Max looked at all the choices he had and began considering the pros and cons of each very seriously.
This time the system had been generous and had significantly improved the quality of move-set choices in the first list, but for some reason had reduced the number of options he could select.
This time he could only choose 2 from the normal list and 2 from the class specific list for a total of four choices and he needed to make all of them count.
The first option to consider from the normal list was Ethereal Veil a defensive type move that could be deployed both for himself and on an ally.
In critical moments it was an indispensable skill to have because at times there could arise a need for him to cast protection over Asiva or Sebastian or someone he loved in the heat of a war.
The only problem was that it's strength was not enough.
The move had great physical defence but it's magical defence was not up to par, according to his knowledge, the move was one of the highest classified moves in the mage association under tier6, however, it was still not the first choice for most mages for defence type moves.
Hence, Max decided to regretfully let that move go in hopes of adding more versatile attack moves that he needed urgently.
For versatile attacks, the best one was Frostbite Totem, the move was of the ' Ice ' element nature, an element that he could not command yet and he could see the practicality of the attack
Whether it was for siege, or on an open battlefield, the move could be lethal to opposing armies who would be subjected to its relentless cold winds that had the chance of solidifying the moisture in the air to form solid ice.
Over time, it could make enemy forces easily surrender due to the unbearable cold in a siege, while making them slow and susceptible to a barrage of arrows and projectile's in an open field battle.
It was the third ice type move that he had been offered for three subsequent promotion tests, and regretfully, like each time, he had to pass on it this time as well, because despite the usefulness of the attack, it did not have much power up potential that Angakok had pointed him about during their training.
The moves he selected now were going to become his pillars in the future and he needed more practical moves rather than AOE debuff type spells.
He already had [ Nature's Whisperer ] in his arsenal, and when his mastery over it exceeded a certain limit, he would be able to create winds like those of the frostbite totem anyways, which is why he chose to pass on this option as well.
The next three choices were very hard to choose between, as Echo steel, Arcane singularity and Elemental Infusion were all moves that Max could not afford to pass on.
Had he been given three choices like every other promotion test, he would have chosen these three moves without hesitation but since he could only choose two, he needed to make a tough choice.
Arcane singularity was a void type move, one that was not available for sale in the universe.
There had been countless situations where Max felt that he needed a breather from the relentless pursuits of a group of enemies who gave him no quarter.
In such situations, if he had a move like Arcane Singularity in his arsenal, he could have created a sphere of energy and have it implode such that it would create a void and pull everything in its sphere of influence towards a single point.
With it he could have found a much needed breather and turned around many difficult situations with ease.
Since it was a given that he might find himself surrounded by multiple opponents at once in the future too, Max decided that Arcane Singularity was one move he could not pass on and decided to make it his first choice.
This brought the selection process down to only Elemental Infusion and Echo steel.
Both moves had their undeniable merits, echo steel was the ultimate AOE move as except soundmancers that were far and few it was an attack that was impossible to neutralise and could damage thousands with the same damage output.
On the other hand, Elemental Infusion have him the chance to imbue his blade with all six basic elements which would increase his damage output significantly and trigger a chance of dealing additional damage to an opponent.
It was a thorough PVP move that had a plethora of wide - range applications that one could not pass up on, so the choice boiled down to only PVP vs AOE for Max.
After thinking about it calmly, Max decided to go for PVP prowess over AOE spell, having faith that his own skills would develop to a point where he would himself be a walking AOE disaster and would not need to rely on wide-range spells to do the job for him.
With this choice made, Max had completed the normal skill choice selection and had to now shift his focus to the big guns, the most important moves that were specific only to his class.
*********
( Meanwhile Lucifer )
" For how long have you squabbled with the vampires for scraps. You are Barbarians by nature my savage king, why should you side with the light faction weaklings and follow their weakling mentality of growing economies and providing stability?
You are the most physically gifted race of them all, with even 5 year old barbaric children capable of tearing down an adult human limb for limb.
It's time for you to stop living like cowards and take your place amongst us the dark faction and TAKE whatever you want.
The vampire monarchy will be on their knees against you, the gold you need to feed your race will be plundered from their coffers.
Just agree to join hands with us and we will help you achieve everything you ever dreamt of" Lucifer said teasingly as he tried to lure the Savage King, the tier8 monarch of the Barbarians, to finally pivot to joining the dark faction.
" Your sweet words don't entice me devil, I will join the dark faction, but it's only to avoid the destruction of my kind.
I'm convinced that the light faction cannot stop your forces in the long run and will lose 1-2-3 monarchies minimum before they are reduced to a shell of their former size.
The angel Monarchy won't fall, not for the next 1000 years at least, however, nobody else is invincible.
The only reason why I joined you is because I don't want my people to be standing on the losing side, so save your sweet words for someone else ". The savage king said as he banged his warhammer against the floor, causing a loud BANG sound to be made.
Lucifer grinned from ear to ear hearing the savage kings reply as he said " Yes, we shall win indeed! But for that to happen, we need you to deploy a million Barbarians to the kingdom of death by tomorrow.
Despite our best efforts we have not been able to push Hades back, he has gotten reinforcements from the True Elites, Hazelgroove Empire, Won Knights and the Angel's and is holding strong.
To push him back we need more numbers and if you wish to stand by us in victory you need to start committing for it now "
" Aye " the savage king replied as he agreed to the arrangement.
The mercenary king Avans had already turned to the dark side, but on this day the Savage King had also decided to turn his back on the light faction as he made his decision to join the dark side.
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/// A/N - Good choices everyone, however, I'd like to point out that ice moves are my Favourite and yet somehow we can never vote on it in the end.
Frostbite Totem got the lowest votes of all in the end. ///