Chapter 20 - Evolving Again (Long Chapter) (1/2)
”Damn, that's a lot of experience from just killing a single A-grade enemy,” Aurus couldn't help but say in shock. Even though 200 might not seem like a lot for a late-game player, it was a lot for Aurus who had to start over from the beginning and the most he has gotten before was 30.
But of course, he didn't waste his time on being ecstatic after getting that much experience. He was inside the Tempest Cliff, a place where only X-Grade Inanimates are said to be safe...and anything lower than that is suicide.
”Before I evolve, let's see my current stats and compare it to how much I had when I was Level 1,” Aurus decided to open up his status screen one last time before evolving. He didn't know why, but it felt like he had to do it before evolving.
”Open status screen.”
Ding!
________
[Aurus] (Level 5/5)
Experience: MAX
Species: Wind Walnut Branch (Special)
Existence Level: Inanimate
Grade: B
[HP]: 10/10
[SP]: 150/150
Stats:
[Toughness]: 10
[Thickness]: 10
[Shell Hardness]: 10
Synchronization Rate: 20%
Unused Experience Points: 150
Unused Genesis Points: 0
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Looking at his current status screen, he was able to see how much stronger he has gotten ever since he evolved. If he were to fight against a Level 1 version of his twig self, he would easily hundreds of them with a single offensive skill.
”Since I'm going to evolve and [Revitalising Fruit Creation] leveled up, the amount of fruits I can make has been increased to 16. I don't need a spare nut for evolving anyway so I'll just make everything SP storage,” Aurus said this as he changed all of his nuts into SP storage. From there, his maximum SP capacity was raised from 150 to 170.
”Well... let's not delay this any further. Evolve!”
Ding!
In an instant, Aurus was given five choices for his next evolution. But once he continued to look at the choices, only shock covered his nonexistent face.
________
Please choose the species that Aurus will evolve into:
[Walnut Branch Formosus — Wind Raneiros (Special)]
[Walnut Branch Formosus — Wind Energistus (Special)]
[Walnut Sapling — Wind Raneiros (Special)]
[Walnut Sapling — Wind Energistus (Special)]
[Wind Walnut Spiritas (Rare)]
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”A Rare class?!” Aurus couldn't believe it. He was only expecting to evolve to a Special class at most since his current species is a Special class as well. ”How the heck...?”
”Gah, this is frustrating to think about.” Ever since Aurus was reborn into a stick, only surprises filled his life. Thanks to the godly passive skill Kurohana gave him, he was able to transition into a Special class as a B-Grade Inanimate. And with the same passive skill he was able to beat an enemy of a higher grade and even gain access to evolving as a Rare class.
In ISE, most players have only heard of Special classes. Those classes alone have the ability to become great players at the Transcendent and God level, but all Special classes know there are rarer class compared to them. They know those classes' might and they don't want to fight against them ever. The lowest tier of those classes are...Rare classes.
Although Rare class are just one grade above Special classes, the gap between them is insurmountable. If Special classes can do things normal classes can't, then Rare classes can do things Special classes can't.
”I guess I know what I'm going to change into,” Aurus couldn't help but sarcastically laugh. Who could pass up the chance of gaining a Rare class?
”Wind Energistus huh...” Since Aurus knew he was going to pick the final choice, he took his time on checking the other classes so he could know more about the enemies he could possibly fight against.
”If I remember correctly, Energistus variants are mage variants of that species. Since the word Wind is placed before it, then a Special class would be an elemental mage.”
”What is Raneiros though?” Aurus asked the system as he quickly scanned his surroundings if any enemies were nearby. Seeing that there were none, Aurus paid attention to what the system said.
Ding!
'Raneiros are variants of a certain species that specialize in attacking enemies from a long range. Though they could fight against enemies unscathed and even control the battle, the cooldown time for their skills are exceptionally long. In fantasy terms, these variants are called rangers.'
”Heh...rangers and mages huh.” At this point, Aurus felt that everything made more sense. All of the classes he evolved into in his previous life didn't really have any weird names like Energistus or Raneiros, but instead went straight to the point like Warrior or Guardian.
”How many variants are there? And what are they called in fantasy terms?” Since it's assured that Aurus would fight against enemies that had classes in the future, he had to prepare for every situation in case he had to fight a certain class.
Ding!
'There are 6 common variants as far as this system knows. These are Energistus, Raneiros, Ilucis, Azaril, Werei, and Belhazard.'
'The user already know the fantasy terms of Energistus and Raneiros, being mage and ranger respectively. As for Ilucis and Azaril, they're called illusionists and assassins in fantasy terms. Werei and Belhazard is warrior and berserker in fantasy terms respectively.'
”I see. I guess the variants are also based on the race the stick is from,” Aurus deduced after a bit of thinking. To him, it might be the reason why there was no Walnut race warrior or assassin...something like that.
”I almost forgot...this is where true classes start to pop up.”
Although it's said that B-Grade Inanimates gain a class, to be more specific, they're picking a race they want to be a part of. From there, once they reach the max level and evolve, that's where they truly gain their class.
”Well with that taken care of, let's see what offers do these evolutions give. I'll check the ranger variant of the Branch Formosus and the Sapling, the mage variant of the Sapling, and of course...”
”Wind Walnut Spiritas.”
”Disable short evolution info. Identify the species I've just said.”
Ding!
'The option 'Short evolution info' has been disabled.'
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
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[Walnut Branch Formosus — Wind Raneiros (Special)]
Existence Level: Inanimate
Grade: A
Rather than staying rooted in one place and accepting the blessings of the world, the branch decides to forge its own path of power, becoming a stronger form of itself, a Branch Formosus. It has also decided to become calm and collective in its decisions, even going as far as attacking from long range, sacrificing time for power and control. With the branch's affinity for Wind, this is also imbued in its attacks, gaining an edge over normal classes.