Ayna found three paths offered to her.

  These were the three typical paths offered to an Esper.

  Manipulator specialised in control rather than pure destructive force. In gaming terms, they were masters at kiting enemies. With high intelligence and wisdom, they held the largest essence pool among the three paths, giving them a high output and allowing them to bombard and whittle down enemies. The path has low charm, sacrificing pure damage for main class skills that make utilising powers more efficient and controlled.

  Devastator was the opposite, focusing heavily on charm with moderate-low attributes in intelligence and wisdom. They were purely destructive, able to deal heavy damage, and they were considered one of the most feared path specialisations in the game when it came to one-on-one confrontation, being the most damaging path in the game if the Esper has a potent super power along with it. Nonetheless, the apparent weaknesses of the class are that they burn a ludicrous amount of energy to amplify their damage, and are not great at long, drawn-out battles that expend energy. The path focuses on boosting power outputs, sacrificing energy recovery and capacity to significantly enhance speed and pure destructive energy, aiming to end confrontations in the blink of an eye rather than drawing out battles.

  Generalists possess qualities from both paths, but excel in neither. Perhaps, if she were limited to a more specific Esper power, the choice would be far more suited to the Manipulator and Devasator, which were specialised paths. Her power, Ability Absorption, however, meant she would possess a variety of abilities, making Generalist the most suitable.

  Ayna thought this would be her only option until another prompt appeared in her vision.

  Your Esper Ability, Ability Absorption SSS, and high potential have generated a unique path.

  You may select the unique advancement: Assimilator.

  Assimilator? Unique advancement?

  Ayna recalled that a rare feature in the game was to activate a unique path that corresponded to the player having a peculiar ability or completing a specific quest line.

  Though she supposed her circumstances were far from the norm, for one, this was no game, and she had an Esper Ability that was never intended to be utilised by a player.

  Despite this, Ayna, as a developer, had never seen a player offered a unique path to E-grade advancement; it was usually provided later, once the player had made noteworthy achievements, becoming a status symbol among players.

  Ayna decided to review the advancement and saw that it was like a boosted generalist, though an Assimilator had class skills that boosted damage, control, and her ability to combine and conjoin her various powers. It seemed tailor-made for her, and Ayna found it impossible to turn it down.

  Deciding it was the right advancement for her, she selected the unique advancement.

  Congratulations, you have advanced in class!

  You are now an [Assimilator (Apprentice) Lvl 21]

  INT +15, WP +15, CHRM +15

  You have acquired new class skills:

  Synergist.

  Empower Energy.

  Focused Mind.

  Your current main class skills [MAX] have advanced:

  Basic Energy Manipulation > Intermediate Energy Manipulation

  Basic Energy Absorption > Intermediate Energy Absorption

  Fire Affinity > Intermediate Fire Affinity

  You have successfully ascended, you are now an E-grade Metahuman.

  You have received the trait: E Grade

  Dormant power stirs, your Esper ability, Ability Absorption SSS, potential has been unlocked further, absorbed abilities [3/3 > 3/6]

  The advancement overjoyed Ayna.

  Her capped main class skills could now move to the next rank, and the acquired powers would be able to rank up as soon as she reached their maximum, such as Fire Affinity.

  Class skills were tiered, and each grade increase allowed her to rank up her skills.

  My capacity to absorb abilities has also been improved.

  Depending on the potential of your Esper Ability, every grade unearths more of the potential of the ability.

  For her it gave her access to acquiring more powers.

  Now, as an Assimilator, her newly acquired main class skills read as follows.

  Main Class skills:

  Synergist {Lvl 1}: Conjoining and combining powers of differing acquired abilities have enhanced power and efficiency when utilised simultaneously or in combination.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Empower Energy {Lvl 1}: You can empower your powers at the cost of expending further energy, enhancing potency and destructive capabilities.

  Focused Mind {Lvl 1}: You have more control when manipulating your different powers and find it easier to multitask effectively. Your thoughts are sharper.

  She was satisfied with all three of the above skills and knew the class was about combining and increasing the efficiency of her powers, supplementing her Esper ability.

  There were also elements of the Manipulator and Devasator classes.

  Ayna found that the upgraded skills were all similar but more effective versions of the previous skills, so she did not bother reviewing them in detail.

  The trait, on the other hand, was one she was familiar with.

  Traits:

  E grade: You are an E-grade Metahuman and have taken the first step to transcendence, enhancing the quality of your life form on a physiological level. Your stats are now stronger and more effective. Your longevity and vitality have been improved.

  You receive a +5 to all attributes.

  You receive +100 energy.

  Ayna was not surprised by the trait; not only did she receive a one-time attribute increase, but her overall attributes have also improved qualitatively.

  Similar to the Zylaxar, who, for instance, even when in comparison to the average human, if both have a strength attribute of 10, the Zylaxar would be stronger due to being a physically superior species; therefore, becoming an E grade meant every attribute point had become more effective as her very being would improve, such as her energy becoming purer, allowing her to do more with less, it was major contributing reason why every enhancement in grade was a qualitative improvement to the individual.

  Ayna felt the changes wash over her straight away. An invisible, mysterious power enveloped her completely.

  Incredible changes swiftly occurred in her body as her new power gathered; the mysterious energy awakened the dormant energy in her cells, causing it to resonate.

  When the process ended, Ayna felt as if she had been reborn.

  Her vision became more vivid, and she felt she could see with stunning clarity, as every part of her being, down to her senses, grew.

  Ayna knew, though, that the next step was to discharge black toxins from her skin.

  The black toxins represented the impurities in her body, yet with Toxigenesis, she could manipulate them to dissipate harmlessly, leaving her skin white and pristine.

  Ayna smiled a beautiful smile as Stormflash, who observed her, nodded in approval, “A remarkable success. You are a great talent to ascend ranks so perfectly in a short amount of time, not many do with a foundation as solid as yours, and those who do, usually do not do it in the time you had.”

  Ayna flashed a grateful smile as she said, “I would like to thank you for letting me break through.”

  Stormflash assurance had helped her, as he could ensure there were no problems with his superior energy manipulation.

  “It was nothing, you did me a great favour by removing the poisonous energies of Viper, without interference, I can recover,” Stormflash said.

  Ayna wondered what Stormflash was about to do until he removed a glowing greenish vial of liquid from his storage space.

  She recognised it as a type of Gene Solution.

  Gene Solutions were developed by scientists extracting powerful genes that can be utilised to create miraculous healing agents or enhancement elixirs.

  Stormflash swiftly drank it, and she saw him begin to recuperate before her, as flesh was restored anew, and his arm began to regenerate.

  Ayna knew the Gene Solution must be rather potent; there were a myriad of species in the Universe that would provide necessary components for a regeneration solution, though they were rare, and such a thing must have been costly.

  Ayna watched Stormflash and smiled as he recovered. After all, it was a problem resolved sooner than she thought.

  Stormflash said, “I am thankful I can recover before the pod makes contact with the atmosphere of Tanus. Now, make your preparations, we will land in the wilderness. Tanus is a World with a multitude of advanced Cities, yet we must remain covert. We will land well clear of the main Cities, before we make our way to one, and then plan from there. Fortunately, the pods are small and have adequate stealth capabilities. It is fortunate Dr Xavier was paranoid as he was, otherwise we might not have such an easy time getting into Tanus.”

  Ayna agreed; she knew going through the standard way would be problematic for them, after all, this pod might be marked, and being identified was the last thing she wanted to do.

  Deciding to go through her items, she has a few things stored in her inventory, including armour and weapons.

  Knowing she would have to reveal it eventually anyway, she decided to inform Stormflash and said, “I am going to use my storage item to equip some armour.”

  At first, he looked surprised, then Stormflash shrugged, then said, "Go ahead.”

  He likely assumed that, as Dr Xavier's favourite test subject, he gave it to her.

  Taking out the Noxcarp Light Combat Armour Grade III, she found a sleek, futuristic and functional silver and brown armour. It appeared easy to put on.

  She swiftly promoted it to display the information.

  Noxcarp Light Combat Armour Grade III

  Light Armour

  Grade: E

  Rarity: Uncommon

  The armour was quality equipment for her level and experience. She decided to put it on now, fitting the armour over her form-fitting outfit.

  Stormflash stayed silent as she put on the armour. Though he approved of her readiness, he said the wilderness of Tanus is exceedingly hostile; it was guaranteed they would have a hostile welcome to the planet.

  Ayna had other items to look at, yet decided to wait until she arrived at Tanus now. The armour made her feel more secure and protected, yet the lack of space made bringing out a Vibronlade troublesome for now.

  She found herself utilising her advanced skills over the next uneventful few hours as the pod continued to drift through space towards Tanus.

  Intermediate Energy Manipulation and Intermediate Energy Absorption have advanced, making them no longer stagnant, beginning at lvl 1, allowing her to practice and advance them again.

  Both skills proved more challenging to advance than the previous rank, and she was not successful in improving either when Stormflash notified her that they reached the atmosphere of Tanus.

  Looking through the escape pod's observation port, Tanus was a rocky, terrestrial planet resembling a larger Earth. It was vibrant in life and had even more notable landmasses, with a smaller but still vast ocean compared to Earth's.

  There was a large fleet nearby and multiple satellites responsible for planetary defence. Luckily, the escape pod was both too small to pose an identifiable threat and packed with stealth technologies, allowing them to deorbit from the planet's orbit using thrusters. Ayna felt the pod shake as they began their descent into the planetary surface.

  Stormflash said firmly, “Hold on, this will be a heavy landing. Looks like we are about to end up near one of the expansive forests.”

  Ayna nodded and felt the pod continue to shake as they neared, landing gear and mechanisms triggered, and the pod began to slow its descent. Yet Ayna felt a tremendous force as the pod approached the planetary surface.

  She felt the pod shudder again, and then a loud thud as the mechanisms triggered as intended, allowing the pod to make a forceful yet stable landing.

  Ayna breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the solid ground.

  They had made it. They have successfully landed on Tanus.