The First Class Evolution
The choices appeared without warning. I hurled a Lesser Flame Bullet—whoosh—boom! One of the fleeing fire monkeys let out a choked cry as it collapsed. I walked over slowly and finished off the burning creature with a stomp.
‘Oh, the Flame Bullet really has gotten much stronger thanks to Obez’s Blessing. It’s practically incinerating them in one hit now.’
“We let four of them get away. What a waste.”
“Hey, Suran. Why the hell did you spam your skills back there?”
“Ugh, seriously? I help and you still complain~!”
“The rear support team might show up any minute. Let’s move to a safer spot first.”
While the other hunters weren’t looking, I secretly tossed a few fire monkey corpses into my inventory.
‘Wangwang, you little rascal. This is how much I think of you.’
In truth, I was more interested in the potential of the Lesser Conversion skill, but I still hoped the little guy would appreciate my effort even a little.
We moved a short distance and settled by a stream, scrubbing away the sticky blood and chunks of flesh that clung to us.
“Wow, Yeonhee, you were incredible back there. I expected the skeleton soldier to be strong, but I never imagined you could control two lizardmen at the same time!”
“Huh? Ah… yes, yes…”
When Han Manwoo suddenly switched into full praise mode, Yeonhee grew flustered and could only stare at the ground as she answered.
“But can your mana handle all that? Earlier I saw you summon ironclad beetles and slimes too. Honestly, I was shocked. Is this what the first class looks like?”
“Yeonhee, why don’t you just join our party!”
“Would you like to come to our team?”
“Uncheol, Suran… you can’t just throw out offers like that… Please think before you open your mouths. Sigh…”
Han Manwoo had probably been trying to slowly build up goodwill, but his blunt younger companions had just torpedoed his entire plan. Still, I could see real potential in him as a leader. Uncheol, despite being a bit clumsy, had shown solid defensive skills. They both passed my evaluation.
‘That Suran girl is a little lacking, but overall, not bad.’
I nodded in satisfaction and turned my attention to the mage. She had already pulled back the hood of her robe and was drinking water. Her beauty was striking. If Yeonhee was a flower still in the process of blooming, then Yu Dali’s looks were already close to perfection.
‘With that level of ability plus her appearance, she must have received tons of scouting offers. Why hasn’t she joined a team yet?’
Maybe she simply hadn’t found anyone she liked, or perhaps, like Yeonhee, she preferred fighting alone. Her total mana pool seemed a bit low, but…
Anyway, that was enough thinking about others. It was time to check my own status.
“Let’s rest for five minutes before moving out again. Can you have Yeonhee’s summons keep watch?”
“Understood…”
“Wow~ Summoners really are the best.”
Yeonhee must have found the constant praise embarrassing, because she scooted right up next to me. I gently wiped the sweat from her forehead, then pulled up the message I had pushed aside earlier.
I read through the familiar lines until the final paragraph hit me like a hammer to the skull. My mind went blank.
Level up.
Please select three stats to increase.
Obtained a low-grade magic stone. The stone has been moved to the summoner’s inventory.
After distributing your stats, please select a class for advancement!
‘What the—? For real? I can change classes too? Then…’
It meant that simply using a summoning scroll wasn’t the end of the line. But in my memory, I had never seen Yeonhee command any higher-tier versions of skeleton soldiers.
‘What’s going on? Hmm… I’ll think about that later.’
Traits: Cold Reason, Protection, Thievery, 98 Lives, Adhesion, Obez’s Blessing
Skills: Heavy Strike, Stealth, Dagger Throw, Acid Spray, Lesser Conversion, Reckless Charge, Lesser Flame Bullet
Equipment: Kobold’s Crude Stone Hammer, Big Bore Leather Armor
I dumped all three stat points into Strength, Agility, and Mana, then waited for the change. A message I had never seen before appeared.
Skeleton Soldier — One of the most basic forms of the undead. Initial stats are extremely low, but if you survive the early stages, rapid growth can turn you into a powerful warrior.
Special Benefit: Growth experience requirement reduced by 20% (+10%)
Skeleton Heavy Infantryman — Possesses the highest defensive power and stamina among undead. Capable of predicting where enemies will attack, making it an ideal guardian for allies. If you can compensate for its low attack power and slow speed, it becomes the optimal choice.
Special Benefit: Base defense increases with each level. (+20)
Skeleton Bomber — The most alien class among melee-focused undead. A battlefield slaughterer that leads combat with mana bombs. Extremely high attack power and receives positive bonuses to all mana-related abilities. However, strength growth is restricted.
Special Benefit: +30% damage when attacks hit enemies.
‘Whoa… what the hell is this…’
My head went completely blank. Even my Cold Reason trait struggled to shake off the confusion.
‘Hoo… Let’s calm down and read it again.’
I let out a sigh that didn’t actually exist and examined the options one by one.
‘So the growth experience requirement was lower than normal. No wonder I leveled up so fast! How was I supposed to know about a hidden benefit like this?!’
Still, after living as a skeleton soldier for several days, I didn’t have any major complaints. This option wasn’t bad at all. A 20% faster growth rate was an advantage I couldn’t easily give up.
‘I’ll keep this one on hold… Next, Skeleton Heavy Infantryman.’
The most attractive part was obviously the special benefit. Defense increasing by 1 with every level, plus the ability to predict enemy movements. From the description alone, it seemed perfect for protecting Yeonhee.
If I wanted to live as a tank, choosing the Heavy Infantryman made sense. But the mention of low attack power and slow speed suggested hidden penalties. Since I hadn’t even known about the special benefits until now, those listed drawbacks would probably come back to bite me later.
‘This one feels the most ambiguous. And then there’s the Skeleton Bomber…’
I was genuinely surprised when I read the description. It aligned perfectly with the ability I had been trying to obtain inside the Dungeon of Nargul.
‘Did my desire for that kind of power somehow get reflected? But it feels too coincidental to be pure chance…’
My head suddenly throbbed. Still, I would have to make a choice eventually. Right now, while clearing the dungeon and protecting Yeonhee from multiple enemies, the Heavy Infantryman seemed correct. But considering the tank-type lizardmen that would keep appearing in the future, the Heavy Infantryman’s role would become awkward.
‘How am I supposed to stop Jo Giman? Would knowing where he’ll attack even make a difference?’
I recalled the man’s movements and shook my head. In my mind, he had already driven a blade into Yeonhee’s throat at the exact predicted moment, then looked at me with a mocking smile.
‘No… A passive stance like that won’t work…’
From the very beginning, I had wanted to deliver an overwhelmingly powerful single strike against him. My heart gradually leaned toward the Bomber.
‘Hmm— I’ll have to change classes once I get home.’
Switching classes in front of other hunters would be suicidal.
“Shall we get moving? Mage, how much mana do you have left?”
“Less than thirty percent. Please avoid large-scale battles for a while. It will take at least an hour before I can cast magic like I did earlier.”
“An hour… Understood.”
Even after recovering for an hour, she would still be under ten percent. She probably wouldn’t be useful again until at least two hours had passed.
When I glanced at Yeonhee, the corners of her mouth seemed to be slightly raised. She must have been feeling satisfied as she sensed her mana recovering at a rapid pace.
Less than five minutes later, we encountered traces of another monster.
“Sniff sniff— The stench of rot is thick inside that cave. There’s probably a large number of slimes in there.”
We had discovered monster presence in a medium-sized cave we happened to pass by.
‘So that Suran woman has an enhanced sense of smell. She does have some useful qualities after all.’
I raised my evaluation of Suran, narrowing the gap between her and the two men. We entered the cave without hesitation and pulled out torches infused with mana.
‘There’s so many… They’re literally covering the ceiling.’
Clack—
“That’s way too many. At least forty of them. What the hell have they been eating in here?”
The question was soon answered. Three half-skeletonized human corpses and several kobold remains were scattered across the floor.
‘Idiots. They chased the slimes all the way into the cave and got swarmed?’
Even though they were E-rank, the difference between E and F was paper-thin, so it wasn’t impossible. Still, the sight of human corpses instinctively filled me with disgust, and my brow furrowed.
“Let’s clean up these damn things so we can move on comfortably.”
I wanted to finish quickly, but when there were this many, caution was necessary.
‘But I have the perfect anti-slime skill. Hehe…’
The Lesser Flame Bullet only consumed one point of mana, and I could prepare them in advance and stockpile them, making it incredibly useful.
Whoosh— Boom! Boom!!
I threw all ten of the Flame Bullets I had prepared earlier. The creatures on the ceiling couldn’t withstand the flames and rained down onto the floor with heavy thuds.
“Did the skeleton soldier have a skill like that?”
“He used it earlier too. It’s seriously insane.”
‘Well… I guess it can’t be helped. I knew this would happen the moment I entered the fire monkey dungeon.’
I had revealed my ability faster than expected, but what was done was done. Cleaning up the slimes that had all fallen to the ground after the fire spread across the ceiling was incredibly easy.
In the end, we exterminated all forty slimes, collected their cores, distributed the loot, and set off down the path once more.