Author’s Note: In case anybody missed it over on the Discord, bonus chapter!
I will also be increasing the release schedule to four chapters per week for the next three weeks.
…The plan to slowly form a highly suspicious fox-themed cult appears to be progressing remarkably well.
✦⋆✦⋆✦
I poke the Class Advancement button with the solemn dignity of a raccoon opening a cooler it absolutely should not have access to.
Then I poke it again.
And then—purely for academic rigor—one more time.
Because patience is optional, dignity is expected, and spectators are few.
Also because if pressing the button once is good, pressing it three times is clearly three times as effective.
This is basic science.
The blue box overtakes my entire field of vision immediately.
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Class Advancement activated.
You have (4) Class Advancement options.
[Dragonslayer Vanguard (Legendary)]
A warrior tempered through the slaying of dragons. Dragonslayer Vanguards are built to confront colossal threats head-on, wielding overwhelming physical force and blazing power capable of piercing scale, bone, and ancient fire. Their strikes carry echoes of the infernos they have survived, turning their weapons into instruments of relentless destruction. This class is rarely offered and only manifests for Users who have proven capable of facing draconic might and living.
Aspect: Fire
Stat Growth per Level: → Strength +25 → Dexterity +10 → Perception +10 → Free +8
[Starlit Blade Dancer (Epic)]
A duelist who moves as though guided by the stars themselves. Starlit Blade Dancers blur the line between combat and motion, turning footwork, momentum, and flowing technique into lethal artistry. Their strikes arrive in graceful sequences, each motion feeding the next as starlight gathers along the path of their blade. Rather than overwhelming strength, this class emphasizes perfect timing, spatial awareness, and celestial rhythm—allowing the User to glide through combat with fluid, unpredictable movement.
Aspect: Star
Stat Growth per Level: → Strength +11 → Dexterity +17 → Perception +12 → Free +8
[Voidstep Astral Reaver (Epic)]
A more aggressive interpretation of astral dueling. Voidstep Astral Reavers tear open brief distortions in space with violent bursts of astral power, striking from impossible angles before their opponent can react. Their style sacrifices elegance for lethality, focusing on sudden repositioning and devastating follow-up attacks. Practitioners of this class favor decisive engagements, using astral displacement to break enemy defenses and end fights quickly.
Aspect: Star
Stat Growth per Level: → Strength +10 → Dexterity +15 → Perception +10 → Free +7
[Experienced Astral Duelist (Rare)]
A refined evolution of the Astral Duelist path. Practitioners deepen their ability to weave astral energy into precise blade work, improving reaction speed, balance, and short bursts of starlit motion. This class favors disciplined duelists who rely on agility, clean technique, and controlled astral reinforcement rather than overwhelming force.
Aspect: Star
Stat Growth per Level: → Strength +7 → Dexterity +11 → Perception +7 → Free +6
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Wow.
Alright.
That is… a lot to unpack.
Which means it is time for a very thorough and completely unbiased evaluation.
Naturally, we will be reviewing them in reverse order.
Because tradition matters.
First up: the direct upgrade to my current class.
Immediately into the garbage bin.
Not only does it aggressively fail color theory, but its stat growth is hilariously low compared to the other options presented here.
Tragic.
If I were to select this after being offered the other three, I would have to assume the System had quietly installed a self-sabotage feature somewhere inside my brain.
Therefore—
Useless.
Next up: Voidstep Astral Reaver.
Name?
Nine out of ten.
Extremely edgy. Extremely dramatic.
And it appeals deeply to my aesthetic sensibilities.
If someone introduced themselves as a Voidstep Astral Reaver in a dark alley, I would absolutely assume they either assassinate people professionally or have at least three cloaks.
Possibly both.
Judging by the description, however, it leans more toward the “teleport assassin” interpretation of astral combat rather than my current duelist style.
Less dancing.
More appearing behind people in a puff of ominous spatial distortion.
Very cool. Very lethal.
Also not what I want.
Skipped.
Next up: Starlit Blade Dancer.
Ten out of ten.
No notes.
Cool name? Check.
Obvious elegance? Check.
Emphasis on rhythm, movement, and unpredictability? Check.
The description even openly admits that the class is basically weaponized choreography.
Which is exactly the kind of energy I want in my life.
It jumps to the top of my list immediately.
Naturally.
And finally, the sole Legendary sitting atop the list like an ultra-smug reminder of my battle with a dragon—and the slightly less pleasant consequences of my meet and greet with its breath attack.
Dragonslayer Vanguard.
First impressions:
Stats?
Completely feral.
Honestly, those numbers are borderline disrespectful.
They are almost on par with my racial stat growth, which means something very important.
Hard work and high-rarity classes matter.
Good.
I approve of systems that reward competence.
Unfortunately…
There is a problem.
Two problems, actually.
First, it specializes in Strength.
Again.
Which is deeply unfortunate, considering my personal stat distribution strategy could best be described as Dexterity, Perception, and the Friends I Forgot to Invite.
Second—
Its Aspect is Fire.
Boring. Cringe. Uninspired.
Especially when compared to my beautiful, elegant, objectively superior Star Aspect.
Therefore—
Also useless.
Tragic.
But expected.
My tail flicks in annoyance anyway.
As for which I pick?
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Class Advancement confirmed.
[Astral Duelist (Uncommon)] has been upgraded into [Starlit Blade Dancer (Epic)].
You have gained the Class skill [Twin Arc (Epic)].
[Astral Step (Uncommon)] has been upgraded into [Astral Veilstep (Rare)].
You have gained +35 Free points.
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Obvious choice.
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Skill Capacity Exceeded.
You have acquired more Class Skills than available active slots.
Activating Skill Storage Menu.
Stored skills may be freely swapped with active skills outside of combat.
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I blink.
Convenient.
The System has apparently invented a magical skill closet.
Excellent.
I’ll organize that later.
Right now it’s time for my carefully stockpiled skill selection.
And I have a very good feeling about this one.
I poke the notification.
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Skill Selection activated
Please choose a Skill
[Starfall Sequence (Legendary)] {New Skill}
Your blade calls down falling stars.
(Active) Replicate a slashing attack along additional trajectories, striking from nearby angles shortly after the original attack. Consumes stamina based on the power and properties of the replicated strike. Only functions with slashing techniques.
Scales with Dexterity
[Celestial Crescendo (Legendary)] {New Skill}
Your dance builds toward a brilliant finale.
(Active) Enter a heightened movement state for a short duration. Dexterity and attack speed gradually increase while the state persists. The final attack performed before the effect ends gains increased cutting power. Consumes stamina while active.
Scales with Dexterity.
[Spiral Sovereignty (Epic)] {New Skill}
Your dance commands the space around you.
(Passive) Spinning attacks generate a subtle gravitational pull that draws nearby enemies slightly toward the center of your rotation. Targets affected are more likely to remain within striking range during continuous spins.
[Starlight Sweep (Epic)] {New Skill}
Your blade traces a flowing arc through the astral current.
(Active) Execute a swift advancing slash that carries your momentum forward, allowing movement to continue smoothly through the strike. Increased cutting power is applied while moving during the attack.
Scales with Dexterity.
[Radiant Footfall (Epic)] {New Skill}
Your steps leave traces of astral light.
(Passive) Each step briefly leaves behind a fading starlight flare. Enemies moving through these flares suffer minor burn damage and slight disruption to pursuit.
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My ears perk.
Oh.
Stars above.
That is so much better than I thought it would be.
My tail swishes back and forth excitedly as I read through the list again.
And then a third time.
Because quality control is important.
Alright.
Evaluation time.
First up: Radiant Footfall.
Very aesthetic.
Objectively cool sounding.
Leaving little trails of burning starlight with every step is extremely on-brand for me.
Not sure why it's starlight instead of starfire.
I refuse to question it.
Anti-backstab tech is always appreciated.
Except—
I already have gravity sense.
Which means I am already fairly good at detecting assassins, ambushers, and overzealous plant monsters attempting to extract my spine like it’s a worm being evicted by an extremely motivated bird.
Additionally, considering the line that mentions burning enemies, the moment I activate this inside any forest, grassland, wooden building, or mildly flammable environment—
—which is to say, most environments—
Everything in my immediate surroundings will likely burst dramatically into flames.
Including things that may or may not belong to people.
Therefore:
Not great.
Next up: Starlight Sweep.
Also very aesthetic.
Very elegant.
Very… redundant.
It is essentially an active attack skill that allows me to slash while moving forward.
Which is impressive, except for the small detail that I already do that constantly.
In fact, I am currently doing that so often that it is practically the entire concept behind my Blazing Star Dance.
So the System has generously offered me a button that allows me to replicate something I can already achieve through sufficiently chaotic movement and unhinged swordplay.
Very thoughtful.
Into the garbage it goes.
Next: Spiral Sovereignty.
A mild inconvenience disguised as an Epic skill.
Why bother using gravity to cosplay as a kaleidoscopic tornado when I already outspeed everything within my level range?
If something manages to escape my spin radius, the correct solution is clearly to move faster.
Which I can already do.
Garbage bin.
And now—
The final two.
Both Legendary.
Both not just good.
But dangerously close to perfect.
My tail swishes harder.
First up: Celestial Crescendo.
At first glance, it doesn’t seem that incredible.
It basically boils down to more speed, with an extra powerful attack right at the end.
A respectable concept, certainly.
However, the wording is slightly misleading.
After all, it doesn’t say movement speed, like my Running skill does.
It increases Dexterity.
Which means it doesn’t just buff my speed.
It likely buffs everything tied to Dexterity.
Movement speed. Reaction time. Attack speed.
Likely even my time perception, considering how the stat itself behaves.
Which immediately makes the skill far more interesting than it first appears.
I am, however, still curious about one particular detail.
Stamina.
Specifically, how the stamina interaction works.
If it behaves the way I suspect—which is to say, temporarily raising my Dexterity and therefore increasing my stamina pool alongside it, while also draining stamina to maintain the effect—then something very funny happens.
Because my stamina regeneration is calculated based on my total stamina pool.
And my Starborn trait multiplies my regeneration rate.
Which means that if the skill increases my stamina pool through Dexterity scaling, it also indirectly increases my regeneration.
And because I can access Starborn’s regeneration through my Arcana whenever I want…
…this becomes a double buff.
Speed increases.
Regeneration increases.
And because my Star-aspected abilities scale with the amount of Astral Energy I shove into them, the amount of power I can dump into attacks also increases.
Which means my destruction ceiling rises right alongside my regeneration.
Absolutely busted.
Eleven out of ten.
Assuming it works the way I think it does, of course.
And then there’s the other one.
Starfall Sequence.
An active damaging skill.
Normally that would already put it at a disadvantage compared to a scaling buff like Crescendo.
Except there is one extremely important distinction between this and Starlight Sweep.
I cannot replicate this effect.
At all.
From what I can tell, it functions like an echo attack.
Meaning I can slash once…
…and then the same attack arrives again from a different angle.
That alone puts it above an eight out of ten, because echo-type attacks are objectively cool and I refuse to pretend otherwise.
But it gets better the more closely you read the wording.
Specifically:
“Additional trajectories” and “nearby angles.”
Which means the replicated strike does not simply repeat the original slash in the same location.
It can target an entirely different space.
Which conveniently avoids the extremely awkward scenario where the first slash connects perfectly, removes an important body part, and then the echo strike politely arrives half a second later to hit absolutely nothing.
Gold star for that design decision.
But the truly interesting line comes later.
At first glance it looks like a drawback.
“Consumes stamina based on the power and properties of the replicated strike.”
Key word:
Properties.
Which likely means it replicates Starfire as well.
Which means it likely replicates my Starfire motes.
Which means a single slash could potentially produce multiple flaming orbital murder particles descending from nearby angles.
The restriction to slashing attacks prevents it from interacting with Rending Starfire Line, unfortunately.
However, the Starfire motes alone already push this skill into extremely questionable territory.
And once I eventually invent a new slashing step for Blazing Star Dance?
Stars forbid.
I will vaporize anything I come across.
Also an eleven out of ten.
This is a first.
I cannot decide at all.
Both options are optimal.
Aggressively so.
Which means it is time for the most rigorous, academically sound decision-making framework ever devised.
A highly scientific method passed down through generations.
The pinnacle of optimization.
I hold out my palm, and starlight gathers into a small coin—an X etched into one side, and an O into the other.
I flip it.
Heads.
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Skill Selection confirmed.
You have gained the Class Skill [Starfall Sequence (Legendary)].
Skill has been automatically placed into your Skill Storage.
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I nod.
Decision made.
Flawless execution.
My tail swishes in anticipation of the upcoming testing phase.
But first—
—it’s finally time to inspect everything I’ve gained recently.
Including Pride.
The Trait I very deliberately avoided looking at immediately after acquiring it.
For completely rational reasons.
Definitely not because I wanted to inspect it last for peak dramatic effect.
That would be ridiculous.
I grin.
Just a little.