As Kelsey, and her family walked down the mountain steps, careful to make sure the kids didn’t fall off the edge, she made sure to give them time to take in the sights and sounds of the Mageblood forest. As far as Kelsey knew, Clarie had never been out to the Mageblood forest, and for the kids, this would be the first time they had seen a Mageblood tree.
The kids were just as excited to see the trees as Kelsey had anticipated, laughing and pointing towards the towering trees that were taller than some skyscrapers from back on earth. They had lived under the great white tree of Whitebranch, but it was a different experience gazing upon the uncountable number of trees that called this forest home.
Claire was somewhat misty eyed as she looked out on the sea of blue leaves. "I know I just saw this place in your dimension, Kel, but it truly is something special in the real world." She paused, grabbing Thadius' hand tightly. "So, this is where you arrived?
Thadius smiled and nodded. “It really is odd to be back here… this place brings back so many bad memories… but also good ones. Almost nostalgic. Like, this is where it all began.” he said wistfully as he looked out on the vast forest. "I wouldn't change a thing."
“That’s why I chose to build my cabin here. It just felt right.” Kelsey agreed. "As dangerous as this place was when we arrived, it's downright peaceful now."
As they continued a bit further down the stairs, Kelsey noticed Bud in her domain. He was sitting on a rock overlooking the ground of the Mageblood forest, perched just below the tree line.
"Hey, don't be alarmed but you guys are about to meet my friend, Bud." Kelsey said to the group. "He's a Thorn Wolf, one of the monsters native to this area, but he's super friendly, I promise."
Claire and the kids looked at her skeptically, the children especially seemed incredibly nervous as the gripped on to their mom's pant leg.
Thadius knelt down in front of the kids gently. "Don't worry, you trust Aunt Kelsey, right? She wouldn't let something bad happen to you." he said with a reassuring smile.
Both David and Lorie nodded earnestly, and Kelsey could tell that some of the nerves had been soothed by their father's words.
Leading her family down the stairs, Kelsey approached where Bud was lying.
"Hey Bud! Come meet my family! This is my brother Thadius, his wife Claire, and their kids Lorie and David." Kelsey said, pointing to each person as she spoke their name.
Bud instantly perked up with excitement, but as he noticed the kids, who had shrunk in fear behind their parent's legs, he slowed himself and walked forward towards them very slowly. Once he was close, he lowered his head and sniffed at them similar to how a regular dog would.
Claire was the first to make a move. She stepped forward, knelt down on one knee and reached out her hand to scratch Bud behind the ears. "Hey Bud, nice to meet you. I'm Claire."
As she said her name, one of Bud's vines split of his back on waved enthusiastically in the air in a clear waving motion.
When the hell did he learn to wave?
Claire saw the waving vine and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "Whoa, you're a smart one, aren't you?" she asked, disbelief coating her voice.
With that question, Bud yipped in agreement and nodded.
This time, the entire group, besides Thadius, looked shellshocked, clearly having no idea what they were seeing.
Thadius chuckled. "He's an intelligent monster. Rare. Plus, look at his level. Most of the wolves in this area are around level 25."
Realizing that she hadn't identified Bud in a while, Kelsey decided to take his advice and identify her viney friend too.
[Thorn Wolf - lvl 92]
Kelsey stared at Bud in shock. Level 92!? What in the world? He's been leveling up. A lot.
"Bud, have you been hunting or something?" Kelsey asked, the surprise in her voice being noticed by everyone present.
Bud looked at her curiously for a few moments, his head tilted in thought, before shaking his head in the negative.
That answer surprised Kelsey more than the other possibility, but she had a pretty good idea how it was possible.
Since meeting Bud, she had assumed that he was likely a boss variant of the wolves and that answer basically confirmed her suspicions. He must have been leveling up by absorbing the mana in the Mageblood forest.
Kelsey smiled. "Impressive buddy. Well, keep at it and you'll be super strong in no time."
Bud yipped excitedly, which Kelsey took to mean 'Yeah, duh, I will obviously keep absorbing mana.'
After their short conversation, much of the children's worries seemed to have been assuaged as they gingerly walked towards Bud and began to pet him.
A few minutes later and they were playing with him, Bud using his vines to pick the kids up and gently spin them around.
Kelsey really wanted to let the kids keep playing, but if she delayed their descent any longer, Lisa was likely to pop a blood vessel. Kelsey could see in her domain that the young blonde woman was already pacing impatiently in circles. Owen and Gregory were watching her with amused grins on their faces.
"Alright kids, time to go. You guys can play with Bud later, for now we need to go see Lisa. She's really excited to show all of us something, we don't want to let her down." Kelsey said, pulling the kids away from the Thorn Wolf.
"Bud, we'll be back later, thanks for being so good with the kids." Claire added gratefully.
Spinning around in a circle, Bud lay back down with a happy yip, resting his head back on the rock overlooking the Mageblood forest.
Kelsey and her family arrived down at the training area a few minutes later to find Owen, Lisa, and Gregory all standing in a circle, talking excitedly. They had clearly seen them coming and were preparing themselves for their show.
“Give me a minute, I want to get Gwen out here.” Kelsey said.
The three nodded at her, so she found Gwen inside her domain and activated her Warp, appearing in the hallway next to her office. Kelsey knocked and then immediately opened the door. “Hey hun, I’m back! Wanna see Owen, Lisa, and Gregory’s new classes? They are about to show me.” Kelsey said excitedly.
Gwen looked up in surprise as Kelsey walked in, but immediately burst out of her chair eagerly. “Absolutely!”
Kelsey quickly teleported Gwen and herself back.
“Alright guys. Let’s see it.” Kelsey said excitedly as she created a nice cushioned wooden bench for her, Gwen, Thadius, and his family to sit on.
Owen was the first to walk forward. “So, my primary class was Bastion of Thunder. My new class is just called Bastion. It is a defense focused class, and I am unable to choose a secondary or tertiary class.” he said as he waved his hand and summoned five small balls of different elements; earth, metal, ice, fire, and lightning.
He quickly raised his hand and created a massive flamethrower from his palm, and then quickly switched it to a series of rapidly fired stone pellets. He cycled through the other three elements, showing that he could create and manipulate all of them.
"They seem to all be physical elements, lightning excluded of course. The entire class is based around making my creations stronger than average with less mana used." Owen said thoughtfully. "If a normal metal creator around my level and I were to both create the same steel wall with 100 mana, mine would be stronger because of a skill called Bastion Efficiency."
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He then closed his eyes and pointed to each person around him individually with perfect accuracy even as Lisa moved slowly in the background.
“I have also gained a domain that seems to be based on mana. If something has mana around me, I can sense it. My body has also been empowered by mana, and I can empower any equipment I’m wearing with mana to make it more durable.” Owen finished, clearly proud and excited by his new class, but doing everything in his power to keep his 'presentation' serious and formal.
“That’s awesome Owen. I can’t wait to see you in action.” Kelsey said excitedly.
Kelsey could already imagine what kinds of things he would be capable of in the Immortal tier and beyond. If the class name was anything to go by, he would likely be a mobile fortress.
Lisa was the next to step up, practically vibrating with excitement.
“My primary class was Glaive Prodigy. It is now Eclipse” she said as she summoned a ball of fire, a ball of light, and a ball of shadow in the palm of her hand.
Kelsey instantly had a feeling where this was going and she scooted forward, literally on the edge of her seat as she watched Lisa expectantly.
“I expected that I would be getting a class related to fire, light, or shadow. They were the creation skills I felt the most affinity for when I was practicing, and I couldn’t have been more correct.” she said as she showed off her new creation and manipulations by creating a beam of light, several spears made from shadow, and a flamethrower similar to the one Owen had shown.
“But, while I’m excited for the creation and manipulation skills, the big ones are these.” she said excitedly as she disappeared from their view.
One of the minds that Kelsey had watching her domain instantly informed Kelsey what had happened. She quickly activated the Magesight function of her domain and was able to see that where Lisa used to be, was a faint cloud of shadow mana, almost imperceptibly thin. If she hadn’t specifically been looking for it, she wasn’t sure she would have seen it, even with Magesight activated.
Kelsey whistled appreciatively. Invisibility... No way… That's certainly pretty game changing. A power like that will completely change the way she fights, hope she's not too upset about that...
As Kelsey realized what was going on, Lisa reappeared. “That’s not all.” she said as she once again disappeared, appearing a few dozen meters away from the shadow of a nearby tree.
“I can also use shadows for teleportation, even my own shadow.” she said happily. "I haven't quite figured out the range yet, but it's definitely further than I am able to see most of the time."
“Holy shit Lisa, that’s incredible! Did you keep any of your previous glaive skills?” Kelsey asked, genuinely curious.
Lisa shook her head. “Not exactly. Instead, I got physical buffs that should help me be much stronger and faster than I was before. Light is well known for being the element most closely related to speed, and mine is no exception.” she answered seriously.
Kelsey nodded in understanding. “Alright, good.”
"I can enhance my body with properties of the three elements I can control. I haven't had much time to test, but I think Light is going to completely overshadow, pun intended, my previous classes physical buffs." Lisa continued thoughtfully before stepping back and motioning towards the ex-guild master.
Gregory was the final one to step forward, and he did so with a non-insignificant amount of nerves. “My previous primary class was Guildmaster of Oaths. My secondary class was Mage of The Flood… I…” he said, pausing.
He was clearly extremely nervous about something… or maybe not nervous, anxious?
Taking a deep breath, he continued. “I can no longer take a secondary class or a tertiary class… My new class is called Stormcaller.”
Kelsey froze, watching him closely and beginning to feel a bit nervous herself.
He didn’t move to show off his new skills, he stood there nervous and anxious. “Kelsey… I can’t quite control this yet; I’m potentially going to need your help containing it.” he said seriosuly.
Yeah... figures.
“Not a problem Gregory. I’m here.” Kelsey said reassuringly.
He nodded once and furrowed his brow in concentration as he lifted his palm upwards.
A few long seconds went by with nothing happening before Kelsey saw a torrent of mana leave his body in rapid gulps.
His regeneration must be through the roof! He's probably using about as much mana as I did when I was his level...
A moment later, a tornado of wind, water, and electricity, exploded from his outstretched palm in a violent cone that shook the ground beneath their feet.
The magic was nearly as powerful as something she would have been able to cast around level 150.
Incredible.
Everyone in the area watched in stunned silence as they were awed at the power of Gregory’s new skills.
The massive storm continued for several seconds, as Gregory was trying his best to keep control of the skill. It almost looked as if the skill was taking mana from Gregory rather than being supplied mana.
She could see as his face hardened and his eyes focused that the mana pouring from him would stall for a few moments before exploding back outwards. He was clearly trying to stop the skill, but it wasn't letting him for some reason.
Strange…
Kelsey waited, letting him try to contain the power, but eventually, it was clear that he was losing control. So, she activated her manipulation and ripped control of the skill from him and canceled it herself.
The moment the skill was shattered, he knelt down on his knees, gasping for breath.
“Well… that’s going to be quite incredible when you get control of it. Not used to using that much mana I take it?” Kelsey said, trying to keep the mood light.
“Aye. It is indeed quite powerful, but difficult to control. The first time I tried my Storm Creation skill it took me over ten minutes to stop the tornado I created.” he said, clearly quite embarrassed.
“Well, you’re in luck. You’ve got me here to help, so I can promise we’ll figure out how the skills work and help you master them.” Kelsey said with as much confidence as she could.
“Anything else about your class?” she asked.
Gregory nodded his head. “Other than general enhancements I have two more class skills of note. The first is called Domain of the Stormcaller. It allows me to use water and air to sense things around me. As far as I can tell it functions similarly to how yours did Kelsey. I can't really see things, I simply 'know' where and what they are."
Kelsey nodded in understanding. Pretty powerful domain all things considered.
"What's the range?" Kelsey asked curiously.
"About a kilometer." Gregory answered.
"Nice. Alright, what about the last skill." Kelsey asked.
Gregory grinned. "Well... you see..."
As he said that, Owen and Lisa stepped forward to stand beside him, both smiling excitedly.
This should be good.
Once they were all in position, Kelsey saw them activate skills and all three of them rose into the air in different ways
On Lisa’s back sprang out two giant wings, one made of light, the other of shadow. They flapped gently as she rose into the air. Kelsey could instantly tell that the wings were just for show, the skill was using general mana manipulation for flight, just like Kelsey’s did.
Owen’s was electricity based, as he levitated just as he had done before his advancement, but this time he was actually flying with mana, and the electricity was also just for show.
Gregory, however, was a different story. As he activated his skill, a massive gust of wind burst out of him as a tornado at his waist picked him up and carried him upwards. He was actually flying with his elements, and it was an incredibly loud skill.
The wind howled across the training area in massive gusts that forced Claire and Thadius to put their hands on the kids in order to steady them.
Gregory certainly wouldn’t be sneaking anywhere with his class… Not that he was generally that subtle anyways.
Thankfully, he was able to control this skill with much more finesse than his previous one and was able to gently lift himself into the sky and float around. As Kelsey watched him, she thought that he almost looked like a genie with his waist and legs covered by the tornado of wind and water.
The three brand new True Classers flew around for a bit, just enjoying the feeling of flight as the small crowd looked up at them with excitement.
Gwen was looking up at the people flying, and Kelsey saw awe and wonder in her eyes, as well as a hint of envy.
“When are you planning on advancing?” Kelsey whispered into Gwen’s ear.
She looked over at Kelsey. “During my time off. Would you mind popping me down to The Trial for a day or two?” she asked.
“Not a problem. Claire needs to advance too, so it’ll work out perfectly.” Kelsey answered.
Gwen smiled. “Good. I really want flight. I love it when you fly me around, don’t get me wrong, but it would be nice to have a flight skill of my own.”
Kelsey nodded. She completely understood how she felt. Being able to fly was easily one of the most useful skills she had, and it came in handy in a ton of different ways.
As the trio finished flying and landed, Kelsey stood up and smiled, looking around at all her friends and family.
“Who's ready for a nice vacation?”