Jack sat in his cell. He was thinking about his current situation and he tried to place himself in the Baron Nikodem’s place. Jack tried to find out a possible next move of his enemies. Meanwhile, he checked his possible evolutions.
Great Spear Warrior
Prerequisites
Level 25
Spearman VI profession
Increased essence seep when:
Killing another life form
Tired due to spear usage
Cap increase: Strength 25 -> 50 (+25)
Endurance
30 -> 55 (+25) Intelligence 25 -> 50 (+25) Mental Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25) Agility 30 -> 55 (+25) Perception 20 -> 35 (+15) Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills
Charisma
Spear handling
Footwork
Parallel Thinking
Essence boost Strength 8% / level Endurance 8% / level Intelligence 6% / level Mental Endurance 6% / level Agility 8% / level Perception 5% / level Base vitality: 300
The first possible evolution was expected. Jack knew about a possibility to use a profession to change class. He wasn’t planning to become a spearman, though. Jack wanted to be primarily a mage.
Great Human
Prerequisites
Level 25 Survivor
Increased essence seep when:
In a place with a lot of humans
Killing another life form
Cap increase: Strength 25 -> 50 (+25) Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25) Intelligence 25 -> 50 (+25) Mental Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25) Agility 30 -> 55 (+25) Perception 20 -> 35 (+15)
Increases height by half a meter and thickens bones accordingly
Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills
Charisma
Crafting
Pack Instinct
Footwork
Essence boost Strength 7% / level Endurance 7% / level Intelligence 7% / level Mental Endurance 6% / level Agility 7% / level Perception 6% / level Base vitality: 300
This was… unexpected. Jack didn’t think the most basic evolution for his class to be a generalist class. It was somewhat logical, though. ‘I have already survived, so I’m just a normal human now. I suppose this would be a good method to change once again a specialization, since a generalist class should be able to evolve in any direction, but the increase in height…’ Most monsters were going this route, which resulted in bigger bodies. Jack didn’t want to become a giant, or a dozen of meters titan.
Last Survivor
Prerequisites
Level 25 Survivor
Be the only person to survive an encounter with a higher tier enemy, and kill the enemy in the end
Increased essence seep when:
In a place with a lot of humans
Killing another life form
Cap increase: Strength 25 -> 55 (+30) Endurance 30 -> 60 (+30) ntelligence 25 -> 55 (+30) Mental Endurance 30 -> 60 (+30) Agility 30 -> 60 (+30) Perception 20 -> 40 (+20) Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills
Economy of Movement
Scavenging
Analyze
Essence boost Strength 7% / level Endurance 7% / level Intelligence 7% / level Mental Endurance 6% / level Agility 7% / level Perception 6% / level Base vitality: 500
Jack didn’t like this. The class was nice, but his survivor route seemed to require him to survive more and more dangerous situations. It also forced him to be one of surviving people, meaning, the rest had to die. Jack decided to give up on survivor route at some point. He didn’t want to choose the Great Human class just yet, but he would probably take something different for his 4th tier class. Jack’s current long term goal was to become a baron and send his family to a city. Taking a weak 3rd tier class wasn’t going to help with that.
Magical Survivor
Prerequisites
Level 25 Survivor
Survive a fight and kill a 4th tier life being with a magical spell
Increased essence seep when:
Using spells
Being mentally tired
Killing another life form
Cap increase:
Strength 25 -> 50 (+25) Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25) Intelligence 25 -> 65 (+40) Mental Endurance 30 -> 65 (+35) Agility 30 -> 60 (+30) Perception 20 -> 40 (+20) Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills
Economy of Movement
Scavenging
Spell Slinging
Essence boost Strength 6% / level Endurance 6% / level Intelligence 10% / level Mental Endurance 7% / level Agility 7% / level Perception 6% / level Base vitality: 500
Jack had now a favorite. Unfortunately, the Battle Mage profession was using the Spell Slinging skill. Choosing this class would unpick the Battle Mage profession. Jack would still get a bigger intelligence boost due to his new class, but it would be only 1% for the current level of the Battle Mage profession.
Battle mage V
Requirements
Spell Slinging skill lv.25
Parallel Thinking skill lv.25
Boost
+30% to intelligence
+20% to mental endurance
+3% per level to intelligence
+2% per level to mental endurance
Jack remembered there was a chance he wouldn’t be able to use the military’s spell for the evolution. He would choose Great Spear Warrior class then.
Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 32
Time passed, and the night fell. Jack wasn’t able to sleep. He wanted to, as this was his second day of staying awake, but his body hurt him. Jack used the night to complete his preparations.
Jack heard steps. He looked up, and saw Baron Nikodem before his cell. Baron started manipulating with the lock on the cell’s door.
“We can negotiate. You don’t have to kill me.” Jack said. The Nikodem’s goal could be only one thing. Baron stayed silent and continued tinkering with the lock. Jack was thankful for cell defenses. Nikodem wasn’t able to kill Jack with magic, as he would need essence to direct the spell, but enchantments on the cell were constantly pumping out essence. Nikodem could use fire mana to flood the cell, but he was water mage, therefor Jack was calm about that.
“I know you have some method to deceive the official and make half-lies passable as truth. You can lend me this method, and I would change my testimony.”
The Baron looked up with a bit surprised expression, but he quickly returned to his task. “You are quite smart.”
“I also know it was your old count’s plot.” Jack added. He couldn’t be sure, but Stanley seemed to back then.
“Well, you are smart, but you don’t know everything.” Nikodem continued his work.
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“You will be the first suspect, you know? Nobody else has an interest in seeing me death.” Jack advised.
“Well… shut up. You are distracting me.” The man continued after a few seconds. “You don’t know everything, and my method of avoiding truth detection is not as impressive as you think. I’m going to the Black Guard this way or another. Your survival ruined everything.” The man said with an accusing tone.
‘I’m not going to say sorry, fool.’ Jack wasn’t giving up, yet. “So, why are you trying to kill me?”
“I will be able to lessen my sentence.” The man said helplessly. “Besides, I have to save Aleena. She was supposed to be nearly completely out of it, but now there is a possibility she will be implicated.”
“I told you, I can change my testimony.” Jack was stubborn.
“You know, I admire you.” Baron said suddenly. Jack was bewildered.
“How about letting me go, then?”
“I have a 4th tier class, but you still managed to have a fight with me, and even survived. Originally, some talentless idiot should have your place, but we didn’t tell her that specifically. I don’t know why Aleena chose you, but I would choose differently. Humanity needs warriors like you.”
Jack was completely stupefied. “But you still want to kill me?”
“Yes. Humanity is important, but it isn’t like we are going to become extinct just because of your death.” Lock gave up, and the door opened. “Well, that was me speaking objectively. I’m going to enjoy killing you, though. You fucked me up, after all.” Nikodem took out a glove, which looked like a magical tool. He also took out a small ball or maybe a rock, and grasped it with his gloved hand.
“Don’t try to resist, or it would be more painful. Actually, you should cooperate. You are going to die anyway, and your death will save Aleena. She is pretty, right? You may think about her while dying.” The man walked toward Jack.
Jack felt enlightened at the moment. Nikodem was going to heal him, flooding his body with life mana. The glove would produce life mana, and the rock was most likely an artifact core, a device used to store essence. Nikodem had to use it, since there was no essence in the cell.
Nikodem may be able to get away with this murder. Everybody would think Jack’s mana saturation got too bad, and Jack’s body gave up. Nikodem would say he didn’t kill Jack, while thinking something like: I only healed him. That would be a half-lie, but he had a method to deceive the court official like that. Without Jack, Nikodem would be able to freely manipulate the story. He still wouldn’t be able to completely change it, but he may be able to lighten his sentence. Jack understood now.
It was too late for a negotiation, though. The man was only two meters before him, and was about to start soon. Jack cast the sacrifice spell in his mind. Cell’s enchantments scattered his essence around, trying to pump it out, while Jack felt horrible pain. He wasn’t going stop, though.
Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 33
With essence, inscriptions on the walls were now powered up. A lightning arc hit baron Nikodem with a bang, flexing all his muscles, and stopping him in place. The lightning flashed brightly, and Jack could smell burned flesh. Jack was so concentrated, that he nearly disregarded pain.
Jack had spent all night here, he had thought about all eventualities. This time, he was prepared. Jack had used the sacrifice spell to create some dirt, and then to create a small water mana creating rune on his clothes. He dirtied a droplet of water and then used it to paint the walls of the cell. Water vaporized, leaving dirtied traces, which acted as runes. Jack had spent a few hours drawing this 4th tier lightning spell.
Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 34
The pain of using the sacrifice spell was unbearable, but Jack held looking at burning Nikodem. ‘Did you really think I was going to die just like that?’ Jack was happy with the revenge.
Ding… You have reached lv. 24
Jack lost a level, but he was going to continue until the notification of Nikodem’s death. Unfortunately, runes created with dirt were fragile, and malfunctioned. A lightning flew in the wrong direction, and destroyed partially the spell. The Baron was still stunned by electricity, and fell on the ground.
‘Shit. There’s no stopping now.’ Jack was incapable of moving with his body, but his mind was still working. He cast life kinetic spell on his bones, and tossed himself. Jack landed on the man, and controlled his hand with life spell. He powered down his sacrifice spell, since he didn’t need it for the lightning spell anymore, but he had to continue to cast.
His electric spell still partially worked, while Nikodem lost conscious. Jack pushed his fingers into Nikodem’s electricity shut lips. He channeled life mana through his fingers, avoiding Nikodem’s life mana resistance. Jack sent the life mana to baron’s head, a quick kinetic spell…
Ding… You have killed lv. 57 Senior Water Mage
Ding… LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 25
Ding… You have unlocked Great Spear Warrior class due to your actions
Ding… You have unlocked Great Human class due to your actions
Ding… You have unlocked Last Survivor class due to your actions
Ding… You have unlocked Victim class due to your actions
Ding… You have unlocked Magical Survivor class due to your actions
Jack didn’t pay attention to notifications, but immediately used life kinetic spell to toss himself back. Jack absorbed some essence and gained the level back, but the rest of it spread around, powering back the defunct lightning spell.
Electricity erupted from the runes with a sound of thunder, completely destroying the spell. Jack also heard a sound of breaking bones, he was too hasty in his spell. His own body was in a bad condition before, now he was on the brink of death, but he couldn’t do anything about it.
Jack felt joy in his heart, he succeeded. Nikodem died. Jack lost conscious.
“Wake up!” Someone shouted. “Wake up! I’m doing my best, but with such mana saturation… He will live for two hours at best.” Someone said, though Jack didn’t know who was talking, nor the person talked to. His felt like in a bad dream, he couldn’t distinguish reality from dreams.
After Jack had lost consciousness, a few soldiers came over to check out loud sounds coming from the prison. Baron Nikodem had prepared for Jack’s screams, but thunder sounds had been too loud. Soldiers found knocked out guards, and open cell. Baron Nikodem and Jack were both dead.
The soldiers immediately informed higher-up, and healers came over. Baron Nikodem was thoroughly dead, as his brain was destroyed, and his innate spell scattered. Jack died somehow peacefully, his internal organs’ condition didn’t change to before, and his innate spell was still intact. Not much time passed, and Jack’s brain was still working, so the healer forcefully pushed blood in Jack’s veins, but this was a very temporary measure.
When the Colonel learned about the situation, he immediately came over. A baron died in his base, that was very troublesome, even more than Greene case. The Colonel had no power to change events in the exterior while staying in the local headquarters, and victims had only low tier classes. Baron Nikodem died in his headquarters.
Moreover, the Baron was to be a witness tomorrow, the same as Jack, who was now on the border of life and death. Colonel had to save Jack, or at least prolong his life. ‘Screw Greene family members!’ He had to at least learn how Nikodem had died. This was more important for him. Colonel used a potion from the storage, as normal magic was no longer effective on Jack’s body. Potions were somehow precious, enough so they weren’t available for 2nd tier warriors, and were expensive for 3rd tiers, but for colonel a potion was a minor cost. He didn’t believe Jack killed a baron. Maybe a healthy 2nd tier genius had a chance, but in Jack’s current condition… Colonel had to know, or repercussions will follow.
Unfortunately for Jack, potions were also working partially on principles of magic and life mana. Jack condition improved a bit, but he still was going to die in a few hours.
Jack slowly woke up, but his whole body felt numb, it didn’t even hurt him. Jack felt like it wasn’t his body any longer. In the meantime, the Colonel had sent one of his adjutants for the official, who had only 3rd tier class and was quite slow because of that. Colonel wanted to bring the official fast and proceed with the trial.
Colonel Forrest obviously asked Jack what happened, but Jack couldn’t even speak. The Colonel could only wait for the court official.
After an hour, the official finally arrived. He had been woken up in a middle of the night, his mood was pretty foul. Colonel woke everyone up, and gathered in his office, even Aleena was here. Since Jack was too weak to speak, court official took out a collar and placed it around Jack’s neck.
‘What’s that?’
“What’s that?” Jack’s thoughts could be heard from the collar.
“This is a tool to interrogate people like you, who can’t communicate normal way.” Court official replied. The man had gray hair and looked really old. Jack tested collar a bit, and it seemed he could hide some thoughts from the collar.
“Ok.” Colonel started a bit excited. “Tell us, how baron Nikodem died?”
“What? My uncle died?!” Aleena shouted.
“I want to use the spell used to help people evolve. I can still survive this way.” Jack only said this. He didn’t care about the trial, and its outcome. He just wanted to live.
The Court official and Colonel Forrest looked at each other, thinking how to proceed.
“Tell me! What happened?!” Aleena shouted at Jack, but he completely disregarded her. He concentrated on the Colonel and was thinking how to convince him.
The Colonel would normally agree, the cost of using the spell for Jack’s evolution should be about the same as the potion he had used before. However, he was in the presence of a court official. He had to at least pretend to follow the rules.
“Not anyone can use the spell, there are certain prerequisites... “ Forrest started.
“I once killed a 4th tier. Is it enough?” Jack replied. Most people present were surprised to the point of not believing in it. Killing a 4th tier alone was impossible for a someone with 2nd tier class.
“He didn’t lie.” Court official said, silencing the crowd. He had truth detecting magic tool, and he could easily distinguish the truth from lies.
“You have to reach level 25 in two months and kill 20 3rd tiers normally. The first condition is pretty much fulfilled, and I think that 4th tier can substitute for the second condition. Very well! You can use the spell, as long as you prove yourself innocent.” The Colonel really wanted to wash his hands from the baron Nikodem’s dead. He was happy to use this excuse.
“Marco, prepare the chamber.” He said to one of his adjutants.
Jack knew he should rather evolve first. Trusting Forrest to uphold the deal was trusting him with his life, but Jack had no choice. He had to prove his innocence first, they wouldn’t allow him to use the spell otherwise.
“Ok. Tell us, what happened to the baron?”
“He broke into my cell and tried to kill me. The fool was too stupid, though. I killed him.” Jack said plainly. People turned to the judge, waiting for him to rebuke Jack for lying.
“He’s not lying.”
“You motherfucker!” Aleena cast a fire spell at Jack. He wasn’t able to do anything, so he didn’t. Someone blocked the spell, the room was filled with veteran warriors after all.
“Restrain her!” Forrest gave the order. Two soldiers pushed her to the ground and used a few magic tools to lower concentration of essence in the air and also defend against her fire mana. She fought for a while, struggling against soldiers, but she wasn’t able to do anything in the end and stopped. She was only muttering “Uncle…” under her nose.
The room was in disbelief, but they had to accept. “How troublesome.” Forrest sighed. At least, it wasn’t his foul, but he would have to write a few reports himself.
Judge told Jack to continue, and he did. Jack told them about yesterday’s event, and about Aleena’s offer.
Landon Hillman was next, everything he said was true. Aleena was the last. Her eyes were red, but she stood up and answered the questions.
“I didn’t know anything. I was only told to offer a deal to someone capable.”
“Did you have any guesses?”
“…Yes.” She said bitterly. “They didn’t tell me anything, meaning, it was something illegal, though I didn’t know to what degree.”
“Why did you choose your teammate?”
“I told you, I didn’t know anything, it could have been something relatively minor. The reward was nice, and I wanted it to land in my team.” She said with irony in her voice.
The official took a few minutes to think . ‘So, Aleena was pretty innocent in the end,’ Jack thought. It was obvious that Nikodem’s death hurt Aleena deeply. Jack told himself he didn’t care, but he did. He didn’t like it, and he wanted himself to stop, but he was powerless over his feelings. He didn’t regret his actions, though. ‘Maybe it just had to be this way, that it is impossible for everyone to be happy.’
“Ok. I will tell you my verdict. Hillman family members and Jack are innocent. Aleena Greene will pay a fine of one grand coin. The investigation will continue.” The official sighed. “Well, that stupid Greene Count thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he is going to die.” He murmured to himself, but everyone in the room heard it anyway. “Also, these two can be separated, there’s no reason to keep them in one team.”
“Yes, I will tell my subordinates to arrange new teams.” Forrest replied.
That was the end. Jack didn’t know if that was justice. Was Aleena a victim? Should she get more severe punishment? Jack was happy for his own victory. Justice didn’t matter to him anymore, he only felt a bit of pity for her. He remembered how his own family members had died, and he didn’t wish anyone similar experiences.
The times changed, though. He was the reason the man was dead. He had killed Nikodem a while ago, and he wasn’t going to be punished for it. It was a self-defense case, but he had still killed a man. He had done it with a plan, and Jack didn’t regret it. It was a bit funny for him.
He killed a man. Everything was going to change. His team was done for good. He was about to evolve, and he no longer cared much about the humanity. His previous idealistic self was only a joke now.
Two soldiers carried him to the chamber filled with monster corpses. Jack checked his possibilities again, and found a new class.
Victim
Prerequisites
Level 25 Survivor
Survive murder attempt of a 4th tier member of the same social species by killing the murder
Increased essence seep when:
Killing another life form
In a place with a lot members of the same species
Wounded
Cap increase: Strength 25 -> 55 (+30) Endurance 30 -> 70 (+35) Intelligence 25 -> 50 (+25) Mental Endurance 30 -> 65 (+35) Agility 30 -> 55 (+25) Perception 20 -> 40 (+20) Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills
Charisma
Sneaking
Pain Tolerance
Battle Precognition
Essence boost Strength 7% / level Endurance 8% / level Intelligence 6% / level Mental Endurance 7% / level Agility 6% / level Perception 5% / level Base vitality: 400
Jack still felt Magical Survivor class was better, so he chose it. Jack fell asleep. The spell was digesting monster corpses and sending them to Jack’s cells in a form of nutrients, directly feeding Jack’s body.
After a few weeks, Jack paid some merchants for information about Greene family. He wanted to learn the ins and outs to be better prepared for the next time someone would decide to use him.
Greene family had money problems. Current barons in the family wanted a scholarly route for their children, so they didn’t have to fight with the monsters. Most of those scholars had no gains, they were bottomless wells in which family had to pour money. One of them didn’t even research at all, spending all his money for pleasure.
There was also a matter of succession, nobody was close to the 5th tier. The Count predicted the family would fragment and sell the mine for the money. Obviously, the money would be squandered for an idiotic research, or outright for nice life by his grandchildren.
The Greene count had two objectives. He wanted to get rid of idiots from his family, and create an atmosphere of an controversy around the mine, so that his family would be unable to sell it.
He couldn’t for anything in the open, even though he was the nominal head of the family. Servants didn’t want to listen to him, since he was going to die soon. It was better to curry favor with his children who were going to assume leadership soon. The count could either kill them outright, but not all his family was in the same place, someone would have stopped him before he finished.
Hence, the Count had to plot, and he had done so with Nikodem who was going to benefit. His family members in the mine had taken too strong medicine, nobody told them they would die after. The old man wanted to take all blame, but Jack partially destroyed his plans.
In the end, the old Count was sentenced for the Black Guard. As for Greene family, Jack didn’t care anymore to follow their fate. At that time, he had a way more interesting thing to do.