While Aurus firmed his decision to grind [Blessing of the Tempest] and [High Wind Affinity] simultaneously…
Within a secluded place inside the small ecosystem of the Tempest Branch Alliance, Herellia was manipulating the Wind energy particles around her surroundings. She willed these particles to form a Wind Flame, which turned into a Wind River not long after. Afterwards, it transformed into a Wind Tree, then a strong tornado after that. The cycle repeated multiple times as the transition between the forms gradually became smoother and smoother, to the point where one could not differentiate whether the conjured Wind particles were a flame or a river or any form for that.
Bang!
Ding!
It was only when Herellia was able to unite these four forms into one, allowing for interchangeability, did a small explosion sound occur throughout her body as a notification sound accompanied this explosion. A screen appeared in front of her field of vision not long after.
'[Blessing of the Tetraelemental Tempest] has leveled up.'
'[Tetraelemental Tempest Affinity] has leveled up.'
'[Blessing of the Tetraelemental Tempest] and [Tetraelemental Tempest Affinity] have both leveled up.'
'Both skills have met the necessary requirements and are ready to evolve.'
Looking at the words written on her screen instantly made her radiate a cheerful aura as the thought of evolving both skills crossed her mind. Yet just as she was about to do so, a silhouette appeared in front of her field of vision, prompting her to cancel all notions of doing so at the moment.
"Horell, what's up?" Hastily closing the screen in front of her body although knowing the fact that others could not see it, Herellia composed her emotions as she asked the silhouette that appeared in front of her.
"A special someone wanted me to inform you and the other Pillars that he can't be disturbed for 2 weeks since he's currently trying to evolve to S-grade Inanimate." The silhouette, who was actually Horell, replied with a calm yet cheerful tone.
"Aurus?" This was the first being that came into Herellia's mind since he was pretty much the only member within the alliance that was not an S-grade yet. Continuing with this line of thought, she now tried to guess how much stronger he would get after evolving to S-grade. "I wonder what level of damage he could deal once he gets to the peak of S-grade?"
"I feel like he has reached the Novice [1] level already," Horell could not help but comment at Herellia's question. "It wouldn't be farfetched if he could reach Half-Elite or even Elite level at the peak of S-grade."
"That much?" Herellia was surprised at Horell's estimates. "I was guessing that he would have the power of at most, thrice the power of a Novice level being." She then placed this question at the back of her head, remembering the first statement Horell told her. "Alright then, I won't disturb Aurus for 2 weeks. I wonder what species he evolves into."
"We'll see," Horell radiated a cheerful aura as he replied before teleporting away without a trace.
…
Within a secluded room inside the Sparring Tower.
"Evolve [Blessing of the Tempest]."
Ding!
At the instant Aurus was finished commanding the system, a notification screen appeared in front of his field of vision, telling him the name of the newly evolved skill.
'[Blessing of the Tempest] has been evolved to [Blessing of the Great Tempest].'
After checking the new name, Aurus then lightly said, "Hit."
Bang!
Hearing the trigger word, Fenrir hastily dashed towards Aurus as it smacked Aurus with one of its stubs at full strength.
"[Branch Benevolence]."
With a huge chunk of Aurus' HP being removed with that hit, Aurus hastily activated [Branch Benevolence] multiple times, easily healing himself back to full health.
Ding!
Not long after, another notification screen appeared in front of Aurus' field of vision, slightly startling him. Nonetheless, he was able to compose his emotions and get the gist of what the screen was trying to tell him.
"Evolve [Branch Benevolence]. Choose the path that pursues of single-target healing rather than group healing." Of course, Aurus had a hunch that [Branch Benevolence] was finally maxed out, prompting him to say these words out.
Ding!
Surprisingly, his hunch was correct.
'[Branch Benevolence] has been evolved to [Formosus Exuberance].'
"I'll stop up to here for now." Aurus decided that this level of healing was sufficient enough for now. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and tried to sense the specks of green light that was around him.
It only took Aurus a few seconds to sense the specks of green light, surprised at the fact that the amount of green light he could see floating around was intensified by ten times or around that. At that instant, it dawned on him that the reason he could see more was due to [Blessing of the Tempest] being evolved.
"It seems that evolving passive skills that are related to the Wind element are beneficial to sensing the particles of the Wind element faster." Aurus got to this conclusion. "What if…my vision was still open yet I try to manipulate the Wind energy particles around me?"
This hypothesis came to mind since the amount of Wind energy particles he could sense was intensified by multiple degrees. And so, Aurus opened his sense of vision and tried to manipulate the Wind energy particles to form a tornado…which actually worked.
Aurus' nonexistent eyes gleamed at the possibilities of grinding multiple skills at the same time. Since his sense of vision was closed, he could not aim skills that need to be aimed or cast skills that have a specific place where they could be casted. But now that his sense of Wind energy particles was heightened, he was now able to realize this dream.
"It seems that my grinding will get more hectic," Aurus said to himself as he willed more Wind energy particles to enter the tornado he formed, gradually becoming bigger and bigger as time passed.
He then looked at Fenrir who was waiting for his next command and said, "Fenrir, thanks for all the help. I'll call you out when we go hunt next time, okay?"
Rather than becoming sad, Fenrir was happy at the fact that it was able to contribute to its master's progress. Wagging its tail back and forth, Fenrir happily responded with a single word.
"Yes!"
Whoosh!
Aurus then commanded the system to keep Fenrir, making Fenrir disappear in front of him in an instant. After that, his aura became serious as he opened his skill screen, easily expanding the leveling plan he made a while ago.
"Alright, let's start off with these two skills!"
"[Wrath of the Spiritas]!"
"[Unyielding Spiritas]!"
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Ding!
'[Unyielding Spiritas] has leveled up.'
'[Unyielding Spiritas] has reached the MAX level.'
'The skill has met the necessary requirements and is ready to evolve.'
"Okay! Let's keep up this pace!"
…
And so, Aurus went into a skill grinding spree, not caring about his body's needs at all since he was of course, an Inanimate that had no need for such things.
After three hours have passed, Aurus was able to reach the MAX level for [Blessing of the Great Tempest] and [High Wind Affinity], evolving them without hesitation to [Blessing of the True Tempest] and [Swift Gale Affinity] respectively. It was also around this time that Aurus decided to evolve [Wrath of the Spiritas] and [Unyielding Spiritas] to B-grade for now due to their long cooldown, with the latter being evolve to its B-grade version [Spiritas Fortress] already.
Twelve hours later, [Blessing of the True Tempest] and [Swift Gale Affinity] were able to reach the MAX level, with [Wrath of the Spiritas] being able to finally reach the MAX level as well. These three were evolved to [Blessing of the Supreme Tempest], [Relentless Tempest Affinity] and [Spiritas Rage] respectively. After evolving both Wind-related passive skills to S-grade, Aurus decided to take a break from both of these skills, focusing on grinding the other skills first before pursuing the X-grade versions of these skills. The first set of skills he grinded were the three Life and Will skills.
It only took an hour of going back and forth from the Life and Will Fountain and the Sparring Tower to max the three Life and Will skills and evolve them, adding another plus sign to the end of their skill names. Not only that, [Seeker of Two Destinies] and [Grand Vessel of Higher Sentience], which were passive Life and Will skills, were able to reach Level 5 due to Life and Will points being absorbed by Aurus.
Aurus then simultaneously grinded [Tempestuous Spiritas Glide], which was almost at its MAX level due to it being used a lot throughout the X-grade massacre, and [Soul Perception II], which was also used throughout the X-grade massacre. It took Aurus around 2 days to max out [Tempestuous Spiritas Glide] while [Soul Perception II] was evolved in the middle of the grind to [Soul Perception III], easily reaching Level 9 at the time Aurus' movement skill was maxed out.
Aurus did not hesitate to evolve [Tempestuous Spiritas Glide] to its X-grade version, [Instantaneous Spiritas Movement], which was also a Special grade skill just like its S-grade form. It was around this time that Aurus finally remembered obtaining the [Spirit Gale Flash] skill from the Tempest Cliff Inheritance, grinding it alongside his Spell Core skill, his stat boosting skill, and his HP to SP skill.
After 3 days, [Spirit Gale Flash] was able to evolve to its A-grade form and S-grade form, turning into [Void Gale Spirit Shift], which definitely did not lose out to his other movement skill in terms of speed. As for the other skills, Aurus evolved his Spell Core from Middle grade to Middle-High grade, which was the X-grade version of it, evolved his HP to SP skill to S-grade, which now had a name of [Supreme Spirit-Vitality Unification], and maxed out the stat boosting skill he relied on the most and evolved it, turning into [Zenith Spirit Transcendence].
He then focused on [Century Polymorph] for half a day, evolving it to [Myriad Manifestation Polymorph] at the instant it reached its MAX level. Just when he was about to grind the two Wind-related passive skills once more, Aurus remembered that the Spirit Energy Core skill he had had finally reached the MAX level, evolving it to [Zenith Purity Spirit Energy Core] not long after.
Now, since both [Blessing of the Supreme Tempest] and [Relentless Tempest Affinity] were both S-grade, it took Aurus 5 days of comprehension and manipulation to let both reach their MAX levels, evolving them to their X-grade forms with glee written all over his nonexistent face. The names of their X-grade forms were [Blessing of the Zenith Tempest] and [Infinite Tempest Affinity] respectively.
After all of this, Aurus could not help but let out a sigh as he noticed that he had increased his strength once more without ever going out of the alliance base. Not only that, he could not help but think that he could actually become strong in a short timeframe like two weeks if it wasn't for leveling, distractions, and whatnot.
"Open skill screen." Of course, with almost every skill being evolved to a certain extent, Aurus wanted to take a last look at his skills before evolving to his S-grade form, which would definitely knock him out unconscious for a few days since he was knocked out for a day when he evolved to A-grade from B-grade.
Ding!
______
Active Class Skills:
[Middle-High Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant) Lv. 1], [Zenith Spirit Transcendence Lv. 1], [Supreme Spirit-Vitality Unification Lv. 1]
Passive Class Skills:
[Zenith Purity Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant) Lv. 1], [Spiritas Seed Lv. 10]
Active Species Skills:
[Instantaneous Spiritas Movement (Special) Lv.1], [Spirit Sword of Seven Hells (Rare) Lv. 7], [Myriad Manifestation Polymorph Lv. 1], [Spiritas Rage Lv. 1], [Spiritas Fortress Lv. 1], [Formosus Exuberance Lv. 1], [Void Gale Spirit Shift Lv. 1], [Spirit Clone Lv.1], [Spirit Aura (Rare) Lv. 1], [Alliance Call], [Judgement]
Passive Species Skills:
[Soul Perception III Lv. 9], [Infinite Tempest Affinity Lv.1], [Zenith Purity Spiritas SP Vessel Lv. 8)], [Transcendent Vitality Anima Creation Lv. 7], [Seeker of Two Destinies Lv. 5], [Grand Vessel of Higher Sentience Lv. 5], [Greater Illusion Resistance Lv. 1], [Blessing of the Zenith Tempest (Special) Lv. 1], [Power of the Alliance (Executive A-grade Variant) Lv. 5], [Blessing of the Reincarnation Goddess Lv.MAX]
Active Life and Will Skills:
[Blooming Vitality++ Lv. 1], [Indomitable Will++ Lv. 1], [Sentience++ Lv. 1]
______
Although most of the skills on Aurus' skill screen were at their initial level, what Aurus pursued was their grade levels, which Aurus was able to achieve throughout these past 10 days or so.
Taking in a long deep breath through his body, he closed his skill screen and said to himself, "I have delayed this for quite a long time. My foundation is now strong enough to fight against X-grade Inanimates while being at the A-grade."
"Will I be able to fight against Animates once I evolve to S-grade?" Aurus chuckled at this thought that formed in his mind.
"Evolve."
Ding!
This was the moment he had been waiting for. To finally get one step closer to becoming an Animate. But…
Why were there so many choices?
________
Please choose the species that you would like [Aurus — Wind Walnut Spiritas (Rare)] to evolve into:
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas – High Energistas (Rare)]
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas – Encantris (Rare)]
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas – Khyraox (Rare)]
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas – Benevoleir (Rare)]
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas Flux (Rare+)]
________
Aurus could not help but scratch his nonexistent head at the choices as all of them had overbearing names. Of course, if Aurus wanted to choose a species to evolve into that regarded the grade of the class as the highest priority, he would not hesitate to choose the latter. Yet…
"System, what does Encantris, Khyraox, and Benevolair mean?" As far as Aurus knew, there were warriors (Werei), mages (Energistas), berserkers (Belhazard), and rangers (Raneiros) in classes. But looking at these new names at first glance, it seemed that these classes were more specific in purpose.
Ding!
'User, species of the Encantris variant serve to support the other beings through their wide area buffs that could easily turn the tide when used correctly. Not only that, they could also combine and stack these buffs to their liking, allowing for multiple effects that range in strength and duration. In fantasy terms, these are the Enchanters.'
'As for species of the Khyraox variant, these variants yearn for destruction and chaos, using their knowledge of wide-area spells and skills, including debuffs, to instill not only fear, but ravage and destroy everything within their reach. In fantasy terms, these are the Destruction Lords…they could also be called the Warlocks.'
'And lastly, species of the Benevolair variant are those considered by nature as their chosen guardians, exuding a great amount of vitality in order to help other beings in need. These variants specialize in healing and buffs that are related to nature, serving as a support that is usually used in long-duration battles. In fantasy terms, these are the Oracles.'
With these words being explained by the system, Aurus decided to identify the three classes and the Rare+ class. He decided that pursuing the High Energistas class would just be redundant and would have no purpose to improve his ability as a whole.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
________
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas – Encantris (Rare)]
A Spiritas who has found their purpose of helping other Spiritii [2] through the usage of buffs that could be mixed and matched to their needs. These variants are known to be the bane of Inanimate armies, due to the fact that a single buff can make or break a fight.
>The active class skill [Spirit Enchant Core] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Negative Siphon] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Enchant Combination] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Enchantment Mastery] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Encantris Seed] is obtained.
________
"Ah. Mastery skills." Looking at the skills he would obtain once he advanced to S-grade, he remembered that alongside Class Seed skills which boosted certain stats and certain abilities, Mastery skills could be also obtained that could boost a certain class' powers, either it be damage, duration of buffs, and other things related to the class the Mastery skill is boosting.
________
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas – Khyraox (Rare)]
A Spiritas who has found their purpose of committing mass destruction and chaos through their wide-range skills and debuffs, taking pleasure in the pain they deal to other beings. Most Inanimate armies tend to avoid coming in contact with these variants due to their crazed mindsets.
>The active class skill [Spirit Chaos Core] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Dark Phantasmagoria] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Chaos Clone] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Chaos Mastery] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Khyraox Seed] is obtained.
________
________
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas – Benevolair (Rare)]
A Spiritas who has found their purpose of supporting other Spiritii through healing and buffs that rely on nature to be conjured. These variants are the bane of multiple Inanimate armies due to their ability of even reviving dead Spiritii in the midst of battle.
>The active class skill [Spirit Healing Core] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Revelation] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Codex of Nature's Will] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Healing Mastery] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Benevolair Seed] is obtained.
________
"Hmm…" Looking at the skills that he would obtain from the first three classes he identified, he felt that he would be severely limited when choosing them. First of all, two of the three classes were focused on supporting others rather than fighting on the frontlines, which was one of Aurus' favorite things to do. As for the other class that did fight on the frontlines, it was more on one versus all rather than one versus one, which would easily make him use up a lot of SP in a short time, even when fighting against one enemy.
"Haah…I hope this Rare+ class is something along my train of thought. If not, I'll have to choose between the three."
Whoosh!
And so, the final screen regarding the possible species evolution he could choose appeared in front of his field of vision. Reading through all of it in one go, Aurus' nonexistent eyes started to gleam as he muttered in his mind, 'This is the one!'
________
[Tempest Walnut Spiritas Flux (Rare+)]
A Spiritas that does not want to serve others, yet does not want to only rely on itself as well. These types of Spiritii have realized their goal of becoming a stronger type of False Animate species, grasping the profound notion of the Flux, the thing that binds their bodies' Animas together, which is also a deadly item when used correctly. Nonetheless, their flexibility and adaptability to all situations is far beyond what other variants could achieve.
>The active class skill [Flux Enchantment] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Flux Armor Creation] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Flux Weapon Creation] is obtained.
>The active class skill [Flux Sacrifice] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Nine Flux Transformation] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Flux Mastery] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Flux Weapon Mastery] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Flux Armor Mastery] is obtained.
>The passive class skill [Spiritas Flux Seed] is obtained.
________
The reason why Aurus chose this class rather than the other classes was due to the fact that this class would give him access to a feature that only a select lucky few would have access to in ISE. Although he did not know if this was the case or not, the number of his skills he would get alone serves as a good enough reason for him to choose.
Ding!
'Are you sure you would like to evolve Aurus to [Tempest Walnut Spiritas Flux (Rare+)]?'
"Yes," Aurus answered without hesitation. He was eager to find out what uses the skills he obtained would have.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
All of a sudden, the sound of the wind could be heard by Aurus, although he was still inside a secluded room. Nonetheless, he knew that it was part of the process of the evolution this time as his consciousness gradually weakened, slowly coming to a lull as the sound of the wind intensified.
From a third person's perspective, this sound of wind came from the Wind energy particles that surrounded Aurus. These Wind energy particles gradually came into contact with Aurus' body, gradually forming a cocoon of Wind energy particles that covered Aurus' body as his soul became unconscious.
Ding!
Not long after, a notification sound was heard. It was accompanied with a monotonous voice.
'[Aurus — Wind Walnut Spiritas (Rare)] has been evolved into [Aurus — Tempest Walnut Spiritas Flux (Rare+)].'
And then, after a few minutes of silence, another voice could be heard.
"Congratulations Aurus for reaching S-grade. I hope you'll like the gift I gave you before you become my weapon."
"Hehe."
--------
[1] This pertains to a new classification I made of how much damage a being can deal, the lowest being Novice and Elite being second lowest. You'll see soon enough.
[2] Plural of Spiritas