Silence took over as we each thought about Jezi’s evolution options.
“I think your best choice is beast-whisperer human. It gives you similar benefits to soulbound human without the downsides. But what’s the deal with the shadow human evolution?” Nisos said, and the noble answered him.
“The shadow human evolution is the one the Assassins' Guild gets their recruits to obtain. While it may not seem inherently dangerous because it isn’t of the forbidden rarity, it sets you down a dangerous evolutionary path. I strongly recommend against it.”
Jezibel’s brow twitched.
“Well, I wasn’t going to pick it anyway. It doesn’t suit me, especially with the inability to walk in the day ever again. But what do you mean by dangerous evolutionary path?”
“I mean danger of the undead, unholy abomination kind. Some of the worst forbidden evolutions in history trace their origins from this evolution. You’d best leave it at that; the less you know about forbidden evolutions and classes, the better. You're less likely to succumb to the temptation or spread this information to those who would.”
“Regardless, we’ve gone on enough of a tangent. Jezibel should probably take the beast-whisperer human evolution. Unless anyone else has something to add?” Nisos said.
“There’s one more option you guys haven’t considered. We can keep hunting higher ranked monsters in the hopes of giving Jezibel a better evolution.” Ati said, but I objected.
“In theory, you’re right, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. Doing that increases the risk Jezibel takes with each fight with no guarantee of a better evolution, especially since she has a perfectly good evolution as is that will let her use class abilities to boost her rank. She can aim for legendary rarity on the rank D evolution anyway.”
“I suppose my path from here is decided. What did you get, Nisos?” Jezibel said, eager to move on.
“My options are better than I had initially expected. Give me your ears for a minute.” he said with a smile as he read his options to us.
[Observant Human]
Rank E creature. Sapient race. The standard evolution of the versatile human race, it provides a more extensive experience gain bonus, as well as boosted attributes and an increased lifespan.
[Shadow Human]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Is a human.
* Is a rank F creature.
* Assassinated a higher ranked creature.
Rank E creature. Sapient race. Shadow Humans cannot be born naturally; humans can only become one through evolution. Members of this race have their attribute changed to the Atypical – Shadow attribute and gain strong bonuses to stealth and assassination skills. The sun is the mortal enemy of shadow humans, cursing them with 5 HP/s of damage when exposed to sunlight.
[Human Sergeant]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Is a human.
* Is a rank F creature.
* Commanded other humans in battle.
Rank E creature. Sapient race. Human Sergeants are humans with a natural talent for both leading and fighting alongside their warriors. Troops they lead gain bonuses to their vitality and strength when following the commands of the Human Sergeant.
[Telepathic Commander]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Is a human.
* Is a rank F creature.
* Killed a higher ranked creature with a two-rank disparity or more.
* Possess at least 50 Wisdom and 50 Intelligence while wielding a warrior class.
Rank E creature. Sapient race. Telepathic Commanders, as their name implies, wield a powerful ability to link the senses of a number of their troops together and to coordinate them. Groups led by a Telepathic Commander fight as a single, cohesive unit with unparalleled teamwork and a penchant for making use of opportunities and openings that would otherwise be impossible to exploit.
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Disregarding the same evolutions that Jezibel got, Nisos was right to say he got some good options.
“Imagine what we could all do with a telepathic commander on our side… Could this even help you guys connect with my beasts?!” Jezibel muttered excitedly.
“I think the choice here for Nisos is even more straightforward than Jezibel’s.” The noble girl said, and Nisos nodded.
“Agreed. Telepathic commander is the best of the lot. I am the only one among us who strictly fights at the front, with Lady Sept and Ms. Azoth being flexible enough to move in and out as needed. This means that the bonuses to vitality and strength aren’t especially appealing in this party. Besides, I don’t think we’re done with evolutions yet, and guaranteeing a rare rank D evolution is worth passing on [Human Sergeant].”
“Okay, now that that’s decided, you guys go ahead and evolve. I’ll go stand guard in case something happens to the beasts while you two are evolving. Ati, come with me. Having a second pair of eyes just in case is always useful.” I said, as the lucky two sat down against the wall in preparation for their evolution.
The noble activated an incantation that soothed and comforted us within a certain radius, so I imagine their evolutions will be downright luxurious compared to mine.
***
Ati stood atop a nearby boulder as I sat cross-legged in front of the cave’s entrance. No monsters were in sight, which wasn’t unusual for a small side tunnel like the one we were in.
“Rare evolutions on their first attempt. Incredible. I’d thought starting with a rank E evolution was an advantage, but it seems silly in retrospect now that they each have a rare, rank E species while mine is only common.” Ati said, though his voice did not sound nearly as bitter as his words implied.
I kept quiet for a moment as we both stared at the walls of the tunnel.
“It’s surprising, yes, but I don’t think you should feel threatened by it. My first evolution was an uncommon, which is worse than theirs. Despite that, I have a legendary race and a mythic class. There’s also no guarantee the two of them will ever catch up to me in terms of rarity.”
Ati chuckled softly.
“I am not worried about falling behind. I just find it interesting that the barriers and obstacles everyone assumes to be nearly impregnable can be shattered so easily.”
“Well, like the noble girl said, it’s just a matter of people on top being afraid of losing control and being dethroned if they fail to monopolize the road to power.”
“I am not sure that explains everything. I can’t imagine that no one’s ever thought of using traps or sneaking up on monsters and ambushing them to rank up. Enough people should have come up with this on their own to make many more classers than we have today, and yet that isn’t the case.”
As Ati finished speaking, a third voice interrupted us.
“You vastly overestimate the motivation and the need for the majority of people, falconman. Monsters are unconquerable horrors to the common man, whose goals in life will not benefit from a higher rank or class.”
The noble girl leaned against a wall opposite to the boulder Ati stood on, facing the two of us.
“Even if you assumed every person in a city is a classer, which isn’t even close to the case, there are nine peasants and serfs to every city dweller whose entire lives revolve around farming and a simple, communal life. A sword-arm and a fireball are overkill to chase away a fox in a hen-house, even if they could somehow afford to attend an academy for the training that would require. The immense risk grants little rewards.”
“Hmm…” I hummed, and the three of us settled into a comfortable silence.
“Thank you for explaining, Lady Sept. It makes sense a noble would know the answer to such questions.” Ati said and nodded respectfully to her, which she acknowledged with one of her own.
A few steps could be heard from the other side of the tunnel, drawing our attention.
“How’re the two of them doing?” I asked, standing up to prepare for a fight if needed.
“The evolutions were nothing too different from their original forms, so they only experienced mild discomfort. They’re sleeping at the moment, though they should wake up in a few minutes.” She said, summoning her bow.
“I’ll go take a look at the monsters coming here and drive them away.” Ati said, gliding quietly ahead to the end of the tunnel.
“I’ll go help him in case it’s a D ranked monster.” I said to the noble as I moved to catch up with Ati, who had stopped at the entrance to the side tunnel.
I made it next to him rather quickly, taking in the scene that stopped him in his tracks.
“What’s the hold up? Is there something you can’t handle?”
“No. It seems to be the opposite.” He said, as he looked ahead to the source of the footsteps.
An [Abyssal Lizard] was hunting a few bugs to feed them to the smaller ones behind her. A weird wave of emotions I could not process tumbled around in my chest as I stared at the familiar scene, this time from an outside angle. Ati readied an arrow, preparing to fire at the lizard, but I put a hand in front of him to stop him.
“Wait. Don’t shoot. It’s not a threat.”
He turned toward me with a slightly raised eyebrow but didn’t say anything, then lowered his bow and dispelled his arrow. As we took in the lizards having lunch, a titanoboa slithered from the rocks nearby, preparing to lunge at the unsuspecting lizards. I quickly fired a mana blade at its neck, cleanly decapitating it in one strike. The noise from the titanoboa's rolling head frightened the lizards as they ran away at the sight of the dead predator. A heavy mood that was entirely of my own making settled on us as the quiet falconman somehow kept it comfortable like he always did.
Eventually, the two in the back woke up, and we prepared to go on our next hunt. It struck me that I've never really processed the events between my hatching and meeting Azoth, though I'll have time to do that when I am out of this deathtrap of a dungeon. Hopefully without encountering any more emotional scenes again.