Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 351: New Class!

After breaking through, Jack felt immense power pooling within his body, almost begging him to stand up and release it. He remained seated, enjoying this feeling, an excited smile playing on his lips.

He couldn’t wait to go out and show Brock—but first, he wanted to tidy up his blue screens.

Congratulations! D-Grade → C-Grade

Congratulations! You have developed the Dao Fruit of the Fist, embarking on the path of manifesting your Dao.

All stats +100

Free stat points per Level Up: 10 → 20

Level Up! You have reached Level 250.

Congratulations! The Bare Fist Brotherhood faction has reached the C-Grade. New functions unlocked in the faction screen.

Class Upgrade available. Please choose your new Class:

Leaving the Class aside for now, Jack focused on the other news. He had reached the C-Grade—that much he knew. He had also gotten an extra hundred stat points, which was less impactful than it used to be but still welcome.

Once upon a time, I was enduring the Ice Pond to get one stat point, and now a hundred barely enter my eyes… The world changes when you look at it from above.

Jack sighed.

The level-up stat bonuses had doubled, which was both good and bad. Good because he would become stronger; bad because it made his body tempering relatively less powerful.

As for the Bare Fist Brotherhood leveling up, it didn’t matter yet. He was cut off from the main System—it wouldn’t know about his breakthrough until he returned to Earth or System space.

Jack sank into his soul world again. It had changed; purple flowers blossomed on the tree branches, each like a piece of the night sky. His Dao had undergone a qualitative change, not increasing much but feeling significantly more lively.

This change came from the Dao Fruit of the Fist. Jack approached it for a better look. It hung from his Dao Tree proudly, like a plump apple roughly the size of his hand. Its shape was like a fist pointed downward, and it was purple in color, with a faint aura rising upward like the starry trail of a comet.

Gingerly, he reached out to touch it; it was surprisingly soft, as if one pinch could pop it and waste its juices. Jack hurriedly withdrew his hand, though he suspected this softness was only an illusion—how could Dao Fruits be fragile?

My very own Dao Fruit… he thought, a sweet feeling rising in his chest. I have finally reached the C-Grade.

Back in the F-Grade, Jack had once bought and used a Dao Fruit of the Fist to further his own Dao. That fruit had looked very similar to this one, and even their names were the same. Could it be that the fruit he once ingested came from the Dao Tree of a dead C-Grade?

He quickly shook his head. Impossible. There are billions of F-Grades for every C-Grade. If a Dao Fruit was that rare, it wouldn’t have been my turn to consume it. There must be some way to mass-produce resources like this…

Regardless, this was his Dao Fruit. It felt…comfy.

One down, eight to go.

Unlike the D-Grade, the C-Grade was a period of qualitative improvement. Besides cultivating and deepening his Dao reserve, he would focus on improving his understanding of the Dao and developing more Dao fruits.

Of course, for Jack, his strength would also rise by forging his body into a weapon.

He spared a glance for the door on his Dao Tree. A crack had run through it during the time when his tree almost exploded from containing too much energy. Now, that crack had healed, leaving behind a long scar that made the door seem damaged.

It probably wasn’t. He considered checking, but the turtle had told him not to disturb it for no reason. Therefore, Jack left his soul world again, returning to the real one.

System, he thought, show me my new Class.

Class Upgrade available. Please choose your new Class:

Fist of Slaughter (King)

Your fist is a weapon of mass destruction. Build a staircase of corpses and struggle for the top through a road of blood.

“One fist to slaughter billions.”

This probably originated from Jack’s killing spree on Hell. Back then, he’d chopped down immortals like vegetables, destroying the Animal Kingdom’s disciples to further his own cultivation. It was natural for the System to offer him such a class.

However, it didn’t fit with Jack’s character. He could slaughter his enemies, but he wasn’t a cold-blooded killing machine, nor did he want to be. Tying his advancement to the death of others sounded ominous.

Heroic Fist (King)

Lead the world into a better future. Rise against oppression, become a hero, and devote your life to squashing injustice where it appears.

“You raise your fist. The people cheer.”

This…did sound nice. Fundamentally, Jack was a good guy—he wanted to help the world and stand up for the weak. The only problem was, he didn’t plan to do it right now.

This Class would only be with him during the C-Grade. His current plan was to spend this time in the Black Hole Church or in other adventures. He didn’t want to start running around the universe putting out random fires—he would help if he could, but his current priority was the advancement of his cultivation. If he put the cart before the horse and tried to help people now, someone would kill him and steal his Life Drop. Not to mention that entering System space, where most people resided, was too dangerous at the moment.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Helping people was good—but it would have to come after he cemented his place in the world.

Thinking to that point, Jack looked away from this Class and moved on.

Fist of the System (King)

You have received divine providence. Devote your life to the service of the ultimate being who favored you, becoming their fist in the cultivation world.

The Immortal System offers additional benefits for the wielders of this Class, including increased attribute points and a Dao Vision for every Dao Fruit.

“For the Immortals!”

Jack was startled. Was this…a recruitment offer disguised as a class?

The System must have been confused here. Jack was already an enemy of the Immortals. Yet, it spoke of receiving divine providence… Had it mistaken the Life Drop’s assistance as a gift of the Immortals?

The additional benefits were interesting, but picking it was impossible. Though, he did wonder what would happen.

Gladiator Titan (King)

You possess extreme physical strength and the temperament of a gladiator. Use your fist to awe the highest of crowds as you vanquish every enemy in your way—with style!

“A punch flies, and the crowd roars.”

Jack didn’t know what to say.

With style? What style? I’m a C-Grade cultivator, not a clown!

It was rare for the System to have a sense of humor. Then again, maybe that wasn’t the case—maybe being breathtaking was actually part of the Class.

The name does sound cool. And the ranking is King, which is the highest. Being a gladiator doesn’t sound bad either, but… Can’t I have something else? Like, Fist of Absolute Power?

Unfortunately, there were no more classes to choose from. That was all.

The System was not a fan of generality. His E and D-Grade classes had been tyranny-themed and space-themed respectively. Now, he once again had to choose a direction.

On the bright side, classes weren’t too important. He had neither become a tyrant nor a spaceship. Classes only affected his choice of skills and the Dao Visions he received. Plus, the higher he advanced, the more everything depended on himself instead of the System.

Classes were a small but steady influence drawing him towards their namesake.

Of course, the Fist of the System was a clear exception as it seemed more like a contract, but Jack had already decided not to pick that.

That left him with Fist of Slaughter, Heroic Fist, and Gladiator Titan.

The Fist of Slaughter represented a grim path he was wary of following. His road wasn’t one of slaughter, but of integrity and power. Killing was just a part of it.

He had a feeling that, if he chose to become a Fist of Slaughter, his future would be dark and edgy. He decisively chose against it. Besides, he didn’t need this class to kill people.

That left two: Heroic Fist and Gladiator Titan.

Both were decent, actually. Each had their pros and cons. The Heroic Fist was based on his heroic exploits on Earth, when he saved the planet by showing up at the last moment and defeating the planetary overseer. Gladiator Titan probably originated from his grand duel on Hell, where he challenged the entire Animal Kingdom and defeated them before the entire galaxy. He even forced them to let him go after he’d killed their disciples and insulted their Elders. This class also included the body tempering he’d recently discovered.

However, he neither wanted to run around being a hero nor make all his battles public and attention-needy.

Jack cupped his chin, deep in thought. He had to choose one of the two. Neither was clearly superior than the other, and both represented him to some degree. Actually, now that he thought about it better, he wanted to follow both. He enjoyed being a hero and a gladiator.

But, he could only pick one.

At the end of the day, it probably didn’t matter too much. He could be anything he wanted regardless of classes. As for choosing between the two, he could just go with the one that seemed coolest or more immediately useful.

When he considered it like that, one class stood out more than the other. His lips formed into a wry smile; he’d wanted to pick this class since he saw its name, he just wasn’t sure about the potential benefits.

Finally, he locked in his decision.

System…make me a Gladiator Titan.

He really looked forward to the coming blue screens. Class changes were accompanied by the upgrade of previous skills and the creation of new ones. If he was lucky, his strength would experience another massive leap forward!

Congratulations! You are now a Gladiator Titan (King).

Congratulations! New Dao Skill unlocked: Titan Taunt I.

Titan Taunt I: Channel your inner punchability to draw the opponent’s ire, forcing them to fight you. You simultaneously affect their mental state, making them prone to misjudgements, and rile up the crowd.

Jack’s brows fell. I made a mistake. System, I changed my mind. Make me a Heroic Fist. Please!

Unfortunately, no response came. Jack was stuck with a Class that sounded cool but only gave him a useless-looking taunting skill.

I must keep an open mind, he thought. It’s the skill of a C-Grade class. It can’t be bad—perhaps, when I use it, I’ll be overawed by its usefulness.

Taking his mind away from that, Jack opened his status screen.

Name: Jack Rust

Species: Human, Earth-387

Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood (C)

Grade: C

Class: Gladiator Titan (King)

Level: 250

Strength: 2405 (+)

Dexterity: 2405 (+)

Constitution: 2400 (+)

Mental: 300 (+)

Will: 300 (+)

Free Points: 20

Dao Skills: Meteor Punch IV, Iron Fist Style III, Space Walk III, Brutalizing Aura III, Neutron Star Body II, Titan Taunt I

Dao Foundation: Dao Tree of the Fist, Dao Root of Indomitable Will (fused), Dao Root of Life (fused), Dao Root of Power (fused), Dao Root of Weakness (fused)

Dao Fruits: Fist

Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10), Planetary Torchbearer (1), Ninth Ring Conqueror, Planetary Leader (1), Grade Defier

It was a sight to behold. After breaking through to the C-Grade, he had finally reached Level 250, and a new section for Dao Fruits had appeared. It was unfortunate that there wasn’t a title for being the first cultivator of Earth to reach the C-Grade, but still…

How far I’ve come…

Jack allowed himself a moment of sentimentality, then turned towards the free stat points. His plan was to invest everything in Mental and Will. His body tempering would enhance all his Physical substats, so he didn’t want his other stats falling too far behind. The fewer weaknesses he had, the better.

That was a solid plan and Jack was determined to see it through. However, as he looked over his stats, he decided to finally solve another issue that had been bugging him. His three Physical substats had been unequal for a long time. Moreover, since every stat point in Physical represented exactly three substat points, it was impossible to make them equal again by only investing points, no matter how many he had.

But, it no longer mattered. He put two points into Physical, turning them into six substat points. Five of them went into Constitution, equalizing it with the other two stats, and the last went nowhere. He kept it unspent to maintain symmetry.

Get fucked, random five.

After that, he invested the other eighteen points equally between his Mental and Will stats and admired the final result.

Strength: 2405 (+)

Dexterity: 2405 (+)

Constitution: 2405 (+)

Mental: 309

Will: 309

Free sub-points: 1

Was it pretty? No. But it was far better than the damn imbalance he’d been forced to endure for over a year now.

The joy that filled Jack at this monumental achievement was only slightly less than that of breaking through to the C-Grade. It made up for only receiving a taunting skill, too.

I really should test that, he thought, standing up. All my new powers, actually, but they can wait a bit. For now, I have to let everyone know I’m okay. Who knows how long it’s been since I began my breakthrough?

After that will come testing…but where will I find suitable opponents? It’s not like someone will just deliver themselves to me. Probably.