Hyperion Evergrowing

Chapter 95: Split in the Road

The world faded around Leif, all details, sensations and stimulus falling away into the background. The spriggan found himself standing in an empty place, whenever he tried to focus on anything but himself he felt his attention be pulled back in.

He stood, no longer in tree form, though he didn’t notice the change. Leif looked down at his hands, they were covered in hardened bark, small ivory protrusions jutted out at random down his forearm. His body was lined in golden cracks, the amber blood within him making each seam glow slightly with every heartbeat.

Leif stood still, waiting. It was only after several minutes did he realise what he was doing, he was waiting, but for what? Or for who? He thought, casting back into his now improved memory to try and find out the reason for what he was doing. But there was nothing, back during his first evolution it had been only him and the system windows. But something deep within Leif told him that something was wrong, there had been someone else, but who? He focused his mind and tried to dig deeper, and he found gaps in his memory, small incongruences with his first evolution that in hindsight didn’t make sense.

Leif looked around the empty world, an uneasy sensation building in the back of his mind. Even as the nothing surrounding him tried to push his awareness back towards himself he dug deeper, trying to penetrate the strange void he found himself in. But there was nothing, and no matter how hard he tried there was naught but a featureless, blank world.

The spriggan straightened, trying to centre himself for the task to come. The evolution would decide his immediate future, maybe even the direction for the remainder of his second life. He could hardly afford to distract himself now.

Evolution for the [Amber Blight Spriggan] class is commencing!

Please review your current class before proceeding!

===

[Amber Blight Spriggan]

From inception you have struggled against the embedded instincts of the Darkwood. As a blight tree you fought to gain a sense of control no others of your kind could conceive of at such a young age. At every turn you took the harder path, you turned away easy meals and waged wars you should never have won.

And yet you prevailed. A noble spirit and unyielding will have guided you this far, and now the amber offers you a branch.

Symbols of authority and wealth, the amber sap within your body glistens like gold and pumps like blood. You will rise, radiance from the darkness, and hold the future with your hands.

Tier: 2 (Monster)

Level: 20/20

Class Perk:

You naturally recover from wounds at an accelerated pace. The amber blood running through your veins has innate healing properties.

+100% To the effect of enhancement (Body) skills

+100% To the effect of blood aspected skills

Growths:

Free Points: +5

Might: C

Alacrity: D

Intelligence: D

Willpower: D+

Spirit: D

Charisma: C

Base Stats: Might: +10, Alacrity +10, Intelligence +10, Willpower +10, Spirit: +10, Charisma +10

===

The system then began to list off all his [Amber Blight Spriggan] skills, most of which he hardly felt the need to review. The sheer number of skills was impressive, but also slightly frustrating. He was a single level away from fifty, but he would still need to spend quite a lot of time bringing his total down to fifteen. But there was a new skill he had only recently gained via fusion, so he took the time to reread the description before continuing with the evolution.

===

Amber Aegis:

Aspects: Technique (Shield), Empowerment (Life)* (Nature), Social*

Conjure a protective veil around yourself or a nearby target to reduce elemental damage taken and bestow a minor lingering healing effect. You may remove the healing effect of this skill to instead manifest a temporary shield around the target.

Those within close proximity of this aegis may find both your actions and its presence calming. If this skill is used for the purpose of protecting another, this skill benefits from 50% of your charisma attribute.

===

This fusion was his most complex so far, and unfortunately the stealth aspect of [Shroud of Preservation] didn’t survive the transformation. In its place he had gained the social aspect from [Under my Protection], and in his limited time experimenting with the skill it seemed shockingly potent.

It was somewhat frustrating he couldn’t figure out a way to strip the condition to gain the added bonus from his [Charisma] attribute from the skill, but he couldn’t think of a way to justify the skill functioning how he wanted without it. Regardless, Leif found himself more than pleased.

Proceed? Y/N

There was only one thing left to do, see his first option.

===

[Mature Amber Spriggan]

You have walked the path of the spriggan, using the increased mobility granted to you to explore and spread your influence in places otherwise unreachable.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

You will become stronger, move faster, and wield the power of the amber to heights unseen in milenia.

Excise the blight and step forward into a better, more peaceful future.

===

The first option was… both what he had expected, while also being completely unexpected. A basic upgrade of his current class was only natural, but Leif hadn’t even considered the possibility that he would be given the choice to remove the blight name from his species. And now that he had been given the opportunity, should he?

The blight was partially responsible for both his death, but also his return to life. The amber was something granted to him for straying away from that path. The blight, as far as he understood it, was violent and brutal. Judging by the description of the [Mature Amber Spriggan] class ‘amber’ was significantly less combat oriented.

He was a fighter, a part of him suspected that he had always been this way. Would he lose out on his offensive abilities by taking this choice? How would his skills change? [Blight’s Bounty] was a core part of his combat potential, the skill practically enabling him to drain vitality from enemies without relying on the much slower drain he could innately access.

Now that he had been given the choice, Leif considered for the first time what the consequences of being part blight may bring. Would the stronger members of his kind have some sort of control over him? Would they be able to track or use him in some way? He didn’t know, and likely wouldn’t unless he went looking for his own kind. As for the amber… the only connection he had to them was his monster class, and the strange vision connected to his soul. Was the vision broken due to him being part blight? Or was there another reason?

Either way, he wouldn’t pick anything until he had seen every option available.

===

[Mature Amber Blight Spriggan]

The blood of peace, and the blood of violence beat within your heart. You have displayed the cunning and adaptability the spriggan are known for, all the while being something unique.

The blight is as much a part of you as the amber, you strike a balance between devouring the life around you, and preserving them to live on.

Become more than what you were, the strength of age will temper the wisdom of battle.

===

And there was confirmation he could continue down his current path. Should he continue along it? Or step off to find something new?

===

[Mature Amber Bloodwell Spriggan]

Though the amber is still a primary part of your being, so too is your connection to blood and life. Unlike those who came before, your use of the amber leads you down a road slick with crimson vitality.

With one hand you may restore life to the dying, reinvigorate the injured and empower dormant bloodlines with your very presence. With the other you act as a leech, syphoning the very life-blood of your enemies to climb to heights unseen.

Your benevolence has its limits, and those who cross you will find themselves wishing they didn’t as with a flex of your will and a touch of your magic their blood turns against them.

===

Leif stared at the option, unsure if he should feel flattered or concerned. Obviously this class was about blood, blood, and nothing but blood. Would he gain access to skills like blood manipulation? Could he drain foes at a range, instead of needing to be within physical contact?

Perhaps the most interesting part of this class was the line about dormant bloodlines. What exactly did that mean? He suspected it had something to do with demikin and their monstrous origins, but just what would ‘empowering’ their bloodlines do? It was fascinating, but also somewhat sinister. He didn’t like the idea of being able to change someone at a fundamental level, altering the very blood within their body to bring out traits or characteristics of his choice.

===

[Mature Amber Drus]

Through exercising the blight and bonding with a powerful tree you gain the ability to irrevocably tie your fate and life to that of your bond.

While within the presence of your life-tree your power grows to heights beyond your imagination, your perception spreads far and wide and your very being influences and changes the world around you.

Even death may no longer be the final step on your journey .Should you find your end, your bond with the life-tree will restore you to health, though weakness may follow you for an extended period afterwards.

===

Firstly, what was a Drus? Secondly, he had already died once so the class description was inaccurate. This class was obviously related to his connection with the domain tree. Which is a much better name than ‘life-tree’. He thought.

The class description didn’t say he couldn’t move away from his bond, so he suspected that meant he would still be roughly humanoid in shape and stature. Finally the class once again didn’t relate to the blight. It was interesting that he was offered a change to his species so soon into the evolution process, since there were several options still to go.

The next class, [Mature Amber Blight Drus], was as he had expected, even the description was almost entirely the same. Become bound to a tree, gain powerful abilities while nearby. He wasn’t sure either options were the correct one for him, but both classes did bring up something he found interesting. Now that he was no longer being offered spriggan classes, he had noticed the pattern that no matter the class, it would always be associated with amber. It seemed that his choice back during his level ten evolution was far more impactful than he had realised.

A failsafe should he make a massive blunder, or encounter a foe far too powerful for him to defeat would by no means be unwelcome, but Leif didn’t know if the restrictions to being a Drus would outweigh the benefits.

===

[Amber Treant]

Hulking and ponderous, the treant acts when it wishes, and not before. To enter the land under the protection of a treant is to know nothing can do you harm, or that your demise is inevitable.

No longer constricted by a smaller stature, the treant can be mistaken for a part of the landscape should it choose, or unleash the fury of nature upon its foes. Some of the oldest beings in the world not graced with immortality belong to this species.

===

Leif read over the class description, then over the one that followed. [Amber Blight Treant] was, like the drus classes previously, almost identical. He could picture himself as one of these creatures, towering over most foes, his strikes shaking the earth. Then he pictured himself not being able to fit through a doorway. Maybe it wasn’t what he wanted.

===

[Amber Blight Woad]

The carriers of the blight, servants of the darkwoods, co-opted by the amber to serve a new purpose. A woad stains the earth with its nature, preparing the nearby inhabitants to become vessels for offspring.

It is the responsibility of the woad to spread the will of their masters, and to relish in the change their coming brings.

===

“What the hells?” Leif asked out loud, having finished reading the description for [Amber Blight Woad]. This was like several of his nightmares all neatly pressed into a single class. How did I even get offered this class? I thought the classes offered were based on the actions I take?

There was no amber only version of the woad class, not that Leif would have ever considered it.

===

[Treefolk of the Amber Council]

Small and slight, treefolk live within the branches of their betters. Those who serve the Amber Council have not existed for millenia, so it would be your sacred duty to prepare a location for the return of your masters.

Not suited for combat, the treefolk are specialised to hide from foes and stay out of reach of danger.

===

Leif looked blankly at the class. These last two options had been so far from what he had predicted he would be offered during the evolution he was almost speechless. At least I wouldn’t have trouble getting through doorways with this class. He thought ruefully.

===

[Inheritant of the Amber]

A spriggan, if only in name. As the first of your kind in many ages the inheritant of the amber stands alone, unaware of the daunting task before them.

As the first member of the newly born council, you will learn from the past before the present catches up with you.

Great power and influence await, but only if you have the drive to claim it. May you rebuild what was lost in the shadow of your kind's ancient enemies. May your sight be clear, lest you make the same mistakes.

===

This is the second time the ‘council’ has been mentioned. Leif mused, still not entirely sure how to take this newest class. It was simultaneously both incredibly sparse on details, while also revealing a great amount of information. Am I really the only member of the amber alive? And what’s this about an ‘ancient enemy’.

If there was one thing he was completely certain of, it was the class description labelling him as ‘unaware’ being perfectly accurate. It was also strange that the class didn’t have his species in the name, he suspected it was because multiple kinds of monsters could technically evolve into this class, or something similar.

He looked to the next class option, and to Leif’s surprise it wasn’t just a version of the [Inheritant of the Amber] but with blight slapped onto it.

===

[Scion of the Darkwoods]

Though you have embraced the amber, you find yourself alone, without allies, mentors or knowledge of the past. Your noble lineage makes you an interesting prospect for the blight, the blood within your veins, while different from their own, is undoubtedly powerful.

To stumble blindly and without assistance is not uncommon within the darkwoods, and those who cannot prove themselves will inevitably wind up lost, forgotten, deceased.

The potential of two ancient powers beats within your heart, perhaps instead of the amber's long awaited return, the world will see the birth of something entirely new.

===

Was… was this class offered to me because I fused several of my [Noble] class skills into my monster class? Leif didn’t know, but he found himself intrigued that not only had the class referenced his human origins, if only tangentially, but it also directly called out his current situation.

It was intriguing, while at the same time unfortunately lacking in details of the powers offered. There was one final choice, and Leif read over it while contemplating the myriad of choices offered.

===

[Scion of Aeons]

The past calls to the scion of aeons, the unearthing of history the highest calling. Secrets long lost to time may reveal themselves, lessons long forgotten coming to your aid.

At the height of their power, the amber relished the opportunity to delve into the past, ancient history as much sustenance as water and light. The amber are gone, but the secrets they uncovered, and the power that was stolen still remain.

Only those true of character and noble of purpose were worthy to walk this path, but now the door lies open and ready, none remain who would disagree to your appointment, while at the same time none remain to endorse your ascension.

Even if you are not purely a member of the amber, your deeds, past, and blood qualify you for this honour.

===

Having read over the final class offered, Leif withdrew into his mind to consider all he had learnt. Some of the class descriptions for several of the options presented before him had referenced past events that he was mostly clueless about. But now he felt as though the picture was slowly coming together.

The amber were peaceful, but their desire for knowledge and secrets resulted in them being targeted by an unknown enemy. Now as the only one of their kind left, he was potentially saddled with the same secrets, the same enemies.

The choice before him was in no way easy, he had somewhat hoped for a special ‘super spriggan’ class. Or something that would have made picking the right evolution straight forward.

Alone in the empty world, Leif sat and pondered the choice that would change the trajectory of his life.