Time to permanent another spell. The rare moment felt momentous. This would be my third permanent spell and I understood more about how vitally important choosing the right one ended up being.

My first two choices were creating a solid build. Harvest gave me the chance to keep gaining an ever-changing arsenal of new temporary spells. I'd run into some dangers with that, but the recent 2 days of constant fighting had helped hone my instincts to not overlook my new spells, so it was working better than ever.

Tether Slide was nothing but awesome. I'd feared I was making a mistake not making one of my short-range teleport scrolls permanent. Tomas proved how effective even a short teleport could be, and part of me still wanted to get one. I hadn't used my scrolls at all, though. They didn't fit me nearly as well as Tether Slide.

Now what to choose for my third permanent? I had a nice array of temporary and class spells to choose from, plus my long list of scrolls. All of my class spells were proving incredible, but why make one permanent if they didn't run out like temporary spells?

I had some amazing temporary spells too, particularly Mana Beam and my new Soul Ravage spell. Both would likely prove vital in fighting Alpha or Noctarus. They were powerful, but I did have several uses remaining. More importantly, did they fit the core build I was working on? Did I want either of those spells locked in forever?

Honestly, not as much as I wanted Energy Ward. That defensive aura had saved my life many times and I sensed it would synergize extremely well with Tether Slide. It had already upgraded quite a bit and was my only good defensive spell.

I scanned down the list again anyway, focusing on Spell Weaver and trying to sense synergies between my current permanent spells and each of my other spells and scrolls. None felt as right as Energy Ward, and I'd learned to trust my instincts. Besides, I loved that spell and although I'd found ways to keep adding uses, it seemed stupid to risk losing it.

"Congratulations, Lucas! You have made Energy Ward permanent."

"Your class Backdoor Synergy Wizard has evolved to class Mystic Reaver."

"Wait. What? Class evolution? You never said anything about that?"

Cyrus didn't answer immediately and Eva kept reading the announcements scrolling past my vision.

"Mystic Reaver. Class. Rare. You have a knack for stepping outside of normal limits, synergizing spells and abilities, and delving into the advanced arts of mana manipulation and rune smithing. Not limited to basic or even attuned mana, you dare reach for the pinnacle of wielding pure energy."

"Level stats: Plus 1 to Wisdom, plus 1 to Intelligence, plus 4 free points. Plus 20% effect on both Wisdom and Intelligence on calculating Perception."

"Class spells Cascading Force and Spellforge lost."

"Ability Mimic upgraded to a permanent ability."

"Ability Spellweaver upgraded to Force Weaver. Level 5. In addition to unlocking synergies between spells and abilities, add 20% additional kinetic damage per level."

"New ability Squared Circuit, Level 3. Rare. Each time the same spell is cast in the same fight, potency doubles while mana cost and cooldown is halved."

I reeled as I took in the mountain of information. Classes changed when we permanented a new spell? I didn't think anyone expected that. Mystic Reaver sounded totally boss, but I'd lost both Cascading Force and Spellforge. And I'd just figured out how to unleash multi-stacking effects with those spells.

Cascading force had allowed me to add a random extra natural force to melee strikes. It had proven extremely effective. I'd only swapped in Spellforge shortly before starting the hunt, but that one allowed me to cast spells through my weapons, and it had proven devastating when using my blade Echo.

"Breathe," I told myself as I tried to calm down and understand everything the sudden change meant.

The huge jump in level stats was more than welcome. Mimic had somehow transformed into a permanent ability, which was cool, and Spellweaver got a sweet upgrade. The new Squared Circuit ability looked really useful too.

"How drastic can class changes be?" I asked, although I wanted to ask if everyone's class would change with every new permanent spell. Cyrus hated obvious questions, and I suspected the answer was yes.

"Your class upgrade was a step along the path you're already treading, but if someone chooses to permanent a spell that deviated wildly from their current build, it could turn out very badly."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Yikes. The incredible openness of the system was usually a perk, but some folks had already run into trouble making weird builds. Now it sounded possible to screw up a good build if we weren't careful.

What would have happened if I'd chosen one of the temporary spells I'd been considering? They were awesome spells, but did not synergize as well. If a shiny new spell had lured me into picking it, I might have broken my class and gotten something as useless as that tatermancer.

How could I warn the council about the risks in a way that didn't reveal how I knew it? Not easily. At least now everyone would see I had a class. I couldn't wait to finally discuss it with Ruby and the others. First, I had to equip 3 new class spells.

At least Elemental Harmony remained from my original class choices. The spell, which allowed me to combine up to 3 elemental-base potions with spells, had proven extremely useful. Other new class spell options scrolled past my view when I opened the menu.

"Class Spell: Divergent Strike. Level 3. Area of Effect.

A high-impact attack that detonates across an area 5 feet in diameter per level with major kinetic damage. All enemies caught inside the blast radius are wrapped in convergence mana, weakening their spellcasting and preventing absorption of basic or attuned mana for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Mana cost: High."

Whoa. That sounded like a pure force meteor blast, with nasty side-effects. Nice. Most of my spells had been aimed at fighting a single enemy. This new area of effect spell could hit many at once. Might even work as more of a finisher, or at least set me up to finish off the monsters it hit while their own powers were weakened.

"Class Spell: Potential Hammer/Hammer Strike. Level 1. Area of Effect.

Cast Potential Hammer at the beginning of a battle to cover an area 5 yards in diameter per level in an invisible field. All energy usage within the affected area for the next 5 minutes will add charges to a pool of pure kinetic energy. Pool can be tapped to add Hammer Strike to any blows. Pool dissipates after 6 minutes. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Mana Cost: Moderate."

"Hammer Strike. Unleash all charges of energy built within Potential Hammer through any form of melee strike, adding pure kinetic damage. Force determined by number of charges."

Hmm. That one sounded potentially great, but kind of complicated.

"Class Spell: Arc Sync."

"Merge one spell with an ally's to unlock a new synergized spell with triple the power. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Mana Cost: High"

Okay, so maybe things weren't as bad as I initially feared. All 3 of those new class spells sounded amazing.

"So, with Potential Hammer, it's unclear. Do I get only one use of the Hammer Strike?"

"Not at all. Potential Hammer sets the collection point for energy. Hammer Strike unleashes it. Charges will continue to collect for 5 minutes. You can use Hammer Strike as often as you want. Each time you do, it will use up whatever charges have built up since the last time."

"When it says all energy causes charges to grow . . . ?"

"It means just that. Magical energies from spells, kinetic energy from movement or melee strikes, even natural energies like sounds or the movement of waters, you name it."

"So the charges could grow pretty fast. How powerful is each charge?"

"Excellent question. Depending on how many people are caught in the affected area and how active they are, you could indeed accumulate many charges. Each charge adds kinetic energy roughly equivalent to one of your average punches."

I whistled softly. One punch from me could deliver a pretty impressive wallop, but it wouldn't affect a high-leveled monster much. Letting the pool grow until a hundred punches worth accumulated, well, that would be a totally different story.

I could only take 2 of the 3 new spells, and again, I wanted them all. Should I drop Elemental Harmony and equip all the new spells? I considered it, but eventually discarded the idea. I used Elemental Harmony all the time, and I still had tons of different types of potions to use with it. Dropping it now would cut off all that potential.

After some consideration, I made my choices.

"Congratulations, Lucas! You have chosen class spells Divergent Strike and Potential Hammer/Hammer Strike. Spells will become active in 10 minutes."

I liked the idea of Arc Sync, but I still tended to fight alone more often than with allies. If I was entering a fight with a bunch of people, I could swap it with one of the other ones ahead of time.

With that done, I lay back in the hammock, studying my new spells and abilities and considering how best to utilize them. I'd just spent 2 days and nights of intense battle fine-tuning my fighting style with my old spells, so it almost felt like some of that effort had been wasted.

No. I'd gotten the levels I needed and gained some pretty sweet loot. I'd make it work. My new spells and abilities offered fun new combos to test, though. With Harvest and mimic, I could pull in a lot of spells to use, while Force Weaver and my new ability Squared Circuit could help me unleash synergies and cast combined spells faster.

I liked the pure kinetic energy a lot of the spells and abilities granted, although I'd miss the random extra types of attack Cascading Force could throw into the mix.

I'd already started using Harvest and Mimic more often. Were some of these choices the result of my evolving fighting style? Maybe. I definitely saw a lot of potential. A message from Ruby interrupted my musing.

Ruby: "Lucas, are you okay? I just found Nigel in your castle stress-eating an entire cow. He said a giant monster trapped you, then a mountain exploded and a river of lava nearly incinerated him."

Lucas: "I'm glad he got out of there. We got separated. Things got pretty dicey for a bit, but I survived. And I just reached level 25 and unlocked my class!"

Ruby: "Yes! I can't wait to hear about it. I told Nigel you were just being you. Glad I was right."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Was battling a boss monster, blowing up part of a mountain, and flooding a valley with lava just being myself? I mean, sure, I'd just fought Ashkaroth 3 days ago and that little disagreement had torched half a mountain, but it wasn't that common, was it?

Lucas: "I'm heading back. See you soon."

Ruby: "Good. Tensions are reaching a boiling point here in town. We need your help to calm things down and deal with Alpha."

Yeah, I did need to get going. I banished my lounge platform, dropping onto Switchblade and gunned the throttle.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.