Chương 185: Divine Evolution

Meno was still too hyped from Chain Madness to care about the wall of notifications flooding his vision. Three loot beams rose from the dead Cryarch, bright columns cutting through the crater while the upside-down mountain faded overhead. After 24. 4 seconds of full-send swinging, Meno's arm still felt ready to keep going. The XP notifications forced themselves into relevance first. Progress past Level 100 had already slowed into a wall, but killing the Level 104 raid endboss did not merely push Meno toward 102.

It blasted him through 3 levels at once. [Level Up! | Level 104] Karmabeast reached Level 103. BrineSaint and Kestrel both jumped from Level 93 to Level 98, while Arayu went from Level 90 to Level 95. The raid had turned into an XP cannon for everyone involved.

"You know," Karmabeast said, "you could have smashed three Augments onto Chain Madness and made it even stronger."

"No. That might have pushed it over some power threshold and caused another preemptive shutdown. The skill was already enough. No reason to risk it."

"You lost it," Karmabeast said.

"If that wasn't strong, what is? That skill is getting deleted. Yeeted. Guaranteed."

"Why?" Meno asked.

"It's mostly trash. With the new Attack Speed caps, even two-handed maces can reach 10 attacks per second, one-handed swords can hit 30, and daggers can hit 40. Chain Madness is only broken with Massive weapons because it doubles their cap for free while giving a huge Attack Speed buff. It also shuts off cooldown recovery and deals ridiculous damage back to the user. Basically the worst skill in Veyrath."

WORST SKILL JUST KILLED RAID ENDBOSS IN 24 SEC PBG BALANCE DEPARTMENT MOSTLY TRASH BTW AI PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM CHAIN MADNESS DEFENSE ATTORNEY"If you look at it that way, I can see why the AI allowed the skill through," BrineSaint said.

"Except we just watched you delete the endboss in less than 30 seconds."

"That whole logout charade was something else," Kestrel said.

"I'm impressed."

"Guys, focus on the spicy notifications," Arayu said.

"Yay, our Divine Keys got upgraded!"

"Vote first," Kestrel said.

"Before we lose PBG to another tier list based on nothing." Meno opened the first notification and immediately started regretting it. By the time he reached the bottom, every warning sign in his brain was flashing. [World First: Road to Rimvolen] Reward: [World Path Vote] Each party member receives 1 hidden vote. The majority decision is final. [1] Unlock [Rimvolen | Level 105–134]. [2] Unlock [Rimvolen | Level 105–134]. Cap Maximum Level at 104 for 7 days. [3] Obey Excrino. Free Morvarenax.

Rimvolen will transform for the worse and remain temporarily inaccessible. [4] Betray Excrino. Manifest Firentaz and surrender Rimvolen's fate to him.

"Karma, Arayu, don't click anything," Meno said.

"These two already picked option two for sure."

"It's the best option for Veyrath," Kestrel said.

"You still get Rimvolen, but everyone gets time to clear Fractera content and catch up on gear before you push world state progression again."

"By everyone, you mean Crownfall, right?" Meno asked.

"Obviously," Kestrel said.

"I want to keep pushing too," BrineSaint said, "but my team is way behind in XP and gear. I can't leave them there. They'll also want to go for Divine Keys next week, although I'm not convinced the last boss is killable for anyone else without stacked gear. Maybe my Divine Evolution can make up some of the difference."

"Sorry," Arayu said.

"I got excited and already clicked." Meno did not want to spend the next week stuck at Level 104 while everyone else caught up. Not even slightly.

"What did you pick?" Meno asked.

"I was going for Tyrant too, remember?" Arayu said.

"Pretty pointless now, but option three sounded the most fun-fun."

"Arayu, you are so smart," Karmabeast said.

"Like, I am impressed. You found the very best option. Simply awesome. I just want you to know I fully support you." Arayu folded her arms.

"Can you be more cringe? Maybe add most beautiful, cutest, smell like sunshine, voice like an angel, your favorite queen." Karmabeast nodded with complete enthusiasm.

"Arayu, even in VR when I take a whiff of you, I smell the fresh morning roses open my nostrils. Your voice is okay, I guess, and you are not a queen, but my favorite princess. You are the cutest, like a small cat scared by its own beautiful shadow." HE KEPT GOING OPEN MY NOSTRILS???? ARAYU PLEASE CAST FIREBALL ROMANCE TORMENTOR EX KARMA HAS ZERO FEAR"The shamelessness," Arayu said.

"Listening to you gives me brain damage."

"Please. One disaster at a time," Meno said.

"Option three is pure RNG," Kestrel said.

"We have zero clue what freeing Morvarenax means. Don't touch it."

"Pick option one," BrineSaint said.

"It's two-two right now. That forces a no-majority result. If the system resolves that itself, it'll probably default to the safest outcome, and that should be option one." Meno shook his head.

"That assumes the AI breaks it itself. If it kicks the decision out to a world vote, option two wins instantly and I'm locked out for a week." He selected Option 3. [Vote Concluded: A portal has been provided to Morvarenax. You may free him personally.] Warning: Entering the portal will remove you from the Raid Instance with no way to return. If Morvarenax is not freed within 3 hours, Option 2 will be selected. A black portal opened beside Velnir's corpse. That was a bummer.

Meno had expected voting for the dangerous option to count as actually doing the dangerous option. Instead, Solar had assigned homework.

"About what I expected," Kestrel said.

"At least there's still hope. I'm definitely not going in there."

"Okay, let's see the Divine stuff," Meno said. He opened the next notification. [World First: Conquest] Road to Rimvolen has been conquered under Conqueror conditions for the first time. All Divine Realm Key (Solo) rewards from this clear have been upgraded to Divine Claim. The first Conquest requires no further trial. [Divine Claim] Requirement: Level 100 Begin Divine Ascension immediately without entering a Divine Realm or completing a Divine Realm Trial. Consumed on use. Divine Ascension cannot be reversed.

FREE DIVINE EVOLUTION??? NO REALM TRIAL FIRST CONQUEST BONUS IS INSANE THEY SKIPPED THE GOD BOSS KARMA LEVEL 103 EATING GOOD"Huge. We got the Divine privileges. Why are you guys not more hyped?" Meno asked.

"I am excited," BrineSaint said.

"Maybe because we aren't Level 100 yet and can't even see the options," Kestrel said.

"Plus, you just decided to blow up Rimvolen. Other than that, I'm in a pretty good mood."

"I can see them," Karmabeast said.

"There are thirteen total, but they're restricted by class. Rogue gets seven options. I think each Base Type gets seven."

"Did you already pick?" Meno asked.

"No way. I'm waiting for the PBG tier list, then I'll pick whichever one you forget to put on again." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Chat approved of that strategy far too much. Meno activated his Claim, and a new warning covered the center of his vision. [Divine Ascension] The first player to Ascend will permanently change Veyrath. Think carefully. Mortal Pantheon has no effect on Divine Evolutions. Are you ready to be the first?

Select a Divine Evolution for both Main Class and Dual Class. Mandatory. Main Class and Dual Class must select different Divine Evolutions. All Divine Evolutions possess [Flight].

"Insane," Meno said.

"I also get to pick one for my Dual Class."

"Conquerors eating good," Arayu said.

"Juicy, succulent, and moist."

"The AI might have added that just to get rid of the Titan skill you slipped past it," BrineSaint said.

"Classic management move," Kestrel said.

"Promote the problem to vice president of marketing so it stays out of the way. Still, this changes a lot."

"Thanks for the analysis, Mr. CEO," Karmabeast said.

"Also, I don't see any limit on how many people can hold each one."

"Maybe it only tells you after someone picks. Could be a different limit for each." Meno expanded the Ascension menu.

"Just open my stream and look at the options. Avoid Karmabeast's. You might get a virus."

"Hey! I just had my flat fumigated. No viruses here. You could eat off the floor, it's so hygiene." SO HYGIENE DO NOT EAT FROM KARMA'S FLOOR MAGICIAN HOUSEKEEPING PASSIVE DIVINE ASCENSION INTERRUPTED BY FUMIGATION Meno started reading. The first god had three Evolutions listed beneath his name. [Muran, Where Worth Is Judged] MOURNFALL Wrongdoing is not answered until the one responsible is confronted and defeated. Your attacks accumulate delayed judgment that strikes the target after a fixed duration.

(Available to: Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, Archer)"This one sounds like Infernal," Meno said.

"Hit fast, build, then boom. Must be better in every way." He moved to the next. SCORNO Worth is only real when it survives direct opposition. Deliberately weaken weapon attacks to build toward a temporary weapon of overwhelming scale. (Available to: Warrior, Paladin, Archer, Rogue)"Reads like Tyrant but dumber," Meno said.

"I definitely don't want to weaken my attacks in any way. Am I really supposed to pick based on this much?"

"Karma, read that flair text for Scorno real hard," Arayu said.

"Then harder."

"Huh? It's a lie. My worth is perma-maxxed." HARGRAVER Once victory is certain, further punishment is no longer justice. Repeatedly spare opponents with deliberate misses, turning continued opposition into overwhelming punishment. (Unavailable. Available to: Archer, Mage, Priest, Summoner) Meno reached deliberate misses and mentally deleted the option. Good thing Warriors could not even pick it. Punishment was irrelevant. Victory was victory, and victory had nothing to do with justice.

This was clearly designed for confused healers. Next god. [Veyra, Where Creation Has No Permission] CONSENU Nothing that already exists has the right to decide what may be created next. Damaging hits build Marks that can be consumed to create increasingly powerful Beams. (Available to: Mage, Priest, Summoner)"Beams?" Meno asked.

"What does Beam mean in Veyrath terms? Are we talking about the kind that punctured Fractera when I used the Divine Teardrop?"

"We can't pick Consenu anyway. Who cares?" Karmabeast said.

"Even the flavor text is confused. Right to decide, blah blah. I believe in democracy."

"You are a Tyrant," Kestrel said.

"What he means," Arayu said, "is that he likes other people deciding things so he can stay in his capsule undisturbed."

"Exactly," Karmabeast said.

"That's why your gym requirement is anti-democratic."

"It's called a pussy filter," Arayu said. Chat became useless for several seconds before Meno continued. VIRUN Life belongs to what can survive, reproduce, and continue beyond itself. Die and return on a fixed cycle, turning each death into persistent damage effects. (Available to: Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, Priest, Summoner)"This is the Honeygrave option except with a weird death gimmick," Meno said.

"I get Eternal flashbacks from anything that says 'die.' This one resurrects you, but what about just not dying?"

"DOTs are just trash for PvP," Karmabeast said.

"People who know what they are doing will pick skills like your Crownmind to delete it."

"Damage over time is very strong in PvE," BrineSaint said.

"You don't need full uptime and can focus on mechanics. Especially in a Conqueror setup like this where we had to move constantly." ALLDECREN If survival demands a new form, the old one has no right to remain. Utilize specialized Minions whose power changes according to your physical position relative to them and their target. (Unavailable. Available to: Archer, Mage, Summoner)"Minions… next." Firentaz came after Veyra.

[Firentaz, Strength Above Conflict] EGONTANT When great powers cannot restrain themselves, something stronger must decide where the conflict ends. Projectiles leave persistent points that connect into damaging Lasers across the battlefield. (Unavailable. Available to: Archer, Mage, Priest)"There is a ranged Laser option, so Beams and Lasers are different." Meno considered the flair text.

"This is also cooked. If someone can tell the great power what to do, they are also a great power, therefore most likely cannot restrain themselves either. It's like an ouroboros but with three people."

"You mean Trianguboros?" Karmabeast asked.

"That's nonsense," Meno said.

"PBG, you know Beam means girth, Laser means pew-pew," Arayu said.

"I use pew-pew for arrow shots," Meno said.

"Don't confuse the two." Arayu held one palm toward Meno.

"Tztztz. Tztztz. Tztztz."

"Most lasers are invisible and don't make a sound," BrineSaint said. Arayu slowly rotated her hand toward him.

"Tztztz. Tztzz. Tztztz."

"Please spend one day outside the capsule out of every two," Kestrel said.

"You need it." Meno continued reading before Arayu could laser everyone out of existence. UBRENTAL The safest war is the one no enemy dares to begin. Each repeating combat cycle grants one devastating attack whose power increases the earlier it lands. (Available to: Warrior, Paladin, Rogue)"Now this one packs a punch," Meno said.

"Although it has the safe keyword in the flair, which means it's optimizing for the wrong thing. Clearly the safest war is the one you already won, because if nobody dares to begin it, it's not even a war." PBG REVIEWING DIVINE PHILOSOPHY GODS GETTING THEIR FLAIR TEXT FACT CHECKED UBRENTAL STOCKS UP SAFE WORD DETECTED FFF TIER"Just focus on the mechanics," Kestrel said.

"Flair is often misleading." SACRIMAR If containing a monster requires becoming monstrous, containment still comes first. Spend repeated lives carrying the suffering of your allies, making each witnessed death increasingly dangerous to your enemies. (Unavailable. Available to: Paladin, Mage, Priest, Summoner)"This one sounds evil," Meno said.

"That's why it's not available for Warriors, since clearly they are all good."

"You are the monster it tries to contain," Karmabeast said.

"This is the anti-Swing Master Evolution."

"Makes sense," Meno said.

"That's why the entire Evolution is designed around dying." Then came Delfor. [Delfor, Where Every Trial Demands Another] ADRENALIS Only the threat of genuine failure can force out your full strength. Repeatedly fall to 1 HP under near-total Spell protection, turning every successful defense into greater offensive power. (Available to: Warrior, Paladin, Rogue)"Actually good?" Meno said.

"It's impossible for anything with 1 HP in the description not to be good." 1 HP DETECTED PBG FOUND HIS RELIGION ADRENALIS CINEMA BUILD ONE HP = DAMAGE SOMEHOW"Only thing that is a bit sus is near-total. I would prefer total. Defense must mean stuff like Parry, Deflect, Block. Which means this thing will use a shield, but it's not a tank because nobody tanks with 1 HP. Weird."

"Pick this," Arayu said.

"It's the cinema option. We want to see your full strength, PBG. That 25-second boss kill was just warmup, right? What was that thing you said about juice flowing? This is the squeeze."

"Block needs capped Defense, just so you know," BrineSaint said.

"Which means Plate."

"Maybe the block doesn't have to be effective, just happen. Who knows," Meno said. OBSOGON Difficulty is not the price of victory; it is the reason victory matters. Accept deliberate control and range restrictions to multiply the power of Skills used under those restrictions. (Unavailable. Available to: Mage, Priest, Summoner)"Egobait," Meno said.

"Victory matters because you won. It's that simple."

"Power of Skills might mean Multi-Action," Kestrel said.

"It's one of the best possible stats for almost everyone. Range restriction must mean melee range. Big-damage melee-range burst caster." PROGREX Progress is real when success becomes the weapon. Reach a threshold, become stronger, and reduce the requirement to reach that same threshold again. (Available to: Warrior, Rogue, Archer)"This one is smooth. Reverse Swing Master?" Meno read the line again.

"Only issue is I don't like number going down. Number must go up. Even if it's technically a good thing, it's going down for this."

"Yes," BrineSaint said.

"This one reads as the most ramp-focused of the options so far. Fits you perfectly."

"That's the bait," Meno said.

"Sounds good, but if number goes down, it means it will hit a limit eventually. That means it's constrained. Otherwise it would be by far the strongest option." Meno traced the description with one finger.

"Like, you can only gain the buff after you hit the threshold, but once the requirement gets small enough, maybe it gets turned off. That puts a ceiling on your damage."

"That is possible," BrineSaint said, "and hopefully true. Otherwise the AI is clearly unable to learn from its mistakes." The final god had only one Evolution. [Excrino, Where Nothing Remains] ARCRETON Nothing is truly surpassed until the path back to it has been destroyed. Create persistent destructive Orbs that continuously multiply as enemies are affected by them. (Available to: Any Base Type)"Any Base Type is strange. Reads like a Mage. It might be too jack-of-all-trades if anyone can use it."

Meno looked at the empty space beneath the option.

"Also Excrino got shortchanged with only one."

"That flair text is you in one sentence," Kestrel said.

"So which one is SSS-tier?" Karmabeast asked.

"Or is there an SSSS? Can we go higher? I am so lost here."

"We are getting scammed big time. If you got the Divine Evolution choice with a god normally, it would definitely show the outcomes in more detail." Meno closed one tooltip and opened another.

"Now I have to beta-test this entire system again, and everyone else will have the info to make their pick after theorycrafting their build for a hundred hours."

"Nothing says you have to pick now," Kestrel said.

"Just wait till I hit 100, then I will do it."

"Kestrel trying to snipe the achievement," Karmabeast said.

"What are you going to do, PBG? I also don't want to randomly do it."

"Pick. Pick. Pick," Arayu said.

"Technically every Divine option should be better than my current."

"Under normal circumstances," BrineSaint said.

"In your case, it is not guaranteed if we consider your whole setup." Meno reopened the seven options he could actually pick: Mourfall, Scorno, Virun, Ubrental, Adrenalis, Progrex, and Arcreton. Every option looked strong enough to make a mess if one detail went the wrong way, and Veyrath had already warned him once, even if that warning was more about making a choice at all. Think carefully.

"Just let me think," Meno said.

"Then I'll pick."