Upon reaching level 10, a notification appeared.
- Congratulations on reaching level 10. At this juncture, your class is ready to evolve. When you are ready, please select your newly evolved class.
Apprentice Life Mage Tier 1: Few can fully grasp the affinity of life. Usually, they can only work with magics that involve healing and light. You have been blessed with a bloodline that has life as a natural affinity. This class offers increased damage to those who are undead, increases your healing arts efficiency, and shows how quickly you can learn spells with life affinity.
* 2 Intelligence
* 2 Wisdom
* 1 Charisma
* 2 Free Point
* 25% Damage to Undead
* 25% Life Healing/Support Spell modifier
* 25% Learning speed for Life Spells
Note: Taking this class will give you the blessing of a stray Goddess of Life. These blessings vary from God to God. -
The first option is interesting since it expands upon my life affinity. It is also interesting to note that a goddess has gifted me the opportunity for a higher-tier class even though I might not be able to utilize it fully. Wanting to see the rest of the options, I continue.
- Apprentice Nature Mage Tier 1: You have been given this class option due to your bloodline having a natural affinity to nature magic and being blessed by the wilds. This class increases the damage to beings of corruption. Your nature magic spells have increased damage, healing/support, and learning speed.
* 2 Intelligence
* 2 Wisdom
* 1 Dexterity
* 2 Free Points
* 25% Damage to Corrupted Beings
* 25% Nature Healing/Support Spells
* 25% Learning speed for Nature Spells
Note: Taking this class will give you the blessing of a Nature God. These blessings vary from God to God. -
Another class involves the blessing of a God. I wasn't surprised when I read the next option, but there is a theme for the classes available to me now.
- Apprentice Corruption Mage Tier 1: Very few people can touch upon the magics of corruption without it affecting them. You have not only touched upon the magic but have also incorporated it into your body and bloodline. Due to this, you have received an affinity with corruption mana. This class offers knowledge of magic few can grasp, and few can remain unscathed. This class increases the damage done to those of nature. It increases corruption spell potency and increases the learning speed for corrupted spells.
* 2 Intelligence
* 2 Wisdom
* 1 Strength
* 2 Free Points
* 25% Damage to Natural Beings
* 25% Increased chance of spreading corrupting tendrils
* 25% Increased speed of Corruption Spells
Note: There have been murmurs of a fallen God of Corruption rising. He has seen fit to bless those willing to walk the path of a corruptor. -
An ominous undertone is stated in the note for that class. I don’t know if I would want to be blessed by an entity of corruption. From what I can see, our world is saturated with so much corruption that it has been smothering the planet's life. Shivering at the thought of picking that class, I move on to the second to last class available.
- Apprentice Death Mage Tier 1: As a living being, you have not only accepted death into your life through those around you but also decided to take it a step further and walk the path of death. By incorporating Death mana into your bloodline, you have gained an affinity for Death magic. This class will increase the damage dealt to the living, increase the potency of Death magics/support spells, and improve the learning speed of said spell.
* 2 Intelligence
* 2 Wisdom
* 1 Constitution
* 2 Free Points
* 25% Damage to Living creatures
* 25% Death Necrotic/Support Spells
* 25% Learning speed for Death Spells
Note: A God of Death has been seen in the area and is looking for someone to take up the mantle. Accepting this class will give you a blessing from the Death God. -
A God of Death that has me thinking maybe Laxreal was onto something when he first came to this world. Perhaps I should dig deeper into who/what Ritotorous is or what it will become if I get a potential blessing from a God of Death.
So far, with every single option, there has been the offer of a blessing from a God in one of the affinities. Some of them I can understand, like the God of Death, because of how I am situating my settlement to be open to all races. Or a God of Corruption taking notice of my affinity. It gives me the shivers to think about, but I know that if there wasn’t one more option to look at, I could become an enemy to the other Gods that have offered up their blessings.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I take a deep breath and return to the notification and final option.
- Apprentice Mage of the Cycle: While others slowly build up their affinities to other elements and eventually become mages of the cycle, you have been blessed with a different path by incorporating four affinities into your bloodline. This class provides bonuses to the spells and skills that match the affinity active in that level while being neutral for those non-antagonistic affinities and punishing opposing affinities. During each phase, you will learn the magic of the matching affinity faster, while it will be slower for opposing affinities.
* 2 Intelligence
* 2 Wisdom
* 1 Charisma(Life), Dexterity(Nature), Strength(Corruption), or Constitution(Death)
* 3 Free Points
* 25% to current level affinity Damage to Undead/Living or Corrupted/Natural
* 25% to current level affinity Life Healing/Support, Nature Healing/Support, Corruption increased chance of spreading corrupting tendrils, or Death Necrotic/Support
* 25% to current level affinity learning speed to current level affinity spells
* 25% to current level opposing affinity Damage to Undead/Living or Corrupted/Natural
* 25% to current level opposing affinity Life Healing/Support, Nature Healing/Support, Corruption increased chance of spreading corrupting tendrils, or Death Necrotic/Support
* 25% Learning speed to current level opposing affinity spells
Note: You can pick which affinity you want to start your cycle. Be careful of which is first. During the cycle, physical changes will occur depending on the affinity. -
Upon seeing this last class, I can’t help but be confused for a brief moment, muttering a couple of questions. What does it mean phases? A phase is probably the type of mana affinity active at the time, but I don’t know exactly if that is the case. The description makes it seem that way. And does this mean that it will treat me like an apprentice mage of all four types? Initially, I can see that as the case, but the negatives involved with the class make it seem more profound.
If I were to consider only one aspect of the classes, the stats provided for each class aren’t too different. Dexterity would make it feel more like a druid or ranger class. Charisma seems like something for a preacher, but I don’t feel it would be my style. Strength has me curious, but I guess I will figure it out. In comparison, Constitution for Death is intriguing.
Another factor to consider is the bonus stats I receive from my bloodline and noble class. I get 1 Constitution, 1 Wisdom, 1 Charisma, and an additional free stat point per level. I am already ahead of people in the statistics department because of these bonuses alone. Well, at least I think I am ahead of others, considering my father and mother’s bloodlines have been awakened for a while, and they must be getting more stats than I am getting.
The initial confusion about the class aside, it best fits me. While the downsides could hurt my growth in those areas, the bonuses that are provided easily outweigh the cons.
While I think about the different classes, there is a knock on my door. Pulling myself from my thoughts, I answer it. In front of me are Laxreal, Koto, and Ritotorous, “Welcome, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
Looking at my overly courteous greeting, Laxreal informs me, “We would like your permission to make Koto the head of the crafting portion of the settlement.”
Trying to pull my thoughts from my dilemma of which class to choose, I look at him, “Wouldn’t it be better if we were to pull together a meeting and have a vote for who should be the head of the crafting section of the settlement?”
Rubbing his skeletal hand to his chin, he agrees, “You are right. I was a bit hasty when it came to the knowledge that we now have. We should gather everyone for the meeting since we aren’t discussing a low position in the settlement.”
Crossing my arms, I try to seem like someone who knows what he is doing, though I am still distracted by my options. “Exactly, we should get everyone for a vote.”
“Great, I will start to gather everyone and hold a settlement-wide meeting in a couple of days, and then we can talk about potential candidates.”
“Yes, settlement-wide…” Finally hearing what he is suggesting, I stop myself from just nodding, “You mean to pull the whole settlement together for this meeting.”
“Yes, the entire settlement. Each group had a say in who would represent them on the council, and since this is a similar position but more likely to affect everyone, it would be best to get their input.”
Nodding subconsciously, I hope it doesn’t take us too long, but who knows? I guess a couple of days to get to know each other and have more people level up their crafting wouldn’t hurt. It will help to solidify the sense of community with everyone being involved.
“Alright, that makes sense. Let’s get a consensus of who will want to be the ‘Head-Crafter,’ and then we can go from there.” All three of them nod, “Now,” I straighten myself up and pull my shirt down to be more regal, “I would like to gather the opinions of my familiar and advisor. I have an important decision to make.”
“Drake, that isn’t a good look on you,” Laxreal says, rubbing his fingers over his temple. “Not saying that you shouldn’t try to be more… noble, but honestly, among us, you should just be yourself like you always have. Learn but mimic an exacting detail. I know we have been working on etiquette, but still.”
I smile at him, “I know, I was just pulling your leg. I do have an important decision to make.”
“Is it about your class evolving?” Ritotorous chimes in my mind.
“Yes, I have to pick what class I want to evolve into.”
Koto’s ears perk up, hearing that I will be evolving my class, “I know it isn’t right for me to ask, but what are your options? I might be able to help since I have heard of many different classes before trying to start my settlement.”
Sending a mental message to Ritotorous, I ask him, “Should I trust her?”
“Yes, she is quite knowledgable, and it would behoove you to at least listen to what she has to say.”
Seeing the look on his face, the best I can tell is he is a skeleton. I share my notifications with everyone so they can see which classes I can choose from.
“Seriously?” When she saw the options available to me, Koto gawked, “Most people don’t get more than three options, but you got the maximum number for your first tier of class evolution?”
“I am guessing that is good.”
“More than good! The more options, the more flexible you can be. It isn’t the best to be overly flexible, but for a first-tier, it is better. It gives more potential than those with only one or two options.”
“Would you have any recommendations for someone new to this?” I asked while gesturing at the screen in front of me.
“Typically, the rule of thumb for the lower tier classes is to pick something that provides higher stats. In your instance, we have to be more careful. With the notes stating that different gods have taken notice of you.”
“I figured I wouldn’t want to choose one over the others, so I leaned more towards the Apprentice Mage of the Cycle anyway.”
“It’s a great option. I haven’t seen many classes that have gone into detail so early about the negatives a class will give. It is even available to you in this instance, which is more shocking than anything.”
“What do you two think?” I asked Laxreal and Ritotorous.
“It is the best option since it has higher stats. And if I think about it, no blessings are involved with this class so you won’t be picking sides. I don’t know how long that will hold out, but we can consider that as you progress.” Laxreal offers.
“I agree with these two, while there are negatives to the class in more ways than a typical mage. At least you won’t have to worry about the God issue for a bit.”
Confirming that no one here thinks it's a bad idea. I pick the class.
- Congratulations, you have selected ‘Apprentice Mage of the Cycle’ as your Tier 1 class. Which of your mana affinities would you like to start your first cycle?
Life
Nature
Corruption
Death -