SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 341 Joseph, Spirit Pavilion[1]
Chapter 341 Joseph, Spirit Pavilion[1]
As he followed the man through the cave, Moon split his attention between memorizing the route back to the portal and listening to Joseph speak. The man had picked up quickly that Moon wasn’t interested in small talk, and had shifted to providing useful information instead.
“You need to be careful, young man. You must lower your expectations in this place. There are many people here that have been stuck in this sky for years, and they still haven’t found a way to escape it. To survive in this place, you need to learn your limits. I can’t count the number of fresh Evolvers that had over-estimated themselves and died to clutches of beasts or hands of spirits.”
Moon’s eyes twitched imperceptibly.
“How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Joseph turned his head to look at Moon. “I’m twenty-one years old.”
Moon blinked.
He’s only a few years older than me, and he’s talking like a wise elder of an ancient sect.’
Moon considered it for a moment, then let it go. The man clearly had some sort of complex about seniority. Maybe it was the time spent in the Second Sanctuary that did it to him, or maybe he had always been like that.
It didn’t matter. There were plenty of people in this world with their own quirks and complexities, and if Moon stopped to analyze every single one of them, he would never have time to sleep.
He followed Joseph, memorizing the turns, and listening.
“What is the threshold for older skills to reach Second Order?”
“Skills you brought from the First Sanctuary reach Second Order at level 20.” Joseph answered without turning around, focused on leading the path. “But don’t even think about that at your current stage. I’ve been here for several months, and I’ve only managed to level my skill a few times. Getting your old skills to Second Order is nearly impossible.”
He paused at a fork in the cave and took the left path. “You should focus on surviving for the time being. Also, have you picked up your Ordinary Rank Spirit Arts from the Association?”
“I have not.”
Joseph stopped walking. He turned around and stared at Moon like he had just said something deeply offensive.
“What? That’s the most important thing you could possibly do upon evolving! Without it, you won’t be able to unlock more acupoints no matter how much you level up! Why haven’t you gotten it yet?”
“Because I evolved and you appeared right after. I followed you here without returning to Earth first. I haven’t had the chance.”
Joseph let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I assumed you had already gone through the whole process. Evolved, gone back to Earth, collected your Spirit Arts, sorted everything out, and then returned. That’s when I thought I found you.”
Joseph shook his head. “You came in completely fresh.” He paused for a moment, then said, “Well, it should be fine. You won’t be going outside anytime soon anyway.”
They continued walking and the cave began to slope upward.
“We are almost at the top. Just a few more turns.”
Moon glanced at the walls around him. The stone had been carved in places, smoothed out in others. Tool marks lined the ceiling where someone had widened the passage to let people through more comfortably.
“Is this a hidden underground base near the spirit pavilion?”
Joseph let out a short laugh. “Hidden underground base…huh” He repeated the words as if they tasted bitter in his mouth. “No, this is a hiding spot. A few tunnels that we carved out around the portal so people have a safe way to return to earth, and also not to expose its existence to the spirits in the pavilion.
A proper human base can’t be built under the conditions we’re dealing with.”
“Why not? Are there no strong Evolvers here?”
“We have one. She is an Evolver with 15 Acupoints filled with spiritual energy. She’s the strongest person in this hideout by a wide margin. But even she can’t do much on her own. The spirit pavilion nearby is estimated to be C-Rank, which means it holds hundreds of powerful spirits and beasts inside it. One person, no matter how strong, can’t hold back that kind of numbers.
Of course, this isn’t taking into account the spirit in charge of the pavilion.”
Moon nodded. He knew about how powerful Spirit Pavilions were. The spirits born within them were highly intelligent, capable of commanding hundreds of lesser spirits while also possessing the ability to revive after death. Taking one down wasn’t a matter of strength alone. It required a large force of highly capable Evolvers with resources to grow strong enough to bring down the pavilion.
A single C-Rank Evolver wasn’t going to cut it.
Soon enough, they arrived at the top of the underground facility. The cave opened up into a large chamber with a high ceiling. Dozens of Evolvers sat scattered across the floor in small groups or alone. Most of them weren’t talking.
Moon counted them, they were around fifteen people.
Heavy eye-bags shadowed their faces. Their skin was pale from spending too long underground. Their eyes stared at the floor, at the walls, at nothing. There was no spark or drive behind their two lifeless orbs. These were people who had stopped caring about what happened next.
Joseph didn’t stop walking. “Don’t worry about them. You’ll get used to it. These people have been here too long. They gave up the thought of becoming stronger a while ago. Their situation kept getting worse until it reached this point. Most of them barely return to Earth anymore. They just sit here and rot. Occasionally going out for hunts for basic sustenance before returning here.”
Moon’s frown deepened as he looked at them. Men and women who had fought their way through the First Sanctuary, survived long enough to evolve, and made it to the Second Order. That wasn’t a small feat. These were people who had been strong once, it was surprising to find them in such a state.
