Without an option to stop the process, not that Kyle wanted to, the space around him changed, with a familiar wall of endless doors, each carrying sigils and patterns expanding before him.  He remembered these from his evolution to D Grade; the possibilities that could have been.  As before, three of the symbols lit up with dull gray light, and floated toward him.  Each carried with it the familiar pattern that represented his Path of the Survivalist, an “X” shape in the middle of a circle, with each arm of the “X” giving impressions of different hardships to be overcome.  Yet, each also built upon it, expanding the scope of what it meant.

The first of the sigils Kyle looked at added what looked like spiked ridges along the edge of the circle.  The “X” also seemed to get more streamlined and focused, as though it was drawing power out into the border with the spikes.  As he focused on it, words formed before his eyes, giving a more detailed description than any before.

C GRADE CLASS EVOLUTION – CEASELESS AVENGER

VITALITY – 18

ENDURANCE – 21

STRENGTH – 19

DEXTERITY – 10

WILLPOWER – 22

INTELLIGENCE – 10

PERCEPTION – 5

FREE ATTRIBUTES – 25

The Ceaseless Avenger has stood before injustice, and faced down those who would use their power to dominate and oppress.  He has been betrayed, injured, and left behind by those who he has trusted.  And he will endure it no longer.  Even in loss, you recover, and return more powerful than before.  You grow and adapt with each challenge, refusing to yield to your enemies.  Your fight is unending.  Your advance is inevitable.  And your vengeance is unceasing.  Rise, overcome each challenge, and bring waiting retribution to all who have wronged you.

As he finished the description, he saw an image of himself wading through an army of goblins, using familiar skills, though each seemed much more focused on offense.  He saw a field of fungal soldiers, with a vague shadow in the back that he knew represented DeRosa.  He saw himself facing down Gregory Valentine, and felt a twinge of satisfaction as he returned over and over, wearing down the enemy who was never able to recover the way Kyle was.  He saw a floating, violet eye in the air, and he swore his vengeance as the vision ended.

It was a powerful path.  He understood that it would begin to weave in ever-greater offensive capabilities to his skill upgrades, turning him into a real nightmare in combat situations.  The large boost to Strength with each level was also attractive, taking full advantage of his Muscular Compression and Exoskeletal Strength.  Each attribute point that he was able to invest would give him huge returns.  Plus, it was a path that could carry him a long way.  If he could truly follow it until he was strong enough to take on Zierlan, he could make it to the peak.

With those thoughts in the back of his mind, he turned to the next symbol.  This one had what looked like fractures all across it between the arms of the “X,” though with a single glance he could tell that they were more solid, more real than before.  Everything about this sigil resonated stubbornness and resilience, and as the words appeared, he was not disappointed.

C GRADE CLASS EVOLUTION – UNBROKEN SURVIVOR

VITALITY – 14

ENDURANCE – 20

STRENGTH – 8

DEXTERITY – 8

WILLPOWER – 23

INTELLIGENCE – 17

PERCEPTION – 15

FREE ATTRIBUTES – 25

The Unbroken Survivor has stood before insurmountable odds; facing down enemies that should have destroyed him, body and spirit.  And yet he remains unbroken.  Every setback provides an opportunity, and you seek hardship and adversity that you might become truly unbreakable.  Both your body and spirit are forged into something that no foe can hope to shatter.  Rise, endure, and overcome, as the obstacles in your way are little more than catalysts for your growth.

With the end of the description, Kyle saw himself walking unbothered through a raging inferno, then a storm of ice and lightning.  Formless enemies launched huge attacks his direction, which he either met directly, or shrugged off with improved versions of his existing skills.  The few attacks that did manage to find purchase had their damage almost immediately healed away as he took confident steps.   He saw Valentine raise his rapier to pierce Kyle, only for the blade to break against him as Kyle continued to advance.  Finally, the violet eye appeared again, and Kyle dared it to try and stop him as he continued down his path.

This felt like a very natural evolution to his current class, the Survivalist, doubling down on the things that made his class excellent in the first place.  Though the attribute distribution didn’t offer major differences in terms of Vitality, Endurance, or Willpower compared to the Ceaseless Avenger, Kyle had a strong impression that the skill upgrades available to him through this class selection would be much more heavily focused on utility.  It was a class that would give Kyle all the tools he needed to survive the harsh realities of the world he lived in.

The final symbol had indistinct wavering lines behind the emblazoned “X” pattern, which almost seemed to bow outward toward Kyle as he looked at it.  He had the impression of protectiveness, the emblem of the Survivalist standing in front of something behind him.  Focusing his attention, the words appeared.

C GRADE CLASS EVOLUTION – TIRELESS GUARDIAN

VITALITY – 25

ENDURANCE – 25

STRENGTH – 5

DEXTERITY – 11

WILLPOWER – 15

INTELLIGENCE – 12

PERCEPTION – 12

FREE ATTRIBUTES – 25

The Tireless Guardian rises in defense of those who have no one else.  He becomes their shelter, bearing their burdens as he stands firm.  He is steadfast, unmoving in the face of danger and destruction.  Even when he is injured and broken, he digs deep within and rises to each challenge.  Any who seek to harm those beneath your aegis find you to be an immutable shield, while those within your protection find you a bastion of refuge.

At first, Kyle was a little confused at this class offering.  My path hasn’t been about protecting people.  Before he could reflect on it too long, however, he saw a montage flash before his eyes of the different people he’d helped through his journey in D Grade.  From defending the Corthian Mining expedition members back on Earth, to protecting an egg from Ebon Pterix and Ger’Sinh, to helping heal the shrikes infected by a mana plague, he had to admit that he actually meddled quite a bit more often than he first thought.

From there, his vision shifted to faceless masses flocking to him as he interposed himself between them and various dangers.  He saw his image grit its teeth as it absorbed blow after blow, using his skills to protect huge areas and ensure nothing got past him.  He saw Valentine’s attacks get redirected toward him, unable to reach the huddling group behind.  And he saw a violet eye threatening to corrupt and twist his wards, while he bravely stood in between once more.

He had to admit, the image was an appealing one.  This was clearly a direction focused on protection and guardianship, and while he hadn’t made that an integral part of his path so far, it was an aspect that clearly resonated with who he was as a person.  The attribute distributions were interesting, with an extremely heavy focus toward Vitality and Endurance, with everything else taking a secondary role.  It would undoubtedly give him the greatest degree of survivability out of his three options, even if it came at the cost of weaker attributes elsewhere.

Overall, Kyle was thrilled with his choices.  Each of the class options felt like they were strong stepping stones for his path, and now the decision came down to which he felt the strongest attraction to.  The Ceaseless Avenger would give him the greatest boost to his offensive prowess as he set his sights on paying back some of the injustice he’d seen, while the Tireless Guardian gave the strongest defense, with a focus on protecting others from those same forces.  The Unbroken Survivor dwelled somewhere in the middle, with an emphasis on his own path as an individual.

Considering the two that seemed to be most closely related, Kyle made his first elimination.  While the Ceaseless Avenger class was powerful, he felt that it didn’t truly suit him.  While he definitely planned on getting some payback when he could, a desire for revenge wasn’t central to his motivation.  He simply wanted to get strong enough to hold his own when situations got dangerous.  Plus, he thought about the mutated hodag that he and Arhades fought.  If the Velgian was correct, it was possible to corrupt one’s path when things like a pursuit of vengeance got out of control, and that was a fate he was leery of.  Kyle knew he had issues with his anger; creating an environment where it could end up literally defining his progression was dangerous.

Furthermore, it only really encapsulated the Growth and Adaptation concepts from his path of the Survivalist.  That also brought him to the main problem with the Tireless Guardian, as it seemed to resonate most closely with the concepts of Steadfastness and Immutability.  It made sense that each of the classes had their own focus, given the contrasting nature of the concepts at play.  However, the Unbroken Survivor seemed to tap into aspects of both sides.  Admittedly, it likely embodied each aspect in a slightly weaker way compared to the other two options.

Ultimately, it came down to the path that Kyle resonated with the most.  Even though he’d been forced to confront the truth that he helped people a lot more often than was strictly necessary, he also proved to himself that protecting others could still be a core part of his path without his entire class revolving around it.  He didn’t choose the Warden class in D Grade, and was still able to stay true to that aspect of himself.  Sure, his skills weren’t as specialized toward it as they could have been, but it was a trade-off that was worth it for a class he truly resonated with.

And, when he considered the importance of synergizing with a second class, ideas were already forming on how they could work together.  With each passing moment, he grew more sure of his decision.  Finally, he selected the Unbroken Survivor.  He felt power flood into him as the symbol of the Survivalist changed shape to reflect his new C Grade class, as a final prompt appeared before him.

C GRADE CLASS EVOLUTION COMPLETED.  PROCEEDING TO SECOND CLASS SELECTION.

Kyle took a moment to burn the symbol of the Unbroken Survivor into his mind, and then allowed his consciousness to be taken to the next step; his second class selection.

As expected, a familiar sight appeared before his eyes, with indistinct spheres representing the basic classes materializing around him.  While there was a degree of variance within each, he understood that this would build the foundation for his second class.

FIGHTER

RANGER

HEALER

MAGE

CRAFTER

For a moment, he looked back wistfully at the options he’d once considered.  Jarberry had pushed him to think about the Ranger archetype to help him develop his skills as a Courier in a more meaningful way.  Personally, Kyle had been leaning toward a Crafter specialization to better support C.H.A.D.D. and tie the drone in with his path.  Fighter and Mage types also had their advantages, though with his current circumstances the cost-benefit analysis had changed.

Plus, something that Administrator Delta mentioned to him rang out in his mind.  If people risked their lives trying to manipulate World Tree Seeds in the hope of getting access to a variant evolution, just how powerful would that be?  In any event, he was wholly reliant on the World Tree Seed to stay alive.  Even with his merged species of Union Symbiote, there was no question that a large part of him was no longer traditional flesh and blood.  He had no idea how his healing skills would influence that part of his body, nor did he have confidence in manipulating the incredibly dense and powerful material with just Parasitic Resonance and Willpower alone.

But what if his second class could help him tie-in to the World Tree Seed better?  What if he could not just use it to survive, but fully harness the power within it?  What was the power so significant that even higher-grade individuals would risk their lives?

Not giving himself the chance to second guess any more, Kyle steeled himself as he selected the “Mage” sphere.

MAGE SELECTED.  COMPATIBLE MANA AFFINITIES: NATURE.

SECOND CLASS CONFIRMED: NATURE MAGE

Kyle was a little disappointed that this was the only message, until the space in his Center began to take on a gentle golden glow.

COMPATIBILITY DETECTED.  VARIANT CLASS AWOKEN.  NATURE MAGE BECOMES WORLD TREE TENDER.

VITALITY – 0

ENDURANCE – 0

STRENGTH – 0

DEXTERITY – 0

WILLPOWER – 3

INTELLIGENCE – 3

PERCEPTION – 3

FREE ATTRIBUTES – 3

Kyle smiled.  While the attribute points were minimal compared to his Unbroken Survivor class, it was a massive improvement compared to his basic Healer class from E Grade.  And as this class grew to D Grade and beyond, Kyle was confident it would only get better.

Drifting back to his Center, he took in the evolved shape of his mana cultivation.  A new symbol dominated the center, with the crimson vortex representing Phaegos swirling around it.  Within the symbol of the Unbroken Survivor, Kyle could make out a faint golden sheen; the beginnings of his second class.

And now, with class selection behind him, he could turn his attention to the last thing he needed before exiting meditation: his skill selections.