Guild Wars

John Smith scratched his head as he gazed over the options before him.

｢Broker – Class

Rank: Divine

Success Chance: 70%

Price: 10,000,000 platinum per attempt｣

｢Lesser Devil's Advocate – Class

Rank: Legendary

Success Chance: 85%

Price: 1,000,000 platinum｣

｢Lord of the Mirage – Class

Rank: Legendary

Success Chance: 70%

Price: 1,000,000 platinum｣

｢Agent of Deals – Class

Rank: Epic

Success Chance: 100%

Price: 100,000 platinum｣

｢Master of Illusions – Class

Rank: Epic

Success Chance: 55%

Price: 100,000 platinum per attempt｣

He was more inclined to pursue the aspect that followed his Devilish/Broker nature than his Illusion/Enchantment through Eden. Hearing his thoughts, the God Serpent snorted coldly, yet didn't say anything about it.

It already disliked its Inheritor, so going from –100 favorability to –110 barely made any difference. It had already been chastised by Draco, so it would no longer antagonize him. Instead, it would content with having its petty revenge by refusing to help him.

Unaware of the God Serpent's thoughts, John Smith chose the Broker class. He was introduced to the trademark blackness of intra-dimensional teleportation within the Private Room, and opened his eyes to find himself in a courtroom.

He was standing in the cross-examiner's area, with a neat black suit and an oiled perm. In front of him was a sobbing woman in the witness box while behind him was another woman glaring at her with killing intent, her own counsel seated beside her.

｢System to Player Announcement

Beginning Broker Class Up Procedure. Standby.｣

"Hmm." John hummed to himself.

Of all the settings he could have encountered, a legal one was not what he had expected. He had been sure it would be a financial setting, as that was what the class obviously alluded to, but the current scene made it clear that his understanding of what a Broker was at the Divine level was different from that of the AI.

｢Broker – Divine Class Up Procedure

Description: A Broker is often assumed to be one who closes deals of a financial nature, or manages conglomerates of business. This is only one aspect of a true Broker. A true Broker is able to secure a deal in any field, at any time, in any place. There is no limit on how high, far, or magical a Broker can go with their offerings, and they have the ability to make sure that even though the deal looks fair on the surface, they are always the ones profiting.

Rewards: Divine Class - Broker.｣

Reading this, John Smith understood. This was more like his Devil Broker bloodline, where one could make deals that were of all kinds. Though John himself loved abstract deals, this class could make deals of all kinds.

So the question was, as a Broker, what capital did he have to trade with? This was a question often ignored by those who walked down this path. If it was financial, money would be the case.

In fact, money was usually the base value for these things. However, he had learned that when dealing with anything beyond the norm, especially abstract or magical things, money was useless.

In that case, it depended on the type of Broker you were. As far as John knew, there were three main types.

The first was the Shrewd Broker, who had nothing at the start and would raise their capital by trading small before eventually growing big. Basically, the type who would find a pebble on the roadside and find someone to trade it for a piece of paper, then use that paper to trade it for a knife, and so on.

This usually required extreme knowledge about items and human nature, as well as the ability to understand the economic situation of a place. For example, if he took the pebble to a quarry, it would be useless, but if taken to a desert, it would have more value.

The second was the Inherited Broker. These were the Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark types, those who were born into wealth and trained to be Brokers from a young age.

Just because they were rich second generations didn't mean they were useless. They had the required knowledge, connections, and training, so they simply started from the top and either remained there or rose even higher.

There was also the chance to fall, but that would just mark them as a failure among Brokers.

The third was the Scamming Broker. This was the fellow who had nothing or everything, but never intended to mete out their side of the deal from the start. They were swindlers who lied as easily as they breathed, feeling no remorse or shame, rather disdaining their prey for their lack of security.

The best of these types could swindle in the light and remain untouched either because their prey didn't dare to or because they were still unaware even after the fact.

Otherwise, those of this type were usually going from place to place, only leaving once the heat turned up or the locals became wise to the trick.

John smiled strangely because he didn't even know what type he was. The fact was that his bloodline only needed to burn some energy to provide him materials to exchange with on an abstract level, so would that make him an Inherited Broker?

However, at the same time, his deals always had a trick and an element of a swindle within, like how he had stolen that girl's freedom under the guise of giving her what she wanted, which would fit the Scamming Broker?

Then there was the fact that he, John Smith, at this time had nothing. Just because his bloodline could conjure up something didn't mean he had control over it. The things he took out were sussed using his Dark Angel psychic abilities, so it would always be what the target needed at that point in time, pretty much like the Shrewd Broker?

Or maybe, he should simply accept that he was an amalgamation of all three of them?

｢System to Player Announcement

The objective of the Broker Class-Up Procedure has been set. Player The Showman must broker a legal deal with the defendant in the courtroom to clear this task.｣

John was snapped from his thoughts when he saw this notification. Right after that, some information swelled into his head, informing him about the backstory of this case as well as the current situation.

Understanding things, he smiled in a strangely handsome yet eerie way.

"Mrs. Lindsay, it is truly hard for me to cross-examine you while you are so distraught. In fact, the entire court likely sympathizes with your difficulties given the situation at the moment." John began in a grand, yet pitying tone.

"However, the case must go on. Can you tell me why you believe the defendant is the killer?" John asked slowly.

The woman called Lindsay stifled her tears and answered with her head lowered. "She was the ex-lover of my son, and when he found that she was involved with a dangerous element, he tried to break up."

"After that, she stormed into our house and used the kitchen knives to stab my son to death. *sob*" The witness broke into tears again.

John hummed. "How come? Was the means of break up done over a distance?"

"Yes, over text. I dare not think of my fate had she been there in person." Lindsay answered sadly.

"How did you witness these events?" John continued.

"Through the cameras installed in our house. I've provided the footage to the court which shows her breaking our door down and attacking my stunned son who did not expect that. After hitting and screaming at him, he tried to calm her down, only to be stabbed with a butterfly knife. Not satisfied, she then took kitchen knives and proceeded to maim his injured body before fleeing." Lindsay answered while shuddering at the memory.

John had them play the video file, which was detailed enough. This evidence was damning, meaning this case should pretty much be crystal clear. Fortunately, John's Class Up mission was not to win as a lawyer, but a Broker.

Apart from the basic cross-examining to lead him to this point, everything else was set up for him. Now was the time for him to do his part.

"My lord, the prosecution rests for the cross-examination. I would like to request a negotiation with the defendant." John asked with a smile.

The judge was a token old man with glasses who banged the gavel and nodded. "The court will be on break for 15 minutes. Make it quick, prosecutor."

John bowed in thanks and signaled to the defendant's counsel, who led the two of them to one of the private meeting rooms for the court.

Once both parties were seated, the defense counsel got straight to the point.

"Mr prosecutor, do you have a deal for us?"

John also didn't want to waste time, so he nodded. "That's right. Mrs Lindsay mentioned a criminal element about Defendant Rachel Barnes. My contacts in the D.A have been chasing after those R.I.C.O charges for months."

John smiled in his eerily comforting way. "If Defendant Rachel Barnes were to give us damning insider info on the group, your punishment can be reduced from the death penalty to between 20 at the minimum and life in prison at the maximum, depending on the quality of information."

The defendant who was glaring at John suddenly shivered. It suddenly occurred to her that she was trapped, all alone and caught by the system she despised.

In her mind, she would just get a slap on the wrist for being a woman, or just some years in jail. Jail had been romanticized to people of her generation by rappers and musicians, so she didn't think it was that bad.

In fact, in the circles she ran in, those who had been to jail were seen as the 'real ones'.

However, she absolutely, definitely did not want to die. If the charge had been life in prison, she might not have caved, but the state she happened to be in allowed the death penalty.

Rachel sweated as she leaned forward and licked her dry lips. "So, if I tell you, my charge gets reduced?"

John nodded. "That's right. Not only that, we'll give you one of the VIP cells in a private prison, far from the ones where those of your former comrades would be spending their lives. You'll be able to enjoy a large-screen TV, internet, recreation, and good food."

"Don't forget, if you behave well and cooperate, your sentence can even be further lowered while in prison too. That 20 years could easily go down to 10 years, then to 5 years if you're smart. Play the system, Rachel, play it to your benefit."

Rachel was about to speak, but John stopped her. "And no, those who you'll be telling on won't know it was you. They can certainly guess, but we'll never admit it, and they will be spending so long in jail that by the time they come out, you'll be taking care of your grandkids."

Rachel sighed with relief and went silent for a long while. John just used the apparatus in the room to make coffee for himself and the other lawyer, who winked at him from Rachel's back.

John froze internally, but smiled outwardly. He realized that this situation was far deeper than he thought, but his part to play in it was limited to only brokering a deal at this time.

Rachel gazed at both men and nodded shakily. "I'll do it… I'll take the deal."

John grinned widely.

｢System to Player Announcement

Calculating potential stat allocation… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Drafting potential class skills… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Assessing current player physique… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Inspecting class equipment… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Corroborating possible techniques… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Predicting potential class paths… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

New class analysis complete. Display?

Y/N ｣

John opted to check out his new class.

｢Broker - Divine Class

Skills: Balance of Probabilities (Passive), Probability Manipulation (Passive), Measuring Scale (Active), All or Nothing (Active).

Starting Stats: Str 20, Dex 20, End 20, Int 20, Spr 20, Cha 195, Lck 195

Exp gain rate: 10%

Rank up difficulty: 50%

Class weapons: None.

Class skills: Any Devil or Charisma.｣

｢Balance of Probabilities – Passive skill

Effect: As a Broker, you live with probability. Whenever you engage in any matter or circumstance that involves some form of agreement, decision making, or deal, the scale will be automatically set to 50-50 no matter how low or outrageous your chances for success seem to be. If your chances of success are higher, this skill will not come into effect.

Note: When set to 50-50, other Broker skills can stack to increase success chances from there.｣

｢Probability Manipulation – Passive skill

Effect: A Divine Broker can twist fate to his whim and influence choice. At Rank 1, you can adjust any decision, deal, or agreement by 5% in your favor, which cannot be changed or stopped.｣

｢Measuring Scale – Active skill

Effect: Place yourself and your opponent on a balancing scale. Depending on the Luck value of both parties, the stats and combat power of each party are either deducted or added based on the net total.

Duration: For the entire battle

Cooldown: Once per battle.｣

｢All or Nothing  – Active skill

Effect: Bet your life versus that of your opponent on a random minigame. Whoever wins stays alive.

Note: This can only be used on any person once per encounter.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.｣