The first skill selection available to him was for his new World Tree Druid class, and with anticipation building, he focused on the first of the three indistinct gray orbs floating in his vision.  It… was not terribly exciting.

Classify

After so long in D Grade, he’d almost forgotten how simple his early E Grade skills were.  This brought him back to those days.  As he focused more on the name, it appeared to be an extremely simple identification skill.  Kyle got an impression that it would help him see and understand specific details about any plants he looked at with the skill active.  Furthermore, he got the sense that it would have some ability to interact with C.H.A.D.D.’s extensive archive of various plant essences that the drone stored within the World Tree Seed.  In fact, the World Tree Seed’s ability to archive different plants was likely why the Classify skill was offered as an early skill for the World Tree Tender class.

It was interesting, but ultimately entirely useless to him.  Identify already provided tremendous amounts of insight, and would only get more powerful as his Perception increased and he upgraded it in C Grade.  For the first time, he moved on to the next skill option, not even bothering to give Classify further attention.

Commune

This skill had a little more to offer.  The impression he got as he looked at it was one of being able to connect directly with the World Tree Seed, drawing on its energies while infusing it with his own.  It was clear that this skill was designed to build a foundational relationship to the World Tree Seed, and allow the World Tree Tender to gain a higher level of control as time went on.  Again, something that Kyle didn’t need.

Between C.H.A.D.D.’s class and Phaegos’ presence within him, Kyle felt more than confident in manipulating the World Tree Seed’s energies.  Moreover, he suspected that his Union Symbiote species would afford him an intimacy with the seed that already far outstripped what the Commune skill would offer.  And, as he thought about the upgrade path, the opportunities just didn’t excite him.  There was a time when he didn’t think about upgrades at all, but with a goal of raising his second class to C Grade as well, these early skills and upgrades were extremely important.

Fortunately, the final skill gave him something he could work with.

Cultivate

It was once again a simple, foundational skill for the class.  At the same time, it was one that Kyle could already see a variety of uses for.  It simply allowed the user to push mana into the World Tree Seed, and allow something to grow.  Similar to the other skills, Kyle could already feel that this would interact with C.H.A.D.D.’s archive.  Whatever was already stored within the seed could be grown with an effort of his mana.

While the drone could produce similar effects using mana, it also required the seeds to be available in order to grow them.  With this skill, Kyle would be able to create and grow seeds directly from the World Tree Seed itself.  He got the sense that there would be some lingering energy from the seed left within anything he grew, which was exciting to him.  Adding in the upgrade possibilities, it was a no-brainer decision.  All he could do now was hope that his next skill selections as a World Tree Tender would be a little more dynamic.

With that sorted, he turned to the glowing orange sphere indicating he had a skill upgrade available.  One of the key differences between C Grade and D Grade was that there were no new skills available, instead only offering skill upgrades.  These occurred in three distinct sets: Low-Tier C Grade, Mid-Tier C Grade, and High-Tier C Grade.  At Low and Mid-Tier, there would be an upgrade at the beginning of the tier, at the midpoint, and at the end; so at Level 1, 25, 50, 51, 75, and 100.  The final two upgrades would be available to him at the improvement to High-Tier, at Level 101 and at Level 125, with the peak of C Grade being at Level 150 in both classes.

All that being said, the order in which Kyle chose his upgrades would be important.  Jarberry provided some general advice on the topic, some of which Kyle was about to immediately ignore.  The consensus seemed to agree that early C Grade should be dedicated to core offensive skills, with a defensive or utility skill potentially woven in.  Due to C Grade’s inability to progess to the next tier without the second class undergoing evolution, it was common that people would hit unexpected bottlenecks along the way; so the biggest impact skill upgrades tended to be the most important.

Other utility skills and boosting skills were universally advised to be saved for last.  They typically had the ability to improve as the user was able to push more power into the skills, and the upgrades to more dramatic active skills were seen as having superior value.  Kyle could appreciate the thought, and already planned that Iron Will and Identify would be among the last skills he upgraded for that exact reason.  However, the first skill he intended to upgrade was none other than his boosting skill; Ignition.

This was the plan before he’d nearly died to Valentine, and it was even more valid now.  First, Ignition was a top-tier boosting skill.  While it came with the drawback of causing continual damage, the power it provided him was incredible.  Unlike others that saved their skills as a trump card, Kyle used it near-constantly as a part of his fighting style.  Upgrading it early would allow him to adjust to the new power available.

The second major reason he wanted to upgrade Ignition early was because of his method to overcome the drawbacks; his own incredible resilience, and Adaptive Regeneration.  He fully expected the upgraded version to come with new strains and challenges.  In the same vein, he trusted his body to be able to handle the strain of the upgrade.  And the sooner he could get to work with Adaptive Regeneration patching up what he couldn’t handle, the sooner he would be able to make full use of the new boosting skill.

Looking at the names of the upgrade options available, he felt himself grin.  The difference between the simple E Grade skill and his C Grade upgrades was night and day.

Genesis Engine

As he looked at this upgrade, he saw his mana network tying in deeper with the World Tree Seed, pulling power into his body not just from the environment around him, but also from the space Between, where part of the seed still resided.  His body glowed with a golden aura, and he saw the typical enhancements provided by Ignition, all taken to a slightly higher level.  One of the key differences, however, was the way the skill interacted with his Vitality and Willpower.  Both of those attributes were raised by a ridiculous margin, spiking both his combat capabilities and recovery to extreme levels.

Reserving judgments, he turned his attention to the next orb.

Ignis Ascent

In this impression, he saw himself using both Phaegos and the World Tree Seed to empower the intake of atmospheric mana, taking in more than ever before.  The boost to all of his attributes was markedly higher than Ignition, though it appeared to be a more straightforward upgrade in that sense.  No, the biggest change with this upgrade was in terms of the minor domain it created.  His own mana seemed to lay claim to the ambient energy in the space around him, and it allowed him to pull himself through the domain in limited flight, or to accelerate to top speed in moments.

Already thrilled at the possibilities, he turned to the final option.

Devouring Drive

This upgrade felt quite different to the others.  The initial boost from atmospheric mana seemed virtually unchanged when compared to Ignition.  The difference came in the form of a larger aura that expanded around him, slowly consuming mana from living things in the surrounding space.  The more that was drawn in, the more power the skill exhibited.  Not only did it improve his attributes, it served to passively syphon away the energy from his opponents as he fought, potentially even drawing energy away from skills or other mana-constructs around him.

Overall, three incredible options.  Each of the upgrades leaned into a different aspect of his cultivation and path, and he could see them all being a foundation he could build from.  Of the three, however, one was more situational than the others.  With a thought, he dismissed Devouring Drive.  It was a skill that was clearly designed for use in combat, which is where it shone the most.  At the same time, it was a skill that was far more limited in terms of day-to-day use.

Currently, Kyle found himself using Ignition far more often than just in combat situations.  Between long-distance travel and providing mana for the World Tree Seed, he’d found uses for every aspect of the skill.  Choosing Devouring Drive would limit the skill’s use those situations, even if it would be the greatest boost to his raw combat power.

That left him with Ignis Ascent and Genesis Engine.  The flexibility provided by Ignis Ascent was particularly interesting to Kyle; the ability to make rapid movements based on his Willpower opening up numerous possibilities.  On the other side, the sheer power provided by Genesis Engine also spoke to him.  Supercharging his Vitality was important for his near-constant healing, but the true benefit came from the boost to Willpower.  So many of his skills relied on his Willpower, and boosting it also meant temporary empowerment of skills like Iron Will and Parasitic Resonance.

The longer he reflected on it, the clearer his choice became.  If he could adjust to the strain of the new boosting skill, he could rely on it all the time.  If that allowed him to further enhance the other key skills from his path, what other choice could he make?  With anticipation, he selected Genesis Engine.

Finally, he took a last look at his Center, getting a good sense for the changes before finally exiting meditation.

KYLE MAYHEW.  UNION SYMBIOTE. UNBROKEN SURVIVOR.  LEVEL 1 (C)

SECOND CLASS: WORLD TREE TENDER.  LEVEL 1 (E)

PATH SYNERGY: 97%

DEVOURER’S ANATOMY – ENHANCED CARAPACE (FERRIC AUGMENTATION), AURIC PERCEPTION (SYNAPTIC BARBS), EXOSKELETAL STRENGTH (MUSCULAR COMPRESSION), CEASELESS VITALITY (TENACIOUS VIGOR), INSTINCTIVE INTELLIGENCE (PACK LEADER’S INSTINCT), COVERT DEXTERITY (REFLEXIVE EVASION), UNBREAKABLE WILL (HEART OF CREATION)

VITALITY: 1758

ENDURANCE: 2170

STRENGTH: 688

DEXTERITY: 1354

WILLPOWER: 2592

INTELLIGENCE: 2411

PERCEPTION: 1727

FREE ATTRIBUTES: 232

The gain to his attributes was nothing short of amazing.  Furthermore, he felt that each point was qualitatively worth so much more than he’d gotten in the past.  Though he couldn’t be certain, he felt that if he had to face Valentine again, right now, the outcome of their fight would have been meaningfully different.

With a quick thought, he put the majority of his free attributes into Endurance and Willpower, with the remainder being split between Strength, Dexterity, and Perception.  With all of the unknowns around the start of C Grade and the changes to his body, Kyle wanted to get a better sense for how each attribute would affect him.  He’d still keep his primary focus on Endurance and Willpower at the core of his path, but shoring up some of the other attributes could still be valuable.

Satisfied with his improvements, Kyle opened his eyes.  Taking a deep breath, he felt a subtle shift of the wooden construct covering his chest and shoulder as it breathed with him.

[DR. MAYHEW?] C.H.A.D.D. asked, worry leaking through their bond.

“You did it, C.H.A.D.D.,” Kyle said, standing and stretching.  The weight and balance of his body was different than before, but not altogether unusable.  “Now, before we go take a look at the world outside, how do I look?”