As Silas finalized his selection, the ashen wheel began to spin with a ghostly hum. The pointer blurred, skipping past the standard icons of shields and staves until it finally shuddered to a halt on a flickering question mark.
"A Hidden Class?" Silas's pulse quickened.
The question mark began to dissolve, reshaping itself into a sharp, obsidian symbol. It resembled the Greek letter Phi (φ), but the vertical line was elongated into two razor-sharp blades, radiating a palpable intent to kill. It was the mark of the unseen.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Unique Hidden Class: Shadow!]
Shadow: You were born in the dark, an avatar of the void, the god of death that walks behind the light.Class Passive 1: Stealth duration is doubled.Class Passive 2: Stealth Rank +1 (Higher priority against detection).Class Passive 3 (Ambush): Attacks made from outside the enemy's line of sight deal 200% damage.
"The Shadow..." Silas's lips curled into a thin, dangerous smile. "The ultimate solo-play class."
He remembered hearing rumors of a Shadow player in his past life, but the man had been hunted down early, likely by a faction that feared his potential. Silas wouldn't make the same mistake.
In the God-Abandoned Game, survival was the only currency that mattered. Death wasn't permanent, but it was devastating: dying cost you half of your remaining Lifespan. In a world where Lifespan was both your time on Earth and the global currency, a single death could set a player back months or years.
"To bring gear and skills back to the real world, you have to burn Lifespan," Silas mused. "Survival is everything. And this class... is the king of survival."
With the ability to double his stealth time and deal double damage from the shadows, he was no longer a soldier. He was an Assassin.
He checked his initial skills:
Shadow Cloak (Inferior): Enter stealth for 8 seconds. Attacks break stealth but gain +30 Attack Power. (Cooldown: 30 seconds).Backstab Mastery (Inferior): Passive. Damage increased by 10% when attacking from behind.
"With my class passive, Shadow Cloak lasts 16 seconds," Silas calculated. "A 16-second window on a 30-second cooldown... nearly 50% uptime. Not bad, but not enough for what I have in mind."
Then, the Arbiter's Authority finally pulsated within his mind. As the system finalized his status, his "Maximum-Tier Talent" was revealed.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Talent: Infinite Evolution!]
Infinite Evolution: Primordial-tier Talent (Grey-white Quality).Effect: Slaying monsters grants a chance to obtain Evolution Points, which can be used to evolve and upgrade skills.(Note: Automatically gain 5 Evolution Points every 24 hours. Boss kills guaranteed to drop points.)Current Points: 5.
"What is this?" Silas blinked.
He had expected an Immortal-tier talent, the highest he knew. But this was "Primordial-tier." The "Grey-white" quality looked deceptively like "Common" trash, but the effect was terrifying. Infinite evolution?
He didn't hesitate. He looked at his Shadow Cloak. It cost 1 Evolution Point to upgrade.
Commit.
[Consumed 1 Evolution Point. Shadow Cloak: Inferior -> Common.]
Stealth duration increased: 8s -> 12s.Attack bonus increased: 30 -> 60.Cooldown reduced: 30s -> 28s.
Silas's eyes lit up. With his Shadow passive, the duration was now 24 seconds.
"Again!"
[Consumed 2 Evolution Points. Shadow Cloak: Common -> Bronze.]
Stealth duration increased: 12s -> 16s.Attack bonus increased: 60 -> 90.Cooldown reduced: 28s -> 26s.
He did the math. A 16-second base duration, doubled by his class, meant 32 seconds of stealth. The cooldown was only 26 seconds.
"Infinite Stealth," Silas whispered.
Because the cooldown began the moment he activated the skill, he could remain invisible forever. Not only that, but every time he "broke" stealth to strike, he gained a flat +90 Attack Power.
In the early game, most players, Warriors and Mages alike, struggled to hit 30 total Attack Power. Silas was gaining triple that as a bonus. Combined with his Shadow passive (damage doubling from out of sight), that +90 bonus actually functioned like +180 damage.
"This is the power of a Primordial Talent," he realized. "The 'Infinite' in the name... it means there is no ceiling. If I keep farming points, how far can this go?"
He still had 2 points left. He wasn't going to save them. In this world, the only way to stay ahead was to become an apex predator before the first monster even smelled your scent.
"Evolution... continue!"