Chapter 105: New Class

“Can’t you do a class change by yourself? Why do we need to do it inside the Guardian Command?” I asked Felicia.

“It is done as a formality so Guardian Command knows how many Guardians have which class.” The answer surprised me. I thought they had some sort of unique equipment with Guardians sleeping inside a pod to change classes.

“Formality?”

“Ah, it is also to ensure safety. This pod checks if the class change was successful. A class change basically adds and removes previous modifications. If you do it yourself, you might lose some skills. It is like changing tires; you can do it yourselves, but it is safer to do it inside a workshop,” Felicia said as she motioned me to sleep inside the pod.

[Would you like to change your class into an Enchanter? y/n]

“Yes.” My world was plunged into darkness. A vision of when I had enchanted my first equipment resurfaced: the gleaming black spear, the weight of it. I could feel the weight of Elder July’s life in it.

The pod soon opened. That was a weird experience. I could feel myself changing somewhat. It was like my hand felt alien to weapons, and more attuned to craft.

“So I can just ask you to change my class outside of Guardian Command?”

“Better safe than sorry. Unless the situation demands it, I may not grant that request. But the cooldown is real. You see, changing class basically changes your behavior and intentions. So, it would be best to do it inside a Sanctuary City, just in case something happens.”

[You have changed your class into Alchemy Enchanter. You have obtained the class skill: Precision Boost. Your Dexterity is boosted by 5. You have obtained the class skill: Alchemical Anathema Essence Processing. You may now use Anathema Essence to enchant items.]

“Congratulations. You have obtained a unique skill.”

“Is it different from others?” I felt really awkward. Knowing I had something unique filled me with both pride and disappointment. Deep inside, I wanted to be the same as everyone else, but having something better than others makes you feel special. It makes you feel like you have been rewarded for your work.

“It’s just the name. The only thing unique about this class is a boost to your dexterity.”

“... I see.” I wondered whether Felicia had read my mind. She said exactly what I hoped she would say.

I went downstairs to buy some normal bullets with my pocket money. In addition, I also bought ten unenchanted sabot rounds and ten APFSDS rounds. Unlike enchanted ones, these could be bought with credits, but when I asked Felicia to check my balance, I was surprised that it all cost over 20,000 credits.

“Anyway, let’s start with enchanting right away. I’m sure Kageyama will pick up the bill. Now, about enchanting: you need to craft it manually at first. Once you’ve crafted an item, an option to do the same enchanting automatically will open. This option was unlocked for you right away. Others would have to advance their class to level 10 to unlock it,” Felicia said as I ordered a VIP room inside Guardian Command.

“Why would you want to enchant the same thing more than once? Ah... the bullets…” I almost facepalmed at the obvious answer.

“Yes, and other supplies, such as decoys,” Felicia said. She then took out a bullet. The brass casing differed from the silverbane bullet I had bought at the gate.

“Alright. Let’s begin. Let’s start with the basics. You currently have 1,000 anathema essence. Please deposit 10 anathema essence into your skill,” Felicia instructed.

A window opened before me:

[ Stored anathema essence: 0
Item to be enchanted: a 0.50 BMG round
Enchanting option: - Basic Anathema’s Bane
No recipe found.
Do you want to start manual enchanting? Y/n ]

“Felicia, what am I seeing?” I asked her. I thought enchanting was like crafting in a game: 5 essence + bullet = darkbane bullet.

“Let’s begin with enchanting. First, you need to move essence from vials into your skill. Only then can you start enchanting. If you do it perfectly, a darkbane bullet often only costs 5 essence, but if you screw up, you’ll need more essence. So it’s best if you store more essence.”

“I see.” I did as I was told. The number ticked from 0 to 10. I then pressed yes.

My finger glowed with some sort of black paint. Then I saw motes of white light marking the bullet, compelling me to paint them with my finger. When I touched them, the bullet was painted black. The stored anathema essence slowly dipped as I coated the bullet tip with essence.

Once all the marked areas were complete, a pop-up message asked me to pray and offer up my mana.

[The infusing of Anathema’s essence is complete. Will you move to the next stage?]

“Yes.”

[May this bullet be the bane of all Anathema. 7 mana has been used for the prayer. Enchantment completed.]

I clasped the bullet in my hand as I read the notification aloud. The bullet glowed as I felt the prayer enveloping the essence. The pitch-black bullet now gleamed like obsidian. It looked just like the ones sold in the store.

[Congratulations. You have enchanted a Darkbane Bullet.]

“Hm… That cost about 7 mana…”

“Yes. You painted them unevenly. You were supposed to only paint the tip, but some leaked through the casing.”

“I see. I would love to have some tools to smear the essence,” I muttered.

“You could buy them at the Guardian Command’s shop or from other Enchanter Guardians. Due to the varying quality of such items, we opted not to sell them in the Gate just yet. We need a benchmark before we can put them inside the Gate shop. We recommend you make the tools yourself.”

“... I see.”

“Shall we call this a day?”

“Yes. I’m thinking of purchasing some art supplies.” I was wondering whether I could use them to paint the bullet, but Felicia said I needed to level up my Enchanter class and buy another skill to link the tools to my stored anathema essence.

“No harm buying them now,” I said. Shining Arrow met me outside the room.

“Lily! Let’s do patrol together!”

“Patrol?”

“Hm? What? Are you too rich now to do menial work for an ordinary Magical Girl anymore?” Shining teased, pointing out my fortune from that quest.

“No. It just didn’t cross my mind. We’ve often had incursions outside sanctuary cities lately.”

Yes, most Guardians did patrol duty. I had only done it once, and it was excruciatingly boring. You just walked around, buying crepes or shopping in a designated area. But now that I had no points, I might do it again. I needed a break anyway. That spying job had done a number on me.

“The oil rig was unfortunate. Out of twenty oil rigs, only five survived. Ugh… the economy is going to tank again,” Shining muttered. She then met up with Sapphire and Red Flame Darkness.

“Yo! You’ve been out of touch for almost a month. I thought you left the team.” Red Flame waved at me.

“Lily isn’t going anywhere. We are BFFs!” Shining hugged me from the side. Sorry, but we’re not exactly best friends, Alice.

The day continued as we strolled through the streets. No Anathema incursion, no emergency alarm. Just three girls and a boy spending time happily, eating ice cream and crepes in a mall and park.

I felt guilty for getting fifty points for the patrol even though I did nothing. Then, a message from the System came through.

[Magic Girl Black Lily, we have reviewed your intel. Your intel proved to be valuable. We have awarded you a full 20,000 points for your contribution. Thank you for your work.]

“Now that you’ve received your payment, we should talk about getting you armor and other enhancements.”

“Felicia, I want to know how Zenith used my information. Did they change the budget?”

“No. After a discussion with General Armstrong, Zenith, Guardian Command, and the UNH, they decided to let this matter slide. At least on the surface.”

“I thought they would ban and exile Newstar and Enra,” I muttered. They hadn’t really done anything, but humans were wary. I thought they would throw a fit once they knew someone was scheming against them.

“Zenith advised them to set aside their differences and focus on the Anathema, hence the seemingly lenient punishment. The UNH and conglomerates are now desperately trying to gain achievements. You can expect another raid to collect Anathema essence or the construction of new mining bases outside sanctuary cities.”

“Will Enra and Newstar be in it?”

“They must be in it. Otherwise, trust will drop further. Shirayuki and other companies will also be doing it. They call the project the Next Leap.”

“...I have a bad feeling about this. They already decided on the name even though they haven’t decided what the project is?”

“The objective is clear—resources. The discussion now revolves around how to actually do it.”

“I hope they will at least make it safer…” I recalled the battle where we collected anathema essence with Freya and a team of soldiers in the darkland. That was dangerous. We were nearly got killed. I got killed once even with my signature magic against that gigantic bird.

“Enchantments for automatic Anathema collectors are on the way. A prototype has been made, but it hasn’t been tested yet.”

“Automatic Anathema collectors?”

“Soldiers will bring this machine with them when shooting Anathema. Or they will put it in a kill zone, hoping it would collect essence after they shoot Anathema. But it was as huge as a person. Moreover, its efficiency was half that of a normal Guardian.”

“Better use Guardians then.” I rolled my eyes.

“Yes. Guardian Command is now training Guardians with a collector inside a team. With this, essence collection should be more efficient rather than relying on higher-leveled Guardians killing Anathema at point-blank.”

“I suddenly regret picking an enchanting course,” I muttered. It seemed I had lagged behind everyone. I should focus on combat instead of switching to crafting.

“Experience is what matters. You are already pretty strong for your rank. You can always switch to your Slayer class again next month. Many guardians also do this. They only wanted the collection skills that are gained after class exchange.”

“I see.”

“Shall we talk about armor and enhancements now?”

“Sure.”

“First, you need to open an armor vault for 1,000 points. As I said before, armor can enhance your vitality or agility. It helps your survival rate when you engage Anathema in battle. Here are some lists of armor I recommend and their effects.”

A blue box opened up before me.

[Armor Enhancement Vault (Rare) Unlocked!]
[-1,000 Points]
[Remaining Points: 19,045]
[Armor List:

• Heavy Aegis (Vit +50, Agility -20): 2,000 points

• Chainmail of Sydra (Vit +15): 1,500 points

• Boosted Laevatein (Vit +5, Agility +10): 2,000 points

• Loki’s Shoes (Agility +25): 2,000 points

• Ion Jet Thruster (Flying, Agility +50, 3 minutes uptime, 10 minutes downtime): 3,500 points

• Shield of Rakshasa (Vit +100, on one side only): 3,000 points

• ERA (Vit +500, one-time use, first hit only): 500 points]

“Hmm… Can I use more than one armor?” I knew the answer, but I couldn’t help asking. Combining Ion Jet Thrusters and a Shield of Rakshasa would be awesome.

“Not at your current level. You can only equip two armors when you are at least level 100. You can’t buy different armor for different clones either. The armor is integrated into your astral shift, so it isn’t a physical thing. But on the plus side, if you buy one armor, all your clones will equip the same armor and share the same cooldown.”

“What does vitality do again?”

“When damage goes through, it is reduced by vitality first before being absorbed by your shield aura. So, enhancing your vitality will increase your survivability.”

“It would have to be Ion, huh…”

“Ah, but you can swap armor. If you buy a skill quickswap for 1,000 points, you can even swap them mid-fight. but it is only available around level 50. Pink Heart used this trick to swap her armor. Of course, she used higher-grade armor.”

“I see.”

I spent my evening pondering the choices. In the end, I chose Ion Jet and Shield of Rakshasa.

[Purchased: Ion Jet Thruster!]
[-3,500 Points]
[Purchased: Shield of Rakshasa!]
[-3,000 Points]
[Remaining Points: 12,045]