Plan Successful

Chefs, farmers, and militiamen were also professions, but compared to proper adventuring classes, they were more like jobs. Even if a farmer reached the legendary level of 20 and could easily hunt brown bears or beat up hobgoblins, he might not be able to defeat a level 5 adventurer in actual combat.

As long as they could become adventurers, no one would be willing to take this path. Once they crossed that threshold, a long boundary stood between adventurers and ordinary people.

"Maybe his grades are so bad that he knows he won't graduate in six years, so he's already preparing to delay graduation. Or maybe he wants to become a glorious kitchen assistant." Conner's words drew laughter from quite a few people. The skinny man beside him glanced at the tables occupied by the Architecture Department and said in a low voice, "Last week, after he and that fat bastard Charles cursed at us, they ran off. We let it go then, but today we have staff combat class. How about we take care of both of them?"

Conner nodded approvingly. "Sure, but watch your strength. Don't break all their bones like last time. Healing a serious wound in the infirmary costs 100 gold. I even offered to pay with a scroll, but they wouldn't take it. They're highway robbers."

The others chuckled again, loud enough that they made no effort to hide it. Charles's fat face trembled as he ate nearby, but he said nothing.

When class began, Charles came over to the desk beside Du Pont and whispered, "We're in trouble."

After Charles explained what had happened, Du Pont was somewhat surprised. "Those bastards have that much nerve and that much money? The instructor won't interfere?"

"People in the School of Evocation usually have money. They're basically second only to the School of Divination." Charles was clearly troubled as well. "As long as they're willing to pay the medical bills, instructors usually don't care. And if something happens in staff combat class, they won't even get detention. How about we ask for sick leave and hide for a while? It's not embarrassing. Everyone treats this class as a chance to relax anyway. Plenty of people just skip it and go back to sleep."

"You can hide at the start of the month, but not at the end. Since they failed to get us last week, they've obviously remembered us. We might avoid them this week, but not next week." After thinking for a moment, Du Pont sent a message. "How about this: can you lend me some money? Sixty gold will be enough. Then I'll take care of all of them."

Charles was shocked, his expression as ugly as if he had been constipated for a month. As his eyes darted about, Du Pont took two Platinum Coins from his pouch. "It's not that I can't pay you back. I just want to play big."

"Oh?" Seeing that Du Pont could repay him, Charles's expression immediately improved, though he still spoke somewhat awkwardly. "What do you need the money for?"

"There's something I haven't told you. My father is a military noble, and before I became a mage, I was already a warrior." Du Pont's eyes brimmed with confidence. "If they want trouble, neither of us will be able to run. So I might as well settle them all at once. I can also use the opportunity to wager with them. I'll scrape together around a hundred gold for a bet, and I'm sixty short of a hundred. We'll fleece them hard."

Charles was clearly tempted, but he still hesitated. Du Pont took out another ancient silver coin. "Don't worry, I definitely have the money to repay you. I just don't want to touch this principal unless I absolutely have to. If you're worried, I can leave this old coin with you."

For any mage, knowledge of mysteries was a course they were bound to master. Charles picked up the silver coin and took one look before he roughly understood. Grinning, he took out his own money pouch. "Come on, how could I not trust you? We're brothers, aren't we? But if the School of Evocation people are looking for trouble, they must be prepared. Don't overdo it and get beaten up while losing money too. Embarrassment is one thing, but the losses would be huge."

"It's not like I have a death wish. Why would I do that? I might not beat them in spellcasting, but if it's combat class, they picked the wrong person." Du Pont sneered. "I was just too lazy to bother with them, but since they came looking for trouble, how could I not kick their staffs in half?"

Charles nodded repeatedly. He took out sixty gold coins and placed them in Du Pont's hand, whispering, "Since you're so confident, I'll bet with them too. Maybe I can win a few dozen gold for fun."

"Fine. Oh, and if anything changes, we'll communicate through Message. We'll definitely fleece those idiots dry."

Charles beamed, then his eyes shifted as he went off to borrow money from others.

Combat class was the first class in the afternoon. Du Pont deliberately ate less at noon and only drank more milk. He even packed up the pig trotters Judy had given him instead of eating them. For once, he did not copy assignments at noon, but lay comfortably on his bed instead.

Including the sixty gold coins he had borrowed from Charles, he now had a total of 106 gold.

It was not much, but it was enough to complete the final requirement for Barbarian.

System, purchase Military Weapon Proficiency!

The gold coins in his pouch swiftly vanished, but Du Pont had no time to mourn the money. His eyes were fixed only on the bold words in the system prompt.

Congratulations, user. You have met all prerequisite requirements for the Barbarian class. Would you like to multiclass into this class?

Multiclass!

You have gained the Barbarian class. Current level: 1.

You have additionally gained the abilities: Unarmored Defense, Weapon Mastery.

Unarmored Defense: If you are not wearing any armor, your base Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier.

Your current Dexterity is 12 and your Constitution is 15. Your current Armor Class is 13.

This Unarmored Defense cannot stack with the new-school Mage Armor, but it benefits from non-armor magical items such as Barkskin and Bracers of Defense.

Weapon Mastery: Your weapon training allows you to select one simple melee weapon and one military melee weapon as mastery weapons. Whenever you complete a long rest, you may retrain your weapon techniques to change one of your selected weapon types. Weapons you have mastered gain +1 to attack rolls and +1 to damage rolls. This bonus stacks with any bonuses not derived from Weapon Mastery.

Choose club and spear.

A staff counted as a club, making it perfect for staff combat that afternoon. As for the military weapon, it did not really matter what he chose. Picking something similar might produce unexpected results.

After advancing, Du Pont did not hesitate to spend 1,000 Experience Points to raise Barbarian by one level.

You have consumed 1,000 Experience Points. Your total experience is now 1766/2000.

Your Barbarian is now level 2. Your total level has reached level 4.

You have gained Danger Sense and Reckless Attack.

You have gained 2 attribute points.

Reckless Attack: You can cast aside all concern for defense and launch more frenzied attacks.

After activating this ability, all Strength-based attack rolls you make within 6 seconds have advantage. Your physical attack rolls gain +4, but all attack rolls against you also have advantage during this time, and your AC and magic resistance are reduced by 2.

Danger Sense: You gain an extraordinary awareness of abnormalities around you, allowing you to escape danger one step ahead.

When affected by an effect you can see, such as traps, spells, or ranged weapons, your Reflex increases by 2. You cannot benefit from this trait while blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.

You have gained 2 attribute points. These are innate attribute points and cannot raise an attribute above 20.

Seeing this, Du Pont could no longer contain his excitement and threw a fierce punch into the air.

Plan successful!