Apocalypse Redux

Chapter 276: Evolution, the Fifth

The fifth Evolution, the final step on the path to power. From now on, every Level would grant 30 Stat points, and the [Skills] gained would build upon your past choices wherever possible, gaining new effects based on your build up to this point.

And what a build that had been.

[Rogue], his starter [Class] during this second go at things. A means to an end, granting him access to all manner of [Strike-type Skills], with stealth and disguise [Skills] that formed the basis of his less-than-public efforts.

[Undying Wraith], the power to recover from anything, given enough time, the ability to melt into the shadows to buy said time, one hell of a power-up in the form of [Form of Horror], and, of course, it had granted him his blade.

[Bladewraith], granting devastating attacks, incredible burst-damage with [I Am The Sword], and the ability to turn all fights into a one-on-one match and force engagements in general via [Grave of Swords].

[Hildebrand’s Heir] had brought him legendary weapons, and allowed him to grant his allies incredible power. All his allies.

[Incarnation of the Promethean Spirit], for the advancement of science, advanced cognition, and, of course, it let Isaac play with fire.

Now, how would he finish off this [Class] line? Isaac could feel his palms grow sweaty, even though he should be beyond that by now.

Ok, moment of truth. Isaac threw the needed XP into the process of leveling up and it crossed the threshold for Level 150.

Congratulations! You’ve managed to reach the fifth and final Evolutionary Threshold!

You may now choose the Class you will have for the rest of your existence, so deliberate about this carefully, as the consequences of this decision will last for a long time.

Fifth Evolution Classes grant Skills that have capabilities well beyond any you’ve had before.

Skills that can shatter mountains, if you’re offensively focussed.

Skills able to protect you from nuclear strikes.

And Skills that can affect change on a global scale (within reason).

In other words, the sheer power wielded by a fifth Evolution Class holder cannot possibly be overstated, and you must carefully choose which form that power takes. Will you become a terrible tyrant, a warrior who slaughters millions in the name of protecting those he cares about, a teacher, who shapes the world through his students, a scientist who unravels the mysteries of the universe, or something else entirely?

You may, of course, delay your Evolution in order to gain more Skills, Skill Levels, Aspects and accolades, but you will not be able to advance past Level 150 without evolving.

Here are the best of your possible Class Evolutions:

Judgement of the Inferno (legendary)

Stone the heretic! Lynch the (presumed) criminal! Burn the witch!

… why are people such assholes? Why do people burn women who displayed random traits that some asshole decided meant they were in league with the devil? Or even ones who’d just been accused at random by local leadership of clergy (why would those even want to get rid of specific women, hm?)?

Seriously, burning so-called “witches” alive isn’t even half of the nasty punishments that the fire has been used for in the past.

That’s why it’s a good thing that this Class isn’t at all about how fire was misused in the past, though it does grant you the power to burn evildoers.

The Judgement of the Inferno is the cleansing fire that burns away those who would harm the world as a whole just to eke out a tiny profit to themselves, and others who make the world a worse place merely by existing.

Cleanse this world in sea of flame as this Class lays bare the sins of the world and allows to you to wield your fire with impunity at absolutely no risk of harming innocents.

Einherjar Champion (legendary)

You are an Einherjar, inhabitant of Valhalla and one of the people who will fight against foes able to threaten gods.

And not only that, as the first Einherjar of this age, you stand head and shoulders above your future peers, one of the strongest non-gods on this Earth.

As an Einherjar Champion, you become the greatest of Warriors.

Wait, that isn’t enough?

The greatest of Warriors. Chop mountains in half, make your enemies piss themselves by glaring at them, and smash apart spells even though you shouldn’t even be able to touch them.

Ok, what the hell was the [System] smoking? No, seriously, what was up with it?

When Isaac had gone through the fifth Evolution in the other timeline, it had been slightly different than the Evolutions that had preceded it in the sense that the initial “Congratulations!” message was longer and far more detailed and that the [Class] descriptions addressed him, the user, directly.

But this was … a lot more than that. Skim-reading the rest of the descriptions let him spot several more examples of the [System] being a lot more flippant than he was used to.

However, at the end of the day, the levity of the description wasn’t what defined a [Class], but rather, the content.

And some of those [Classes] were truly incredible.

Assassin of the Logos Blade (legendary)

Logos. Ancient Greek for … a whole lot of stuff, actually. It can be translated as reason, explanation, rhetoric, discourse, and about a million other things.

However, despite being a part of an ancient and very much dead language, we use words derived from it a whole lot.

Logic, for one. But it is also a part of many a science, such as biology. Bios(life)-logos. The logic/study of life. Psychology. Psyche(principle of life)-logos. And countless more.

The Logos Blade is an implement that turns your knowledge of a target into a weapon. Well, a metaphysical weapon, at any rate, one which only exists within the mind and soul of its wielder. The actual killing can be done with any object its wielder decides to pick up, which is empowered to the point where, with enough information, a world-serpent can be killed with a paper clip (although that manner of feat would require intimate knowledge of your foe, all the way down to its genetic code, mating habits, scale patterning, digestion method and more).

This Class will grant you countless Skills for information gathering, preventing others from doing the same to you in turn, as well as several of the greatest stealth and assassination Skills in existence. And, of course, the ability to make anything you hold The Logos Blade.

Challenger of the Apocalypse (legendary)

The Apocalypse. The End of Days. Judgement Day.

Many words, many phrases, all describing one singular phenomenon. Complete and utter devastation. The end of everything.

But no matter the particulars of the situation described, there are very few people who’d be happy to have it occur.

However, no matter how many people might hate and/or fear the Apocalypse, there are few who truly fight to stop it.

After all, it seems futile, doesn’t it?

But no matter how hopeless the situation might have seemed, no matter how slim your chances were, you fought. You’ve kept fighting from the very instant you knew what was coming. And you’ll never stop. Even if a chaos god were to descend upon the planet to swallow it whole, you would still spit in its eye, wouldn’t you? As long as there is a single thing you are able to do, no matter how futile it might be, you will do it.

You are someone who would challenge the very will of the universe, that be what it takes to end the Apocalypse.

This Class will give you the power to fight against the end of the world by giving you an advanced warning when shit is about to hit the fan, as well as one hell of a powerup that is only available when the world is truly in danger.

Should you then survive beyond what should have been the end, you’ll gain all the tools required to rebuild.

There are only a handful of abilities this Class grants that do not require the world ending to be activated. But even those are incredibly powerful, though not world-shaking. Simply put, you are able to borrow the powers of certain beasts of apocalyptic strength, to unleash the full power of the end upon your enemies.

Teacher of the World (legendary)

Your job is the foundation of society, at the end of the day, it is you who makes the world go round. Without you, modern civilization would probably not exist, even if people don’t often think about it.

That’s right, you’re a plumber!

Eh, not really, but seriously, people don’t consider how helpful plumbers are nearly often enough, do they?

No, you’re a teacher. You teach children vital skills for the rest of their lives, and when they’re adults, remind them that you taught them better than how they’re behaving right at that moment.

As the Teacher of the World, you’re able to teach anyone anything you know, including lesser versions of almost all your Skills (central Skills and Auras are excluded, as are certain others, click here to see the full list).

And when you die, you may transform into a library, schoolhouse or other place of learning and continue living as a Genius Loci, helping people better themselves until the end of time.

Ever-burning Flame of Scientific Ambition (legendary)

I. Want. To. Know. Everything.

This is drives those who choose this Class.

Should you choose to count yourself amongst this number, you will gain vastly increased intelligence, able to strategize rings around even the most capable leaders, comprehension of all natural sciences and more!

You might not be able to wave your hand and reshape the world, but you know what you will be able to do? Permanently alter the reality people live in as you make a world-changing invention each and every single day.

Fearless Challenger of Leviathans (legendary)

You might not have ever fought a Raid Boss at a small enough Level difference to formally qualify for the Reaper Class that is the standard legendary Class for those who punch above their weight class, but you’ve spent your entire life under the System beating enemies you had no business fighting.

As such, you’ve earned this alternative Class, one which is far harder to gain as you need to consistently beat the odds, rather than merely having to beat a single powerful enemy.

As the Fearless Challenger of Leviathans you’re able to partially ignore damage taken from extremely powerful enemies, gain additional insight into how to kill them and overall become a far greater threat than your Level would indicate … as long as you’re fighting people stronger than you.

Germanic Legend (legendary)

This world of ours is filled with legends, from ones known all around the world to local tales that are at risk of being forgotten with every new generation.

However, not all legends belong to ages past, sometimes, new ones are born. Not people with the potential to reach great heights drawing their first breath, but those people achieving deeds that will be written down in history books and talked about for centuries or millennia to come.

You’ve become a legend in a twofold manner.

You’ve drawn upon the strength of the past, becoming the inheritor of the powers that belong to several ancient legends, and spread out that power to others.

And you’ve become a legend in your own right by changing the course of history not once, but multiple times.

While you might have travelled the world to do your deeds, your legend is concentrated in your homeland, making you a true Germanic Legend.

While on the soil of a nation with a majority ethnic German population, you will gain a significant boost to your power, access to new abilities, and the capability to draw upon other legends of the land.

In addition, while fighting in those areas, your surroundings will be incredibly hard to damage by your enemies and you will not cause accidental collateral damage. This protection applies to both the lands and the people.

You have a total of 4,269 Class choices available, would you like to see the rest?

(Note that merely unlocking a Class does not mean that is suitable for you, just that you can choose it. Becoming a Baker just because you once managed to make a cake that didn’t inflict food poisoning upon those who ate it is not necessarily the best of ideas)

Well, those were a lot of choices, weren’t they? That would take a while to figure out, and he’d make sure to look at even the ridiculously long list of possible Evolutions that the [System] did not regard as worth listing outright.

It took him several hours, but in the end, he agreed with the [System’s] judgment, the eight [Classes] listed immediately were the best possible choice.

But which one to choose?