Chapter 59

They made their way outside the Tunnels of Grithza after Noah took one last look at the ritual symbols and erased them. Like Seth had expected, he found no other adventurer or monster as they climbed back up the stairs. 

He did see signs of recent footsteps that seemed to have been going outside the dungeon. With the portal and the king centry, they had really scared off everyone. 

Once they were out of the forest, they took a carriage back to the city. The city came into view after a while and Noah broke the silence. 

“Is there a carriage going to the academy? Or are you planning to hire someone?” he looked at Rebecca and asked. 

“We have already talked to a carriage driver who's going to Academy City of Nightshard. He's carrying some items to deliver there,” she said. “We just have to protect him throughout the week trip. He's actually waiting for a while for us to be ready.” 

“Nightshard, it's been a while since I have been there,” Noah said, looking like he was thinking back to the past. 

“What's the city like?” 

Seth asked, his curiosity piqued. Aside from Sacria City, he hadn't really explored this world. He had heard a bit about other towns and cities nearby, and even about the capital of the kingdom, but it would be the first time he would be venturing to another city. 

“It's a major city, Seth. It houses the BlackStone Academy, so it's known as the Academy City. You would see tons of mages, spires and towers that reach the sky, enchanted items that cost tens of thousands of gold coins and what not. It's very big and exciting. I'm sure you would love it.” Rebecca replied, looking enthusiastic now that they have decided to go to meet her master. “I spent a lot of time there, so I will be your tour guide once we get there.”

The carriage stopped as they talked. Noah got out first followed by the two of them. 

Looking at them, he said, “You should say your goodbye to people here. We won't know how many days it would take to return here if we actually got a lead.”

“Yes.”

Seth nodded. He was planning to do that before, but Noah had dragged him around for quests, so he had never gotten the chance to. 

They parted ways there after Noah told them that he had some things to do and they could leave in three days. Rebecca also left to inform the carriage driver about Noah coming with them. 

With nothing better to do, he decided to head towards The Rabbit Hole to rest and inform Jeff about going out of the city. 

It was already evening and walking through the busy streets, he heard a few people talked about the disturbance in the Tunnels of Grithza and felt like he needed to give an explanation to Wyatt before leaving. 

He was a bit shocked that it was already spreading through the streets, but then again, news always travelled fast. 

Reaching the inn, he saw Jeff yelling at one of the cooks. 

“I told you again and again. Don't use so much salt in the soup. It doesn't require it. You even added tangy red chilly powder over the food that we specially reserve for beasfolks. Humans can't handle that level of spice. His whole mouth burned!”

The cook, who looked to be a newbie slumped his shoulders and apologized, looking like he was going to cry. 

Feeling like he could do him a favour, Seth interjected, “Hey Jeff.”

Jeff turned around, his expression changing from a frown to a smile in a second. With a professional grin, he looked at him. 

“Seth, are you looking for a early dinner?” 

“No, it's not that,” he said and saw the cook rushing out through the backdoor behind Jeff. “I just wanted to tell you that I would be out of the city for a while. It will be more than a while, I believe.” he corrected in the end. 

“Oh? For how long?” He asked. “You didn't took a quest to exterminate a wyvern right?”

“I don't know. Two to three weeks at least,” he said. “And no, I'm not going to exterminate a wyvern. I'm going to Nightshade City with Rebecca and Noah.”

“Oh, good. A guy living here took on such a quest last year. I kept waiting for him as he hadn't paid fully for his stay, but I guess, he got eaten. Poor chap!” 

Seth didn't know what to say about that. Jeff always had such stories of adventurers. He knew half of them were baseless since the man liked to exaggerate a lot. 

“Well, I will be careful. I will be clearing the room in three days. I don't have much stuff anyway.”

Jeff nodded, “Good luck on your trip. Once you return, come back, I will keep a room for you. By then, the cook might also get better at doing his job.” 

Seth didn't stay there for longer and headed towards his room. It had been a tiring day for him and he wanted nothing more than to sleep off the exhaustion. 

Before that, he had one more thing to do. 

Opening up his status after closing his door, he smiled at the notification. 

You have reached Level 30. You have gotten the right to move to the next Rank. Do you want to evolve your class?

Yes/No

He had received this notification earlier, right after defeating those lesser abyssal horrors. But because of Noah’s pestering and the potentially grave consequences he could face if he hadn’t disposed of the pooling abysaal essence within his body, Seth had delayed his rank up for later.

Even though he could have ranked up at Level 30, and he was now Level 31, he had been forced to wait.

Now though, he had time for himself. He could finally focus on this task at hand. He immediately clicked at “Yes” and the next second, more notifications popped up.

You have decided to evolve your class.

You can choose from these five options:

Cursed Reckoner: A class that is the master of manipulating mana from the abyss, inflicting their enemies with curses and hexes. They are known to be formidable warriors alongside being assassins and whoever touches their weapons get cursed. It is Agility heavy; each level grants +5 points to Agility, +2 points to Luck, and 1 free stat points to assign.

Abyssal Exterminator: An extremely tough class known for borrowing powers from the abyss to empower their heavy weapons to wreak havoc in the battlefield. They are known to switch between an assassin and a warrior. With just one broadsword, they are known to change the tide of battles. It is Agility heavy; each level grants +5 points to Agility, +2 points to Constitution, and 1 free stat points to assign.

Death Stalker: An assassin class known to chase their enemies till they are dead. They use weapons such as knives, daggers and short swords, and are known to have excellent stealth and tracking skills. According to a quote, if a Death Stalker is after you, no one could save you. It is Agility heavy; each level grants +6 points to Agility, +1 points to Strength, and 1 free stat points to assign.

Darkhold Weaver: A mysterious assassin class that is known to search for the secrets of the abyss, having a knack for discovering new ways to manipulate and use the power from the abyss. They have the desire to piece together a darkhold with all the abyssal spells in it. It is Agility heavy; each level grants +5 points to Agility, +2 points to Wisdom, and 1 free stat points to assign.

Voidborne Assassin: A rare class that only a few people in the world had ever access to, drawing its power directly from the abyss to wreak havoc on its enemies. With an emphasis on using a dagger and being stealthy, lethal and explosive, the class truly transforms one into a Voidborne. It is Agility heavy; each level grants +5 points to Agility, +2 points to Strength, and 1 free stat points to assign.

Just like before, he had gotten quite a few options to evolve his class into. He noticed that with this rank up, he would be getting more stat points than before with each level up which was honestly quite a big thing in his opinion.

Now, what class should I go for?

He wondered, looking over them. He decided to sift through them, weighing the pros and cons of each one of them, like he had done the last time.

The first class seemed like one of a Hex expert. It was an interesting way to go, having both fighting and support skills to rely on, but he didn't see himself using curses against their opponent.

It was interesting and lethal, but he felt like other classes suited him better.

Below that was a class called abyssal exterminator.

For a moment, it reminded Seth of a fighting game he used to play. The name of his character used to be similar.

Although the idea of switching between a warrior and an assassin was interesting, the class seemed like something he couldn't get used to, especially because of how used to he was to his dagger. Any other weapon would simply lower his overall fighting strength.

The next class seemed the most interesting to him till now. A pure assassin class, focusing on stalking and killing opponents. He felt like he could use it well, but then again, till now, there had been countless situations where he had to fight head on instead of stalking someone.

He wondered if being a pure assassin even suited him.

Moving on, he had no idea what being a darkhold weaver” even meant. It seemed like a mix of assassin/mage, but with a focus on exploring the abyss? Seth doubted he wanted to do that.

Just a look at the lesser abyssal horror was enough for him to know that he wanted nothing more of it. He didn't want to go explore the abyss for magical secrets no matter how mysteriously cool the class sounded.

In the end, he was left with the voidborne assassin class.

There wasn't much information available and he didn't know what being voidborne meant, but he hoped it was simply an extension of his current supernatural abilities instead of transforming into an abyss creature. Just going by the stats, it felt like the natural evolution of an abyssal assassin.

The weapon and the emphasis on being both lethal and explosive made him feel like it was a class that would suit both stealth and head on fighting.

After thinking for a bit, Seth was in two minds about death stalker and voidborne assassin. One was a pure assassin and the second seemed like the one class that would suit him the most.

He wondered if he should simply do a toss, but in the end, he made a decision.

Sighing, he hoped it wasn't the wrong one and selected a class.

You have evolved your class Abyssal Assassin into Voidborne Assassin! You have gained +20 in all stats for evolving your class.

You have gotten new skills!

Void Blades (Level 1): An active skill that lets you conjure up blades made up of abyssal energy to launch towards the enemy. Consumes 10 mana for each blade.

Void Mark (Level 1): An active skill that lets you mark anyone with an imprint to track their location for seven days. Consumes 200 mana for each use with a cooldown period of seven days.

Seth smiled as he read up on his skills. The 20 stat points were sweet, but the two skills seemed to be the best addition to his status.

One was an attack skill that he could use in quite a lot of ways and another was a skill made for tracking someone, perfect for an assassin.

After reading through them, Seth closed his status as a wave of exhaustion hit him.

Falling onto his bed, he decided to take a nap since tomorrow, he would have to say his goodbyes to everyone he knew in the town.