7 Episode 2: The Synergist (3)
Having checked all his new skills, there was only one conclusion that Jace ended up with. In terms of his new skill's performance, there were a lot of kinks that needed to be sorted out. Presumably so, it was that his kit was niche.
The role of a Synergist was to support and provide utility to their team. However, there was a problem with Jace's kit. Though his skills leaned heavily towards the support category, they lacked the general utility that a support would have.
For one, Jace only possessed the ability to provide heals and shields under conditions. One required Jace to deal damage while the other required him to be nearby allies before he blinked. This was a problem in and of itself as he could only perform well in specific scenarios.
He didn't have the ability to change the tides of battle via buffs or to restrict enemies via debuffs. He only had heals and shields, with a touch of [ Rendering Field ] that could only inflict weakness and paralysis when it nullifies a debuff.
It didn't help that the rest of his kit was beyond the unknowns, locked behind [ Soul Linkage ] and its vague descriptions of "Linking" and "Forming Bonds". All in all, without the mechanics of the Soul abilities, he was very much a useless Synergist, a sitting duck waiting for his niche to be useful.
"...outside of my role, I guess I can deal some damage on the side?" He thought to himself, turning towards the two initial passives that he had obtained since the very beginning of his awakening. "But... How much damage I do is probably insignificant in the grand scheme of things..."
[ Lazy Mind ] [ Passive ]
The mind bears witness to the laziness of one's upbringing.
When you're focused on a task, your general awareness is heightened by 15% and your [MNA] and [MND] stats are increased by 15%. But, when you lose focus on a task or remain dazed at it, your general presence is lowered by 15% whilst your [Debuff] and [Status Ailment] resistance is increased by 20%.
...
[ Focus Fire ] [ Passive ]
When focusing on a target from afar, CRIT Damage is increased by 15% and Accuracy by 10%.
...
The initial passives that Jace had from before the class change were [ Lazy Mind ] and [ Focus Fire ], which remained unchanged as far as he was concerned. Back when he was a Marksman, the two passives contributed to his overall damage due to the buffs when he was focused.
But now, as a Synergist without a single damage ability, he only had the standardized attacks from his weapons to aid him. He knew not whether the damage was significant or not. But, with his lower stats and lack of Marksman abilities, there was only so much he could do.
"I guess it could be a blessing in disguise that not everything changed... But, besides the resistance when I zone out... Everything else leans towards offence..." He muttered to himself, turning his attention towards the title section. "As for my titles..." Clicking on [ Indolent Sharpshooter ], another window appeared before him.
[ Indolent Sharpshooter ]
A bullet for sloth, a bullet of indolence.
Stats: None.
Special Trait: Rather than using 30 MP to power up a magic pistol's mana shot, you may instead consume 15 MP to create a magic ammo that is more potent. You may store the ammo in your inventory (Storage Limit: 60).
Branch (Initial):
-[ Progression Locked. Please obtain 10 Hunter Points. ]
...
When a civilian first awakens as a hunter, they would receive a few initial skills as well as a title, which provided a certain trait based on the awakener's experience, skill and personality. The traits were no different to passives, however, it could be seen as something tailor-made for each individual.
For Jace, his initial title was [ Indolent Sharpshooter ], which allowed him to pay mana for ammo much more potent than what a magic pistol could provide, thus allowing Jace to deal considerably more damage whilst saving on mana.
"Looks like this didn't change as well." Jace sighed with relief, moving his eyes over towards the title just below it, [ Challenger of the Soul Oracle ]. "Now for this title... It's the one I got with my class change." It was yet another thing apart of the 'Soul' theme. Perhaps this could clue in more of the mechanics of his kit?
[ Challenger of the Soul Oracle ]
The souls of the chosen beckon the blessed.
Stats: None.
Special Trait: [ LOCKED ].
*[ Soul Linkage ], [ Soul Seer's Eyes ] and [ Soul Channeler ] are required to be used at least once before the Special Trait is available.
Branch (Initial):
-[ Progression Locked. Please obtain 10 Hunter Points. ]
...
Contrary to Jace's expectations. he was slapped by yet another condition. "...seriously? I need to use all three skills before I even get to see the title's trait? That's just fun." He grumbled, swiping the title screen away in annoyance. "This class really is getting more unimpressive by the minute..."
Despite the overall concept of the Soul skills that his kit had going for, a sudden class change for something like this was not what Jace wanted. Even with two titles which was a rarity among hunters, he was unhappy. Unamazed that the sacrifice of his Marksman skillset was for an underwhelming Synergist kit.
"...I had some hopes for the class change since it was forced by the system... But, this is just..." As he looked over at his sorry state of stats and his unrecognizable abilities, he felt anger rising within him. "...unfair. Utterly unfair."
To have all of his years of hunter work go down the drain just because he was forced to become a Synergist, whose kit wasn't even comparable to other S-Ranked Synergist Hunters, was pouring cold water all over Jace.
There was not a single thing to be happy about his situation. The class change was absolutely not worth it. If he could return back in time to stop himself from ever stepping foot in the dungeon, he would. Who cares if the dungeon would break?
"Sigh. Is it even worth it to return as a hunter?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, no longer motivated to do anything. "With everything thrown away, isn't it better to just quit now?"
Even if Jace was to return as a hunter, it would be far from the glory that he once held as "Ace". The current him as of right now could even be considered an F-Ranker due to how niche and situational his kit was. He was weak, and with not much to show for himself.
Yet, even with the thoughts of quitting, his uneasiness from before still gnawed at him.
"...but, even if I really quit... Just what would I even do after? Go back to being a streamer?"
In the end, it all came back to the question of what he'd do moving forward.
He could simply fully retire and enjoy his remaining life. But, was he going to waste his life away playing games and rotting away in bed? Though everything may have gone down the drain, the years of hunter work he had behind his back still remained.
No matter how much he thought about quitting, an ending like that was unsatisfactory.
"Do I really not have a choice in this matter again?" His thoughts were clear on one thing, but his heart swayed to another. Though he had a choice, there seemed to be only one right path that he would walk on. "...sigh. A decade of hunter work... What's more to come then?"
Even if he was useless with an underwhelming Synergist kit, even if his stats and crap skills were to force him to become an F-Ranker, there was only one right choice in the end. He still wished to walk the path of a hunter.
He didn't want to quit. Not yet.
