The Nightshade skill tree was a vast and intricate web of abilities, each more tempting than the last. According to the system, the Nightshade class was divided into three distinct branches: Shadow Arts, Venomcraft, and Phantom Blades.
Shadow Arts focused on stealth, evasion, and battlefield manipulation using shadows.
Venomcraft was all about spreading poison and debilitating enemies through corrosive effects, weakening and draining them over time.
Phantom Blades specialized in precision strikes, delivering high burst damage, and enhancing weapons for devastating results.
Kael quickly grasped that if he wanted to grow stronger, he needed to master a balance across all three branches.
He felt the weight of the decision pressing on him. Each path was a promise of power, but which one was the right one for him?
Should he follow one branch, hone its strengths, or should he try to weave them together, create something new?
His mind churned with possibilities, but there was no clear answer.
His fingers hovered over the menu, uncertain. That's when his gaze landed on the Archetype tab.
Curiosity piqued, he clicked on it.
Five icons appeared, each glowing faintly on the screen, their designs intricate and bold. As he hovered over each icon and read the descriptions, a feeling of awe swept over him.
Archetypes—the very core of a class, a final specialization at the end of the Ascension System class, shaping the way he would fight.
Kael's heart quickened. He wasn't simply choosing abilities; he was choosing his future progression.
[Nightshade Archetypes]
[Shadow Assassin (Stealth + Burst Damage)
Description: Mastering the art of stealth and delivering devastating burst damage to priority targets, the Shadow Assassin is a shadow on the wind, deadly and swift.
Core Skills:
Shadowstep (Locked)
Veil of Shadows (Locked)
Twilight Ambush (Locked)
Shadowfang (Locked)
Death's Kiss (Locked)]
[Venomancer (Poison + Corrosion)
Description: The Venomancer spreads poison like a creeping blight, weakening enemies over time until they succumb to its relentless grip.
Core Skills:
Toxic Strike (Locked)
Virus Cloud (Locked)
Corrosive Infusion (Locked)
Lingering Toxins (Locked)
Plagueborn (Locked)]
[Phantom Liege (Critical Strikes + Mobility)
Description: With unmatched agility, the Phantom Liege strikes with rapid precision, each blow landing like a dagger in the dark.
Core Skills:
Phantom Barrage (Locked)
Deadly Precision (Locked)
Blade Dance (Locked)
Spectral Reflection (Locked)
Shadowstep (Locked)]
[Shadow Warden (Support + Utility)
Description: A master of crowd control and battlefield manipulation, the Shadow Warden shapes the flow of combat, supporting allies and confounding enemies.
Core Skills:
Veil of Shadows (Locked)
Dark Mirage (Locked)
Virus Cloud (Locked)
Spectral Reflection (Locked)
Shadow Dome (Locked)]
[Plague Reaper (Sustained Damage + Healing)
Description: The Plague Reaper is a harbinger of decay, dealing sustained poison damage while healing themselves, thriving in prolonged battles.
Core Skills:
Toxic Strike (Locked)
Venomous Reprieve (Locked)
Lingering Toxins (Locked)
Blade Arts (Locked)
Plagueborn (Locked)]
It was overwhelming.
Five distinct paths, five different futures, each one offering its own strengths and challenges.
He could be the Shadow Assassin, slipping through the shadows to strike with devastating precision. Or the Venomancer, poisoning his enemies slowly, watching them weaken with each passing moment.
The Phantom Liege called to him with its promise of swift mobility and rapid, critical strikes. The Shadow Warden offered control, the ability to manipulate the battlefield to his advantage.
And then there was the Plague Reaper, a grim reaper, dealing poison while healing, enduring the long fight.
He felt torn, the pressure of choosing suffocating. Which path would suit him best? The pressure of it all weighed on him like a suffocating cloak.
"T-this... this is too much to take in. Which path should I choose?" Kael asked aloud, feeling the weight of the decision pressing on him.
The entity, observing his confusion, tilted its head. "Must you choose now?" it asked calmly.
Kael, still trying to process the information, asked, "What do you mean? Aren't we supposed to choose an archetype to follow?"
The entity's reply was simple yet profound. "Your Rebirth Core bypasses the system's restriction. It allows you to pursue multiple archetypes. You need not lock yourself into just one."
Kael stared at the screen, his mind reeling. He wasn't bound by the usual restrictions? He could explore them all? The possibilities flooded his mind, but the excitement quickly gave way to a new problem—where to start?
"You can be a master of all Archetypes. But…" It let the word hang in the air, a warning Kael couldn't ignore. "You will need to balance them. Too much focus on one might cause the others to falter. Mastery requires patience."
Balance. Patience. Those weren't words Kael was used to, not in this world that demanded instant results and constant growth.
He was used to the grind, to pushing forward until exhaustion gave way to success. But this—this was different. He could feel the shift, the promise of something deeper, more complex.
With a deep breath, Kael began to sift through his options. "How do I actually unlock these skills?" His voice was low, uncertain as he glanced at the entity.
"It seems you need skill points to unlock them. Check your current balance."
He found the Skill Points tab, and there it was—15 skill points available.
With the entity's guidance, Kael made his decision. He would unlock at least one skill from each branch, just enough to test the waters. A small, measured start. Mobility, defense, buff, attack, and area-of-effect skills. He could always refine his choices later.
"Okay, let's lay the foundation first. I have enough skill points to unlock all basic skills to survive as a solo Ascendant player. Let's go with a mobility skill, a healing skill, a buff, a defensive skill, an attack skill, and a wide-area damage skill," Kael murmured to himself, his voice barely a whisper in the quiet forest around him.
He stared at the glowing screen, the list of skills and abilities practically mocking him with their complexity.
His mind raced. His first few steps in this new world were critical. He couldn't afford to waste his limited skill points on frivolous choices.
Each one had to count—each skill had to serve a purpose.