Doomsday Lord Ch. 8 | Gaining Classes

After becoming a Ranger, Yú Kǎi learned how to use a bow. The system would handle Skill activation, but the technique for using weapons needed hours of practice to hone.

Yú Kǎi then followed Chéng Yáng up to the village walls to hunt more monsters.

He barely hit anything in the beginning but after only a dozen or so tries Yú Kǎi started to consistently hit his nearly stationary targets. The power behind the arrows wasn’t amazing, but so long as a weapon made contact with someone, the system would deal the full amount of damage so that didn’t matter. Chéng Yáng had seen how fast he’d adapted to archery in his previous life, but it was still shocking to watch. He was even faster in this life since Yú Kǎi had a safe environment to practice in.

Once the Settlement Experience Fragment balance hit ten again, Chéng Yáng brought Niú Bīng over to the Druid Class Statue. According to Chéng Yáng’s memories this Class would fit him best since his Innate Ability increased a Hidden Attribute for Druids and although Druids weren’t necessarily a ranged Class their summoned beasts could be sent over the wall to fight in their stead and be re-summoned when they died.

Of course the real reason Chéng Yáng chose to perform Niú Bīng’s Class Change Ceremony next instead of finding another Ranger or a Mage was that they were friends. If becoming a Player shortly after the apocalypse increased a person’s talent, he absolutely needed to give that opportunity to Niú Bīng whose Innate Ability was only D-Rank in his memories.

A few moments later Niú Bīng was up on the wall next to Yú Kǎi holding a staff. It was similar to the stave used by Chéng Yáng but instead of a jewel it was topped by a ring with beast claws on it.

---

Niú Bīng

Phoenix Village Citizen
Class: Druid
Level: Low Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age	20	Life Span	110
Health	30	Mana	20
Attack Damage	3.9	Magic Damage	1
Attack Resistance	1	Magic Resistance	1
Attack Speed	2	Movement Speed	2.2

Innate Abilities

• Summoned creatures have 30% more Health
• Attack Damage is increased by 30%
• Movement speed is increased by 10%

Skill

Spirit Communion (Core Skill)
Lie on your back and commune with spirits to recover and advance

Summon Wolf (Low-Grade)
Summons an obedient wolf with base attributes equal to the summoner.

Duration: 10 min	Cost: 4 Mana
Cast Time: 14.75 seconds	Cooldown: 44.26 sec

Equipment

Wooden Staff (One Handed)
A solid wood staff, well suited to hitting things.

Damage: 6.5	Cooldown: 1.48 sec
Range: 1 m

---

Chéng Yáng was elated after checking Niú Bīng’s stats! It looked like his guess had been correct! The sooner you performed a Class Change Ceremony, the better your Innate Ability would be. Perhaps what was happening is that each person starts with S-Rank talent but it decays over time? That would explain how some people still got S-Rank talents days or weeks after the start of the apocalypse, they simply had a slower rate of decay!

Most powerful factions in his memories would have a handful of people with S-Rank Innate Abilities, five at most. If he could get everyone here to perform Class Change Ceremonies fast enough, Chéng Yáng’s group would have over a dozen! More twice that of the most powerful faction in his previous life!

Luckily Chéng Yáng knew a way to assess a person’s compatibility with a Class. Otherwise he might end up wasting an S-Rank Innate Ability by guessing incorrectly.

While Chéng Yáng fantasized about a glorious future, Niú Bīng had already gotten accustomed to his new Skills.

When it was just Chéng Yáng and Yú Kǎi farming monsters, they could only helplessly scrabble at the walls. Now that Niú Bīng was there the fighting below the wall became bloody and fierce. After summoning a wolf, every monster in the area would charge straight for it like a shark to blood. The wolf would be surrounded and torn apart after just a few seconds. After it died, Niú Bīng would simply summon another and start the process over again.

Without a doubt Druid was the Class with the lowest skill floor. Compared to the Ranger Class which had the highest, the difference was night and day.

Soon Chéng Yáng had enough Experience Fragments to let Liú Hào perform his Class Change Ceremony. Even though Liú Hào would probably still have an S-Rank Innate Ability even if he went last, Chéng Yáng felt it was better to do it now just in case. If he was wrong and screwed over his friend he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. The others would simply have to wait and hope for the best.

After Liú Hào performed his Class Change Ceremony Chéng Yáng let out a sigh of relief. Liú Hào still had that outstanding S-Rank Innate Ability.

---

Liú Hào

Phoenix Village Citizen
Class: Warrior
Level: Low Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age	19	Life Span	110
Health	40	Mana	10
Attack Damage	3	Magic Damage	1
Attack Resistance	2	Magic Resistance	2
Attack Speed	1.3	Movement Speed	1.43

Innate Abilities

• Attack Speed is increased by 30%
• Movement Speed is increased by 30%
• Movement Speed is increased by 10%

Skill

Essence Gathering (Core Skill)
Enter a horse stance and draw in worldly energy to recover and advance.

Energy Slash (Low-Grade)
Fill your blade with Mana, then release it in a devastating arc that cuts through enemies.

Damage: 8	Cost: 3 Mana
Range: 3 m	Cooldown: 2.99 sec

Equipment

Iron Sword (One-Handed)
A crude blade fit for slashing and stabbing.

Damage: 3	Cooldown: 1.49 sec
Range: 1 m

Wooden Heater (One-Handed)
A sturdy and reliable shield. | Attacks that hit the shield have their damage nullified.

Damage: 1.5	Cooldown: 2.99 sec
Range: 1 m

---

Liú Hào’s Innate Ability would make him a natural fit for the Assassin Sub-Class once it became available. With his ability to catch up to the opponent and deal rapid blows, no one would be a more capable Assassin than Liú Hào.

In Chéng Yáng’s memories there were only around five hundred people known to have an S-Rank Innate Ability, and right now his faction had four! It was enough to make him feel giddy.

Chéng Yáng tried to suppress the excitement in his heart, but he couldn’t help but expand the scope of his goals. Previously he would have been content to just become a Lord and provide a better life for his friends, but with this kind of combat power, he felt it might be possible to conquer multiple Settlements and build an Empire!

While the others fought monsters from atop the walls Liú Hào could only stand awkwardly to the side. Despite his strength, if he were to leave the safety of the walls, he’d fair no better than Niú Bīng’s wolves.

The next person Chéng Yáng allowed to become a Professional was Páng Shān. Compared to the others, Páng Shān had a closer connection to him, so she was his first choice.

Chéng Yáng had never met Páng Shān in his previous life, so he didn’t know what kind of Innate Ability she had, so he would have to pay an extra ten Experience Fragments to have one of the Class Statues assess her potential.

Once the Settlement had the funds, Chéng Yáng brought Páng Shān over to the Mage Class Statue and payed the necessary price to have her potential measured, causing a stream of energy to enter her body. She glowed for a short moment before the energy flowed to her forehead and condensed a mark there.

The mark that developed on her forehead would indicate which Class her Innate Ability was most suited for. For the Mage Class it would be a pointed hat, a shield for Warrior, an arrow for Ranger, or a claw for Druid. However, Páng Shān had none of those, the mark on her head took the form of a pair of clasped hands.

Although it was not one of the four standard Classes, Chéng Yáng was familiar with the Hidden Class that mark represented: Cleric, the most highly valued Class of them all.

The only reason a Hidden Class would be chosen as a person’s highest potential was if their Innate Ability increased a Hidden Attribute for that Hidden Class. Innate Abilities like this were even rarer than those that affected the Hidden Attributes of the standard Classes, so Chéng Yáng was ecstatic to find someone who had one. Naturally a Cleric Class Statue was needed to become a Cleric, so there was no way for Páng Shān to become one at the moment.

I suppose I’ll have to find a priest statue as soon as possible. Chéng Yáng thought. Hidden Class Statues were rare drops in Instance Dungeons but Chéng Yáng wasn’t worried about getting one. The Instance Dungeon he had been looking for earlier had the Cleric Class Statue in its loot table, and now that the apocalypse had happened, it should have spawned.

Chéng Yáng didn’t want to waste Páng Shān’s talent even if it meant the overall power of her Innate Ability might fall, so he decided not to have her become a Player for now. After he explained why he’d changed his mind she obediently left to go accompany Niú Bīng on the wall.

Chéng Yáng decided to do Lǐ Wànshān’s Class Change Ceremony next.

Although Lǐ Wànshān had seen Chéng Yáng display clear favoritism he hadn’t complained. If he’d been in Chéng Yáng’s position he would have done the same. What use would complaining be? If Chéng Yáng wanted to prevent him from ever becoming a Player, what could he do about it? Even worse, what if he expelled him from the Settlement entirely for complaining? Without the walls he’d be killed by monsters within minutes.

“Mr. Chéng, what Class do you think I’m suitable for?” Lǐ Wànshān asked rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“Let’s perform the test and see Mr. Lǐ.” Chéng Yáng said, “Remember. After you become a Player.”

“Mr. Chéng you can rest easy. So long as your orders don’t violate basic human ethics I can follow any rules you set. I’m not an ungrateful man. Also, from now on you don’t need to be so formal, just call me Old Lǐ, not Mr. Lǐ.”

“Don’t worry Old Lǐ, I don’t plan to do anything heinous, now, on to the test.”

Chéng Yáng paid the fee and a glowing shield appeared on Lǐ Wànshān’s forehead.

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