Spell Weaver-Chapter 88: Advancement

Late January sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows that led to the courtyard at the center of the U-shaped building. The modern living room was open with high ceilings, and the couch, living room table, and TV, all in the corner of the room, were depressed two steps into the ground.

Slowly, things were changing around the comfy living space, and Alex was beginning to feel like it was his home, rather than he was squatting in a house that was far too nice for him. On the floor in front of the flat screen sat two gaming consoles that Mark had brought over. The couch had several new plush throw pillows and large blankets that Sarah had gifted to him, saying she wanted something comfortable there when they all watched movies. Edwin, at Mark’s suggestion, had secured several minimalist back frames for pictures that he planned to fill with group pictures and selfies.

Alex sank deeper into the corner of the couch, enjoying the feeling of the soft pillow and the smell of the coffee next to him. He watched Mark with a smile as he sprawled across the sectional.

Past his friend, he could see clearly through the glass windows and through the courtyard. Gabby moved in the kitchen in a rhythmic manner that made it clear to him she was listening to music, despite not being able to hear the noise.

“Still can’t decide what to do with it?” Alex asked, watching Mark flip a skill token between his fingers.

Mark caught the token in the air. “Three levels in three days, and this beauty on top of it.” He held the crystal-like chip up to the light that streamed through the windows. “Can’t say I’m disappointed we closed that Rift.”

“It’s definitely a shift from how they were doing things just a few weeks ago,” Alex said, though he couldn’t keep the satisfaction from his own voice. “You’re right, though. Getting extra experience from completing the Rift Quest, not to mention two System Rewards from finishing both quests, feels really good.” He gestured at the token and thought of the Mana Stones sitting in his spatial pouch.

“Could have kept it open longer,” Mark pouted as he sat up.

“That sort of defeats the purpose of the Teams Event. I think we’re going to need to close more Rifts rather than keep them open. If more are constantly spawning, and soon they’ll be spawning at D Rank, it seems like the System is trying to hint at something by giving us additional experience when the Rift Quest is completed.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mark said as he stepped the token on the table and stared at it.

The sound of sock-clad feet shuffling across the solid floor drew their attention to the entrance. Sam stood there, wrapped in a blanket that was supposed to be kept on the couch. Despite the obvious exhaustion on his features, there was an unmistakable energy about him that made both men sit up straighter.

“You’re up early,” Mark said while checking his phone. “Thought you’d sleep till lunch at least, with that kind of late night at the hospital.”

“Yeah, don’t push yourself too hard. We just finished up the Rift the day before, and then you spent like 12 hours at the hospital yesterday. Wasn’t it you who told me last week that resting is important too?”

Sam’s tired expression broke into an excited grin. “Couldn’t sleep anymore. Guys, you’re not going to believe what happened last night.”

“The hospital people decided to start paying you a ton of money for all your help and magical life saving?” Mark said, scooping his skill token off the table.

“Huh? Wha-” Sam said, confused. “No, they already pay me.”

“They do? How do they pay you?”

“Edwin helped me set up a bank account, and my parents co-signed on an account while we were in the Safe Zone.”

“Aww, he’s all grown up!”

Sam glowered at the large Polish man and waved his hand. “Look, that’s not important! Ugh, I got offered my class advancement!”

There was a moment of stunned silence before Mark and Alex both jumped up from the couch and rushed over to Sam to congratulate him.

“Dude! That’s amazing!” Mark wrapped an arm around Sam and hugged him close while jumping up and down. With Mark’s height, Sam’s head only came up to the lower part of his chest, making the staggered jumping look comical to Alex. “What does the System notification say? Did you already pick the advancement? Did you get something Epic?”

Alex grinned at Sam’s breathless laughter as Mark let him go and stepped back. “Come on, sit down before Mark keeps asking questions. And yeah, tell us everything.”

Sam practically bounced to the couch, exhaustion momentarily forgotten. “I didn’t pick anything yet. I wanted to read it and do it with you guys, kind of like the Rank advancement.”

Alex and Mark both nodded.

“Well, here- it might just be easier to show you.” There was a brief pause as Sam willed the System window to become visible to them.

Congratulations, Awakened! Verdant Healer (Novice) is ready for advancement!

You have reached the threshold of your primary class. Would you like to advance or evolve this class?

Advance: This class stays the same and advances to the next proficiency tier, improving the benefits from the class and granting a new skill in the same tree.

Class Preview:

Verdant Healer (Journeyman) - Level 1

Evolve: This class changes based on the different ways you may have used it or pushed the bounds of its purpose.

Class Preview [Epic Rarity]:

Druid (Novice) - Level 1

Advance / Evolve?

“Woah…” Mark breathed.

“I didn’t realize that it showed you the ‘Class Preview,’” Alex said. “That’s amazing. Verdant Healer was your Uncommon pick, right? Now you got offered an Epic Rarity class for the evolution? ”

Sam nodded excitedly. “I know! Edwin said last week that normally, evolutions only offer to jump one rarity. I knew I had unlocked Epic classes since I went up to D-Rank, but I was worried, since my current class is Uncommon, that I’d only get offered to evolve to Rare. ”

“Well, it’s a no-brainer, right?” Mark said excitedly. “Just the stat gain alone from that will make it worth it to start back at the bottom of Novice, right?”

Alex and Sam both agreed, thinking the same thing.

“Where is Edwin?” Alex asked. “It couldn’t hurt to have him here and just go through everything one more time before you make your choice, Sam.”

“That was part of the reason I wanted to wait. He was still sleeping when I got home this morning.”

Alex hopped up and went to go find Edwin, only to have him turn the corner at that exact moment.

“Master Moore, how can I help?”

The sudden appearance startled him a bit, but he recovered quickly. “Great timing, Edwin! Sam got offered his class advancement.”

Edwin’s eyes lit up with interest as he walked closer to the couch with his arms behind his back. “Congratulations, Samuel. Do you feel prepared?”

Sam nodded but also shrugged his shoulders at the same time. “Yes, but I just want to make sure. You’re better at this than me.”

The butler’s eyebrows rose slightly as Sam showed him the System window. “An Epic evolution? Very impressive.”

“That’s not normal, right?” Mark asked, leaning forward. “Sam was saying that normally the classes just jump one rarity. Why wasn’t he offered a Rare class?”

“Typically, he would be offered a Rare class.” Edwin nodded. “However, the System takes into account one’s experiences and achievements.”

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“That does make sense,” Alex said. “Sam, you have a title for literally being the first person from our planet to enter an Epic Rift. Also, you’re the highest level of anyone I’ve seen since we’ve been home. If it’s tracking things like progression and what you’ve done to earn your levels, you certainly would be up there.”

Sam fidgeted with the blanket, and a bit of color rose to his face as he smiled. “I just wish I could see more information about the Druid class. I looked up the name online last night when I couldn’t sleep. There were a lot of different things that normal fantasy and stuff shows. I want to stay a healer, but the nature magic aspect sounds amazing…”

He never talks this much. He must really be nervous to ramble like this.

“The System operates largely on intent,” Alex said thoughtfully. “I doubt it would offer you something completely opposite to your goals. There are some druids in games that are tanks, but you haven’t done anything like that since I’ve known you. And if your goal and intent is to keep growing as a healer, then I don’t think it would give you a class that pushes you away from that.”

“What about my current skills, though?” Sam asked. “Will I lose [Rejuvenation] and [Roots of Restoration]? They both work really well with my trait.”

Edwin shook his head and spoke up. “Skills, once learned, belong to you, not your class. The class merely granted them to you at level ten. You’ll keep both skills, and the Druid class will likely grant you two new ones suited to its nature.”

Sam’s head came up, and Alex could see some of the tension leave his body.

“Speaking of classes,” Mark interjected, “what’s the deal with his stat points? Sam would be jumping from Uncommon to Epic. That’s huge, right?”

“Indeed,” Edwin said as he straightened. It was clear to the trio that the man enjoyed lecturing and teaching. "Common classes grant two stat points per level. Uncommon four, Rare eight, Epic twelve, and Legendary sixteen. Samuel would triple his stat gain per level by choosing to evolve.”

“Then why would anyone ever advance instead of evolve?” Mark asked, confusion written across his features.

“Evolutions aren’t always offered,” Alex said, remembering something he’d read on the forums. “Or at least not evolutions to a higher rarity. It could be an evolution offered at the same rarity.”

“Precisely. If evolution to a higher rarity is offered, it’s often the optimal choice,” Edwin elaborated. “Advancement increases your gains by fifty percent per tier. With Samuel’s current Uncommon class, advancing to Journeyman would increase his gain from four to six stat points per level. Then it would go from six to eight points if he were to advance again to Adept down the road.” He unclasped his hands and held up a finger. “But, by evolving to Epic, he would be getting 12 points per level, instead.”

Sam’s eyes widened, and the blanket fell from his shoulders. It looked like he was about to fall off the couch with how far forward he was leaning. “Well, feels a bit obvious what I should pick then, huh?” Sam asked.

The other three men agreed. "And, like Alex said, the System knows what you want to be. A Druid fits perfectly with your healing abilities and your connection to nature. Just look at your garden out there, dude.”

Sam nodded, and the determination was clear in his eyes. “Alright, I’m going to do it.” There was a pause as Alex and Mark sat on the couch, looking at the younger man, and Edwin watched on with a passive interest.

Before anything happened with Sam, however, a massive surge of mana rolled through the room. Alex was on his feet in a moment, scanning the area and worried that they were under some sort of attack.

Sam yelped in surprise, his own mana sensitivity allowing him to feel the change in density as the wave passed by them. “What was that?”

Alex looked up at the ceiling. “Val?” he said softly. He reached out through his bond and could feel something changing. “I think he’s finishing the advancement!” He looked at Sam. “Can you hold off on accepting the evolution for a minute? I want to make sure he’s alright.”

“Yeah, the option isn’t going anywhere… right?” He posed the last part as a question to Edwin.

When the butler shook his head, the group all moved quick up the stairs and to the cat tree in Alex’s office. Alex was the first to rush into the room and was greeted by another wave of mana as it pushed out through the room and caused his left eye to swim with shades of blue and white.

He looked up at the top level of the cat tree and saw Valtherion’s coiled-up form glowing a brilliant gold as the motes of light condensed near his body. The others joined him in the room and watched on in fascination as the small wyrm’s body floated into the air and began to change with each pulse of the golden-white light.

The piranha-like features of his face elongated into an elegant snout, and his brow became more pronounced. The fins pulled into the body and bunched to an area a few inches below his head. In a particularly large flash, causing Alex to shield his eyes, wings began to unfurl from the same area the fins were pulled from.

A final pulse of mana and light pushed out from the companion, and everything returned to normal. Valtherion floated above them in his new form, and Alex did his best to blink rapidly and take in the sight.

“Hoooly,” Mark said, looking up with his jaw hanging open.

Val’s serpentine body retained its beautiful blue coloring, but now it shimmered with an opalescence that reminded him of the white streaks through the blue mana pearl he’d consumed. Dark blue, bat-like wings sprouted from new shoulder joints, disrupting the previously slender form. Small blue and white feathers sprouted around the joints, creating a contrast with the darker color of the wings.

“Val?” Alex said, waiting for some sort of reaction.

The newly evolved creature turned to face them, and Alex’s breath caught. Gone were the somewhat comical fish-face and pug-like eyes. Val now had an almost regal appearance, with a head shaped like a lizard and golden eyes that looked like a lesser version of his own left eye. Even from the distance they were at, Alex could tell that they weren’t the same complex pattern of the Heavenly Eye, but the light golden color was far different from the black they had once been.

“Look! Wings!” Val’s mental voice was stronger and clearer than Alex had ever heard it.

He did a quick loop around the room, his new wings flapping slowly as his form moved gracefully in a circle. With his wings stretched, Alex could tell that his companion had grown in size as well as form.

He’s got to be at least five feet long now, and wingtip-to-tip is close to the same.

“Am stronger! Much better! Can have Oreos now?”

Mark burst out into laughter. “Well, some things never change.”

Alex looked over his shoulder and saw Edwin looking uncomfortable as the large wyrm flew around the room and stretched its new wings.

I guess he’s not a wyrm anymore?

“He’s beautiful,” Sam said.

Val preened at the compliment, then swooped down to land on Alex’s shoulder. The attempt was clumsy, and his left wing flapped wildly, smacking Alex in the head several times before he could settle. The position was more awkward than before, with Val settling to stretch out the left wing to hang down in front of Alex.

“Alex? Oreos?”

Alex smiled and reached into his spatial pouch. He held out a small chocolate cookie and looked closely at his companion as he gently stroked his new snout. “Yeah, buddy. You can have one. You definitely earned it.”

“Okay, so…” Mark said, reaching out to stroke the creature along its spine while it eagerly ate cookies. “He’s totally a dragon, right? Like- you can’t even pretend he’s not at this point.”

Alex sighed. “Yeah, there’s no denying it now. That looks like where he’s going.”

He looked at his companion and shook his head. He pulled up the bonds Status Window, interested to see how things had changed.

Status

Name: Valtherion - Level 30

Race: Arcane Amphiptere (Tier 2)

HP: 390/390

MP: 1180/590

Traits: (1/6)

{Mana Glutton}

Physical Stats:

Strength: 5

Agility: 12

Constitution: 39

Vitality: 41

Magical Stats:

Intellect: 47

Willpower: 44 + 177

Mana: 59

Wisdom: 50

Bond Skills:

[Mana Infusion] (Novice - Level 16)

Primary Stat Shared - Willpower

Active Skills:

[Mana Siphon] (Novice - Level 17)

[Create Lesser Illusion] (Novice - Level 12)

[Mana Burst] (Novice - Level 10)

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[Mana Bolt] (Novice - Level 1)

Passive Skills:

[Magical Resistance] (Tier 2)

"What's an amphiptere?" Alex asked as he read Val's status window. "I've never heard that term before."

"Did you say amphitheater?" Mark questioned. "Like those outdoor concert places?"

Edwin cleared his throat. "An amphiptere, if I recall correctly, appears in European heraldry as a serpentine dragon with wings but no legs. The general description matches Valtherion's new form quite precisely." He studied Val with renewed interest. "They were often depicted as guardians of sacred places."

Val preened at Edwin's words and somehow managed to look even more smug as he balanced on Alex's shoulder and looked down at the humans.

"He looks awesome," Sam said, still staring in wonder at Val's shimmering scales.

Alex turned to Sam, only able to turn his whole upper body, careful not to disturb Val's perch. "Sorry that I interrupted your moment, bud. Ready to do your evolution now?"

Sam hesitated. "Actually... I was thinking maybe I could wait until tomorrow. See if my parents could come over for it?"

"Dude, that's perfect!" Mark's face lit up. "We can make it a whole thing. Like, celebrate both your class evolution and Val looking cool instead of goofy!"

Val's head snapped around, and it was actually possible to see his brow crease in his new form.

“Not goofy before!”

Mark was already heading for the door. "I'm gonna talk to Gabby about food. This calls for a proper celebration!"

Alex watched Mark bound down the stairs before turning back to Sam. "You sure you're okay waiting? I’m sure it can't be easy to hold off on something this big, and you worked hard for it."

Sam nodded and gave a small smile. "Yeah, I'm sure. My parents... they worry, you know? I think it'd mean a lot to them to be here and be a part of this."

Alex felt a surge of pride at Sam's maturity. If their positions were reversed, he wasn't sure he'd have the patience to wait. His thoughts were interrupted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out, he checked the notifications that were lighting up the screen.

Mom: Your father said he saw you on the television. Please call us, we would like to have a family dinner.

The warm atmosphere in the room suddenly cooled as Alex hesitated. His finger hovered over the screen. Finally, the urge to dismiss the message and pocket his phone won out. The TV appearance his parents had seen was probably from the recent Rift closures. Since the Guild had worked with local media stations, he should have anticipated something like this.

Of course, they’d want to chat if they’re seeing me and my friends from college suddenly praised as heroes.

He felt his brows come together as the sour thoughts surfaced in his mind. Luckily, they were brought to a dead halt as a small head bumped into his own.

“Want mana,” Val said aloud, breaking the moment.

Alex laughed, reaching for his spatial storage. "You're going to get fat."

“Am perfect size,” Val insisted as he opened his mouth for the Mana Stone that Alex held up. “Perfect everything now.”

"And so humble, too," Alex muttered, but he was smiling as they all headed downstairs to help Mark plan a small celebration for the next day.