Elemental Adept (Uncommon):
This path takes a single step away from the traditional art of arcane magic. This Mage has been imprinted upon by a power with a deep connection to the natural elements of earth, wind, fire, and air. And it is through this thread that they eventually attain a different form of magical might by channeling the strength of these very elements.
New Class Ability:
Lesser Elemental Conjuration
Upgraded Class Abilities:
Mystic Awareness to Elemental Awareness
Minor Arcane Spellcasting to Lesser Elemental Spellcasting
Passive Ability:
Natural Restoration
Stat Bonuses:
+30 Spell Power
+15 Will
Permanent Stat Modifications:
+2 Boost to Spell Power per Level
+1 Boost to Will per Level
Sam’s eyes widened as she stared at the screen. Her mouth hung slightly open while she read and then reread it.
She had only known of two people with these rarity tags to their Classes. One was her own brother, Levi, as he was a Spellblade. Then there was Jaco, a Druid. She knew Levi had a Rare Class, and from what she heard from Jaco, his Class Evolution was also listed as Rare.
However, this was something new to her. Sam had never heard of anyone with an Uncommon Class or Class Evolution. Granted, the sample size in that department was pretty limited. She was aware that at least one other member of the Chosen Few had an abnormal Class. That man had been a Phantom Rogue, at least until Jaco had killed him.
But whether his Class had been Uncommon or Rare, none of them knew. That just wasn’t something the System actually showed when you used it to identify a person’s basic info. So unless the person in question openly told you the answer, there really was no way to find out that they knew of.
In this case, though, there was a separate pressing matter. When it came to the source that opened up this potential path for her, the description made it rather obvious. A certain Druid immediately came to mind. However, while the connection was clear and there was no other clear explanation, Sam’s brows furrowed with confusion.
Was her connection to Jaco truly enough to cause such a development to occur? She just couldn’t wrap her head around it. Maybe if she had known and fought alongside him since the very start of the Apocalypse, it could have made sense. But that hadn’t been the case, not by a long shot.
Sam’s first encounter with Jaco after the Apocalypse had already been well over a month ago. About thirty-eight days at that point, to be more precise, if her memory served her correctly. Which meant that she’d known Jaco for a few weeks now. Though that was only true from a technical point of view.
A large chunk of that time had actually been spent apart, with Jaco alone in the city. If one were to count nothing but the time he’d spent in the camp between his two visits, he and Sam had only spent about a week in relatively close proximity. Even then, however, that was only in terms of physical distance, with both being in the same immediate area. When she considered how little of that overall time they’d spent directly interacting with one another, this Class Evolution just became all the more perplexing.
She decided that this was likely beyond her. If Sam only let it stew within her mind, she’d probably drive herself crazy. Her gaze moved over to the other woman in the room. Evelyn’s eyes, too, were closed as she simply leaned against a wall. Unless she was one of those weirdos who could fall asleep super easily, she was probably still awake, right?
“Hey, Evelyn…” Sam began after a moment of hesitation. The redhead across the room opened her eyes.
“Hmm?
“I’m just really confused about something. It’s like this.”
Sam then proceeded to explain what her Class Evolution had offered so far. When she came to the part about the Elemental Adept Class, that quickly got Evelyn’s full attention. Once she finished sharing everything, Evelyn had already leaned forward, and she was staring right at her with a clearly confused look.
“Have you heard of anything like that before from Levi or the other Chosen?” Sam asked after wrapping up the explanation.
Evelyn shook her head. “I wouldn’t know. It’s not really anything they openly talked about, at least not with me. I didn’t even know how many options there were until I reached Level 30 to get my own. But that last Evolution… It's definitely weird. Don’t know exactly how the System even works for a lot of things, though, so maybe this is just another one of its mysteries?”
“Maybe.” It wasn’t really a satisfying answer, though, and Sam was still curious about something. “Though… what would you do? Like for your own Evolution, would you have picked it over your actual choice? Assuming it was offered as a Warrior equivalent, I mean.”
The Flashblade Blitzer considered the question. Several seconds passed as she looked over to the side, deep in thought. Just as the silence started to stretch on, Evelyn seemed to have come to a conclusion and looked back.
“Nope, definitely wouldn’t have. Just wouldn’t really compliment my focus on Agility. Sure, it’s probably strong and has its advantages, but just wouldn’t jibe me with, you know? I kinda just picked based on what felt right without thinking about it too much. So if you’re asking for my opinion, I guess just consider what your heart feels is right?”
“What my heart feels is right,” Sam repeated with a sincere nod. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks for the help.”
“Nah, I didn’t do much at all. But…” Evelyn trailed off for a moment. “I should be the one thanking you. For earlier with the Minotaur, I mean. I’m pretty sure it was about to transform. If you hadn’t come in time to finish it off, I would have been the first one it killed. So… thank you.”
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The Mage’s mind once again showed her a picture of how close she’d come to getting grabbed and potentially squashed. But within that same picture, she couldn’t help but recall what the redhead had been doing. How Evelyn could have made a break for it after Jaco got blown away, something that would have been very possible with her speed.
But instead, she had desperately tried to attack the Minotaur from behind. To intentionally draw its attention away from Sam and toward herself instead. It hadn’t worked, at least not until the moment Jaco attacked the Minotaur and turned the tides in an instead. But maybe it could have worked just a second later. And even if it didn’t, Evelyn taking that risk in itself was still a meaningful act.
“It’s, umm… no problem. Sorry for waking you up, you can go back to sleep now if you want,” Sam said with a bit of awkwardness. When the redhead turned away and closed her eyes again, she just let out a small sigh.
But on that note, she went ahead and checked out the final option on the list.
Advanced Mage:
To simply focus on a solid foundation can be seen as a simple path, but it is also still fundamentally powerful in its own right. This Mage simply takes another step forward on the road directly ahead, ignoring alternative routes while keeping their gaze fixed on the development of perfected simplicity.
New Class Ability:
Lesser Spell Craft
Upgraded Class Abilities:
Choose two (Minor Restoration, Minor Mana Weaving, Minor Arcane Spellcasting) to raise to Lesser rank.
Passive Abilities:
Perfected Foundations (First Step)
Stat Bonuses:
+30 Will
+30 Spell Power
Permanent Stat Modifications:
+2 Boost to Will per Level
+2 Boost to Spell Power per Level
This is… huh, Sam thought. So it was most certainly the same kind of thing Jaco received for his last option. A more basic-looking Evolution, but one that provided better Stats than every other option. Something about it felt… right.
Sam continued to carefully study her options for the next several minutes. She was in no rush, and as such had plenty of time to do another review of each one. The weight and importance of this decision were not lost on her. There would be no redo once the choice was finalized. It would completely define the rest of her time in the Apocalypse. And if it ended up being the wrong choice, it could be her final regret before that time came to a sudden end.
But after her discussion with Evelyn, one path had already pushed itself to the forefront of her mind. While she was still uncertain about making that her final choice, however, what Sam was certain about was which one she wouldn’t pick. After the inner reflection she had already done while deep in thought about it, that particular decision actually came rather easily.
She would not select the Elemental Adept. That was a commitment, and she would hold firm on it. As for why Sam would so decidedly put aside the only one that was Uncommon? Well, it was certainly likely to be powerful, that much she felt confident in thinking. If Jaco’s use of the elements was any example, then that was a pretty reasonable assumption to make.
However, it was there that the answer for her rejection could be found. If Sam became an Elemental Adept, she’d feel like she was simply walking in the Druid’s footsteps. There were other factors too, of course. Such as the uncertainty of how powerful the elemental magic would be compared to Jaco’s, as the description did say it was gained via the power being imprinted upon you. Was this imprint just a spark that led to something equally strong, or nothing but a copy that would never quite compare to the original?
Then there was her Mystic Awareness. Every Class had an Ability that always worked in the background and adjusted their perception of the world. Mystic Awareness, for example, was what made Mages like her so much more sensitive to magic and Mana in comparison to all the other Classes.
Yet what would happen when it got upgraded to Elemental Awareness? Jaco had previously said that he had received a similar kind of upgrade to his Ability. As far as he could tell, it had mostly made his instincts double down on their power to sense danger, but apparently it also helped guide his general intuition as well.
In one instance, he’d found an artifact just because he vaguely felt that something important was close by while standing near it. At the same time, the upgrade hadn’t removed what the Ability did before in terms of enhancing his senses. However, would that last point be the same for Sam and Elemental Awareness?
She really disliked how the System didn’t provide any actual Ability information. While the Class descriptions gave her a very general… well, description, they didn’t do much in terms of the specifics. Just from the name Elemental Awareness, Sam assumed that the changed Ability would extend her sensitivity to Mana to cover the elements as well. Though considering the name change, it would likely lean toward the latter from here on out.
Perhaps that difference would make a bigger impact for a second Class Evolution, at least assuming those were a thing. Maybe they were, and it would be known upon someone reaching Level 60 if it was a pattern starting from 30. Or maybe they weren’t, and this was it for humanity in terms of power boosts. Either way, the result was the same in terms of her line of thinking.
Sam shook her head. She could already tell that she was just overcomplicating things at this point. While complex arguments and reasoning were good and had a place, sometimes it was better just to simplify. To think or say the thing that deep down, from the start, you already knew you were going to, and just be efficient about it.
She didn’t want to just be stuck in Jaco’s shadow. Whether the power gained was comparable to his or not, the result was the same. Something within her said that this would be an excellent path for anyone who wanted to follow in his path. But that would just be it at the end of the day, following his path. And that simply wasn’t something she wanted for herself.
No, she already knew what her own path would be. She’d known for a bit now, but had consciously tried to justify herself and logically reason it out first through process of elimination. Of the four options, the one that claimed her heart was that of the Advanced Mage.
It just felt right to her. The idea of just taking what you already have, and then turning into an unshakable foundation. It was also the option that would allow her to compete the most with Jaco and the Chosen Few in one department: pure and simple Stats. It also didn’t hurt that the Spell Craft Ability actually did appeal to her, as it sounded interesting.
Sam stopped doubting what her heart was already telling her. At that moment, she decided to heed the advice Evelyn had just given. To simply choose what felt right for her vision of herself, and not worry about anything else. And as for her own vision, Sam saw herself as still only at the start of a marathon. One where she would reach the peak her own way on the path already laid out in front of her, without anything fancy or extra acting as a distraction.
It was with this conviction that she finalized her decision. As for the upgraded Class Abilities? Sam picked Restoration to give herself an edge on restoring her Mana, and then Mana Weaving to allow herself the fine-tuned control that would be needed for future magical projects at the camp.
With a sigh of both satisfaction and relief from her, a new golden screen appeared as the System acknowledged her choice.
Class Evolution Gained: Advanced Mage!