Upon entering the Grade evolution room, Roan instructed Damian to go first. He was urged to hurry with his choice, but to also choose wisely. As soon as he stepped onto the platform, an opaque shimmering wall appeared around it to cut off our contact with him. With no official party group features, we couldn’t see any of the options he was being offered either.

  Roan paced back and forth.

  “Didn’t this take hours last time?” I asked.

  “Not every Grade evolution provides such variety. In fact, the higher the grade the more your choices narrow. This evolution will be faster than the last one.” He paused and looked away for a moment. “At least it better be.”

  “Why so impatient?” Hugo asked.

  Roan pursed his lips almost like he didn’t want to say and then changed his mind. “We have a meeting to attend. The next floor down is locked until that meeting occurs and it is vital that the three of you are there to participate in it. That’s all I can say for now.”

  Hugo sent me a message in a companion chat.

  Hugo: What do you think?

  Lucas: It sounds like we’re going to be forced to go on another quest.

  Hugo: Ugh, already! You had the right idea before. We should’ve slept in the apartment when we had the chance.

  Lucas: You need some healing?

  Hugo: Nah, it’s not that.

  I understood what he meant. We’d gone nine days without sleep. Or was it ten? It was hard to remember because without sleep, everything just blurs into one long slog of a day. Health potions and blood healing removed any deleterious effects we might’ve suffered, but there was still something psychologically disconcerting about it that never went away. Call it spiritual or emotional burnout. I wasn’t sure what the cure was. I just knew we needed something, and that the Tower was unlikely to provide it.

  The barrier around the platform went down and Damian stepped down to join us. His eyes were a little brighter and he stood taller. Whatever he’d gotten, it seemed to have had a positive impact.

  I was about to ask who should go next when Roan just pointed at me. “We’re going shortest to longest, and you’re more sure of yourself than our feathered friend.”

  “I just like be thorough,” Hugo grumbled to himself.

  Stepping onto the platform caused the same barrier to arise as before, preventing me from seeing or hearing anything on the outside.

  Companion Chat and God Chat temporarily disabled

  Fine. I guess I’m all alone for this one too.

  [Lucas Hudson, Class: Blood Reaver, Level: 209, Grade: E, Path: Reign of the Sanguine Lord]

  [You have Three Grade Evolution choices continuing down the path of The Sanguine Lord. Choose wisely as this process cannot be undone once a decision has been made.]

  [Transition to Grade D has begun.]

  [Here are your choices. Please note that all previous skills and abilities will be retained regardless of your choice.]

  *Grade Evolution Path Identified!* [Lord’s Dominion] – This path is for those that seek control over themselves before exerting their will onto others.

  Contains:

  +5% Constitution

  +10% Vitality

  Unlocks the Body Mastery Ability

  *Ability Identified!* [Body Mastery] – This is a passive upgrade that will improve with you as you level up. It will give you more control over your own body, allowing you to dampen pain receptors when you take injuries for example. More importantly, it will give you far greater control over your own blood to shape and wield.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  That was an interesting choice, though not as exciting as some of the choices were last time. I guess that’s why Roan believed that this process wouldn’t take long. Still, less pain when getting injured sounded nice. I could use it to push my body further than I had before, and then heal the damage later.

  I kept that in mind as I scrolled to the next option.

  *Grade Evolution Path Identified!* [The Void Drawn] – This path is for those that seek to commune to one of the higher powers within the void. Give yourself over to one of them and they will reward you.

  Contains:

  +2% Constitution

  +2% Vitality

  +2% Strength

  +2% Intelligence

  +2% Dexterity

  Unlocks The K’ul Dahsh Vessel

  *Item Identified!* [The K’ul Dahsh Vessel] – This vessel, along with the ritual that is supplied with it, will allow you to make contact with those in the void. This item and ritual need only be performed once to permanently unlock the ability to make contact. Contact that will then facilitate a transfer of power to make you far stronger than you are now.

  Yeah, this one isn’t happening. I don’t know why the System, Officiator, or whoever controls these things thought that I would take it as a serious option. Even with the stat increases there as a bribe, I wanted nothing to do with those things in the void. Even thinking about it just now made my skin crawl.

  I moved on to the final choice.

  *Grade Evolution Path Identified!* [Blood Puppetry] – This path is for those that seek control over others.

  Contains:

  +5% Perception

  +10% Willpower

  Unlocks the Blood Puppetry Ability

  *Ability Identified!* [Blood Puppetry] – A Lord needs vassals that can be brought to heel. Once you’ve made a connection with the blood of another, you can use that to control their body. If a group came at you, all you’d need to do is scratch each of them, and suddenly you have your own army.

  This one sounded a little tempting. I’d seen the ability be used before when Yakeshi had taken me to hunt a Scarlet Beast. The creature, even when driven mad with blood lust, still had the will to control a group of prisoners that it was keeping.

  A couple of things kept me from choosing it though. My main goal was not to control others and I was concerned about where a path like that might lead. The second thing was that not every monster I fight bleeds, rendering this whole upgrade useless in such a scenario. The final thing was that I really liked the idea of less pain that Body Mastery offered. So in the end, I picked Lord’s Dominion.

  [Path Choice Confirmed]

  *DING!* You have been upgraded to Grade D, Blood Reaver Class*

  After making my choice, a surge of power rose up through my feet, all the way to the top of my head. My skin was warm and buzzed with energy. I felt a renewed sense of purpose. The barrier around the platform dropped and I stepped down more confident in myself than before.

  Hugo was ushered onto it next, but I barely paid attention. I was still focused on my internal feelings. Of my blood pumping through my circulatory system. It was both distracting and fascinating. There was just so much of it and it was moving all the time. Logically, I’d always known that was the case, but feeling it to this degree of detail was something else.

  The feeling wasn’t bad though. It felt as natural to me as breathing. Though a part of me did want to stop and ask Roan some questions. Instead, I remained silent and focused on myself until Hugo was finished.

  I looked up when his barrier dropped. Hugo appeared to be the same, but sometimes it was hard to tell with him. If nothing else, I hoped it had improved his mood.

  “And what did you get?” I asked him.

  Hugo sent me a copy of the message he’d received over companion chat.

  [Hugo, Class: Thanaturge, Level: 201, Grade: D, Path: The Spirit Keeper’s Assimilation]

  *Grade Evolution Path Identified!* [The Spirit Keeper’s Assimilation] – This path is for those that seek to not only manipulate the spirits, but to become one with them.

  Contains:

  +5% Perception

  +10% Willpower

  Unlocks the Ghost Walker Ability

  *Ability Identified!* [Ghost Walker] – This ability temporarily renders your core physical body incorporeal and will allow you to fully inhabit the body of another spirit under your command. Note: this ability can be taxing on your energy reserves so use with care.

  “Wow, it sounds like you got a good one,” I said.

  “I guess.”

  I just realized I’d never asked Damian what he’d gotten, and was about to when a set of double doors appeared on one of the walls.

  Roan pushed one of the doors open. “Come on. We have to get a move on. I don’t know how long this next part is going to take.”

  “Next part?” I asked.

  He said nothing and again gestured for us to go on through.

  The double doors led to a small narrow hallway with another door at the end of it. Roan went first and we followed him through into a giant empty warehouse. At normal walking speed, it would’ve taken me five minutes just to reach one end of it.

  The only things of note in the warehouse were a single door in the middle of the room, and a humanoid bronze robot standing behind a stand. A crudely painted sign hung above the robot’s head that simply read as ‘the shop.’

  I was about to ask Roan what the deal was, when suddenly we all received a System message that made us groan.

  [Your Inventory will be permanently disabled beyond this point. So choose wisely on what you wish to carry with you.]