A cyclone of crimson raged around Grey, his veins pumping with strength he had never felt before.
In that instant, though he had never experienced it before, he knew exactly what was happening.
He was stepping into the Established Class.
’What the fuck?’
Grey didn’t know if this was a good thing or not, it just kind of happened. There was so much energy flooding through his Frame it had no choice but to spill over into the next realm.
When he thought about it, he should have known. All six of the Abilities that made up the Frame had now made it to Level 10—scratch that, Level 11. If Level 10 was the limit of the Proving Class, then it only made sense that this would happen.
If Grey had experienced a normal breakthrough before, he would realize just how much of an anomaly this was. That was because this wasn’t a normal breakthrough at all, instead, it was a Core Sync Breakthrough, the most perfect kind of breakthrough that was possible.
There were two main ways to grow to the Established Class. One was through Abilities and the other was through Frames.
Technically, raising any Ability to Level 11 would make you of the Established Class. But if that Ability wasn’t tied to a Frame, this was the weakest sort of breakthrough you could have.
While you could make up for it by pushing other Abilities to Level 11 and filling in your weaknesses, there would always be small flaws that couldn’t be fixed without extremely special items.
The best way to break through was with a Perfect Frame Core Sync. All six Abilities would reach Core Sync, forming a union with the Frame and elevating the entire body at once.
But what made this change so powerful wasn’t just the upgrade to the Frame, it was the fundamental change to the body. What sort of bodily change this would be was entirely dependent on the Frame Type.
A Resonant Frame would form a sixth sense at the Established Class, crafting a feel for danger and external input that other Frame Types couldn’t hope to match.
The Recursive Frame’s stats would loosen up, allowing easier stat improvement through training without having to rely on the Genesis System.
The Branching Frame would loosen up one’s Frame itself. Branching Frames tended to come with several specialties and Abilities that were far more flexible.
In some cases, a Branching Frame may be able to gain more than six Abilities, or maybe they would form a Frame that could stack all six Abilities into a single slot—for example, a Frame with six Body Resistance Abilities.
And then there was the Linear Frame. The most straightforward of the Frame Types, it also had the most straightforward boost.
It made every physical stat—strength, speed, dexterity and endurance—worth more.
The amount to which it mattered more would be dependent on how good the Linear Frame was. The weakest would have a boost of 10% or so, sometimes as low as 5% if it was particularly weak.
If it was a particularly strong one, it wasn’t impossible to reach up to even 50%.
Grey didn’t receive a boost anywhere on this spectrum. The power brimming through his body was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. And the result...
—
[Name: Grey Temolt]
[Name Affiliation: Disciple of Sir Trolley]
—
[Frame: Prometheus]
[Frame: Vampire Lord (Established Class)]
[Frame: Paladin (Proving Class)]
[Frame: Helion (Proving Class)]
[Pending Quests: 1]
—
Stamina: 81/222 (+100%)
Sync Rate: 0.012%
Energy Reserve: 20.1/20.1
—
Sync Rate: N/A
Energy Reserve: N/A
—
Sync Rate: N/A
Energy Reserve: N/A
—
Sync Rate: N/A
Energy Reserve: N/A
—
STR: 76 (+40) (+100%) SPD: 104 (+100%)
DEX: 104 (+50) (+100%) INT: 61
END: 182 (+60) (+100%) PER: 73 (+50)
—
Harmonic Stats: N/A
Free Stat Points: 343
—
Abilities:
Body
Resistances: Lv14 Iron Veil (+3 Lvs); Lv6 Helion Body
Combat: Lv14 Heart Lance (+3 Lvs); Lv6 Solarbrand
Enhancements: Lv14 Hemorrhagic Regeneration (+3 Lvs); Lv6 Solar Regeneration
Mind
Resistances: Lv8 Mental Fortitude; Lv14 Abyssal Anchor (+3 Lvs); Lv8 Center of Balance; Lv8 Living Dawn
Combat: Lv14 Void Gaze (+3 Lvs); Lv6 Helstorm
Enhancements: Lv14 Crimson Cognition (+3 Lvs); Lv3 Paladin Spirit; Lv6 Helion Resonance
—
’Plus one hundred percent... Well damn.’
Grey chuckled to himself. It seemed making the Established Class was very much worth it. He was surprised that a Proving Class item like his fang set was still working on Established Class Abilities, but maybe that was just the OPness of a Legendary Set.
The +100% didn’t apply to his treasure stat bonuses, of course. But that was not a problem at all. With as many Free Stats as Grey had, he could make that go a long way.
He also felt that his ability to improve his stats now was much greater too. He would have much more room to improve now.
’My stamina is still running low, though, and there hasn’t been any notification that popped up...’
There was really only one reason Grey wouldn’t have gotten more Free Stats.
Grey looked over toward the small island and sighed. ’Here we go again.’
After swapping to his Paladin Frame, Grey’s +100% stats vanished and so did his +3 Level boost, but he needed its support to walk across the viscous lake without burning all his flesh off. The pain from earlier was still eating at him.
The lake was still bubbling even now, the plumes of the Fog of Chaos only growing greater. It pooled out of the tomb in waves.
It was probably already making its way out of the catacombs now, seeping out of the city. Soon enough, Zone 234 would become the land of ruins that Grey knew.
Well, that was his speculation anyway.
The question was whether the Bishop Calixan in the future was the real Calixan, or whoever he had become after he got possessed. It was hard to tell.
Grey shook his head and set a new checkpoint before he headed down the stairs into the endless darkness.