[Article] Magical Natural Philosophy COMPLETE - 1st Edition

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[Article] Magical Natural Philosophy - TALENTS XII

There's an elephant in the room we haven't tackled yet for Magical Natural Philosophy. 

Talents(Abilities You Are Born With). 

The double name is intentional from Maruyama. To the Overlord fanbase these range from "cheats" to "worthless". 

When asked why they exist however nearly everyone scratches their head for an in-universe explanation. Now the correct answer is they are reference and something Maruyama ripped off ( as is everything in Overlord). However, amongst everything else game related or story related in Overlord Talents remain the least understood by pretty much everyone. 

They. Just. Work. 

So let's finally talk about it. First a preface. 

Ziggy wants everyone to know that some of the conclusions in this piece are going to not be as substantiated in story because of the lack of documentation and mentions of Talents by the story characters. This is probably going to be the most controversial piece in Magical Natural Philosophy as well. But we have to at least try talking about it. 

So first when we discuss Talents, the oddest thing to consider isn't the range of what powers they have - it's how ubiquitous they are in society to the point a common ratio begins to crop up - 1 in 200 people have Talents. 

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Much like martial arts, Talents were abilities that did not exist in Yggdrasil but which were unique to this world. About one in every two hundred people was born with a Talent. While Talent-holders were not rare, the abilities themselves varied greatly in potency and type.

[V2]

Talents: Abilities That People Are Born With Talents are powers that exist in this world but did not exist in Yggdrasil. Approximately one in every two hundred people is born with one of these abilities

[MANGA]

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Now many might ask - why that is worth noting. Well in mathematics and large sample sizes we have an understanding of this occurring actually - the Law of Large Numbers basically states as we look at bigger and bigger groups of people things begin to appear about at their probability rate. So say 1 in 10 people have purple eyes like Jircniv. You might check one village of 100 people and find 0, 2 etc. Clearly the rates don't match - however as you check bigger and bigger samples, like cities, countries, you begin to see the rate on average (so long as the samples are reflective of the original population - if you do not find this that means there is a divergence of some sort in the population from the samples like ethnic differences or environmental mutagens etc). 

What this means for you all, Overlord fans is that likely over time people understood that on average 1 in 200 people based on random chance across populations manifest a Talent. This could of been confirmed by churches, an older nation, nobles, etc but the idea is if you analyze the data the ratio would hold true since heritage and so on do not seem to factor into Talents manifesting. 

Rather than go round about and lead you all by the nose, Ziggy wants to point out things clearly here. So first, let's look at the layout of Maruyama's Tenth Anniversary Notes - 

Level Limit

Origins

Ability Score

Special Item

Talent

Connections

Of note is how Talents are their own category here - independent of Level Cap, Ability Score, and Genius sections. From what we are told this is exactly how Talents work - they are distinct from powers you get from CLASSES, something contingent on Level, or heritage. The potency, the type, and even the usability of the Talent all varied from what a person could be good at sometimes or were super powerful and independent of their CLASS aptitudes.

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 For instance, there were Talents like being able to predict tomorrow’s weather with seventy percent accuracy, the ability to strengthen summoned monsters, hastening the harvest by several days, using the magic of the Dragons which once ruled this world, and so on. However, all of these were inborn abilities, which could not be chosen or changed. It was quite common to encounter situations where these abilities could not be applied. If someone was born with a Talent that could improve the destructive power of their magic, but they never had the chance to become a magic caster, then their Talent would be useless. There were very few people who could make good use of their Talents. There were almost no Talents which could dictate the course of one’s entire life, apart from a few exceptionally powerful Talents… The best proof of that statement was Gazef Stronoff, who was a warrior without a Talent. However, people with combat-applicable Talents tended to go into the adventuring profession. Therefore, Talent-holders were a common sight among adventurers

[V2]

A young man who has not only an extraordinary inborn talent and unparalleled alchemical skills but also a fairly attractive face. A perfect example of someone who won the genetic lottery. A

[V8]

“Indeed. Or at least, someone who knows what these letters are. Also… any humans who have a Talent which lets them decipher languages.”

...

Granted, she had heard some rumors from her squire friends. For instance, “My friend has a Talent that lets him know many degrees hot water is. Of course, nobody knows the exact temperature,” or “My relative’s a boat pilot who can walk five steps on water, but more than that and he’ll sink,” and so on. Most of them were abilities which would make people sigh and fall silent. There was no information about people who possessed abilities which the Sorcerer King wanted to know about

[V12] 

 

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It's of special note how even though Talents let you gain abilities they still operate on the principles of the rules to an extent - they enable access to SKILLS or spells but these powers then default to your own ability scores or CLASSES to determine how strong they are. Rarer Talents are also stronger equivalents of tiers for how spells are categorized.

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Unusual powers people are born with.

Perhaps it's reasonable to be able to use a single Sixth Tier magic regularly for the magic of Overlord? Being able to use this sort of magic is amazing, however because your basis is ability scores, one demerit is it would be considerably weaker than if Ainz had cast these spells.  

[Tenth Anniversary]

Her Talent is ’the ability to store any spell that she has seen or been targeted with - but only one usage - and use it as if it was her own.’ She can even use it on Super-Tier spells or Wild Magic. However, when casting the spell, its effects are calculated from her own stats, and all spellcasting mechanics still apply. For instance, if she were to cast the Super-Tier spell [Fallen Down], it would take the standard amount of time to cast but it would work off of her lower ability scores, so it would be less damaging than the same spell cast by Ainz. However, she will always be considered as having met the ability requirements to cast the spell. Also, she cannot willingly dismiss the stored spell. She can only release it by using it once, which can be taken, as a stretch, to be a weakness. As for whether a spell is stored, that depends on whether or not she wills it to be so

[KBA]

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That should be strange to a few people - just like CLASSES which grant powers they still defer back to Ability Scores to calculate damage. Talents cannot be trained after all either - they are fixed at what they do and can do no more and no less than what they can. In a way they are static. 

As a tangent we can use linearization to plot Talents relative to spell effects and rarity as well:

Single Spell Regularly/Single Spell Once Per Day/Single Spell Once Per Week

S - 6th Tier//

A- /6th Tier/8th Tier

B- //

C-0th Tier/ /  

D - NA

E - NA

Filling in the gaps you get:

S - 6th Tier//

A- 4th Tier/6th Tier/8th Tier

B- 2nd tier//

C-0th Tier/ /

== 

S - 6th Tier/8th Tier/

A- 4th Tier/6th Tier/8th Tier

B- 2nd tier/4th Tier/

C-0th Tier/2nd tier/ 

==

==  

Regular/Daily/Weekly

S - 6th Tier/8th Tier/10th Tier

A- 4th Tier/6th Tier/8th Tier

B- 2nd tier/4th Tier/6th Tier

C-0th Tier/2nd tier/4th Tier

==

This is derived by linear extrapolation but it does give us a line of best fit to compare Talent effects and how limited they should be. Theoretically S tier talents can rival tenth tier spells but they are limited to once per week meanwhile regular spammable ones are capped around 6th Tier for scope. The daily limit is in between the Weekly and Regular limited talents nicely as well. Use this as a rule of thumb not a outright limiting rule - basically being able to use Raise Dead should typically be a once per day or week deal not a spammable talent unless it's exceptionally, exceptionally rare.  But things can work however they want in your Overlord!

Another point is how Maruyama describes being born with Talents and great aptitude for SKILLS as factors fortunate with someone's birth. That is he describes geniuses like Nfirea as lucky for being born as they were. This matches how Talents are described as abilities you are born with. That seems obvious but ponder for a moment what that means - recall how Maruyama described Geniuses in the Tenth Anniversary post and other sections:

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Ninya.....Magical Aptitude: Ninya had a high aptitude for magic thanks to his Talent. Spells that would normally take 8 years to master, he learned in 4.  

[Manga]

A genius with the blade focused on only one thing; getting stronger

[V5]

 unparalleled alchemical skills

[V8]

This is the height of your talent for a unmodified ability score(things like your physical strength or mental capacity and so forth).

[Tenth Anniversary]

 Q: Can you elaborate on (Genius) modifiers? Do they get more skills, unique skills, or more skill points? A: A Genius differs in various ways. For example, the number of magic spells learned increases slightly. However there is never a time when they become incredibly strong.

[TWTR]

 Q: How did Nfirea and Remedios get the Genius modifier? Was it present in Yggdrasil? Does it apply only to Job classes only? Say can it be applied to (General)/Monster/ Racial levels? A: It’s a natural born talent. No [it wasn’t in Yggdrasil]. Only Job classes [have the Genius modifier].

[TWTR]

Other than that, the speed by which they grow and the probability they survive [saving rolls?] also increases. However caution is to be advised. In Overlord, Level is an absolute stat. Even should your ability be high, that does not compensate against the absolutes of Level such as the number of skills one can use, the damage dampening effects from level differentials, and the Tier of magic one can use.

[Tenth Anniversary]

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Notice how Geniuses can learn faster and gain slightly more powers or can use things slightly before the level requirement. Hence the need to notate them on character sheets. Ninya's Talent simulated one bonus of being a Genius as well - yet she is not a Genius herself as far as we know.

Geniuses however are also natural born - you are either born a Genius or you are not one. Just like Talents they are fixed at birth. So how do Geniuses work? Well if you have a high ability score apparently you can acquire the Genius modifier. 

Therein lies our connection to Talents  - they are dependent on other Ability Scores for calculations and can only bypass requirements or grant passive abilities - they do not typically have powers that can be trained either. 

So what does that mean?

If you consider a moment there is a strange relationship between Talents and Ability Scores we can actually make sense of the 1 in 200 occurrence rate of Talents as well.

In games Overlord is inspired by, often Ability Scores are rolled for at the time of character creation. In some of these games, what dice you roll varies. However in many you roll D6 dice or six sided dice. These are fairly common after all. But in a subset of games, you roll 3D6 dice. And so what happens when you roll three 6's in a row?

Well think of the odds of rolling three 6's: 1:216.

That is approximately close to 1:200. 

Do you see why Ziggy mentioned this might be controversial?

Basically Ziggy is proposing Talents might actually be the 'Genius' bonus for an Ability Score that didn't exist in YGGDRASIL. Of note is Genius being a bonus related to Ability Scores is something you will come across in games that give bonuses at the time of character creation though it varies by game to game. So there is already precedent. 

 If we approach this from the angle that Talents have a Talent Ability Score we can make sense of them in some ways. 

Recall the discussion we had on how Talent holders for whatever reason often have extremely good luck at surviving things they should not:

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So previously we talked about Blood Bought Miracles (patent pending). If you can come up with a better name for that go ahead, Ziggy is a pretty muh namer of stuff. Anyway, the curious thing about Blood Bought Miracles (minor rule breaking using a price paid in blood) is unlike Mana Oversaturation, which breaks rules on the condition of continual payment of mana (Decem's OVERSummoning, OVER meta magic, rituals, etc) is that Blood Bought Miracles are performed by casters AND non-casters to break the rules of the world in limited ways so long as a price is paid.

It's something between a universal mechanic and just a feat with certain status condition requirements... Our next focus is on something you might have noticed thanks to the last volume, though it existed before. Do you recall the strange reaction Ainz had to Antilene surviving Petit Catastrophe?

In return for consuming enormous mana, its damage surpassed even the super tier magic that Ainz could use. Of course, still it was not as powerful as the [Grand Catastrophe]. But the raging torrent of energy born from it was enough to blow away everything in an instant. The very next moment, Zesshi was hit by tremendous energy. Bad, gonna die Zesshi immediately realized. The fierce currents of energy blew away the earth elemental in an instant. She finally realized at that moment, that the earth elemental was neither a countermeasure for Einherjar nor a wall to let the girl escape. It was nothing more than a decoy, to keep Zesshi and her clone from escaping that single tyrannical attack. And in reality, her Einherjar also disappeared just a moment after the elemental did. Following that — – —–not yet! I will not die! I WILL NOT DIE! In the eye of the destruction raging around her sweetly whispering to her to give up and take it easy, Zesshi brought all her vitality to the fore to bear through it. But — ——her consciousness weakened. She could no longer sense the pain that had been stinging all over the body before. She could no longer even sense if she was still standing or where she was. So this was how death felt like. What the heck is this

[V16]

“You did good, taking her down without killing her, didn’t you?” “Y-yes. I also thought that I ended up killing her with [Petit-Catastrophe], but, it looks like she had a lot of vitality, so luckily she didn’t die.” “You used [Petit-catastrophe]!? . . . . . . . . . to think she didn’t die from that. . . . . . ..that human is certainly strong. Mare had been really fortunate. . . . . . ..So what happened to the elf king?”

[V16]

HAX

Or is it? Think back a bit to a few other times this has happened, people surviving things when they shouldn't have:

“Could it be those people I killed in that store were your friends? Are you mad because I killed your buddies~?” Clementine continued in a mocking tone: “Ufufufu, that magic caster was soooo funny. Until the end he believed that someone would save him~ but how could he hold out that long against my attacks with just that little bit of health… Or could it be he was hoping you would save him? Sor~ry, I killed him.”

[V2]

―He had to buy time for Enri. That thought was what drove Nfirea to move. Making note of the Troll’s upraised left arm, he ran forward and to the left. Seeking life in death, he plunged head-first into danger to reach the safety beyond it. The Troll’s fist followed him, and the wind of its passing ruffled his hair. And in front of Nfirea, a mighty foot kicked out at him like a moving wall. Nfirea’s vision spun wildly as he flew through the air, his body making cracking sounds like shattered tree branches. He hit the ground hard and rolled several times, like a piece of discarded rubbish. Pain coursed through Nfirea’s body, which was still rolling over the ground. This was the most pain he had experienced in his life. “But, but I somehow managed to survive. That’s amazing. I’m amazing…” He had hung on to life was because of the effects of his defensive spell and the fact that the Troll’s footing had been poor when it had kicked him. Ignoring the pain that shot through him with every breath he took, Nfirea stood, and loosed another spell.

[V8]

You may or may not able to add Keno to this list though when she was 'dying' and outlasted everyone else that might be because she was using her Talent so it's iffy.

But whoops. Cat's out of the bag now. For some reason, these people with talents all sort of 'survived' stuff or for longer than they should of. What gives?

Ninya still died but Clementine, an experienced murderer, didn't quite understand why she could take so much damage. Likewise, Nfirea was amazed he survived though he rationalized it as circumstances. But Antilene proves something - she had no business surviving Petit Catastrophe.

Maybe Brain not dropping dead right away after using Soul Ignition / LEsser Soul Ignition and being able to live for a minute was thanks to his Talent as well? Hard to say, given he's the only one we've seen do that. Brain however did pull off another miracle... one not paid for in Blood!

Right now, if someone had converted their ability into data and compared them, he would undoubtedly be cheering for Brain. Indeed, it was a miracle, like the sun rising from the west, a sight that would fill people with awe and respect

[V6]

Brain Unglaus had yet again, achieved something impossible. He did not know this himself. The true nature of his Talent was an increase in his focus capacity, only with this and the addition of his higher levels was he able to activate the martial arts required by [True Nail Clipper]. But, even so, Brain had his limits. He could not use any more martial arts than that, a limit imposed upon him by the world. But, in that moment — Brain broke the rules of this world once more. A second miracle of this kind. The first was when he cut Shalltear’s nail. The second, was made in this moment.

The consequence of breaking the rules was that his body began to deteriorate. His body probably couldn’t last for even one more minute

[V14]

==============================================

NANI!?!?!??!!!?

Yeah, strange to see Maruyama openly declare both are 'miracles'(magical bullshit no one can explain rationally). But clearly the Nail Clipper was not a Blood Bought Miracle.

Now for whatever reason people with Talents not only have special powers with no apparent cost, they can just perform miracles and have DM Fiat! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX.

Why though? How does that work? Why would having a Talent mean you can survive stuff you shouldn't have... how does it let you perform miracles without a price paid in blood unlike others? Maybe this is the conceit of the world, the World's Blessing, it's favor.

Or perhaps, Talents are something different... What even determines what Talent you get in the first place? Why do they vary in potency too? There is a plausible answer, though it might not be readily apparent to you all. But that is a discussion for another day, another time.

Clearly people with Talents are more 'magical' than others. one thing many people do not account for how do they power their Talents or use them without classes or levels?

========================================================================

 Look back over the Tenth Anniversary Statement about Ability Scores:

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Other than that, the speed by which they grow and the probability they survive [saving rolls?] also increases.

[Tenth Anniversary]

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 Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.

We can explain Talent holders in particular surviving things they shouldn't have with the token of knowledge that Ability Scores do in fact affect Saving Rolls (in theory). 

That or Maruyama is just a consistently bad writer?

Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.

Here's Ziggy's argument however Talents comes from an Ability Score:

1: Talents are fixed at birth just as Geniuses(reliant on Ability Scores) are fixed at birth

2: Talent holders have weird bonus survivability semi-confirmed by Maruyama to be something Ability Scores also help you with

3: Geniuses - the most lucky of those born with high ability scores can manifest partial minor bonus powers (learning things faster, learning a few extra spells, learning things earlier than normally possible) - Talents are effectively 'Bonus' powers as well

4: Talents appear at a rate of about 1 in 200, something explainable by probability and the Law of Large Numbers if Ability Score rolling with 3D6 dice is considered. 

5: Maruyama considered Nfirea being born lucky for having been a Genius and having a Talent - illustrating the luck component over heritage

Does that make sense?

Now Ziggy is fine if you disagree. After all, it takes a lot of extrapolation to put all these disparate things together. But it's oddly fitting with the mechanics of the world. But now you should probably have a few questions:

A: If Talents are based on a Ability Score - let's call this the Talent Ability Score (TAS) from now on, what does this TAS do besides give you a bonus power, a Talent, for being maxed out at birth? Are there CLASSES you can get related to it?

B: Why can Talents not grow or be trained to be better?

C: What determines a Talent?

D: Can we draw any other conclusions about things using these theories and conjectures?

A:

The most hand-wavey answer to the TAS mystery is it's just a LUCK Ability Score - an Ability Score that gives you bonuses on any Saving Roll - hence why Talent Holders like Nfirea can use it to survive checks and tests they are not normally apt at or do not have a more relevant Ability Score. That's a lazy answer however LUCK does exist in games and is used exactly like this... 

This would also answer why there doesn't seem to be a TAS CLASS as far as we know - how can one gain a CLASS, a package of SKILLS related to something intangible as LUCK? How do you train LUCK? It also explains how if YGGDRASIL did overwrite reality and force CLASSES on the world (and ability scores in theory) why this one doesn't really have CLASSES related to it - it has tangible magical effects but is so nebulous that you can't possibly make a SKILL to then faciliate a CLASS for it.

In a way that hand wave does actually address the mystery but also answer why the TAS and Ability Scores have so much in common. 

Suppose the TAS is LUCK for a moment. Given our theory that means every Talent Holder was also 'lucky'. So think for a moment about all the Talent Holders we have met - did they ever experience strangely specific Ainz-tier luck?

Yes. Actually. Let's go in order of appearance. 

Nfirea - Did Ainz not happen to see Enri's father (as he performed a miracle), saved Enri the woman he loved, and take an interest in his potions while also hiring him to perform potion work and secretely looking to safeguard him and Enri? 

Ninya - Did she not happen to meet Ainz, who then swore to safeguard her sister and he would destroy the Kingdom and most if not all the corrupt nobility?

Brain - Did he not by being crushed by Shalltear and built back up by Sebas not advance further down the path of the blade to new heights, performing miracles, surpassing Gazef Stronoff his rival? 

Fluder - did he not meet Ainz and finally meet the great magic caster teacher he always longed for?

Keno - Did she not happen to have Saotru isekai near to her, help her, and have him avenge her family from Cure Elim, Satoru being Cure Elim's nemesis? 

Antilene - Did she not finally meet a man she can breed with who was stronger than her and bested her?

Notice how it's YGGDRASIL beings who often fulfill these strong desires in Talent holders at least in Overlord (though Imina and Nigun cannot be said to have had their desires fulfilled as little as we know about them). 

One way we can explain Ainz's strange luck is his epiphanies could be influence from how all these super LUCKY people have some round about influence on YGGDRASIL beings who lack LUCK being from the game. So when Ainz was motivated to investigate Runecraft or make the Sorcerer Kingdom benevolent - these impulses could of been due to not random luck but affected by the desires of Talent Holders. After all - 

Ability Scores can manifest power, and we know power is basically different forms of mana. And when something has lots of mana and a focus or desire it can manifest magical effects (as in New World Artefacts). Could it be Talent Holders are extremely strong Focuses for desires? 

Dun Dun Duuun.

Basically, what we see with large group of people who upon hearing stories etch or inscribe magical enchantments in New World Artefacts - things with ample mana - could that all be related to this TAS? Basically is that power linked to this TAS, and so Talent Holders those with MAX TAS have the strongest influence on ambient mana (and beings born of it)?

That sounds like bull shit blazing right?

Yet, can we not explain Ainz isekaiing in KBA and Overlord proper not only due to relative mana of races similar to him (the large amount of undead in Katze) but also as one who could fulfill the desires of many of the TAS in the region? After all, why was Satoru, Cure Elim's nemesis, summoned? Sure he's undead but why when he was?

If race affects where, then could TAS affect WHEN people isekai - affecting the after shocks of the Dragon Emperor's Wild Magic spell just like how mass group of people influence New World Artefacts (in theory)?

This is why Ziggy said this would be controversial - obviously not everyone will agree to that conclusion. Yet it does fit with these more obscure mechanics somewhat. And are Talent Holders not the 'luckiest' New Worlders? 

So perhaps this TAS isn't LUCK. Rather it's an Ability Score related to desires as well as granting special powers outside the system. If it's an Ability Score, we can explain why large group of people collectively can still also manifest things in the New World like New World Artefacts as well - after all they still have the Mana of the TAS - it's just not as potent as a TAS who like a Genius has a MAXed Ability Score. 

Think a bit more on it - the desire to live could bend reality to summon interdimensional beings like Players - so cannot it not also bend reality to survive things that should of killed you like how other Ability Scores work? It might even explain how Brain, Keno, and Antilene made the impossible possible - their power of their desires trumped reality to make miracles that defied stats, defied the logic of YGGDRASIL, and allowed Antilene to be the first Valkyrie Class holder in the New World by pure random luck. Even Nfirea figuring out how to make the Red Potion could be attributed to being done so quickly by luck though he is also a genius so it depends. Fluder is easier to argue since in his case he flubbed a ritual that still sort of worked to prolong his life. Ninya ultimately died yet by dying Ainz retained her book and felt gratitude to her unlike most others and this did ultimately save her sister - Ainz fixating on saving Nfirea for his complicated reasons also made him ignore Entoma and thus not address Shalltear's mind control as quickly as he did what led to Sebas acting when and how he did in the capital.

But how do you argue these people who are already luckier than most are so lucky because they have high LUCK? How do we reconcile how desires are also a focus of this ability score? FAVOR? FIXATION?

Well here is where the fact Overlord is a Japanese franchise comes into play - LUCK in Japan also has associations with blessings. Basically divine favor and LUCK have a common word in Japan. However linguistically we have another facet to LUCK - it can also mean TO BLESS and not just to be blessed. This is why in Japanese games, manga, and anime characters go to shrines, donate money, and pray for charms, fortune, etc. Especially at New Years or before exams.

What does that mean - well it can mean that this ability to form New World Artefacts via mass Fixation and even bend isekai magic is due to collective BLESSINGS(Luck) manifesting. It's a stretch but you can possibly deconstruct and link the idea of luck and blessing if we look at the native language. We'll talk more on why this is relevant to a literary theme in Overlord too.

But consider a secondary definition of LUCK and Blessing - To Store or To Conform. 

These only exist with the Kanji in certain instances however are Talents not a bonus power that comes about from having more of this TAS? And are not some of the most powerful Talents operating sometimes like the user has a single ability slot that stores other powers? Likewise, we can think of the ability to fixate enchantments on New World Artefacts as forcing them to CONFORM to the stories people hear about them.

Basically the logic is just as mass groups of people can influence the mana in certain items to 'enchant' so too possibly can this capacity exist more strongly in others. As YGGDRASIL beings possess lots of 'data' they might be more easily influenced by all people unknowingly via some similar mechanism. 

Is it a stretch? Yes, definitely, it's pretty crazy. However, how much of Overlord is built on the ambiguity of language - where context affects Maruyama's intention. If you didn't know this humor is common in Japan using puns due to how their language uses ideograms - kanji. It's a clever usage of language for jokes. Maruyama however uses it in a literary fashion. Consider for a moment the title of Overlord - OVERLORD.

In Japanese this can also mean OVERLOAD. 

And OVERLOAD can be defined as in programming at least in Japan a thing that has produces an error due to having multiple definitions. 

So take for instance why Maruyama named Ainz's race an Overlord, calls transcendental beings Overlords of the New World, and has Ainz acting as a king amongst kings, a ruler that surpasses all others. That exemplifies the idea of OVERLOAD in a way - just like Jircniv having a mental breakdown overthinking about Ainz. Though Maruyama's intent is partially humor it's also linguistic ability in Japan to incorporate multiple meanings of a singular kanji into their usage in your literary work. And Maruyama always aspires to write superior at least in terms of literary ability despite his lack of talent. 

So if we take Talents to be named by Maruyama as TALENT the joke here is TALENT gives you cheat powers! And Maruyama often complains about his lack of Talent yet how success is determined by Luck.

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

You get the idea. Ziggy doesn't want to harp too much on Maruyama's dumb puns but hopefully you get the idea. Have fun trying to figure out all the jokes behind Decem Hougan's name. Ziggy still learns about new ones! Hur hur. 

Anyway....

Sadly there are mechanics or revelations in Overlord that are contingent on a greater understanding of Japanese the language. One theory that explains what spells and skills have changed relies on it at least. And it ties into a broader commentary in Overlord and Japanese literature beyond just fantasy and RPG references too - not getting into the more complex literary history and analysis here. Unfortunately these topics are a bit beyond most of you (we'd have to first study the original literature and elaborate on all the linguistics behind each device) and beyond the scope of this piece and Magical Natural Philosophy. 

Back to Talent and the TAS. 

B: 

That's right, we had several mysteries right?

Anyway, we already sort of addressed this but if Talents presumably have a TAS behind them the reason we do not see CLASSES form based on them or Talents as trainable skills might be because they are an Ability Score based on LUCK and DESIRE or the capacity to affect ambient mana in subtle ways - most or all people wouldn't realize they are even doing this. 

Though... 

Given how many Talents are like Wild Magic spells.... Maybe Dragon Lords were the only race that found a way to harness the TAS and formed the Wild Magic CLASSES over centuries noticing the power? After all, do they not harness souls to enchant by force and are Blood Bought Miracles not harnessing life force by force while bleeding(desire strongest on the cusp of death)? When someone is on the verge of death certainly their desires would be strong enough or stronger at least and if desires can bend reality... that would explain why someone as strong as Decem while bleeding could manifest a miracle  as well...

Food for thought. Dragon Lords being the LUCK Class and Racial race... seems ironic given their ultimate fate - then again Maruyama routinely writes characters born lucky (Antilene, Decem) experiencing bad fates due to their own failings. It's fun to play the game of explaining Miracles and TAS though. If mass collectives of people can bend reality to enchant items - and even influence isekai locations - and in Mass for the Dead they are targets for Chaos Beasts, perhaps high concentrations of Olde Mana or life force are linked to the TAS as well though Talent Holders are not usually noted to have more life force than others...

You could argue that Olde Mana itself is what is the fixation and focus of desires - not the TAS. Life force after all should exist in the blood and so desires, miracles, and life force could be distinct and disjointed from the TAS and it's powers. 

Still, it is true Talents also break logic of the game world and the New World like how Wild Magic can and New World Artefacts can...

What do you think? Ziggy thinks Talent Holders able to bend reality just slightly is already proven by how they possess powers that are independent of CLASSES and LEVEL. 

C:

So what even determines the Talent you get though?

Here is where most if not all people get stumped. Why do people get what they get?

An older theory was you basically have some junk residue on your soul from a past life or something - that is some SKILL from whoever used to have some of your soul or a dead Dragon Lord or something manifested as a Talent for you. 

That doesn't quite make sense now with Keno and Antilene's Talents - given they pretty much break common sense of the world to such an extent it doesn't quite fit anything we have ever heard of. 

Ironically, one of the least important Talent Holders with a not so powerful Talent actually gives us a lead here - Imina. 

Recall Imina's Talent:

==========================================================================

She was born with a talent that made it easier for her to float and harder for her to drown (not that it would completely protect her from drowning). However, she hated swimming because she was once greatly humiliated when she was attacked by a monster near a body of water.

[V7]

==========================================================================

And here we go again...

Basically the hint here is due to the double entendre nature of Japanese (computational OVERLOAD) - in this case 'drowning' also can be connected to 'over indulgence' or 'addiction'. Likewise it can also mean to 'lose one's head over' something. If you don't get the revelation there - these are aspects of Imina's personality in fact.

==========================================================================

The source of the scream lay before Eruya — one of his female companions, who lay upon the ground. Judging by the circumstances, Eruya had probably punched her. The woman looked up at Eruya’s face, which was twisted in anger. Her own face was filled with fear as she begged pathetically for forgiveness. Hekkeran fought back a rising wave of nausea, and a thought flashed through his mind. He hurriedly turned his attention towards his companion — Imina. Just as he had imagined, her face had gone blank. There was a dangerous air around her, as though she would launch an attack if things went any further. Hekkeran hurriedly signaled to Roberdyck and Arche who were standing beside her, telling them to hold her back. Personally speaking, Hekkeran was as angry as Imina was. However, he could not stick his nose into the problems of other teams. Of course, he could do so if he wanted. However, if he did, he would need to be prepared to bear all the consequences of that choice. That was the reason why the other teams simply wrinkled their brows in displeasure, but none of them made a move.

....

“That fucking son of a bitch, why isn’t he dead yet? How about it, want to kill him?” Imina could not tolerate Eruya, and she whispered her displeasure into Hekkeran’s ear the moment she was beside him, in order to vent her anger. Her voice was very soft; there was no telling if it was because she was utterly furious or because she was trying to restrain herself. Hekkeran did not know, and could only hope it was the latter.

[V7]

Right time. It even made me feel like the gods were telling us to form the team.” “Oh, that’s amazing, my memory isn’t that clear. So what were you drinking back then, Rober?” “Water.” “Isn’t that the same as what you always drink… you really are a teetotaler. Still, it would be troublesome if you drank as much as Imina did.” “It can’t be helped, I just don’t drink alcohol. Of course, Imina-san’s bad taste in alcohol is a problem of its own…” “Ahh, well, you’re the sort who changes color from red to blue and then white the moment you down a cup of wine. If not for that antidote spell, I have no idea how the first time you drank would have gone.”

[V7]

==========================================================================

 Brain's is also pretty easy - 'increases his Focus Capacity' ie his ability to focus. Did Brain not have any desires beyond fixating on getting stronger? did he not even get tempted by captured women and even Zanack found it odd how he lacked sexual interests. Also consider how super autistic he was about training:

==========================================================================

However, Brain had also learned that the dream of becoming the strongest in the world was not one that only he possessed. It would seem his perspective had been too limited. After retreating into himself for over a month, Brain broke through the despair that would drive anyone to drink, and pulled himself together. He refused employment offers from several nobles, having decided for the first time in his life to strengthen himself. He trained ceaselessly, honing both his skills and his body. He learned about magic and furthered his knowledge. The genius now applied himself like a scholar. Defeat had only made Brain stronger. He did not want to work for nobles because he did not want his talents to rot away. One needed sparring partners when practicing the martial arts. Mere discussions of theory were not enough. In addition, there were vocations that allowed him to fight often and earn a good wage. He did not choose the profitable path of the adventurer because adventurers did not have many chances to kill people. Of course, they fought a lot of monsters, but Brain’s ultimate goal was to defeat Gazef. With that in mind, he had to train himself by fighting other humans. Within this limited range of options, Brain chose to join the Death-Spreading Brigade. Granted, they were only a band of sellswords, but any mercenary company would do

...

All living things died when weapons struck their vitals. Thus, all one needed to do was master techniques which could accurately strike said vitals. Rather than learn a broad range of techniques, he had focused on one single goal. His goal was to strike faster than his opponent, to accurately deliver a single, fatal blow, and in the course of his studies he had innovated a second unique martial art — [Instant Flash]. That high-speed strike was swift enough to be undodgeable, but he had not stopped there. His training after that was extraordinary, in pursuit of the peak of excellence. He must have practiced it hundreds of thousands, no, millions of times. His ceaseless use of the [Instant Flash] had caused calluses to grow on his palms, specializing them in performing the technique, and parts of his sword’s hilt had been worn into the shape of his grips. In his unending quest for perfection, he had once more birthed a new technique. He could cut his foe so quickly that blood would not even stick to the blade. Feeling that he had reached the realm of the gods, he named that technique [God Flash].

[V3]

Seeker of Strength...Studying the Blade (and getting stronger in general) ....A genius with the blade focused on only one thing; getting stronger.... Surprisingly, Brain enjoys shopping, but that’s only because he likes looking for items to further increase his strength.

[V5]

Why would Brain Unglaus choose to serve under this woman? Though he had heard rumors that Brain was interested in Climb, he did not appear to be gay in the slightest. However, after some investigations, it did appear that he had not had a woman at all — it could not possibly be because he’s only interested in children, right?

[V14]

By the way, I scrapped it, but Brain in the published books was homosexual. In fact there was a setting where he was in love with Gazef, so that’s why he had no women in the bandit cave [for himself].

[TWTR]

==========================================================================

Dun Dun Duuuuuun.

Do you see now?

There lies a connection between one's nature and their Talent. 

If you want further support - consider how Cure Elim's hobby - stockpiling power also ties into how he as an undead Dragon Lord can store souls for later usage to fuel his wild magic?

==========================================================================

Interests: Stockpiling Power

But Cure Elim exploited a loophole, using its Wild Magic to absorb a great number of souls from the surrounding area and using these stolen souls to compensate for the limitations of the undead transformation, thus giving the undead Dragon the ability to use Wild Magic. However, it is like casting spells from an MP bar that does not regenerate over time, and every time it casts, it utterly destroys a fixed number of souls. Therefore, once it consumed all of the souls in its collection, it would be reduced to a mindless Zombie Dragon. For this reason, it elected not to use its spell for the final time after realizing that it was ineffective. However, it could have continued to use less intensive Wild Magic is normal.

[KBA]

==========================================================================

Notice how for Brain and Cure Elim we can derive a connection between whatever determines a person's interests and their Talent or powers realized with Wild Magic (at least somewhat).

==========================================================================

Fluder

Interests: Anything related to magic

 Imina:

Interests: Spacing Out (and doing nothing)

==========================================================================

Going back to Imina, her interest, 'spacing out' can also be thought of another way to see someone losing their head not in anger but in losing their train of thought. Likewise Fluder having his 'eye' on magic is one way to recontextualize his interest and Talent. 

One counter argument however to this theory is Arche - who has the identical talent to Fluder. Her Interests differ from his. However both are scholars of magic, her interests are more varied. Evileye vs Keno also have divergences here. There are some commonalities between magical research and all the research Keno does, and experimenting and seeing new things but it's vague. Antilene's talent of using new Skills does tie a bit into her  hobby of trying new things?

However, these vague similarities might substantiate the argument - at the core of these people even in different time lines, they have core personality traits that still manifest in their character. 

One conclusion is Talents, Abilities you are Born With, are powers determined by intrinsic natural traits or your nature. 

There's a joke with Nigun's Talent using this logic like Imina's. But you get the idea. If we talk about the JETTO-sama, then we also see his Talent can be read as 'being able to discover or see through every 'illusion  or deception'. That can be likened to why he was so cynical and jaded over things but ironically he was dense to Nemeru's feelings. RIP.

If we had to explain what Talents people get, we at least have a framework to explore possibilities - and it ties into the title of Overlord - which can also be read OVERLOAD. Talents rely on OVERLOAD of character traits to manifest powers at the time of people's births - these are traits so strong they are related to the interests on their character sheets and do not diverge even in alternate timelines when their builds might change. It also explains why Talents are fixed - they are influenced by things in your nature that you have no control over.

If we analyze this further - effectively New Worlders have something like flavor text at birth that influences Talents. It's like one's nature is normally just an aspect of personality but if one has a maxed out TAS, the Talent that manifests is based on this flavor text. If NPCs can manifest powers and bonuses based on flavor text, then doesn't it stand to reason New Worlder's could be affected as well?

Talents and TAS finally give us an example of symmetry with flavor text buffs! Talents just happen to be tied to more mechanical abilities while NPC Flavor Text is relegated more to just Normal CLASSES.

Huzzah!!

D:

Wait, there's moar!? NANI

Why yes. 

A strange  oddity in Overlord you might notice is Ainz actually has a certain... weakness. That weakness ties into some off hand remarks by Maruyama as well:

==========================================================================

“Thank you very much.” Zanac had on him a brilliant smile to which Ainz could not help but feel amazed. This man’s courage was quite sizable. If Ainz was in his shoes, would he have been able to do the same? —I do not think so. As expected of someone of royal blood. This has been very educational.

[V14] 

“I, Keno Fasris Invern, do hereby swear to you that I shall pay you whatever you desire, Satoru-sama.” Suzuki Satoru quietly sucked in a breath. Such was Keno’s regal, princess-like demeanor that it established her as superior even to the most successful salesman that Suzuki Satoru knew. “Then, I am very grateful. Thus our compact is formed. In that case—”

[KBA]

In reality regular undead are immune to mental system type attacks (someundead are exceptions). However, since he has human remnants, it is more or less effective.

[ARC]

 Don't forget as one's Level Limit(Level Cap) is higher the more likely there are members of the opposite sex surrounding you. They won't betray you? In this world things like fascination mental manipulation type abilities exist? 

[Tenth Anniversary]

==========================================================================

Ainz, a Player, seems to actually be susceptible to these influences - alluded to in the tenth anniversary as 'fascination' but also tied to Royalty classes. It's... very strange. But it does explain why Ainz believed Jircniv wanted to be friends so easily and went along with it.

From a meta writer perspective - it sort of parallels how poorly written web novel fiction often has beta protagonists who listen to whatever royalty characters say in those novels too. It is sort of tied to the Japanese idea of acquiesence and humility often cited for why the characters act this way in those settings too. 

This is notable for Ainz however because normally he is very untrusting and only cares about the well being of Nazarick. Yet, why did he endeavor to believe in Jircniv's offer of friendship and feel so betrayed when Jircniv cheered for Go Gin despite hearing Demiurge explain Jircniv's true sinister intentions? Why did Ainz bond so easily with Zanack with only one meeting - even not willing to use his body to create undead? 

These strange inconsistencies in Ainz's character can be explained by his own loneliness however we can also explain them as tied to the mechanics of the story and Normal Classes. 

This ties into TAS and Talents because people with Talents tend to be very driven, lack loyalty to figures, and Players, using avatars from YGGDRASIL would lack a TAS yet not have flavor text like NPCs to compensate. 

And recall - TAS appear to also be tied to desires or blessing things - but could also be related to the inverse - resisting influence from desires of others. Thus talent holders who theoretically have a maxed out Talent have an easier time rejecting fascination influence from Normal Classes than others. 

So this might explain why Fluder felt no true loyalty to Jircniv despite his Normal Classes, how Brain failed to be recruited by nobles, or Antilene never felt strong ties to the Theocracy (though her abusive childhood and mixed heritage also can explain that). 

This may not be the strongest argument, however it does tie the TAS to an Ability Score test that often is obfuscated with writing. Again, Ziggy wants to stress this is probably a controversial topic. Anything about Talents can be. However, this capacity to fascinate... that might be what Charisma(Normal) also does - given Gustav who was weaker than Remedios could reign her in.  So there is a SKILL that can evolve into a CLASS or all the royalty classes at least. That proves that whatever this SKILL is that fascinates it can be trained and can make people Level Up. That means it is used in a test or roll of SOME sort and many other Ability Scores also are used by SKILLS which lead to leveling up mainly for combat. Ziggy's argument is the defensive or counter to this SKILL is just the TAS roll - ie using the whole desire aspect of the Ability Score's name. 

Given farming Talents resemble Farming CLASS powers too, perhaps there is a deeper connection between all Normal Classes and the TAS. 

It's understandable why Players might be susceptible to Fascination - that wasn't an ability from the game after all so they have no STAT to defend against it just like how all NPCs lack an intelligent stat so flavor text is what determines that. Renner, being super smart and having acquired the Genius CLASS does support the idea people can acquire CLASSES by using tests that didn't exist in YGGDRASIL...

The issue here is does the TAS really resist Fascination? 

That is far less clear to the mechanics of the world. People with Talents tend to be self interested at least. However others are also egocentric beyond them... Still TAS can be seen as being tied to desires and so by that description it can be possible though even the base LUCK stat version of TAS theoretically could be applied. That is having a high TAS or Desire based Ability Score could help you resist external influences trying to warp or twist your desires. 

This ties further into the Japanese notion what a spell or magic is as well - magic being 'chants' or even broader 'chants' or 'ideas'. This is why Primitive Caster can be taken to mean 'One who speaks fondly of the magic that once was' or 'magical ideas of a simpler time'. As Talents can simulate spells... 

What do you think? 

So why would Ziggy want to label Fascination resistance onto TAS?

Well it might be because strangely New Worlders seem to develop weird resistances to things. It was also strange how Ainz thought Riku(Tsa) was specialized in magical resistance of all things. That might legitimize how the TAS has a connection to magical resistance - especially as Rokesh who many theorize might be related to the Brightness Dragon Lord also was noted to be resistant to magic. That could just be a coincidence of his race and colors however. 

Martial Art users and Warriors being able to resist magic as well since normally Paladins not Fighters should have abilities related to resisting spells. The key here lies in probably Focus - but the answer could also be the TAS. How you quantify willpower to resist pain and fear however is tricky. Neia's power also targets those who are weak in will as an Evangelist. 

Due to the fluctuations in mental state however, it's likely not an Ability Score but something closer to another value like sanity or morale. Morale is more likely to Ziggy but that's another article for another day. Still the possibility remains it might be related to an Ability Score and the TAS is the closet to one we can substantiate though it's strange how people boost their spirits with war cries often, warriors and magic casters. That suggest morale modulation is affected by cries in theory and we see even Lords have special cries that trigger changes.

==========================================================================

 The magic casters began their counterattack, and cast their spells. Gazef focused his energies, and took a stance in order to resist their magic

...

Mind-controlling magic. The horse had been affected by such a spell. Gazef might have been able to fight off its effects, but the affected party was not a magical beast, but a mere warhorse, so resistance was not to be expected.

[V1] 

The woman’s eyes went wide, and her red pupils seemed abnormally large. In that moment, a fog suddenly clouded Brain’s mind, and he felt favorably disposed toward the enemy before him. However, he dispersed the fog with a quick shake of his head. “…Mystic eyes, huh? My will isn’t weak enough to be affected by that sort of thing alone.” Having drawn his sword, Brain’s heart was like a sword as well, cleaving effortlessly through regular mind control.

[V3] 

He had accepted that he would die, here and now. Perhaps it’s too late… but thank you, my greatest enemy (dearest friend)… With that, his heart lightened. Without confusion, he allowed himself to let go. Even the shame of the past had vanished. “—Aaaaaaaaa!” Brain cried out like some sort of strange bird. It came from the depths of his soul, carrying the full power of his being

[V6] 

Riyuro gave voice to a mighty cry. It was a cry infused with the skill he had obtained when he had ascended to the position of Clan Lord. As he saw his army of over 10,000 charge the enemy in response to the cry, he even felt a little pleased.

...

His troops would not be demoralized to the point of flight. The cry Riyuro had used to sound the charge turned his men into warriors that did not know fear. Much like the Berserk state of Berserkers, it increased their attack strength but reduced their defense. More importantly, they were immune to all fear-related effects. However, the fact that they would not refuse the Clan Lord’s orders no matter how dangerous they were could be said to be a double-edged sword.

...

“You chosen heroes!” He could not raise his voice. Riyuro saw the Red and Blue Quagoa before him, as well as the other Quagoa with special abilities, all of whom had been formed up into the strongest combat units of the clans. The reason why none of them responded to Riyuro’s cry was because they were all watching that suit of red armor with despair in their eyes. They too must have felt that they had no hope of victory. When they had first been gathered, their eyes had shone, but now there was no light in their eyes, as though they were dead. He had chosen not to drive them berserk to preserve their defensive strength, but it had been the wrong decision. The Clan Lord raised his voice to try and psyche them up.

[V11]

“[Twin Penetrate Magic – Holy Ray].” Calca emitted two rays of light. She was probably thinking that it would be fine as long as one of them could pierce Jaldabaoth’s spell immunity, but unfortunately her attack was ultimately as ineffective as her sister’s. That meant he possessed very high magic resistance. In other words— I need to give it my all! She shouted a battle cry to fire herself up.

[V12]

From the depths of her brain, Neia recalled a lecture she had received once. The most important factor of resisting spells is to have a clear mind. No, there was no way this music could be a magical attack. If this was a trap, there would be no need to raise the Holy Kingdom’s flag. Neia walked in what she hoped was a proud and bold way, as she scanned her surroundings.

[V12] 

In that case, the only way out is through! “Ahhhhhhhhh!” She used her battle cry to rouse her spirit, and began to cast spells with her trembling lips.

[V13]

The scales on its body had a wet sheen to them and threw off a bizarre riot of colors that did justice to its nickname of “Rainbow Scales.” Not only were they beautiful, their hardness was said to rival those of Dragons. In addition, it possessed high-level magic resistance and was equipped with a large shield and a suit of enchanted plate armor. When one factored in its warrior prowess as well, said being might well qualify as the toughest entity in the Abelion Hills. This demi-human was Rokesh of the Nagarajas. He was the demi-human who had been appointed as commander of this detachment by the Demon Emperor.

[V13] 

Neia has not yet realized that she is using a special ability to influence the thoughts of others (a.k.a. brainwashing). Currently, her ability only works on people with unhealed emotional wounds, and they see themselves as saved by Neia’s words. 

[V13]

The Elemental Skull had cast multiple [Vermillion Nova]s to reduce Riku’s HP, but to defeat him would be a tall order. It could be because of his job classes, but his magic resistance was abnormally high. Given that was the case, Ainz cast a spell on Riku. “[Temporal Stasis].” This was a ninth-tier single-target spell. Although the spell could prevent the opponent from moving, it also prevented them from taking any damage while the spell lasted. That was why it was usually used when there were multiple hostiles. However, Ainz found that his spell was not just resisted, but nullified completely. It appeared that Riku had time-stop countermeasures. Of course, that was not too unusual given how strong he was.

[V14]

“If the two, no, if we combined all three of your estimates… So, are the three of you in agreement that the opponent was a tank that specialized in magic resistance?”

[V14] 

The very next moment, Zesshi was hit by tremendous energy. Bad, gonna die Zesshi immediately realized. The fierce currents of energy blew away the earth elemental in an instant. She finally realized at that moment, that the earth elemental was neither a countermeasure for Einherjar nor a wall to let the girl escape. It was nothing more than a decoy, to keep Zesshi and her clone from escaping that single tyrannical attack. And in reality, her Einherjar also disappeared just a moment after the elemental did. Following that — – —–not yet! I will not die! I WILL NOT DIE! In the eye of the destruction raging around her sweetly whispering to her to give up and take it easy, Zesshi brought all her vitality to the fore to bear through it

[V16]

==========================================================================

Going berserk is similar but has it's own CLASS so this complicates things further. 

=========================================================================

A strong-looking Bafolk fell from above with a growl, holding a spear. It had probably jumped down from the city wall. Its eyes were red and he was foaming at the mouth. It was clearly not in a normal state of mind. It looked like he had gone mad. “I see. Savagery… no, berserking? Certainly, that would negate fear and other mental effects — oops.” The Sorcerer King skillfully evaded the stabbing spear. It was a crisp, efficient movement, one unique to trained individuals. However, the Sorcerer King’s evasion meant that a Bafolk who had become a statue ended up being stabbed by its compatriot’s spear instead. The spear pierced straight through its body, and it collapsed to the ground, spraying blood everywhere. The berserk Bafolk no longer seemed able to tell friend from foe.

[V12]

==========================================================================

Maybe we will see more with the Strongest Human in the final arc of Overlord?

Anyway..................................................................................................................

Ziggy just wants to reiterate how this is probably the most controversial aspect of Magical Natural Philosophy. Just remember how Talents actually work can vary wildly(hur hur). hopefully Ziggy presented the argument here decently enough and how it ties into the idea of OVERLOAD vs OVERLORD, flavor text, and the 1 in 200 aspect. 

The truth however can be anything you desire!

[Article] Magical Natural Philosophy - New World CLASS Mechanica X XI

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yRwM7QfIFAZkU2SZqSceO_sF7QCHFSPF/view?usp=share_link

 

Ahoy hoy, Ziggy here!

Though this will not be exhaustive, the effort here is to attempt to build a taxonomy for CLASSES (ie JOBS) to make sense of changes and so on. LET US BEGIN.

First we can define Job Classes in the New World based on how Maruyama himself notates them differently-

(Normal)

(Genius)

(Unnotated) sans addenda

Of these three we have notation or the lack thereof on a given Job Class. All (Genius) CLASSES are just minor departures from the Unnotated variation, in Maruyama's own words, so it's more of a special case than a true divergence. The only reason it is even noted is (Genius) CLASS holders can possess powers beyond their level or so forth. For that same reason LESSER may be considered to fall under the same broad category as (Genius) does and are not truly distinct JOB CLASSES but 'variant' JOB CLASSES.  

We've already discussed LESSER but for the sake of reference a 'LESSER' LEVEL:

LESSER LEVELS: 

These are LEVELS which are obtained missing so many prerequisites (like power) that it negatively affects the LEVEL itself. Typically this means the SKILLS of that LESSER LEVEL are weaker than they should be compared to other early acquired LEVELS.  

======================================================================== 

Normally, it would be impossible to acquire the Valkyrie class without being able to satisfy the prerequisites conditions, but she was able to do so. However, she instead obtained a lesser version, which has the disadvantage that her overall ability, and her trump card [Einherjar], is slightly weaker than that of the Valkyrie class. It is possible for [New World] natives to learn professions without regard to certain prerequisites. For example, if one is able to collect information at the expense of many casualties, they may be able to acquire the Ninja class even though it should be impossible for them to obtain, like with the non-lesser Valkyrie class. However, it must be said that the latter is impossible in practice. This is because Valkyrie is a much more difficult class to acquire than Ninja, and it is impossible for even outliers to obtain the Lesser version of this class, making it difficult to gather experimental subjects.

[V16] 

Nurunuru cast a defense spell on himself, while Keno used the power of the ultimate Vampire, The One. After plundering all the research of “Corpus of the Abyss,” she had researched it and gained this power. However, it was a realm that was only supposed to be reachable by more powerful entities. Since she had attained it with a weak body, its potency was greatly reduced. In that case, she ought to be called a Lesser One.

[KBA]

========================================================================

Now in truth, we have two distinct types of CLASSES then:

(Normal) eg PRINCE(NORMAL)

and

(Unnotated) eg FIGHTER

Of note (Normal) has been written as (General), (Average), (Civilian), or even (Ordinary). Substitute your preferred for this discussion.

These two are presumably distinct and disjoint - an Unnotated CLASS is not a (Normal) CLASS and vice versa. The core idea is (Normal) CLASSES tend to lack power and stat bonuses of Unnotated CLASSES, are typically New World exclusive, and tend to be for non-Combat related roles. 

Unnotated CLASSES are pretty much any combat related JOB CLASS, both original and from YGGDRASIL. Of note is how Fighter and the many variations all have Martial Arts subsystems built into them distinct from YGGDRASIL's own Fighters, however YGGDRASIL magic classes have mostly the same subsystems. Of note is how New World JOB CLASS mages can perform rituals and enchant however, so there are divergences between the two schema of CLASSES. 

========================================================================

There a [type] of class called Normal, but holders are not endowed with combat ability [sentou ginou] at the drop of a hat, rather it’s a different type of class which a person potentially acquires during their daily living [seikatsuru]. Skilled craftsmen are talented well, because their Normal class is high. But Normal classes are weak classes. For example, just because someone has Emperor Level 8, that does not mean they possess the equivalent combat ability [sentou nouryoko] as a Level 8 Warrior. Is the combat ability 1/5 or 1/2 the standard [for Normal classes compared to Warrior classes]?

hey obtain those kind of abilities ([is that] too vague?), compared to an identical farmer a Farmer[class holder] technical skill they possess has a feeling of being higher. The combat ability of a Lv. 1 Farmer and a person possessing technical skill, the Farmer is somewhat stronger. Well it’s the difference between a Lv. 0 and a Lv. 1 (Lv. 1 Farmer). Although they only differ by a few percentage points. A super powerful farming soldier may turn out like Lv. 7 (Lv. 2 Fighter, Lv. 5 Farmer). They’re Lv. 7, but they are weaker in comparison to a Lv. 7 Fighter. Does that answer your question? Q: Although Ainz cannot equip Warrior Job weapons and the maids cannot cook so their game settings are shown [in not being able to do things they have no classes for]. Demiurge made a throne for Ainz though. Is that not okay unless he has crafting classes? A: Tasks can be done as usual for Jobs not in YGGDRASIL. For example, because YGGDRASIL had a class called Weaponsmith, Demiurge cannot make weapons. Armor is the same. Yet, there was no Furniture Craftsmen system Job, so he can make it like normal. Nevertheless, Demiurge has exceeded do-it-yourself carpentry, maa Ulbert is at fault.  

[BLOG]

========================================================================

 

What is most interesting however are the nuanced rules for (Normal) JOB CLASSES. The first is one proven by the Vaiself siblings. 

========================================================================

De Facto CLASS Acquisition Lemma: (Normal) CLASSES Are De Facto and not De Jure designations

A person can hold a a (Normal) JOB CLASS despite not having the title officially. That is a De Jure designation, nobiliary particles, nor legally binding exchanges are not required for (Normal) CLASSES. 

========================================================================

PF: 

Consider Renner. 

Renner is the Princess of the Vaiself family but she lacks a Princess CLASS.

Likewise, consider Zanac. 

Zanac was never crowned King, yet he bears the King(Normal) CLASS. 

Likewise, Pe Riyuro was never named Emperor(Normal) by his people yet he bears the CLASS. 

Suppose the Lemma is false. CONTRADICTION. 

Of special note is how Keno Invern's country effectively ceased to exist yet she retained her Princess CLASS (more on that later). That only further supports the idea designations are de facto based not de jure based, so not beholden to legislation, litigation, sovereignty, and so forth. 

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Country Destruction Corollary:

Aristocracy (Normal) CLASSES are retained even after the destruction of one's country. 

========================================================================

Here let us state the Level Order Acquisition hypothesis. See the notes section for a break down of how and why this originated.

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Level Order Acquisition Corollary:

CLASSES listed on character sheets are notated by order of acquisition (generally). 

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Now, many attempt to disprove this Corollary by citing how Zanac had KING written before PRINCE which logically makes no sense if Levels are notated in order of when you acquire them. However, this may actually fall under a special case based on Tuare's character sheet as well. Recall Tuare was a SLAVE BEFORE she was a MAID yet MAID appears before Slave on her character sheet.

Zanac:

CLASS LEVELS: King(Common) Lv. 1 Prince(Common) Lv. 4 Charisma(Common) Lv. 2 Fighter Lv. 1

Tuare:

CLASS LEVELS: Maid(Common) Lv. ? Slave(Common) Lv. ? 

 This is noteworthy because Maruyama alluded specifically to Tuare one time in a strangely redacted Tweet. 

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Q: I was rereading the previous volumes in anticipation of Volume 13, but I had a question. Although Tsuare possesses a Maid class, the Ordinary Maids are able to perform their duties without problem without any skills. Is there some reason for this? Please ignore if it is a spoiler. A: It’s lengthy to talk about however, if one were to speak of the reason (omitted in the middle) so it can be done. Connected to that the New World’s job [classes] (omitted in the middle) because for example the Job called Slave (omitted in the middle) . Connected to this is the case of Slave, there is [only] 1 Level then (omitted in the middle) so the girl could make a living.

[TWTR]

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 The loop hole here is things flavor text can augment (like for the homunculus maids) seem to have CLASSES in the New World. And because these things are more fluid (not requiring game CLASSES), there seems to be some reason as to why they are distinct and thus can manifest as something NPCs need only flavor text to acquire. This is why Ainz can improve in his acting as well. The logic is fuzzy however, but it's vaguely non-game SKILLS that are affected. Coincidentally most (Normal) CLASSES also are built around such SKILLS and mechanics outside YGGDRASIL.

We can however hypothesize:

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(Normal) CLASS Evolution Theorem:

Theoretically if a person performs the work of a similar (Normal) CLASS, their (Normal) CLASS can evolve into a new one. This 'new' CLASS is not truly new but a repackaging of an 'old' CLASS and it's SKILLS. Thus it Evolution CLASSES are written above the CLASS they evolve from. 

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Consider Zanac and Tuare. King is pretty clearly an evolution of Prince (with more legal powers and so forth). Meanwhile, Maids can be thought of servants like Slaves, just with more rigorous education on practices (utensil placement, uniform maintenance, etc) and etiquette. Many tasks would be the same such as cooking, cleaning, and following orders.

CLASS Evolution would thus be an exception to Level Order Acquisition, showing it's not CLASS ORDER ACQUISITION but more SKILL ORDER (CLASSES being like bundles of SKILLS) Acquisition. Generally CLASS ORDER is SKILL ORDER, but Evolution complicates the discussion. 

Related to the De Facto designation is actually epithets. Epithets (sobriquet) tend to just be secondary names for characters some more descriptive or creative than others. However, Zanac's presents a very strange case - although uncrowned his epithet is the Last King of the Vaiself Family. And so his King(Normal) CLASS substantiates this. Or rather, he performed the role of King while he incarcerated his father and so acquired the CLASS and epithet (which came first is a mystery). This leads us to the case of:

 

Epithets Are De Facto Designations:

Epithets are independent of legal and national designations. It is unknown if they are CLASS Dependent, Independent, or Interdependent.

 

 Epithets however can be argued are Independent of CLASSES. Renner for example is known as the Golden Princess but lacks a Princess(Normal) CLASS normally. Decem as well can be argued to possibly be lacking a King(Normal) CLASS likely for the same reason Renner does: as Zanac described it one has to truly care for their nation and people to be royalty ( and possibly acquire these CLASSES). Renner and Decem both are notoriously selfish and abandon their nations and people easily. Decem however did have a strange sense of regal behavior and bossed people around though it is debatable if one considers if he had the King(Normal) CLASS. 

Likewise, Cure Elim considers himself a Dragon Lord (despite his character sheet confirming he is no longer a Dragon Lord). His capacity to continue using Wild Magic also reinforces his self designation at least as far as Slaine is concerned about what defines a Dragon Lord. This case shows that even mechanics are somewhat fluid compared to epithets. However Cure Elim does have an undead Draconic Racial class so in theory he can be considered both still.

 =======================================================================

She had the title of Dragon Lord, but her combat power was only that of a regular person. While the Theocracy classified her as a True Dragon Lord, that was simply due to her inborn talents, and so some people used the very rare title of True False Dragon Lord to describe her. That was because the quality which determined her truth or falsehood was whether or not she could use Wild Magic.

[V9] 

“Onii-sama, between us, there is no need to lie. Onii-sama, without Marquis Raeven’s soldiers, has enough manpower to place our father under surveillance. The Ministers of the Interior and Military Affairs must have already joined Oniisama’s side… What does father plan to do?” “He still wants to talk it out with the Sorcerer Kingdom.” Because of that, Zanac had to step in as the King’s regent and take care of everything else the best he could. Since he had locked his father up, he had to take all of these matters into his own hands. If he still requested help from his father given these circumstances, he would truly be the most pathetic man ever.

[V14]

“That’s correct. We had thought that they had not been moving at all and that the declaration of war was just an empty threat. While our naive father was attempting to negotiate with them, things have already developed to this stage. Cities were destroyed and our people were massacred en masse.” Zanac gnashed his teeth and made an audible sound. “…Such barbarity. Absolutely unforgivable.” Those who could tolerate this kind of treatment were not fit to be called royalty.

[V14]

Renner:

CLASS LEVELS: Actress(Common) Lv. 4 Genius Lv. 5 { personal character } Someone who trampled over the happiness of the vast majority of the Kingdom’s people to better achieve her own dreams. She is the happiest woman in the world. She holds no ill will for the people of the Kingdom; rather, she feels a sort of gratitude towards them. That said, her sentiment is no different than one’s appreciation of the existence of food. Genius is a special class wherein its levels are interchangeable with all basic and common classes. That said, it can only replace on class at a time (currently(. Renner mostly used this class to substitude for Princess levels. It is important to note that Genius is an extremely rare class; in fact, it is possible to count the number of people who possess this class on two hands.

[V14]

“The king? Is it fine for you to be here? Aren’t the humans attacking? Why won’t you immediately go over there and save your people” “[Mana Essence]...I see.” Even Decem’s mana was quite high for this world’s denizens. It was about the same as Shalltear’s. HP and MP. Taking Elven culture into account, he most likely had the same class as Mare, a druid. A backline druid, to be specific. “Why should I do something like that? Seems like you are misunderstanding what being a king means. A king is someone who should be venerated as a supreme existence by his people, not someone who works for them. Mercy is the only thing the superiors give to those inferior. Understood? And mercy can only be pleaded for, not demanded. They should be satisfied even if they don’t receive it.” What the hell was this guy saying? Ainz was stunned. If Decem was really being serious, then there’s something wrong with his brain. Ainz even found the Elves pitiful for having such a king. “So you don’t feel like saving them? But, well — I can agree with a part of what you said.”

“What? Supreme Beings? Did Dark Elves have such oral traditions?” Decem pondered a bit and slightly shook his head. “Well, whatever. I can just hear about it in detail later.” “Do you really have the time for it? Like I said before, isn’t the human country knocking on your doors right now?” Ainz was flustered at the time he had wasted, so he immediately cast the next spell. “[False Data Life].”

Right at that moment, a rumbling came from under them, shaking the floor. It looked like the Theocracy finally brought out the siege engines. The twins and Decem turned to look at the floor and closed their mouths. Ainz continued to cast magic. “[False Data Mana].” “ — Tch. Humans are really troublesome. I could go over and wipe them out myself but...it’s bothersome. Let’s go.” “...Where are you telling us to go?” “[Penetrate Up].” “I haven’t thought about it but, well, nowhere should be a problem with my strength.”

[V16]

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 Now we can extend these rules possibly to Unnotated CLASSES, Neia's Squire(Servant) CLASS appears to behave similar to a CLASS Evolution.

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As an aside, her Servant levels can be converted into other CLASS levels if the proper conditions are met. 

[V12]

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We lack character sheets for most people during their growth so we do not know if similar CLASSES exist for every YGGDRASIL Job path. In theory however every CLASS could have one since it seems Paladin has one. It's inconclusive but we do know someone like Zanac only had the one level in Fighter with little to no training to speak of. Likewise Cure Elim taught himself Tier magic and got a Sorcerer level alone. If there was a CLASS before these popped up is the mystery since its difficult to prove they didn't exist. 

So let's talk about what doesn't EVOLVE based on circumstances. The most obvious are the occupational CLASSES: Mercenary, Knight, Academic Wizard and likely the Holy Knights and Imperial Knights as well. The point here is someone like Gazef is no longer a Mercenary yet his CLASS didn't change or evolve. The same applies to Gagarin and her Knight and Mercenary CLASS. As an Adventurer it's strange neither changed. In theory CLASSES like Alchemist also fall under this definition, but the classification is meant to illustrate a point - we can confirm that occupational CLASSES do NOT Evolve.

Occupational CLASSES:

These are Job CLASSES that seemed to earn by being either employed or trained to perform a specific role. Unlike CLASSES like Wizard, Priest, Fighter, etc these are more specific variations on such CLASSES. These are distinct CLASSES that do not EVOLVE with changes in occupation. Likewise they appear to be earned AFTER 'foundational' CLASSES.

In theory it seems all CLASSES are normally Occupational CLASSES. So Evolving CLASSES might be the exception. For our purposes let us consider Occupational CLASSES to be only the CLASSES that are not 'foundational' CLASSES as well (eg Fighter, Priest, Wizard, Paladin, etc). 

Foundational CLASSES:

The foundational CLASSES of a Job Class series. Maruyama defined these as:

"As for specific definitions for now, a Foundational Class is something like Fighter or Wizard, and basically all classes you begin with. You can't begin without it. "

 Hopefully that clears up some ambiguity. You can think of Occupational CLASSES as super low tier prestige CLASSES for the Foundational CLASSES. How strong Occupational CLASSES are isn't well known but they should at least be comparable to CLASSES from YGGDRASIL in stats and so forth. 

It's unknown why (Normal) or Civilian CLASSES can evolve but neither Foundational nor Occupational CLASSES appear to change based on circumstances. It is possible that because they are not the same type of CLASS (given Maruyama notates them differently) they possess the capacity to EVOLVE outside the normal rules for CLASSES. 

For the sake of completeness, we can further define CLASSES as Maruyama defined them for YGGDRASIL:

[基本級職]Foundational ranked job classes Classes you need to be a certain Class archetype. You can't start without these in some capacity.

[降中級職] Intermediate ranked job classes (Classes you needed to be Level 25 and up to acquire in YGGDRASIL)

[降上級職]Advanced ranked Job Classes (Classes you needed to be Level 50 and up to acquire in YGGDRASIL)

[降最上級職]Highest-grade Jobs (that is to say Classes you learn Level 75 and up in YGGDRASIL)

This is using YGGDRASIL logic to define the CLASSES but hopefully you see the utility in how Ainz compares CLASSES to this rubric. 

Next up is another New World CLASS sub-type or category: EXCLUSIVE CLASSES. Instead of Racial Substitution Levels, these are CLASSES that are EXCLUSIVE to a given race. Our best example of these are Wild Magic CLASSES. If CLASSES always existed or not is a debated subject. However, Maruyama himself defined these thus so can we!

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By the way, Tsa in addition to his Racial Levels he has acquired many special/unique [tokushana] (very excellent [yuushana]) dragon exclusive-use [doragon sen’you] classes. Wherein there is a connection to Wild [Wairudo] Magic

[V11AT]

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[特殊な（非常に優秀な）] Special(Extremely Oustanding)  CLASSES: A designation for CLASSES from Maruyama. He defined these for Wild Magic Job Classes. Why is not stated but much like how he evaluates some Talents as EX rank outside the F to S model suggest it might be similar to that rationality.

Of these of special note are Draconic Necromancer and Overed Dragon. These are special because Cure Elim ceased to be a Dragon Lord upon becoming undead yet these CLASS names did not change. In fact he even acquired an undead dragon RACIAL level but is referred to as no longer a Dragon Lord. 

 Thus we can say Special CLASSES like Occupational CLASSES also fall outside the Evolution circumstances. Still his undead racial level still mentions he's a Dragon so the logic here is fuzzy.

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Dragon Lords cannot cast tier magic, but since Cure Elim transformed itself from a Dragon Lord into an undead being, it could cast tier spells of the necromantic school.

[KBA]

95 TOTAL LEVELS [RACIAL LEVELS] + [CLASS LEVELS] 51 RACIAL LEVELS + 44 CLASS LEVELS Dragonling Lv. 10 Young Lv. 10 Adult Lv. 10 Old Lv. 10 Elder Lv. 5 Ancient Lv. 5 True Vampiric Dragon Lv. 1 Primitive Caster Lv. 10 Draconic Necromancer Lv. 7 World connector Lv. 9 Overed Dragon Lv. 10 Soul Blasphemer Lv. 7 Sorcerer Lv. 1  

[KBA]

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Theoretically a CLASS like WORLD CHAMPION might be considered a Special(Extremely Outstanding) CLASS. That is because it was considered an official cheat in YGGDRASIL. 

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 World Champion:

A class that one needs to clear special conditions to use. The strongest warrior class in Yggdrasil, an official cheat. This class has extremely high fighting ability, against the upper high players they can take on three, the upper middle players, four, upper low, five….And so on. However it is unclear who would win if they are up against someone with a trump card or a World Item.By the way, the special condition (TL: may be the only one or one of the many; unclear.) was to win in an official tournament.

[WN]

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Ironically Humanoids were said to have many SPECIAL CLASSES, and one penalty for Heteromorphs was they lost access to many of these. In exchange heteromorphs however gained their own SPECIAL CLASSES as well. We can classify both of these cases as EXCLUSIVE CLASSES. A caveat of these Humanoid CLASSES were they had stricter acquisition requirements but also stronger ability score growth so they might be categorized as the Wild Magic CLASSES are.

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However Heteromorphs have penalties.

They cannot have certain classes, cannot enter certain cities, is fine to PK, penalties depending on race, and cannot equip certain equipment. Even if they take only one level, the penalty activates. Jobs that have difficult requirements would have a higher rate of skill point increase. And there is the case of only humans being able to have that class.

[WN]

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The next type of CLASS isn't special but rather about the SKILLS within a CLASS. Effectively these are CLASSES that have SKILLS which cannot be obtained without 'Character Data' or LEVELS. Things like higher tiers of magic would fall under this definition as well. 

Data Driven CLASSES:

CLASSES with abilities that rely on 'character data'[キャラクターデータ] to perform their functions.  The feats of these CLASSES cannot be replicated without these LEVELS no matter how much effort is used. Typically related to magic or mana. Foundational CLASSES can be Data Driven CLASSES (Wizards acquiring magic casting, Fighters acquiring Martial Arts, Paladin's acquiring smiting) in theory.

A good way to re-contextualize these are Data Driven CLASSES have SKILLS that not even Players can attempt without the CLASS. So acting might fall under a non-Data Driven SKILL. Effectively one needs a fixed amount of 'unfathomable magic' from CLASSES and Leveling Up to access power. It's similar to how Levels have passive bonuses as well to killing intent and damage reduction.

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 Ah, one can also train[tanren] their body[nikutai] in addition to this. This may seem like a game explanation yet, there is foundational physical strength [su no kinryoku] (which can be trained) + Level Up Physical Strength (evolution [shinka]) + and various corrections from classes etc (power that comes from unfathomable magical power [maryoku tekina fukashigi no ryoku]) should be the plan.

[V5+6AT] 

. In contrast, as a member of the Dragon Race and with powerful job classes, Cure Elim-kun is actually more powerful than his 95 levels imply. Of course, thanks to level-based damage adjustment, his odds of victory are lower

[KBA]

In Overlord, Level is an absolute stat. Even should your ability be high, that does not compensate against the absolutes of Level such as the number of skills one can use, the damage dampening effects from level differentials, and the Tier of magic one can use

[10th Anniversary]

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Furthermore, LESSER LEVELS can be seen as exceptions to Data Driven CLASSES. In this case, there is just enough 'character data' to manifest the LESSER LEVEL despite there not being enough to fully materialize it. Supposing that is true, that would mean the key to LESSER LEVELS is character data, ie a threshold must be met to even acquire them in the first place in addition to prerequisites. 

One possibility is that Base Ten Wall Theory is built on this notion of 'character data' as well. The mystery then is why it's every Ten Levels not some other number. Martial Art CLASSES also seem to operate in half steps of Ten. Martial Arts prove that LEVELS do grant more power in steps of 5 or 10 in terms of how much power one can harness at once or expel - mainly in regards to Focus Capacity. As that is a New World only power, we might conclude all CLASSES have similar power and Base Ten is the normal method which that power is expelled instead of Martial Arts users increasing their Focus and Focus Capacity. 

It would be like every ten levels one can acquire a single permanent Martial Art-like power, an enhancement, SKILL, or so forth related to their pre-existing CLASSES.  That nuance however is overly biased to how the New World powers work - passive stacking and synergies for example like Talents.

In theory at least. The numbers could just be a coincidence as well. Excuse the digression.

Our last topic is Amalgamated LEVELS. 

Amalgamated LEVELS: 

Much like Racial Substitution LEVELS these are CLASS LEVELS which have aspects of two or more other CLASSES in one LEVEL. Examples include Noble Fighter, Holy Queen, Sacred Archer, Vampire Princess and possibly even Academic Wizard(Sage+Wizard). Bishop would be an example of an Amalgamated LEVEL from YGGDRASIL.

How Amalgamated LEVELS come into existence isn't clear. Racial Substitution LEVELS at least are inherent qualities of a specific Race that allow it to double as a Race version of a JOB CLASS.  Not just anyone can acquire an Amalgamated LEVEL either, neither does every combination create a new one. They often can combine their two aspects into one (Neia can smite using Archer combat). 

Neia's case is best shown by the idea having affinity for being a Paladin and Archer is rare thanks in part due to her heritage. Given Caspond and Calca were both Clerics likely Holy King and Holy Queen manifested as an Amalgamated LEVEL naturally over the generations as the two Aptitudes mixed. 

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She might have inherited her father’s keen senses, but sadly, she had not received anything from her mother. Neia’s mother had been a famous paladin in her time, and she had excellent sword skills. However, as her daughter, Neia had no talent for the sword, no matter how much she practiced. Strictly speaking, the bow techniques passed down from her father meant that she could use bows skillfully even without any training. No, the fact was, Neia was fortunate just to inherit that half of her heritage. However, the skills used by the paladins which Neia so admired could only be used with melee weapons. For Neia, who wanted to become a paladin, being talented with ranged weapons was a waste.

[V12]

The reason why she had ended up like this, why she could do something that was previously impossible for her was because after that battle, she was not just capable of archery, but of harnessing what they called divine power. However, the strange thing was that it was slightly different from the abilities that paladins were said to possess. This was because normally, paladins could only channel their powers through melee weapons, while she could imbue ranged weapons with her powers. 

[V13]

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 One line of reasoning is one needs to fuse an Occupational LEVEL to another CLASS or have influence from a RACIAL LEVEL to achieve an Amalgamated LEVEL. So Noble Fighter would be a Noble who is a Fighter and Neia is an Archer in the Paladin Order to get away with an Amalgamated LEVEL existing. Holy Queen is another example where the person is a divine caster but also serves as a ruler. So this would be why Bishop is distinct from Amalgamated LEVELS - it's not formed from a fusion of the two types of CLASS LEVELS(OCCUPATIONAL and YGGDRASIL or FOUNDATIONAL), as it is a vestige of YGGDRASIL. 

With this line of reasoning Amalgamated LEVELS are Foundational and Occupational Level fusions.  This would also explain why Vampire Princess is a JOB CLASS not a Racial Level. It's a Princess who is also a Vampire basically - instead of a Vampire who fills a Princess role in the Vampiric race (Vampiric Princess as in Cure Elim's True Vampiric Dragon). That might be too pedantic for an argument however. What do you think? At least it's an argument that addresses the Princess vs Lord argument. 

Basically VAMPIRIC is an adjective that in terms of linguistics modifies DRAGON, meanwhile VAMPIRE PRINCESS VAMPIRE can be seen as a adjective or noun. Notice the distinction - one has fluidity or rational flexibility in how it can be used in language. Keno is a Vampire OR a Princess. Cure Elim however cannot be a Dragon OR a Vampire - he is permanently an undead now. Keno however can still chose not to use her Princess upbringing or Vampire abilities - in that case the difference here is how CLASS LEVELS tend to be arrays or bundles of SKILLS or feats one can chose to apply in the struggles of life. RACIAL LEVELS in contrast force certain RACIAL SKILLS to be active (though not all) like penalties and bonuses. Therein lies one possible distinction for why the two are notated differently linguistically but what do you think?

The point here is coming from the same volume we can attempt to explain why one Vampire LEVEL is a RACIAL LEVEL and one is a CLASS LEVEL.

 If we hone in on the semantics however, consider why Remedios and Gustav, HOLY KNIGHTS of the HOLY KINGDOM (as written on the Japanese cover) have a different name than Neia's SACRED ARCHER where SACRED KINGDOM was the name of the Volume in English. Many attributed this to poor translation and localization. However, we can also see this equivalent translation for the same concept as a distinction between the justice of the Old Order (Calca's regime) and Neia's new justice centered on Ainz. 

It is quite semantic however: 

Holy = religion is valued between people or places

Sacred = religion is valued for non-people(places, things, events)

Put another way you can argue the semantics here were intentionally chosen by Maruyama to reflect the divergence in justice. Neia as a Sacred Archer shows how the Holy Kingdom venerate a shared communal fuzzy sense of justice but a more static figure of justice ( a God Head ie Ainz and rigid dogma of WEAKNES = SIN). This contrasts with the Calca regime which demonized demihumans (mainly for politics and not as a central tenet of the faith) but had a idyllic bent embraced by some of the Paladin order if not the entire nobility. 

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 Remedios:

CLASS LEVELS: Paladin(Genius) Lv. ? Holy Knight Lv. ? Evil Slayer Lv. ? Others  

Calca:

CLASS LEVELS: Cleric Lv. ? High Priestess Lv. ? Holy Queen Lv. ? Others 

Gustav:

CLASS LEVELS: Paladin Lv. ? Holy Knight Lv. ? Charisma(Common) Lv. ? Others

Neia:

CLASS LEVELS: Paladin Lv. 2 Sacred Archer Lv. 3 Evangelist Lv. 2 Founder Lv. 4

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Curious how you can re-contextualize Neia's CLASS that way - the New World's class name assignment clearly distinguishing between her SACRED and Remedios and her HOLY. Calca being the HOLY QUEEN also reflects this. The crux here is SACRED AND HOLY are valid but slightly nuanced divergences on the same core ideal or idea. You could also attribute the core distinction being HOLY is for Goodness while SACRED comes about from Godhead worship. The Holy Kingdom worships the Gods but you don't see them defer to Godly decrees or revelations or dogma when they have conflicts about justice. Neia in contrast constantly ruminates on revelations or statements from Ainz first when interpreting Justice. 

If you want to go even further notice how Kelart and Caspond both lack HOLY and SACRED CLASS names. You might contextualize that anyone with generic Divine caster CLASS names falls inbetween or has their own sense of morality distinct from the these two. Could just be we do not see the classes however. It's curious though how Kelart is described as using underhanded means and Caspond as well and both have this commonality (Caspond doesn't have a Holy Noble CLASS and Kelart's Hierophant isn't a HOLY HIEROPHANT). It could be this distinction only works for Amalgamated CLASSES? Or is it all just a coincidence? Dun Dun Duuuuuuun

This may be also why Slaine had issues with Roble in cooperation - it's a divergence in HOLY vs SACRED. Slaine is a Theocracy to an extent but they follow the teaching and model left by their Gods, so in some sense they might have SACRED KNIGHTS if this theory holds weight. This might also inform the divergence in the Six Great Gods and Four Great God faiths(6=Revealed Religion, 4=Rationalized Religion). To see angels as divine messengers of a sort could be another divergence - SACRED theologists assign greater value to their religious magic than HOLY theologists. That's how Gazef described the split between the Four and Six Great Gods at least. 

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Angels. Angels were monsters summoned from another world, and many people — particularly, the citizens of the Slaine Theocracy — believed them to be messengers of the gods. However, the priests of the Kingdom ruled that these so-called angels were merely summoned monsters. While these religious disputes were part of the reason why the countries were set against each other, Gazef felt that their status as divine messengers was secondary to their strength as monsters.

[V1] 

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We also know however no one uses their names in the surrounding countries only people of Slaine refer to their deities by concrete names which supports how the Four Great God faith is more 'mechanistic' and Aniconistic (distancing the historical aspects of the Gods in favor of broader but vague symbolism). To Slaine however, these figures were real people, who left relics and history behind, and thus why they uphold ideas like angels being sacred constructs if not just normal summons based on rationality. 

Your mileage might vary with that conclusion however. Of note however is how 'service' and Neia's Squire (SERVANT) CLASS might be connected in the nuance between SACRED and HOLY. Holy has nuances of devotion and dedication, however SACRED implies a more tangible and servile (ie direct Servitude to something divine or of sacred importance). Because Neia directly served as Ainz's Squire(SERVANT), this might be why she got SACRED instead of HOLY - it's the exact reverse of what happened to the Six to Four Great God schism. History can repeat itself ironically. Hur hur.  

Here's an artillery barrage of definitions of HOLY and SACRED if you want to embrace the autism of semantics with Ziggy! 

 

Holy: dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose

Worthy of absolute devotion

To be treated with utmost veneration or respect (Sacred) 

having a divine quality

Devoted to a deity or the work of a deity

 

Sacred:

connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.

Set apart for the service or worship of a deity

Devoted exclusively to one use or service

Worthy of veneration or reverence

Of or relating to religion

 

Hopefully this digression illustrates why we have to be pedantic and semantic with CLASS names in Overlord. Maybe this will matter for the last two volumes... or maybe not!

Based on Keno and Neia we can draw one rule for Amalgamated CLASSES - one needs the Foundational CLASS to trigger the Evolution of the Normal CLASS. So Keno likely had Princess(Normal) and then acquired her Vampire Racial Level. VAMPIRE PRINCESS then likely came about as she did research using Corpus of Abyss notes and her Princess(Normal) feats began to also tap into her Vampire SKILLS, resulting in her being able to charm undead (if you reread the other Magical Natural Philosophy sections you might see this is a reoccurring motif and theme of the New World's mechanics to create synergy and symbiosis amongst it's mechanics like power up buff stacking for Martial Arts), likely training the ability by bantering with Satoru a stronger undead being and winning. 

Neia's ARCHER and PALADIN and SACRED ARCHER CLASSES may have also experienced similar divergences. The tricky part here is SERVANT behaves more like an Evolution CLASS or Occupational CLASS while PALADIN we know is a YGGDRASIL, Data Driven CLASS(unlocking new magical SKILLS), or Foundational CLASS. The Amalgamated CLASS rules seem to still work however as ARCHER and PALADIN can both fit the Foundational CLASS mold. The issue here is by Level Order Acquisition, why is PALADIN on top of Neia's sheet if SACRED ARCHER is the Occupational CLASS?

One possibility is SERVANT can be Evolved multiple times - if Neia had 2+ SERVANT LEVELS, one could be used to make PALADIN and one or more for SACRED ARCHER. 

In this case, SERVANT was a catalyst for both an Amalgamated AND Foundational CLASS. 

In this case at least some Evolution CLASSES are distinct from Foundational CLASSES and Occupational CLASSES, able to become both. So what could we call them? Progenitor CLASSES? Antecedent CLASSES? 

 

Antecedent CLASSES:

CLASSES that can Evolve into other Normal, Foundational, or even Amalgamated CLASSES on a case-by-case basis. eg Neia's SERVANT might have become a PALADIN and a SACRED ARCHER CLASS.  Prince(Normal) might be able to be become both King(Normal) and a non (Normal) CLASS like Holy KING. Or it might be able to become Holy Prince. 

 

Maybe now a few of you at least understand why Ziggy wanted to talk about this topic! This shit is complicated! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Say we have a Level 1 Prince

And then he gets PRINCE Level 5. But decides to study Divine magic and gets CLERIC. But whoops- he also started evolving his PRINCE into  KING. But now he's also influenced by his CLERIC level and so his KING levels begin changing into HOLY KING levels. 

Whoops.

See how this is hard to talk about without some vernacular and a system of logic? 

We can explain why PRINCE changes into KING and KING into HOLY KING. But also why CLERIC doesn't change. It's because there are nuanced divergences in the CLASS system here that really do require technical schema to make sense of. 

Theoretically PRINCE could become KING or HOLY KING so it might count as a Antecedent or Precursor CLASS. This complicates matters of course but hopefully it makes sense how the definition can expand a tiny bit and have different implications. 

If nothing else, we can explain why SAGE, a YGGDRASIL Foundational CLASS, doesn't have many culturally distinct names in the New World. While nobility can vary slightly or greatly. Yet both Jircniv and Pe Riyuro have the same Emperor CLASS. Perhaps all Foundational and Normal CLASSES tend to resist cultural distinction and only Amalgamated and Occupational CLASSES are weak to cultural nuance? 

But then how do LESSER CLASSES fit in? 

Foundational CLASSES with more power like a Genius are just called FOUNDATIONAL CLASS (Genius). LESSER CLASS NAME CLASSES however have a prefix. Why the notation differs is likely significant. (Genius) are marginally better versions of a CLASS, meanwhile LESSER CLASSES are clearly inferior to the original. And it appears LESSER indicates a significant LEVEL CAP or prerequisite skipping where the SKILL or abilities of the LESSER CLASS  are affected negatively. 

That does give us a hint - CLASS NAMES require a certain degree of mechanical departure to get a new CLASS NAME. Whatever power (Genius) gives is not enough to change the CLASS NAME, only give a modifier. In contrast LESSER is enough to actually affect the CLASS NAME. This might be why not all Races have unique Racial variants of every CLASS as well based on their culture. This might be why Satoru was very clear how Keno's VAMPIRE PRINCESS SKILL Dominate Undead was so rare and abnormal to Satoru and YGGDRASIL's logic. Amalgamated CLASSES by definition have divergences so extreme they became distinct CLASSES. 

In a sense Amalgamated CLASSES exemplify what we have seen in theory in Magical Natural Philosophy like with Decem's Summoning Bonus Stacking (OVER Summoning) or Cure Elim's theoretical Dyad casting; the people of the New World can synergize disparate elements into new ones via stacking or combining. 

========================================================================

…Fine, I get it. I’ll go read some of the research notes we swiped. If I have to do any experiments, you have to help me, okay?” “But of course.” The research notes they had recovered from the members of “Corpus of the Abyss” were all along the lines of enhancing their skills to dominate more powerful undead, learning how to cast spells of higher tiers, enhancing the attributes of the undead and so on. Therefore, Keno had thrown herself into the role of backing up Suzuki Satoru, in the hope that completing one of those topics might end up strengthening Suzuki Satoru. Sadly, none of their attempts had succeeded. However, that was in Suzuki Satoru’s case. Keno herself had benefited from them. It seemed like she had gotten a little stronger. In fact, she — who originally lacked the ability to dominate the undead — now possessed such an ability. From the perspective of Yggdrasil’s racial and job class systems, that should have been impossible

[KBA]

========================================================================

 

Maruyama's logic can be weird but this can explain why Azuth didn't get a POWERED SUIT MASTER CLASS as well (at least as far as we know). Whatever he is doing to specialize in POWERED SUIT use isn't enough to diverge from what another CLASS offers.  This is also why races like Beebeezee's don't have lots of racial distinctions in CLASS. Things like ACADEMIC WIZARD require substantial divergences in a preexisting CLASS to qualify. What counts as 'substantial' is up to the person however - we only vaguely know that a divergence of some magnitude is needed, what that divergence is not clear. 

That begs the question, is DRACONIC NECROMANCER like what Cure Elim has a sign of this evolution as well Wild Magic began to tap into Amalgamated CLASSES like Keno's VAMPIRE PRINCESS?  That might explain why DRACONIC NECROMANCER and SOUL BLASPHEMER are lower level than his other JOB CLASSES. Wild Magic might be based on a synthesis of the Normal or Occupational CLASSES and something else too - which was then displaced by YGGDRASIL Foundational CLASSES. That's why Wild Magic has a unique Foundational CLASS and weird prefixes on a CLASS like NECROMANCER. Not everyone agrees if CLASSES existed before Players came. So it's food for thought if the differences in CLASS types fits into the mystery or not. 

With our new notation here hopefully you can begin asking yourself new questions about all the character sheets and the mysteries within! Ziggy hopes the scope of what you discover and debate expands even just a little with this!! 

-END MAGICAL NATURAL PHILOSOPHY: New World CLASS MECHANICA-

========================================================================

Attached after will be all the information about the Six Great God vs Four Great God schism ,Level Order Acquisition Hypothesis and Racial Substitution Levels if you wanted more documentation(as well as to bundle it to the rest of this dumpster truck of a PDF). These are older articles so excuse any inconsistencies.

=========================================================================

 

Q: Lore question here for you. Is there any indication to the event which led to the religious schism and the refusal of most of the NW's continent to worship the gods of death and light?

There is no direct answer. We do know the Six Great Gods and Four Great Gods are not worshipped outside this region for the most part. The humanity the Six Great gods saved was not in a very good state so a lot of time went into just establishing the basics, morality, and infrastructure of human culture grounded in Japanese culture.

The only direct aspect of the schism is we know the Four Great Gods only see angels as monsters they can summon and nothing more. The people of the Six Great Gods however see them as divine emissaries. The confusion likely stems from the fact the Six Great Gods probably talked about angels coming from the same "place" ie YGGDRASIL, as them and so they were assigned divine agency and mandate because of that.

I personally believe the ideological schism is grounded in that distinction between what was "revealed " to them by the extra dimensoinal beings the humans called Gods, and what humanity came to understand over time as they became more educated. As people began to undertstand what summoning was, the idea of it's "sanctity" wore off. It's much how water is seen as holy in so many cultures becuase that idea of "purity" is a primitive understanding of hygene. Much how burial practices (ie burning or into the ground) were ways to dispose of the dead to prevent the spread of pathogens and disease and carrion by products etc. These practices had the result of improving the health of the communities and were passed as ritual as a result.

Over time we came to understand there were things like bacteria, viruses, and so on and thus these practices "lose" their religious connotation in favor of the rational and scientific explanation. It's an evolution of ideas (or a devolution of faith).

The rejection of Surshana is pretty obvious given his undead visage and reputation as a god to be feared out of appeasement. In modern faiths and cultures, such ideas of tribute and fear are not very successful in maintaining faiths across generations - you might convince the doomers and end of the world enthusiasts however such Gods held sway in older cultures based on their understandings of the world around them and the brutality and violence of every day life. Gods reflect the people who venerate them, so in an uncaring and more hostile world, people paint their gods like their devils to reflect this.

In more enlightened (advanced) societies however, such ideas begin to lose their luster in favor of more palatable and abstract notions - hence why religions undergo either ascetic or glorification to appeal more broadly to their constituents and to gain new adherentss in new cultures. The foundation may be the same but there is a clear transition in the dogma to appeal to others. Western examples are like the Old to New testament, compared to how Indian Buddhism mutated into Mahayana or Zen Buddhism as it spread.

It's a common human behavior to put their own spin and flavor on the narratives they read or write. Plays and playwrights recognized this behavior so the more successful plays often have room for interpretation and design and actions up to the actors using said script. It's a collaboratiive process rather than rote repetition. Faith inspires adherence to rituals and practices, but schisms often result when some practices or rituals are found wanting or lacking in their own culture or with how things change with time.

============================================================================= 

Racial Substitution Levels 

 

Ahoy hoy. 

Ziggy wants to talk about something in Overlord that’s been present since the first volume but never really gets discussed directly. 

For instance, because the racial job levels substitute for the basic monk job,

there is no need to learn it.

This accumulation of knowledge and optimization has not happened, because

their civilization has not progressed.

[V11AT]

What does Maru mean “there is no need to learn it”? Or by optimization?

Let Papa Ziggy explain!

There are certain classes only certain races can learn. We know of a few in fact. There are Racial variants of Job classes, but Maruyama has decided to make these Racial Classes instead. Originally, these classes, called Racial Substitution Classes were special variants of classes. 

For example, there is a class called Dwarven Fighter. It counts as Fighter but   can only learn it as a Dwarf. Likewise, it was typically thought of how your race would fight based on their characteristics or tropes. So Dwarven Fighters got bonuses for using axes and abilities related to fighting despite their stubby little legs. 

This was how one game treated these. But that isn’t the only game with Racial Substitution classes. Maruyama in fact seems to have taken the rules from the game above and mixed them with how Racial Substitution classes worked in another game, that is being an actual Racial Class. 

Skeleton Mage, Insect Warrior, Insect Druid, Goblin Rider/Warrior/Mage/Archer/Cleric/Mage, and War Troll are all slight variations on this exact same idea of a Quagoa class counts as a  Monk class. 

For instance, Ainz is able to use Tier 10 magic. However, he does not have nearly as many Job classes as he would need to have this feat. The answer, as many of you intuitively know is that his Racial classes give Magical Tiers just like Job classes. 

But what does Maru mean by optimization and there is no need to learn Monk or the substituted for class? 

This is a delicate discussion, but first, let us call these Racial classes which count as Job classes Racial Substitution Classes. Let’s call the Job class they substitute for the Base Class. The rule is in the game they come from that Racial Substitution classes count as an SUBSTITUTE  to a specific Base Class. If you wonder why Ziggy Caps Locked that, keep in mind what substitute actually means. One thing works in place of another.

Let’s compare Seas to Pe Riyuro to explain what I mean. 

Sebas has 10 Monk levels and then further Monk like classes. For the sake of this discussion, I will assume all of Sebas’s Job classes are Monk-type classes. 

Monk Level 10

Martial King Level 10

Striker Level 5

Inner Ki Master Level 15

Outer Ki Master 5

Total Known Monk Levels = 45

Pe Riyuro

Quagoa Level 10

Quagoa Lord Level 10

Monk Level 6

Ki Master Level 4

Total Known Monk Levels = 30

Assuming that Quagoa Lord is a special Monk class like Quagoa. 

So what is the difference between this Total Known Level and Racial Substitution Classes?

This is very important. A Racial Substitution class counts as a SUBSTITUTION for a regular Job class, the Base Class. What this means is it is basically a variant of that class. So let’s take Quagoa and Monk. 

Made up Example to Illustrate a Point

At Monk Level 1, let’s say you learn Blunt Unarmed Damage +1 or something.

At Quagoa Level 1 you would learn Natural Slashing Unarmed Damage +1. 

They are incredibly similar bonuses but not identical. 

But the real confusion with Racial Substitution classes comes from the next fact. 

Suppose Pe Riyuro learned Quagoa Level 1 first. Thus he learned our made up Natural Slashing Unarmed Damage +1. What happens when he learns Monk Level 1? Does he learn Blunt Unarmed Damage +1?

The answer will probably surprise you. The power of a Racial Substitution Class is that it allows you to get a Racial Class with the advantages of that Race (this is a factor Racial Substitution Classes have in a different game and appears to be how Maruyama uses them). So for Ainz, he can get the Racial Immunities of the undead while also double dipping and getting Magical casting Tiers with Skeleton Mage!

But did you ever wonder if that benefit came at a price? 

The truth is there is in fact a downside, but an incredibly minor one beyond the racial weaknesses that come with those bonuses. 

That is, if you have a Racial Substitution Class, if you take the original Base Class it substitutes for, you don’t get any of the perks!

Dun Dun Duuuuuuun. 

This isn’t to say it does absolutely nothing. But rather it allows you to pump up your total class level, but it’s pretty much a waste because you could have taken any other class of that type instead of the Base class, gotten the same benefit AND learned new skills. 

So let’s go back to Pe Riyuro . 

In our hypothetical example, he had Quagoa Level 1 first. Then he learned Monk. Level 1. 

In this example, little baby Pe Riyuro had a total Monk Level of 2. If he was a magic caster this double dipping would eventually give him new Tiers to use, so in terms of acquiring new Monk classes or abilities, having the Racial Substitution Class and Base Class it Substitutes for does still do stuff. 

But the reason Maru says there is no reason to learn them and there is a lack of optimization in his race is the following.

Pe Riyuro will never learn Blunt Unarmed Damage +1 even if he learns Monk Level 1!

This is the downside of Racial Substitution Classes. You will never learn certain fundamental abilities of the class you had a Racial Substitution Class for. There is no way to learn them either. So let’s assume that every level of Quagoa counts as Monk levels.

If Pe Riyuro learned all hs Quagoa levels first, then his 6 Monk levels, what that means is he has 6 wasted levels which do increase his overall Monk abilities, but he didn’t learn any additional Monk special skills or the like. 

Let’s do a thought exercise to make this crystal clear. 

Let’s say Pe Riyuro knows Iron Skin. 

And let’s assume Iron Skin gets buffed by each level of Monk classes. For this example, let’s limit Pe Riyuro to Monk and Quagoa levels. 

Pe Riyuro - Monk Level 6 Quagoa Level 10.

Iron Skin = Number of Monk Levels * 1.1 = Damage dealt/ strength of skill

As Monk and Quagoa are Monk classes, Pe Riyuro’s Iron Skin will still act as if he had 16 total Monk levels to enhance the ability. 

However, rather than Monk he could have learned any other Monk type class instead and gotten the exact same payoff AND learning new Monk skills.

This, my sheeple is the what Maruyama meant by there is no need to learn the Base class. 

This is why Cocytus doesn’t need Fighter or Ainz doesn’t need Mage or Wizard. They took the Racial Substitution class instead of the Base class.

Like it comes up though, Racial Substitution classes do have drawbacks even beyond the normal racial weaknesses. The biggest drawback is you are locked out of other certain classes because of them. 

However Heteromorphs have penalties.

They cannot have certain classes, cannot enter certain cities, is fine to

PK, penalties depending on race, and cannot equip certain equipment.

Even if they take only one level, the penalty activates. Jobs that have

difficult requirements would have a higher rate of skill point increase.

And there is the case of only humans being able to have that class.

[WN]

So let’s go back to the Chinpokeymanz article. Ziggy brought up how Centaur, Zoastia, and Orthorus all pretty much counted as a racial variant of Rider. Those are Racial Substitution classes!

They came with a price which is more evident than with all these other Racial Substitution classes. That is, they cannot wear normal equipment on their lower bodies, they most likely have poor stealth abilities due to their much larger size, and are pretty much barred from ever learning proper Rider classes. That Racial Substitution class also came with benefits though if you recall, such as increased attack options, the ability to naturally use cavalry weapons as normal equipment, and even ways to meta game the Charge like properties normal Riders have for other purposes like Rogue or long range projectile users. 

Ziggy was inspired by Maruyama sensei, so he wanted to try foreshadowing. Kek.

It’s important to note those Rider Racial Substitution Classes are a bit different from a normal Racial Substitution Class as they actually are prohibited from the Base Class due to their special circumstances (you can’t really ride a horse if you have a giant horse like lower body….) They could potentially learn rarer Rider classes like being able to Ride a Dragon but those are the weirder exceptions since the Mount is so large. 

 

Well hopefully you have a better understanding why Ainz or Cocytus have so many Racial classes and what Maruyama meant by not having to learn certain classes due to Racial classes.  

. 

=========================================================================

Level Order Acquisition Hypothesis 

 

A more meta article. 

Basically, a while back the Japanese boys were having their little very polite spats. Basically, “Why did Cure Elim’s original name not get auto translated?”

Now, keep in mind many of the normal guys were not involved since they didn’t get the book. So keep in mind fewer people were informed enough to take part. 

Well anyway, a few others and Ziggy are in the camp “Cure Elim’s name was sung related” and that’s why Satoru Suzuki couldn’t hear it. The main evidence for this is how despite all the foreign terms we know, foreign to this world, we have never seen a person unable to even hear that term. They may mispronounce them, but they do not lack the ability to even hear it. 

Perhaps Freivartz had gotten the message, but he nodded slightly. That implied

that he knew the right time and place for this sort of thing.

And then, he sang. No, this was less of a song than a collection of bizarre

sounds. This was because there were some parts he could hear, but not understand.

It stopped after several seconds, although the strange music

[V10]

Suzuki Satoru and Keno listened to the bard’s tales.

While they had no idea why, foreign spoken languages in this world were automatically translated into a recognizable form. Specific nouns retained their

original pronunciation, but other meaningful vocabulary was translated. The

question of who had done this and how they had done it was a riddle that remained

unsolved. The logic behind the translation of song lyrics was murkier;

an unskilled singer’s words would sound like meaningless, broken nonsense.

The performer’s skill was not the only criteria either; the audience also needed

a certain degree of culture and understanding. According to Keno, being able

to accurately understand a song was a mark of social status in the upper crust,

and there were actually specialized classes for such things.

In any case, a philistine like Suzuki Satoru who not only had no taste but was

uncultured to boot would only be able to think “What the hell is this guy

Singing” no matter how skilled the singer was. Of course, he would be able

to understand the words if they were not automatically translated; which is

to say, if someone sang them in Japanese. However, in all his years of running

around outdoors, he had never heard anyone speaking Japanese.

[V14]

For reference this is the interaction that raised eyebrows. 

“I see. While it feels foolish to name myself to an undead creature of your

insignificant stature – I am Cure-Elim, the XX Dragon Lord.”

“What?”

“Ah, yes …indeed! I am – the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord!!”

[V14]

It should be pretty obvious that you don’t see pure gibberish in Overlord. You have people not understand things but not be able to hear the sound itself. 

See them black squares? Yup. Not even Engrish. 

“But Ziggy had can black squares mean it’s song related? Didn’t XXX of Momonga also have black squares or gibberish? Or DDDL’s Twenty? Doesn’t that just mean it’s a spoiler?”

Well yes, Maruyama has used these squares or etc to hide things, but never in story. But something Nigel and we didn’t notice but the Japs did notice was, there actually is a hint in Cure Elim’s sheet. 

オーバードドラゴン

You may know this as “Overed Dragon”. An odd thing, it was also translated as Overlord Dragon too. But, Overed isn’t the only way to translate this. 

IT can also be translated as Aubade. 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/オーバード

Check wikipedia if you don’t believe me. Basically it’s related to poetry and song. 

Dun dun dun.

The exact details are unknown because we don’t see Cure Elim use any song abilities but it could be related to song itself, like one of those classes hinted earlier in Volume 14. A song understanding class or so forth. A class like Vampire Princess than a proper combat based class. 

“But Ziggy, it has to be written in Engrish not some other language”

The main problem here is that there are classes that aren’t in Engrish. Namely Monk and Spiritual caster ones. So the precedent of classes having foreign words already exists. Evileye even uses the Fa Jin term. There’s an article on this, go read that. 

Anyway, this is actually a tangent to what Ziggy really wants to talk about. 

In this course of these debates, people started talking about a facet of Character Sheets: they somewhat tell a person’s lifestory. 

Farmer Lv. 1

Sergeant Lv. 1

Commander Lv. 2

General Lv. 2 

A girl who recently became the chieftain of the Carne Village. Thanks to

her healthy lifestyle of eating well and working hard, her upper arm

muscles started becoming larger and she developed abdominal muscles

as well. Estimated to be among the top-five strongest (among humans)

in Carne Village. These are her levels at the end of Volume 8, she only

had Farmer Lv. 1 and Sergeant Lv. 1 in the beginning.

[V8]

Class Level:

Squire Lv. ?

Archer Lv. ?

As a girl with a criminal’s eyes, she tends to leave a bad first impression

on others, hence she has had very few friends since childhood (almost

none). For that reason, she’d bad at building good interpersonal

relationships, which has led to her developing a personality that favors

doing everything by herself. Her bow skills lend themselves very well to

being a Ranger who is one with nature, so it is something of a mystery

why she aims to be a Paladin. Perhaps it is a mistake on her part. As an

aside, if the right conditions are met, her Squire levels can be converted

into other class levels.

[V12]

Class Levels:

Paladin Lv. 2

Sacred Arche Lv. 3

Evangelist Lv. 2

Founder Lv. 4

Since her character has changed radically, she will be re-introduced. She

lost levels from dying, but at the same time she gained levels from

surviving the war. Her levels as squire were replaced and her character

build ended up quite wasteful, but that was the result of her experiences,

was it not? Neia does not realize that she is using a special technique to

influence others’ thoughts (on the level of brainwashing). When Neia

uses her power on traumatized people, her words can save them.

[V13]

Racial Levels (51 total)

- Dragonling 10

- Young 10

- Adult 10

- Old 10

- Elder 5

- Ancient 5

- True Vampire Dragon 1

Job Levels (44 total)

- Primitive 10

- Dragon Necromancer 7

- World Connector 9

- Overed Dragon 10

- Soul Blasphemer 7

- Sorcerer 1

[V14]

Racial Levels:

Dragonling Lv. 10

Young Lv. 10

Adult Lv. 10

Elder Lv. 5

Ancient Lv. 1

Etc

[V11]

So basically, the sequence of classes (for those shown at least) go in order of acquisition. Now Old the dragon class wasn’t listed on White Dragon Lord’s sheet but all the other listed classes appear to follow Cure Elim’s own sequence. Enri’s own sheet also hints at the existence of this acquistion order. So you can’t tell if racial or job classes happened first, but you can figure out that a person had this job class before this job class. 

Racial Levels (51 total)

- Dragonling 10

- Young 10

- Adult 10

- Old 10

- Elder 5

- Ancient 5

- True Vampire Dragon 1

Job Levels (44 total)

- Primitive Caster 10

- Dragon Necromancer 7

- World Connector 9

- Aubade Dragon 10

- Soul Blasphemer 7

- Sorcerer 1

[V14]

So the main reason this came up was if you look at Cure Elm’s sheet you can see he had all his dragon racials first then his True Draogn Level. This makes sense. But look at his job classes. Sorcerer is at the very end, as is Soul Blasphemer. So you can start to see a different picture of him. If you don’t know what an Aubade is, it’s actually can be pretty depressing depending on what context Maruyama is using it. Like you can laugh that he was some flirty poet, but the Aubade could also refer to him lamenting the ‘coming of dawn’ as in the dawn of tier magic or the metaphorical morning following the End of the Age of Dragons or his Night. Think along the lines of “Tomorrow Always Comes”. 

Assuming this theory is true, this didn’t happen until AFTER he was a Wild Magic caster at least. Now we don’t know the exact details of Aubade Dragon, but it could also be reflective of Dragons actually studying non combat things once they got to a certain point in their lives. Could be related to Wild Magic, could just be a song based class. But the narrative of it being related to mourning is an interesting twist on it all. 

Now it’s important to note that just because one class comes later doesn’t mean the other’s didnt’ gain more levels after the fact. IE say increasing levels in the classes before it on the character sheet. 

Racial Levels (11 total)

- True Vampire 7

- Lesser One 4

Job Levels (23 total)

- Vampire Princess 3

- Sorcerer 8

- Sage 5

- High Sage 7

[V14]

In Keno’s case we know she was human before a vampire. So keep in mind it’s job and racial class specific. But we do know Keno was a True Vampire before a Lesser One. Likewise, Keno had Princess and Sorcerer before Sage since she was already at the point of reaching Tier 2 before she dedicated herself to her studies to get Sage classes. 

Zaryusu’s Sage classes being listed on the bottom of his also reflect the same idea as it coming after he already walked the path of a warrior. 

It’s only when we get to Zenberu that you see the value in this theory. That is in particular how he has his Fighter Level before his Monk classes, suggesting he tried to be a Warrior first, saw it wasn’t for him and found his proper calling as a Monk. Or something like that. 

Then in Renner’s case you have Princess then Actress come up. Which is in line with how understand her life, where she started acting normal some point after her early life when she met Climb. 

Comparing Evileye against Keno’s sheet, you see they both have Vampire Princess and Sorcerer in the same order, but then Elementalist after that. 

Arche likewise had Wizard classes then Acaemic Wizard before getting High Wizard which does reflect the point she attended the Magic Academy to some extent. 

Nfirea shows that usualy people need the starter magic class first, before one can pursue other magic paths. IE he couldn’t just study Alchemy first. 

Baziwood shows us how he was a Fighter first then he got his experience as a Imperial Knight.  Or how Gondo had to get Armor, Item, and Weapon smith before Runesmith like in Ainz’s own theory on why it’s rare. 

Calca shows us she had Divine caster classes before Holy Queen, which matches the story we were told she was a Tier 4 caster before she became Holy Queen. 

But ti’s Neia’s second sheet which tells us the importance of this order. We know she awakened as a Sacred Archer after her death, but her Evangelism and then Founder classes came later, which makes sense since it seems she got Founder for creating a new religion, at least in theory. So it’s natural Evangelism comes before Founder. 

In Caspond’s case we see that he tried to study Divine magic first, but then tried to acquire knowledge as a Sage before getting his Noble classes. So this shed’s light that the Holy Kingdom’s royal family tried to teach Divine magic first or as a priority over just normal noble etiquette. We know Caspond chose to study as a Sage since it seemed he realized he couldn’t compare to Calca. 

There are other little tidbits of course in other sheets like Leinas but I’ll stop there. 

You can’t get the whole picture unless you have all the classes in order, but you get the idea. You get a relative idea of their life. Not a very mind blowing idea, but I thought it was interesting to consider because it gives you some things to learn from not just classes but their order too. 

But then we have Tsuare (Tuare sic?)...

For some reason her character sheet has Maid BEFORE Slave??????????

I don’t know…I don’t have a witty answer to that one. Only thing I can figure is that someone else put the sheet together, like Maru gave them the notes and they ordered it by level number rather than the order he gave? Someoen would probably need to ask him to clarify. It doesn’t make sensse given everyone else’s sheet and it wasn’t from a main volume so…. 

You can see it as a counter example or a mistake. Sheets have mistakes, like Ivileye not Evileye. Or changes like Brain’s class being Warrior/Genius and later the notation being Class Name (Genius). 

I think it’s important to bring up since there is no nice answer for it. 

Well anyway this was a fun tangent for an article. Feel free to ignore it. 

(O_O)7

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