CHAPTER 43: Evolution
“Did anything change on your status panel?” Adam asked Andrea.
She stared at her invisible panel before a slight smile came to her lips.
“Yes. Yes, it did, darling!” Her panel once more became visible in front of Adam. He looked past the three items that had been there before to a fourth.
[Volt Mage] (Rare)
Cost: 15 levels
This class wields the beginnings of lightning. Skills can be learned from this class to channel and manipulate certain varieties of energy to many purposes. Developing this class in different ways can lead to Tier 2 classes that provide a mastery of the various energy forces.
“That seems better,” Adam said. “I’m not sure what all the varieties of energy are, but it sounds like mastering any of them would be worthwhile. Did you want to take it or spend time experimenting with other elements?”
“I like the thought of being able to shock people whenever I want,” Andrea said with a smile. “I think I’ll take it.”
“I guess that means you guys can do different things to try and learn classes. It also seems like our actions can set us on the path for different classes. You guys should try to think of where you want to go with skills and take every action related to it so that you can learn these classes. It’s obvious that the common, uncommon, and rare mean that the classes are easier or harder to learn, however I wonder what the cost means. Also, whether it’s different depending on the tier or rarity.”
While Adam was talking, Andrea was manipulating her status menu. After Adam finished, she reached down and touched his hand.
“[Jolt]!” she exclaimed excitedly. A loud spark and sizzle sounded out, but Adam didn’t even flinch. Instead, he turned and looked up at her with a smile on his face.
“Tingly,” was all he said. The skin on his hand looked slightly redder, but not by enough to matter.
“Well obviously it won’t do much to this monster,” Andrea contemplated. “I need a real test. Let’s see if it is stronger than the taser. Carlos.”
“Hell no!” Carlos jumped out of his seat and for several minutes he ran around the massive room while dodging Andrea. By the end she was panting but with his much higher Agility, she never came close to touching him. Andrea instead huffed and walked back over to Adam where she leaned on his shoulder.
“What was the new spell?” asked Brittney.
Andrea lifted her hand and popped up a window with the description in it.
[Jolt]
Release a charge of energy that can damage enemies, objects, and disrupt similar energy signals. Has a chance to cause paralysis to organic targets. Released energy can travel along and through conductive materials.
Requires contact to cast.
“That’s nice!” said Alissa.
“I think we know what that evolution cost meant now,” Adam chuckled as he pointed to the tag above Andrea’s head. It now said “Volt Mage (4)”. “It took the 15 [Class] levels you had gotten.”
“Hey yeah! It reset my [Class] back to zero. Weird,” noted Andrea.
“That explains a lot,” said Elias.
“What do you mean?” asked Randall.
“I knew that goblin chief couldn’t have hurt Adam so much at only level 25,” commented Brittney.
“I still don’t get it,” said Randall.
“His skills and speed at running away seemed higher than a level 25 should have,” Elias continued.
“C’mon, fill the rest of us meatheads in,” insisted Lucas.
Brittney took up the explanation with a sigh. “The goblin had evolved at least once, maybe twice. If they spend levels to evolve, then even someone with a low level displayed on their tag could actually be really strong and at a higher tier class. Without knowing how many tiers an invader is at, as well as how many levels they spent on upgrades, they could be powerhouses without us even knowing it.”
“Damnit! More bad news,” spat Joseph.
“This means it is really important to find a way to get more information about an enemy. Running into a bunch of level 5s as strong as Adam has suddenly become a possibility,” moaned Nick. “And not having that apocalypse manual means we’re just guessing at all of this and it could actually be much worse.”
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“Carlos, looks like you might need to spend some skill points on that [Understand] skill,” Adam said. He looked serious and gave a swift nod.
“Andrea, are there any other changes from evolving?” asked Elias.
“Actually yes. I now get 5 stat points when I level,” she answered.
“That means leveling and evolving our [Class] is better than leveling [Body],” mused Elias.
A bunch of the physical fighters moaned. They were now behind in their [Class] with all the XP they had put into their [Body] levels.
“Not always,” interrupted Adam. “The [Class] levels are predefined. That means the [Body] levels are the only way a caster can get more Agility or Vitality. It still has a place; it has just put us behind for now. You guys can catch up with your levels. Andrea, where do your [Class] stats go now?”
“Three to Intelligence, one to Wisdom, and one to Agility of all things,” she answered.
“Seems like a weird combination on the surface,” said Brittney, “but if your skills require you to be closer to an enemy to use, then you will need to be faster. Also, in games lightning adds speed boost type abilities. Maybe you’ll get some of those.”
“Then I’ll be able to catch up with Carlos,” Andrea smile malevolently.
“Ugh,” moaned Carlos. “Keep your lightning to yourself.”
STATUS SHEETS:
Name: Nick Morris [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Scout [10]
Body [9]
Strength: 37
Agility: 52
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 2
Wisdom: 9
Skill Points: 8
Skills:
Light Steps: Reduce noise while stepping.
Dim Presence: Less likely to be noticed.
Unseen Blow: Increased damage when attacking while unseen
Name: Carlos Mendez [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Scout [9]
Body [10]
Strength: 36
Agility: 48
Vitality: 18
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 5
Skill Points: 8
Skills:
Clear Sight: Increases viewing distance and detail when looking closely.
Understand: Gain more insight about a living target.
Name: Lamar Cook [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Scout [10]
Body [9]
Strength: 38
Agility: 49
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 7
Skill Points: 8
Skills:
Notice Sign: Clues become more obvious when being looked at.
Steady Shot: Projectiles can be fires or thrown with increased accuracy.
Quick Release: Attacks from either ranged or melee have an increased speed when beginning the motion.
Name: Brittney Hutchins [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Protector [8]
Body [11]
Strength: 40
Agility: 29
Vitality: 41
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 8
Skill Points: 7
Skills:
Harden Shield: Increases durability of wielded shields.
Shield Bash: Increases damage when striking a target with a shield.
Name: Lucas Fenton [19]
Age: 19
Race: Human
Class: Warrior [7]
Body [12]
Strength: 52
Agility: 34
Vitality: 30
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 5
Skill Points: 6
Skills:
Sturdy Weapon: Increases durability of weapons.
Empower Blow: When used it increases the damage of a solidly landed blow.
Name: Thomas Rhodes [19]
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: Warrior [6]
Body [13]
Strength: 48
Agility: 34
Vitality: 30
Intelligence: 9
Wisdom: 8
Skill Points: 5
Skills:
Sturdy Weapon: Increases durability of weapons.
Quick Strike: An active attack that moves at a faster speed.
Name: Randall Lanchel [19]
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: Warrior [10]
Body [9]
Strength: 49
Agility: 27
Vitality: 28
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 5
Skill Points: 8
Skills:
Sturdy Weapon: Increases durability of weapons.
Long Strike: Weapon attacks do damage slightly beyond a weapon’s physical distance.
Firm Stance: Attacks are less likely to push the receiver back.
Name: Joseph Canick [19]
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: Warrior [6]
Body [13]
Strength: 47
Agility: 36
Vitality: 28
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 6
Skill Points: 5
Skills:
Sturdy Weapon: Increases durability of weapons.
Quick Strike: An active attack that moves at a faster speed.
Name: Elias Munroe [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Mage [14]
Body [5]
Strength: 17
Agility: 17
Vitality: 13
Intelligence: 40
Wisdom: 22
Skill Points: 7
Skills:
Mana Dart: Cast a weak, non-elemental projectile made from mana.
Earth Shot: Cast an earth-based projectile at a target.
Increased Mana +5: Increase amount of mana by 10%, mana regenerated by 10%, and reduce spell costs by 10%.
Name: Andrea Fritz [4]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Volt Mage [0]
Body [4]
Strength: 14
Agility: 15
Vitality: 13
Intelligence: 39
Wisdom: 21
Skill Points: 12
Skills:
Mana Dart: Cast a weak, non-elemental projectile made from mana.
Fireball: Cast a fire-based projectile at a target.
Increased Mana: Increase amount of mana by 5%.
Boost Power: When used, the next spell has 10% increased damage.
Jolt: Release a charge of energy that can damage enemies, objects, and disrupt similar energy signals.
Name: Alissa Whitmore [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Mage [12]
Body [7]
Strength: 22
Agility: 20
Vitality: 17
Intelligence:32
Wisdom: 17
Skill Points: 10
Skills:
Mana Dart: Cast a weak, non-elemental projectile made from mana.
Water Ball: Cast a water-based projectile at a target.
Increase Power: Gives a 5% increase in damage to attack spells.
Name: Brandon Collins [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Support [14]
Body [5]
Strength: 16
Agility: 16
Vitality: 12
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 36
Skill Points: 12
Skills:
Bolster: Increase a target’s stats by 2%.
Enhance Body: Increase Strength and Agility by 5%.
Enhance Mind: Increase Intelligence and Wisdom by 5%.
Name: Abigail Tamare [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Support [14]
Body [5]
Strength: 15
Agility: 16
Vitality: 13
Intelligence: 25
Wisdom: 40
Skill Points: 12
Skills:
Slight Heal: Heal injuries by a small amount.
Reduce Poison: Weaken poison within a body to help a body fight it.
Regenerate: Increase stamina and health over time.
Name: Edward Rothstein [19]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Support [14]
Body [5]
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Vitality: 9
Intelligence:23
Wisdom: 37
Skill Points: 12
Skills:
Slight Heal: Heal injuries by a small amount.
Clear Mind: Reduces any inflictions that cloud the mind.
Cleanse Blood: Reduces any inflictions that are spread through the blood.