Arthur sat on the grassy plains across from Alyssia. After their brief encounter with the Guardian's domain, they'd decided to retreat and better prepare themselves. Their return journey had been a silent affair, Alyssia not answering any of his questions until she was sure the beast wouldn't be able to observe them.

Whilst she was certain the animal hadn't learned true speech, what with it being a Loci construct with no access to no conversation partners, beasts at high enough levels could read the intent behind words. Enough that Alyssia didn't want to risk alerting the creature to any of their plans.

"Okay Alyssia," Arthur began. "You were the one that suggested we avoid fighting the guardian in the first place. I'm not entirely against the idea, but you felt that roar right, same as me. Don't let your fear and anger push you to challenge insurmountable odds."

Alyssia just smiled at him and shook her head wryly. "No Arthur. We didn't hear the same roar. Not quite. Remember, I'm a master aura mage. And that roar, well, it was one of the strongest aura strikes I've ever encountered."

Arthur was confused. "And that gave you the grand idea to fight the thing. Why? I thought auras told you how powerful a creature was. I'm not trying to convince you otherwise here. In all honesty, it's what I wanted to do in the first place, but to be frank, I don't get it. What brought the change of mind?"

Alyssia's grin grew wider, and Arthur recognised it immediately as the one she always wore when she planned to enjoy herself, usually at his expense, with her general flare for the dramatics. She'd tell him everything he wanted to know. Eventually. Arthur had learned from experience, however, that getting that information would be incredibly annoying. Arthur decided to shut her down immediately.

"Remember Artemo's friend."

Watching the impish grin disappear from her face almost made him feel bad but he'd suffered her long-winded explanations one time too many. She glared at him.

"When you die old, grey and lonely, I'm going to make your grave a public toilet." She muttered.

Arthur smiled. "I think I can live with that. So, about the guardian. Why the sudden change in mind."

Alyssia pulled out her comb and started brushing her hair, a habit of hers he'd learned she engaged in when she was explaining things. "Well, Arthur," she began. "Apocalypse beasts come in a wide variety of shapes and forms. They generally possess a trait that elevates them above common beasts, oftentimes more than one. The shadow panther, for example, has a unique aura that's insanely devastating against most opponents and a grasp of shadow magic that's near-divine."

Arthur nodded his head. This was all things he knew.

"The thing is, these powerful traits are only terrifying if the beasts are given time to grow and evolve. As you yourself experienced, a shadow panther at level 11, whilst powerful, is a manageable foe. It's their exponential growth that makes apocalypse beasts true nightmares."

Alyssia smiled.

"The Guardian's a Lesser Hydra, and it's only level 99. One level short of an evolution that would have made it unkillable. I could tell as much from its aura. Its roar was a powerful attack. Too powerful, in fact. I'm certain that it was a weaker variation of Dragon Fear or something along that strain. Honestly, if the attack hadn't worked so hard trying to make me shit my pants, I wouldn't have realised something was wrong."

"The Hydra was worried, Arthur. It was scared." She grinned widely.

"The roar was its way of telling us to scram, that it wasn't worth the trouble. If we hadn't broken the challenger stone in the previous layer, this fight would have been easy. As it is now, it'll be difficult. Incredibly so, but not impossible."

Alyssia's smile made Arthur almost feel sorry for the Guardian. Almost being the keyword. Killing the Hydra would likely increase the rewards they received, and if Arthur was right, the rewards on this layer were just the cherries on top. He had room for one final core to consume, He'd started his journey with an apocalypse beasts. It was only fitting that he ended it with one too. Still, it wouldn't do to get his hopes too high. He needed to know if it was feasible. Did the Loci monster even have a core in the first place? Thankfully, for once, he had a veritable source of knowledge he could draw from.

"So, Alyssia. You know how I have one core left to eat before I have to eat the dragons," Arthur began.

Alyssia's eyes widened as understanding dawned on her face. He didn't know it was possible for her grin to get any wider but it somehow did.

"I told you about my 1000 vitality plan. With my Paid in Blood Title, I can use health to fuel my spells instead of Ether and my healthpools already insane. Hydra's are known for their absurd regeneration, right? So what do you think.? Will it have a core and can I eat it?"

"It's definitely possible, Arthur," Alyssia replied, a tinge of hesitation creeping into her voice. "I don't want to rain on your parade, but eating that final core will really do a number on your soul. Doubly so if it's from such a powerful creature. Enough damage that you'll have to eat the dragon's core almost immediately after to save yourself from imploding."

That didn't sound too good.

"That's where the problem lies, though," she continued. "Even if killing the hydra somehow nets you zero levels, the dragon's core contains enough remnant energy that eating it will shoot you up to level 100. You know what that means, right?"

Arthur remained silent as he pondered over the implications of her words. Level 100 was an important milestone. It meant he'd have to choose a class, something he'd been delaying all this time. He'd wanted the best possible result out of the misguided notion that with great power, he might be able to reverse his sister's death, something he now knew had been impossible from the get-go.

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In the wake of that realisation, his goals had shifted to something more ambiguous. He wasn't entirely certain what he wanted to do now but he did know one thing. Irrespective of what the future held, he wanted power. There was a reason why he'd started Muay Thai all those years ago. As a young child, it had been one of the only forms of strength he'd had access to, a way he could bring some control into the chaos of his life.

In light of the System's arrival, the hierarchy of power had been flipped on its head. Wealth, the power held by massive corporations, none of it mattered anymore, at least not the sort that the people of Earth currently possessed. Since the world's evolution, everything had now become so much more individualistic. One just had to look at people like Kazi Alukai and the Ice Princess, formerly ordinary individuals who now dictated the course of entire nations.

And I'll be better than both of them put together. That wasn't the arrogance of the shadow panther talking. It was an undeniable truth. With his advantages and Ether affinities, saying otherwise would be disingenuous. And Kazi's power isn't even his own. It was granted to him by the planet and so he's forever tied to it.

Maybe he'd been infected a little by Alyssia's recklessness. Ever since forming Bhai Giya with the woman, he'd become aware of her ceaseless drive to become the best. It was a desire rooted in the injustices her people had suffered before her birth, but Arthur knew she would've been the same without any fire pushing her forward.

Alyssia simply wanted to be the strongest. I guess I'll have to be the back she keeps on chasing. She'll need someone to keep her humble.

Initially, Arthur had wanted an Elite class, Epic if he was lucky. In the wake of recent events and the opportunities he'd been blessed with, being the cream of the crop no longer appealed to him. No, he wanted to pave new frontiers altogether, not travel down the established roads. And with the dragon core, the impossible Legendary starter class might not be out of reach. Especially if I get my hands on that Hydra core.

Alyssia sadly had to put an end to his parade. "You're grinning like a lecherous old man. Have you forgotten? Think, Arthur, what is it that you're currently missing before you unlock your class?" She asked.

Arthur's joy swiftly departed. He'd overlooked one key detail. He had four magical affinities. That meant twelve potential skills. It was recommended to leave a few spots empty to let your class generate unique ones to help fill any gaps in your skillset. It provided an element of chaos into your final build, a catalyst that created something extraordinary. Arthur had one teeny tiny problem. His broken soul meant he couldn't access his soul affinity, nor could he gain any skills for it.

And solving the problem will push me directly to level 100, meaning I'll be leaving my soul skills up to fate, Arthur realised grimly. My rarest affinity and I have no control over what direction it develops in. Guess that Legendary class just got so much more important. He needed the best possible result he could get. If fate would decide things, he wanted to stack the odds in his favour.

"So, you finally realised, huh," Alyssia said. "You've got your work cut out for you. Your shadow affinity slots are already filled; you just need to evolve your Shadow Manipulation skill to finally stop relying on the system assistance. It's amazing you still haven't managed to run 10,000 ether through the skill. What've you been doing all this time? Same for your water manipulation. The rest of your skills are fine since it's advised to leave a slot free for each affinity. The only problem is your soul skills. They'll depend entirely on the rarity of the class you unlock."

Arthur grimaced. He'd guessed as much already but hearing it put so bluntly was sobering.

"It's not all bad, though, is it," he said with fake cheer. As long as I get a legendary class, I'm sure the skills I gain will end up being better than anything I could have made myself anyway. It's a good thing actually."

Alyssia smiled at him but it was a hollow expression that failed to reach her eyes. "Whilst that may be true," she began, "Gaining a legendry class at your first milestone is nigh impossible. My own class, one that has been researched and passed down through seven generations is recognised by the system as an Epic Growth class."

"I've had access to the best of teachers. I've been training since I could walk and I've been using magic since I first spoke. Despite all that, the earliest I'll be seeing legendary is at level 200, and that's only if I fulfil the requisites for my class to evolve. Legendary's not just difficult. At level 100, it's impossible."

Save for the existence of growth classes, this was all information Arthur already knew. There was a reason why the booklet he'd read on the subject stated it was achieved by once-in-a-millennium geniuses only. Maybe he was being obtuse. Maybe he had an over-inflicted ego, but he didn't think it was out of reach. Quite the opposite, he'd be surprised if eating a Dragon core didn't get him there.

"Be that as it may," Arthur said. "I think I can do it. No, I know I can." He took a quick glance at his status page. "I don't think you realise just how many stats I have." Alyssia looked sceptical.

"Okay," Arthur said. "How many stats do Rare classes give again," he asked.

"Between 21 and 30" she answered. "At least those are the parameters your system dictated for humanity. Alverins are 40% higher."

Arthur quickly did the maths and grinned. "I'm being conservative here. Not even factoring in how vitality, my highest stat is twice as effective. Going off my attributes only at level 71, well..." He paused to build suspense. "I've got the equivalent of a Rare classer at level 200.

"Fuck off."

Arthur laughed.

"That-that doesn't even make sense," Alyssia spluttered. An unclassed soul would implode under so much enhancement."

"Well, my soul is breaking?" Arthur reasoned. Alyssia shook her head.

"No, Arthur. That's a separate issue altogether. Honestly, well...I don't even know how you're still working. You should be bedridden at the least."

So I guess it's a good thing I didn't go around revealing my stat total. Who knows how Bradley would've reacted?

"So, what do you say? Think I can get a legendary class? he asked.

Alyssia frowned for a moment, as she mentally ran through a few ancient texts she'd read. "Well, I don't want to get your hopes up, but hmm... I'd put your chances at 30% currently. If you consume both the hydra and dragon core successfully, then lowballing it, I'd say your chances rise up to 70%."

Arthur grinned. "You know what this means right?" He looked at his incomplete Shadow bomb skill. "I need to get all my skills up to par. I have vague ideas for shadow and water manipulation, but shadow bomb's ready to finally get to the next level," he said.

"Really, what direction do you want to take it, because I have to say, it's probably the most, well, I won't say dumb, but it's certainly the most unusual use of shadow magic I've ever seen."

Arthur flushed. "Cut me some slack. I had no idea what I was doing back then."

Alyssia smirked.

"And that's changed now, has it?" she teased.

"Shut up," he grumbled. "I've got a grand image prepared. I know how to save this skill."

"And pray tell, what buffoonery have you managed to come up with?"

"Well, the ability's currently called shadow bomb. It's simple, elementary really."

Alyssia nodded her head in bemusement.

"Do you know how many kinds of explosives exist?"

This time, her grin matched his own.