The dungeon core works wonders. Bones, Fury, and her receive a new beginning, with their levels boosted significantly. Annette never had the opportunity to learn about the awakened stages before the dungeon, as she awakened long after her master's death. Over the years, she only reached the second rank, a rook.
With the help of the core, Annette's rank is elevated to that of a cardinal, putting her one rank away from becoming a top-tier templar and three levels from attaining sage status. She never imagined she could achieve such heights and didn't truly understand the extent of cultivation until this point.
A few days ago, she considered herself a queen, but she now realizes she didn't possess even a fraction of the power Nette thought she had. Though she wanted to cling to the title, it no longer felt appropriate. One day, she aspires to be a true queen.
One day… the words bring a soft smile to her firm face. The promise of a future is wonderful. Where she once felt trapped, she now feels like she has endless potential ahead of her. Potential she gets to cultivate. Her first choice in shaping her destiny is to retain her mind mana or choose one of the other eight available elements.
The decision proves to be challenging. Earth is tempting, especially at the templar stage, as it could allow her to control nature, commanding trees and rocks, and create earth golems. Light is another attractive option, as it is closely related to mind mana and offers the potential for deception and illusion. Annette also recalled mighty light lancers who could mimic abilities used against them — a mirror skill.
Death is off the table, as Bones has already claimed. Despite Bones' claims to the mana, Nette finds she isn't drawn to the power of death, and two death-aspected casters seem more than sufficient for their small team.
Similarly, darkness is also off the table. Fury picked it immediately, even challenging Bones and her to take it from him. The fact that his first words as a newly awakened being are a challenge is swiftly refuted by Bones' semi-sarcastic hello, followed by much hype over the dragon's new imposing presence. Despite his struggles adjusting to his new form, Fury's power is immense. Standing taller than both her and Bones, he is likely the tallest person she ever encountered, with his muscular frame weighing at least 500 pounds.
The dragonoid retains many features from his dragon form, albeit in a more human-like and minor manifestation. His dragon scales became black armor, and his wings and tail moved naturally. When asked if he would miss being a dragon, Fury laughed and demonstrated his ability to shift between forms at will, eliciting envy from Bones.
Bones also experiences significant change. While he is still a skeleton, he seems much more human. Instead of using mana to form facial expressions, his skull now makes the expressions. She is still determining if she likes the new change.
Actually, that was the extent of the skeleton's changes. For the most part, Bones is still a strong skeleton with two arms that sometimes turns into four arms. Nothing about the figure suggests he is a boss… or a rank two sage for that matter.
After much deliberation, Annette decides to keep her mind mana. She doesn't want to lose her connection to her first master, who went to great lengths to bind the mana to her. Moreover, she enjoys learning and finds reading others' thoughts thrilling. Becoming a templar will enhance her mind powers, allowing her to manipulate external energy, which excites her even if she doesn't fully know what that means.
"Alright, now we all know why we are here?" Bones asks as soon as the five of them enter a side room.
"Yeah, you all have no idea what classes are and how to pick them." Remny, one of the two lycans invited to the meeting, says.
Fury lets out a snorting chuckle. "Just like Genevieve," he says proudly. His massive arm dwarfs the little-looking wolf girl, who isn't much smaller than Annette, as it wraps around her shoulder and pulls her into a hug. Everything about the dragon is gentle, from his laughter to his side hug.
"Precisely. Now I'm gonna need you two to create a tier list of all the classes you know. Rank them from strongest to weakest." Two quills and large paper form out of the abyss. Bones hands the quills to the lycans and joins Fury and her on the chairs he summons.
To the credit of Cody and Remny, they create an extensive list of classes they know of. Assassins, rouges, warriors, shamans, priests, and many more. Each class is given three to five stars.
"What's with the warlock class, and why's it three stars?" Bones asks when the teens stop writing.
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Remny deflects the question by turning her attention to Cody, which leads the rest of them to look at the light blue fur lycan. The weight of attention has little to no effect on Cody. He clears his throat and begins to explain. "They're spellcasters who make a pact with a powerful otherworldly being in exchange for magic. They have fewer spells than Wizards, but their spells are more potent, and they regain them quickly. Their weakness is that their spell selection is more limited than other spellcasters."
More questions are asked about specific classes, and each one is explained thoroughly by the impressive lycan. Remny sometimes offers a little bit of information. For the most part, Cody does all of the explaining.
A few classes catch their eye. There's the rogue class that Remny belongs to. They are a focus of primarily mind essence with a little bit of body. These are sneaky agile fighters that strike unexpectedly. Unlike assassins who focus mainly on melee combat when they fight, rogues employ a crafty arsenal of tools.
Spellcasting classes like wizard, sorcerer, and summoner entice Bones and her. Their emphasis on mind and spirit essence give them an edge with casting power and adaptability. What they lack in durability, these casting classes tend to make up for in firepower.
Fury asks more questions about the physically focused classes like the warrior, hunter, ranger — Cody's class, and guardians. He is most interested in the paladin class, a body and spirit essence build. According to him, if he doesn't develop his spirit essence, Gene will be disappointed. Annette doubts that will happen, but the dragon knows the shadow queen far more than she does.
No one asks, but Cody gives more in-depth knowledge about unconventional classes like the artificer, a mind focussed class that relies upon crafting magical items and devices. Cody's eyes light up when he describes the blood hunters, which is sort of a mix between rangers and warlocks.
The mention of mixed classes opens up a new discussion regarding multiclassing and the powers and limits involved when following that route. Bones and Cody, for the most part, are the only ones engaging in this line of discussion, going deep down the rabbit hole. Despite his enthusiasm for multiclassing theory, Cody and Remny strongly discourage it. For one, progressing both classes becomes much more complex, and two, fights tend to favor the one highly skilled in their class — a trait not often found in multiclassers.
The occultist class especially catches Annette's eye. Unfortunately, this is the class that Cody and Remny know the least about. They do know that the class is a seeker of hidden knowledge and a master of forbidden magic. They can bind powerful spirits to their will, unlock the secrets of forgotten artifacts, and wield archaic powers. Unfortunately, neither lycans know which essences are needed to pursue the class and can only provide guesses. Despite the setback, she sets it in her heart to seek the occultist class as much as possible.
With no sure guide for her desired class, she focuses on the essences she wants to excel in. Her choices heavily favor the mind, and her essence goes to improving her knowledge, wisdom, and survivability. Though more essence is spent in the first two than the third. In her heart, she hopes that her pathway will lead to the occultist class. When it is all over, she is only slightly disappointed when she gains the scholar class instead. Though according to Cody, scholars and occultists aren't too dissimilar.
Like her method, Bones doesn't follow a path and splits his essences into eighteen in mind, nine in spirit, and six in body. Bones' reasoning for his high investment in mind is he never wants to be caught speechless again. Not being able to bolster the kids is still eating at him. He wants to be an inspiration.
There aren't actually any points to attribute to each essence. However, inside the dungeon core, leveling up stages becomes mechanical enough that invested energy feels quantifiable. When Annette thinks of her own choices, she can sense that nine energy points are invested in wisdom and knowledge, and three are invested in survivability. This leveling process is different from what she experienced cultivating on her own.
Specifically, having a vast amount of energy to invest is unusual. Usually, training one of three essences is how one progresses. For them, the dungeon core boosts their own progression, and they now have the energy needed to invest in catching their essences up with the strength of their souls. It very much felt like they had been given a new life. A reset.
For Bones, the eighteen essences of his mind are split equally between survival, wisdom, and intelligence. Intelligence for knowledge. Wisdom for the ability to use knowledge and survival to increase his creativity. Six essences go into talent in the spirit essence, and another three into perception. Even though there is no correlation between talent with speaking and talent that comes from spirit focus, Bones picks it anyway. Feels right, is his logic. He uses the six essences invested in his body to increase his agility, strength, and endurance. A quick mind needs a quick body — more Bones' logic.
In the end, he is assigned the class of bards, which he celebrates with a round of dancing. When finished, he asks Cody to clarify what a bard is. His celebration and fist-pumping turn up several notches when he learns they're jack-of-all-trades, able to cast spells, fight, and use their musical talents to inspire and support their allies.
Fury is more straightforward. He follows Cody's instruction investing his twenty-seven essences into a mix of the body of the soul. At the top tier of the templar, the dragon gains the paladin class. Most, if not all, of his awkwardness from his new form, is depleted as the class sets in. She didn't think it was possible, but the dragon's frame seems to increase. The man is a standing pillar of power.
After the classes are picked, Cody and Remny return to the main room, where they help the other older kids keep the younger ones in control. Bones, Fury, and her stay behind to discuss a few more dungeon perks and to 'game plan' a little more. Only a few more things need to be taken care of before they return back to the world. Soon though. She can sense it.