“You've done well. Making it this far without a Class is nothing to scoff at, but I can't in good conscious send you off to the Second Floor Trials without at least offering you these…” Reggie said, his arms disappearing into the seemingly bottomless pockets of his robes.
After fumbling around in their depths, he pulled out a handful of seeds, a small flowerpot, complete with tiny pink and purple flowers, a hammer, a chisel, and finally several ridiculously large, leather bound books. He added the books to the pile by his feet, held up a finger and sighed. “Sorry, at this point I'm just wasting your time… Give me a moment.“
Reggie removed his hands from his pockets, and wiggled the meaty blue fingers on both hands. Almost immediately, a pair of faded yellow scrolls appeared. Although Alan was unable to see any kind of markings or symbols from his angle, they looked awfully similar to his Spell Scrolls. Only much, much older.
“Here you go, catch,” Reggie said as he tossed the scrolls. “I've only got the two Class Scrolls left, but they are both better than anything the Tutorial Administration is going to provide you with. Of this, I am certain!“
Alan gasped at Reggie's casual tossing-around-of-ancient-objects, and caught the Scrolls as gently as he could. The damned things looked like they were going to crumble to dust at any moment.
“There's one for you, and one for the Naga, though she might not be willing to take it if she knows it came from me… We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it I suppose.“ He shrugged his shoulders and started putting away his belongings.
Alan turned the scrolls over, but as far as he could tell, the only difference between them was the color of the wax used on their seals. The Scroll in his right hand was sealed with a grey stamp. It depicted a pair of crossed spears in front of a shield. The Scroll in his left hand was stamped with a toxic-looking neon green seal. Deciphering the image pressed into the green seal proved far less straightforward.
It was magical. He was unsure how else to describe what he saw. The image stamped into the wax seemed to be a depiction of a cluster of dying trees. As his eyes passed over the thumb-sized seal, the color of the scenery changed, becoming life-like, and somehow taking up the entirety of his field of vision.
Alan lowered the Scroll, and breathed out a sigh when he understood that he hadn't actually been transported to a strange forest. Was that some kind of illusion Spell? Or did they somehow download a video into a wax seal? Though he was leaning more towards the seal containing some soft of illusion, he wouldn't have been too surprised if Reggie told him the forest was actually contained within the stamp itself.
Now that he was prepared for the change of scenery, Alan lifted the Scroll and was once more standing amidst an overgrown forest. Clouds of grey spores clogged the humid air, and made it hard to breath. Damn! This illusion is strong enough that I can almost smell the wet dirt and the stench of rotting vegetation…
Once he got over his initial shock, he followed the spores to their source. It took a few moments, but he was able to trace them back to batches of sickly-looking mushrooms. As he watched, it was like viewing a time-lapse in fast-forward. A patch of decaying leaves would be pushed aside as a cluster of grey shrooms peeked their stalks out at random among the undergrowth, and started to swell.
Once they reached no less than a foot tall, their tops started to bulge and flatten out. Within seconds, the base of the grey caps ripped, and released a final gasp full of black spores. Their process now complete, the mushrooms shriveled up and vanished amongst the forest floor. Alan took a hurried step back as a shadowy, wolf-like creature poked its massive head out from behind the tree directly in front of him. When the wolf looked right at him, and bared its teeth, he shuddered and decided that he'd probably seen enough for now.
Yeah, I'll worry about that mess later, Alan thought as he lowered the Scroll to his side.
Creepy seal aside, he couldn't help but be curious as to the Scrolls contents. Yet he was fearful of the consequences of opening a Class Scroll while still in the (G-Stage).
As he stared at the treasures in his hand, his heartbeat quickened its pace to a steady jog. The words of Tutorial Administrator Skarg came to mind unbidden, doubling his worries.
“Normally now would be the time I provide you with a Class,” Skarg had said, “but as you are currently under-evolved there is a high possibility of your new class overloading your pitiful body, resulting in death or worse.
Really though! What could possibly be worse than death? Alan frowned as he wondered if perhaps he was better off not knowing the answer to that particular question. Though he wasn't ready to open the Scrolls, that didn't mean he couldn't glean any information at all. A quick Activation of [Examine] was enough to give him an idea of what he was dealing with. Wary of being glared at by that wolf again so soon, Alan first studied the Scroll with the grey seal.
(Uncommon) Class Scroll [Spear-Maiden]- Undaunted. Relentless. With Shield and Spear in hand, she will become death incarnate. A well-balanced Class focused on tanking damage and dealing a ceaseless barrage of penetrating strikes. +5% Strength, +5% Endurance
At Level: +3 Strength, +3 Endurance, +1 Dexterity, +1 Agility, +1 Vitality, +2 Free Status Points (Requirements: (F-Stage) Female)
Well, I guess that one's out… Alan sucked his cheeks, and glared down at the crotch of his armor. Go figure I would get stuck with the pissed-off wolf Class. Unless these Class Scrolls are both for the ladies…
“Wish me luck…” He mumbled sarcastically.
“Good luck Alan!“ Reggie gleefully answered, reannouncing his presence. He clapped his hands together as Alan used [Examine].
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
(Rare) Class Scroll [Warden of Blight] Patient. Enduring. Though decay spreads rampant amongst the undergrowth, you stand firm in your defense of the Ancestral Forest, and her many beasts. A primarily offensive Class, focused on beast taming, and guerilla warfare using a diverse array of fungus/bacteria-based Skills from both close, and long range. +10% Strength, +5% Willpower, +5% Agility. Slight increase to odds of taming beasts below your Level.
At Level: +4 Strength, +3 Willpower, +3 Agility, +1 Vitality, +1 Endurance, +5 Free Status Points (Requirements (F-Stage) Living) *Warning!* This Class provides the [Nature Attunement] and the [Nature Manipulation] Skill. Cannot be used by the Undead Races.
“So what do you think?“ Reggie asked with a hopeful expression. “While I'm sure you'd make a wonderful maiden, I'm afraid the System feels otherwise. You can set that one aside for the Naga. Though she may not want to accept my help, she's going to need a Class.“
“And,” he said after a moments hesitation, “I'm fairly certain I might've already promised her the [Spear-Maiden] Class…”
Of course he would give me these right after Gaea told me to try and avoid Evolution for as long as possible…
“Thank you Reggie. Seriously. But are you sure about this?“ Alan asked hesitantly, doing his best to keep his voice even. While the sensible part of his brain wanted the Wraith to hurry up and take the Scrolls back, the other, far-less cautious part wanted nothing more than to hurry up and Evolve. He really, really wanted to Class up.
“These seem pretty old, and I'm assuming they are probably valuable. I have to be honest with you. I was told by my Tutorial Administrator that the System would be providing me with a Class for free on day thirty. So I would totally understand if you wanted to keep them.“
“Bah, I have no use for them. It's not like there's a store in the Dungeon I can sell them to. Besides,” he said as he stuck a finger in his ear and started digging for gold. “The Classes provided by the Tutorial are utter rubbish. They are not only weak, but are amongst some of the worst starter Classes imaginable. Depending on your accomplishments and personal fighting style, you would be given a choice between an unimpressive variety of the Warrior, Mage, Archer and Healer Classes.“
“No Rogues or assassins. No engineers, beast masters or summoners. You would be forced to waste several Class Evolutions just getting your Class to a usable Level. Understand this my young, naive friend. Under the watchful gaze of the System, true power is not freely given. It is taken.“ As he spoke, he pulled his finger out of his ear, and absent-mindedly shoved it in his mouth. As Alan stared at Reggie in undisguised disgust, the Wraith's face puckered up.
“That was a mistake,” He said, spitting on the floor and glaring daggers at the walls around him. Alan couldn't help but feel like he was searching for something.
“Sorry you had to see that… I'm not used to having company… But think of it this way, not only am I offering you the chance to recieve a (Rare) starter Class,” He continued reasoning with Alan as he studied the ceiling. “But this would give you extra time with which to acclimate yourself to using it. You would be more than a month ahead of your competition.“
He focused Alan with an intense state.
“And make no mistake about it,” Reggie said ominously. “This is nothing more than a deadly competition. And surviving it is only the minimum requirement. This is a race to gather power, and resources, as well as create alliances among the members of your race. I'm not exaggerating when I say that what you accomplish over the next 72 days will likely determine how your future plays out.“
Create alliances among my race? What allies? There's almost no Humans left to ally myself with! Even if every single Human somehow survived the Tutorial, there would barely be over eleven hundred of us left. Against an entire Multiverse… I don't need to be a genius to know those aren't good odds…
Alan was beginning to grow frustrated. He had to take a deep breath and remind himself that Reggie was only trying to help. But he was forced to admit that the timing was downright irritating.
Alan had long since wanted to Evolve, and now he had another reason to cave to the temptation. So he could open up the Scroll and finally recieve a Class. It sounded nice in theory, however, he knew he would be taking a huge risk.
There was a very good chance evolving would force his dormant Cultivation Core to awaken. If it were only his life on the line, he would've already started the Evolution process. But now that his soul was bound to Su'ong, he had to consider things from an outside perspective. Not only had his Goddess warned him away from evolving, but if what she said was to be trusted, and he had no reason to believe it wasn't, awakening as a Cultivator would add another flashing neon target to his back.
And if I screw up and get myself killed, there's a good chance Su'ong will die for my mistakes right along with me… I have no right to make this choice alone. Alan decided. At the very least, he would have to wait for Su'ong to awaken. He would need to talk to her before making any rash decisions. After all, this was a choice that would potentially effect her just as much.
Though he was unable to use the Scroll just yet, he still wanted to gather as much information as Reggie was able to provide. It irked him to know just how clueless he was about to sound, but he was determined to soak up every bit of information he could gather.
Su'ong's Class description was much more straightforward, and seemed to be a surprisingly good match for her fighting style. Alan quickly decided that although he didn't know much about Classes, the [Warden of Blight] sounded like it could actually turn out to be a really good Class. Ominous yes, but still something he was willing to learn to use.
While he didn't have the slightest clue about how one would go about using fungus in a fight, he had a few ideas about how bacteria could prove very effective under the right circumstances.
Alan felt a bit uncomfortable knowing that if he chose this Class, he would be playing dirty, but at the same time, the same could be said about so many other potential Classes. Hells man, if I were to ask a boxer their opinion, my Spells would probably be considered underhanded.
“Hey Reggie…” Alan said, interrupting the Wraith's cautious survey of the room. “Any chance you can tell me more about these Scrolls? This [Warden of Blight] Class? It just seems a bit… sketchy.“
“There's not really much I can offer outside of their descriptions I'm afraid.“ He responded absently.
“Well-over nine hundred years ago, back when the Dungeon Core was still actively attempting to grow, a decrepit old Turtle-Kin mage found his way into the Sandstone Palace. Unfortunately, he died after fighting a glorious battle with the Earth Wyrm. He happened to have those Scrolls on him. So I kept them as a reminder of his tenacity…”
Reggie gasped and looked down at the floor with a mixture of fear and excitement. Fearing an incoming attack, Alan activated [Stealth] and began backing away. Meanwhile, the crazed Wraith began to crackle wildly.
“You got careless!! After all these years of searching, I've finally located your little hiding spot!“ As he swung his arms around and shouted, the unstable look on his face made Alan store the Class Scrolls and turn away. He placed himself between Reggie and Su'ong's egg and retreated a few more steps.
Just in case he did as Alan feared was about to happen, and lost control.