Chapter 282 Deceptive Shapeshifter
Darryl glanced down and saw two things in his hand: a bottle of elixir and a Career Scroll.
"Captain Wright..." Darryl's voice wavered a bit.
It had been ages since he felt this way. The last time he got choked up was before the apocalypse, watching a man and his cancer-stricken girlfriend get married in a hospital room, only to end their lives together that night.
He knew William needed his help now, which was why he handed him a bottle of two-star Evolution Elixir and a Career Scroll.
As a former leader during the apocalypse, Darryl knew that sometimes all you needed was cannon fodder, and you didn't need to give them extra items.
Especially today, although Darryl didn't know exactly what William was planning, he knew that what William would gain in the end might not be worth as much as these two items.
William didn't see him as cannon fodder; William genuinely wanted to nurture him to a solid soldier.
That was why Darryl was moved. This kind of trust was something Darryl particularly cherished.
He knew that William didn't have a two-star Evolution Elixir. This bottle must have been obtained by using Magic Crystals that William had fought hard to get, which required killing dozens of second-level mutated creatures. Darryl was well aware of the dangers involved.
Dunca and Nicholas looked at these two items and also understood their precious value. They felt genuinely happy for Darryl for meeting such a leader.
Indeed, perhaps this required Darryl to risk his life, but in the apocalypse, who wasn't risking their life? Sometimes, even risking your life required the qualification to do so!
"You need to learn it to help me, so go ahead and learn." William patted Darryl on the shoulder.
Darryl immediately took a deep breath and injected the Evolution Elixir.
His body made slight cracking sounds as his skin and bones felt like they were being torn apart, but the pain disappeared after a moment, leaving only a feeling of power surging through him.
A two-star Evolving person!
Previously, in order to become a professional, Darryl and his team had chosen to temporarily forgo further evolution. He didn't expect to become a two-star Evolving person so quickly.
Next, Darryl learned the Career Scroll and acquired the profession—Deceptive Shapeshifter.
This profession was obtained by William from Lawrence of the Peaceful warband. Both Darryl and Sasha had seen it at the time.
Deceptive Shapeshifter, a profession with a prefix, just like William's Honorable Artisan and Radiant Seal Blade Master, it should be a very powerful profession.
But in fact, it was a profession that almost no one wanted to learn.
Perhaps Lawrence was laughing at William for being foolish at this moment.
Deceptive Shapeshifter was a skill that allowed the user to transform. However, after transforming, the user could mimic the appearance, aura, movements, and even the eyes of the transformed species perfectly, without any difference, but without the corresponding strength.
As a two-star Evolving person, Darryl learned this profession, and the only professional skill was the Transfiguration spell. Once used, he would transform into a fourth-level mutated creature, two levels higher than his own, with an identical appearance but without the corresponding strength. Even his two-star power would temporarily disappear, turning him into a complete hollow shell.
When the professional reached three-star level, using the Transfiguration spell would transform them into a fifth-level mutated creature, and so on.
The first species simulated by the Transfiguration spell at each stage was random. After that, it became fixed, and future activations of the skill would transform the user into the species they first transformed into.
This was all about the profession. Although it didn't require a Level Promotion Scroll and could transform into powerful monsters, it had no strength at all, like a bubble that bursted with a poke.
Many survivors were unwilling to learn this profession for this reason. Lawrence traded it away because he didn't want such a useless profession.
However, how could a profession with a prefix be a trash profession?
Merely looking at the Career Scroll without learning it, one couldn't know a hidden secret of this profession. In the previous life, this was no longer a secret; many people knew it. But now, no one knew.
Deceptive Shapeshifter was pretty weak at first. When you used it, even a regular person could take you down, and the stuff you turned into was only a bluff.
But once you found the species you transformed into, killed it, absorbed its blood, and snagged its Magic Crystal, you'd get that species' abilities, making the transformation real!
Once you found the true species for your transformation, the hidden skill, Fate Plundering, would pop up, giving you some serious powers.
After that, Deceptive Shapeshifter would show its true, terrifying potential.
Assuming a four-star Evolving person used the Deceptive Transfiguration spell and got the abilities of a sixth-level mutated creature, how powerful would that be!
And what if it were a seven-star Evolving person?
Of course, you had to kill the corresponding mutated creature first.
But still, this profession was nothing to sneeze at.
After reading the full profession intro and really getting it, Darryl dissolved into a grin.
He wasn't worried about the weakness of his profession because with William around, sooner or later, he'd plunder the abilities of all the transformation targets, boosting his strength big time.
Now, Darryl was already a dual-profession Swamp Wizard and Deceptive Shapeshifter. Coupled with his two-star evolution level, his strength shot up instantly.
Seeing Darryl's happy face, Dunca and Nicholas knew he had scored something good and were genuinely happy for him.
"Captain Wright, let's go fight!" Darryl said, all pumped up.
He was itching to see what he could transform into.
William just shook his head; he still needed more help. A temporarily flashy but insubstantial Darryl couldn't do much for him right now.
"I knew you'd come." Sasha had been waiting for William and wasn't surprised to see him looking for her.
"Tell me, what do you need me to do?" Sasha was as straightforward as ever.
William spread his hands, "You and your life."
"And what's in it for me?" Sasha wasn't about to take a loss.
"White-level weapons, two of them," William said.
Sasha immediately jumped off the bed in the resting room Basil had set up for her and made a gesture for William to come closer.
"Someone as capable as you, yet so stingy. Do you think you can push me around just because I'm a woman? Don't think I didn't notice Darryl's evolution over there! If you're not serious, then there's nothing to talk about."
William knew Sasha wouldn't be easily fooled and smiled, "Alright, what do you want?"
"A three-star Evolution Elixir!" Sasha demanded.
William shook his head, "No way. Even if I could get an Evolution Elixir, a three-star one would have to go to my team first."
"What if I join your team? Would you prioritize me then?" Sasha moved closer to William, her faint fragrance intruding around him, her voice soft and alluring.
"Would you?" William wasn't swayed by her flirt. He knew the Sasha from his past life, and if her personality hadn't changed much, she wouldn't abandon her team.
As expected, Sasha snorted and stepped back. "Compensate me double for any losses my team suffers."
This price wasn't necessarily unreasonable. If everything went smoothly, the losses would be small, and the compensation wouldn't be much. If the losses were significant, then it would be a different story.
William thought for a moment and nodded, "That's more like it."
Sasha seemed in a good mood, clearly having great confidence in William. "Captain Wright, don't blame me for being realistic. My face is certainly not a charmer, so I have to talk about benefits."
"Is that so?" William asked.
William had seen Sasha in the previous life when the birthmark on her face was very faint. At that timeSasha had become a heartthrob. In this life, as her evolution progressed, the birthmark would eventually disappear.
"My birthmark on my face surely thinks so. Only if it's on my butt." Every girl loved beauty, and Sasha was no exception. The conversation had touched her nerve, and she sighed while touching her face.
William's heart softened as he instinctively said, "Don't you have one below your navel? That one is beautiful."
Realizing what he had just said, William turned around and bolted out of the room as quickly as possible. Moments later, Sasha's hysterical scream echoed from inside. "William, you peeping tom!"
