Chapter 7: Class Leveling

Now that he had become a magus, Thorian walked back to the Altar. He touched the head of the demon and tried to access his territory panel.

Display Territory

System Error…

“The Territory Altar has not been fully activated yet. Please wait until the start of the new world.”

ETA: 21:37:16

Thorian raised an eyebrow at the system before letting out a chuckle.

I shouldn’t be too greedy. The fact that I got to become a Magus even before the apocalypse started is an unbelievable advantage. Anyways, I should go bring Nox for now.

Thorian sniffed a couple of times before detecting Nox’s scent. He then rushed toward his follower with incredible speed. In but a minute, he crossed the main road and found the night kobloid searching around diligently.

“Come with me, I have already found it.”

Nox raised his eyebrows and followed Thorian with a happy expression. The two made their way to what was now the Wolvendale territory. Thorian was very familiar with the class system that the territories provided. As such, he confidently guided Nox to the Class Statue that he believed to be best suited for his follower.

The two-meter-tall statue was that of a young man clad in a cloak and a hoodie that covered half of his face. He was wielding two daggers, along with multiple small weapons stashed all over his clothing.

“This is the Assassin statue,” Thorian turned and looked at Nox. “Put your hand on the statue, and when the message appears in front of you, just say ‘Yes’. Do you understand me?”

“Nox understand,” the night kobloid nodded enthusiastically. Even though it was clear that he did not understand the significance of a class or the use of the statue, it seemed that he knew he would become stronger if he followed Thorian’s words.

Simple but good. I’m liking this little fella more and more.

Nox put his hand on the Assassin statue and a dark light merged with his body. The black aura was somehow even darker than the night kobloid’s fur, giving him an ominous feeling.

A night kobold with assassin skills, huh? I wonder what kind of advancements would be available for him when the time comes.

The black aura slowly disappeared and fully merged with Nox, and the night kobloid turned and looked at Thorian with a confused expression.

“What skill did you choose?”

Nox furrowed his eyebrows as he struggled to say the skill name, “Back-Backst… Stab!”

“So, you chose Backstab,” Thorian nodded with a smile. “Good choice, it will work well with your shadow abilities once you evolve.”

“Nox stab! Nox strong!” The night kobloid smiled from ear to ear; Thorian didn’t know if that was cute or creepy.

“Well, let’s continue our hunt,” Thorian’s expression turned serious. “We need to kill as many as we can before the apocalypse begins.”

“Apocalypse?”

Thorian looked at Nox’s confused look before sighing and turning around, “You will know soon enough.”

The two made their way in the direction of their original den for five minutes before they found the opening of a burrow. As Thorian put his hand inside, he quickly understood that it was complex and big.

“Good,” Thorian grinned, “This is a perfect place to test my new skill.”

Fireball.

A large amount of mana pulsated from his chest before making its way to his hand through thousands of channels. The mana that was traversing his body felt hot and violent, but it did not cause him pain, just a mild sense of discomfort.

Flames appeared above his palm and converged into a small ball. Thorian shoved his arm inside the burrow and launched his spell before instinctively yanking his arm back out.

An explosion shook the ground below him before flames rushed out of multiple entrances all around the two kobloids.

Level up!

Level up!

Thorian frowned at the unexpected notifications before his eyes brightened up with understanding.

I forgot about the class. That should be what leveled up. Display Panel

Ding

Race: White Kobloid

Level: 8/15 (exp: 0/110)

Class: Magus

Level: 3/20 (exp: 17/30)

Lifespan: 40 years

Cultivation realm: Qi Gathering First Stage (7.9%)

Stats:

Strength: 18 (22)

Agility: 19 (24)

Constitution: 8

Mana: 4

Qi: 1

Free Points: 6

Skills:

Minor Moon Boost (Passive)

Fireball (active)

Seeing the free points that he had accumulated, Thorian smiled. He was now finally able to control which stat did he want to raise with each level up.

My other stats increase naturally as I level up my race. I should put my points all in mana so that I can use my spells more.

Mana: 4 -> 10

When Thorian used his fireball spell, he felt that half of the mana in his core was yanked out, leaving him slightly fatigued. However, after increasing his mana stat, he felt refreshed once again. With his new mana pool, Thorian felt that he could use his Fireball skill three more times before he would run dry.

“Thoreen Strong!” Nox looked at Thorian as if he was a god. His mouth hung open and his eyebrows were raised high.

“Let’s find more burrows like these. They’re very efficient,” Thorian grinned before walking from the scene of his genocide as if nothing had happened. Nox followed shortly after him.

The two continued terrorizing the forest moving from one area to the next. Whatever animal they would find they would kill. Rabbits, hares, foxes, wolves, deers, boars, and monkeys, none were sparred. As such, three hours quickly passed.

Level up!

This time the notification was not about his class level, but his race.

Level: 9/15 (exp: 0/130)

Finally, that took a while. The sharing of exp between my race and my class is going to make progress in both of them truly grueling.

After the two had moved on from killing small and harmless animals, Thorian quickly noticed a peculiar phenomenon. The amount of experience that he gained from killing wolves was split between his race and class level. Most of the experience was going to his class level, which made progressing his race even slower than before.

“Nox, did you level up too?” Thorian turned around to see his follower finishing off the last wolf with a bite through the neck. The night kobloid yanked the dead beast to the side and walked toward him.

Blood dripped down his face as he grinned, “Nox level nine!”

“Good progress,” Thorian nodded. “What about your class? What’s your assassin level?”

Nox frowned for a second before answering, “Assassin seven!”

“I see. I guess that only makes sense,” Thorian looked down and checked his Magus level.

Level: 8/20 (exp: 3/110)

After using all his free points, his mana grew by leaps and bounds.

Mana: 10 -> 25

Even though his mana pool was less than half full, Thorian could still use his fireball spell three more times.

At this regeneration rate, my core should be full in two hours or so. That’s if I don’t use Fireball in the meantime.

As rabbits and hares no longer contributed any experience to his class level, there was no more reason for Thorian to abuse his spell. With his physical stats boosted by his passive, there were very few animals that could give him any trouble in the forest. Even a pack of wolves would fall in but a few minutes to the two kobloids’ assault.

The night sky had a slightly orange and red hue mixed with the darkness of space. The beautiful twilight was a sign of the cracking dawn.

“Let’s go back to the cave,” Thorian ordered before his serious expression mellowed to a soft smile. “Let’s show them your new self, Nox. Your strong self!”

Nox looked down with an open mouth for a second before looking at Thorian and bobbing his head up and down, “Nox Strong!”

“I feel like I heard those two words a thousand times now,” Thorian shook his head. “Let’s go.”

As the two made their way to the cave, they made sure to hunt any big or strong enough animal that had the misfortune of being in their way. The scent of blood and damp earth filled the air as they traversed the dense forest, with shadows cast by the towering trees swaying gently above them. The distance that should have taken them a dozen minutes if they ran with no distractions ended up costing them two hours. However, the upside was that they leveled up both their race and class, their increased strength and abilities evident in their every move.

The sun had already risen high in the sky by the time they reached the entrance of the cave. Shafts of sunlight pierced through the canopy above, casting a warm glow on the dark, moss-covered rocks surrounding the entrance. The sound of crunching leaves and the occasional guttural growl marked the presence of the kobloids nearby. As expected, the pack that had gone hunting in the night was back.

Inside the cave, a number of kobloids were feasting on the fresh kills, tearing at the meat with their sharp teeth. Others were busy cleaning and sorting through the animal carcasses, preparing to store or preserve the leftovers. Meanwhile, a few weary kobloids were resting, their bodies sprawled across the cave floor after a long night of hunting.

Good thing I let my mana pool fill up to the brim and didn’t use it. I will be needing it.

“Attention, Gentlemen. May I have your attention?” Thorian walked with confident steps toward the end of the cave. His boots echoed against the stone floor, a rhythm that seemed to captivate the monsters. After he passed by all the kobloids, he turned around and faced them, his voice echoing through the cavern.

“From now on, this tribe will be under my rule. I will be your king!”