A man in his early 20s looked back at those he’d been leading for the last day. Though they were less following him as an actual leader, and more due to him being the thing currently standing between them and certain death. One of his System-given recipes as an Alchemist was a concoction that could repel many forms of creatures and beasts.

And right now, it was the batch of said concoctions that he had managed to craft beforehand that was keeping them alive. It was a large group of exactly 42 people that had all come here together. Each of them had been stuck on the highway due to traffic, and thus resulted in there being plenty of people in their cars who had been in relatively close proximity to one another.

At first, they had tried to just get their bearing. Then, after sleeping through the first night, they’d chosen to head toward a Kingdom whose Mandate they’d been pulled toward during the Temporary Quest. That had unfortunately been a dud, however, as the group who owned said Kingdom had basically threatened them to leave that whole area immediately or he would attack.

And so they had been lost for the most part, just foraging while trying to find a good spot to settle down. During this time, they did come across all sorts of herbs, which a certain Alchemist had picked and began to craft with while they took breaks from traveling.

At least until yesterday, when they came across the wrong area, and an absolute monster had caught their scent. A Level 18 beast Lord that’d attacked, but fortunately didn’t manage to take any lives before the quick-thinking Alchemist used the pre-prepared beast repellent. It scared off the creature, but only for as long as the repellent remained in effect, which was sadly a quite limited duration.

Down to the last one, the Alchemist thought to himself while staring down at the container made from dirt. The System had warned him through inherent intuition that such a material would hamper the effectiveness of his alchemical creations. But dirt was unfortunately the only option, as they didn’t even have any trees or vegetation around to use an alternative to make things with.

The ground was muddy and swamp-like, which made it all the slower to go through. Yet he believed that even with just the last repellent, that might be enough time to get out. In the distance, he could already see a change in the environment that would hopefully be somewhere that the beast Lord wouldn’t bother to follow them.

Just then, however, a notification suddenly popped into view. One that would expedite the plan and force them to pick up the pace. For even if it gave them a few days, that was only a few days to prepare for what was to come.

Adam just hoped they would be able to find shelter somewhere in the forest of giant trees ahead.

***

Jordan found himself frozen in place, time seemingly stuck for everything but his mind. It was the same as the time he and many others had been in when they came to this world. A detail Haje hadn’t mentioned earlier, but perhaps the stone giant just hadn’t thought of it as something notable.

He had multiple notifications in front of him, but there was one he looked for now that had gotten buried right before the System suddenly pulled him into this weird state of adjusted time flow.

Skill advancement earned!

Please select one of the following:

Gain new Skill.

Or

Evolve current Skill.

It almost went without saying that Jordan picked Summon Land Drone. The reason for this was mostly out of curiosity. Haje had fully evolved his Skill to E5 after his evolution to D Grade. While the evolution process for the latter had obviously started already, Jordan wanted to see if anything different would happen by capping out Summon Land Drone first, and then finishing his main evolution.

Selected Skill for evolution: Summon Land Drone

New Skill evolutions available!

Pick from one of the following:

Evolution: Size

Description: Significantly increases the size and weight of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase to the drone’s overall durability.

Evolution: Speed

Description: Significantly increases the maximum speed of the drone. Additionally results in a high increase in its general mobility.

Evolution: Strength

Description: Significantly increases the maximum strength of the drone’s weapons. Additionally results in a high increase in its firing rate.

Note:

As the final evolution to reach Grade E5, no penalties are associated with the chosen evolution. In addition, no matter what option is selected, this Skill will also receive a high increase to its maximum range.

Huh. I was kind of expecting something big and unique, like the Fundamental Evolution. But I won’t say no to a straight upgrade with no downsides. Let’s see… I should probably just go for improving the guns, right? Jordan asked himself.

The reason for such would be twofold. The first was that if there were no downsides, then higher firepower was a very good choice on its own. Jordan had to admit that while a part of him still liked the fantasy of giant tanks, he would soon be able to build his own through excess material. Speaking of which, that was the second and honestly main reason.

By taking the drones apart after the evolution, he would be able to learn about any differences in the guns that were caused by it. And by educating himself on that, he could then apply that knowledge to his Subclass. There actually was a third reason why Jordan believed this would be relevant to his Subclass. One that he had kind of spoiled himself on by already peeking at the screen while looking for the evolution. But one thing at a time.

As soon as the prompt came, Jordan affirmed his choice in evolution. And then… nothing.

Damn, not Title for capping out a Class Skill? Or is it because I did so after hitting the Level requirement for D Grade, even though I haven’t finished that process yet? The System did automatically start it, so I guess if that Title is a thing, I guess it’d be dumb to assume I can trick it like that. Well… speaking of Titles, I really don’t have any standing to complain, huh?

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Title: Truly Prodigal Lord Slayer

Description: Be the very first to slay a native Lord of Vervina-C, and do so while still remaining in E Grade. For doing so, you already have a place to stand tall amongst the peak of the world. May this pinnacle achievement be forever remembered as a major step forward in your path to the very top, High Lord.

Benefits: +5 Levels, +10000 Kingdom EXP, +15 to all Stats, +15% to all Stats.

Taking a moment now to look at it again properly, the Title frankly was truly ridiculous. The Stats alone made it as peak-tier as it really got, to the point where Jordan wasn’t sure if a better one even existed for anyone in E Grade. Especially due to the Level, as the first reward from the System to give those directly.

Thanks to the Experience he’d gotten before hand to reach Level 7 from the Earth Elemental Lord, it had even pushed him a full Level above what was necessary for hitting D Grade. Which currently made Jordan Level 12, which was… an increment of six. A number that really did just want to keep rearing its head.

If Jordan could move, he would have shaken his head. At a certain point, it just became so ridiculous that he wasn’t even sure how to react properly anymore. So once he got over it, Jordan mentally moved on to the next subject on hand by looking at the following screen that’d been awaiting his attention. Again, it was something that was entirely unexpected based on what had happened to Haje. Although perhaps he should have expected it, as the System had technically informed him this would happen way back. And now, it did so again as a reminder.

Traits are the foundation for one’s path to the top. A new Trait may only be selected once per Grade, starting from the first at E. While one’s available Traits are usually dependent on their heritage and personal experiences until then, the user’s Title has greatly expanded the available list beyond these typical parameters.

In addition, all Titles gained by the user while in E Grade have now expanded the list of available Traits. This includes the addition of new Traits, as well as the replacement of previous Traits with higher quality options wherever applicable.

The user should take the time to carefully select from the following list of potential Traits. As their selection will have a significant influence on their available Subclasses, and cannot be reversed upon being finalized.

Would you like to begin selecting a Trait?

Jordan had honestly gotten so focused on the idea of his Subclass, that he’d completely forgotten about gaining a new Trait as well. Though thinking about it, perhaps it was the same restriction preventing Haje from gaining a Subclass that also had an impact here. It really might not be a case of the stone giant not telling him about it, but that a new Trait simply hadn’t been an option as part of his Class restriction.

Another thing of note was about the second section of the text. That hadn’t been there the first time around. Curious to see just how much such a previously long list could have been expanded, Jordan affirmed the start of the selection process and-

Woah… expanded is a damn understatement and a half, Jordan mentally commented as a new screen took up what was basically his entire field of view. Even with a scrollbar like before, the System had definitely felt the need to make it even bigger. In fact, looking closer, it was more accurate to call it multiple screens. In the sense that it was basically like different windows on a computer monitor being opened side by side.

He needed a few moments just to take it all in. Each window came with its own scroll bar, filters, and sort-by settings. It was like the first Trait selection, but when Jordan actually took a moment to begin sorting through the list, he understood why the System had deigned to give him multiple sections of an extra-large screen. If it hadn’t, so many options might have honestly been hard for him to keep track of when it came to his selection.

There were hundreds before, but now there’s… thousands? No, tens of thousands, even? How the Hell is one person even meant to actually pick just one choice out of so many options? Alright, alright, let’s take this one step at a time. Step one: use the filter to remove all the ones I obviously shouldn’t even consider.

These were naturally the ones that gave Stats that Jordan wouldn’t want. While one could look at it from the angle of padding out his Endurance or something, the issue was that Trait itself would always be associated with the Stat or Stats it gave.

For example, Jordan already saw one near the top of the list called Mountain Puncher, which when he opened it in a secondary window, would give him a bonus of 30 to Strength. And what did the Trait itself provide? Well, as the name implied, it was a Trait that described how it would provide his unarmed strikes a massive increase in effectiveness for their impact power.

So yeah, Jordan basically just eliminated every option that would give him any Stat other than Intelligence or Wisdom. Naturally, taking off most of his Stats led to most of the available Traits being removed. That still left him with what felt like at least a couple thousand choices, but it made for a sizable start.

As for what came next? Another purge, of course. Perhaps a way of filtering that he really could have just done in the first place, but oh well. Before, selecting the technology affinity had cut him down to just three Traits to pick from. But when he did so again, now, he was pleasantly surprised to see just how much there were.

Damn, I was expecting maybe a couple dozen or something. But I won’t complain about 117 picks that are all somehow related to tech. At least that’s a much more reasonable number for me to actually take my time and go through them all without getting overwhelmed, he thought to himself as he began with the one at the top.

Each option was truthfully quite interesting in its own right. As Jordan hadn’t chosen to sort them by any particular order, it seemed like the System had done so by random as the default. The first on the list, for example, had been a Trait that would specifically enhance his understanding and ability to work with energy-based weaponry. Meanwhile, the one right after it was about signals that sounded like it could be the basis for him reestablishing a wireless communication network.

Without really knowing what to expect beforehand, Jordan had started his search with no particular plan in mind. Some Traits caught his eye, like one that would be a major contender if he wanted to go all in on drone making, as that was the subject it improved. Although there were plenty of others, like a Trait that also had the arcane affinity.

Trait: Magitech Specialist

Description: Greatly improves the intuitive understanding of machinery that combines both regular technology and magical effects. Has a moderately better effect on improved crafting of magitech types whose associated Skills are already known. Also gives access to a minor pool of Minor Points, to be taken from the user’s existing pool of Tech Points.

Benefits: +15 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence.

Oh, and just because it had to be mentioned. There was even a Trait that would apparently let him get an expert understanding of the nuclear side of things. As in actual nuclear engineering, like the kind that would give him at least the potential ability to build a nuclear power plant or even the atomic bomb if he so chose. So yeah, that was the kind of variety that Jordan currently had to look through and consider.

Luckily, time being frozen at that moment meant that he could take as much time as he wanted. And Jordan certainly did so, as he didn’t commit himself to anything until he had finished reading through all 117 options. With a mental deep breath, he considered them all, making use of the other windows to basically pin the ones that had interested him the most. And after considering them all, he eventually settled on the one that he believed would be the best.

Trait: Drone Savant

Description: Greatly improves the intuitive understanding of machinery within the System recognized field of drones. Has a moderately better effect on improved crafting of drone types whose associated Skills are already known.

Benefits: +15 bonus to Wisdom and Intelligence.

Jordan’s reasoning here was pretty simple. He had a good thing going with his drones so far, so leaning into that would likely be the path of least resistance. With all that he’d learned so far just by taking apart his land drones, that knowledge would likely only make it all the easier for him to put in the work to create a true swarm of drones, and then just kick back and relax.

Now then, it was time for him to get a Sublass and finalize his evolution.