Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 74: Classes, Cultivation, and old Hegemons

It turned out that actions truly influenced the available Class choices. After some hesitation a slender demoness in charge of education started explaining the mechanics behind classes, quickly finding her confidence after entering lecturing mode.

“The Ruthless Heavens allow you to start progressing on the path of cultivation starting at the age of 16 for both humans and demons, but it varies between species. Many forces are able to bring up the levels of their young to 25 in a day with various treasures and Nexus Crystals, so preparation before they officially enter the path of cultivation is necessary. An academy prepares the young generation, and help them attain the Class they wish for. Or at least have the most aptitude for,” the schoolmistress started to explain.

“If they want to become a Sword Master they will have to arduously train with their sword, and physically train their natural attributes to the peak. If they wish to become a magic user it’s a bit more complicated, but essentially they have to study the elements and learn all they can about cosmic energy. Craftsman Classes are best gained by apprenticing themselves to someone,” she said.

It was as Zac had assumed. His classes were largely based on his actions, and it was possible to influence the options the System gave. But it seemed unlikely that too good a class could be attained from just swinging around a sword within the safety of the school.

“What rarity of the classes do the students get this way?”

“It depends on the grade of the school. Normally only common classes can be attained at an academy, with one or two lucky students out of a thousand getting an uncommon one. Out in the multi-verse there are far greater academies who have curriculums that can guarantee uncommon classes, and even give a decent chance for a rare one.” She said as her eyes glistened, obviously yearning to visit such a place.

“Besides, if the youth accomplish great things after becoming 16 years old, instead of rushing to level 25, they can improve their chances to get a better class.”

“Still, being stuck with a common class doesn’t seem too great, no? Won’t it negatively influence their future?”

“Getting common classes is by far the most common starting choice in C-graded to E-graded worlds. Classes like Warrior or Swordman have a multitude of well-documented advancements paths. For example it is well known that a Warrior can advance to an E-Graded Uncommon Champion. It can also advance to E-Graded Uncommon Captain, then D-Graded Uncommon General.” She explained, getting more and more animated as she started looking at Zac less as an axe-wielding lunatic, and more like a student.

“They won’t get as many attribute points or as good skills as someone who gets a Rare or even Epic class in the start. But the requirements for each advancement is well documented, giving cultivators a clear and unimpeded path of progression. The multi-verse has an endless amount of classes, and only a small part of them is public knowledge. Many promising youths have had their path of progression cut short since they got an unknown rare class, and wasn’t able to progress it.”

Zac found all of this very illuminating, and decided to have this teacher accompany him into the mines to keep his education going while he tried to get his pathways repaired.

“If the multi-verse contains endless classes, why did so many of your kind seem to have the same class?” Zac probed, his memories slightly clashing with the teacher’s explanation of the class system. For example, there had generally been three types of mages; earth, lightning, and fire. But no demon mage seemed to use wind, ice, gravity or any other types.

The demoness slightly hesitated and looked at Ogras for instructions. He shrugged and continued the explanation himself.

“It’s called heritage.” He said. “The progression paths are public knowledge, but the details are fiercely guarded secrets. Those classes that Alyn mentioned are public knowledge, but the exact method to advance past E-grade is not. Clan Azh’Rezak has bought guides that explain the progression to E-grade Uncommon for over a dozen classes, but only had two clear paths to reach D-rank.”

“Buying a full progression path from F to D with all required attributes, Dao-requirements, and hidden requirements is costly enough to set back a D-ranked force quite a bit. So most only have one or two, and they are the foundation of the clan. Clan Azh’Rezak has the progression path of Lightning Warrior, which evolves into Tempest Warrior, and finally Stormblade. It’s a mix of lightning magic and bladed weapons. Rydel followed this path for example, and only the main branch of our clan is allowed to progress this class path,” the demon continued, and Zac immediately remembered the three demons he had killed whose skills contained the black dreadful lightning.

“The stronger the heritage of a clan the greater its prospects. The more and better progression paths, cultivation techniques, hidden Titles, access to hidden pocket-worlds and unique cultivation resources a force has, the better the heritage is.

“Of course, the stronger heritage you have the more attractive a target you become, and wars are constantly fought across the multi-verse to snatch heritages,” Ogras said. “The greatest forces in the multi-verse are said to have progression paths all the way to at least B-rank, making their heritage an unimaginable treasure,” he finished, with yearning in his eyes talking about those lofty clans.

“And how does cultivation fit into all of this?” Zac continued. This was one of the most confusing things for him so far. From Abby it seemed that cultivation was extremely important, but so far he had progressed just fine without being able to cultivate.

“Cultivation has various benefits. First it improves your advancement speed in levels. At a certain point one can forego sleep completely and instead cultivate, making it possible to ceaselessly progress levels. At low levels it doesn’t make a large difference, but at high levels a single level can take a year or more, and at this point the difference starts to show.” The schoolmistress Alyn picked up again.

“Secondly, cultivation doesn’t only improve levels, it also improves our very foundations. It can improve our very beings over time. Essentially, it can help evolve our races, which is the biggest difference between a cultivator and a mortal.” She said.

“Most mortals are forever stuck at F-Grade Classes, since they can’t afford the means to evolve into E-Rank Race. Advancing the Race is the most basic requirement for any class advancement, and no matter the Dao enlightenment or titles, without an advanced race you just will not progress. And as mortals progress it becomes unimaginably hard to find the treasures to keep their advancement going.”

“Finally, cultivators can increase their combat power compared to a mortal if they have a suitable cultivation method. Say the cultivator is a Pyromancer Class. If she has a fire-attributed cultivation technique, her attacks will get even fiercer. Conversely, if she use a water-based cultivation technique she might get weaker, or even hurt herself over time.”

Zac finally understood how classes worked in the multi-verse, and was a bit troubled that he seemed to have gone down a harder path. His Rare class was a boon in the form of giving good skills and extra stats, but it seemed it was far harder to progress compared to the normal classes.

Even worse, it seemed that getting stronger truly was easier for cultivators. It would become harder and harder to keep his lead it seemed as time went on. At least he had caught a lucky break snatching up a Fruit of Ascension, solving the issue of his race for now. Still, he would have to find new treasures to keep advancing, whereas the cultivators could just, well, cultivate.

“Can a mortal become a cultivator?” Zac asked, as that would solve his issues easily. Besides, Abby had said only 10% of the population of Earth was able to become cultivators, so most earthlings could benefit from turning into cultivators. Alyn seemed to hesitate a bit before answering.

“Perhaps. It is said that mortals will automatically become able to cultivate when they reach a certain power level. But I am not sure whether it is true. Some say it is at C rank, others at B rank. Some say it’s just a hoax to give mortals false hope. I only know it’s not possible at D rank or lower.” She said. “There are a few treasures able to turn a mortal into a cultivator though, but they are so rare they might as well be rumors as well.” Alyn then added after some thought.

“Those treasures are real but unfathomably rare. In our homeworld one was put up for auction fifty thousand years ago, and hasn’t been seen since. When it arrived it created a bloody storm that impacted the whole world. Besides, getting one of them can be a death trap. There are so many old monsters in the multi-verse that have a grandson or granddaughter who can’t cultivate for some reason. They are fine with slaughtering a whole country to snatch the treasure for their kin, making it extremely dangerous to own it.” Ogras added on.

“There even was an old hegemon who went to war with a ruling family of a B-ranked planet just to get a supreme treasure which would allow his beloved pet to become a sentient god-beast. Billions of lives were lost because of that stupid mutt.” The demon then said, his mouth curving slightly upward.

“What happened?” Zac asked intrigued.

“The hegemon essentially destroyed the world and took the treasure. The mutt became a god beast and over tens of thousands of years started to rival even its old master in power. Soon the beast could transform into humanoid form and it had the appearance of a stunning woman. The old master actually fell in love and wanted to marry his old pet, but the god-beast didn’t reciprocate his feelings.

“Mad with rage that he was rebuffed after all he had done for her, he immediately tried to kill her. It back-fired spectacularly, and the beast was victorious after an earth-shaking battle. Now she is a hegemon herself and leader of a grand beast world. It is one of the most famous stories about the dangers of owning too valuable treasures” Ogras narrated with a sneer, obviously considering the old master a true idiot.

Zac almost laughed out loud when he heard the story, and said a silent prayer for the old master. More importantly, it seemed it was possible for him to become a cultivator in the future. Of course, it seemed impossibly hard, but he had time and a huge amount of Luck. Not wanting to hold up the meeting any longer with this tangent, he changed the subject.

“What about the defenses of the town? The monster hordes are coming soon.”

This was what mattered the most to Zac right now. The town needed to be standing at least until he could buy a teleporter or a cosmic ship so he could finally start his search for his family. And if possible he would want to defend Port Atwood from the incoming animals, in order to turn his island both into a sanctuary and bastion.