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Chapter 126- Picking A Class
🕑 Added 2024-01-02 23:23:28 +0000 UTCThis was it, the moment that would dictate the course his life would take. It was the first true step onto the path of power, the beginning of the journey that would take him to the top or leave him forgotten in the fields of mediocrity. Well, with my current status, I guess no one will ever be able to call me mediocre regardless of my class.
His only example of an epic-classer was currently the alverin woman beside him, but he was pretty sure he already had her beat and that was without him even taking a class himself. After he’d done so, well, he hardly doubted the so-called threat coming to Earth would be ready for him. However powerful it might be, Arthur was pretty certain it would be limited to tier-1, the current level of their planet. Anything greater, and he was sure the system administrators would send someone to deal with it.
Humanity could hardly be expected to combat a threat that outstripped them on the planetary evolution scale. It would result in their annihilation. The Serako assembly had briefly touched on the subject of hostile invasions from both sapient and monster species and Earth was apparently protected from threats beyond tier 1.
Even attacks at their level were supposed to be carefully regulated. Still, the fact that Ayesha was so worried suggested that things wouldn’t be sorting themselves out so easily. Turning back to his class selection, Arthur took a deep breath. Hopefully, his preparations would prove adequate.
The bloodied demon
First on the list was something that certainly looked a little evil. Arthur wasn’t sure, but if elves and dwarves were a thing, it made sense that demons of some sort existed too. Maybe angels and devils were out there in the multiverse somewhere too.
The bloodied demon (epic/growth)
The bloodied demon is the finest that humanity has to offer, going a step beyond the base race. Your journey so far has been intrinsically linked with the lifeblood that flows through your veins. Your evolution and growth have made it one of the most potent liquids on the planet, a natural treasure in its own right.
The bloodied demon takes these strengths a step further. Evolve your poison/water affinity into a PERFECT poison/blood affinity. Blood magic is one of the most versatile ritual magics known across the multiverse and is renowned for its ability to jump across tiers in combat. With your unique blood, this effect is enhanced by at least 200%.
There's a thirty-five percent chance that you’ll be able to keep water as a separate ether affinity.
Gains 48 stats per level (+15 Draconic Vitality, +5 agility, +10 willpower, +18 free stat points)
All in all, it was a very strong contender for his first class selection. A 35% chance to gain an entirely new affinity without losing one he already had and a hundred percent chance that it would be a perfect affinity was nothing to scoff at. He knew a little of what that would mean for him. Humans as a race, had a below-average connection with ether with a magical aptitude rated on the poorer side. From personal experience, Arthur was aware of how his affinities matched up to an alverin like Alyssia. Her affinities with wind and lightning were far stronger than his own magics and he doubted fixing his soul bridged that gap entirely.
This class however provided the opportunity to change that. A perfect blood affinity meant his manipulation skills would become near instinctive and they would cost far less whilst dealing more damage than anything else he had access to. He’d done a little reading after meeting Tamo Tatsumi, the blood mage he’d assisted with his curse problem. Blood mages were… hot shit. They were in high demand as incredible healers, which would synergise well with his affinities and they were well known for their potent damage output.
All in all, it was an incredible class, probably in the top ten of those that had been unlocked on this planet to date. Sadly, it was just shy of reaching the legendary status he was after. Its growth aspect meant it was a self-rectifying problem, but he wanted a legendary class now, not when he reached level 200. Still, if his other class choices were not up to snuff, he’d be happy enough to take this as his final choice. It was just that good.
Next on the list was Dread Chimera: Herald of the Apocalypse. He didn’t even get to its description before he was stopped dead in his tracks. It was Mythical. An impossibility for a starter class. Everything Arthur had learned told him that things like this just didn’t happen. Taking this class would thrust Arthur into stardom, not just for his sector of the galaxy but for the entirety of the universe and maybe beyond. With a name so grandiose, he should have expected something so spectacular. Sadly, a few seconds into reading its description told him it wasn’t a class he'd be taking.
Dread Chimaera: Herald of the Apocalypse. (Mythical)
From the beginning, you despised the shackles your race placed upon you. Limited by the base form of your species, you sought something better. You desired power and so you assimilated the strength of your defeated foes. This class is a natural progression from that point as you leave behind the form of your previous species and evolve into a chimaera. You become the very apocalypse you sought to prevent, the herald of your own coming.
Gains 100 free stats per level.
Warning: This class will change your species and may change you more than physiologically. As a unique chimaera, you will be subject to mental health assessments every year for the following decade and then once every ten years to ensure that you do not become a threat to sapient life. Note that the Draconic community and council of beasts may not be pleased with the origins your species represents should you select this class. The human evolutionary limit shall be upgraded from C rank to S rank should this class be chosen.
All things considered, this was an incredible class. It was a little vague in details compared to the bloodied demon, but you didn’t really need to look beyond the class name. Taking it would give him the power of an apocalypse beast, take him beyond one even. One hundred stats, after his title's work and evolutionary boons working on it, would translate to 179 stats per level, 78 extra from his [enlarged soul] and one from his title [jack of all trades].
The class description also taught him of an evolutionary limit he hadn’t been aware of. Turned out humans were limited to the C Rank, just one beyond where he’d currently reached. Becoming a dread chimaera would solve that issue and push his race's potential all the way up to S-rank. All these boons alone were incredible, but when he considered them all together, it made the class revolutionary.
Sadly, it wasn’t enough for him to take it. Fixing his soul shell had made his soul affinity available to him. He didn’t know if it was linked to that, but he was able to sort of ‘feel’ how a class would change him beyond the simple description he was given by the system. As limited as everyone wanted to tell him the human race was, Arthur was a big fan of having opposable thumbs. Sure becoming some big bad new species looked good on paper but how was he gonna clean his arse if he became a quadruped like the shadow panther.
He would rather die than start licking himself clean, an instinct he was very likely to inherit if he chose this class. At least that was the general impression his soul affinity was giving him. I’m not the biggest fan of other people, but that doesn't mean I want to give up on the amenities of civilization altogether. No, whilst he was aware of his race's deficiencies, he’d find another way to push beyond them. This was all a secondary issue too, when compared to how he might change mentally after taking the class. Instead of abandoning his humanity altogether, he'd find a way to build upon the foundations it had given him. He had a good feeling the next class on the list would better suit his purposes. It was called The Perfect Homunculus. Bringing up its details, Arthur couldn’t help but grin. The perfect homunculus was well… perfect.
The perfect homunculus (Legendary, growth)
Blades are forged in the hottest flames and the decisions made in desperation are often those that shape us forever. In your darkest moments, you claimed the power of the shadow panther for yourself, The beginning of many assimilated beasts started on the foundations of an apocalypse and ended at the divine.
This class is a continuation of that journey, a refinement of the foundation you have already built and the initial consolidation of a trifecta, the first step of the supremacy you shall become. Rejecting the path of man and beast, you tread the narrow valley between, a perfect homunculus of your own making. A single misstep shall lead to ruin.
Gains 70 stats per level [+20 Draconic Vitality/ level +50 free stats/ points/ level]
Note: This class possesses resonance with your fractured title half-breed. Taking it will develop it in a similar direction and assimilate it within the class instead of allowing the title to proceed down a new path. Warning: certain bloodlines and species may take offence to what this class says about you and the foes you vanquished to get to where you are now.
It was a legendary class and provided 70 stats per level, five below the maximum a legendary class could have given him. With his titles, that translated to 126 stats, one more than the theoretical maximum a mythical class was supposed to give. The stats for once, however, were a secondary consideration in his decision-making process. They were an incredible boon and would compound well with the stat monster he had already become, but they paled when compared to the main selling point this class provided.
It would allow him to continue consuming monster cores.
He’d known for a while now that his half-breed title was undergoing a metamorphosis, Alyssia had warned him of it a long time ago and now, with his soul affinity unlocked, he could feel it resting within his spirit, a wellspring of evolutionary potential that was starting to dry up. It was partly because of how much he’d abused himself eating so many monster cores but mostly due to the fact that his human soul, as adaptable as it was, was starting to run into some hard limitations with how much more power it could assimilate.
Arthur had been content with giving up his greatest advantage, he’d thought it was a foregone conclusion that his core consumption was a thing of the past. The mythical class he’d been offered seemingly provided a similar boon, but it was more in the strain of general monster progression, where they’d consume the entirety of their defeated foes and grow a little stronger for it. The perfect homunculus, however, seemed like a natural progression of his cheat-like ability, albeit with a restriction in his number of uses.
Trifecta suggested he’d have three core slots to fill, with his first apparently being a consolidation of everything he’d eaten so far. A SINGLE dragon core had changed him more than most legendary classes would and this would allow him to eat two more.
Or I could go for something stronger. What’s above a dragon on the food chain? A Drakon? Maybe a Kraken. I don't know if they're stronger than dragons though. He’d heard tales of many creatures with reality-breaking abilities in the past month. Most of them of course were fabrications, but he’d confirmed the existence of a few supreme monsters whilst talking with Alyssia. A star-swallower might be beyond him now, but that wouldn't remain the same forever. And this class would let him take that power for himself. He’d have to be selective with what he ate going forwards and getting the required ingredients to fuel his expensive diet would be near impossible, but the potential here far outstripped anything he’d seen so far.
Sure a perfect blood affinity was sweet, but what if he could gain something like void, or Armageddon? With it being a growth class, it meant it would automatically evolve into Mythical at level 200 and if the growth aspect remained, he'd hit level 300 with an Ascendant class. Sure, with his insane health pool, blood magic was perfect for him, but with Draconic Vitality already allowing him to fuel his normal skills with health at a reasonable conversion rate, it wasn't a game changer.
Arthur was almost certain he’d be choosing this class but he checked the next one on the list just in case. Despite its mediocre name, it was actually decent. The Shoddy craftsman was interesting enough, but it pushed him in a direction he wasn’t fond of, with a 50% bonus to all crafting-related skills. It’d also give him two extra slots for general skills with an additional one provided every 50 levels.
An epic+ crafting class.
He was certain any blacksmith or alchemist would be frothing at the mouth right now but being a craftsman just didn’t interest him all that much. Not when the only reason he’d been offered this class was because of the insane quality of ingredients he’d been using thus far. No, Arthur knew what he wanted. Getting comfortable against the Tree of Life, he made his decision.
