Chương 53: Chapter Fifty-Three: Class

< You have reached the proper level threshold to choose a class. > < Classes have been pre-selected for you based on your performance. Choose one of the options provided. > < Classes can be changed after a certain threshold is met. > [Mana Enhanced Gladiator] – A class offered to those that utilize mana enhanced musculature to dominate their foes.

Armed with the magical strength of mana and a willingness to brawl out any encounter in a bloody and glorious showing, the Mana Enhanced Gladiator will fight until the last breath; be it theirs or their enemy's. [Radioactive Combustioneer] – A class offered to those with a death wish. The art of combustion is one that most refer to as foolish and needlessly destructive in application.

The Radioactive Combustioneer takes this dangerous practice to a new level, dancing on the razor's edge between life and death as they release unstable particles that poison the very world around them. [Magician of Variance] – A class offered to those that do not wield one energy source; but multiple. It takes a talented mage to master one source of power, much less a variety of them.

The Magician of Variance understands the long path ahead of them and always keeps an open eye for new ways to utilize their various skillsets. [Irradiated Conjurer] – A class offered to those that find value in the classical magiks of old. Distinct from the standard human affinity toward mana, spectral radiance energy takes focus with mana supporting its chaotic application.

The Irradiated Conjurer wields ancient energies with unparalleled precision; providing an archaic yet lethal style of combat that wreaks havoc on the battlefield. My new class options appear in the air and I cannot help but grin. I've dreamed of my class options for multiple nights while everyone else pulled ahead of me to get theirs first. Now I find myself staring at not one, but rather four powerful looking classes.

The descriptions under all of them almost make me drool, yet I somehow restrain myself before letting my mind turn over to my serious brainstorming mode. Before I get into the deep thinking regarding dissecting every class option and its description, I finally make a different decision I had been holding back for days. < You have gained the Passive Skill: Mana Protective Shell > My skin tingles for a moment before an almost imperceptible wave of mana runs along the surface of my body.

It only takes a few seconds for the feeling to settle down, and I raise my hand to inspect the barely visible shimmer of mana coating my flesh like a second skin. If I weren't using <Fixation>, I doubt I would be able to identify the shell at all. With the mana shell in place, I feel like a weight has been partially lifted off my shoulders. The choice of which passive to take had not been an easy decision, and my mind had been swamped for days trying to pick the best fit for my current situation.

At the end of the day, my reasoning grew from the safety of those around me. As much as I would have liked to pick Flame Drake Wound Seal, the Mana Protective Shell was the better option for my future prospects. The deciding factor between my choice of the two had come down to the mystery of my [Mana Mutation]. My condition is one that I still don't know anything about, but the small hints dropped by the System in my Augment options were more than telling.

Now, the class options are even more transparent, and I can finally accept the fact that my volatile mana is radioactive to some extent. The mention of ionizing energy and unstable particles give me a bit of insight into my condition, which makes me further wonder how the hell I am still alive. If my mana is actually in a state of radioactive decay, then the kinetic buildup I use to create heat is at least partially comprised of unstable molecules like alpha or beta particles.

My knowledge of these types of radiation aren't anywhere near an expert's level, but I have a decent enough understanding of the types of decay to understand that they could be disastrous in high enough concentrations. The Mana Protective Shell is designed to hopefully contain these dangerous emissions, and since my body can handle the decay to some extent, it would be safer for everyone else around me to pick the passive skill that houses the particles.

The others don't seem to be showing any real symptoms from being exposed to me, but that could change at any time for all I know. I'm also still not positive of their exact nature or even if they are similar to the same radioactive particles from Earth. This isn't my only reasoning though, as I hope to find a way to actively utilize the poisonous decay with my skills, so containing them for the time being could prove to be useful in the long run.

I have no idea how my skills and PWR will develop over time, but something tells me that if I come to master the various forms of radiation that stem from my mana, then my very presence could become something truly catastrophic. The thought of mastering the dangerous energies inside my body excite me greatly, and I quickly get used to the feeling of the new mana shell as I turn back over to the class options provided to me. First and foremost, get [Mana Enhanced Gladiator] off of my screen immediately.

There is no conceivable universe in which I will ever take the path of being a magical-steroid infused thug. The plethora of options provided by my volatile, radioactive mana will never be filtered down into some lame, normie-mana-based class. In fact, I think the very experience of being offered such a simple class has now made me want to use mana even less.

I pity the fool who selected such a class during their own selection, and take the very offering of this option as a personal insult against the hard work I put in to boosting my class choices. Moving on, I take a couple of calming breaths to relax from the sneak diss thrown at me by the system. Attempting to improve my mood, I dismiss the class that shall not be named from my screen and instead focus on the next option: [Radioactive Combustioneer]. Foolish? Needlessly destructive?

Razor's edge between life and death? You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Now this is more like it! It's like this class was made with the express objective of tempting me to choose it. Not only does it play upon my tastes of explosives, but also it might just provide a method of utilizing the radiation slowly growing in strength inside my body.

I might not have a wish for death like the description so politely described, but I can definitely say without a doubt that the class interests me greatly. Part of me wants to pick the class immediately, yet my skimming earlier revealed that there could be another good class in the options provided that may also be a great fit. For now, I temper my excitement and do my due diligence to analyze the rest of the class screens provided. The next option is [Magician of Variance].

For one thing, I can say without a doubt that the name of the class itself is quite enticing. The noun 'magician' has always held a certain mystical taste to it that makes the class go up a few points in my book almost immediately. Unfortunately, upon further investigation of the description, it would seem that the class is not as focused as I would prefer my future class to be. If I am correct in my analysis, then the class was offered solely due to my possession of mana and its byproduct radiation.

Despite my misgivings about the class, it would seem that it has a high probability of offering another control skill like the one I currently have for mana. During my discussion with Master Lirin about classes, I had already been gunning for a class that allows me to control the thermal energy I can create from the application of my radiation.

Controlling the radiation itself sounds significantly more useful, yet I somehow doubt that the energy I don't even have a full grasp on yet would be so easily manipulated by a starting class skill. For now, I need to lower my expectations and focus on what could be granted, rather than what I want to be granted. Knowing all of this, I table this class as well.

Seeing as it could be useful in the long term application of my various energy pools, I would still rather have a class more focused in application and combat oriented especially in the face of the upcoming wave. Finally, the last class is up. [Irradiated Conjurer] definitely looks promising. There are a variety of things in the description that make me want to pick this class, especially the mention of a human's affinity with mana and how this class deviates from that overused path.

Its description is kind of vague too, but one thing I can tell for sure is that it will offer some type of control skill over some aspect of my radiation. Its use of the wording 'unparalleled precision' in regard to the 'ancient energies' only further confirms this fact. All in all, I REALLY like this class. The [Irradiated Conjurer] class is almost even with [Radioactive Combustioneer] in my mind at this point.

Both classes seem to find use in my radiation to some extent, while promising devastation of the field of battle. One seems to focus on explosives and poisoning, while the other seems to find a focal point on power sources other than mana, and their specific applications. In my opinion, the [Radioactive Combustioneer] will clearly be the more useful of the two classes when it comes to the monster wave arriving in a few days.

The obvious large scale destruction sown by the guaranteed explosive power of the class could be legitimately priceless in the face of such a large number of enemies. There is just one thing that makes the [Radioactive Combustioneer] class less attractive than the [Irradiated Conjurer] class. The existence of those last three letters at the end of the class name. Combustion- eer. I am sorry to say that I do indeed judge a book by its cover and this cover is not as cool as [Irradiated Conjurer].

That is not my only logic behind why I will not be choosing the [Radioactive Combustioneer] class, but I will say that it is a leading factor. If the class itself is one that prioritizes engineering the explosives rather than being able to set them off according to my whims, then I truly don't think it is for me. I was never the planning type even back in school, so the idea of having to build things ahead of time sounds exhausting. Also, adding the -eer at the end of the class just makes it sound nerdy.

Call me shallow if you like, but the last thing I want to be thought of is nerdy while I'm busy trying to exterminate an entire species with a fiery explosion. [Irradiated Conjurer] sounds way cooler in every aspect imaginable, and the chuunibyou side of me is quite satiated just by reading the name in my head. With that matter settled, I breathe out slowly and dismiss the rest of the screens in my face before finally selecting [Irradiated Conjurer].

< You have chosen the class: Irradiated Conjurer > < Class benefits: +10 PWR, +5 BDY, +5 MND > < You have learned the skill: Non-Ionizing Radiation Control > < Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 0 -> Non-Ionizing Radiation Control Lvl. 1 > < You have gained the Passive Skill: Intense Kinetic Reaction > Intense Kinetic Reaction – Slightly increases the potency of the user's energy interactions with external molecules to create higher temperature reactions.

A goofy smile is let loose to play across my lips as I stare at the skill I had wanted so desperately. <Non-Ionizing Radiation Control> will be an unimaginable boon to my skill set, and if I can combine it with <Mana Control> at some point, perhaps I will finally be able to have control over every type of radiation that my mutation creates. The passive skill was unexpected, but welcome nonetheless, even if I am not completely sure how exactly it will impact my abilities.

From what I can gleam so far, it would seem that the skill could be a passive boost to my basic radiation-based attacks. The kinetic energy withheld in the decaying particles of my mana seem like they could create even hotter reactions when exposed to air, which will synergize quite nicely with my new ability to control these high temperatures.

I would really like to try out all of the new abilities gained from my class, but currently I am finding it hard to stay upright as I drown in the influx of new attribute points raging under my skin. Not expecting such a large stat boost in no less than three attributes, I am forced to my knees for a moment while my body accepts the new changes paired with the ongoing stat point rush gained from my earlier leveling spree.

In an effort to take my mind off my screaming nerve clusters, I pull up my full Status for the first time in a while to bask in my progress.

[Status of Sebastian Bet] Pillar Difficulty: Death is Certain Floor 2: The Silent Castle Time Used: 22: 22: 40: 19 Time Left: 2167: 37: 19: 41 Level: 28 Body (BDY): 50 Mind (MND): 40 Agility (AGI): 29 Power (PWR): 100 [Unallocated Points: 0] Class: Irradiated Conjurer Form Association: Undecided Skills: Emit [Lvl 15] Polarize [Lvl 6] Fixation [Lvl 13] Mana Control [Lvl 13] Infuse [Lvl 11] Mana Construct [Lvl 4] Non-Ionizing Radiation Control [Lvl 1] Passive Skills: [Mana Protective Shell] [Intense Kinetic Reaction] Undecided Undecided Traits: Thermal Resistance [Stage 1/3] Augments: 1.

Mana Foundation 2. Undecided 3. Undecided Condition: Mana Mutation [Permanent]