Accidental Healer-Chapter 52 - Class Evolution

You have killed Level 29 Bandit Leader.

level up. level up.

Congratulations you have reached Level 25 in Healer and can choose a class evolution.

Congratulations! You have completed all objectives in the dungeon.

Calculating rewards…

Rewards calculated: 1,500 UBCs, Area Map Unlocked, Resource Upgrade Token.

I look down at the cooling corpse of the Bandit Leader. It had been the toughest fight yet.

Without my Barrier, I wouldn’t have walked away from it. That single spell—the one I had leaned on so much—was the only reason I was still standing. The bandit leader was faster and more skilled than I was.

Even with the skillbook, I was undoubtedly outclassed. If the fight went sideways I know Mischief would have stepped in. Fortunately it hadn’t come to that. The gamble with my barrier worked but only because the bandit leader seemed to forget it existed.

And that thought unsettles me.

This dungeon had been a test, not just of my strength but of my limits.

And my limits?

They had been far too close.

How many more dungeons like this existed? How many stronger factions were out there, waiting, growing, evolving?

Speaking of growing and evolving. How were these bandits at such a high level? Did they arrive at that level or was there something I was still missing. Maybe Ellison would know?

If it hadn’t been me here—if it had been my faction, without Mischief and I to defend them—would they have survived?

No.

And that realization cut deeper than any wound. I need to grow stronger, there is no doubt about that. But it couldn’t just be me. Because if we aren’t ready when the next enemy comes–all of us–would people die?

We wouldn’t get another chance.

I exhale and turn to Mischief. “Thanks for letting me take that fight. You would have handled him better than I did.”

Mischief tilted his head. “Would I?”

I scoff. “If I didn’t have my Barrier, I would’ve been toast.”

He huffs in amusement. “Good thing you did then."

I stretch, rolling out my shoulders. “I wonder if I at least got the title?”

Mischief flicks his tail. “Find out for yourself.” Right. I had been too caught up in my own thoughts to check my status."

I open my interface and scan for new additions—And there it is.

Evolution Underdog: Defeat an evolved foe before evolving yourself.

+5 to all stats.

I grin. A free stat boost for winning a fight I had no business surviving? I’ll take it.

But the real reward was waiting.

Congratulations! You have reached Level 25 and achieved your first class evolution.

Your evolution options are based on your achievements, stats, and titles.

I pull up my choices.

There is a list of three. They are all centered around healing, which makes sense considering my fighter class was leveling the same rate as my healer class which meant it was only level thirteen. Sweet, I would get a second evolution later.

For now I scan through my choices.

First on the list. I make sure to repent of my evil ways and read through each class thoroughly.

White Mage of holy light. The stat gains to this class are nice and they are stacked very heavily in favor of wisdom. It's a class primarily built around cleansing and an attack skill using something called holy magic.

It's an interesting start but it doesn't suit my style. Since I have a fighter class I figure that will give me the offensive juice I need, but an attack scaling with intelligence does sound appealing. I move on.

Shaman Guardian. I read the entire class and just can't wrap my head around it. There is talk of spirit magic and chants and the whole thing just gives me the creeps. That leaves just the third option.

Warden of Judgement

A defensive healer who creates a sanctuary for allies, healing and reducing damage within a safe zone.

Note: as an arbiter of judgment in your new world, your actions become justified by their very nature. Do not take this mantle lightly.

Defender’s Aura: Creates a field of energy that enhances the shield integrity for everyone within its radius judged as allies. Note even spells not cast by the user. Area size is adjustable; the larger the area, the higher the mana cost. Scales with Wisdom and Intelligence.

Dome of Protection: Projects a barrier shielding against all ranged attacks. This shield will only repel ranged attacks outside its casted radius, any attack from within the shields radius will not be repelled. Strength and size scale with Intelligence.

Constitution: +2

Strength: +3

Agility: +2

Wisdom: +8

Intelligence: +8

Sense: +2

All previous skills have evolved out of the weak designation.

Just reading the class feels like coming home. Like always once I make my decision the class locks into place without verifying if I am sure. That’s fine, I was certain of my decision, the raw stat boosts alone made this class the clear winner.

The only area of reservation was the strange warning in the class description. I frown at the strange wording as I read it again.

As an arbiter of judgment in your new world, your actions become justified by their very nature…

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Does it mean that whatever I decide is right… actually became right? That makes no sense. Growing up Christian the lines on right and wrong always seemed so clear.

This new world was already starting to redraw lines of what I understood to be right or wrong. I mean what Mischief did in this dungeon alone felt like a straight up war crime.

I didn’t stop him though. His strategy was sound and they were murderous bandits according to the system.

There is something though that makes me wonder. If the objectives weren’t satisfied in this dungeon would we have sat in limbo? Was the system basically saying kill or be killed otherwise you’re stuck here forever?

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The raid objectives weren’t quite as rigid as defenders, we could leave the territory and essentially forfeit. It didn’t seem that the attacking raiders had the same benefit. There would be no retreat once you committed to the raid, the system again demanded kill or die.

Why was it like that? If the raiders are obviously surrendering what would happen? So far that hasn't happened. A hidden objective maybe? Time would tell.

With my evolution locked in, I turn back to Mischief.

“Mind looting the rest while I finish checking my status?”

He lets out a dramatic sigh but doesn’t argue, grabbing the nearest corpse and flipping it over to inspect.

“Oh, here—” I flick open my inventory, pulling out 1,746 UBCs. “Half the haul so far.”

He snags the coins mid-air, stuffing them into his own storage with a flick of his tail.

I do one last scan of our total rewards:

1,500 UBCs

Area Map Unlock

Resource Upgrade Token

Decent.

Not as flashy as I had hoped after a dungeon like this, but considering the loot we pick up along the way, plus the levels and class evolutions?

Yeah. Worth it. We have more than enough weapons and armor to upgrade every single fighter in the faction with common grade.

I crack my neck and get to my feet. “Alright, let’s wrap this up and head back.”

Mischief flicks an ear in acknowledgment, I help to finish his looting. Mischief left me the bandit leader. I pick up his sword and give it a once over. At first glance it looks like all the others. I open my status screen and give it a closer look.

Common grade longsword (upgradeable up to rare grade)

The distinction of upgradeable is something that I haven’t seen yet. The sword itself looks no different from any of the other weapons. I’m no genius but I suspect this means someone with the right skills like Damon can improve the quality.

I reach down and touch the body of the dark elf looting the rest of his corpse. More leather armor that stacks with the others I’ve collected along with coins and a silver ring.

Common grade silver ring: Enchanted to increase the wearers agility. Agility +2

The stat increase is a drop in the bucket to my already 150 plus effective agility. I still slip it on.

When all was said and done, we stepped through the portal.

And just like that—

We leave the dungeon behind.

-

The morning air is crisp as we step out of the dungeon, the meadow stretching wide before us, just as we had left it. The same bright purple flowers blanket the earth, their colors made even more vivid by the rising sun cresting over the mountains.

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It would have been easy to get lost in the beauty of it.

If not for the shout that shatters the quiet.

“HEY! You’re back!”

I turn to see Nick, the archer from Jared’s group, jogging toward us.

“Yeah, uh… hi, Nick.”

His eyes flick to Mischief, widening in astonishment. “Whoa. Is that Mischief? He looks insane—what the hell happened in there?”

“It was… more than I expected,” I admit. “But worth it. What are you doing out here? How did you know we’d be getting out today?”

Nick shakes his head. “We didn’t. Jared has us taking turns watching the dungeon. It’s been a busy five days, and he wanted to talk to you the moment you got out.”

Four days. By far the longest I have spent in any dungeon.

“Alright,” I say, stretching. “Where is he?”

“He’s in this territory, getting things ready for the upcoming raids. I can take you to him.”

I glance at Mischief. “What are you going to do?”

“I want to hear what’s been happening also. I’ll follow you.”

So, we take off at a light jog, weaving through the forest, the ground sloping gently upward. It isn’t long before we reach a clearing, where I spot Jared, Ellison, and several craftsmen deep in discussion.

Jared looks up as we approach, his face breaking into a grin.

“Layton! Welcome back!”

I wave. “Good to be back. Nick told me there’s been a lot going on while I was away.”

Ellison nods, his gaze flicking to Mischief, his expression tightening. “I see we have missed a few things as well.”

I chuckle. “Yeah. A few things.”

Jared pulls his customary table and chairs from storage, setting them down in the level clearing beneath the trees.

I look around, amused. “Nice little meeting spot.”

“It’ll do in a pinch,” Jared says, motioning for me to take the seat beside him.

To my surprise, Mischief takes a seat next to me, sitting on his haunches, his massive form easily reaching the table.

Ellison stiffens. Mischief paints an intimidating picture. I can’t help but wonder if people will ever adjust to my friend.

Pretending not to see the obvious reaction I sit down. The rest of the group follows.

Jared leans forward. “Alright. Now that we’re all situated, why don’t you start, Layton?”

I nod. “Sure. First off—both Mischief and I hit Level 25 and evolved our classes. Obviously, Mischief’s change is a little more… pronounced.”

“We can’t really be sure but we think the changes are so prominent because it’s a progenitor class.”

At that, Ellison’s mouth falls open.

I frown, noticing the reaction. “Ellison? You good?”

He blinks. “I—sorry, I must’ve misheard. I thought you said… Progenitor class?”

“Nope, you heard me right.” I tilt my head. “Mischief’s class evolution is Erebos Shadowborn Progenitor. Why? What’s the big deal?”

Ellison looks at me like I’d just announced I was the literal king of the universe.

“Why am I acting weird?!” he repeats, shaking his head. “Do you even understand what Progenitor means?”

I shrug. “Vaguely. It means, like… the first of its kind?”

Ellison pinches the bridge of his nose. “Yes. But do you know what that entails?”

I give him a flat look. “If I did, I wouldn’t be asking what the big deal is.”

He exhales sharply. “Mischief’s class is an original.” Then looks to Mischief in awe.

“It means others will follow in his path. He is the father of his class. Do you realize how rare that is?”

I look at my friend fondly, not even the least bit surprised.

“Huh. Sounds like you got a good one, Mischief,” I smile, and give him a thumbs up. “I’m a little jealous.”

Ellison looks personally offended. “A good one?!”

“Layton, the only Progenitor class I have ever heard of in my lifetime belongs to the Supreme Ruler of Ulm. The leader of our entire world. And now you’re telling me—casually—that your companion just became one?!”

I stare at him. “So… what you’re saying is… Mischief is basically royalty now?”

Ellison makes a strangled noise.

I chuckle. “Alright, alright, I get it. But let’s be honest—do any of us actually know what this means?”

“Well…I don’t know exactly what it means.” He confesses.

“There you go.” I clap a hand on Mischief’s shoulder. “Guess we’ll find out together.”

Ellison looks horrified. “Layton, this will change your faction. The stories say that the Supreme Ruler grew to power by gifting her class to those she deemed worthy. If the same is true for Mischief…”

“Then we’ll deal with it.” I wave a hand dismissively. “I trust my friend. If it becomes a problem, we’ll handle it.”

To me it’s hard to see why this would be an issue. If anything I was excited to see what it would do to strengthen our little faction. If this world had taught me anything so far is that factions that are weak in this world don’t last.

Ellison rubs his temples. “You are unbelievable.”

I grin. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

Jared clears his throat. “Layton, you also mentioned that the raids scale based on the dungeon strength. Any guesses on what we’re dealing with?”

I frown. This is the part they were not going to like. “If that’s true, then we might be in some trouble.”

Resting my hands on the wooden table I lay out what we faced in the dungeon. “The weakest enemy I fought in that dungeon was Level 22.”

“And two of them had already evolved past Level 25.”

Jared lets out a slow whistle. “How many enemies in total?”

I think back to the looted weapons, doing some quick math.

“Close to 150.”

Jared and Ellison exchange looks shifting in their seats.

Jared runs a hand over his face. “This is going to be worse than we thought.”

I straighten. “Okay, what am I missing? Worse how?”

“This is something Ellison and I discussed earlier, and he mentioned it to you before you entered the dungeon. It’s about how raids work.” He looks to Ellison.

Ellison nods. “When a world is first inducted, factions emerge. You already know the basic process—clear dungeons, survive three raids, gain territory.”

“But what you don’t know is where those raids come from. I’m sure you have begun placing pieces already.”

He leans forward. “Take my people, for example.”

“When Jared’s group reached the raid phase, my settlement in Ulm was given an option. The system offered us the chance to purchase a raid against them.”

He’s right that I had pieced it together some, what I hadn’t known was that it was a choice.

“Wait, wait, wait—you’re saying factions get the choice to invade?”

Ellison nods again. “Yes. And as your world progresses, you will start receiving similar options.”

I frown. “So… some other faction is going to buy the right to raid us?”

“Most likely.”

The way the raiders had looked so far I figured they were being punished or something, forced into a hopeless raid as a last resort. Why was it that the only factions buying up the raids were essentially the dregs of the worlds they are from?

“But wait—if that’s the case, what’s stopping a Level 100 faction from buying a raid and steamrolling us?”

Ellison shakes his head. “The system won’t allow that level of disparity. A Level 100 faction couldn’t buy a raid against a newly inducted world. But—” his expression darkens, “—that doesn’t mean we won’t face serious threats. Especially if the dungeon you just cleared is setting the benchmark.”

I tap my fingers against the table, deep in thought.

“So…Now that I cleared a level 24 dungeon, higher level factions can now purchase raids against us?” I murmur.

“So basically, If we don’t want to get slaughtered… we need to gain levels, and we need to gain them quickly.”

Jared nods grimly. “We have work to do.”