“Many species across the world are blessed with access to the System, but only the noble races have been granted the ability to utilize Classes. From generic and humble professions, to specialized roles and careers, Classes encompass just about all paths one can walk in life. So much so that many consider this offered versatility to be what makes the noble races greater than the rest.
They are wrong.
Monsters may not have access to Classes, but they have a tool even greater: evolution. The ability to morph one’s own body, to become a different creature entirely, is powerful. Even more so when the transformations can be chosen in a way that benefits one’s abilities.
A warrior with natural talent for carrying great weight may take up the mantle of [Titan Knight] to make the best use of it, thanks to the Class’s benefit of heavy armor and massive weapons. They still must purchase their arms and armor, not to mention gain proficiency in them through repeated practice. But a Demon Rhino with similar talents? They merely become a [Death Titan Rhino].”
-Estran Leabrar, Discredited Scholar of the Shostran Royal Palace
----------------------------------------
Click couldn’t eat another bite. After figuring out that it was insect density that triggered Click’s brethren to ditch their old webs for Click’s, the spider put together a mega-net and filled it with just enough bugs to keep under the limit. It might not have sounded like much, but the vast space the web took up meant that there was a veritable feast! More than Click could eat, in fact.
Which was all well, as Click didn’t quite eat the bugs; they sucked their innards dry. The spider took another sip, and was greeted by a flurry of notifications.
[Experience +5 | Next Level: 60/60]
[Level up!]
Juvenile Dungeon Spider (Level 5)
Name: Click
Soul Link: Rockfort Hamlet Dungeon Core Ṁ̶̡̄̒͜o̷͚͍̊͒̃̓̿ǰ̵̧̢̭̫̪a̷͇̋̿̿̽͘ ̵̨̛̥͎͉́̋̈͘D̵̝̭͇̓̎̅ȋ̷̯͔̤̑͋̑t̴̛͉͈̟̽̑͑h̸̪̲̩̗̀̉̃͝͠ä̵͕̼̠́̊̓̕b̴̗͕̏͊̂̓̚ä̷̡̰̱͕̒̌̋
Classes: N/A
Statistic
Amount
Health Points
7 (+1)
Body
6 (+1)
Intellect
152 (+0)
Soul
7 (+1)
[Level requirement achieved for evolution]
[Choices available: Juvenile Dungeon Web Spider, Juvenile Dungeon Hunter Spider, Juvenile Dungeon Ambush Trapper Spider, Juvenile Dungeon Spider Commander]
[Please select a choice-]
Huh? Click scuttled over to a safe corner of their web and considered the… not-quite words. They felt a powerful compulsion towards the second choice, with some bit of pull towards the third, but the prospect of there being a choice made them think. Especially if that choice somehow imparted the understanding that it would be important.
Click already experienced evolution once, but that was just getting bigger. This… was something different. So the first question they asked to themselves was what the difference between each of these choices were.
[System query received, producing result…]
[Listing result (1/4): Class Overview]
Juvenile Dungeon Web Spider
Type
Prerequisite
Species
Juvenile Dungeon Spider
Attribute
Base
Health Points
10
Body
5
Intellect
1
Soul
2
Skill Name
Description
Venom Gland
Secrete a toxic substance from your mandibles that can harm lesser creatures.
Silk Spinning
Secrete a sticky string that can ensnare weaker creatures.
Web Sense
Feel vibrations through your web, even when you’re not on it.
Those were a lot of concepts and… numbers? Click had never seen any before, but could wrap their brain around the idea behind them. Something about how many of something there was, like how many bugs Click could eat at once. The answer to that was about two dozen by the way.
The concepts associated with each number made sense. Health Points was how many hits they could take without dying. That was easy to understand.
Body was how well Click could move around and how hard they could bite. Click had a body, and the attribute described its strength.
After that was Intellect, which was about how well the spider could think, and as far as they could tell, they were pretty good at it.
And finally there was Soul, or the strength of spirit. That was the vaguest of all sensations, because it referred to strengths and resistances to forces Click couldn’t comprehend without context. Whatever delivered this information didn’t even bother to provide any.
So what was the deal with the concept of Base? Apparently the actual value Click would have for each attribute after choosing an evolution was based on that value, along with their level and any side bonuses.
So what were those values, anyway? Click was starting to understand the idea behind these “numbers,” and how different values, well… differed.
[System query received, producing result…]
[Listing result (1/3): In Depth Class Attributes]
Juvenile Dungeon Web Spider
Type
Prerequisite
Species
Juvenile Dungeon Spider
Attribute
Base
Per Level
Health Points
10
1
Body
5
1
Intellect
2
1
Soul
2
1
[Listing result (2/3): In Depth Class Attributes]
Juvenile Dungeon Spider
Attribute
Base
Per Level
Health Points
2
2
Body
1
1
Intellect
0
0.5
Soul
2
1
[Listing result (3/3): Current Bonuses]
Bonus
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Value
Once in a Generation (Intellect)
+150
It made a bit more sense to Click now. The value for an attribute was Base + (Per Level x level count) + bonus, or times the bonus if it was percentage based. That meant something like Intellect for Click was 0 + (0.5 x 5) + 150, which was 152.5, which probably got rounded down to 152. Having only part of a number for a stat felt weird to Click, so it made sense that it would be a whole number.
The only bonus Click had was to Intellect too, and it was even gold! The spider lamented not having anything else and even thought about trading the massive +150 for something more useful, but the spider felt that it was because of the bonus that they could even think such things at all. Click shook their head and decided to be thankful for their blessings instead.
But it would be nice to show the Per Level information unprompted from now on.
[Query received: change to display]
Click spread their mandibles in a facsimile of a smile. Being listened to for once felt nice, and the spider motioned for the System to continue its previous info dump.
[Listing result (2/4): Advanced Class Overview]
Juvenile Dungeon Hunter Spider
Type
Prerequisite
Species
Juvenile Dungeon Spider
Attribute
Base
Per Level
Health Points
10
2
Body
7
2
Intellect
1
0.5
Soul
2
1
Skill Name
Description
Venom Gland
Secrete a toxic substance from your mandibles that can harm lesser creatures.
Silk Spinning
Secrete a sticky string that can ensnare weaker creatures.
Prey Detection
Instinctually sense the location of prey, and its movements.
Why were my instincts telling me to get this?! Click furiously clicked their mandibles together at the idea of them almost picking such a terrible evolution over the others. The spider didn’t need the extra points in Body or the Prey Detection Skill, they were doing great getting food for themselves! This instinct of mine is completely useless! Pah. What’s next?
[Listing result (3/4): Advanced Class Overview]
Juvenile Dungeon Ambush Trapper Spider
Type
Prerequisite
Species
Juvenile Dungeon Spider
Skill: Venom Gland
> Level 1
Skill: Silk Spinning
> Level 1
Attribute
Base
Per Level
Health Points
10
2
Body
7
2
Intellect
2
1
Soul
2
1
Skill Name
Description
Venom Gland
Secrete a toxic substance from your mandibles that can harm lesser creatures.
Silk Spinning
Secrete a sticky string that can ensnare weaker creatures.
Web Launch
Hold and throw your webbing.
Now this class was better in every way from the Hunter spider. Why anyone would choose to take this route was beyond Click. Beyond having the best of both worlds for Body and Intellect from both of the previous choices, the Web Launch Skill looked incredibly useful. Click could never catch anything on foot. But a thrown web would completely get rid of that disadvantage! But…
The spider stepped out of their little alcove and looked to their mega web, and the dozens of insects that covered it. Click felt the urge to laugh at the idea of actually needing the Skill.
So that just left one more choice. Click was relatively satisfied with the attribute spread of the third one, but decided to give number four a fair chance.
[Listing result (4/4): Advanced Class Overview]
Juvenile Dungeon Spider Commander
Type
Prerequisite
Species
Juvenile Dungeon Spider
Intelligence
> 10
Attribute
Base
Per Level
Health Points
8
1
Body
4
1.5
Intellect
5
2
Soul
3
2
Skill Name
Description
Venom Gland
Secrete a toxic substance from your mandibles that can harm lesser creatures.
Silk Spinning
Secrete a sticky string that can ensnare weaker creatures.
Command Subordinates
Command subordinate members of your organization. They will follow your will as if it were an instinct.
Observation
Obtain System information about a target.
Well then…
The lack of Health Points and Body screamed at Click to run away and not look back, and the massive increase in Intellect and Soul, while impressive, didn’t do too much to push back against those instincts. Click was about to open the third choice again, but one little Skill held their rapt attention.
Command Subordinates. The spider instinctively knew that all of their brethren fell under their “organization,” and that the only thing those spiders could seemingly act on was instinct. So to be able to control that?
The System was wrong. There was no real choice in the presence of an objectively correct one.
[Evolution choice selected: Juvenile Dungeon Spider Commander]
[Beginning Evolution…]
Click’s body began to morph, but this time, their size remained mostly the same. But something changed deep within them, their internal structure, and a few new markings and colorations appeared on their abdomen to signify their new authority.
[Evolution Carryover bonus obtained!]
Juvenile Dungeon Spider Commander (Level 1)
Name: Click
Soul Link: Rockfort Hamlet Dungeon Core Ṁ̶̡̄̒͜o̷͚͍̊͒̃̓̿ǰ̵̧̢̭̫̪a̷͇̋̿̿̽͘ ̵̨̛̥͎͉́̋̈͘D̵̝̭͇̓̎̅ȋ̷̯͔̤̑͋̑t̴̛͉͈̟̽̑͑h̸̪̲̩̗̀̉̃͝͠ä̵͕̼̠́̊̓̕b̴̗͕̏͊̂̓̚ä̷̡̰̱͕̒̌̋
Classes: N/A
Statistic
Amount
Health Points
11
Body
6
Intellect
156
Soul
5
[Ability Unlocked: Command Subordinates]
[Ability Unlocked: Observation]
Skill Name
Level
Description
Venom Gland
2
Secrete a toxic substance from your mandibles that can harm lesser creatures.
Silk Spinning
8
Secrete a sticky string that can ensnare weaker creatures.
Command Subordinates
1
Command subordinate members of your organization. They will follow your will as if it were an instinct.
Observation
1
Obtain System information about a target.
Bonus
Value
Once in a Generation (Intellect)
+150
Evolution Carryover (Health Points)
+3
Evolution Carryover (Body)
+2
Evolution Carryover (Intellect)
+1
Evolution Carryover (Soul)
+2
“URRROAAAAHHHHH!!!” The baleful roar came before Click could properly appreciate the changes.
A massive predator, carried by two pairs of thin and hair-covered legs extending out of an equally hairy torso, bounded over to Click’s old net with its mouth wide open. Sharp teeth gnashed into the webbing and several spiders. Most were able to escape, despite how densely the swarm crowded around the net, but the predator quickly readied itself for seconds.
Click was tempted to simply run away and leave the others to their fate, but considered their new powers. The predator would always be there; watching, hungry, a threat. Who was to say Click wouldn’t eventually be its next meal? It didn’t matter how careful Click was, even the [Spider Commander] knew that there were too many variables in the world for them to keep track of. So the only thing Click could do was remove some of them to make things safer. And now, the spider had a weapon to remove this variable.
[Command Subordinates]! Click all but shouted the Skill name in their head. Let’s take that thing down!
Juvenile Dungeon Spider Commander (Level 1)
Name: Click
Soul Link: Rockfort Hamlet Dungeon Core Ṁ̶̡̄̒͜o̷͚͍̊͒̃̓̿ǰ̵̧̢̭̫̪a̷͇̋̿̿̽͘ ̵̨̛̥͎͉́̋̈͘D̵̝̭͇̓̎̅ȋ̷̯͔̤̑͋̑t̴̛͉͈̟̽̑͑h̸̪̲̩̗̀̉̃͝͠ä̵͕̼̠́̊̓̕b̴̗͕̏͊̂̓̚ä̷̡̰̱͕̒̌̋
Classes: N/A
Statistic
Amount
Health Points
11
Body
6
Intellect
156
Soul
5
Skill Name
Level
Description
Venom Gland
2
Secrete a toxic substance from your mandibles that can harm lesser creatures.
Silk Spinning
8
Secrete a sticky string that can ensnare weaker creatures.
Command Subordinates
1
Command subordinate members of your organization. They will follow your will as if it were an instinct.
Observation
1
Obtain System information about a target.