Transformation skills existed in many sub-trees which were part of larger ones.

For instance, the Druid skill tree was a sub-tree within the Nature Magic skill tree which, by its own right, was a sub-tree within the Magic skill tree - which was a Main Skill Tree, meaning it feed off the Elementary Skills and nothing else - and could also be obtained from main level 0, having no other requirements.

That meant a Druid was a Nature Magician, which was a kind of Mage. A “compound mage” instead of a “pure mage”, which was a player who trained only the basic mage tree, without training in Nature Magic and so on.

On the old days, when players still had main level caps, that meant a lot. A druid had to progress through the magic skill tree until it reached the Nature Magic skill. That skill was available at level 5 of the magic skill tree. Then, once the player reached such level and unlocked the Nature Magic skill tree, it would have to progress in it until he reached level 24, unlocking the “Druid” skill, which, after taken, would unlock the “druid” skill tree.

For non-human druids, the “Human Transformation” skill was the first one on the tree, but that meant a player had to have expended 30 skill levels (meaning 3 main levels) only to get there.

That, of course, excluding other skills it may unlock and other sub-trees.

So, as much as one could say “you can become a druid at level 30 Nature Magic”, in truth a druid was, at least, someone with a single level on the Druid skill tree, 24 levels in Nature Magic and 5 levels on the Magic main tree.

The only thing is, the User Interface would usually group everything together, meaning someone with one level in druid would be called a “level 30 druid”, instead of a “level 1 druid/ level 24 nature magician/ level 5 mage”.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was easy for someone to gain levels as druid. Usually sub-trees like that needed interference of other sub-trees for one to progress.

For instance, as much as Nature Magic was independent of the Magic skill tree, the Druid tree still required for a mage to use Nature Magic in order to progress - that is, it wouldn’t be enough for a Druid to just keep transforming into human (or beast) in order to progress. They would have to gain more levels as Nature Magicians as well.

That double-difficulty level-increasing nature of the code prevented many cheat-like classes to become game-breaking, but also meant the ones who wanted to explore them would need to grind to the depths of hell.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

[ - Common babe, at least let them grow!]

At a certain Dragon King Island (number 2), on a scorched patch of land, a small verdant hill could be seen.

It’s flowers and plants seemed inoffensive, but anyone who dared to think so would be in a world of pain. The grass had small poisonous and urticarial hairs which would burst once someone touched them, gluing to their skin, eyes and mouth. Inconspicuous thorns would raise from the superficial roots of many of the plants, almost as if they were spike pits, penetrating deep into one’s flesh dared they step on them. Plants with a strong anesthetic pollen would constantly release numbing powder, making it so the poor prey had wounds all over before it could notice that it had been hurt - and so on and on.

The worst part, however, would be to see that some things lived there. Animalesque aberrations, like a half-worm-half-bloodsucker thing which hanged from a bush as if it was a fruit. Or a cute and helpless little rabbit, trapped under the thorny vines in the ground - except the little rabbit had sharp claws full of spores which would act as seeds inside of one’s body, exploding it from the inside and serving as a means of reproduction.

That is, until a dragoness breathed fire on top of all those and destroyed them.

- You will get more levels if the soil is gone and you have to start from the beginning, so don’t cry over it.

[*sigh*]

Dragon King Calamity Jack then spread his human-form palms and started to release a series of enchantments and spells. “Ground molding”, “soil forming” and “soil nourishment” would turn the scorched earth on soil again. Then, “natures’ blessing” would materialize food on the ground. “Decay” would make it rot. “Nature’s Wrath (1)” would summon worms, crickets and other insects to eat the rotting food. Then, “Hunger” would make them overeat and “Procreate” would make them multiply.

After a little while, the ground would have a lot of fertile soil, and all Jack had to do was to cast a number of plant-growing, animal-summoning and animal-deforming spells.

It was no wonder one had to raise levels in Nature Magic in order to gain levels as a Druid. Animal-deforming spells were a thing of the Nature Magic skill-tree and meant someone would be able to turn regular beasts into monsters, and vice-versa.

Only after getting enough levels as a Nature Magician as a human (or beast) would the Druid be then allowed to progress in transforming himself further, like in other beasts and so on.

The Devs’ would have said something like “a druid must learn from the basics, no one can learn how to become a beast without knowing deeply both about the beast and it’s on body as well”.

However, even if the brain wiring was indeed closely-related, this was Another World. They could just have it done without worrying about these kinds of things.

In the end, it was just a way to nerf an excessively-powerful sub-class.

- Comme on hon, you still have to do it another five hundred times! If you take too long, we won’t end until night comes!

[- Sniif..]

Jack held his tears in and sucked it up. He still remembered the awfulness of cleaning his gold pile from the remains of his first wife.

Still… wouldn’t it be too weird if he didn’t shed at least a few tears now and then?