Chapter 382: Enforced Balance (1/2)

There was no doubt in Zac’s mind that the System had decided that his two class upgrades could not both use the same Daos as a base for its upgrade path. This was by far the most likely reason why he was provided two different options for epic classes for his Undying Bulwark class, but none for his Hatchetman class.

He already knew that the evolution of Undying Bulwark would have to be at least Epic Rarity, which in turn required at least one Dao Fragment to upgrade. That’s why the Fragment of the Axe was ‘used up’ to provide an option to upgrade his Draugr-Class first.

This forced his Hatchetman to rely on his remaining Dao Seeds for options in what direction to evolve in. The fact that neither Fallen Groveskeeper nor Mountain’s Ward seemed to have any obvious connection to axes was another strong indicator that his theory was correct.

He could also make a decent guess about which Daos were used for which class choices.

Zac guessed that Undying Warlord used his Fragment of the Axe together with the Dao Seeds he got from Undying Bulwark. It would still likely be a class geared toward leading Undead armies, but with a more offensive component added.

That left the seeds of Rot and Trees for Hatchetman, creating the ‘Fallen Groveskeeper’ class. It also felt like he had the accomplishments for such a class. He had literally created a ‘fallen grove’ on his property, the hidden valley where corrupted Tree of Ascension stood.

The Curse of Nature seemed to have incorporated Rot and Trees with the Fragment of the Axe instead, leaving hardness to create the Mountain’s Ward in conjunction with his nature-aspected skills. There were a few more possible combinations of Dao Seeds, but Zac guessed he lacked other qualifications to get other class choices.

It did leave him a bit confused about what sort of connection Curse of Nature had with the Fragment of the Axe. Would it be some sort of class that caused corruption and curses with the swing of his axe? He did have a mental component baked into his Axe Fragment come to think of it, the mental heaviness.

What Zac didn’t know was if the System split up everything between his two paths, not only Daos. For example, did the System take half of his accomplishments to evolve Hatcheman, and the other half to evolve Undying Bulwark? It was much harder to figure out what the rules were on something intangible like accomplishments.

Luckily he had some extra merit in the bank from closing the Technocrat incursion, which would hopefully help him out a bit if he found himself lacking in the future. There were also more accomplishments to be had in the Tower of Eternity before he had to pick a class.

Perhaps his current situation was a way for the System to enforce some balance. Having two classes was an almost disgusting advantage, and it was fair enough that he would have to work twice as hard to Evolve both of them to high-quality classes. But it also begged the question of whether he should maintain his goal of getting as high rarities as possible.

He was so far beyond everyone else on Earth, and he had advantages that would make most people in the multiverse green with envy. Yet he hadn’t even managed to get any options to upgrade his classes’ rarity after all he had accomplished. That proved the difficulties surrounding the highest rarities, and he was once again reminded of Alyn’s exhortations of not biting off more than one could chew.

But at the same time, he couldn’t stop himself from being drawn toward the concept of an Arcane class. What was the point of cultivation if not becoming as powerful as possible in order to protect those around you? His classes and the opportunities they provided were a large reason he could defeat even those that possessed equal or even higher attributes than him.

Besides, if he got stuck when evolving to D-Grade in the future he could always head out to adventure and find new opportunities to make up for what he lacked. This time he was pretty much forced to quickly evolve to meet the threats on Earth, but Zac wouldn't be as rushed for time after dealing with the Incursions and the Dominators.

He would have 100 years to slowly and steadily progress, allowing him to push both his Skills and his Daos to the peak before attempting to form his Cultivator's Core.

His options for classes weren’t exactly what he had wished for, but they gave him a good hint in what direction to work in. He felt that his optimal choice was to focus on a Fragment of Death next, or at least some subordinate Dao to the Dao of Death. That way he could use his Fragment of the Axe to upgrade Hatchetman, and the Death-attuned Dao Fragment to upgrade Undying bulwark.

Best of all would certainly be if he could get both fragments, which might at even give him the chance at one Arcane class and one Epic, but he couldn’t be too greedy.

As for the specific classes he was presented, he didn’t analyze them too deeply apart from figuring out why he could choose them. His options would probably change completely the moment he gained another fragment, making it premature to plan his cultivation around the classes he saw now.

He quickly left his private domain to head over to the Thayer Consortia. It was time to finish his preparations.

“The brave general returns!” the Sky Gnome said as he handed over a Cosmos Sack. “I bet your name will be used to scare unruly children after the invaders return home. I’ve never heard of anyone singlehandedly closing multiple incursions in one week.”

The Sky Gnome had already prepared a long list of items that Zac would need, containing everything from a wide array of Attuned Crystals to provisions to last for almost a year. Ogras had said that anything could happen inside the Tower, so he had prepared for every contingency he could think of.

“Half of them fled the moment it became apparent that I would be able to singlehandedly breach their defensive arrays,” Zac said with a wry smile as he accepted the sack. “The leaders usually fled first, leaving mostly the slaves and non-combat classes to cover their escape. I simply stood and watched for the most part.”

“It’s good to have some benevolence, but don’t be complacent when you arrive at the Tower of Eternity,” Calrin said with a serious face. “You will be mixing with all kinds of people, some from terrifying forces, and not everyone will share your kind-hearted mindset. Keep your head down and focus on your task.”

“I will be careful,” Zac smiled. “About that money?”

The sky gnome looked a bit queasy, but he transferred over almost 4 billion nexus coins without complaint. It was the combined worth of the sales of his Beast Crystals, along with his accumulated dividends from all the profits the Thayer Consortia had accumulated since the Beast Waves.

“Here, take this as well,” Calrin said as he took off a ring from one of his fingers. “It’s something the Thayer Progenitor found during his travels. He sto… discovered this from an ancient gravesite, and it has extremely impressive defensive properties. It can only be used once every year though, so only activate it if you’re all out of options.”

Zac wasn’t too surprised that the Thayer ancestor was a hobbyist grave robber in addition to a merchant after having met his descendants. He gratefully accepted the ring, since one could never have too many aces in a place like the Tower of Eternity.