Chương 64: Chapter 62 - Subclass

After some impossibly sweet and inexperienced kissing. A very major rule was established. Elf tongue stays out of Chelsea's mouth. Ivy received a perfect razor blade slice and Chelsea was reminded that elf blood tasted horrible. The two headed back inside the manor holding hands and Adriane met them at the door. She let out a long sigh, seeing their hands clasped.

"What?" Chelsea asked, preparing to be on the defensive.

"It's about time. It's been like crossing a trapped labyrinth room around you two." Adriane complained with a smile. The smile said she just witnessed the climax to her favorite soap opera storyline.

"Ah. Yeah that was probably completely me. Sorry about that Adriane…" Chelsea decided this was too fresh to dwell on and changed the subject, "I decided I am going to do something fun and I need you to be there with us." A smile spread across her face.

"Absolutely not assigning a title called Favored by Mayhem without adult supervision." Ivy piped up as Chelsea led them to their bedroom.

"You think it's going to be that bad?" The demon looked back at her as they ascended the stairs, "I think there's a chance I spontaneously become the final boss of the continent."

"Alright," Chelsea said as they breached the doorway. She let go of Ivy's hand and walked to the desk, pulling out a piece of paper, a quill and ink. She took a deep breath.

"Time to assign the title… that is all about Mayhem. Fun. This is going to be fun. Super duper ultra fun… Adriane, please make sure I don't go on a murderous rampage."

"Will do," Adriane replied with a single nod. Chelsea stared off as she pulled up her status sheet. Finally, after a bit of hesitation… she assigned the title. Immediately, notifications exploded across her vision.

Title Assigned: Favored by Mayhem Havoc Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired Desolation Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired Mayhem Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired Chaos Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired Cataclysm Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired Massacre Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired Carnage Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired Suffering Specialty Lvl 1 Acquired She gasped at the lineup but then one final notification appeared. Evolve Class? Y/N Chelsea stared blankly ahead.

"It's already asking if I want to evolve my class again. I just did that." She shrugged and said slowly, "Well, those concepts sound… ominous." She read them aloud one by one. Ivy's eyes opened wider and eyebrows rose a bit higher with each new word.

"Massacre? Carnage?" she repeated.

"Why is one of them just suffering?"

"I don't know!" Chelsea looked at Adriane helplessly.

"Am I about to become evil?"

"No," Adriane answered immediately.

"Classes and skills do not make someone evil," Adriane explained calmly.

"Actions do." Chelsea narrowed her eyes.

"That sounded like something said in a fantasy novel before the protagonist is handed a cursed sword." Chelsea sighed dramatically and looked back at the final notification.

"So do I evolve the class now?"

"I say go for it," Ivy said from the bed. Adriane nodded in agreement.

"Waiting will not improve your current class and I heard someone explain that waiting doesn't change the options offered either." Chelsea took another breath.

"Alright then." She mentally selected yes. The new options appeared instantly. Would you like to evolve class to: Carnage Reaper - Ultra Rare Valkyr of Havoc - Ultra Rare Arbiter of Cataclysm - Hyper Rare The room went quiet. Chelsea slowly lowered her head into her hands before reading them out. She heard Adriane gasp at one of them.

"Yeah," she muttered.

"A gasp feels about right."

"I'm sorry," Ivy said carefully.

"Did you just say hyper rare?" She paused for a moment, "And Valkyr?" Chelsea looked up miserably.

"Apparently."

"Well?" Adriane urged after a moment.

"Read the descriptions." Chelsea could hear the smile in her voice.

"Do the reaper and the arbiter first." Chelsea squinted at the first option.

"The Carnage Reapers are the final line of defense against those descending through the depths of the Hellish Dreamscape. Gore is all that remains in her wake as she…"

"Pass," Chelsea said dismissively.

"A class from the hellish dreamscape doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the other two choices either." She rubbed at her forehead with one hand. She was starting to regret assigning the title at all.

"I think you're taking the names too literally," Ivy said gently.

"These don't mean you're evil. They're just classes."

"Thanks," Chelsea muttered, though she still sounded unconvinced. She took a steadying breath before focusing on the next option. Judge, jury, and end bringer. The Arbiter of Cataclysm is the final word. Defying any decisions made by her will bring ruin on a cataclysmic scale. Choosing this evolution will change your physical body. Chelsea stared blankly ahead for several seconds. Then she slowly closed the invisible screen and looked at the others with utter disbelief.

"Oh good," she deadpanned.

"Do as I say or I will erase your kingdom, innocents included." Ivy failed to hide her smile.

"These really seem to be bothering you," Adriane observed. Chelsea immediately looked toward her and found, to her horror, that Adriane looked amused.

"You're enjoying this," Chelsea accused.

"A little bit." Chelsea groaned loudly before looking back at the final option.

"Let me just read the last one before the system offers me World Eater as a bonus evolution." The Valkyr of Havoc rains down pain and anguish on her enemies through her bloodlust while leading her berserkers. Though Havoc is this valkyr's weapon, kindness is her ideology. Honor for the twelve. Choosing this evolution will change your physical body. Choosing this evolution will change your job. Chelsea stopped halfway through rereading it.

"Hold on." She looked back up at the other two.

"This is basically just a Valkyrie from myths back on Earth." Adriane's expression shifted immediately with recognition.

"The Valkyr are very real," she explained.

"I grew up hearing stories about them." Chelsea blinked.

"Wait, seriously?" Adriane nodded.

"Actually, most of the honor nonsense Dewey and Fiona talk about comes from Valkyr stories. They're viewed almost like legendary warriors. A collective class, sort of like how the church has the holy knights. Ever notice either of them say 'honor for the twelve?' That's a valkyr thing."

"That…" Chelsea frowned thoughtfully.

"Actually explains a lot." She could absolutely picture Dewey worshipping giant warrior women descending from the heavens.

"What does it mean by changing my body?" Chelsea asked after a moment.

"That," Adriane admitted, "I don't know."

"And the job?"

"If it specifically says your job changes too, then it probably means your merchant class would be replaced or altered somehow." Chelsea immediately recoiled in horror.

"Oh no." Ivy tilted her head slightly.

"Is it that bad?"

"Yes, it's that bad," Chelsea said.

"I get a job where I can weaponize economics and now the system wants me to become Havoc Woman." Adriane laughed quietly while Chelsea slumped farther into the chair. Still… Despite herself, Chelsea reread the Valkyr description one more time. Unlike the other two, it didn't sound cruel. That one line stuck with her more than she wanted to admit. Kindness is her ideology.

"What sort of job though?" Chelsea asked quietly Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Probably something like general or admiral," Ivy explained while leaning forward with interest.

"The Valkyr are supposed to lead armies, right?" She paused, thinking more carefully about the description.

"Actually… Chelsea, I think that part was talking about you specifically. The kindness thing."

"Ideology," Chelsea corrected automatically.

"It's sort of like a belief system. Or a philosophy." Even as she explained it, her attention remained fixed on the floating text in front of her. Class Evolved to: Valkyr of Havoc New title acquired: The Valkyr of Havoc. Job changed to: Military General Chelsea waited. And waited. Nothing else appeared.

"No new skills?" she asked in confusion.

"Chels!" Adriane practically shouted. Chelsea jumped so hard she nearly fell backward out of the chair.

"What!?" Then she saw what Adriane was staring at. Her wing. Chelsea immediately unfolded it behind herself, eyes widening as the massive appendage stretched outward. The shape remained the same, still bat-like and distinctly demonic, but the color had completely changed. It was white. Not dull white either. Bright. It was almost luminous. She honestly wanted to go into the wash room without windows to see if they glowed. The thick fur along the wing looked soft enough to sink her hands into.

For a moment, all Chelsea could do was stare. It was beautiful. That was the first thought that entered her mind.

"And your horns," Ivy added quickly.

"And tail!" Chelsea twisted awkwardly to pull her tail into view. Sure enough, it had transformed too. The dark coloration was gone entirely, replaced with the same snowy white fur coating most of its length. The heart at the end had grown a thick fur as well. A horrible realization struck her.

"Shit," she muttered. Adriane blinked at the sudden reaction.

"What?"

"Blood is impossible to get out of white." Ivy burst out laughing while Chelsea continued staring at her tail.

"This is going to stain so badly." Still laughing softly, Ivy reached out toward the wing with clear fascination.

"It's so soft too," she said while gently brushing her fingers across the fur.

"Way softer. Before it felt smooth, but now it's…" She searched for the word.

"Just really soft." Chelsea ran her own hand along the wing more carefully. Ivy was right. Before, the fur texture had reminded her velvet. Now it felt closer to chinchilla fur. Almost unrealistically soft.

"Oh gods," Chelsea whispered.

"I really hope this doesn't ruin flying." Ivy smiled while still examining the wing.

"You do look beautiful though." Chelsea's ears warmed at the comment. She muttered awkwardly, "It's definitely better than becoming a Carnage Reaper or whatever nightmare option number one was." A light knock interrupted the conversation. Adriane crossed the room and opened the door slightly before stepping aside to let Tali enter. She was wearing Adriane's dress. It was far too big for her but it was better than what Easton had her wearing. The djinn froze the moment she saw Chelsea.

"Miss Wixx!" she exclaimed.

"You're… you're beautiful." Chelsea tried to wave away the compliment.

"No, I mean it!" Tali hurriedly said.

"You look so much less intimidating now. Even your eyes somehow seem kinder."

"Kinder?" Ivy repeated while circling around Chelsea to look directly at her face.

"I don't think that's possi…" Her sentence stopped abruptly.

"What?" Chelsea asked nervously. Ivy stared openly for a second before speaking.

"Your eyes are blue now," she said quietly.

"Like…" Her voice softened a bit.

"Crazy blue." Chelsea stood so quickly the chair rocked backward behind her. She hurried across the room toward the mirror mounted beside the wardrobe. Then stopped dead.

"Oh." Her hair remained black. Her facial features were still recognizably hers. But her horns… Chelsea slowly lifted a hand toward them in disbelief. The black-and-red coloration had vanished completely. In its place was smooth white bone trimmed with soft gold along the ridges. Even their shape had changed. Instead of rising upward into sharp demonic points, the horns now curved elegantly around the sides of her head before looping upward near the top. They almost resembled an ornate crown. Or a tiara.

Chelsea stared at herself silently. Ivy had been right… her eyes. The almost glowing red was gone. In its place was an intense, vivid blue unlike any human eye she had ever seen. Bright enough to feel actually unnatural. But no longer frightening. Then it clicked. She figured it out.

"My irises," Chelsea whispered.

"They're bigger now. Or…" She leaned closer to the mirror.

"No. They were always bigger." That explained it. Human eyes showed more white around the iris. Her old red eyes had taken up more space, making them look predatory and inhuman in a way she hadn't fully noticed before. Now, instead of glowing infernal red… She turned around to face the three of them.

"Honest question," Chelsea said.

"If you saw me walking down the street and didn't know me, would I be more approachable or less approachable than before?" Ivy and Adriane exchanged a glance and took a moment to think about it.

"More!" Tali blurted out immediately. Everyone looked at her.

"What?" she asked nervously.

"You are. You're not scary anymore." Chelsea pointed at herself.

"I still have horns, claws, wings, and glowing eyes."

"Yes, but before you were scary scary." Chelsea looked to the others.

"Can you explain that more?" Tali fidgeted with the oversized sleeves of Adriane's dress.

"Before, you looked like the sort of demon who would kill someone for looking at you wrong. Now you look like you'd just be disappointed in them," Tali clarified. Ivy burst out laughing.

"That somehow makes sense," Adriane admitted. Chelsea stared at all three of them.

"Huh… Whatever." She mumbled grumpily.

"You asked," Ivy said with a smile.

"Before, you were intimidating. Not because you were doing anything wrong. You just looked dangerous."

"And now?" Chelsea asked. Ivy studied her carefully.

"Now it's different." She searched for the words.

"You still stand out when you enter a room. People are still going to notice you. But it feels less like danger and more like..." She hesitated.

"A presence?" Adriane suggested.

"Yeah." Ivy nodded.

"Like a presence." Chelsea immediately had more questions.

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea," Ivy admitted.

"I just know it's different."

"So it's a vibe. Got it." Chelsea nodded along. Adriane folded her arms.

"The important question is whether you're still a demon." Chelsea immediately pulled up her status screen.

"Let's see..." Her eyes scanned the familiar text.

"Yep. Still Infernal Hellspawn." Tali tilted her head curiously.

"What actually happened, Miss Wixx?"

"Changed my class," Chelsea explained simply.

"Though apparently becoming a Valkyr comes with surprise cosmetic upgrades." She tugged lightly on one of her new white horns.

"Though I'm confused about one thing."

"What?" Ivy asked.

"I didn't get any new skills or abilities." The room went quiet.

"No skills?" Adriane asked. Chelsea shook her head.

"Not one."

"That is strange." Adriane said quietly.

"That's what I thought." Ivy tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe you're missing prerequisite skills?" Chelsea looked over.

"For a sorcerer to learn flame spiral, they have to have Flame Control first," Ivy explained.

"Maybe the Valkyr skills require something similar."

"That would make sense," Adriane said.

"Though getting absolutely nothing is still unusual." Chelsea wanted nothing more than to grab her shield and start experimenting, but Tali was still in the room. Keeping secrets was becoming more and more annoying.

"I did get a title though," Chelsea said.

"And it's super creative."

"How creative?" Ivy asked.

"It is literally the name of my class." That earned a laugh from everyone. Chelsea focused on the title. The expanded description appeared. As she read through it, her confidence steadily grew. The Valkyr of Havoc: Acquired by becoming the ninth sister in the Hall of the Valkyr. Havoc is often looked down on by the other Valkyr due to being perceived as naive and frivolous. Though the most powerful and savage of the Valkyr, she consistently seeks diplomatic solutions first.

While active: Gives 3x to strength, dexterity, and constitution attributes as long as a weapon and/or shield is in hand. Gives 3x charisma attribute as long as a weapon and/or shield is not in hand. Havoc Specialty skills +7 skill levels. When she finished, no one said a word.

"Am I wrong in assuming that's absurdly strong?" Chelsea asked. She closed the screen and found Ivy and Tali staring at her. Adriane, meanwhile, looked delighted.

"Oh, it's absurd," Adriane said immediately. Chelsea repeated the text.

"Three times strength. Three times dexterity. Three times constitution. Three times charisma."

"Yes."

"Not plus three. Times three." Chelsea looked back at the screen. Then back at Adriane. Something suddenly occurred to her. Something big and pretty horrifying.

"Oh." Adriane noticed the look on her face.

"What?" Chelsea turned toward Ivy and Tali.

"Could you two give us a few minutes?" Ivy's eyebrows rose.

"Everything okay?"

"Spooky demon magic stuff." Ivy laughed softly.

"Right. Okay." She stood and offered a hand to Tali.

"Come on. Let's go see if the maids got any new fruit from the market." Tali hurried after her, and a few moments later the door clicked shut behind them. Chelsea immediately dragged the nearby chair back toward the bed and patted the seat. Adriane sat down while Chelsea settled onto the mattress. Without really thinking about it, she pulled her fluffy white tail into her lap and started absently running her fingers through the fur. Adriane watched this for a moment.

"You know," she said, "that's the most you've ever touched your tail." Chelsea looked down.

"Huh." She continued petting it anyway.

"What is it, Chels?" Adriane asked.

"Everything seemed like good news so far."

"That's part of what worries me." Adriane's smile faded a bit. Chelsea took a breath.

"What is your charisma at?" Adriane immediately became guarded.

"I... would rather not disclose that information," Adriane replied. Chelsea nodded. She had expected that answer.

"Naked, mine is six," Chelsea explained.

"Now this new title triples it." She paused while doing the math again in her head.

"That puts me over eighteen if I'm completely naked. With this dress and flats? I'm over one hundred." Adriane's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Chelsea repeated.

"I'm not that high but I'm close." Chelsea sat there for a moment. Then she slowly exhaled.

"Right," she said.

"So that's not actually the problem." Adriane folded her arms.

"What is?" Chelsea absentmindedly ran her fingers through the fur on her tail again.

"Instinctive Control."

"The ability?" Chelsea nodded.

"It's called Instinctive Control, and the description says 'unleash your inner demon.'" Adriane's expression immediately became more serious. Chelsea stared down at her lap while organizing her thoughts.

"I've been thinking about the message from the demon king. About the missing girl." She looked back up at Adriane.

"What if she's still in here?" She tapped the side of her head.

"What if this body belonged to her first?" She shook her head.

"Or the… Kid body, rather." Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. Chelsea continued quietly.

"I keep coming back to the same thought. What if using that skill doesn't unleash some hidden monstrous demon power?" She swallowed.

"What if it gives her control of the body instead?"