Rebirth of the Nephilim

“No unexpected changes,” Aila noted after Thea had reviewed her written status sheet. “You haven’t taken any levels yet at all?”

“Not yet,” Thea shook her head. “I w—wanted to wait.”

Thea of Cold Brook

Race: Human

Primary Class: Imperial Soldier (41)

Secondary Class: Shieldsworn Guard (36)

Tertiary Class: None

Combined Level Rating: 77

Health: 250/250

Magic: 0/0

Attributes

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 20

Vitality: 25

Fortitude: 322

Endurance: 27

Arcane: 0

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 0

Resilience: 49

Will: 0

   Aila read out Thea’s stats for her, just so everyone was aware of what the former soldier was working with before proceeding with the discussion. Since Dys had been looking over her shoulder, Jadis had seen the full status sheet already, and thus had more time to feel some frustration over the fact that Thea hadn’t taken her third class during the battle.

Jadis immediately mentally scolded herself as soon as she realized that she had started thinking that way. They had been in the middle of a major battle, so it was entirely understandable that Thea hadn’t had the spare moment to think about processing her new levels. While Jadis and Aila had been doing their own level-ups safe on a roof, Thea had been down on the street with Bridget and Noll and Jadis’ other selves, fighting a horde of mire hounds and gods knew what other Demons mixed in. From there until the death of the Demon Prince, there really hadn’t been a whole lot of quiet moments where Thea might have had the time to think her choices over.

Then again, the part where Jadis could offer at least some honest criticism was the fact that Thea didn’t think to level up after the Demon Prince was slain. They had continued to fight for the rest of the night, clearing the city streets of the remaining Demons. While they had certainly been kept busy, things hadn’t been as hectic as earlier in the night. Thea could have chosen her tertiary class sometime around that point and gained at least a few levels in the new class.

Well, what was done was done. Jadis wasn’t one to waste time bemoaning what could have been in her own life, so she certainly wasn’t going to do so over Thea’s decisions. Besides which, as Jadis reminded herself, Thea had a hard decision to make, unlike Aila. While the redhead had not needed any debate at all to choose the one bonded class offered to her, Thea had apparently been offered two different bonded classes, an unusual event highlighted by the fact that the system had gone so far as to give her four class choices for her tertiary. Jadis herself had spent a week trying to figure out which of her classes she should pick. She could hardly blame Thea for not being able to decide right away either.

“Do you want to start with your existing classes, or review the offerings you’ve been given for your tertiary class?”

Aila’s question was asked with a formality that seemed to put Thea at ease, who always tensed up whenever attention was put onto her. Taking a breath, the shy woman shook her head and tapped her knee with one finger.

“My third class, ah, first. I w—want to decide, and I n—need help.”

“I bet that choice has been eating away at your brain all day,” Kerr murmured in understanding. “I know what that’s like.”

“You have two bonded classes to choose from,” Sabina piped up cheerfully as she leaned towards Thea. “Which is great and obviously you have to choose one of those two, but should we talk about the other two as well? Were they interesting or unique or weirdly bad, which would be very strange because I can’t imagine you being offered a bad class, but that would make it worth looking at!”

The other two classes were, in fact, not worth much consideration. Once Sabina had finished her usual practice of overwhelming Thea with words, the shy woman was able to give some details on them. One of the nonbonded classes was a combat-oriented class that focused on empowering shields and spears, while the other was oddly focused on poisons. The first was a perfectly reasonable choice that may very well have been the selection Thea would have made in an alternate timeline where she had never met Jadis. It seemed strong and solid, but nothing any more exotic than her Shieldsworn Guard class. The poison-focused class was more unusual, certainly, but nothing that fit Thea’s combat style or talents. The class would make it easier for Thea to produce and utilize her own toxins via alchemical means, which was interesting, but not something she had any interest in pursuing.

Brushing over the two options that Thea had no intention of choosing, the group quickly focused on the two classes that Thea was struggling to make a decision about. As Thea read the descriptions of the two options out loud, Jadis quickly recognized where her indecision was coming from. Both sounded like powerful classes that would offer amazing defenses, but in two distinctly different ways.

Bonded Bulwark of the Nephilim

You have forged a powerful bond, one that will either take you to exalted heights or to abyssal failure. Commit to the love and lust you feel and gain even greater power in reward. This class will grant you immense physical defenses as an immovable tower on the battlefield.

Bonded Shieldmaiden of Jadis

You have forged a powerful bond, one that will either take you to exalted heights or to abyssal failure. Commit to the love and lust you feel and gain even greater power in reward. This class will grant you immense magical defenses that will enable you to protect others even at great distance.

“Well, those are some interesting choices, aren’t they?” Sorcha spoke slowly, drawing out the vowels in her words. “Not even sure where to start.”

“How about with the names?” Jay suggested as she thought the two options over. “Both bonded, yeah, but one is ‘of the Nephilim’ and the other is ‘of Jadis’ which comes across as a heck of lot more specific.”

“Heck?”

“Nephilim phrase,” Jay brushed Severina’s question off. “Kind of a weak curse word.”

“The naming convention has to mean something,” Dys continued Jadis’ thought. “No way it doesn’t.”

“One is a broad title that implies Thea’s loyalty towards the Nephilim as a whole,” Eir spoke softly as she worked through the implications of Thea’s two potential classes. “Right now, that is only you, Jadis, however that will change once you have your first Nephilim child.”

“So, it could potentially have skills that relate to Nephilim as a whole, rather than just me,” Jay clarified.

“Potentially,” Aila chimed in. “It could also be similar in nature to some of my skills, or Bridget’s skills, where multiple ‘Nephilim’ are counted by your separate bodies, rather than you as a single entity.”

“Yeah, that is weird how that works sometimes, huh…”

“The second class title does imply a closer link to Jadis specifically,” Severina mused as she absentmindedly fiddled with her feathers. “Which I think could be related to the base classification of that particular class, Shieldmaiden.”

“How so?”

Severina glanced up at Jay’s question, then turned her gaze onto Aila.

“Correct me if I’m misremembering, but what I recall from previous Hero companions is that they often had a Bulwark companion, but in some cases had a Shieldmaiden. The Shieldmaiden is supposed to be a class designed around a close companion who is constantly by the Hero’s side, a living shield that is always next to the Hero, no matter what.”

“That sounds accurate,” Aila agreed. “I do know that a companion from a few cycles back was a shieldmaiden.”

“How’s that different from a Bulwark?” Jay asked with a hint of confusion in her tone. “They both sound like defensive classes to me.”

“A Bulwark doesn’t necessarily have to use shields,” Aila explained. “Many do, since it is the natural tool of a class focused on defense, but there have been bulwarks that specialized in other forms of protection. I recall there was even a Bulwark of the Hero from centuries ago that wore no armor at all, instead choosing to stride into battle completely naked other than war paint.”

“Huh. Good to know someone else got offered a class like that.”

While the others gave Jay some curious looks about her quiet comment, Aila continued to talk.

“A shieldmaiden, or a shieldman as the case may be, possesses skills focused specifically on the usage of shields. I believe it could be seen as a natural progression of Thea’s shieldsworn Guard class, in that sense. A role that specializes in the usage and empowerment of physical shields. I would classify it as a hyper specific specialist class.”

“Hmm,” Dys wrinkled her nose in thought. “Normally I’d say that should be enough to rule out that option, just because getting another class focused on shields sounds redundant. However, the big difference it seems to offer is the magic aspect.”

“Right!” Sabina jumped in like a dog waiting to pounce on an unattended piece of meat. “That’s the real difference from what I can see between the two classes. Like it says in their descriptions, bulwark will focus on physical defenses while shieldmaiden will focus on magical defenses! That’s a huge difference in terms of style and technique, since that means the one class could be all about Endurance-based skills while the other one would be magic-based like a real magic class! Because it would be a real magic class, not just like one, but actually one. Because Thea would probably be able to cast spells related to shields or something like that. Or wielding shields without hands, maybe? Or maybe—”

As Sabina continued to speculate about Thea’s potential shieldmaiden class, Jadis took a moment to realign her thinking. At first, she had assumed that what the shieldmaiden’s description called “immense magical defenses” meant that it would be increasing Thea’s Resilience, as opposed to the bulwark class focusing on her Fortitude. However, Sabina’s analysis was that one class would be skill focused while the other could cast spells. Looking at it that way, Jadis realized that the smith’s assessment made a lot more sense. A bulwark that was weak to magic wouldn’t be logical, nor would a shieldmaiden who was weak to physical attacks. The difference was the method of defense, not the overall strength of those defenses.

“Well, that kind of settles it then, doesn’t it?” Kerr called out as Sabina’s rant trailed off. “Thea doesn’t have any points in her magic attributes. Not saying that she couldn’t start now, but if she did, she’d be putting herself behind. Spreading stats and all that.”

“I know what that’s like…” Bridget grumbled. “Though at least I’ve got passive skills and help from Jadis with that now.”

“Actually, Thea would have that potential as well,” Aila pointed out, a distant look in her blue eyes as she considered the possibility. “With Salacious Transposition and Exhibitionistic Accession, Thea could boost two of her necessary stats to levels that would be more than enough to make spells viable. And that’s not even taking into account whatever skills she might gain from that class. I wouldn’t exclude shieldmaiden as an option entirely.”

“She’d need Focus and Will,” Bridget countered, “as well as whatever primary spellcasting attribute the class would use for powering the spells. That’s three different stats. Boosting just two with outside help won’t be enough.”

“It should be,” Aila shot back. “Will doesn’t require too many attributes. Putting just ten points into that attribute can be enough for downtime recovery between combat, especially since any spells coming from a new class should be relatively low cost.”

“Even granting that, Thea would be missing out on a boost to one of her more vital attributes just to spread herself thinner for magic. It worked out well enough for me, but if Jadis hadn’t been around, I would be a lot weaker. Spreading stats like that can be rough on your overall progress, and it might not be worth it in Thea’s case.”

“The only physical attribute Thea has in line to be increased by Exhibitionistic Accession is Dexterity, which is something she never uses since she does not make ranged attacks. She would have to put eleven free attribute points into Dexterity, or take a passive skill that boosted it similarly, just to get to a point where her Agility will be marked for the accession. On the other hand, if she puts one free point into Focus, the ritual will turn that single investment into seventy-seven points. Seventy-eight, actually, since she will go up by one level when she finalizes her choice of tertiary class. From the perspective of raw stats, it may be more economical for her to go into a magic class than not.”

As the two debated the feasibility of the former soldier entering into a late-stage magic class, Dys turned her attention onto the quietest of their group. Thea had barely said anything since reading out her class descriptions, instead just silently listening to what everyone else had to say. Jadis well understood that was Thea’s way; she was an observer more than a participator by choice. However, it was her opinion that mattered above all for this decision, so the lack of input from the shy brunette wasn’t acceptable to Jadis.

“So? What do you think?”

Thea looked up at Dys’ words, tilting her head back so she could meet her gaze directly. Her expression was thoughtful and serious, but lacked the anxiousness that Jadis knew could hit Thea when she was in a panic. This was not the face of the shy wallflower who shrank from attention, but the stalwart warrior who never backed down on the battlefield.

“I’m still not s—sure,” Thea said, her stutter less pronounced than usual. “I want to be strong. Strong enough to p—protect everyone.”

“You already are,” Dys replied with genuine conviction that her words were true. “I think half the people in this room can say that you’ve saved their life at one time or another. Me included.”

Thea tried to turn away, embarrassed by the praise, but Dys stopped her by putting a hand against her cheek.

“I think the question comes down to this. Putting aside all the worries about stats and logistics, how do you see yourself growing stronger in the future? As a tower others can flock to for aid, or as a shield that stands beside those who need protection? Ultimately, that’s the difference between your choices. Which would you rather be?”

Thea was quiet for a long while, the sounds of the others talking mere background noise as her warm brown eyes stared unblinking into Dys’ violet ones. When she finally spoke, there was no stutter in her words at all.

“I want to be next to you. Always.”

“I want you next to me, too,” Dys grinned brightly at her.

Thea nodded once, then turned her attention to the group at large.

“I am going to choose Bonded Shieldmaiden of Jadis.”

Aila and Bridget both went quiet, their argument falling away at the sound of Thea’s quiet conviction. After a moment, Aila dipped her head towards the shorter woman and smiled.

“I’m sure it will be the right choice for you.”

“You’ll get all the support you need to make it work, too,” Bridget said, accepting the other woman’s decision. “I don’t know how I can help, but you’ve got Jadis and her freaky fuck rituals, and I bet Sabina can probably come up with some enchantment aids.”

“Probably!” Sabina chirped. “I was thinking about a new shield that might just—”

“Shop talk later,” Sorcha elbowed the half-elf before she could get too far into her own head. “We all want to hear what Thea’s first skill is in the new class.”

“Ah…” Thea made a noise of surprised consternation as she stared blankly at the air before her. “I—It’s a, ah…”

“That good, huh?” Kerr asked with a saucy gleam in her eyes. Her expression changed to one of far greater interest when Thea simply stared at her, wide-eyed. “Really good? How fucking good? That good!?”

Thea nodded slowly. After taking a deep breath, she haltingly read the description out for everyone to hear.

Shieldmaiden’s Enduring Bond

Ritual Spell. The value of your bonded lover’s highest attribute is divided between your Fortitude and Resilience attributes, increasing both by that split amount. Regular loving contact with your bonded lover must be maintained, or the effects of the ritual will end after 35 days.

“Thea!” Dys cried out, a wide grin splitting her face as she wrapped the smaller woman up in a powerful hug. “That’s fucking insane! You’re a monster, in the best fucking way possible!”

“Valtar’s giant hairy balls…” Kerr cursed, drawing a slightly offended look from Severina. “That’s like having two extra Lewd Lover’s Bonds! Just… Bam! Double the bang just like that!”

“It’s even better than that, actually,” Aila said as she scribbled down notes, her face unable to hide her excitement and cheer. “It’s going off of Jadis’ highest stat, not her Eldritch attribute. Jadis’ Strength is slightly more than her Eldritch, so Thea will get a… three-hundred-and-two-point increase to both her Fortitude and Resilience, rather than the two hundred and ninety-four points Lover’s Bond gives.”

“You mean on top of,” Sorcha corrected with a grin. “Not instead of. She’ll still have those points from Jadis’ ritual added on top of Fortitude. Unless she wants to put the bloody mountain of stats somewhere else!”

“Which is likely the design of the class,” Eir smiled knowingly. “The gods made this class with Thea and Jadis in mind. The keystone of its power is not just the great strength it gives Thea through Jadis, but also the fact that it makes room for Thea to place Jadis’ Lewd Lover’s Bond elsewhere, as needed. Bonded Shieldmaiden of Jadis was no trick; it was a test of Thea’s faith in her lover.”

Jadis wasn’t as certain about the last part of Eir’s statement as the rest, but she did agree that the class had to have been crafted with her and Thea in mind. It was perfect, providing the exact start the defense-focused warrior needed to excel as Jadis’ left hand. Always there, always protecting. She couldn’t wait to see what other kinds of spells the class was going to give her.

“Hey, I’m not too stubborn to admit when I’m wrong,” Bridget held up her hands. “Even if the next ten skills on offer turn out to be shite, that skill makes it all worth it. Fucking banger, Thea! You earned it!”

“You are… Very strong…” Alex praised Thea, several tentacles reaching out to stroke the shieldmaiden’s back. “A true… Defender… Of our love…”

Thea shrank into Dys’ arms, practically melting under all of the positive attention. She still had the biggest smile Jadis had ever seen on her face before, despite the growing embarrassment. It took some time for everyone to finish their sincere praise and congratulations, and a little more before Thea was able to pull herself back into some semblance of order. Once she was ready, Thea started going over the rest of her new levels and skill options.

Since there were no more levels to review in Thea’s new shieldmaiden class, the discussion shifted to her primary class, Imperial Soldier. Thanks to her level in Imperial Soldier rocketing from thirty-two to forty-one, Thea had five new skill slots to fill, and ten options to select from. A big job, but since they had all gone through Jadis and Aila’s potential skills already, the task looked less daunting than it had at the start of their afternoon.

Right away, Thea used the recommendation sheet Aila had given her to start eliminating skills. Out of the ten she started with, the brunette ruthlessly cut out four that she did not deem worthy of further consideration. Two were relatively mild attribute boosts, while the other two were related to fighting with other soldiers. The existence of those skills likely stemmed from Thea’s participation in the Siege of Glanum, as they were starting to call the previous night’s event, and were the sort of passives that if the Shieldmaiden were still in the army, would likely put her on the fast track for promotion to a leadership position. At least while in the field. However, since Thea had no intention of leading soldiers or ever returning to the imperial army for that matter, she skipped them over.

With those four skills crossed off the list, the group was able to focus their combined intelligence on the six remaining options Thea still had before her. Fortunately, whittling down the last skill wasn’t hard to do. Imperial Soldier was a common class, so none of the options were so outstanding that they felt like they could make or break Thea’s progression. That said, the ones that she did end up taking felt like good additions. The idea of taking an Attribute Improvement skill for lack of options didn’t even come into consideration.

The skill that Jadis recommended cutting and Thea along with everyone else agreed with was called Easy Sleep.

Easy Sleep

Passive Skill. Sleep comes easily and at a moment’s notice. Reduces stamina recovery penalties applied due to interrupted sleep.

For a soldier on the march, it was an invaluable skill that would make life that much more bearable. However, with Jadis’ recent acquisition of Sleep of the D, the extra mitigation of stamina recovery penalties was unnecessary. Thea wouldn’t likely be having any issues getting a good night’s sleep in the future. Additionally, there was another skill that Thea did take which already offered enough aid to Thea’s stamina recovery that two such skills felt redundant.

Soldier’s Second Skin

Passive Skill. Wearing armor for extended periods of time no longer has a negative impact on your stamina regeneration. Sleeping in armor has a reduced negative impact on your stamina regeneration.

Thea had never been offered a skill that boosted the armor she wore like the way Jadis had been offered Heavy Armor Mastery. Considering her focus on defense, it was a somewhat frustrating gap in her collection of skills. Second Skin was a good passive that somewhat filled that gap; sure, it didn’t increase her defenses, but it did make wearing armor easier, which was a nice bonus. And on the bright side, the skill wasn’t picky about the type of armor, so Thea was free to change her armor style to something other than scale mail and it would still apply.

The rest of Thea’s skills were selected without further debate once she had decided to go with Second Skin over Easy Sleep. Listing them out, Jadis couldn’t see any that were disappointing, and one of them came across as a skill she might want to replicate for herself.

Spear Mastery II: Passive Skill

Provides a lesser boost to the offensive value of spear-type weapons.

Soldier’s Minor Immunity

Passive Skill. Provides immunity to poisons and diseases that are of a minor severity. Does not prevent parasites.

Imperial Soldier’s Durability

Passive Skill. Your skeletal system becomes harder and more robust. Damage that would normally cause breakage is reduced to fractures and the severity of bone damage is lessened overall.

Spearpoint Synergy

Active Skill. Increases the damage your spear attacks do when they strike a target in conjunction with an ally’s attack. Attacks must be made within one second of each other. Damage increase does not apply to spells. Cost – 25 stamina.

Spear Mastery II was just the natural progression of Thea’s spear-based skill and made perfect sense for her to take. Jadis was still unsure of just how much weapon skills made a difference compared to just regular training, but she agreed wholeheartedly with the choice.

Soldier’s Minor Immunity was an odd skill to pop up, but came across as reasonable once Eir confirmed a suspicion that Jadis had had the previous night. The masses of dead mire hounds had in fact been filling the air with a noxious poison that had passively ate away at everyone’s health pool. The muck had also been teaming with multiple dangerous diseases which were infecting any open wounds that were befouled by the ambient filth. Eir’s purging spells had been able to address the poisons and diseases that had plagued their group since none of the infections were anything ranked higher than lesser diseases, but left unattended and the results could have been nasty. With Soldier’s Minor Immunity, Thea would have less to worry about when it came to fighting in filthy locales and would further do Eir the favor of not forcing the elf to waste magic on purging minor infections.

Imperial Soldier’s Durability was the passive skill Jadis was the most interested in. While she had the natural talent of being able to set pain aside in the moment, Jadis was the first to admit that breaking a bone was one of the worst pains she could think of. A skill that strengthened her skeleton to be less likely to break or fracture sounded fucking amazing. Of course, it was a great skill for Thea to have as well, since a broken bone would make it hard for her to serve as a shield in battle. Still, the more she thought about it, the more Jadis couldn’t help but mentally salivate over the prospect of having stronger bones. It was selfish, but she consoled her conscience by reassuring herself that Thea greatly appreciated the skill for her own reasons, too.

“That Spearpoint Synergy skill,” Bridget said as she stretched her legs out in front of her. “It’s sort of a mini version of Jadis’ Mirrored Strikes, huh?”

“It definitely is,” Aila commented as she finished writing her notes about Thea’s new skills. “It only works with spears, doesn’t increase allied damage, just her own, and requires active stamina to use. Additionally, while I can’t yet confirm, I doubt the increase in damage is quite as strong as Mirrored Strikes is, though that is just speculation on my part. All of that said, it’s still an excellent force multiplier that will allow Thea to regularly put out more damage since she is almost always paired up with someone else, like you, Bridget.”

“True,” the orc nodded. Smiling, she leaned over towards Thea and bumped her fist with the other woman. “We do work well together on the battlefield, don’t we?”

“Yes,” Thea agreed with a smile, returning the fist bump.

“Well, if those are decided,” Severina spoke up as she readjusted her seat on the ground, “then we have your second class to look at now, correct? Do you have the same number of skills slots to fill?”

“No,” Thea shook her head, her brown hair getting in her eyes as she did so. “O—Only four.”

Since there were less skills to look at, Jadis and a few of the others assumed that the review of Shieldsworn Guard’s new options would go more quickly. They were soon proved wrong as Thea had a much harder time eliminating any of her choices out of hand. Only one selection offered to her via her second class was an attribute-increasing passive skill, and it wasn’t a bad one, either. Thea didn’t have the same buffet of extra attributes that Jadis did, so she couldn’t so easily ignore a passive that would give her eight points in both Strength and Endurance.

That said, a lot of the other skills Thea had been offered were more interesting than a simple attribute boost, and as such warranted discussion. The one that caught Kerr’s attention over the others was, in Jadis’ opinion, the weirdest of the bunch. Though that wasn’t what drew the therion to the skill.

Solid as a Rock: Passive Skill

The amount of weight that can be placed on top of you while you are not moving is increased by tenfold. This effect is lost when you do not have stable footing under you, or when you try to move while carrying a weight you would otherwise not be able to handle.

“Oh, weird, my father has that skill.”

“Really?” Jay looked over at Kerr, who had started to lounge by putting her head in Aila’s lap, much to the redhead’s annoyance. “But he’s not an imperial soldier.”

“Neither is Shieldsworn Guard,” the archer shot back. “Plenty of classes have overlapping skills, anyway. You should take that skill, Thea.”

“R—really?” Thea frowned in a cute way that forced Jadis to physically restrain herself from immediately kissing the shieldmaiden. “It seems, ah, impra—practical.”

“Not that much use if you can’t move,” Bridget breezily agreed.

“Looking at it all wrong,” Kerr motioned towards them both with her hands. “It’s an emergency situation kind of skill, not an everyday use. My clan hunts the big shit up in the old places of the Verdant Sea. Have you ever seen a herd of Wooly Elk before? Those fuckers are big. Easy to track, hard to kill. Anyway, he and a bunch of others were hunting one of those elk one day when a Springback Tortoise ambushed them. They killed it, but the tortoise and a whole elk ended up dead on top my father. That had to be ten thousand pounds of weight bearing down on him, even at an angle. Wasn’t crushed, though, because he had Solid as a Rock. Couldn’t move, had to just stand there holding everything up until the rest of the clan could clear the carcasses off of him, but it still saved his life. Don’t underestimate that skill. It’s more useful than it looks.”

“I suppose that’s something you and the skill have in common,” Aila quipped before putting her journal down on Kerr’s face and resuming her writing.

Jadis herself wasn’t wholly convinced by Kerr’s argument, but when she glanced at Thea’s face, she saw that she was considering the skill far more seriously. Ultimately, it was her choice, so if Thea saw value in it, Jadis wasn’t going to gainsay her.

The rest of Thea’s options took some time and debate, with one after another being eliminated for one reason or another. Eventually, a final list was made that Thea was satisfied with. The Solid as a Rock passive made the cut, much to Jadis’ surprise, as did another passive skill and two active skills that looked strong even if Thea’s attributes weren’t being boosted by Jadis’ rituals.

Hold the Line

Passive Skill. Shields that are lined up directly against your equipped shield are less likely to break shield wall formation when under attack or pressure is applied.

Shieldsworn’s Distancing Kick

Active Skill. Kick a target with increased power. The direct damage done is unchanged, however, the distance the target is pushed back by your kick is doubled. Cost – 30 stamina.

Shieldsworn’s Improved Shield Bash

Active Skill. Smash your shield into a target, dealing extra damage equal to 0.5 of the total defensive value of your shield. Cost – 50 stamina.

Hold the Line seemed more useful when working with the military, but Jadis understood Thea’s reasoning. In any situation where she needed to form a shield wall, she wanted to make sure that it was as strong as possible. And, even though Jadis didn’t generally use shields, that didn’t mean she couldn’t. In fact, thanks to her Mirror Magnification spell, she had visions of creating a shield wall with an enlarged Thea, which would be far more practical than trying to do so when she was so much shorter than Jadis’ bodies.

Improved Shield Bash was just that, an improvement over a skill that Thea already had, and thus was something of a no-brainer to choose. The Distancing Kick, however, was a more unique choice. It wasn’t about doing damage but instead changing the flow of a battle by maneuvering one’s opponents. Knocking an aggressor back by several feet could give Thea space to retreat, or press forward, or even cast a spell with her new tertiary class, if that became an option in the future. A good kick had a lot more utility to it than a first glance might say.

“Is that everything?” Dys asked, checking with Thea. “No more skills? I feel like we’re forgetting some—”

“Oh, duh, your free attribute points,” Jay cut off her other self. “How many did you have in total? We didn’t even talk about them.”

“T—Twenty-six,” Thea answered. “An extra ten from, ah, level forty.”

“Right,” Jay nodded. “Where are you putting them?”

Instead of responding directly, Thea looked towards Aila. The magister raised an eyebrow, then answered the question for the brunette.

“Well, Thea’s need for magic is still unknown. The first spell Shieldmaiden offered her is a ritual spell where its power is dependent on her bonded lover, rather than her own attributes. We simply don’t know what she is going to need, if anything. She will likely need one from Arcane, Divine, and Eldritch, though. If Shieldmaiden focuses exclusively on ritual spells, she won’t need Focus or Will. But if the class offers a mix of rituals and active spells, she’ll need both. I would suggest setting six free points aside until we know for sure.” Aila’s focus shifted more directly towards Thea at that point. “If you are offered some active spells on future levels, which should come quickly considering where we are, you can put one point into Focus and five points into Will. That way you will be able to perform the accession ritual with Jadis and increase your Focus to seventy-eight while still having some points in Will to start. At that point, you can also switch your Lover’s Bond ritual from Fortitude to whichever magic attribute powers your spellcasting.”

It was a thoughtful, if not cautious, approach to Thea’s attributes that accounted for the possibility of the unexpected. Considering the only cost was a little patience and a few free attribute points being held in reserve for a short while, the plan made perfect sense to Jadis. Thea apparently agreed, as she nodded along with Aila’s words.

“What ah, about the twenty left?” Thea asked earnestly. “I w—was thinking… Endurance would, ah, b—be b—best.”

“Hm. That makes sense,” Aila murmured after a moment. “Ordinarily, I would say a mix of Strength and Agility. However, your two new skills require a lot more stamina. Using Improved Shield Bash five times in a row would wipe you out. You’d almost double your capacity if you put all twenty points into Endurance.”

That was all the encouragement Thea needed. With a deep breath, she finalized her choices. Once she had, Thea motioned for Aila to pass her the journal, which Aila did, revealing Kerr’s slightly smushed glare. Editing the drawn sheet herself, Thea revealed her changed Status Sheet to the rest of the group.

Thea of Cold Brook

Race: Human

Primary Class: Imperial Soldier (41)

Secondary Class: Shieldsworn Guard (36)

Tertiary Class: Bonded Shieldmaiden of Jadis (1)

Combined Level Rating: 78

Health: 250/250

Magic: 0/0

Attributes

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 20

Vitality: 25

Fortitude: 322(624)

Endurance: 47

Arcane: 0

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 0

Resilience: 49(351)

Will: 0

   “I added what my status should b—be after we perform the, ah, ritual,” Thea murmured. “Ah, but, my Fortitude will go to Three Hundred and Thirty if I switch L—Lewd Lover’s B—Bond to something else.”

“That makes perfect sense,” Dys nodded. “But… Damn. I’d be tempted to leave that Fortitude at Six Hundred and Twenty-Four. That’s colossal. I doubt most soldiers your level would even be able to scratch your skin, much less hurt you.”

There was a general murmur of agreement, though Severina’s comment caught Jadis’ ears.

“I would actually like to test your Fortitude against my attacks, if possible. I’m not certain how well my blade would fair against Fortitude that high without the benefit of smite or other spells.”

“That sounds dangerously close to something I would ask to do,” Kerr smirked at the Seraphim. “Are you really trying to whack Thea with your sword?”

“I do not want to whack her, I wish to test my current limits,” Sev replied primly. “And only as far as can be safely accomplished.”

“Attacking Thea does not sound especially safe to me,” Eir worried aloud.

“We’ll have to talk the logistics of that idea over,” Jay said, not quite sure how a test like that would go without risking grievous bodily harm. “Maybe in the next few days if we have the time.”

With that, Aila clapped her hands together once, a smile on her freckled face.

“Then Thea is done! Who’s next?”