Chapter Five: Stages and Classes

“Only three BIO types remain alive? The others all perished along with that old woman, Cladashi. What a pity.”

Xia Xiu held a red pendant in his hand, sensing the information transmitted within by activating the runes. He injected five spirit EVE particles into the pendant, summoning the three-headed BIO creatures.

Before Xia Xiu stood three deformed wolf-like beasts; they had sharp teeth, with green liquid dripping continuously from their mouths. The most unsettling feature was the eight single eyes atop their heads.

[Model BIO-202]

[A special interactive model created by the Midnight Worm, sturdy and resilient, easy to maintain. One standard arcane stone suffices as their monthly ration.]

[Abilities: biting, liquid toxin, extraordinary vision]

“This will perfectly compensate for the difficulties I faced in the early stages due to insufficient attributes.”

Xia Xiu summoned the Desire Flesh lineage and then inscribed a reverse summoning array atop it. Using this array, he contained the three-headed BIO creatures within the lineage. The reverse summoning cost him a total of 15 spirit EVE particles.

The reverse summoning array is a fundamental array commonly used by first-stage Measurers; it can contain extraordinary creations in the lineage’s public containment service area. Each summoning or containment performed by an arcane practitioner requires the expenditure of corresponding EVE particles.

Mastery of array magic is one of the most crucial knowledge areas after extraordinary attributes, and Xia Xiu was quite fond of it.

In gaming terms, this does not occupy a skill slot. As long as one can inscribe the array and possesses EVE particles, it can be used directly.

Xia Xiu casually drew a summoning array on the lineage and then saved it.

[Public Storage (Living beings): BIO-202 (3)]

[Command Summon: 5 spirit EVE particles per head]

After finishing, Xia Xiu clapped his hands with satisfaction and raised his hand, revealing the Mark of Yaan swirling upon it.

[Mark of Yaan – Vortex]

[Effect: EVE particle recovery efficiency +30%]

Praise Yaan!

Xia Xiu then proceeded to review the Desire Flesh Crafting attribute.

[Desire Flesh Crafting]

[Effect: enables simple flesh and blood manipulation; permits flesh synthesis rituals.]

Desire Flesh Crafting is a vocational skill of the Third Return, one of the eight major vocations of Desire Flesh. It encompasses three branches: resurrection (necromancy), transformation, and protection.

It was evident that Desire Flesh Crafting belonged to the transformation branch. Probably because Xia Xiu obtained his human form through ritual conversion from BIO species, the Desire Flesh think tank, Yadabos, directly granted him the core technology of the transformation path.

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Xia Xiu was aware of the acquisition methods and combinations for several transformation attributes in the Desire Flesh lineage and also knew where to obtain the DNA template creatures required for transformation.

However, the immediate priority was to understand his surroundings.

Since his arrival, he had been enduring silently for a month and had some knowledge of Cladashi’s small treasure troves. His plan was to spend the coming time searching her hidden collections.

One hour later.

In Cladashi’s study, ten bundles of currency notes lay on the table, each note bearing a denomination of one hundred—these were the Central Currency. One Central Currency could buy a bag of sliced bread from a supermarket; a bag could sustain an adult male for two days.

Besides the Central Currency, fifteen dark green square stones were placed there; these were standard arcane stones (10 cubic centimeters each), each containing 100 spirit EVE particles.

These could be used for non-spiritual spellcasting or to replenish an arcane practitioner’s EVE particles.

“One hundred thousand Central Currency and fifteen arcane stones.”

Xia Xiu smiled contentedly at these alluring treasures; he loved such enticing things—more was always better.

After tallying the basic assets, Xia Xiu’s gaze shifted to several envelopes on the desk. Most contained tax payment lists, while a few held inconsequential trivial matters.

Among them, one brief news report caught Xia Xiu’s attention.

[Wandbearer Communications]

[Brief ①: The world’s top ten extraordinary enclaves, “Three Portland,” recently sailed from the Sea of Chaos, have passed through the Dublin region, and are expected to dock in the Mist City region this month. The Mist City Clock Tower will handle matters related to the porting of Portland (abbreviated).]

[Brief ②: The Portland Deer Academy announced it will hold a new recruitment session across the twenty-six nations of the Central Alliance.]

[Brief ③: The Orleans Empire and Diva Empire are conducting joint military exercises. During these, the Gear Orthodox Church of the Diva Empire unveiled some new mechanical golems.]

[Brief ④: Details on the opening of the new route...]

Wandbearers are a group of extra-dimensional reporters and archivists. They seek to explore the multiverse and expose its secrets, while disseminating and preserving knowledge.

Simply put, they are Terra’s extraordinary journalists.

Xia Xiu read the briefs carefully, especially the third and fourth items. He paid close attention because the game’s third and fourth expansions relate to these.

The third expansion is titled “Opening the New Route – Lost Lands,” and the fourth is “War of the Nations.”

These two expansions claimed many lives. Central, Diva, and Orleans suffered heavy brain drain, and the massive deployment of arcane applications led to the entire Terra being contaminated by ether radiation, laying the groundwork for the fifth expansion.

However, these events were still far from Xia Xiu’s current time. According to the calendar, it was Terra Year 1589, February 3rd, eleven years before the Unification War. Currently, Orleans and Diva were merely expanding their military forces, not yet at the stage of open conflict.

Xia Xiu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His original plan was to become an adventurer and, guided by his memories, seek methods to strengthen himself within Central. He anticipated traveling for one year.

He chose one year because the game’s first expansion, “Reprise Performance,” occurs in Terra Year 1590. He intended to use that year to advance to Stage Two and elevate his lineage’s rank, enabling him to reap corresponding benefits during the first expansion.

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A brief introduction to Terra’s extraordinary history is warranted here.

In Terra Year 221, people discovered arcane stones.

They discovered a source realm to communicate with the extraordinary — the [Sea of Ether].

However, the greedy people of Terra were dissatisfied with relying on external arcane stones to release magic; they wanted direct contact with the Sea of Ether to seize its extraordinary power firsthand.

Thus, Terra’s people developed various arcane systems. Through these, magic could be cast without reliance on arcane stones.

Terra entered a golden millennium: arcane systems were continuously developed, and exploration of the Sea of Ether deepened.

In Terra Year 1020, arcane practitioners were classified into five stages according to their power, a systematic ranking accepted by all arcane practitioners on Terra.

These five stages are:

Stage 1: Measurer

Stage 2: Manifestor

Stage 3: Dominator

Stage 4: Crown

Stage 5: Miracle

These five stages are universal across all lineages. Whether the First Major Lineage Heaven Realm, the aberrant lineage Desire Flesh, or a minor lineage with only one norm, all use these five stages to classify their arcane practitioners.

The stages of lineages are the same, but the class ranks differ.

For instance, Heaven Realm has three stages with nine levels and twenty-six vocations.

Desire Flesh faction has six ranks and eight major vocations.

The rank represents the privileges, computational resources, and think tank assistance one can obtain within that lineage.

For an arcane practitioner, the stage represents hardware; the rank represents software.