The weight of Augustus’ words hung heavily in the air as Aurelius absorbed the situation. The prospect of facing Maledrakor, an entity capable of corrupting and absorbing the powers of Chosen, seemed almost insurmountable. Yet, Aurelius was not one to back down from a challenge, especially when the stakes were as high as the survival of his race and himself.

“Alright,” Aurelius said, determination firming his voice. “I need to know more about Maledrakor’s weaknesses. If I have any chance of defeating him, I need to exploit every vulnerability he has.”

Augustus nodded in approval. “Smart thinking. While Maledrakor is strong, he is not without weaknesses. One of his main vulnerabilities is his reliance on the corruption of living and dead beings. This power is not without limitations, and there are ways to counteract it.”

“The corruption can be resisted, albeit with difficulty. For that to happen, Aurelius, you must understand one thing,” Augustus said, leaning towards Aurelius. “His corruption power runs upon fear. It’s the fear from his enemies that let him control them. There are skills and abilities that will help you increase your mental fortitude, which will help you fight against creatures like this, but ultimately, it comes down to how much you let the fear control you. The same goes with the army at your back. If you are going to attack Maledrakor with an army, which I would recommend, you can’t let them succumb to fear either. You will need to be their beacon of strength, of hope, something that will encourage and inspire the army around you. You need to be their Chosen.”

Aurelius thought back to the battle that had happened several hours ago, thinking of how he fought alongside some of the High Elves. Slowly, the gravity of his role as a Chosen grew deeper, and Aurelius began to feel a weight on his shoulders.

“I can tell that this information is weighing heavily on you, and so I’ll leave you with that. I think for now, your focus should be on the present. You’ve just announced yourself to the entire High Elven population that you are the Chosen. For one, I know that I am certainly going to enjoy watching this next part,” Augustus said with a gleam in his eye. “Oh, and I would recommend checking those notifications. They have to be cramped by now.”

Normally Aurelius might have smiled at Augustus' attempt to lighten the mood. Now, however, all Aurelius could do was stare at the ground in front of him, processing the severity of the information he had just received and the uncertainty of the future. Yet, one thought consumed Aurelius’ mind, a deep question that had been burning inside of him for what felt like forever now. 

Before Augustus could disappear, Aurelius voiced his question. 

“Augustus?”
“Yeah?”

“Why did you choose me? And if it had to be me, why wouldn’t you choose me earlier so that I could have more time to prepare?” Aurelius asked, not looking up from the spot on the ground that he was staring at.

Augustus remained silent for a moment, his crow eyes fixated on Aurelius. Then, with a sigh that seemed to carry a hint of weariness, Augustus responded.

“Choosing a Chosen is not as simple as it might seem. It’s not just about power or potential. It’s about timing, circumstances, and the specific qualities a Chosen possesses. I saw something in you, Aurelius, something that made me believe you could be the one to make a difference in this game.”

“That sounds like a whole lot of bullshit.” Aurelius said bluntly, turning his head to meet Augustus in the eyes. “If we are going to work together here, so that we can both survive, I need you to start telling me the truth.”

At first, Aurelius thought that Augustus was going to be angry at his remark. After all, Aurelius doubted anyone had ever talked to the god this way. However, to his surprise, Augustus laughed, which sounded odd coming from a crow. 

“Well, I suppose you've got me. I won't claim that everything I said was an outright lie. You do indeed possess and have demonstrated the qualities essential for a Chosen. But the truth of why I selected you is both more intricate and straightforward. Unfortunately, it's not something I can fully delve into right now. Judging by how you're grappling with the revelations I've shared thus far, adding another heavy truth to the mix wouldn't be good for either of us.” 

“And no, you cannot ask any questions.” Augustus continued before Aurelius could interject.

 “That’s my time for today. I’ll see you later, Aurelius.” And with that, Augustus’ crow popped back out of existence, as quickly as it had come in.

Aurelius stood there for a moment, absorbing Augustus' departure and the information of their conversation. He felt a mixture of frustration, confusion, and a growing sense of determination. 

The area was quiet, save for the distant sounds of nature. The sun just barely hung over the horizon, casting long shadows through some of the nearby trees. 

Aurelius turned towards the blinking notification that seemed to have been exploding out of the corner of his vision for a while now. Aurelius finally opened up his notification screen, trying to do something to distract him from his thoughts.

 

You have killed <Dark Elf> x36. Essence received: 10,800

 

A Chosen has fallen by your hand. The anguish of an entire race echoes for their lost defender. Yet, you stand as the conqueror. Essence Received: 10,000 essence.

 

Teleporting in:

 

3..

2..

1..

 

Aurelius blinked and found himself in a familiar location, it was the chamber where he had selected his evolution. The midnight black darkness permeated the space, making it difficult for Aurelius to see. 

 

Like the last time Aurelius was here, a new prompt appeared before him. Compared to the last time however, the prompt had red streaks flowing through the otherwise blue hue. Aurelius read the prompt.

 

Upon vanquishing a Chosen, you will gain:

 

10% of the Chosen's Attributes

1 of the Chosen's skills, at your selection

 

Aurelius’ eyes widened at the prompt, surprised by the benefits. Aurelius hadn’t realized killing a Chosen would be so beneficial. This revelation led him to wonder why there weren't a greater number of ambitious Chosen individuals who actively sought out their peers, aiming to seize power through such acts.

It also made Aurelius think of Maledrakor, who had a similar power of taking power from Chosen individuals, although not exactly the same. The difference was that Maledrakor could turn these Chosen individuals into his own generals and keep them alive. Furthermore, Aurelius also wondered if Maledrakor's power took and benefited more from the Chosen individuals. Despite the nuances, the similarity between their abilities was quite apparent.

Acknowledging the prompt, Aurelius dismissed the prompt from the vision. Interestingly, when Aurelius looked around at the chamber, he could still see the 7 figures from his evolution selection. Approaching them, he noticed that they retained their exact forms as he had remembered.

However, in contrast to his previous encounter, an additional figure now stood in the dark emptiness. This entity occupied its own corner of the chamber, distanced from Aurelius’ seven evolutionary manifestations.

Drawing nearer to this solitary figure, Aurelius observed a constellation of blue boxes suspended around it. Most notably, a massive blue screen hovered ten feet above the figure's head, displaying the words:

 

Chosen Killed: 1

 

As he approached even closer, the shape of the figure and the text on the surrounding boxes came into focus. The figure bore an uncanny resemblance to the Dark Elven Chosen, evoking Aurelius' memories of the Chosen's complete form. The statue-like figure stood unwavering, its head and eyes locked onto the ground before it.

 

Was this chamber some sort of trophy room?

 

The arrangement of the blue boxes around the figure evoked memories of how artifacts were exhibited at the academy, complete with descriptions and origins. The sight left Aurelius feeling slightly sick to his stomach, witnessing how the death of this figure was treated almost as an accomplishment, destined to be etched in stone for eternity.

Aurelius scrutinized the blue box that floated before the figure. To his astonishment, he recognized it instantly: a stat screen. However, this stat screen deviated from the norm—it didn't showcase Aurelius' own statistics, but rather the attributes of the fallen Chosen.

 

==========

Stat Screen

=========

Name: Malaki Vel'Umbraeth

Race: Dark Elf

Age: 28

Health: 0/510

==========

Overall Level: 23

Overall Essence: 108,320

Evolution: The Malevolent Chosen

Specialization: The Dark Sorcerer

Attribute Points: 0

==========

Unassigned Essence: 3,529

==========

Next Level Progress:

Essence (4,960/13770)

==========

Classes:

 

Shadow Assassin 

• Level: 24 (Specialized)

• Progress: 0/8380

• Description: Master of stealth, assassination, and manipulation of shadows

• Primary Ability: Create blades of Shadow Magic for 50 mana. 

• Evolved Ability: For 3 mana/sec have an aura of shadow magic around you, deflecting both magical and physical attacks.

• Specialized Ability:Instantly kill a target with less than 30% health with a silent strike. Costs 50 mana

• Attributes: Each level grants +1 to Intelligence and +1 to Agility

Dark Sorcerer 

• Level: 21 (Evolved)

• Progress: 0/6400

• Description: Tap into the dark energies to cast powerful spells and curses

• Primary Ability: At level 15, you can expertly carve and empower common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary level runes onto objects. 

• Evolved Ability: Create hands of Dark Magic for 15 mana that can block incoming attacks or deal damage to enemies. 

• Specialized Ability: Create Dark Cocoons for 100 mana that wrap around targets, draining their mana and life force. 

• Attributes: Each level grants +1 to Constitution and +1 to Wisdom.

 

==========

Attributes:

 

• Strength: 27

• Constitution: 51 (23% increase (Overall Level) of base value: 42)

• Intelligence: 66 (23% increase (Overall Level) of base value: 54)

• Wisdom: 73 (46% increase (Overall Level * 2) of base value: 50)

• Agility: 43

• Perception: 33

• Luck: 19 

• Charisma: 24

 

==========

Mana: 660/660

Mana Regen: 7.3/sec

==========

Skills:Mental Manipulation Resistance – Grants you an innate defense against all forms of mental assault.

Shadow Mastery — Permanently increases shadow-based spell effectiveness by 30%

==========

 

Holy smokes.. No wonder that guy had been so hard to kill, his health and mana are insane.

 

Based on the abilities of the Dark Elven Chosen, Aurelius had made it through the battle with the skin of his teeth. In fact, he started to believe that the only reason he was here, coming out alive from the battle was because his luck stat was higher than the Dark Elven Chosen. 

Aurelius continued to take in the information of the status screen with wide eyes, there was a lot to process here. The status screen had both given Aurelius answers, and questions… so many questions. First and foremost, why did he only have 2 classes? Aurelius struggled to discern a valid explanation for this limitation. Initially, he speculated that there might be a trade-off, implying that the Dark Elven Chosen had possibly gained certain bonuses in other aspects of their stats. But, that didn’t seem to be the case. 

With no answer forthcoming, Aurelius then moved to the next oddity, what the heck was a specialization?