NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48 - Preparing for a Class Evolution
Marcus Eidolon arrived at the Academy Tuesday morning like a force of nature barely contained within human form. Nick first noticed the shift in atmosphere during their pre-dawn combat training with Val. Her usual brutal intensity seemed off that morning. Pushing them harder than she usually did except for while they were at The Compound.
"Your resonance evaluation results have attracted attention," she said without preamble as they collapsed onto the training mats, drenched in sweat and running on pure determination. "More attention than is healthy for students still learning to control their abilities."
Before Nick could ask what that meant, the training hall's doors opened and Marcus strode in wearing his customary dark suit that somehow managed to look both perfectly civilian and unmistakably dangerous, his presence filling their training area.
"Val," he said with courteous formality that carried undertones of steel. "I need to speak with you privately." Surveying their post workout state with a small smile. "Nick, Jordan, Maggie, it's great to see you. It looks like Val did a good job helping you keep up with your training. You're dismissed for breakfast."
Nick exchanged glances with Jordan and Maggie as they gathered their gear, all of them recognizing the tension that had entered the room with Marcus's arrival. Whatever discussion was about, didn't look good.
They were halfway to the dining hall when they encountered Professor Kuro and Professor Rhyst engaged in heated conversation near the administrative wing's entrance. The discussion stopped abruptly when they noticed the students approaching, both faculty members adopting expressions of neutrality that didn't quite mask their underlying concern.
"Mr. Valiente," Professor Rhyst called out with forced casualness. "I trust you're settling well yes?"
"Yes, sir," Nick replied carefully, unsure of the undercurrents in the question but that it had nothing to do with his academic adjustment.
Professor Kuro nodded approvingly, though his eyes held a calculating intensity. "Excellent. Your team's development has been... notable. We're looking forward to observing your continued progress."
The way he said "observing your continued progress" didn't quite sit well with Nick and he could feel Maggie's eyes narrow even if he couldn't see it.
Why are they so interested in us right now? Does this have to do with Marcus being here?
After the professors departed, Jordan spoke quietly enough that his words wouldn't carry beyond their immediate group. "Marcus didn't come here for a social visit. Something about our evaluation results triggered something."
Maggie was already typing away on her system's interface checking the situation to see what was going on. "It's definitely something to do with yesterdays testing but there were a lot of other excellent students. The biggest issue is that we stood out too much apparently triggering some type of security system. Marcus is apparently here to manage this."
By the time they reached their first core class of the day—System Sync with Professor Kuro—the tension that had hung over them, and someone shifted back towards normalcy. Though Nick still noticed certain students in the Alpha class who hadn't noticed them before, now seemed to be paying attention to them.
Professor Kuro's System Sync class proved to be exactly what Nick needed to understand the technical implications of their resonance evaluation. The professor's expertise with Arcadian technology provided insights into the attributes that defined their capabilities and potential development paths.
Professor Kuro stood beside holographic displays detailing their attribute breakdowns, his voice measured and precise. "Each attribute represents a fundamental aspect of your relationship with mana," he began, eyes scanning the attentive faces of his students.
"INT, or Intelligence, measures your ability to comprehend complex mana manipulations and grasp theoretical frameworks. It dictates how effectively you can analyze, adapt, and innovate within mana-intensive environments."
He shifted to the next section of the display. "WIS, or Wisdom, represents your intuitive grasp of spiritual principles and strategic long-term thinking. High wisdom enhances your ability to perceive underlying truths and foresee the consequences of your choices."
He paused, letting the students absorb this before continuing. "Now, the physical attributes—STR, or Strength, is your raw physical power, directly affecting your ability to withstand and deliver forceful mana-infused attacks. VIT, or Vitality, indicates your resilience and endurance, governing your capacity to recover from physical injuries and mana strain."
Nick found himself nodding slightly, mentally cataloging the definitions for future reference.
Professor Kuro continued smoothly, "SPD, or Speed, is self-explanatory on a basic level—it defines how swiftly you move and react—but remember that when amplified by mana, the improvements scale exponentially, not linearly."
He turned his attention to another holographic indicator. "AGI, or Agility, defines your flexibility, coordination, and ease of movement. High agility greatly enhances your precision in combat and complex maneuvers."
Nick exchanged a quick glance with Jordan, recognizing how crucial agility had become during their training sessions with Val.
Professor Kuro moved to the next attribute, pausing thoughtfully before continuing. "Now, Resistance (RES)—this attribute measures your spiritual stability, acting as your internal defense against external influences like dimensional contamination, mental manipulation, and mana corruption. For those of you familiar with earlier evaluation systems, RES is essentially the evolved form of your original Stamina (STA) attribute."
He glanced meaningfully around the room, ensuring he had everyone's attention. "Where stamina represented your basic endurance and resistance to physical fatigue and mana strain, Resistance encompasses and expands upon this, providing broader protection—spiritual, mental, and dimensional. It's a critical evolution that occurs naturally as your resonance with mana deepens, and your body and spirit adapt to greater threats and complexities."
Nick felt the explanation click perfectly into place. He'd wondered why he hadn't seen the stamina stat from their initial training sessions. Looks like it hadn't disappeared, but evolved.
Tuning back into the lecture, he heard Professor Kuro's final statements about the RES stat, "High resistance score significantly reduces your vulnerability to invasive forces and mana corruption. It's also the primary factor in determining compatibility with... advanced classifications."
The pause before "advanced classifications" suggested information that wasn't included in standard curriculum. Nick filed the observation away for future investigation.
Nick had asked Sophia to have his simplified stat screen displayed to him during class.
🜂 Nicholas Valiant 🜂
Class: Shaper (Codex Warden – Restricted Access) Tier: Tier 1 – Unstable Core Attributes:
INT: 100
WIS: 100
STR: 100
VIT: 100
SPD: 100
RES: 100
AGI: 100
FORT: 100
[Mana Signature: Unclassified Hybrid System Sync Efficiency: 74.6%]
He was still Tier 1 and therefore all his stats were caped at 100. That's when his noticed that Professor Kuro didn't go over the Fortitude stat. He'd received that stat during their first week at the Compound. He'd also noticed yesterday that he was the only one with that stat. and that Sophia had hidden it from view when they had allowed his status page to be seen.
Sophia, I didn't ask this yesterday, but what's so special about the FORT stat?
[Host, that stat is only connected to Omega-class individuals which is why I hid it. To find out more we will need to research more about the Omega-class. However, Host might want to consider waiting to pursue such research until after your class evolution.]
Nick sighed but understood Sophia's concern. He was running out of time. His Codex Warden evolution was imminent.
After System Sync, was Arcadian History with Dr. Bojes—a class Nick had been both anticipating and dreading since reviewing the Academy's curriculum. The study of ancient civilizations that faced dimensional threats would inevitably touch on topics that might trigger Arlize's memories in ways he couldn't predict.
Dr. Bojes proved to be an engaging and personable lecturer whose expertise brought ancient events to life. "The Aurilian Empire represents the most advanced pre-catastrophe civilization in recorded history," he began, activating holographic displays that showed reconstructed images of cities that defied conventional architecture. "Their mastery of dimensional sciences allowed them to create technology we're still struggling to understand centuries later."
"The Empire's fall provides crucial lessons about the dangers of uncontrolled dimensional experimentation," Dr. Bojes continued, his tone growing more serious. "Their attempts to weaponize Void energy ultimately led to the catastrophic dimensional collapse that destroyed their entire civilization."
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As the lecture progressed into more specific details about Aurilia's final days, Nick felt Arlize's memories pressing against his consciousness with growing urgency. The academic description of events he had lived through created a strange double perspective—both illuminating and deeply unsettling.
"Particularly tragic was the fate of their Omega-Class leadership," Dr. Bojes said, triggering a memory shard so powerful that Nick had to grip his desk to maintain composure. "These individuals possessed capabilities that exceeded normal human limitations, but their advanced abilities also made them targets for the dimensional entities that ultimately consumed their world."
The memory fragment that surfaced was devastating in its clarity—Arlize standing in a council chamber as reports arrived of Omega-Class operatives being systematically hunted and corrupted by Void entities. The warrior-mage's desperation as he realized their greatest defenders had become their highest vulnerabilities was so vivid that Nick felt tears forming in his eyes.
We made them too powerful, Arlize's voice echoed softly in his mind with crushing regret. In seeking to create guardians against the darkness, we created beacons that drew the darkness to us.
Nick managed to maintain composure until class ended, but Arlize's words and memories followed him like an inescapable shadow throughout the rest of the day.
Their afternoon class with Professor Rhyst focused on hand-to-hand combat fundamentals, though the session emphasized instruction rather than active sparring. Nick felt grateful for the restraint—his emotional equilibrium was still recovering and he didn't know if he could present the front he wanted, had they actually begun sparing.
Professor Rhyst proved exactly the kind of instructor Nick had expected: a combat veteran whose teaching methods emphasized practical effectiveness over theoretical elegance. "Combat at the Academy level requires integrating physical technique with mana enhancement," he explained while demonstrating defensive positions that could be maintained while channeling defensive energy.
Jordan absorbed the instruction with obvious familiarity, his movements showing the refined technique that came from extensive previous training. His competence drew attention from other students, particularly a group Nick recognized as also APEX trained students.
"Look at the golden boy showing off," one of them muttered loud enough to carry across the training area. "Thinks his fancy techniques make him special."
Jordan maintained his focus on the lesson, but Nick could see tension building in his shoulders as the comments continued throughout the session. The displaced Alpha students weren't the only ones who resented their team's rapid advancement through the Academy rankings.
Professor Rhyst either didn't notice the undercurrents or chose to ignore them, focusing on teaching them he fundamentals instead. Nick filed away the social dynamics for future consideration, they might need to do something about these students in the future.
That evening, with less than five days remaining before his forced class evolution, Nick made his way to the Academy's vast library system with desperate hope of finding information about the Codex Warden classification. The library occupied several levels of the mountain complex, its large bookshelves stretching beyond visual limits and containing knowledge accumulated over years of dimensional research.
He spent hours searching through every available resource, using Sophia's enhanced memory capabilities to store visual information from texts, diagrams, and theories that might provide insights into his pending class evolution. Ancient texts, modern research papers, theoretical dissertations on consciousness integration—he absorbed everything he could through Sophia just in case the knowledge would be needed at a later moment.
Yet despite his exhaustive research, he found nothing concrete about the Codex Warden classification. References existed in fragments—mentions of "memory keepers" in ancient texts, theoretical discussions of "living archives" in modern research, and cryptic allusions to "bridge builders" in philosophical treatises about consciousness. Yet no comprehensive description explained what the class actually was or even described it in detail.
"Sophia," he thought with growing frustration, "are you finding anything useful in this research?"
[Host, the information exists.] His system replied with certainty. [Unfortunately, it seems as though all information about the Codex Warden Class has been deliberately made unavailable for public consumption.]
"Which means I'm going into this evolution completely blind?"
[Not completely. Your integration with Arlize's memories provides context that normal students wouldn't possess. The Codex Warden class appears designed specifically for individuals with your unique consciousness configuration.]
Nick was not reassured and continued his research until the library's automated systems announced it was closing time. He returned to their suite with more questions than answers and the growing certainty that his class evolution would reveal capabilities the Academy couldn't wait to get their hands on, but was he prepared to handle the consequences.
Thursday night's mental conditioning session at the Academy's psychological training labs proved particularly intensive. The session was designed to strengthen mental defenses against the manipulation techniques that dimensional entities used against the human consciousness. It left Nick's mind feeling raw and exposed, his normal psychological barriers temporarily weakened by the training process.
[+5 FORT. FORT points unable to be processed. Host, please evolve your class.]
Nick had been getting these messages from Sophia's system all week. He'll have a lot of back up status to allocate when he finally evolved his class. But he was still researching everything he could about his class.
During this vulnerable state, Arlize's consciousness surfaced with unprecedented clarity—not as fragmented memories but as direct communication from the ancient warrior-mage's preserved awareness.
"Nicolás," Arlize's voice resonated through Nick's sleeping mind, clear and intense. "Nicolás, listen carefully. The Codex Warden class the System is preparing you for isn't simply another advanced classification—it's far more profound and complex."
Nick felt his subconscious sharpen in response. "Tell me clearly—what exactly am I becoming?"
Arlize nodded. "A Codex Warden is a guardian of forgotten systems, a reconstructor of resonance logic, and an interpreter of memory echoes. You will become a living archive of mana-tech knowledge, someone who can reconstruct lost and corrupted spells from fragments of memory—spells others thought permanently destroyed or forbidden."
He paused briefly, as if choosing his words with care. "This means you'll possess the ability to reshape spell structures using dual-layer coding, blending Arcadian structural logic with modern mana syntax. Your mind will be able to rewrite spellwork dynamically, not just to recreate past techniques, but also to innovate entirely new integrations tailored to you."
"And the Academy will try to use me as a weapon," Nick said, piecing it together, dread rising.
"Yes," Arlize affirmed softly. "But you are more than that. You will hold knowledge powerful entities seek to control or erase. The Codex Integration Engine within your System will enable you to archive reconstructed spells, custom constructs, and even forbidden spells. You'll embed system logic directly into your environment using mnemonic sigilcraft, creating invisible resonance runes that can trigger protective or offensive effects."
Nick's anxiety deepened. "Why me? Why this class?"
Arlize's gaze sharpened with an intensity that sent chills down Nick's spine. "Because you are uniquely suited. You've already integrated multiple of my memory shards, stabilizing resonance patterns others cannot even perceive. Our dual consciousness allows you to anchor unstable spells and reconstruct mana logic precisely."
The ancient warrior-mage leaned closer, urgency in every syllable. "Understand this clearly, Nicholas—the Codex Warden is just the beginning. It leads down a path toward the Dimensional Ascendant class. You're on a trajectory toward becoming a reality architect, capable of reshaping fundamental rules of dimensional resonance."
Arlize's image flickered, his time nearly up. "Trust your friends but guard your abilities closely. The Academy underestimates what they're dealing with. They think they can control or exploit your evolution, but the Codex Warden's responsibilities surpass their understanding and authority. Marcus will intervene, but you cannot rely solely on outside help in the future so take steps to protect yourself and your team."
His voice grew faint, filled with regretful certainty. "Be cautious, Nicholas. Your choices from here onward will ripple through realities. You carry a legacy that many will seek, and others will fear. Make sure it serves your values—not theirs."
The warning carried implications that made Nick's sleeping form toss restlessly as his subconscious wrestled with threats extending far beyond academic challenges or student rivalries.
When Nick woke Friday morning, Arlize's warning had lodged itself in his consciousness like a splinter, subtly shaping his thoughts and interactions. The paranoid caution that had defined his approach to relationships after his resurrection began creeping back, making him view his surroundings with fresh suspicion.
The shift was subtle but clear to anyone who knew him. During morning combat training, he held back slightly from the complete trust that had grown with his teammates. In classes, he found himself dissecting faculty motivations with cynical precision, assuming hidden agendas behind every interaction.
Jordan caught the change first during lunch. Nick had just taken the first bite of his meal when Jordan spoke. "You seem... different today," he said carefully.
"Just processing everything we've learned this week," Nick replied—technically true while sidestepping the deeper implications of Arlize's warning.
Maggie had also picked up on the shift in his behavior though she approached it far more bluntly. "Your stress indicators are elevated more than usual, and you just seem to be more suspicious of everything. Like when I met you. Everything okay? Anything we should be worried about?"
"No, everything is fine," Nick said a bit more sharply than he expected which caught them both and even himself off guard.
"I'm sorry." He said, quickly apologizing. "I haven't had a lot of sleep recently because of this class evolution coming up and it's making me testy." Maggie nodded but she looked like she was only letting it go for now, to pick it up later when they were alone.
While Nick grappled with Arlize's warning and his behavioral response to it, Maggie had launched her own investigation into the unusual behavior of their professors earlier in the week. Using her Tier 2 skill, Neural Harmony, she'd been able to access the Academy systems to track and analyze faculty and student movements.
She'd uncovered a couple Academy operations during late-night hours where faculty members were holding unauthorized meetings in restricted areas, particularly near the Omega Archives that had already caught their team's attention.
"Their movements in this off-limits zone near the archives is fairly recent based on an analysis of previous years movements of these same professors and staff. Some of which don't have the official clearance levels to even be in that area."
She activated holographic displays within their shared interfaces showing timestamps for personnel movements running beneath the Academy's official structure.
"Professor Kuro has been accessing restricted database terminals during scheduled maintenance windows when the system should block such access. Professor Rhyst has been conducting unauthorized facility inspections in areas tied to dimensional research. Even Dr. Bojes has been reviewing classified historical records about ancient Omega-Class operatives."
Jordan studied the data with tactical precision, immediately grasping the implications. "They're researching us specifically. Our evaluation results triggered investigation protocols that go way beyond normal academic assessment."
"Which means Marcus's intervention this morning was damage control for a situation that's already spiraled beyond simple faculty curiosity," Nick added, Arlize's warning about hidden enemies suddenly carrying new weight in light of Maggie's discoveries.
The week that had started with hopes of normal academic routine had peeled back layers of complexity extending far beyond classroom instruction. Their presence at the Academy was generating responses at multiple levels—from student rivalries to faculty investigation to administrative oversight—suggesting implications that reached well beyond educational assessment.
As Friday evening settled over the Academy, Nick found himself at their suite's window again, gazing out over mountain ranges that concealed more than just their location from the outside world. The Academy itself was revealing secrets within secrets, and his role in whatever larger plan was unfolding remained maddeningly unclear.
With less than three days left before his Concordance Challenge, the pressure to understand his situation was building. But Arlize's warning echoed in his mind with growing certainty—the Academy's plans for him stretched beyond anything he'd been told, and the Codex Warden evolution would mark the beginning of responsibilities that could fundamentally reshape not just his capabilities but his entire understanding of his place in the cosmic struggle against dimensional threats.
The real question was whether he'd still be himself when the transformation was complete, or whether the Academy's shaping process would forge something that served their purposes more than his own values and goals.
Outside, the mountain night lay quiet and peaceful, but within the Academy's walls, forces were converging that would soon test everything he thought he knew about trust, loyalty, and the price of power in a world teetering on the brink of dimensional catastrophe.