Chapter 217: Ascension of the Assassin Class

The moment Luke accepted the class evolution, five options appeared before him. Artemis stayed quiet. She always did that when something important came up, giving him space to make the decision on his own. She didn’t want to influence his choice.

It struck him that maybe he had been too hasty. He could have waited until he was somewhere calmer instead of standing in the middle of a ruined street. Sure, nothing was likely to attack him here, but making a decision like this with a clear head would’ve been better… not minutes after nearly dying in an intense fight.

He read the first option.

[Demonic Assassin Veteran]: You have walked the path of blood and death, showing no mercy to anything that stood in your way. Your blade has fallen on both the guilty and the innocent, each life taken etching marks into your soul, but also hardening your body and your resolve.

As a Demonic Assassin Veteran, you have mastered the use of knives and light blades, blending speed with brutality in close combat. Through blood and savagery, you grow in strength, aiming to reach the pinnacle, the Berserker Demon Blade.

Powerful abilities born from death, blood, and fear await you. Your path is drenched in death, and you have accepted it. Now, nothing can stop you.

(Attribute Bonus per level: +10 Perception, +8 Agility, +5 Strength, +5 Endurance, +4 Vitality, +4 Intelligence, +6 Free Points.)

Luke felt the weight of those words. It was the natural extension of the choice he had made months ago, in that forgotten temple dungeon when he had faced down criminals, long before this cursed tutorial. Now, the path was offering to sharpen him even further.

But one line clung to him. “Your blade has fallen on both the guilty and the innocent…”

His mind went to Angelica. Out of all the lives he had taken, hers was the only one that haunted him. Even in sleep, she was there. And in a way, she was still here, her preserved body resting inside his dimensional pendant. He planned to take her back to Earth one day, to bury her far away from this prison of a world.

He didn’t just blame himself for killing her, she had been dying already, and she had asked him for help, but for everything else. If he had seen through Paul earlier, she might still be alive. He pushed the thoughts down and focused.

This class gives me forty-two attribute points per level.

His first class, Assassin, had given him a mere six per level. Later, his major breakthrough had led him to Demonic Assassin, which had boosted that to twenty-one. Now, this would double it again.

“So at level fifty there’s a massive jump in power,” he thought aloud. “If someone didn’t get lucky enough to evolve before level fifty, then that means anyone past that point is automatically a far stronger opponent, right?”

Artemis was quiet for a moment before answering.

“Hmm… yes. Level fifty is a wall. The gap between forty-nine and fifty is huge. But don’t think someone who mutates their class before fifty is just lucky. Ask yourself this, have you managed to unlock a profession yet?”

Luke paused, then realization hit.

“No… I haven’t gained a profession. At least not on my own,” he admitted.

“Exactly. The system balances itself. You managed to snag a strong class early, but in return, you never picked up a profession. And I’m not even talking about anything rare. You could have unlocked something simple, cook, tailor, survivalist, anything. But the system kept it even. People who didn’t evolve their class before the mandatory evolution had an easier time acquiring professions, gaining extra attributes through them,” Artemis explained.

It made sense. The more he thought about it, the more it clicked.

“So that’s why Samael gave me a profession?” he asked.

“Probably. But don’t think of it as cheating. If the system allowed him to give you one, then it’s fair game. After all, there are ways to get professions through tutorial quests. That’s the point of a tutorial, offering multiple paths forward.”

Luke nodded slowly. Her explanation fit. It was all about balance.

“But still,” he reasoned, “I’ve unlocked more combat-oriented abilities than someone who focused on a profession. Even if the attributes were balanced at first, in a fight I’d have the upper hand, right?”

“Not necessarily,” she countered. “The multiverse is vast. Life isn’t just about killing things to get stronger. If it were, civilizations wouldn’t advance. Outside of this insane tutorial, people live normal lives. In Divine Orders, a master blacksmith, a skilled administrator, or a talented swordsman hold equal value. Everyone excels at something.”

Looking at it from that angle, Luke saw her point.

This class says I’ll unlock skills tied to death, blood, and fear. Definitely leaning into the berserker side of things.

It was another reminder of something he couldn’t ignore, class evolution didn’t just boost stats, it also set the tone for his skills. When he mutated into Demonic Assassin, he had gained things like Basic Blood Regeneration and Wraith Form, abilities a plain Assassin could never get. Theme mattered.

His gaze shifted back to the list, sliding down to the next option.

[Black Raven Scout Apprentice]: The Scouts of the Black Raven Order are masters of infiltration, espionage, and manipulation. You now begin walking this path, seeking to become a true expert in stealth and intelligence gathering.

Killing is only the final step. The real art lies in extracting what matters from your targets, secrets, weaknesses, hidden lies. You will be as much a keen analyst as a relentless killer.

Beyond exploration, you will follow the Raven’s Path, awakening skills tied to the cunning of the Order. Observation, strategy, manipulation, and infiltration will be as sharp as any blade you wield.

As a member of the Black Raven Order, you will belong to one of the most secretive factions in the multiverse. Few know where its true base lies. Even fewer have survived crossing paths with a Raven.

Long live the Empire of the Hidden! May the raven’s call be the last thing our enemies ever hear.

(Attribute Bonus per level: +12 Perception, +8 Agility, +8 Intelligence, +5 Strength, +5 Vitality, +4 Endurance, +8 Free Points.)

This class granted a total of fifty attribute points per level. He didn’t have to think too hard about it. If forty-two points per level was already incredible, well above what his current class offered, this one added eight more on top. An even bigger leap. But there was a catch: it was tied to a Divine Order.

“Scout?” He studied the option again, reading it twice.

The Black Raven Order was clearly a mysterious Divine Order, its entire purpose revolving around secrecy and concealment. The irony was that they hadn’t even listed the god behind it, as if even that detail was intentionally hidden.

Still, the class itself specialized in gathering intelligence on enemies, something Luke had learned to value deeply. Preparation was essential to an assassination. His last two powerful foes had only fallen because he had taken the time to learn about them first. In a straightforward, no-prep duel, he would’ve been crushed. Without analysis and planning, the Fallen Stone Angel and the Beast Lord would have killed him without effort.

Information needed to be sharper than any blade. Like the class description said, killing was the final step. The true art lay in acquiring the knowledge to make that kill possible. The old Luke, the one who had charged headfirst into a fight with a Captain Orc or the Electric Manticore without a plan, wouldn’t have lasted a second against the angel or the giant serpent.

A class focused on strategy, intelligence, and analysis… It almost felt like the god behind this had noticed his planning style and extended an invitation. Or maybe it was just one of that god’s servants.

He didn’t know how the offer had reached him, whether it was triggered by some obscure event, a coin he had picked up by chance, or a direct investment from above. Attribute-wise, it was stronger than the previous class, but accepting it meant binding himself to a Divine Order whose patron deity he didn’t even know.

He decided to move on to the next option.

[Bounty Hunter]: You’ve left behind the narrow path of the common assassin and stepped into the life of a true bounty hunter. No matter how strong or dangerous the target, you’ll always give everything you have, respecting the prey, but never abandoning your right to claim what’s yours.

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For some, the reward is just money or power. For you, it’s both.

As a Bounty Hunter, you seize every opportunity to track, kill, and rise higher. Your combat mastery expands, you refine your skill with knives and other blades, learn the use of crossbows, and master the art of creating traps and strategies to overcome any challenge.

Stealth or raw offense, you walk both paths with equal determination, gaining skills from each. After all, for you, every kill is just another step toward the real prize: claiming what’s rightfully yours.

(Attribute Bonus per level: +8 Agility, +7 Strength, +7 Vitality, +6 Endurance, +6 Perception, +4 Intelligence, +7 Free Points.)

This one offered forty-five attribute points per level.

A bounty hunter…

It didn’t feel like something handed down by a god. More like the natural branching of his own choices and actions. Still, one detail caught his eye, the mention of crossbows. He reread the description, noting the emphasis on traps and strategy. Maybe it came directly from the way he had fought his enemies.

He remembered what Samael had told him during his profession evolution: every path you choose is a door to new skills tied to that choice. No going back. And the higher your level, the harder it becomes to earn new skills. That meant he had to weigh this carefully. Picking something for a “potential future” was pointless if he didn’t even make it back to Earth. His priority was surviving the tutorial, finding out the truth about his mother’s death, and getting home. For that, he needed raw power.

But what exactly would a bounty hunter’s skill set look like? Was he supposed to be some kind of Boba Fett?