Chapter 80: Evolution, the Third

Rear Admiral Naiser had said there were further reinforcements incoming, tracking explicitly the “cosmic anomaly” known to those stuck inside as the home of The Error.

Which meant that one thing was certain: Derek did not even need to consider picking a [Class] tailor-made for the current situation. Unless something truly disastrous happened, he could afford to take the long-term view even in the present clusterfuck.

Congratulations! You’ve managed to reach the third Evolution Threshold.

Based on your current achievements, Skill Levels, and Aspects, you have unlocked several new Classes. If these options do not satisfy you, you may choose to leave this screen and continue to rack up more prerequisites, but you cannot increase your Level beyond 50 until you evolve your Class.

Here are your possible Class Evolutions:

Eldritch Defier (legendary)

The absurd. The horrific. The unnatural.

That which is fundamentally incompatible with ordinary reality, let alone conducive to living a normal life.

This Class belongs to those who have stared this concept in the face and seen it submit before them, granting immense mental fortitude against all manner of obstacles, simultaneously allowing them to empower their own abilities with an echo of what they have endured.

A living infohazard, with magical might to match, built for sheer bullheaded stubbornness, capable of overcoming just about anything.

Seeker of the Ineffable (legendary)

All of science, all of human advancement, the entirety of mankind’s knowledge base, is merely an approximation of the true state of things.

The true state of things is something more … nebulous. Distant. Untouchable. A state of being so delicate the mere act of putting it into words distorts its meaning to the point of losing its unique truth.

The Seeker of the Ineffable chases this truth nevertheless, their insight eventually surpassing what would normally be the limits of mortal understanding. And with this understanding, what isn’t possible?

This is not a Class that offers power. It offers the potential to gain such absolute mastery of one’s abilities that raw strength becomes a distant secondary concern, for the Seeker of the Ineffable will be beyond it.

Cosmic Magus (legendary)

Magecraft takes the rules of reality and breaks them over its knee.

Druidcraft amplifies the rules of nature to produce decidedly supernatural effects.

Witchcraft is the art of symbolism, and evoking effects based on a logic all its own.

The Cosmic Magus … they are all of the above, and none of it. Wielding spells based on the very cosmos itself, striding across the universe as easily as walking out to get the newspaper, they are truly powerful within a scope that might be narrow yet is so chock-full of potential that one can spend lifetimes exploring without ever reaching its bounds.

This Class enhances spatial manipulation, teleportation, and grants vast insight into the very cosmos itself, which can lead into the creation/useage of grand workings based on the natural goings-on of the universe.

Galactic Explorer (legendary)

The Milky Way is a big fucking place, being comprised of four hundred billion stars.

The universe is a far bigger fucking place, containing two trillion galaxies.

And the Galactic Explorer is the madlad/madlass who tries to see everything, allowing them to find the places to be and understand what there is to do.

Create mineral surveys at a glance, decipher a language and a culture after a handful of shared sentences, and learn to cut through even the thorniest diplomatic messes with the scalpel of diplomacy, all in a day’s work.

However, this Class’ greatest power is the ability to, when the user’s home galaxy has been fully explored, bring them to the next one. All it takes is a pilgrimage to the galaxy’s heart. And, of course, for this Class to have been chosen.

Cosmic Whaler (legendary)

Yeah, yeah, killing whales is bad. No one is going to disagree on that, no one worth listening to, at least.

Cosmic abominations larger than any whale possibly could grow to be, in any environment, on the other hand? Those are (or at least should be) fair game.

The Cosmic Whaler is all about finding and bringing down the grandest of beasts from the “safety” of one’s ship … of course, the foes of the Cosmic Whaler tend to be of the variety that can turn said vessel into kindling without ever really realizing it.

Raw power. Raw durability. Raw everything.

A way to find a target to unleash these on.

And numerous ways to benefit from the kill.

Bringer of Destruction (legendary)

It is always easier to destroy things than it is to build them.

Yet creating a truly spectacular level of destruction is still far harder than it looks. Especially destruction whose scale is utterly disproportional with the originator’s actual level of power.

Like Oppenheimer.

This Class is that of the omnicidal maniac, the conqueror, the destroyer of worlds … or simply someone who compensates for a lack of diplomatic skill with raw firepower.

Everything about it is about increasing offensive power, or granting opportunities to bring said power to bear.

As per usual, there were several options, almost all of which were good, meaning it was time to trim ruthlessly, to narrow it down into a choice he could more easily make.

For example, [Eldritch Defier] was an excellent [Class] for his current problems, but too narrowly focused on only that. Though the fact that he’d gotten a [Class] like that at the rarity he had was telling of the danger he’d gotten into.

In the meantime, [Galactic Explorer] was solid for what Derek wanted to do, just not what he kept finding himself doing, namely, fighting his way out of some downright absurd situations.

Of course, the idea of being able to, somehow, move between galaxies was all but making him salivate, but considering how much trouble he’d managed to get them all into just in a tiny slice of the Milky Way, could he really afford to focus on increasing the number of hornet nests he could whack, over getting a beekeeping suit … well, he was mixing metaphors, but the point stood.

Also, now that he knew there was a way to move between galaxies that did not involve half a century’s worth of travel, that was worth a lot all on its own. “The first step in figuring out how to make something happen is knowing it’s possible in the first place,” or however else that saying went.

Would it be easy to figure out another way?

No.

Nevertheless, Derek made sure to transcribe the [Class’] description into his phone, and then save a backup to the ship. And update his will to ensure that that hint got passed on to the scientific community at large if something happened to him.

Because the fact that the “heart of the galaxy” could be used to move between galaxies was a very important hint. It was even obvious what it was referring to. Sagittarius A, the titanic black hole that held the whole mess together. And wasn’t that fascinating …

But in the end, he did not need an exploration [Class].

Getting raw firepower and letting himself get led around by [Call of Adventure] wasn’t exactly a great plan either, but hopefully, eventually, that particular [Skill] would advance to a point where he could judge the risk of chasing a given adventure.

Then there was [Cosmic Whaler]. The name was a big “WTF” in Derek’s mind, but not something that would ever have stopped him, had the [Class] itself been better.

It wasn’t.

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Because, at the end of the day, sadly, monsters were the least of his worries out here, present situation notwithstanding. Though the ability to heavily empower the Dragonfly with their kills was rather tempting …

Which left three options: [Seeker of the Ineffable], [Bringer of Destruction], and [Cosmic Magus].

[Bringer of Destruction] was raw power in the form of his ship. Simple, arguably even elegant, considering the specific armaments wielded by the Dragonfly. It was certainly strong, strong enough to compensate for what looked like a near-total lack of flexibility.

Besides, he had versatility in spades from his previous [Classes], and the thought of walking into almost any situation with the bigger stick made his heart leap higher.

Did it fit him, though?

Either way, it was an incredible ship-focused [Class] he’d no doubt earned for his part in creating the blankets of dust and ash covering the sky overhead.

[Cosmic Magus], on the other hand, was a pure magic [Class]. Cosmic effects, meaning stars, spatial manipulation, gravity, etc. A direct enhancement on the cobbled-together tricks Derek already used.

Like the description had already said, it provided a narrow scope of abilities compared to magic as a whole, but said scope was so vast he could still spend a lifetime within. Something that, admittedly, had already been the plan, not that he’d ever actually clearly outlined that for himself.

And [Seeker of the Ineffable] … Derek honestly wasn’t sure how to read that one. Hell, he’d even had to look up the definition of the word. Apparently, it referred to something too immense, too impressive, too overwhelming to be put into words.

The power to perfect spells and [Skills] and everything else based on truths as grand as the [Class] promised was attractive, nay, seductive, yet at the same time, it felt too nebulous. Too ... well, “wishy-washy” felt rude, but that was what it felt like.

In his mind, it was the same flavor of bullshit as all things eldritch, just without any “corruptive” implications.

Now, Derek would never call himself a scientist, nor shun the more absurd and nonsensical side of reality, but the idea of making it his entire build for the next fifty Levels …

If he was entirely honest with himself, there was not a single [Class] he could choose that would not have him second-guessing himself for months, if not years to come. There were just too many good options, and if he were somehow capable of grabbing everything, that would honestly make him near-godlike. Or at least put him on the path of getting that kind of power. The [System’s] inherent limitations were, well, inherent.

So, there was a choice: a [Class] that seemed to fit him like a glove, and offer absurd power, or one that might give him all the power?

Which meant it all boiled down to one question, really: who was Derek Thoma? Was he the sort of man who could make full use of this level of metaphysical absurdity? Of concepts on the true extremes of reality?

Derek could admit he was someone who dreamed big, and the path to realizing said dreams was all too often letting his natural stubbornness kick in and spending time until the hurdle was surmounted. Yet his dreams were never quite of the “pie in the sky” variety. He wasn’t entirely sure he could dream dreams as grand as to “touch the ineffable.”

But what if he could? What if it was possible to brute force “The Ineffable” by simply never giving up? Or should he focus on something more in line with his current focus, his current way of doing things?

And without ever really noticing, he’d dropped [Bringer of Destruction] from contention.

Now he just needed to make. A. Goddam. Choice.

[Seeker of the Ineffable] or [Cosmic Magus]?

Esoteric knowledge growing into phenomenal cosmic power, or regular cosmic knowledge growing into absurd cosmic abilities?

Derek’s fingers drummed on the armrest of his chair. Part of him wanted to just flip a coin, but the sheer absurd stupidity of that action was quite obvious. He needed to make a choice, and it did not feel like he had a real basis for doing so.

Not picking [Seeker of the Ineffable] felt like giving up on himself.

Not picking [Cosmic Magus] felt like running off to chase a pipe dream.

Not picking either … well, that was just dumb.

In the end, he did go searching for a coin. Not because he’d actually let it make a choice, but because he felt that maybe if he did throw it, some surge of hope for what he wanted subconsciously would help him figure it out.

Not that he wound up needing it, in the end. Because, for whatever reason, he found himself growing more and more wary of the idea of “the Ineffable.” Of things that, by their very definition, were something that could not be touched, and perhaps should not.

Because was it meant to not be corruptive, but did that make it safe? For all that he’d brute-forced his way through a lot of other situations by simply not stopping when any reasonable person would have stopped, hell, when even most unreasonable people would have called it quits.

And part of him feared that “the Ineffable” might be the one topic where that kind of mindset would cost him more than mere “time.”

He only looped that particular train of thought a handful of times before finally coming to a decision: [Seeker of the Ineffable’s] name could also be read as “Idiotic Pursuer of that which will forever be Unreachable.”

Even if all other issues were found simply within the confines of his imagination, endlessly chasing something truly, definitionally, conceptually, beyond his reach might still drive him to madness.

Fucking with the fundamentals of reality, on the other hand?

Derek started at his right palm, and how space was warping and bubbling above it as he exerted his will upon it.

That kind of cosmic malfeasance was right in his wheelhouse. He slammed his fist shut, watching space around it ripple. The effect was directly created by him, of course; warping space by raw strength alone was beyond everyone, but he allowed himself the small indulgence, a grin splitting his face open as he finally made his choice.

[Cosmic Magus].

And then, the instant the [System] would allow him to level beyond 50, he spent the rest of the XP from the bombardment spree to boost himself all the way up to 61, earning himself eleven [Skill] points and two hundred and twenty Stat points.

Because from the third Evolution onwards, the gains per Level changed yet again. The Stat point grew for the first time, doubling from ten to twenty, while the increase in [Skill] points fell to just one per Level, where it would stay forever. Though given that he’d have until Level 100 before having to pick another [Class], the total number of points he’d have to get [Skills] was actually the same as for [Stellar Captain].

Of the Stat points, he put twenty into Magic Power, and split the rest equally between Agility, Fortitude, Strength and Perception, to prevent his physicality from falling too far behind.

So, once he was ready to act without his body suddenly overdoing even the simplest actions, he continued on to read the [Skill] list.

And what [Skills] they were …

Stellar Captain

Central Skills

Cosmic Awareness

Cosmic Event

Skills

Gravitic Domain

Stellar Body

Starforge

Ineffable Touch

Unreality

Grimoire of the Cosmos

Dance Across the Universe

Hardened Mind

Big Bang

Aeon Soul

Spatial Tear

Universal Stride

…

Derek began to all but drool as he read through the list and skimmed their descriptions.

Admittedly, a couple were right out: [Chimera’s], uh, everything rendering [Stellar Body] utterly superfluous, and being a crafting [Skill], [Starforge] was something he could cobble together on his own. The result would not be as good, but it’d be free, and leave him free to buy something that was not.

Like [Aeon Soul], which, despite the name, had very little to do with time. Instead, it provided a massive degree of protection against hostile spatial effects, even beyond what the Aspect-based [And I Shall Not Be Moved] provided. And, given certain other conditions, it even stood a good chance of letting him subvert the effect of something brought to bear against him.

Or what about [Grimoire of the Cosmos]? It could not only massively speed up casting ability, but also scaled with his knowledge of a given spell, as well as the underlying physics, insofar as that applied.

And there were even multiple options for teleportation, each covering a different application in a way that could fundamentally reshape the way he fought battles.

But it was the two Core [Skills] that most drew his attention. Hell, which other options were there, really?

[Cosmic Event] and [Cosmic Awareness].

The first would be his first cooldown [Skill], an ability that had its own separate mana pool that could be used to unleash a specific and inordinately powerful effect, while having a set minimum interval between uses, irrespective of how quickly one was able to recharge it.

And not only that, it could have multiple different expressions … with the small caveat that he’d have to create them himself, and that they’d have to be based on some kind of, you guessed it, cosmic event.

That was actually a massive boon in the long term, but the fact that it’d need some doing before he was able to use it was a concern for the very near future.

The other [Skill] was similarly self-explanatory. It granted awareness of the cosmic, and allowing him to sense the manipulations of the cosmos by others was only the start.

Automatic and complete awareness of enemy teleportation efforts was already broken as hell, considering what it took to move through space at a “reasonable” pace.

It also helped grant the kind of insight he’d need to craft even more spells that were all his own. [Spatial Detonation] and [Spatial Collapse] had already proven themselves invaluable, and as useless as [Spatial Divide] was in its present form, its potential was amazing. And [Cosmic Awareness] was perfect for, uh, perfecting it.

Plus, it gave him real-time data without light-speed delay across a far greater distance than his current, Aspect-based ability, which, in turn, translated into a massive tactical advantage while also being pretty neat for navigation.

It was yet another “long-term investment,” though. And direct offensive power he didn’t have to build … well, actually, he would have to build it, but it’d be more a matter of channeling the [Skill] into a shape it’d accept, rather than having to create a new spell wholesale. But the point was that [Cosmic Event] was a much more direct power-up than [Cosmic Awareness] …

You know what? This felt like something he should hash out underneath the stars. Or at least what he could see through the dust clouds unleashed by the bombardment.

So he did just that, heading outside, only briefly dropping by his cabin to grab a spare hoodie to ball up and rest his head upon.

And barely a minute later, he found himself lying atop the Dragonfly, wedged in between one of the secondary lasers and a sensor cluster, staring up into the dust-filled sky, the occasional glimpse of a star to be seen, though it still made him grin.

“Power or information … that’s the question …” he muttered to himself, continuing to stare skyward, not really even paying attention to the fact that he’d just said that out loud. Not until someone answered.

“In my experience, you can always get power with information. Doesn’t work so well the other way round.”

Derek spun around to come face to face with … Isaac.

“I mean, even if you had the ability to make information just pour out of anyone just by punching them, which you don’t, knowing who to beat up for info is still just another form of information.”

“I …” Derek’s voice failed him, trying to figure out whether to address the deeply disturbing metaphor, or ask the questions burning on his lips, leaving him tongue-tied for just long enough for Isaac to speak once again.

“I got here literally five seconds ago. And I’m here to tell you we’ve got a way to get the hell out of here!”