Chapter 56: Class Creation—Countdown to Player’s Arrival
Aurelius watched calmly as the tree monster intensified its efforts, its shrill scream echoing in his ears.
Its entire trunk trembled violently, mirroring its emotions, as branches lashed toward him.
Each strike carried enough force to kill an ordinary person.
Yet Aurelius could easily deal with them.
[Tree Monster. Level 13]
The gap between him and his opponent was simply too big. With his current Agility, Aurelius was able to parry its attacks with ease.
Thankfully, the reason he had visited the Dryad Forest was not to fight against equal opponents and enhance his combat experience.
Instead, it was to experiment with his new skills.
Glancing at the experience bar at the edge of his vision, Aurelius suddenly smiled.
The next moment, the bar reached the end, lighting up before fading away.
"Congratulations, you’ve learned: Plant Control."
The relevant information flooded his mind. As though he had learned it from a Skill Book, Aurelius instinctively understood how to activate it.
But he didn’t. Rather, he cast a completely different skill.
Arcane Deconstruction.
Immediately, the branches firing at him froze in place.
As if someone had pressed the Pause button, they remained utterly still, not moving a single inch.
A look of shock flashed across the tree monster’s face.
It felt the Mana within its body spiral out of control, rendering it unable to use its racial skill.
Although it quickly regained control, it was already too late.
Its own branches moved seemingly on their own, striking directly at its face.
Likewise, thick vines emerged from the ground beneath it, wrapping around its trunk like serpents.
They tightened.
Cracking echoed.
Then...
Bang!
The tree monster exploded.
[Killed Level 13 Tree Monster. EXP +200]
Aurelius paid no attention to the notification.
His gaze lingered on the shattered wooden fragments, as the earlier scene constantly replayed in his mind.
’Arcane Insight and Arcane Deconstruction are truly made for each other. The synergy between these two skills is perfect.’
’I can learn the enemy’s skills, invalidate their own, then use those same skills against them.’
Of course, this had come with a price: 1 Skill Point—required to upgrade Plant Control to Level 2.
However, Aurelius felt that it was worth it.
Finding an opponent with his current skills was impossible.
Spending a Skill Point in exchange for testing this brand-new skill was absolutely worth it. Otherwise, trying to do so in the midst of a real battle could prove deadly.
’Unfortunately, analyzing skills consumes a lot of time and Spirit. Although the opponent was just a Level 13 tree monster, it took several minutes for the analysis to complete.’
The way to make this process faster was relatively simple: upgrading his Rank and Level, and improving his proficiency with the skill.
Either could work. Doing both would be for the best.
While silently setting this as his next target, Aurelius looked at the moon and estimated the time.
Although he had only battled a few monsters before finally finding a suitable one, several hours had passed.
By now, it was long after midnight.
’It’s time to return,’ he sighed, though the smile on his face was hard to conceal.
Flames erupted from his back as the Wing Manifestation was activated.
Then, with a flap of the wings, his figure soared into the sky, leaving the Dryad Forest behind him.
The surrounding monsters immediately breathed a sigh of relief, nearly bursting into tears.
The humanoid devil had finally left!
Peace had finally returned to the forest.
--
From that day onward, Aurelius’ life turned into a strange routine.
In the morning, he would refine Potions, increasing both his Experience and the Level of Transmutation, while accumulating Anna’s Favorability.
During the night, he would visit the Dryad Forest, battling monsters and learning their skills.
Under this deceptive calm, his progress was rapid in every single department.
However, all good things were bound to end sooner or later.
Peace was destined not to last for long.
Aurelius understood this very well as he summoned the Nova Roma Game forum.
A bright countdown had unknowingly appeared at the very top, above the announcement and even the two trailers.
[07:27]
Less than eight hours.
In less than eight hours, the thing Aurelius had been worried about would finally happen.
The Players would descend!
Aurelius was both nervous and... somewhat excited.
He had made several preparations ahead of this moment.
Whether he could turn the Players’ arrival to his advantage, soaring to new heights, would depend on what happened the next few days.
If he didn’t grasp this opportunity, his life would be in danger!
Even so, he felt strangely calm, knowing that he had tried his best.
Moreover...
"It’s finally time to use that..." Aurelius whispered under his breath.
His gaze locked onto the System Inventory and the next instant, a round token materialized in his right hand.
It looked exactly the same as the one that had granted him the Arcanist Class.
Yet this wasn’t a Class Token. It was a token capable of creating one.
As Aurelius clenched his fist, the token cracked before exploding into tiny golden lights that flowed toward his body.
A small furnace emerged in his field of vision.
Crimson flames raged around it, threatening to engulf everything that dared to touch it.
Lines of text appeared right below it.
"Class Creation Token has been activated!"
"Please select three Skills and one Talent for the new Class to inherit."
"Note that the result will depend on the chosen skills and Talent. The stronger the fused items and the higher the synergy between them, the more powerful the final Class will be."
Aurelius had obtained various rewards in the past, but this was the first time he had received such a reminder.
It was as if the Player Panel was afraid he would make a wrong choice.
That alone was enough to demonstrate how precious the Class Creation Token was.
Despite this, Aurelius didn’t think for long.
He had made his decision long ago.
Under his thoughts, several skills and one Talent appeared, each represented by a distinct light.
Following his command, these lights approached the furnace.
Bang!
The crimson flames swallowed them whole, dragging them into the furnace, where they began to fuse into something entirely new.