Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 78: The Apostates

The subject of the origin of the System was very interesting to Zac. He had a hard time imagining an empire strong enough that it dared to wage war against a whole universe, and an individual powerful enough to change the basic rules of the universe by creating the System. Just a glance of someone like Emperor Limitless was probably enough to blast him into molecules.

The subject of Apostates also piqued his interest to the point that he actually put down his axe and decided to keep listening instead of resuming his mining operations.

“So you mean that these so-called Apostates managed to actually change how the System worked?” he asked intrigued.

“The actual reasons are quite unclear. Some believe that the System rewards the Apostates for reaching the peak of their path by letting them design or change aspects of how it operates. Other say that they reached such a height that their ideals and convictions shape reality itself, and the System was forced to comply. None of the Apostate has actually broached the subject to tell us what the truth is.” Alyn answered.

“Are they still alive?” Zac probed.

“It’s not clear, at least not to us in lowly D-ranked worlds. From what has been passed down through the multi-verse the last Apostate and change happened roughly 280 million years ago. Even with the enormous longevity of such supreme beings, they shouldn’t be alive unless immortality is real. Besides, the Apostates reportedly disappeared roughly at the same time the change they brought to the system appeared. That’s why a third theory for the change is that the Apostates actually merged with the System.”

Zac felt it was reasonable that even the school-mistress didn’t have all the answers. These were the top characters in the multi-verse, and there should be many hidden things behind the curtains that the general population wasn’t qualified to know.

“So, what changes did they bring?”

“Well, we can begin with the latest Apostate. He is called the Apostate of Greed, but his real name was Orlan Stillsun. His contribution was the Mercantile System that Calrin and all other merchant organizations use. He was a progenitor of a planet just like you and rose to the peak in only a few dozens of millennia.

“But his class wasn’t combat-oriented, and there are very few mentions of him ever battling. The peak he rose to was through business, and his company is still around today, even though he is not. Being able to get a Stillsun Family shop in your Lordship is one of the greatest signs of your status in the multi-verse. Of course, they would never open a branch on a D-Ranked world, as they still are one of the most powerful entities in the multi-verse.

“His accomplishments were only possible because of the Apostate of Mercy. I have no real knowledge of her, and I don’t even know if there is a family line that can trace to her like the Apostate of Greed. She reportedly felt sorry for the myriad people in the multi-verse being forced into conflict. In her era, all classes were combat-oriented, and the only method to get stronger was to fight and kill.

“She enabled the non-combat class system, also known as the craftsman class system. Thanks to her it is possible to gain levels and improve classes without having to risk your life in constant battle. Of course, the craftsmen need to still arduously improve and practice their craft to gain cosmic energy and levels.”

“What about you?” Zac asked.

“It is generally a bit rude to ask someone about their class, but it doesn’t matter in this case. My class is simply Teacher, an F-Ranked Common class. My skills pertain to knowledge retention and dissemination. I also get ocular skills that can help me see cosmic energy circulation in others so I can guide students’ cultivation practice. I even get some defensive spells to protect myself and my students, but no offensive ones. And I am actually gaining Cosmic Energy as I am explaining these things to you, as I am fulfilling the purpose of my class.”

“Are there upgrade paths for the Teacher class as well?”

“Any class has the potential to reach the peak of power, non-combat classes included. There are some restrictions in general when it comes to class upgrades. We explained some of it when we discussed Heritages earlier, but this is a good point to go over class upgrades.” Alyn said, swiftly jumping in between subjects.

“The first class upgrade is at level 75. There are generally three things that are needed to upgrade to E-Grade. Race, Dao, and Achievements. Your race needs to be E-class, you need to have grasped at least one Dao-seed and your actions must enable the class. Some classes have even more restrictions, such as status restrictions or Title-requirements, but those are exceptions rather than the rule. Classes with higher Rarity almost always have more stringent requirements in Dao and Achievments.

“If you don’t fulfill all three requirements you will not be able to upgrade your class and progress from level 75. It is therefore known as the first bottleneck. Furthermore, many are able to upgrade their class but still chose to stay down there, even until the day they die.”

“Why would they not upgrade if they are able to?” Zac asked confused. There seemed to be only upsides to upgrading and becoming stronger.

“There are a few reasons people stay on at F-class, at least for a bit. First, there are certain trials and titles that are only accessible before advancing. The Tower of Eternity is one such example. The second, and more important reason is that people desperately try to gain access to a better class” Alyn said.

“What do you mean?” Zac already felt pretty happy getting a Rare class, but if it could increase the rarity even further when upgrading to the next tier, that would obviously be better. The tower thing sounded interesting as well, but one thing at a time.

“Achievements is the third requirement, and the most diffuse. Only with a full heritage can you know exactly what you need to do to be able to gain a class. But examples are to fight in wars, to have killed enough enemies, to have seen and explored certain areas. Generally to have grown as a being and have accomplished things above the norm.

“Warriors do not only wait to get a better class in order to gain better skills and attribute points, they do it since they do not want to cut off their path of cultivation. There is another minimum requirement for class advancement that is related to class rarity. An F-ranked class can be any rarity and still gain an upgrade. But an E-ranked class need to be at least Uncommon ranked to be able to advance further. So if you pick an E-ranked common class, then your path of cultivation will end at E-rank, no matter how deep your insight of the Dao is or how grand your achievements are.

“And with every stage, the requirement increase one step. A D-Ranker needs to have at least a Rare class, a C-Ranker at least an Epic one and so on. There is an endless amount of individuals with greater ambition than talent that throw themselves into perilous situations to gain achievements in hope of gaining a better option for a class. Most die, but some succeed. Of course, the Fruit of Ascension you ate is a shortcut in a sense.” Alyn stated with some obvious desire in her eyes as she mentioned the fruit.

“What do the Fruits I ate have to do with class options?” Zac asked confused. He thought they were only good for upgrading his Race, and that was why they were named after Ascension.

“Ogras didn’t tell you?” Alyn asked surprised. She hesitated a long while before she seemed to have come to a decision. “Well, this part you didn’t hear from me then. The main goal of a Fruit of Ascension isn’t improving your Race, although it is a good time-saving effect for most people, cultivators included. It is the effect it has on your class upgrades. It’s only a D-ranked treasure, so it’s effect is limited, but essentially it improves your choices when you upgrade your class.

“Even if a warrior normally only qualified for common classes when upgrading to E-Rank, after eating a Fruit of Ascension they would be guaranteed to only have uncommon classes to choose from. If you could already get uncommon ones, it is likely you will get Rare options. It can even help push you toward getting an Epic class if you were close to qualifying but falling a bit short. The fruit is a cheat, or a shortcut, that immensely improves a warriorʼs future prospects. That is why it’s considered one of the greatest D-Ranked natural treasures” she finished with a longing sigh.

Zac’s heart started to beat rapidly, finally understanding the gravity of what he had eaten. No wonder everyone had scrambled to get those fruits on the mountains. He had already heard that most warriors in the multi-verse, even on established D-Rank planets, started out as a Common class. This fruit would enable them to reach at least D-Rank in the future.

In his case the use was still great, as it might be what pushed him into getting an Epic class when upgrading. From what he understood an epic class was extremely rare and it would be a huge event if an Epic class emerged on a D-ranked world. He didn’t wish to stay on this topic though, as he still had another fruit sitting in his pouch like a hot potato.

“So what did the other Apostates change?” he asked, changing the subject.

“The one before Lady Mercy was called the Apostate of Order. He was a great scholar who strove to understand all Dao under the heavens. The change he brought was the codifying of the Dao. You should know it as the patterns, or fractals you see from everything from our weapons, to skills, even to your pathways.” Alyn answered, jumping back to the original topic without any hiccup.

“It is thanks to him we can gain Dao Seeds and further our understanding of the Dao through study of the fractals” she continued.

“What do you mean?” Zac asked, once again getting derailed by an interesting topic. He still hadn’t found a way to upgrade his Dao Seed, and had tried various tricks.

“The fractals contain a hint of the Dao. It is most clear in the fractals awarded from the So-called Seed-quests, as they emanate the Dao itself. But it is possible to gain insight from almost anything, from the inscriptions on a piece of gear to continuous usage of a skill. It is generally more effective to study fractals than to sit in silent meditation, though many consider a combination of the two the best.

“In any case. The two first Apostates do not actually have any Apostate designations but are rather called The Beast Progenitor and The First Defier, and they are strong contenders for the title of the most powerful beings since the inception of cultivation.”