A strange class and a stranger meeting

[A/N: Co-written with ScarletRabbit.
Unified 'class' and 'circle' of magic into just 'circle'.]

A multitude of thoughts surged within Lucas's skull. The strange class, new stats... skills... and on top of that...

'(I-- I don't understand it. What did I do wrong?)' Eamon's voice sounded again, its power and confusion palpable.

"...Eamon?" the white-haired man asked, his violet eyes searching around for a moment before he got up. As a few short seconds passed, he felt the stiffness of his body get to him. Moving around a little, he found his way to the dresser and got hold of the hand mirror. However... its surface was not black, and instead reflected his sweaty face at him.

'(Gah, I followed his instructions to the dot, and yet... =infuriating=.)' Eamon spoke again, partly in Siles, and a bit in Mins. Echoes of his powerful tone made Lucas realize.

"You're... in my head? H-- How?"

'(...grrr...)'

"...Eamon?"

'(Shut up for a minute, I'm thinking.)' came a snarky response.

Slightly startled, Lucas put the hand mirror down, a hand going through his hair. A few quick, unsteady breaths left his lips before he tried to control himself and inhaled as deeply as he could. This situation was... confusing, to say the least.

...

Slowly, the young Stormrider made his way to the nearest chair and plopped down in it. Rubbing his eyes for a long moment, he did his best to piece the information together. Slowly summoning his status again, he inspected the changes in class and stats.

[Lucas Stormrider (Age: 19)

Class: Hybrid Class (Dream Walker / ???)

Level: 2

[HP: 488/488

MP: 649/1379

WP: 424/424

-Base stats-

Strength: 7

Stamina: 22

Agility: 11

Intelligence: 97

-Special stats-

Insight: 37

Magical Resistance: 67

Physical Resistance: 29

Persistence: 20

Mental Power: 0 -> 1

???: 0 -> 1]

But before he managed to even ponder on what those meant, he heard the elf speak, '(=Gah, just what we needed. An unnecessary complication to our plans. By Tenlia's name, this is annoying.=)' Eamon's voice resonated within Lucas's mind again. The notable thing about it was that for but a moment, the white-haired man could feel the elf's frustration that appeared to dwarf everything else.

"=Eamon, what do you mean? What plans?=" Lucas asked carefully.

'(=I... why did this happen? I don't understand it... this doesn't make sense. I'm confused as hell right now.=)' Eamon completely ignored Lucas's questions, talking to himself for a long moment.

"=YOU are confused? Eamon, what is going on?!=" Lucas asked, his voice seeping with a bit of frustration and anger. "=What in the world is this class?="

'(...=gah. I'll have to think about this later.=)' Eamon answered, his voice heavy with defeat. '(Lucas. I know that this must be confusing for you. It's probably not what you envisioned by 'classing'.)'

"Probably? Eamon, what even is this class? I've never heard of it. What 'plans' are you talking about? What the hell did you do to me?"

'(...I helped you, as I said I would. I did not expect this outcome, either. But I'm afraid I can't tell you more. Not yet, at least.)'

"...why? Eamon, I don't understand a thing of this. Why did all of this happen? Are you responsible for that lucid dream?"

'(...lucid dream? What lucid dream?)' his voice appeared to bear a significant amount of surprise in its tone. '(I don't have the type of power to do that. What happened, Lucas? Tell me in detail.)'

"I... at some point, I realized I was lucid dreaming. Since I wasn't awakened by any pain, I decided to wander around a little. It just... felt right to not wake up yet. Then, I came across some kind of doors."

'(Doors? White doors? How many?)' Eamon's tone turned to curiosity, but there was a bit of underlying... suspicion, almost.

"...Hundreds of them, probably. Everywhere I looked, there were more," Lucas answered, feeling a sense of caution sting him at the base of his skull.

'(Was there a special one somewhere? One with a different structure?)'

"Yeah... there were two, a white and a black one. They were larger and had more ornaments on them. When I entered the white one, I woke up."

'(Two...? I see. Dammit. I wasn't expecting this to happen. You entered Dreamscape.)'

"...didn't expect it? What do you mean?" Lucas raised an eyebrow, his face betraying an immense amount of reserve. "What even is 'Dreamscape' in the first place?"

'(It's a place you can enter as a Dream Walker. But this doesn't make sense. With 'his' support, it should've been a seamless process... oh.)' suddenly, Eamon stopped speaking, seemingly realizing something.

"...why do I not like the sound of that 'oh'?" the white-haired man raised an eyebrow.

'(Never mind. Sulking is pointless. I have to go now, Lucas.)'

"W-Wait, what? I have so many questions. Eamon, you can't just leave me! How are you even communicating with me in the first place?! I need answers!"

'(...I can't give them to you. Not yet, at least. I need to find a certain parasite first.)'

"You... You can't be serious. You... you tricked me, and..."

'(There was no trickery from my side, Lucas.)' Eamon answered. Lucas couldn't help but sense only sincerity from his words. '(The class you were granted is your heritage. I suggest you make the most of it.)'

"What? What the hell do you mean?"

'(You need to grow in power, quickly...)' the elf answered, his voice becoming fainter by the second.

"That wasn't my question, Eamon. What do you mean it's my heritage?!" Lucas raised his voice...

...but it fell on deaf ears. Eamon's presence in his mind, once discernable, faded into obscurity, leaving behind only a void in his thoughts. As a long, deep breath filled his lungs, Lucas felt the beat of his heart reverberate through his trembling hands. Confusion welled up in his spirit. He wasn't sure what to think.

Perhaps it was just a dream still? The thought appeared out of nowhere. Without waiting for anything, he pinched himself a few times, but the paining sensations only reassured him that what was happening was undoubtedly real.

Lucas got a hand to his forehead, swiping away some of the sweat. Feeling his hot skin, he realized that his entire body had a severely risen temperature despite him sitting in the chair in nothing but his boxers. Even though his feet touched the cold floor, he hardly felt it.

"Haaah..." a prolonged sigh left his mouth. "Dammit... what did I get myself into...?" he asked himself, looking at the black mana stone on the ground. The inscriptions just next to it appeared to have faded into a brownish color, the mana having escaped from them altogether. "Why did I think this was a good idea... gah. And of course, he's just leaving me to do all this on my own. This damm̸n̷e̵d̴ ̵a̵̛͉ĥ̵͔j̴̳̈́ư̸͔s̵͙̾s̷̼̑ỉ̴̟-- Huh?" Lucas's head snapped to his right at his own words.

'...dammit, I don't even know what I'm saying...'

...

'No, let's at least try to be positive. Maybe it's a good class...es? I'm unsure of how to approach it.' he summoned his status, a bit of hope welling up in his heart. Everything was just as he had seen a few minutes ago. Deciding against just standing still, he began inspecting the changes that happened.

'...my max MP increased, by over 250 at it. And this new statistic... Wait, can't I just...?' he focused his thoughts on the class's name, and was greeted by another small panel.

[Class: Hybrid Class

Information: ???

Special stat: ???]

'...what?' he frowned, discarding the panel and summoning it again. It stayed the same. 'It's... even the world doesn't know what this is? Gods, just what in the world did I get myself into? What about this one...'

[Class: Dream Walker

Information: The mysterious master of the subconscious. The ethereal wanderer and sorcerer of the cosmic plane. The genius architect and unwavering protector of Dreamscape.

Special stat: Mental power]

'...Dreamscape... does it literally mean the land of dreams...? But why is the class description so short? I kind of expected something more.' he grimaced slightly, glancing to his side for but a moment.

...

Lucas's eyes were drawn to the black mana stone on the ground. Inspecting its completely black surface, he immediately noticed how the air around it appeared to gain a faint amount of dark fog. It was almost as though it was expulsing some kind of taint into the air around.

'...so that's what it did.' he realized, carefully getting a hold of the magical item. It no longer resonated with his energy. If anything, it now felt disgusting to even have it in his hand. 'It didn't just work as a secondary mana pool. Its resonance allowed mana transfer, hence my mana dropped significantly... it became a filter. I... why hasn't anyone ever mentioned a technique like this? It might sound expensive to an ordinary Mage to perform, but we could've easily afforded it before... just why? Could it be that it was only viable for me...?'

...

'...I'll think about this later.' he thought, getting a hold of his pants on the bed. 'Firstly, I need to see what these skills are.' he focused his thoughts on the panel with his skills.

[Skills: Magical Resistance (passive), Keen Senses, Pain Resistance (passive), Astral Projection, Subliminal Guidance]

'Hmm... those new skills have... interesting names. I can't remember anything that even sounds similar. Let's hope they are at least somewhat good.' he thought before bringing up the information on his two new skills.

[Subliminal Guidance

Related stat: Mental Power

Cast a mental spell that exerts an influence over the target's subconsciousness, imprinting a suggestion therein. The target can resist the skill depending on your Mental Power and their resistance to mental magic. Power is massively increased in Dreamscape.

Cost: 12 WP]

'...a mental spell... allowing me to influence others... so that's what the door meant by 'control'...? Literal control? I should've picked 'power'. In the first place, I'm unsure why I picked the white one.' he got a hand to his face for a short moment. A deep sigh escaped his mouth. 'No, Lucas, you're doing it wrong. Stay positive. Maybe this is the oddball of this class. Let's try the other one...'

[Astral Projection

Related stat: Mental Power

Allows you to detach your astral form from your physical body. When detached, you can travel within 10 meters of your physical body, phase through physical barriers, and are immune to all damage excluding cosmic-type. Certain types of beings may be able to detect your astral form depending on their senses.

However, your astral form cannot cast any skills and your physical body is not protected during the skill usage.

Cost: 25WP/minute]

"See? Much better," a weak chuckle escaped his mouth. 'But...'

...

'...where is my attack skill?'

...

'Don't tell me this class is...'

Every class, when first obtained, should contain one skill per level a person had before getting it. Typically, a Classless would still be level 1 when obtaining their profession (hunting monsters without a class was not just difficult, but also dangerous). Therefore, the skill that they obtained through classing was no different from the definition of what the class did. An attacking skill meant that the class was good in the offense - for example, Aveline gained <Aura Manipulation> as her first skill in the Magic Swordsman class. The classes could be split in a multitude of ways, but the division that was used most often appointed the classes to one of four groups: 'Melee', 'Ranged', 'Magic', and 'Support'. Aveline was an offensive class that combined the characteristics of 'Melee' and 'Magic' while Ophelia was classified as a spellcasting 'Magic' type. Lucas, on the other hand...

'...a support?' he raised his eyebrow. 'No... no no no... there must be a mistake.' he chuckled nervously as he ran a hand through his hair again. 'The only heir of this generation of Stormriders is... a support class? I...' he suddenly hit the table with his fist. The sting of pain from the impact traveled across his body, ensuring him that he was, indeed, awake. A faint groan escaped his mouth. Getting hold of his shirt, he wore it before glancing at the floor. The blue paste had changed its color to a more brownish hue, indicating that it had run out of power. A ponder of what to do first bounced around the man's mind before he shook his head.

'Firstly, I'll get washed. I need to cool off for a minute. Then, I'll clean it up.' he nodded at the thought. A short exhale left his lips as he stepped opposite the door. However, as a blink of pondering passed, he suddenly saw the handle turning down, the door barely budging as it was held by the lock. 'Did Nimue come? She must've heard me yelling at Eamon...' his suspicions found confirmation as he heard the sound of knocking on wood.

Lucas put on a small smile on his lips. A warm feeling of... longing, almost, found its way into his mind at the very thought of the pretty, black-haired maid.

"I'm coming, Nimue," he said before turning the lock without hesitation, barely registering that she had not announced her presence. "Sorry for making you wa-- Huh?" he suddenly stopped as his violet eyes met not the green orbs he was expecting, but blue ones at a higher height.

"Huh?" a green-haired elf repeated the final sound he made, her beautiful face forming a questioning expression.

"Hiss!" the cat sitting in her arms growled at Lucas, its black fur bristling sharply. Both the man and woman flinched at its reaction, but their gazes remained poised at each other.

...

For a short second, the two staring at each other spoke not a word. The situation appeared shocking for both of them. Finally, Seraphina began speaking, "=Who are you?="

"=...Why do you ask?=" the question left Lucas's mouth before he managed to bite his tongue.

"=I'm--="

*SLAM!*

The sound of the door closing reverberated loudly in the corridor. Seraphina grimaced slightly, the sound irritating her sensitive hearing organs. Still, she tried to not let out a groan. Inhaling sharply, she knocked on the door again.

"=Hello?=" she asked, her voice muffled behind the thick wood. "=Open the door, please,=" Seraphina got hold of the handle and pushed on it. Surprisingly, it hardly budged.

"=Nobody's here. Please go away,=" Lucas answered, a bit of urgency in his tone. 'Damn it, I shouldn't speak.'

Cileres moved in discomfort. A loud meow sounded as the cat nudged its head on its owner's underboob. Seraphina's gaze turned to her pet.

"=...you're right,=" she sighed quietly before quickly taking her steps to the stairs. 'I'd rather Lis'te does not know of me leaving my room. I now know that man's face. He was the source of that mana... I'll have to figure out a way to meet him again.'

Within short minutes, she was breathing deeply as the cat was licking its fur, both on the bed in the room assigned to her person. Looking in the mirror, she scanned over her figure before getting a hold of her hair. With lazy movements, she removed all ornaments from it. Slowly, she combed her hair with a hand and began tying a braid of it.

"=Have you checked the area, Cileres?=" Seraphina asked, her eyes moving to the cat's reflection. In reaction to her words, it stopped its actions and sat up.

"=The place is secure,=" the cat's mouth moved, and the voice of a young man escaped from within. "=The soldiers in this place are well equipped, although not very numerous. I believe I saw a couple of Mages as well, and each of them appeared to be at least a 5th circle, one even on the verge of reaching 6th,=" he spoke, lying on his back. "=Almost nothing will get by before we notice.="

"=What about the air in this place?=" Seraphina's hand drove to give her cat a belly rub, which was rewarded with a purr of satisfaction. "=Is it just me, or is there something weird with the mana?="

"=...I don't have a definitive answer yet. (A little lower... oh, that's the spot~.)=" Cileres spoke with a bit of uncertainty in his tone. "=The mana in here is definitely strange, but faintly so. It's probably only because you're a Liveren that you're able to feel it. I will look into this further, but I think it may just be the signature of this family,=" he finished his thought by kicking her hand off lightly and getting up to a sitting position. Within seconds, he moved to the floor, walking toward the door.

"=Wait a second. Why did you act like that toward that man? His mana was very pure, but you looked ready to attack him.="

"=...I acted a bit on impulse,=" Cileres stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "=I feel... a strange reverberance in his core. Something that should not be there. I'm not certain what it was. I will try to learn more about that as well.="

"=Very well. Thank you, Cileres,=" the green-haired elf nodded, her blue eyes glistening for a moment as she raised a hand slightly.

"=You know how to thank me, Princess. I will return in the evening,=" Cileres answered before stepping toward the door. Before he reached the wooden surface, his body appeared to melt into a black liquid before squeezing into the slit between the door, disappearing within a short second.

Seraphina sighed deeply, her hands still tying the braid. Normally, she'd have a maid help her in this, but as they escaped from Rigus in haste, she was only assigned some escorts who were to protect her. 'Come to think of it, I haven't seen any guards in the manor itself. Why aren't they keeping their guard up at a time like this? Are they not afraid?'

Her thoughts drifted toward the family of Stormriders. She might've not heard much about them before she arrived, but she wasn't ignorant. Forceweaver was a person who became recognized even in Inallel. It was nearly 3 years since she challenged the continent's Five Powers.

'She's an 8th-circle Mage, I think... and she managed to come to a stalemate with two of the five, one of which was my grandfather. To achieve that against the strongest Spiritualist on the continent, I can't imagine what power she wields... **** magic must be truly terrifying. Once she reaches the 9th circle, she'll be able to be seated as one of the Powers herself.' a thought appeared in her head as she finished the braid and tied it with a length of thin phloem rope. Slowly, she affixed the jewelry back into it and stood up. With but a gentle sway, she watched the multitude of gems sparkle. They looked brilliant.

...

As she sat down again, Seraphina let out a heavy sigh. The gravity of her own situation slowly descended upon her. Feeling her eyes beginning to water, she lay on the bed and dug her head into a pillow. 'Dellin... I hope you are alright. I won't forgive you if you dare die on me.'

-Meanwhile-

Lucas felt his heartbeat slowly abate as he activated <Keen Senses>. Hearing the elf woman decide to leave, he breathed with relief as he heard her move away. With a shaky hand still, he let go of the door's handle, his back turned to the wooden surface. 'That was close.' he thought with a deeper inhale. After waiting for a few seconds, he canceled his skill and quickly prepared some spare clothes for himself to change into. After doing that, he left the room and locked it, careful to check the corridor before setting off further into the tunnels. Suddenly, however, he saw a figure move up front. Flinching, he noticed the black braid that swayed behind Nimue's figure. Her green eyes appeared to sparkle as she noticed him.

"Young master, has something happened?" she raised her voice as she came closer with hasty steps. "I heard a door slam."

"...I..." Lucas started speaking but suddenly found himself unable to. As the elf maid approached, he felt his heart thump with a bit more ****. Likewise, an inexplainable pull toward the woman became apparent. It felt almost as though he had not seen her for a while. Like he was just about to reunite with somebody he didn't know he missed.

'[Nimue...]' he heard his voice whisper in his mind in an almost... longing way. For but a moment, he felt his body weaken when she placed a hand on his forehead.

"...do you feel alright, young master? You seem to have a temperature," she asked, concern visible in her eyes as she scanned over his posture quickly. "What is this...?" her voice trailed off as she scraped his forehead a little, getting some of the paste under her nail. Inspecting it quickly, she noticed its color. "Young master, what were you--!" she suddenly stopped, her face flushing with deep red as she felt Lucas's hands on her shoulders.

The young Stormrider pulled Nimue into himself, hugging her closely. He wasn't sure why, but it was just... something he needed to do.

"Y-Young m-m-master?" Nimue stammered, her face redder than a beetroot. She felt one of his hands on her head and the other on her back, holding her tight like she was his lifeline. Still, she did not fight his embrace in the slightest. If anything, she felt herself raising her hands to hug him back. Her head rested on his chest, and she could feel the strong scent of his sweat. Just... what was he doing before?

"...s-sorry," the white-haired man responded after a couple seconds, taking in the faint scent of the perfume she used on her hair. Slowly, he moved his hands to her shoulders and made a bit of distance between them. "I'm just... happy to see you."

"I... I-I s-s-see..." her lips quivered as her heart beat at double the speed from just a moment ago. Her ears rose high as her gaze ventured downward. "I... I'm h-happy t-to see y-you too, y-young master," Nimue raised her hands a little, tying them together in front of her navel.

Lucas felt his lips curve upward at the sight. He wasn't sure why exactly, but he just... wanted to see her like that a bit more. Nimue was charming in her own right, with a shapely body and an alluring finesse in her step, but the part of her that looked cute was what made him feel... content. He felt his heart throb slightly with unknown happiness as he caressed her shoulder gently. Her ears trembled but she voiced not a word of protest.

Lucas slowly retreated his hand.

"Sorry, I just... R-Right, what was I doing..." his violet eyes escaped to his hand holding some clothes. Their rims were glistening. "Ah, right, I was going to bath. Sorry for startling you, Nimue," he nodded before making his way past the maid.

However, he felt her hand get a hold of his wrist gently, stopping him in his trek.

"...y-young master," the green-eyed maid's tone slowly calmed down. "Did something happen? You... appear a little unnerved."

"I... uh, I'm fine, Nimue," Lucas replied, getting his hand out of her hold. "It's just... I thought you knocked on the door when I meditated, but it was one of the guests."

"The guests? Why would they come to the basement? This is a place for serv-- ahem," Nimue started speaking but didn't finish her thought, glancing to her side. "Who was it? Should I speak a word to--"

"No," Lucas cut her off, his voice raising slightly. "Absolutely not. I'm sure she just got lost. No need to speak of this to anyone," his voice sounded stable, but Nimue couldn't help sensing a bit of fear in his tone.

"...I understand," she bowed her head a little. "H-Have a nice bath, young master," her small hands intertwined as she watched the man leave.

For a protracted moment, Nimue stood in one spot, her soft breaths the only proof that she had not turned to stone. As Lucas eventually disappeared from her field of view, the black-haired maid turned around. She couldn't lie, she felt bewildered and pleased in equal measure by the man's actions, but there was something about him that brought up more concern than anything.

'He sounded... scared of anyone knowing. Just what did Lady Ismeria tell him for him to act like that...?'

...

Nimue sighed deeply. Many things she could infer by others' reactions, but Valerian's wife was a territory she dared not attempt. That woman had visible contempt toward her since the day they met. Almost as if she disliked anyone who got along with the family itself.

The black-haired maid huffed a little. Since her previous master's ****, she was demoted to be just a normal maid of the house, and her position was taken by Miri (who was brought by Ismeria no less). In all honesty, Nimue hardly cared; she enjoyed spending time with Lucas, and that allowed her to do so a bit more. What she didn't like, however, was how suddenly the change happened.

She looked behind herself before taking her steps toward Lucas's room. For a moment, she pondered whether or not to open the door. However, Nimue shook the thought out of her head quickly. Instead, she raised both hands. Keeping them just a little ahead of herself, she made a long exhale.

'A guest should not come down here in the first place. Getting lost is... improbable. I think this calls...' Nimue felt some power within her move. Energy coursed through her, converging at the tips of her fingers. Nearly simultaneously, half-translucent strands of blue light formed, shifting like threads as she breathed a little at them. '...for some security measures.'