B3 Chapter 4: Set Apart

The shimmering wall of text appeared before Tiberius. His status was now a familiar sight after all the time they'd spent in this world. Yet its contents had changed drastically.

The first thing he noticed was his new class. Emperor. A single, simple word. Yet one that carried the weight of an entire empire behind it.

He wanted to investigate the class further, but found himself distracted by the second major change to his status. His experience pool. Rather than the unfathomable millions that he'd grown used to seeing, the amount required for him to level was now a mere four hundred. It was practically nothing.

Tiberius felt a spike of alarm shoot through him. The disappearance of the "group" and "individual" designations beside his skills only heightened the sensation. Had his class change severed his connection with the Legion so completely? Was he now no better than this world's normal inhabitants?

He closed his eyes and focused. He felt at the web of ephemeral strands that extended out from him, invisible yet present all the same. Most of them led back toward the camp. But a few stretched across the countryside, likely leading toward his scouts and other Legionnaires canvassing the area.

Tiberius frowned. It seemed that his connection hadn't fully been severed, at least. That was good news. But did they feel different from before? And what of the other benefits? Would he still maintain access to the Legion's shared skills and stamina pool?

He'd need to investigate both. But first, his attention turned to his class.

[Emperor (Mythical): The ultimate leader of Rome. An emperor's legacy is built on the successes and failures of his empire.

As Emperor, you are in charge of Rome's military, citizens, and territory. Skills and titles related to the management of your territories and forces will have an increased effect. Conquering territory will yield additional benefits. You may draw on the power of your empire to accomplish your goals. All glory to the Emperor!]

Focusing on the class gave Tiberius a few insights as to its nature. It lined up fairly well with what he already expected—emperors of ages past were judged based on the abundance or poverty of their people and the success of their conquests, after all.

He had already claimed the title long ago, when they'd first arrived in this world. But something about seeing it reaffirmed here and replacing his title of Legatus… It made him realize once again the magnitude of the task he'd set before himself. It was nno longer something he simply called himself. It was recognized in truth, by the elves, the people they'd conquered, and even the System now.

It simply reaffirmed what he'd said to his men. He could not afford to be a leader of them only. He was the leader of Rome—of all its legions and citizens, now and into the future.

The mythical rarity of the class was interesting as well. It was no surprise, as the System had included that detail in its announcement. Yet it was a rarity that neither Marcus or Claude had ever heard of. Even the class of [King] was known to be of legendary rarity. It meant he was even less sure what to expect when it came to leveling—either its requirements or its rewards.

Tiberius filed that away as another matter to look into. However, he decided that this would be something for him to discover on his own. No matter how eager those around him would be to hear every detail of his new class. Sharing information about the Legion was one thing. About the Emperor? That was a clear path to being deposed. Especially if the title was as transferable as it had been in Rome.

He felt the burden of his newfound responsibilities settling on his shoulders more acutely as he read over the rest of his status. Despite the change to his skill slots, he luckily seemed to retain both the skills themselves and the levels he'd earned so far. That was not a boon he'd expected, given the elves' experience with their class change. Still, it was not one he'd complain about.

Focusing on the section, Tiberius decided to check what other skills were available to him.

[You have new skill evolutions available. View available evolutions? WARNING: After viewing, unassigned evolutions will be permanently lost!]

He grunted. Another welcome surprise.

Available Skill Evolutions:

[Commanding Presence] (Uncommon) -> [Regal Bearing] (Rare)

The decision to take the evolution wasn't a difficult one. [Commanding Presence] was at quite a high level due to his near constant use of the skill, so an improved version of it would be a great boon. Not to mention that it seemed quite fitting.

[Congratulations! You have assigned the skill [Regal Bearing] (Rare) - Lvl 0.]

Instantly, he felt his spine relax ever so slightly. His posture remained straight and tall, yet his shoulders lost some of the stiffness he'd associated with maintaining that appearance. The result was far more comfortable without losing any of the presence he'd come to cultivate.

It also felt somehow more… flexible. As though he were not just a military leader, but a leader of the people as well. Perhaps that was the intent.

After accepting the evolution, Tiberius took a moment to skim through his list of available skills. If its comically monstrous size was any indication, he still seemed to have access to the entire collection that his Legion had earned. Although hidden among them were a few new additions that caught his eye.

[Forest Walk], [Woodsong], [Soulstag Riding]... When he spotted a skill named [Elven Agility], he became certain. It wasn't just his Legion's skills he had access to. It was both of them.

The discovery opened up a whole host of new possibilities—ones that he'd need time to explore more thoroughly. If this happened every time they stood up a new Legion, then Tiberius may well find himself in possession of a list that encompassed every skill under the sun.

Granted, he could still only slot ten, and he'd need to level each one himself. But having his pick of even just the high-rarity ones meant that he had quite the advantage over even his Legionnaires.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He resolved to interrogate Sylendor about the options and have the elf curate a list of skills that might be relevant to Tiberius and his new role. In the meantime, he would only change a few of his skills that he didn't see himself using anytime soon. Starting with [Coordinated Bulwark].

In all honesty, the skill never saw much use even as Legatus. But now that he was an emperor? He didn't see himself joining a shield wall again anytime soon. If it became necessary, then the empire itself would likely be so far gone that he deserved to fall in battle.

[Congratulations! You have assigned the skill [Diplomacy] (Uncommon) - Lvl 0.]

Tiberius tried to flex the skill and frowned. Although it would ostensibly be useful, [Diplomacy] didn't quite feel like what he was looking for. Still, it was a start. It would have to do until he had more thoroughly looked through his options. Then, he'd make sure to replace it and any other skills that he didn't particularly need.

But that could wait until after they'd conquered Novara. After all, that was when his duties would undergo their most significant shift. Right now, emperor or not, he needed to focus on leading Rome's military to victory.

He moved on for the moment. Tiberius had already spent a not insignificant amount of time at the class stone, and there were other matters for him to see to. The last thing he checked on were the new titles that he'd been granted.

[Imperator: Recognized emperor of the Roman Empire. Provides a stat increase to all legionnaires under your command equal to 25% of each of your stats.]

The title struck Tiberius as somewhat strange. The text had similarities to his title of Roman Emperor, which he'd earned long ago. In fact, the term "Imperator" was often used as a title for an emperor. It made him wonder why the System seemed to distinguish between the two.

Nevertheless, its effects differed and would likely prove quite useful during this campaign. The stat increase had potential to massively increase their capabilities, especially if he was now able to level more quickly. And if it truly did improve his skills' effectiveness to such an extent… Perhaps he'd need to adjust his sooner than anticipated.

[Expansionist (I): Conquer a small amount of territory. +20% to charisma.]

Expansionist, while straightforward, was also quite welcome. He would never turn down an increase to his stats, especially not charisma. He quite looked forward to seeing it grow even more powerful.

Notably, it seemed that he hadn't lost the titles he'd accumulated while part of the Legion. Though whether or not he'd continue to gain more alongside them or even gain the elves' titles remained to be seen.

Taking one last look at his status, Tiberius withdrew his hand and turned toward the camp. The first groups of elves were already making their way toward the class stone, stopping to salute him on their way. He nodded to them as he passed before putting them out of his mind. After all, he had a duke to meet with.

***

Marcus pressed his palms together, holding them in front of his face. His voice was patient. "So. Let me make sure I understand this correctly."

"Shoot." Grand Mage Claude replied absently as a floating cloth polished some of his dragon's scales.

"Rufus was your dog?"

"Yes."

"You polymorphed your dog… into a dragon."

"If by polymorphing him into a dragon, you mean revolutionizing the entire field of [Transmutation] by developing a method to bypass the inherent magic resistance of dragons that would normally prevent any spell from affecting them, while keeping both it and the dog's personality intact afterward, then… Yes, yes, I did." The mage's tone was flat and he even had the gall to roll his eyes. "Youth these days. No appreciation for the efforts their predecessors went through… And you put it in such an unflattering light, too!"

Marcus barely held back a sigh of consternation. While the information should have made him feel even more terrified of the old man, it really just made him tired. At this point, he honestly should have expected something so absurd.

"Was this before you began to specialize in [Weathermancy]?"

"Oh yes, well before that. It was after I'd spent a good while exploring [Illusion Magic] and before my [Divination] kick a few centuries back."

"...But why?"

Claude cocked his head in confusion. "What do you mean, why? Have you never had a pet before?"

"I have!" Marcus defended himself. Well. He had, in a sense. If the stray cats he'd shared his scaps with counted as pets.

"Then you should understand." The Grand Mage crossed his arms. "Even for someone like me, there's only so long I could extend his life with potions and the like. And at a certain point healing won't do squat. So since I was already working on the problem… Well, he made for a perfect test subject once I was close to perfecting the spell."

"...Do you ever intend to turn him back?" Marcus asked, eyeing the massive pink beast. Its forked tongue lolled out of one side of its mouth.

"Nope!" Claude gleefully informed him. "Turns out, that part's a lot harder. Turns out polymorphing something into a dragon, hard as that was, is still a lot easier than polymorphing a dragon into something else. It would take me a lot more time to get that part working, and to be honest? I was getting bored of studying [Transmutation] by that point anyway. So I moved on."

"Mmm-hmm." Marcus hummed. He didn't even need his skills to recognize that the man wasn't telling the whole truth. If he would go to that level of trouble for his dog, then he wasn't likely to risk losing his pet by undoing the transformation. And he was certain that the "fun" of having a pet dragon factored into his decision, too.

"And, er, Rufus… He doesn't mind his new form?"

"Oh, not in the slightest!" The mage patted the dragon's haunch affectionately. "He absolutely loves flying. The only issue is, well, I perhaps wasn't as strict as I should have been when training him. His recall was never great, and once his perspective changed, well… he has a bit of a hard time recognizing where he's not supposed to go. And what he's not supposed to eat. And that not every tree is a stick that should be pulled out of the ground. It's a work in progress."

It was an unexpected admission of the ancient wizard's own shortcomings. Still, Marcus did feel as though he were underselling the problem a bit. The fact that Rufus had singlehandedly made horses unusable in the eastern marches was no small matter. It made him wonder if the "dragon's" activity around this area was also to blame for the suspicious lack of trees across the entire area.

After interrogating the Grand Mage for a bit longer, a messenger interrupted their conversation. Whatever news he brought was interesting enough to draw the man's attention away from both Marcus and his dragon, and he quickly set off—likely to conduct an interrogation of his own on some poor group of elves.

Marcus didn't particularly mind. He already had plenty of material to work with. With a bit of effort, the story of the bond between an ancient mage and his trusted companion could be turned into a heartwarming tale with comedic undertones. Especially if he included the rather unintentional consequences of Claude's actions. In fact, this kind of thing would play particularly well with children. Especially if he turned Rufus into a recurring character throughout multiple stories, ones rife with misunderstandings about friendly fiend and its accidental antics…

Marcus started humming a little tune as he worked out some of the details. But before he found time to write down the ideas springing into being within his head, another messenger approached. And this one was for him.

The Legionnaire almost saluted before catching himself and coughing into his hand. "Bard Marcus. The Emperor requests your presence."

Marcus nodded. "Well, I'd best not keep him waiting. Lead on, friend."

The pair moved through the camp at a brisk walk. It was not an unexpected development. Given that it was his actions that brought the Duke of Redcliffe to their side, Marcus thought it was only reasonable for him to be present. Evidently, Tiberius agreed.

He found himself rather looking forward to the meeting. He could only hope the duke felt the same.

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