4.02 – New Skills

Natalie chose to talk about the normal abilities first. She’d work into the headache-inducing one afterward. And she supposed [Stylish] wasn’t even the strangest of her kit—that would go to [Carnal Harvest], the lewd skill that was a foundation to her class.

But still. [Stylish] dragged her teammates directly into the fray. The skill encouraged all five of them to … what? Dress provocatively? To the extent their outfits aroused each other? Now that would create a reputation at Tenet.

“I shouldn’t be complaining,” Natalie sighed. “I got a pretty good haul. Four more skills.”

“Four?” Jordan asked. “Nice. Only got three.”

Two or three skills for the early levels was the standard. Higher levels started providing fewer, but the one or two you did receive would be much stronger.

“Three of them make me a better fighter,” Natalie said. “There’s two passives, actually, clearly encouraging me to take up a new weapon path.”

“Oh?”

“I think you can guess what it is,” Natalie said dryly. “The dungeon was hinting at it yesterday.”

Jordan’s brow furrowed before she connected the dots. “The hammer?”

“[Bigger Is Better],” Natalie said. “That’s the skill name. It makes handling oversized weapons easier, and gives them an attack bonus.”

Jordan immediately started laughing, and though Natalie’s lips twitched, she mostly leveled a sour look at her friend. She was glad, in a way, they had their level ups to distract her, because the way her heart skipped about four or five beats watching Jordan laugh was something Natalie simply didn’t have the energy or mental space to deal with. That wall had been thoroughly torn down, but Natalie had other stuff she had to focus on. Or maybe that was an excuse. Actually, it definitely was an excuse.

“The exact wording is minor bonus to offensive power, slightly easier to maneuver. It’s upgradeable too. I could make it stronger.”

“Right,” Jordan said. “Almost forgot about that. Well, yeah, then, you don’t have a choice. You’d be insane not to go with a large weapon. What else?”

“This one’s more generalist, but it clearly helps offset the problem further,” Natalie said. “[Juggernaut]. Passive one-point-three bonus to furor, applied after all other bonuses.”

“Applied after?” Jordan asked. “Damn. That’s strong.”

Natalie nodded. The thirty percent boost alone was a great skill—if perhaps not the strongest—but the fact it applied afterward meant it was, even at the first progression, potent. Because any furor bonuses from any skill, buff, or item would likewise be amplified by thirty percent. That meant both Liz’s strength boost and Natalie’s armor would also be amplified. If the skill had affected only her base stats, then it would have been much weaker.

“And it grows,” Jordan said. “From one point three to what? Even if it’s small jumps each progression, you’re going to be a monster.”

“Also got a defensive skill, [Hunker Down]. Seems pretty interesting. Something that can be used cleverly.”

“Hunker down,” Jordan repeated. “Huge defense bonus for a brief moment?”

The skill’s name did give it away. “Invulnerable, actually.”

Jordan whistled.

“But I can’t move,” Natalie said. Then, a second later, she added, “And it actually says invulnerable to most physical attacks. I’m guessing truly insane stuff would break through it. And it’s only one and a half seconds.”

Jordan considered this. “It’ll save your ass in a trap, most likely,” she said. “And being able to hunker down and literally catch a boss attack is phenomenal. You really did come out with a good haul.”

“Makes up for my starting skills,” Natalie muttered. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re insane for the long term, but having so much related to … all that, meant I didn’t have skills that are actually functional.”

Jordan nodded. “What’s the last one?”

“Don’t sound so excited. It’s awful.”

“Awful?”

“Amazing,” Natalie begrudgingly admitted. “Just, ugh.”

“Spill it.”

“[Stylish]. Any of my teammates get stat bonuses if …” It took some effort to barrel forward, even if it was Jordan that she was explaining this to. “If I’m aroused by their outfit.”

Jordan blinked.

“And it works for me, too,” Natalie sighed. “If you all like my outfit, then I get stronger.”

“No way,” Jordan said.

“You are not allowed to laugh,” Natalie said.

Jordan started laughing, and Natalie glared at her. She crossed her arms.

Unfortunately, Jordan just laughed harder, then stepped up to Natalie and buried her forehead into her chest, hands slipping onto Natalie’s waist. Natalie melted basically immediately. She didn’t stand a chance.

“It’s awful,” Natalie insisted. “Stop laughing.” She tried to ignore how quickly Jordan could turn her stomach into a warm pile of goo. Oh, gods. She had it bad.

“Okay, okay,” Jordan said, finally pulling herself together. Sparkling eyes looked up at her, only withdrawing a few inches back. Her hands stayed on Natalie’s waist. Natalie realized her own had gone to Jordan’s. “Serious talk, then. Let’s see.”

Jordan finally stepped back, and she chewed her lip.

“We should tell the team,” she said after only a second of consideration. “I think we’re past the point of keeping secrets when it comes to your class. At least when it affects them—or could affect them.”

“Yeah,” Natalie said. “That’s probably the right thing to do.” At least it wouldn’t be as awkward as that first talk. They were more than familiar with Natalie’s class, so it wouldn’t be outright mortifying. “But, what? We’re going to use it?”

“A team wide stat boost?” Jordan asked. “We’d be crazy not to. What’s the full wording?”

Natalie repeated the skill’s description.

“Yeah,” Jordan said. “It sounds like it might scale based on how much it arouses you. So we’ll really need to put together some naughty outfits.”

“Jordan, please.”

“We’ll probably settle with mildly scandalizing, then,” Jordan amended. “The issue’s going to be finding armor that’s both good and turns you on.” She paused. “Like Ana’s robes,” she added dryly. “Still think that wasn’t your class?”

“Some dungeon loot is just lewd,” Natalie said. “It wasn’t necessarily me.” Revealing armor and clothing was, while not the standard, certainly not a first.

“Regardless,” Jordan said, making it clear what she thought of the coincidence. “It’s pretty obvious we should make use of it. But we’ll talk with the team.” She wrinkled her nose. “Might be an issue with Liz because of her family’s reputation. Maybe we’ll only put it on at the dungeon itself. Or something.”

“I can’t believe this is our life, now.”

Jordan rolled her eyes. “Oh, woe is you. You received an insanely powerful class, but it’s a little weird.”

“A little weird?”

“A lot weird,” Jordan conceded. “But also a lot strong. You can upgrade it. That means you’ll be giving out team-wide moderate primary stat boosts. And higher, once you start progressing each of these skills. Your class is good even before upgrades. You’re going to be a legitimate powerhouse as time passes.” She poked Natalie’s shoulder. “I just hope you don’t end up leaving us behind.”

Natalie frowned.

“That’s a joke,” Jordan said.

Natalie believed her, but she thought she’d also caught a hint of something else. Had she imagined it? That it was a real worry, if a subdued one? Jordan must be losing her mind if she thought Natalie would ever leave her behind, regardless of if her class snowballed into something incredible.

“Have you thought what you want to upgrade first?” Jordan asked. “You’ve been saving up your points for exactly this moment, right? What do you think’s best? And what’s it all cost?”