Based on how the specialization was displayed, Aurelius guessed that it was similar to his evolution: some sort of upgrade he could receive that would boost his strength. He also assumed that the specialization would come at level 20 for his classes.

 

Aurelius felt like he could spend an hour just looking at the status screen, trying to determine its differences from his own. However, before he could do so, a new screen appeared in front of him.

 

Choose a skill to retain.

 

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

 

Or

 

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

 

The question was a no-brainer for Aurelius. Firstly, he had no shadow-based spells, so Shadow Mastery would have no effect for him. And secondly, he remembered seeing the Mental Manipulation Resistance skill long ago, as part of the Mind Manipulator class. At the time, he thought it would be useful against other Chosen. Now, he knew that this skill would come in handy — it was precisely the kind of skill he required for combating Maledrakor. It led Aurelius to contemplate: If the Dark Elven Chosen possessed this skill, why did he still appear so easily overpowered by Maledrakor? While not affording complete immunity to Maledrakor's abilities, the skill could undoubtedly have been a substantial asset.

 

No, maybe it had helped the Chosen.

 

Looking back on Kael's story, Aurelius was confused why Maledrakor hadn't corrupted the Dark Elven Chosen instead of sending him to the capital. Maybe this skill was the reason, although, for some reason, Aurelius doubted it.

 

Clicking on Mental Manipulation Resistance Aurelius selected the skill. In a flash, the world around him changed and Aurelius found himself no longer in the midnight darkness of the chamber, but back in the secluded area where he had talked to Augustus.

 

Before he could open up his status screen and look at the changes that had undergone it, another screen materialized before Aurelius.

 

Upon reaching level 17, you gain a random skill as part of your <Fractured Chosen> Evolution.

 

Rolling…

 

Aurelius had nearly forgotten, but the description of The Fractured Chosen evolution had said he would receive a new skill every 2 levels following him reaching an overall level of 15. The essence he had received from the fight must’ve jumped him to level 17 or above, allowing him to benefit from this part of the evolution.

 

New Skill Gained:

Temporal Surge — For 30 mana, focus your time-wielding abilities into a concentrated blast, unleashing a wave of temporal energy that damages and slows enemies on impact.

 

Aurelius stared at the skill description, his mind racing with possibilities. 

 

Finally, an offensive magic spell I can use without a weapon

 

While Aurelius loved his current magical capabilities, he had been lacking the ability to truly unleash magical destruction from his fingertips. In other words, he had been lacking something along the lines of a fireball spell. Temporal surge seemed to fill that void and the slowing effect could be incredibly useful in battles. With this new skill and the Mental Manipulation Resistance, he felt a surge of confidence amidst the chaos that surrounded him

 

Refocusing his attention, Aurelius opened up his status screen. The essence he had gained from both the Chosen and the Dark Elves that he had killed totaled around 20,800 essence and shot him all the way up to level 18. 

 

The three new levels had given Aurelius an extra 6 stats points and, somewhat controversially, he decided to split the points between his luck and charisma. Due to the extra 10% of stats that he had received from the Dark Elven Chosen, most of his stats were sitting at a pretty comfortable position. Furthermore, thinking back to his fight with the Chosen, Aurelius had only managed to survive through some lucky events that played out in his favor. He wasn’t sure how much his luck stat had contributed to those events, but he felt that placing some extra points in luck would be a safe option.

 

Aurelius also knew that, because he had just revealed himself as the new High Elven Chosen, his appearance was going to play a big role in some upcoming events, whether that be inspiring some of the citizens, or just talking to people. Due to this, Aurelius decided to also place three points in his charisma.

 

Afterward, he turned towards his unassigned essence and his classes. He currently had 20,980 unassigned essence, which gave him a lot of flexibility regarding where to allocate it. Because of the evolved abilities he had selected for his classes, both his Arcane Artificer and Blade Dancer class abilities were non-upgradable. Despite this, Aurelius decided to bring his Arcane Artificer class up to level 15. He wanted to somewhat even its level out with his other classes, which were also sitting in the 14-15 level range. 

 

The jump for his Arcane Artificer class from level 10 to level 15 had cost 10,550 essence, leaving him 10,430 essence left over for his Chronomage and Blade Dancer classes.

 

Aurelius had a hard time deciding between the two classes, but ultimately he decided that he could just bring both to level 16, evening them out. He did just that, spending another 9,330 essence to bump both his Chronomage and Blade Dancer to level 16. Happy with his choices, Aurelius looked at his status screen.

==========

Stat Screen

=========

Name: Aurelius Lusam

Race: High Elf

Age: 18

Health: 440/440

==========

Overall Level: 18

Overall Essence: 54,555

Evolution: The Fractured Chosen

Attribute Points: 0

==========

Unassigned Essence: 1,220

==========

Next Level Progress:

Essence (3,945/8570)

==========

Classes:

 

Chronomage

• Level: 16 (Evolved)

• Progress: 0/3700

• Description: Harness the power of time and space

• Primary Ability: You can teleport yourself 25 feet away for 15 mana

• Evolved Ability: At level 16, you can open a spatial storage with the dimensions of 15x15x15 (in feet) for 20 mana.  

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

Arcane Artificer

• Level: 15 (Evolved)

• Progress: 0/3250

• Description: Carve mystic symbols into objects, granting the objects enhanced abilities and elemental effects.

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

• Evolved Ability (Passive): See the way mana moves through enchantments, runes, and objects. Makes it easier to both detect magical objects and to create them.

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

Class: Blade Dancer

• Level: 16 (Evolved)

• Progress: 0/3700

• Description: Develop an innate aptitude for wielding bladed weapons and gain Blade Dancer’s Intuition, allowing for precise strikes and heightened combat proficiency.

• Primary Ability: Bladed weapon strikes possess a 20% chance of landing critical hits, inflicting double damage.

• Evolved Ability: Infuse the Blade Dancer's weapon with the user's mana, enhancing its effectiveness against magical barriers and targets. The infused blade also deals an additional (Intelligence + Wisdom)% of damage.

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

 

 

==========

Attributes:

 

• Strength: 29

• Constitution: 44 (36% increase (Overall Level * 2) of base value: 32)

• Intelligence: 50 (36% increase (Overall Level * 2) of base value: 37)

• Wisdom: 40

• Agility: 34

• Perception: 32

• Luck: 30 (36% increase (Overall Level * 2) of base value: 22)

• Charisma: 18

 

==========

Mana: 500/500

Mana Regen: 4/sec

==========

Skills: Adaptive Resilience — Permanently increases experience gain by 50%

Mental Manipulation Resistance – Granting you innate defense against all forms of mental assault.

Temporal Surge — For 30 mana, focus your time-wielding abilities into a concentrated blast, unleashing a wave of temporal energy that damages and slows enemies on impact.

==========

 

After all the changes that had undergone his status screen, from the skills to the attributes, the thing that surprised Aurelius the most was the change to his Arcane Artificer Class. For some reason, it seemed that once his Arcane Artificer class had leveled to 15, his primary ability had upgraded again, and now he could forge legendary level runes.

 

To Aurelius, this made no sense, as both his Chronomage and his Blade Dancer class didn’t have similar effects. Their primary abilities seemed to be locked at max, unable to level up again.

 

Aurelius felt a growing sense of frustration as he once again discovered something that he had no answer for. It constantly felt as if he was walking into things blind and missing a whole lot of information.

 

Besides that oddity though, Aurelius felt pretty good about his status screen and how his classes were developing. Seeing the progress, Aurelius gained a small amount of hope that maybe everything would work out in the end.

 

Sighing, Aurelius closed his status screen. By now it was nearly dark out, and he knew the headmaster and the others would be wondering where he had run off too. 

 

Taking slow steps, Aurelius walked back to the former battlefield and the tents lined up around it.

 

===

***

===

 

Entering the campsite just outside the city gates, Aurelius immediately sensed the weight of countless eyes upon him. The twinkling reflections of those eyes, lit by the scattered campfires throughout the area, seemed to watch his every move.

 

In no time, a boy – appearing younger than Aurelius – dashed up to him.

 

"Aurelius... Uh, I mean, sir!" The boy stumbled over his words, uncertain whether to address Aurelius with formal respect, given their likely close ages.

 

"The Headmaster and the City Guard captain wish to see you, sir. Please make your way to the main tent at your earliest convenience."

 

"And where might I find the main tent?" Aurelius inquired.

 

"Just over there," the boy replied, pointing to one of the larger tents.

 

Aurelius nodded, setting off toward the tent. The boy took his cue to depart, vanishing surprisingly quickly into the shadows.

 

Upon reaching the tent, Aurelius parted the flap, revealing a small group gathered around a table. At the sound of the flap opening, all heads turned to face him.

 

"Aurelius! Delighted that you've joined us. Come closer," the distinct voice of the headmaster beckoned.

 

As Aurelius approached, the features of those huddled around the table began to come into focus. Among them stood the headmaster, and beside him, a man wearing the attire of the city guard. This man, who regarded Aurelius with a curious gaze, possessed a rugged countenance adorned with a significant amount of facial hair – a rarity among High Elves.

 

Observing Aurelius' inquisitive glance at the man, the headmaster intervened.

 

"Ah, allow me to introduce you both. Aurelius, meet Alerion, the City Guard captain. Alerion, this is Aurelius, one of my academy students, and, more astonishingly, the Chosen."