Chapter 21

I Could Apparently Change Class

I needed a diversion so I headed back to the door that led to the stairs. With a swing of my sword, the hinges of the door snapped and hurtled in all directions, leaving the door half-opened. A door with broken hinges is useless even if you put a lock on it.

I stepped back and scampered toward the well. Right now, the bandits should be sending their forces to the broken door and strengthen security on the other entrances.

If the people in the basement gathered around the doors, it would be easier to move around after getting in. It would indeed be hard to sneak in when the doors are being guarded, but it’s a different story if they don’t know about the backdoor entrance.

「Down we go.」

I jumped down the well while using the skill『Landing』. It was deep enough that I wouldn’t go unscathed if I went down without using the skill. But thanks to it, I got down safely.

At the bottom of the well was a hole that was just wide enough for one person to pass through which was more than enough for an infiltration. The passage led to a vent on the first basement floor. The question now was which room was it connected to?

I made it through the passage and before me were piles of luggage most likely belonging to the group. The place was being used as a storage room it seemed.

The door was left open. They were probably in a hurry after hearing about an intruder. If I didn’t cause a diversion, they would’ve found me the moment I dropped down here.

(Oh, they have this too.)

Among the luggage were drugs that would occasionally show up in BBO events. In the game, an evil organization distributed them throughout the land and became the root cause of various incidents.

The drugs were probably this syndicate’s source of funds. There wasn’t much of it in the room so burning them wouldn’t really have much of an effect. Besides, I don’t want to draw the attention of a criminal syndicate.

And unfortunately, I couldn’t change classes in this room. It can only be done in the『Job-Change Room』.

There were a number of those in a church… Actually in this type of church, more than half of the rooms would be a『Job-Change Room』. There weren’t any particular style to the room but the floor would be red so it wasn’t hard to miss.

I wasn’t sure if that was the case in this world too, but since the outside of the building was identical to the one in BBO, I should be right.

I’ll definitely get spotted if I stick my head out of the door. But I couldn’t afford to dilly-dally around here. The men that went to check the diversion might come back soon and I’d have more people to deal with. It’s a race against time.

I covered my face with some clothes and took a peek out the door. It just so happened that a patrol was around and our eyes met.

「Intruder!」

As expected from a member of a criminal syndicate. He didn’t even panic upon sighting an enemy and quickly informed the others of the situation. It would be troublesome to fight these guys.

「Kill him! …Where’d he come from?!」

An archer showed up and shot an arrow at me. I could only hear a few footsteps coming thanks to the diversion.

The room next door caught my eye, its floors were colored red. A Job-Change Room.

Dodging the arrows, I scrambled into the room. I moved a bookshelf near the entrance to block the door. As luck would have it, the shelf was made of steel. It should hold out for a while.

The Job-Change Room. To change classes, you’d have to either receive blessings from a priest or chant the incantation specific to the class you want to change into.

You’d need at least thirty seconds to complete the process. It would take ten minutes if it’s done by a priest. Doing it myself would be a lot faster.

I chose the class『Sage』. A Sage can master all sorts of spells, from healing magic to offensive ones. They can be flexible in fights, engaging from close-range to long-range combat and use skills to be as durable as tanks. Among the advanced classes, a Sage boasted overwhelming power. So much so in fact, that the class was said to be unbalanced and broken.

Due to its efficiency, beginners and experienced players alike in BBO would choose Sage as a job class. Statistics even showed that eighty percent of the players were Sages.

Broken Balance Online was indeed a fitting name for the game.

The class was incredibly flexible and efficient, one could master any position from offense to a healer, or a tank. It wasn’t strange for a party of six to be composed only of Sages. Which is why BBO was also called the Sage Game.

A Sage’s real strength can only be demonstrated when they’re higher levelled, but even a low-level one is powerful enough. Unlike when I was a Novice, I won’t have to rely on petty tactics and my combat techniques. I could simply fire spells at random and that would be more than enough. If I added my combat skills on top of that, I’d be pretty much invincible.

「O Master of Magic, Ruler of Mana…」

I quickly chanted the incantation that would turn me into a Sage. It wasn’t really necessary to memorize it in BBO, but good thing I did.

After finishing the incantation, I felt something rush into me, warming up my body. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, but I was certain it was what one would feel when changing classes, a sensation that couldn’t be felt in BBO.

I didn’t have time to be immersed in that sensation, though. The shelf by the entrance was slowly getting destroyed from attacks. I wasn’t expecting to be able to use my newly-gained powers so soon.

『Fire Ball.』

I chanted a low-level offensive spell in my mind and fired it at the wall that separated this room and the next one. Only those who have changed job classes could use spells without saying it out loud. Though I was now a Sage, my skill set was limited due to me being only level five. Yet, it was more than enough to get me out of this mess.

「A loud bang came from inside!」

「The next room!」

They seemed to have noticed that I’ve escaped to the adjacent room. But it’s too late…

『Float.』

I used a hovering spell to get up to the vent that I used earlier. After going through the narrow passageway, I made it back to the bottom of the well.

『Float.』

Then I was out of the well. The spell I used was among the low-tier ones a Sage could use but it was handy. The next moment I sprinted to the center of the royal capital… or at least I made it look that way, but I hid myself in a back alley midway.

Only a fool would run straight in this situation. The best course of action is to turn to a side street to increase the options as to where you could be.

I should’ve lost them now…

All of a sudden, I sensed something ominous and jumped to the side. A knife struck at where I was standing, its blade dripping with purple fluid. Poison.