Matron and all her kids are here tonight. The ladies of the Guild must be incredibly popular in the Beginner's Valley.
Looking over at the line of dungeons, Cain sees that all three have returned to a normal appearance now, with the Dragon Host portal buried under a giant rock next to them. That makes a full set of dungeons for their Castle, all safe to enter and stable. There's a bit of a difficulty jump at the end, but with a bit of assistance, the Guild members should be able to grind from First Advancement all the way to Second Advancement right here in the castle.
Taking advantage of the distraction as everyone moves to the yard of the Keep to get the party going, Cain runs off to the nearby remains of a park. There are some trees around it now, giving a spot to rest in the shade, but the ground is solid stone, with nothing growing. The ancient design is long since destroyed, filled in with desert sandstone, but it's the perfect place to set up the training dummies.
The park starts only one building away from the Keep, and there's room for about a dozen to train comfortably, so Cain sets up some dummies, a few of each level, before returning to the party. The recruits should find them in the morning, giving them somewhere to practice when they're visiting. Now, that eliminates any excuses they have to escape Char's educational program, but that's part of the point. To keep them advancing no matter what else they're doing.
Once the underground levels are done Cain will set up more training grounds down there, instead of just this little space, but this one comes with the added bonus of getting to work on your tan, and that's got to count for something, right?
