BXBX NOVEL Chapter 155: The Only Constant [2/2]
Right now, the only abilities that would be active in my current skills were {Counter}, {Reveal}, {Draw} {Sheathe}, {Connect}, and {Booster}.
Everything else during could be considered passive, however the times they were on differed based on my class.
As I pondered the problem, Aira continued.
[Another thing that is available in games, my lord, is skill leveling. The cost of skills and their effects change based on their level. Currently, most of your skills do not level up, and constantly switching classes is wasteful.]
Another point I agreed with. {Thief}, {Mage} and {Fighter} costs 300 souls each time I invoke them. And plenty of times, I lacked a single ability which prompted me to shift my class wasting the cost of the class.
This meant that if I was in a {Thief} class and I wanted to store damage for a {Counter}, I would waste 600 souls just to do that. 300 souls I wasted by switching away from {Thief}, and the 300 I required to switch to {Fighter}.
Not counting the loss of speed and senses, if the battle still required agility over durability, my skill set would be fucked. If I switched enough times, I could very well wipe out my entire profit just by switching. It was really time for a change.
"Change is the only constant," I muttered.
Despite my results, I was already at the limit of what my skills could do. If I wanted to rise higher, I must adapt. I felt kind of sad knowing that my {Kismets} would disappear, but such a sacrifice was necessary.
[The more modern version is "The only constant in life is change." Are you a fan of Heraclitus of Ephesus?]
"No, I have no idea who that is, it was just a nugget of wisdom from somewhere."
[I see. My lord, another matter worthy of correction is your use of ammunition. Although you have a large number of bullets, you only use a fraction of them.]
"Yeah, I've been trying to fix that, though."
This was one of my biggest complaints in my fighting style. I couldn't reload my weapons properly. Because I have a lot of guns, I usually just use the rounds in a gun's magazine and then change guns.
The so-called New York reload. Even soldiers will switch to their secondary pistol if their primary weapon jams or if they run out of ammo. But reloading was still preferable if you had the leeway.
Because of the hasty nature of my character, even when I have the room to take a few seconds to reload, I end up throwing away more weapons than I would like to admit.
And since both {Rewind} and {Reload} don't care how much I've actually used, it's a criminal waste to invoke either of them when I still have most of my ammo left.
To put it in perspective, whether I used {Reload} whether I had 999 bullets left in my arsenal or no bullets at all, the cost would be the same. In less hectic battles, I try to use as many rounds as possible, but I simply had too many.
"All right, guys, you heard it all. It has been a while, but do you think you can help?"
[My Lord? Who are you talking to?]
"The {Fates}. I actually asked them to create most of my {Kismet}. They are more like my partners than my abilities."
[My Lord, the {Fates} are constructs that are not yet fully understood. While they demonstrate the ability to transcend common sense, they are without ego and have no concept of self.]
"..."
Technically, the {Fates} have never really communicated with me. But they do respond to my words, which means that I may have mistaken them for sentient beings by following my instructions.
After all, even Aira is a simulation of a human personality.
"Well, it might just be a quirk of mine Aira, after all I treat you similarly even though I know you are just lines of code."
[Hmm. Indeed. My apologies, my lord. As a synthetic personality created from a collection of pre-programmed responses, I am much like them in that respect. I will refrain from commenting on this subject in the future. ]
"It's all right, Aira. I don't care what anyone else says, to me you are Aira, nothing more, nothing less".
I was already attached to Aira to some extent, if you made me choose between Aira and a random reaper, it wouldn't be a choice for me. Even if Aira wasn't truly human, I didn't care.
[Thank you for your words, my lord. I may be the most fortunate among the Deathseeker AI.]
"Haha, I wouldn't go that far. You are about to enter an unwinnable war in a few days."
[That may be, my lord. But I am certain that I would refuse to be used by anyone else. You will be the only Death Seeker I will serve. This Aira will answer to no other.]
"Thanks Aira."
After thanking my AI for her loyalty, I focused on the task at hand.
"Guys, you heard me. I want to rework my {Kismet}. Lets start by making all my other {Fates} passive. It is fine to pay a higher cost as long as they last longer. I also want to integrate new {Fates} by leveling up what I already have".
The ideal scenario would be to compress my {Kismet} so that I have free slots. After all, the ability to create new abilities during combat was one of my greatest assets.
For the same reason, even though I could evolve into a Phantom, I had yet to do so. While powerful, {Rewind} had extremely limiting restrictions. Fortunately, the {Fates} I received from the girls made up for those limitations.
Change was scary, but right now I had no choice.