Class and Evolution

Waking up in a tent this time I wanted to get up but as soon as the thought left my mind my body surged in pain, to the point I was unable to move.

There was no one in the tent with me, and as I peeked out the curtains of the tent, I could make out that it was roughly dusk.

'Lets check status while we wait. Hopefully that gave me some experience.'

<<Status>>

Name : Tima

Level : 5 [MAX/MAX]

Race : Orc - Matured [Evolution available]

Class : None [Class available]

Skills : War Cry

Abilities : Madness Resistance, Growth Up+ , Bravery Up, Pain Resistance, Fatigue Resistance, Great Sword Mastery II

'Hahaha... nice. I should probably wait for the elders to advise me... I know of the orc types but I'm not sure how these humanoid monsters operate.'

Humanoid Monsters were strong in this world, Humanoids like elves and humans were granted the divine gift of [Class] while Monsters were granted the divine gift of [Evolution].

Humanoids were unable to attain the gift of [Evolution] without severely damaging their bodies and souls while Monsters were unable to attain the gift of [Class] due to their mindlessness and inability to use tools.

Humanoid Monsters were where things got blurry, as their body demanded they were monsters gifting them [Evolution] their intellect allowed them to attain the [Class] gift.

I knew of a few types of orcs but I knew nothing of their requirements.

While I thought over what the requirements could be, the curtains opened and two orcs walked in, one garbed in robes while the other was the towering orc from before.

The shaman talked first, "Hahaha, look at him! Already matured, and that from just one fight with you."

"Humph, that only shows how good I am. Look at the experience he got."

"Yeah right. Unless he killed you the only thing you contributed to his experience is someone to swing at."

The towering orc lifted his right hand and formed a firm fist. An indentation of a slash appeared on his fingers, like he had pressed his hand against a blunt edge.

"He has potential as a warrior, he was able to impress on my skin."

"Yes he does."

"Then why are you here?"

"Someone has to explain to the child how he should progress his class, not everything is about muscles you know. If our future champion becomes a muscle head and is unable to contribute to our kingdom besides fighting then it is a waste."

"..."

"I am to be his tutor in things besides fighting. I'm sure your camp has that down pat."

"Humph."

"Now boy, I know you're awake. Sit up." The shaman waved his staff above me for a second, from my closed eyes I could see a wave of green light before fading, along with the pain in my body.

I sit up with a weird grin as I feel my body, standing at 2 meters the height of a classless and unevolved orc.

"Tell me boy, what level are you now?"

"...Level 5."

"Amazing. Tell me do you know where experience comes from?"

I knew the answer of course but it would look weird for a new born orc to know these things. All monsters born within the system were given a package which held information on the language their species used, which was how I was able to communicate 2 days after being born.

"Experience points come from two sources, the essence which you absorb from a kill and from seeing new things and gaining new knowledge.

Then the question arrives, why swing your sword a hundred thousand times to gain ten thousand points when you can hire someone to help you kill a sword saint and gain that ten thousand points?

That is because of assimilation. When you absorb the essence from a kill, you literally plunder their experiences. You have to assimilate with that experience.

If you kill a sword saint and gain that ten thousand points, it might not be filled with a hundred thousand sword swings. It could be many, fractured memories of his family, the people he has lost. The emotions that follow the memories would be intense.

The stronger a being you kill, the thicker, the more intense their essence. Essence that you have to absorb and assimilate. Their experience become your experience.

Killing a being many times stronger than you are can cause a meltdown. You forget who you are. You fracture your mind as your consciousnesses fight over who is who. You become nothing but a shell of what you once were.

The safest way to gain experience is to form it yourself. Swing the sword a hundred thousand times yourself. Build your own family, make your own friends and fight by their side.

Remember this kid, never kill a being you could never kill yourself."

The shaman stood up and left. Even I was plenty surprised, the information here was immense but I had no trouble digesting it. It was the depth of which the shaman understood it that surprised me.

I had traveled the world and yet this kind of information was not readily known anywhere, many, many young adventurers could be saved with this information. Yet I understood the reason why they never released it.

The Humanoids were supremacists and believed their own race to be the best. There was no merit for the orcs to spread these kind of information to the others, the more Humans that died the less orcs that would be killed by them.

Before I could spiral deep into my own thoughts the towering orc than spoke up.

"I am Torc, one of the berserkers of Demon Corp. You don't need to know who we are yet, just that we defend the kingdom from Demons and you are in our training camp."

The orc sat on the floor yet still met my eye level.

"You have talent to be a warrior and you have two choices before you. A Berserker or a Knight.

A berserker is a warrior that relies on their bodies! We berserkers seek to be the first on the battlefield and the deepest. We will bathe in the enemies blood as we swing our weapons to meet their necks. We have no techniques and our bodies move purely on instinct. Faster than any thought and stronger than any that dares stand before us, we are the berserkers!"

The orc took a moment before continuing.

"A knight is a warrior that relies on their armor, their blades and their shields. Knights seek to be the last to see blood, not because they are scared not because they are weak but because they are the last line of defense. They bath in molten orichalcum to grow closer to their tools, tools they use to defend our homes. They rely on technique and think all thoughts to defend our home, they defy instinct and throw themselves to the blades to keep our families from harm. Tougher than any alloy and lasting longer than any gem, the knights stand tall as walls defending against all threats that our kingdom faces. They are the knights."

A silence then ensued, I could tell the orc wanted an answer or he would never leave. I had to think it through, the two speeches resonated deep within me. One in my body and the other in my mind.

I was a knight in my past life, and so I knew of the troubles a knight would face the duties the orc spoke of the knights glorified them and even though I saw through it I related to it and I resonated with it.

My body however craved to move on its own, to move without thought and hesitation. To meet the enemy face on without fear and to fight without under handed tricks. To meet the enemy in battle and show off my strength, to hang an enemy by their scruff and fling them beyond the horizon. To cleave a mountain in half with just my strength. With just my body.

I wanted that. I wanted to let go of the politics, I wanted to be rid of the formalities. I just want to swing my blade and move my body.

"I want to be a berserker."

My voice was calm but a deep, second voice accompanied it. I was unaware of it though.

The orc looked at me with wide eyes and a widening smile as he watched my body change. I hadn't done anything on the status screen, but it seemed to follow my will as my class was selected and my evolution began.

My body grew larger as the simple tattoos grew with it. The sparse lines grew and some became connected. I grew larger and so did my muscles, almost threatening to burst from my skin.

It burned and itched as the tattoos and my body grew, but I could withstand it. The thoughts of dancing with my enemies, blades intertwined free of worry, free of politics filled my mind and distracted me from the pain.

When it was done, I stood up and the orc stood up with me. When we compared heights, I was still short by a few centimeters, but now I could at least meet his eye without hurting my neck. I stood at 2.25 meters.