23 Four Awaken Classes

As the sun rose on the second day, Zed opened a container to see what exactly in it.

Inside were spores full of nutritive solution. He knew this spore kind, once consumed, could sustain a person for a day, providing essential minerals and vitamins.

The spores tasted sweet when punctured, close to some probiotic drink. That is, if you could ignore where is it came from - a certain insect residing behind the brute.

Indeed, when pushed to the brink, humans could stomach almost anything.

The identity of the first brave soul who tasted might be lost in the annals of survival. Yet, they were undeniably a hero, of sorts.

Zed, as a vampire, wasn't sure if consuming these spores would have any side effects. Nevertheless, considering he could walk under the sun, he doubted he had to be that strict about his diet anymore.

After all, it meant he didn't need to crave beer or canned beans anymore.

Sounds of merriment echoed through the streets. Women were returning home, children spilling out onto the streets to play.

Zed was sitting under a willow tree, with an orange-bound book in his hands. It was surprisingly packaged with a plastic cover. The scent of fresh ink still lingered between the pages, indicating that the city's basic industrial line was still operational.

Zed silently added a few score for the city in his mind.

On this wasteland, the larger the city, the higher the risk. If not for the massive walls protecting it, this city would have become a feast for the monsters in the blink of an eye.

Shaking off his thoughts, he opened the book in hand.

"A Comprehensive Overview of the Awakened System - First Edition," compiled by Pink Lady.

Zed raised an eyebrow. It seemed the author had some sort of love for apples.

On the first page, a single sentence stood as a preface:

"For the hope of humanity, this book aims to provide all awakened with equal opportunities. Please, raise your torch."

Zed stared at the first page for about five minutes.

Finally, he gave a sigh, shaking his head.

"You've failed."

Although Zed didn't know much about the awakened, he had never heard of a unified, universally recognized training system among them.

At least, not among the lower tiers.

Nothing was equal here.

This was one of the reasons why high-tier awakened became increasingly scarce in the later days. The academy's admission standards tightened: at first, anyone willing to learn could enter, then only those with talent, and finally, admission became solely dependent on talent.

Zed tore open another spore with his teeth and continued reading.

He skimmed through the initial pages quickly, but as he delved deeper into the book, his pace slowed down, and he started to read word by word, sometimes even went back rereading sections.

He had thought it impossible for humans to research the awakened so thoroughly within a short span of a month, but he was proven wrong.

The book divided the abilities of the awakened into four major classes.

Firstly, the mega class, akin to mages in tales. This included any power that manifested from the intangible to the tangible. This was also the main category for spores that appeared from monsters. Their advantage lay in their immense power, some with AOE abilities. Once a caster was skilled, they could copy spores directly for use. The defining characteristics of this class were convergence and learning.

However, it also had glaring weaknesses: long casting times, high initial spore consumption, and most importantly, the need for a quiet environment to learn, which was certainly daydreaming in this world. Only academies, big corporations, or the elite had the capacity to cultivate such individuals.

Zed recalled witnessing these types of awokens in a small camp before. Their fireballs and earth spikes were only just enough to face a Class C brute.

The second calss was the Summoning Beast class, which closely resembled the beast masters from novels. Their goal was to nurture and tame. The pro was their ability to command the beasts of this world in battle. In fact, experiments had shown that some powerful awakened could even summon beasts from other planes to fight for them.

When Zed looked at the cons section for this class, he spent a long time squinting at the text, initially thinking his vision was playing tricks on him. Upon closer inspection, he realized the handwritten copy of the book had been altered many times. In handwriting that could compete with a doctor's illegible scrawl, it had added a few words in the end.

"beasts are unstable, prone to losing control."

"Alright then," Zed murmured, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He could sense the author's helplessness seeping through the hastily scribbled note.

The third class, Ascending type, triggered Zed's interest, he even straightening his back up when approaching first line.

It was known as 'Possession Invocation'.

The author speculated that this type of power was derived from the same source as the previously discussed Summoning type, sharing its nature — at times potent, at others weak.

The difference was that these summons directly imbued the Awakened with abilities from other realms. Most of these abilities showed very similar to creatures of Earthly lore, though due to their rarity and lack of data, it was difficult to draw conclusions.

The observable pro of this type was its low energy consumption. Any spore could be transformed into fuel for an invocation. The greater the investment, the more potent the invoked power. Even when not actively invoking, the Awakened's base attributes were bolstered.

The downside? An insidious vulnerability to mental ailments.

Reading this, Zed brushed the dust off his leg nonchalantly.

"Legendary creatures, eh? A vampire, certainly... falls into the realm of legends..." He mused aloud, lost in thought.

Unlike the other categories, this one had an additional appendix that caught Zed's eye.

'The unleashing of ascending often means the destruction of everything in its vicinity. However, they often come with an essential ability - precognitive warning...'

"Precognitive warning..." Zed echoed the words, a frown creasing his forehead.

He couldn't see any signs of such an ability, unless...

His gaze drifted towards Lucy, who was joyfully running about with a group of children. Her laughter echoed in the air, pure and carefree.

Shaking his head slightly, Zed continued onto the final calss.

The fourth kind was body perk, Devour type, distinguished by its characteristic of amalgamation. These Awakened could directly consume spores for evolution, some even resorting to devouring the monsters and beasts on wasteland. Their evolution seemed limitless, eventually boasting abilities from various types. The cons, obviously, lay in the risk of losing their humanity as an assimilation of too many abilities, becoming monsters themselves.

At this, Zed couldn't help but recall the rumors of cannibal tribes and even cities in the wasteland, individuals who had wholly forsaken their humanity. If people like Zed sought survival, these were beings who revelled in kill.

However, one couldn't deny their formidable strength. They primarily survived in the wasteland as assassins, figuring they might as well make the most of their reputations.

Drawing a deep breath, Zed closed the book, once again glancing at the cover to memorize the name of the so-called 'Pink Lady'.

While the author would remain obscure in the days to come, Zed was almost certain that this person would lay the foundation for the system of the Awakened in the future.

Of many things about awaken, Zed had no clue. But he was well aware of the number of academies within the Awakened system.

There were four.

By now, the sun had fully risen. Holding tree for support, Zed stood up, dusting off the dirt clinging to his pants before waving at Lucy.

He decided to head back to the hotel for rest. The content of the book had firmed his mind to join the academy, providing clarity on his future path as an awakened.

"That strange dream..." Zed shook his head, the academy was the only place where he could get answer.

Lucy slowly walked up to Zed, her skin glistening with sweat. The girl radiated beauty and vitality.

"You alright?" Lucy asked, noticing Zed's unusual expression.

Zed, indeed, seemed transfixed, a strange glint crossing his face.

"Nothing much... just that, I've seen a fox..."

"A fox?"

"Yes, you must've heard plenty of stories about the Newford foxes, haven't you?"

Zed grinned, changing his plans on the spot.

His vision seemed to pierce through buildings and blocks, then a red humanoid figure flickering in his sight, making its way towards an abandoned factory on the east side of the city.