Guild Wars Chapter 716 - Essence's Resolve

Chapter 716 - Essence's Resolve

"It's about time." Essence Stalker muttered to himself as he gazed at the Rank 7 Guild Hall before him. He wore an expression of solemnity and valor, as he planned to take on one of the heaviest and craziest tasks available to a player. 

Essence was going to Cla.s.s Up into a Divine Cla.s.s! 

During the First Inter-Player International Compet.i.tion, he had easily dominated everyone with ease, causing widespread depression, desolation, and fear. Essence had enjoyed the feeling of the ma.s.ses looking at him and realizing that he was simply on a different tier. 

However, his fight with Kiran had left him feeling unhappy, stifled, and aggrieved. How dare that fellow with that yee-yee a.s.s haircut actually make him sweat in battle, forcing him to transform? 

As for the beat down by Draco's Avatar, Essence had no qualms with that. 

He had long since accepted the gap between him and Draco, yet he still intended to rival him in terms of battle technique quality because he also had an innate technique generator. 

Right now, Essence was one of the select few who had Control at Tier 3 thanks to his bloodline. Draco and Eva stated that it was possible for those with enough bloodline power to even reach Tier 4, but that would be their limit. 

Tier 5 and beyond was something only those at Draco and Eva's level could hope to unlock. This didn't bother Essence. His power stemmed from four different things, his bloodline, his techniques, his Control, and his cla.s.s. 

Of the four, his bloodline was the most difficult to train because of the raw power of his Affiliated Serpent, the Aurora Serpent, which was a G.o.d Serpent of the lesser array, one that had not been noted down in mythology. 

His techniques were making progress, but they needed one thing, and that was time. He would have to spend ample time refining and honing them in live combat and intense training, there was no shortcut for that. 

His Control was just explained. He might be able to hit Tier 4 later on, but that would also take a heck of a lot of training and time, according to Draco. Not to mention, that fellow Kiran also had the potential to reach it thanks to his dual bloodlines. 

And so, this left Essence with his cla.s.s. His current one was among the top Legendary Cla.s.ses for sure, something that very few in the world had. However, it was something that almost all the core members had, and the gap was beginning to narrow. 

Nevertheless, his cla.s.s was one thing that could be strengthened in a short amount of time, only that the cost was high, and the risk was great. Still, Essence straightforwardly entered the Guild Hall and used the elevator to get to the Training Hall. 

When he was walking towards a private room, he coincidentally happened to pa.s.s by Shadowheart, the inheritor of Ouroboros. The two stared at each other with furrowed brows as they pa.s.sed each other by, feeling a strange resonance between them. 

"…not one of us nine, but something not too far off? Fascinating." Essence heard the other fellow mutter to himself, wondering what that was about. 

He shook it off and entered a private room. Without further ado, he called up the necessary screen. 

｢System to Player Announcement 

a.n.a.lyzing player stat allocation… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

a.n.a.lyzing player skills… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

a.n.a.lyzing player physique… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

a.n.a.lyzing player equipment… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

a.n.a.lyzing player techniques… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

a.n.a.lyzing player cla.s.s paths… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Player a.n.a.lysis complete. New options available. Display? 

Y/N ｣ 

Essence naturally chose yes. 

｢Paragon of s.p.a.ce – Cla.s.s 

Rank: Divine 

Success Chance: 10% 

Price: 10,000,000 platinum per attempt｣ 

｢Aurora Lord – Cla.s.s 

Rank: Divine 

Success Chance: 70% 

Price: 1,000,000,000 platinum per attempt｣ 

｢Dragon King – Cla.s.s 

Rank: Legendary 

Success Chance: 40% 

Price: 1,000,000 platinum｣ 

｢Devil Lord – Cla.s.s 

Rank: Legendary 

Success Chance: 40% 

Price: 1,000,000 platinum｣ 

｢Halberd Champion – Cla.s.s 

Rank: Epic 

Success Chance: 60% 

Price: 100,000 platinum per attempt｣ 

｢Dragon Knight – Cla.s.s 

Rank: Epic 

Success Chance: 60% 

Price: 100,000 platinum per attempt｣ 

｢Devil Enforcer – Cla.s.s 

Rank: Epic 

Success Chance: 60% 

Price: 100,000 platinum per attempt｣ 

As Essence was a dual Inheritance user of the Serpent G.o.d Inheritance and Dark Angel Inheritance, he also had the same options for the Dragon and Devil cla.s.ses that Draco did back then, however, his chances were far higher than a certain MC's. 

Well, it was kinda obvious, since the Draco back then had only been a measly Avenger with an Epic Dragorugio set, one or two Divine Items, Rank 1 Subjective Magic, and elementary control over his bloodline. 

On the other hand, Essence was currently wielding a Legendary Cla.s.s and his weapon was a Legendary Halberd, custom-made by Draco, as well as a custom-made armor set. He was also at Rank 3, so if his chances were lower, it would not make sense. 

Initially, Essence was coming here for the Paragon of s.p.a.ce Cla.s.s, but paused when he saw the Aurora Lord Cla.s.s which was also Divine. 

'Strange, something like this didn't appear before.' Essence noted with a frown. 

Of course, Essence was unaware that the AI had Draco, Eva, and Shangtian's bloodline sources and was a.n.a.lyzing and deriving them every second of every day. It continually made new discoveries, which it added to its database. It had only recently unearthed some details about the Aurora Serpent and how it fit within its digital world. 

So Essence now had a new option. 

Essence had about 2.2 billion platinum in total, most of his money gained through investing in the Rank 7 World Bank. He was previously one of the richest players with 1.2 billion platinum thanks to his Aether Conversion skill Draco taught him, and making short-term investments at such a huge amount lead to some nice profits overtime. 

As such, he felt he could afford to experiment, thereby choosing this Aurora Lord cla.s.s. While it did sound a bit weird, he hoped it would be unique enough compared to Paragon of s.p.a.ce, which was a 'typical' Divine elemental cla.s.s. 

Basically, anyone with enough s.p.a.ce mastery could try for that cla.s.s, and there would not just be one Paragon of s.p.a.ce, there could be many depending on the skill of the candidates. 

For Essence, it was better to get something tailored for him, even if it wasn't as popular or had as much potential as the alternative which was 'open source'. 

As such, he made the payment and was whisked away immediately into blackness. 

When he appeared, Essence noted that he was floating in s.p.a.ce, all around him planets in their solar systems and stars s.h.i.+ning beautifully as the universe continually expanded. 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Beginning Aurora Lord Cla.s.s Up Procedure. Standby.｣ 

With such a lovely backdrop, he was shocked to find that he was currently standing atop a line of colorful energy, one that was wavy and seemed to partially zigzag all over. 

He was standing on an actual Aurora Borealis in s.p.a.ce! 

It wasn't as ethereal as it looked from Earth, looking very thick and corporeal here. Not only that, he noticed that it was almost endless, starting from a point he couldn't see and ending at a point he could not fathom. 

It looked somewhat similar to that famous stage from Mario Kart where people always fell off the edge. 

｢Aurora Lord – Divine Cla.s.s Up Procedure 

Description: Aurora is not just a visual phenomenon, but a special type of energy. It is a naturally occurring energy that exists for a brief period during the formation of the universe, and is responsible for creating the foundation of the universe. As a being that is infinitely close to the essence of Aurora, discover the truth of this energy and how it relates to you. 

Rewards: Divine Cla.s.s - Aurora Lord｣ 

Essence read the details of this cla.s.s and was astounded. He had heard of Aurora Energy thanks to the discovery of the Evil Duo, so he had a fair idea of what it was. 

The theory was that Aurora was a 'starter' energy while Origin was a 'running' energy, but on a universal scale. Just like how the energy that was used by your car to spark itself was different from what it used to stay on and move. 

So Aurora had similar properties to Origin, much like how Internal Force was similar to Kiran's n.o.ble Energy. However, it only existed for a short period of time and was replaced by Origin Energy after everything was set up. 

Draco was only lucky to encounter it because his Inner Universe had been budding at the time, so Aurora Energy had been - and still was - present there. 

But what did this mean for Essence? 

｢System to Player Announcement 

The objective of the Aurora Lord Cla.s.s Up Procedure has been set. 

Player Essence Stalker must find the source of Aurora to clear this task.｣ 

Essence Stalker's expression changed. He turned to face the road of Aurora behind him that seemed endless and smiled bitterly. 

"Welp, looks like I'm gonna have to mimic Goku and cross this 'snakeway'." He muttered with resignation as he began running. 

Since he had access to his cla.s.s powers and abilities, he ran for a bit hem transformed into a Void Dragon. In this form, he shuttled through s.p.a.ce itself, not just fly, so he was crossing hundreds of kilometers a second. 

Yet, up until the transformation wore off, he still did not see any change around him except the change in nearby planets. That at least helped him narrow down his position and rea.s.sured him that he wasn't moving in circles. 

When he changed back, he grumbled unhappily before using his mama to cast his spatial abilities to teleport forward as far as he could go. When he ran out, he would allow it to recharge slowly by running while singing to himself, something he used to do when he worked out back then. 

The moment, his mana refilled, he was off again into the sunset, like a vehicle that hit nitrous from slow driving state. 

Essence could not tell you how long he had been here or how much distance he had traversed. It felt like he had run around Earth's circ.u.mference 300 times in terms of distance and had spent up to around a month here. 

He had his Dark Angel Inheritance and Control Tier 3, so his mental fort.i.tude was not akin to a normal person who would have broken down long ago. Rather, he was still largely unaffected by this laborious task. 

After about what felt like three times the total period he had been here (up until the last sentence), Essence finally saw a change. At the edge of his vision, he saw a glowing white portal from which the Aurora Energy appeared to look through, entering the universe. 

What shocked the fellow was that, within the portal, stood the silhouette of a woman who seemed to be arrogant and peerlessly beautiful. For some reason, Essence felt that this woman was familiar, so he tried to rush closer. 

However, he felt the world around him tremble as the Aurora Energy bridge beneath him retracted slowly, beginning to disappear while Essence himself was pulled out of that strange realm. 

The darkness took over him, returning him to the private room he had started from unwillingly. Essence wanted to go back dearly, for he felt like he had touched upon a taboo so deep it might shake the foundations of reality. 

He sighed and lower his outstretched hand that had tried to grasp something weakly. His familiarity with the silhouette in that portal made him feel intimate, so it could not be Zaine, Eva, Hikari or Roma. 

It had to be someone he knew and loved, so to be honest, the idea of that made him feel uncomfortable. At this time, the AI finally made itself known. 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Calculating potential stat allocation… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Drafting potential cla.s.s skills… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

a.s.sessing current player physique… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Inspecting cla.s.s equipment… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Corroborating possible techniques… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Predicting potential cla.s.s paths… ｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

New cla.s.s a.n.a.lysis complete. Display? 

Y/N ｣