The chimera started moving again. This time in addition to the rocks the heads were also spewing out elemental attacks. This put Alan in a tough spot.
Alan's attack rate slowed down significantly. It was cut down to a tenth of what it was before. But he didn't mind, because his primary goal now is to survive long.
Hitting the target now and then is to increase his evaluation as much as possible. The higher the rating the higher the rewards at the end. The highest rating that one could get was the SSS rating.
So Alan gritted his teeth and held on, landed the shots whenever he could, and as time went on the frequency of the chimera's attack increased and he could barely hold on.
Time flew by and Alan's hp started to drain faster than before. He got less area to maneuver than before.
After 90 minutes The attacks started grazing him more often and his hp started going down faster.
At last Alan lost all his hp and his trial came to an end. Then a notification popped up.
[
Congratulations for passing the special class trial.
Total time taken: 4 hours 12 minutes.
Bonus round survival time: 1 hour 42 minutes.
Final round total damage inflicted: 13425.
Miscellaneous trials grade: SSS
Combat round grade:SS
Bonus round grade: S+
Final grade: SS
]
Alan was relieved after seeing the grades. This grade affected how much advantage he had over the others.
And the reward for the trial is obviously the attribute points. As he got an SS evaluation he was sure he would get good bonus attributes.
The attribute points awarded for each grade evaluation were as follows-
B grade evaluation (the lowest grade) = +10 points for all attributes.
A grade evaluation = +20 points for all attributes.
S grade evaluation = +30 points for all attributes.
SS grade evaluation = +40 points for all attributes.
SSS grade evaluation = +50 points for all attributes.
He was not sad because he did not get a SSS grade because only 2 or 3 people in the history have ever got that grade, as for SS grade it would also put him in peak geniuses.
Only top geniuses have ever got an SS grade evaluation in the class selection trial. Even his brother only had a S+ grade evaluation for his class selection trial.
So now that he got SS grade evaluation he would have an easy time while undergoing test while joining the guild according to his brother. He would directly get an A tier contract for joining the guild.
As for a higher tier contract he needed to fulfil certain conditions like obtaining top 100 in the Youth ranking competition or satisfy other hidden conditions that he did not know yet.
He can still compete even after joining the guild. But his pressure will increase as the others will compare him to other geniuses from the other 2 guilds.
He could bag more rewards and resources if he could get a high ranking and gain prestige.
His brother also mentioned that there would be another way to get a higher grade contract and it will be tested by the guild. He didn't get into details in order to not distract Alan.
Now as the trial ended Alan waited for his tier transition to start. When advancing from tier 0 to tier 1 all the levels that were gained will be reset, and he will drop to level 1. But his attributes will stay intact with no changes.
It is like any level in tier 0 is treated as level 0 until you choose a class as if it is for preparing the body for class selection and tier transition.
You will ofcourse get the free attributes that you get when leveling up and the stats that are distributed according to the class you have chosen.
Apart from that his body will attain great enhancement and his lifespan will be restored to the peak of 120 years. He will be immune to the diseases that affect normal people.
Unlike other tier transitions he would not gain a tremendous increase in power but his life quality will undergo a qualitative leap from a mortal to a higher level.
Soon Alan's consciousness came back to his body and his body started to undergo some changes.
He felt a warm current flowing through his limbs. He sometimes felt delight and sometimes itchy here and there and sometimes even mind blowing pain.
He felt as if his body was broken and rebuilt again and again.
He held on and after 10 minutes which felt like a lifetime he successfully crossed the threshold and advanced to tier 1 awakener.
Then came the rewards.
A notification popped up.
[
Congratulations for obtaining a SS grade evaluation
You have received special reward
All attributes +40
]
Alan was all smiles after seeing his rewards. This could save him hours of grinding in search of attribute stones.
While he was about to check his attributes another notification popped up in front of him.
[
Congratulations for obtaining the class mystic archer.
Please choose a path from the following.
Strength based sniper archer path
Agility based balanced path
# Warning: once the path is chosen you will not be able to change your choice. Choose correctly as this may affect your future path. #
]
There are two paths as an archer he could choose now. A strength based mystic archer or the ability based mystic archer.
Strength based path will favour strength attribute when leveling up and gives passive that boosts strength. This path is suitable for archers who like sniping from a long range.
Higher strength allows the user to wield heavier high index bows and the specialised sniper bows which have a comparatively long range and power compared to other bows.
But those following this path have lower mobility, which is a trade off for high strength.
The second is an agility based mystic archer. Alan's current fighting style follows this path.
This path favours the agility attribute when leveling up with balanced strength. You will get passive that increases agility, and this path favours those like Alan who likes to get more involved in the battlefield themselves.
Even if both paths have its disadvantages it can be somewhat patched up if one pushes the attributes to the tier limit like Alan did in tier 0.
Attribute limit of tier 0 was 50 points per attribute. For subsequent tiers it is 300 points per attribute.
If one does not push the attributes to the limit in one tier and head to the next tier they would not be able to gain the attributes they could have in the lower tier. i.e, each tiers only allow the gain of a maximum of 300 points per attribute.
So missing any attributes in lower tier may affect the strength in higher tiers as attribute multiplier comes into effect. When reaching tier 2 the attributes will have a 2x multiplier.
So if you have 100 strength attributes in tier 2 you will have an effective strength equivalent to 200 attributes. Tier 3 has 3x multipliers, tier 4 has 4x and tier 5 has 5x multipliers.
And gaining attribute stones in higher tiers becomes very difficult as the attribute stones also come in tiers. So missing out attributes in lower tiers may affect strength in higher tiers by a huge margin.
Alan put this thought in back of his head. He got 20 class attribute points which were distributed according to his class and the agility based path he took. It were as follows
Strength +4, Agility +7, Physique +2, Spirit +7. If he had chosen strength path it would have been 7 for strength and 4 for agility.
He then checked the new passives he got.
[Class passive: phantom steps - silence one's steps and increase the agility of the user by 10% of the effective attribute.
Mystic mana regen - MP recovery +1% per 5 seconds.]
The class passives automatically upgrade after every tier transition unlike other passives.
He also checked the new active ability he got thanks to the SS grade evaluation- magic arrows.
Grade E : Magic arrows (0%)
Use MP to condense arrows. Deals 100% magic damage and 50% physical damage.
Usage cost: 2 MP per arrow.
This skill was a dream skill of every archer. This was very difficult to drop in dungeons. This skill when paired up with a mana regen passive results in a situation that you will never run out of arrows. Unless you use a heavy MP consuming skill.
His current mana regen will allow him to cast 3 magic arrows every 5 seconds without worrying about the MP running out. The rate will only increase as his level and spirit attribute increases.
Aside from this, the mystic archer class also allows him to learn mage class skills. This increases his overall adaptability.
Plus the active skills can now be upgraded after increasing the proficiency now that he has reached tier 1.
Alan finished checking things and got up to return.
(End of chapter)
[
Name: Alan Cross
Age: 16 [120]
Talent: gold
Class: Mystic Archer
Tier: 1
Level: 1 (0/2000)
Tier multiplier: x1
(Stats)
Strength: 74
Agility: 77
Physique: 72
Spirit: 77
Free attribute points: 10
HP: 720
MP: 770
(Elemental mastery)
Fire element: 10%
(Skills)
Active: [F]: fireball (0%)
[E]: Magic arrows (0%)
Passive: bow mastery-basic (20%)
Class passive: phantom steps, Mystic mana regen
]