[Arc 4] Chapter 23: The [Gamemaster]

"350,000! You are good to go, Nightmare Voyagers!"

I love the sound of an inspector counting up our Prize Points.

We're currently at mount Gigantes, one of the largest mountains in Luxuria. And we've got ourselves the motherload! Kinda turned the whole place into swiss cheesed, but no worries~...I think.

FYI, this is our goal.

Yamatai Grand Festival

The Great Mining Life is the second event in the last Yamatai Grand Festival, route B. Dig out any treasures that mother nature has buried in this mountain and earn Points!!

Yeah, we did it. Got triple the amount we needed, no sweat~. Oh, and we did it in just three days despite the event lasting a whole week. I gotta say, I'm pretty smug about this particular adventure.

"Zaria's Delivery Firm...you too are cleared for the next event." - Inspector

"200,000 right there, baby!" - Zaria

To give a quick rundown of the sitch, after our group was split in two, Zaria and her trio of whiskers joined us on the B-route. 

"*Squeeck!*" - Tinkletop

Oh, sorry. Her quartet of whiskers. Anyway, we joined forces for this event but the Kamaitachi brothers are saying their goodbyes after this. They're not experienced enough to work alone, so we're ranking up the Points to exchange after this is over.

It's not like we're the only groups who're working together at this Festival. You should've seen the size of the hunting party that went up the mountains! Think every party challenging this event route is working together except us. 

The Voyagers' A-team consists of me, Flint, Revi, Lily, and Karnel. Mira is taking the other three on the C-course. We could choose between four color-coded routes. Alf got the B-team on route C based on the fact that it's blue thinking that they were going to the ocean...

Is the yellow used on the B-route supposed to represent earth instead of just being a festive color?

"Boss, what are we going to do now?" - Lily

"...free time! Do as you please, but call out if you need any help. Especially if it involves Prize Points." - Garami

"Rail-car rollercoaster, here I come!" - Lily

Not everyone was as ecstatic as the chimera, but they were all happy about some time to chill. Especially me.

I climbed the mountain to get some time for myself. Got some serious self-reflecting to do. We can start with the mess regarding my titles.

Achievement Titles:

Hunting Titles:

Status Titles:

Honestly...it's become less of a mess. I mean, several titles have been integrated into these three new ones.

This [Soveregin's Enemy] looked like it got all those "killer"-titles and titles like [Army of One] and that apostle-related one from the match mixed into it. Must be why it's placed at the beginning where [Titan Killer] used to be. It's a plain upgrade, so I don't dislike it. It can be used on more targets too, even those for which I didn't have a title. 

And the [Devious Saint]? Think stuff like [Queen Commander] and [Savior] got mixed into this mess. That irritating [Reclusive Deviant] may also be in there too, so I honestly adore this new title just for negating all that nausea. 

Finally, we got [Nightmare from Another World]. It's a nasty piece of work, even if something as innocent as [Migrant] is one of its components. Eh, the effects are strong, so I don't care. Not sure why [Fearbringer] wasn't added to it, but no biggie. 

The problem is the skills. [Blashpemy]'s effect is sorta useless unless I find someone who's getting some real backing from the gods, but that's not what I'm eying here. My target is [Gamemaster].

It's the skill I got from that "Proof of Order" thingy, which I still don't get why it was given to me. Not that there's any meaning in understanding the minds of the gods (literally), making it much more productive to focus on the skill...I think.

Okay, deep breath...and...on!

GYYYYYYAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Installation at 6%.

OFF! OFF!!

D-damn...this thing's the worst! I thought my head was gonna blow! It felt...it felt like having a laser drill churning the insides of my skull, then a military missile struck the remains, THEN they used the remaining space to store highly radioactive waste...without protection!

There's progress though. When I first used the skill after the final match of the tournament, it said that the so-called "installation" (I call it mind-burning) was at 2%. That's double of what I could handle back then!

...yeah, that's no progress. But I gotta stay positive! The Identification-results weren't so clear on the facts, but it may be a second [Chaotic Concurrence] or [Storm Compression]. All...most of these "Champion skills" have awesome powers. Something called "Gamemaster" gotta be good...I hope.

Oooookay...and...go.

---

24 hours of pure agony and several level-ups for [Heretic Resistance]  later:

Installation at 100%. Starting skill, [Gamemaster].

F-f-f-f-f-ffff-finallyyyyyy...is that smoke coming up from my head? Ah, whatever. What can this new thing do?

Activating the [Gamemaster] skill. Before entering full operation mode, please do the initial setup of this skill.

Nothing yet, it seems. What do I need to do then...hmm...guess one of [Gamemaster]'s functions is to create something close to a "support AI". It looks similar to how [Undead Servant] works, except this is for one "body" instead of many, and I don't need to provide materials of any kind for this guy. 

The initial setup is to program the appearance of the "AI", plus their personality, I guess? This thing got no combat ability though, so it looks like it can only act as a "sidekick mascot".

...how to make it cool, yet cute...yes, I can appreciate cute stuff! Seriously, people nowadays...

Wow. That's a lot of parameters for the personality. You can even make it clumsy if you want it to. "Any changes do not reduce the skill's level of reliability, and you can alter their parameters whenever you want to", it says...

May as well have fun with it. Can change it back after all. Then, we gotta spruce up this guy's appearance...let's go with the standard appearance for now.

Setting complete. Now generating avatar.

And there it appeared. It's shaped like a black box, but with cartoonish forelimbs that resemble those of a dragon. I gave it a face on the "frontside" of the box, meaning big eyes and a mouth. Plus small bat wings on its back that it uses to float around with.

"..." 

"...?" - Garami

"...Ehm...what should I do?" asked the black box, looking a little flustered...cute...

"First, introductions." - Garami

"Oh, yeah! I am the supporter-AI, GM006." - GM006

"Okay then, moving on, may I politely ask...WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THAT FREAKING DOWNLOAD?!!" - Garami

GM (tentative name) got scared by my outburst and went into hiding in the bushes...hey, they did a good job with this thing...girl.

"D-did you not read the manual?" - GM

"Manual?" - Garami

"When you activate [Gamemaster] for the first time, a notification will suggest that you let the download happen only when you are asleep to make sure your brain and soul does not get crushed from the pressure that is the privileges to use the World System." - GM

Uuuuuhhh...there may have been something like that or maybe not...

To summarize, the [Gamemaster] skill needed a patch to be properly used, but the hardware, which is me, was too low-tech for this super-software, so the result was those headaches...

"Hey, you can't die from that, can you?" - Garami

"No...it stands in the World System that the download would be paused if the user experienced too much stress to their soul." - GM

That was my soul hurting!? Not my head!?

"Okay, that part was my bad, shame on me. Let's move on. Specifically; tell me more about those World System privileges!" - Garami

Gotta focus on the important stuff in life.

"Oh, I know that one! *Cough*, already at level 1, you are allowed to look through your own data with the same authority as if you had both [Identification] and the [Personal System] skills! You also gain access to the evolution tree and the skill tree~!" - GM

......am I crying? I don't need to rely on unsure sources (that goddess) or unreliable notebooks anymore? Stop beating so hard, my poor, wounded heart. This is too much for me.

"And classes? Does that include classes too?" - Garami

"...Only up to the Advance-rank classes," replied GM with a sad face. "The Master-ranks requires you to obtain Blessings from a god related to your class, and one of your elemental Technique User titles..." - GM

"Blessings? Titles? Fill me in here." - Garami

"! As you wish!" she replied excitedly. Geez, what is she? A loyal dog or something? 

"According to the data obtained from the World System, all Master-ranks classes are protected by the authority of all the Lesser Gods. Not even the Ultimate Gods are allowed to hand one of those without the agreement from a Lesser God." - GM

"Security protocols. I can live with that." - Garami

Better than having tons of Filyns running around. Sucks that only the Lesser Gods count. I got a boatload of Blessings from ultimates, not that I feel so "ultimate" got having them.

"Then I would need to ask some god of either Darkness, Light, or Poison if I wanna improve my classes? And they need to be compatible with the class I wanna upgrade?" - Garami

"Yes. But you can evolve two classes with the same Blessing. If both the god and attribute can be used for the classes, that is." - GM

Two for the price of one, eh? Not sure if we need it. I've met so many gods already that I'm pretty certain finding "sponsors" won't be a problem.

"This thing's cool from the start, but what else can the great [Gamemaster] do then?" - Garami

"Aw, shucks." - GM

"Focus." - Garami

"I mean, as the level increases, so does the amount of data stored in the World System that can be accessed. Except for personal information. That is off-limits." - GM

Hmm, with the Kigal-Note, I'm in no urgent need of those data...who am I kidding? Unless I change the book's author, I'm never gonna get the info about the really important stuff.

"Also, I can sort through the World System announcements, help you search and filter through the World System files, and support magic operations." - GM

"Does that extends to Necromancy and Alchemy too?" - Garami

"One second...yes, yes it is. I think...Alchemy may be the best way to use...me." - GM

"Don't say 'use', sweetheart. And do a good job, then maybe I'll give you your own name. Perhaps even a tune-up in the looks-department." - Garami

"GM is ready for service!" - GM

Yeah, I know how to handle this type. Glad I based her partly on the girls. Time for some info-digging...and on the day after the mine-digging. Huh, the irony.

Greydra

Kigal-Note/Magician Classes: Grave Witch Doctor

Description:

A Grave Witch Doctor (with female practitioners being known as the Grave Witches) is a Witch Doctor that has turned to their studies to obtain the powers from beyond the grave. They have a close relationship with Necromancers, but unlike them, the Grave Witch Doctors specializes in the usage of ghosts.

Grave Witch Doctors use their knowledge in Witchcraft, a special sort of magic that can allow alterations to be done to the magic spells used by standard Magic Skills, to call for supporters from beyond the grave, with Ghosts being their most frequent partners. 

Skills from this class include the [Necromancy Reinforcement] skill, which is normally restricted to the Necromancer-line classes, and [Witchcraft: Death], which allows them to perform magic spells of the Death attribute and give the spells their own personal touch if needed.

The Necromancy of the Grave Witch Doctor comes from their [Witchcraft: Undead Spirits]. Unlike the skills of the Necromancer, Grave Witch Doctors can only summon the undead of the creatures that have died in the area close to them, and they take the shape of Ghosts most of the time with Skeletons and Zombies being a rare exception. The main purpose of the undead is to support the Witch Doctor, either as bodyguards or as magic-related assistants through the Witch Doctor's [Coven] skill.

[Hex] is the standard skill for all Witch Doctors. It is a curse that affects the target so their stats will take a fall. Strangely, this skill can also be used to increase the target stats, so the Witch Doctor can act as a supporter as well.

[Workshop Creation] is a standard skill for Magician- and Artisan-line classes. In the hands of a Grave Witch Doctor, the Workshop will grant an extra oomph to Death- and Necromancy-related spells.

[Witch's Brew] is a powerful medicine-mixing skill that lets the Witch Doctor create potions infused with Witchcraft to enhance the brew's properties. Note that magics with opposing effects to the potions will just neutralize each component.

[Undead Fellowship] represents the difference between the Grave Witch Doctor and the Necromancer by being a skill that enhances the Witch Doctor's stats based on the number of allied undead, as opposed to the Necromancer's [Undead Reign] which improves the undead's stats, and only by the presence of the Necromancer. The names of the skills also provide hints to the two classes' differences.

[Friend of the Dead], however, is a skill that both classes obtain at Lv.50. It allows the Witch Doctor to tame wild undead to do their bidding. This skill can take up to 6 undead under the Witch Doctor's wings at its highest level, and this skill does not count as a Taming-type skill, so the Witch Doctor can also obtain more monsters to do their bidding through that direction.

Lily's comment: Wait, I'm confused. Is the Witch wanting to be similar to the Necromancer, or not?