Atlas's gaze ping-ponged back and forth between the two women. After letting him flounder for a moment, Verian covered her mouth, hiding a giggle. Atlas could only stare at her in shock as he tried to figure out if she was playing some cruel prank on him.
Verian finally took pity on him enough to stop giggling and explain. "General Atlas told me that you're a new Vanguard in your world. Is that right?" When Atlas nodded, she continued. "Well, in that case, you probably don't have experience with races outside of humans, right?"
Atlas tilted his head in confusion. "On my planet, race is a word that breaks humans into groups based on physical traits like skin color. I'm guessing that's not what you're talking about."
"No, that just seems like a great way to cause a race to internally implode when there's already more than enough conflict to go around." Atlas wanted to defend his planet, but that was definitely true if Earth was any indication. "Instead, in most of the rest of the multiverse, races are categorized by the difference in stats and racial skills members get as they level up and evolve. Physical features can be used to recognize the race as a whole, but it's not the main point of it. Understand?" Atlas nodded. "Well, usually there are only three ways to change your race in the multiverse.
"The first is through natural evolution between ranks. For most monsters, evolving your race enough grants sentience and the ability to take on a human form, though it differs depending on the path of the individual. For the so-called 'enlightened races,' which really just means those with the capability for both classes and professions, it's the point where most evolve their classes and professions to the next step with the possibility of changing or upgrading their race if they meet the requirements and the capability exists."
"Can everyone not evolve their race?" Atlas asked.
Big A answered this one. "Most races have a limit as to where they can start, though there can be some mutations that appear here and there. My base Titano race had a cap of A-rank."
Atlas nodded before a thought came to him. "Does that mean that some races are simply inherently stronger than others? What about humans?"
Verian retook the lead. "As to your first question, the answer is yes and no. The limit is more about the rank that children can start at, making it easier to rank up and gain strength than races with a lower cap; however, that also means they generally have some kind of drawback in exchange. As for your question about humans, we're the most generic race in the universe, mirrored by our highest base rank-cap being C-Rank."
Atlas found the whole thing interesting and said as much, but he felt that they were diverging from their original conversation a little too much. "What about the other two ways that someone's race can change?"
Big A answered him. "There are several skills or blessings that can change a person's race, but they usually have specific requirements, or they only work on the person who holds them. Undead conversion is the most common way to have your race dramatically changed."
"Undead?" Atlas raised an eyebrow. The word brought to mind online stories of axe-wielding draugr, skeleton knights, and cursed trappers. "How does that one work?"
Big A had a serious expression on his face. "It's a ritual that turns the spiritual energy veins in the body of a being into miasma veins, altering the life affinity that keeps most creatures alive into death affinity. That turns someone into an undead, though the exact type of undead depends on the specific ritual and materials used."
Atlas's next question weighed heavily on his mind. "In Earth media, the undead are usually depicted… poorly, and turning into one is never done by choice, except for certain sparkly vampires, maybe." He smirked even though he knew no one else would get the reference. He sobered up as he asked, "Is that the case for the multiverse? Can someone be forcibly turned undead?"
Big A's already serious expression turned downright somber. "Atlas, the answer to that is… complicated. How familiar is your world with the concept of the soul?"
Atlas scrunched his brow at the question. He wiggled his torso slightly to get more comfortable as he regained some feeling in his upper body and thought about it. "We… do have some ideas of it," he said hesitantly. "But, it's debated pretty heavily, and no one really knows for sure."
"Well, the soul is the vessel that holds all of the information that makes you who you are. It is multi-layered, and the deeper in the soul one goes, the more secure and untouchable the information is."
This information was absolutely fascinating, but Atlas stopped himself from going too afield as he realized where Big A was heading. "How deep is the information about someone's race stored?"
Big A thought for a moment. "If I had to guess the astral body, which is the informational basis for physical appearance and racial traits, is stored halfway to the Origin, the center of the soul, which only the System can access."
Atlas looked at the big man for a moment. "How do the Undead convert people if it's so difficult?"
"The Origin aside, the soul can be affected by others in two situations, forced and voluntary. Forced manipulation of the soul can be done, but it is usually only seen in the case of inspection skills, soul attacks, or telepathic and empathic abilities. Any more than that it becomes nearly impossible for anyone short of a god to make serious changes to even an F-Rank." Atlas filed away the existence of gods for a later date.
Big A continued. "Voluntary soul changes are still extremely difficult, but they allow outside sources to directly interact with specific layers of the soul and make changes without fighting through and damaging others. This allows larger transformation-based factions like the Undead Republic or Automaton Technocracy to convert other races to their own, usually through special rituals or skills unique to certain paths."
"So, to become an undead, you have to willingly change, or be risen from the dead as a risen corpse?" Atlas clarified, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Exactly," Big A confirmed. "Though any corpses risen from the dead will retain none of the original memories of the living person."
"Makes sense. So the system can change your race between ranks or in special cases, and factions like the Undead can do it with rituals or skills." Atlas counted them off with his fingers. "You mentioned three ways. What's the third way?"
The three faces across from him darkened, even Amaryllis's which surprised Atlas.
"Existence torture," Verian spat.
Atlas had no idea what that meant, but her tone told him enough. "I'm guessing that's what the Tainted did to you."
She gave a dark, humorless laugh. "You would guess right. The Taint crawls inside of both your physical and Astral bodies, and it corrupts both of them, breaking down anything that stands in the way. The body is primed for any changes, and any layers before the Astral body are also corrupted. Extreme personality changes can occur, though not everything changes, and the consciousness is usually suppressed. It is an agonizing process that leaves the soul completely aware of what is happening to them until they give up, and it will shape them into a Tainted being, usually a Grunt.
"As you increase in rank, you regain sentience, but you feel yourself breaking apart and becoming more and more corrupted, both physically and mentally until you're completely loyal to the Tainted." Both she and Amaryllis shuddered at the memories, and Atlas sympathized with them at the horrible experience. "It's horrible and completely inescapable… at least, it should have been." Atlas felt her gaze bore into him. "You, however, a weak human who hasn't even fully integrated from an outlier planet, managed to do what no one else has done before, and you not only removed the Tainted's influence, you purified it. I want to know how."