And (N)one Shall Remain

“Oldies, qué carajos is going on here!?” asked Esperanza exasperatedly. It was a fortunate thing that she had not contacted Oldies two days ago when the cooldown for their usual meetings ended, since the kids were close to their second tiers and she wanted to wait until one of them reached that checkpoint first. A good thing too, that she waited.

 

What surprised Esperanza the most was not the hefty amount of stats Val-Kas’j reported receiving from the class change. That part she had expected, to an extent, and while a total of twenty-one points of major stats were a lot, it had not surprised Esperanza too much, as she herself received thirty during her class change. 

 

It was definitely a lot more than what any of them expected, as apparently ten points or so was the norm for second tier classes, with twelve to fifteen already being amongst the best classes most had ever heard of, but since the class was by all indications special, she could understand the bonus points, at least. Given that the class definitely had Oldies’ hand behind it, it was understandable.

 

What she had not expected in the least was how Val-Kas’j had been forced to physical maturity upon choosing his class. The boy was already pretty big at twelve, the top of his head around the height of Esperanza’s shoulder, built stockier and broader than a human would be. His body had nearly doubled in size as he accepted the class, however, growing to a height of at least six if not seven feet tall, while his already stocky and broad form grew moreso, rippling with strong muscles.

 

Just on looks alone, the boy had suddenly turned into the most intimidating-looking of the group all of a sudden.

 

Fortunately, despite the physical changes – which the boy claimed to have felt strange but not painful – the boy seemed unchanged personality-wise. He was just much bigger and stronger, and apparently, if all the information Esperanza had learned so far was true, was blessed with one of the strongest second tier classes that the natives had ever received.

 

We have felt the first progeny’s awakening, Esperanza. We assume that is what caused you to contact us in such a fluster?

 

Esperanza sighed partly in relief and partly in annoyance when the reply from Oldies came to her mind. Relief in that whatever happened had at least not been some sort of accident that would ruin a child’s life going forward, but also annoyance in that Oldies clearly had a hand in whatever just took place but had not seen fit to inform her about it.

 

“Class. Forced growth. Just… what!?” demanded Esperanza with gruff words as she was still rather frustrated by the unexpected development.

 

Honestly, child, this one is more your doing rather than ours, if we were to be frank about things.

 

“Explain.”

 

You must certainly still recall how the villagers called you as a messenger of the Deities of Yore, which is what they called us, yes?

 

“Mm-hmm?”

 

As we explained to you before, the feats that an individual achieved during their previous classes determined the selection of classes they would receive for the next tier. Now, what had you expected would happen if a group of small children, all still in their first tiers, were to be hand-fed experience and kills by one so deeply touched by our powers such as yourself?

 

“They would… Ay, cabrón… They gained the feats for that class because of me, didn’t they?”

 

That is indeed so. For what it was worth, child, the class itself is akin to a blessing to them. You have learned for yourself how the natives of this world were mostly hobbled by the limitations imposed upon them by the gods, through the system, have you not? For them to receive such a class, so early in their life, is the first step for a native of this world to take a step against their very own gods, in a way.

 

Not that the gods never used this to their own benefits. The [Heroes] and [Champions] also have something similar, as their [Companions] and [Associates]. Those people are natives of this world who were naturally believers of the gods in question, and generally did their bidding as they fought alongside the summoned ones.

 

“So you’re saying that the [Progeny of Yores] are your equivalent to those [Companions]? And that they’re created through… Mierda… the other children…”

 

Yes, child, the others would almost certainly also receive the same option, though likely with some variety, as they reached the second tier as well. Please rest assured that none of them would be detrimental to the children in question, other than maybe the surprise they receive from the forced maturing of their physical selves that they experienced in the process.

 

“Right. Forced maturation. What the cojones is with that!?”

 

That is a function of the system, and how it was bound to the natives, and had nothing to do with us. You see, the gods had bound the concept of maturity for the natives with achieving the second tier of levels, which is why you only see the natives reach the second tier after they grew up to whatever age was needed for the maturity of their race. What you had done with these children… are a loophole in the system itself.

 

“Wait a minute. If children could be leveled up like this, wouldn’t the people here have made use of those loopholes as well? Why hadn’t they?”

 

Because their gods forbid such spoonfeeding as a taboo, and in fact, prevented any similar attempt to produce a [Companion] in this way by never giving them access to the class, or more often, killing them during the attempt. They do not wish for the natives to achieve such levels of power that risked going beyond what they could easily control.

 

“And you all have no such worries. In fact, it’d be to your benefit if someone did grow beyond what the gods could control, wouldn’t it, Oldies?”

 

Exactly so. We have no such qualms, and besides, in the near future, you would be in need of assistants in your own quest. Surely you were not thinking of doing everything on your own, aren’t you?

 

“I’m not… It’s just that… They’re children! Hijo de Puta!”

 

We do not believe those who worshiped the current gods would care either way, Esperanza. To them, those who still believed in us were just heretics, to be purged from existence upon sight, and the fact that they were children would not halt any hand. Is it not better to give them the option to take their fates into their own hands?

 

“Fuck. Sometimes you just have to remind me just how differently you see things compared to us, didn’t you? Then again, I guess this place has no such thing as child labor laws either…”

 

We are uncertain what those are, but here it is not uncommon for children to start helping their parents out from an early age, yes, to the extent of their capabilities. Those habits often formed feats that allowed them to walk the same path in their second tier under the system, even.

 

“All right, fine, I’ll help the rest of the kids who are old enough and willing to hit their second tiers as well,” said Esperanza as she finally acquiesced to Oldies’ argument. A part of her quailed at the thought of treating those children that way, while another part of her also understood that it was a kindness to allow them to carve their own place in the world, something they would normally never have the chance to do.

 

She found herself unable to deny giving those children a chance to forge their own path in this cruel world.

 

In that case, we look forward to good news the next time we come in contact. Until then, Esperanza.

 

“Adios, Oldies,” she replied in her mind.

 

Throughout the next day, Esperanza kept watch over young Val-Kas’j’s interaction with the other children. The boy had truly not changed, while all the other children openly envied him the transformation. Given the attitudes shown by those children, Esperanza hardened her resolve and continued to “feed” them creatures of a suitable level to kill.

 

Unlike the previous days, she could afford to raise the level of the beasts by a bit, since Val-Kas’j proved to be just as capable as Eda-Zil and Kvar-Litu when it came to wrangling such creatures. The boosts his class gave him – it helped that his class was also a much higher rarity one compared to theirs – allowed him to catch up to them in capability despite being a whole tier beneath them.

 

As a bonus, he also received good amounts of experience from the creatures they killed together, and even gained a level before the day ended, which he reported as giving him four points worth to his sub-stats. Again, it was a far greater amount than what most received, with most second tier classes only giving one to two points at most.

 

The same night also saw a second children, a young Nevilosk – the ones who were gangly and tall, with limbs that looked too long for their bodies – half-breed girl who had quite a bit of human blood as well named Tiesya reached her twentieth level. Like Val-Kas’j before her, choosing her second tier class allowed her to grow to maturity on the spot as well. She was about as tall as he was, though far more slender in build, with long, gangly limbs and a light purplish skin.

 

She became a [Progeny of Yore: The Blade which Protects]. Her class was roughly the same quality as Val-Kas’j’s was, though with a different focus as was made obvious with their skills. Where Val-Kas’j received a skill that allowed him to land deadlier blows and allowed him to take on more dangerous foes, Tiesya’s was a defensive one that allowed him to protect those around her with her blades. Fortunately Esperanza had not lacked spare weapons to distribute amongst the children since she collected quite a bit from the dead invaders.

 

Over the following two weeks, six more of the children – the other four of the oldest ones as well as two younger ones who insisted on participating in the “hunt” – reached their twentieth level and transitioned to their second tier, their bodies maturing before its time in the process.

 

Legisvula, a small-bodied Tesh’ka boy – the smaller tusked race that Esperanza had mixed up with the Ma’Varok at first – became a [Progeny of Yore: Eye in the Shadows], a class that seemed to be focused on stealth and scouting. Nalihimatu, a Ragah-fiq boy, the race that Avalanusi and Ilavakide were part of who looked like broad mounds of shaggy fur from a distance, became a [Progeny of Yore: Shield of the Weak].

 

Resitia, a young human girl, became a [Progeny of Yore: The Spear of Retribution], her class so heavily on the offensive side that Esperanza immediately thought of her as a glass cannon sort. Mel-Ivas, a half-breed girl with both Ma’Varok and Tesh’Ka blood was one of the odd ones out as she became a [Progeny of Yore: The Touch of Healing]. The girl’s mother was the village healer, and apparently that had affected the class she received.

 

As for the two younger kids, one of them was Ilavakide, the young Ragah-fiq girl Esperanza saved from the village back then. The girl had been practicing a lot with the bow, so it was no surprise for her to receive a class like [Progeny of Yore: The Marksman of Vindication]. Her reaching second tier also meant that she grew physically strong enough to use the former [Champion]’s bow, surprisingly.

 

The last child, a mixed breed girl of human, nevilosk, and ragah-fiq blood also brought another surprise as she became a [Progeny of Yore: Wielder of the Arcane], which was as mage-y a class as it could be. Apparently the child had been born with some gifts in the arcane arts, and her grandfather was the village shaman and one of the elders, to boot.

 

Either way, with the addition of the eight children that reached their second tiers and were leveling rapidly as they traveled, the group actually found that the deep forests they dreaded became a good bit easier than what they had expected. Of course, most of the credit was due to Esperanza, Dali, and Gordy, who kept the beasts that were too strong at bay.