Opening my interface, I selected the Class section and read over the information that appeared first.

The classes available to you are based on your actions or, in some cases, as a quest reward.

If a class isn’t chosen by level 5, all experience gains will be halted until one is selected.

Choose your path carefully. While classes may evolve depending on a variety of factors, the heart of the class will always remain the same.

I dismissed the introductory screen and looked over the class options that were available to me. I was surprised to see four classes on offer. The quest reward had mentioned only one, which meant there were three more that I had earned based on what I’d done since opening my mana channels.

The choices were Warrior, Healer, Artisan, and Core Sentinel. The first three sounded pretty generic and I could easily work out what I had done to earn them. The last option sounded special and must be the quest reward. I already knew I’d most likely be choosing that one. I mean, come on. A custom class? I’d have to be crazy to pass that up. But I decided to look over all of the available options to get a feel for what regular classes offered. It would give me a reference point to work out how the class I got from the quest differed.

After a few minutes reading over the basic classes, I thought I had a handle on the specifics. The Warrior class would let me choose a weapon skill to learn immediately without needing to spend any experience points. All weapon skills and defensive skills would rank up 50% faster. I would also be given an ability that would let me convert mana into health. That wasn’t useful for me since I could heal myself, but it would definitely be a powerful ability for someone without an affinity for Life magic.

The Healer class would provide me with an affinity for Nature magic along with Life, which I already had. I wonder how that would work since I’m at the limit for affinities now?

“The necessary adjustments would be made to your mind and body upon choosing the class to allow for it. However, as a result, the requirements to acquire an additional affinity would likely be increased by quite a lot,” Cax helpfully volunteered.

I was glad to hear it wouldn’t backfire and mess me up. Not that I was going to choose that class, but it was comforting to know there weren’t hidden dangers here.

The Healer class would also make spells belonging to the Nature and Life affinities rank up 50% faster. On top of that, the class provided a 20% reduction in the mana cost of all Life spells. That actually tempted me more than a little. I’d already experienced issues with being unable to cast my Heal spell due to its high mana cost.

The Artisan class would let me choose one profession to learn immediately. All items I could craft would rank up 50% faster. If that also applied to my dungeon profession, that could be quite helpful. It also came with an ability that would breakdown an item related to a known profession and provide some base crafting materials. Since I didn’t need materials to craft with, it was another useless ability for me.

Those three basic classes were interesting, but they didn’t seem to offer all that much. Just faster improvement in some areas and an ability. The introductory screen had mentioned that classes could evolve, though, so I guess they were probably supposed to start off fairly simply.

Now that I had an idea of what regular classes were all about, I moved onto the class I was really interested in. Core Sentinel. According to the quest reward information, this class was tailored for me. I excitedly looked at the details.

Core Sentinel

You answered a call for help and showed a willingness to defend others from threats they weren’t even aware of.

This class will provide you with the means to continue doing so by making sure you have the right tools on hand.

May you forever stand tall between danger and those you choose to protect.

You will be able to select one weapon skill immediately at no cost.

All weapon skills and defensive skills will rank up 25% faster.

Your [Spatial] affinity spells will rank up 50% faster.

You will gain the [Inventory] ability.

You will gain the [Research] ability.

The profession requirement for your [Create] ability will not apply when used on ordinary item patterns.

By using certain aspects of your knowledge core as a model, your mental capacities will be enhanced. This will allow you to learn a new magical affinity every 10 levels instead of every 15 levels, and a new profession every 5 levels instead of every 10 levels.

I wasn’t disappointed. The class provided so much more than the basic ones did! To start with, it would give me two abilities, whereas the other classes only gave one. I’d also get an upgrade to my Create ability so I could make regular goods without needing to have the relevant profession. Endless beer and pizza, here I come! I thought with a little smile.

The class would also let me learn a weapon skill like the Warrior class did and even had a boost to ranking the same kinds of skills up. It was only 25% compared to the warrior’s 50%, but it was still pretty good.

Core Sentinel also gave a fairly large benefit in allowing me to unlock more magical affinities and professions sooner. While I was excited to have the chance to learn more magic, I was especially interested in the additional professions. That boost would increase the types of special items I could use Create to make.

“Do regular adventurers have the same level restrictions for acquiring more affinities and learning more professions?” I asked out of curiosity. I hadn’t been aware of exactly what the requirement was. Now that I knew, I wanted to see how it compared to a regular case.

“Not a level one. The amount of Intelligence they have determines their limit,” he told me.

So, probably fairly similar then, I thought. Since I can’t affect my Intelligence directly, I guess special considerations were made for me. I moved on and checked out the abilities the class provided.

The Inventory ability had the Spatial affinity as a prerequisite. I remembered Cax telling me that particular affinity was quite rare, so I assumed not many regular adventurers would have this ability. It would let me access a personal dimensional space, tied to me, that I could use to store items. I’d seen storage devices in the list of patterns I had gained from Cax, so I wasn’t sure what was so special about an ability that did the same thing.

“The ability will give you more flexibility than a device can,” Cax let me know. “For example, with the ability, you can send clothing and accessories into the dimensional space and put them back on immediately. Also, all of your items will be completely safe from other people, whereas a storage device might be stolen.”

Sounds useful, I thought excitedly. I was looking forward to trying it out.

The second ability the class offered was where I truly saw the custom elements shining through.

Research

Find a solution for any problem.

Use this ability to draw on the information in your Knowledge Core in order to construct your own patterns.

This ability has a 3-day cooldown.

Amazing! No specific ideas immediately came to mind, but I definitely saw what an advantage such flexibility would provide me with. I almost confirmed the choice of class right then and there, but I thought I better check with Cax first to see if he approved.

Before I could even ask him, he gave me his answer.

“Yes!” The conviction and eagerness in his voice came across clearly. “I was worried that everything I had accumulated over my life would largely go to waste. But this! This means it will become one of the most important tools available to you.”

I was glad he was on board with the class and that he seemed genuinely pleased.

With Cax in agreement, I didn’t need any more time to think about it. With everything the Core Sentinel class provided, it was clearly some kind of hybrid class, with a focus on fighting and support style abilities. It would give me benefits both in and out of combat.

If things were different, I would rather be some kind of dedicated magic-using class. But considering I didn’t know what the future would bring with the threat of the shards and void energy looming, this class seemed more useful for me.

I lay back on the bed and tensed up in anticipation. Big changes seemed to come with pain, and this change was going to be a huge one.

“Unfortunately, you are right,” Cax told me gently. “Along with changes to your mind, alterations are going to be made to your aura to account for the new abilities and the changes to your current one. One at a time, it is not too bad. This is going to happen all at once.” His tone became serious. “Don’t try to endure this. Let yourself slip away.”

With that warning ringing in my head, I braced myself and hesitantly made my selection. My head started to ache immediately as I could actually feel my mind being crammed with the new information that was pouring in. My body felt like there were rivers of fire flowing throughout it as the magic made the necessary adjustments.

I tried to use Determination to help me ignore the pain despite what Cax had said. Considering how my spells and abilities worked, I figured the more I used it the greater chance it would rank up. However, the low-ranked skill wasn’t even able to activate in the face of the overwhelming pain, and I soon passed out.

When I came to, I was greeted with a screen in the lower part of my field of view. I ignored it as I reached for my phone to check how long I had been out. That small movement sent shooting pain through my head and my body. I ached all over as though I had just done an intense workout.

I healed myself to clear away the lingering effects that gaining my class had left me with. I felt better immediately, but there was still a faint, deep-seated ache throughout my body. I guess magic can’t heal everything, I thought as I absently massaged my shoulders. It made sense that having my entire being altered was on that list.

I checked the time. I was happy to see I’d only been out for about ten minutes. I had so much to do. It would have sucked to lose a huge chunk of time like that. Finally, I turned my attention to the waiting notification.

Congratulations!

You are now a [Core Sentinel].

You have learned the [Inventory] ability.

You have learned the [Research] ability.

Your [Create] ability has been adjusted.

You may choose a weapon skill to assign at no cost.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Despite the changes that had been done to me, and apart from the pain, I actually didn’t feel any different. I checked my stats just to make sure and saw the new abilities listed. I also noticed that the requirement to rank up Teleport had changed from 4/10 to 4/5, matching the 50% faster rate of improvement the class information had mentioned.

I was excited to see how close I was to ranking that spell up. I stayed focused, though. I wanted to try out my new abilities immediately to get a feel for what they could actually do. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. I decided to start with Inventory. I picked up my pillow. If something went wrong, it would be easy to replace. I activated the ability.

The description had talked about a dimensional space that was tied to me, so I was expecting a hole to open in front of me that I could put things into. Instead, an interface screen with 4 empty boxes appeared. I was kind of relieved. Having my interface manage the specifics behind the scenes meant I could more easily use the ability around people.

Focusing back on the screen with the empty boxes, I hoped it was as intuitive as it looked. I willed the pillow to go in and it disappeared from my hands. An image of it appeared in the box on the left, and there was some text underneath telling me what it was.

I concentrated again, this time imagining the pillow appearing in my hands. Before I could blink, I was holding it again. It felt and looked exactly the same as before it went into my inventory.

This is amazing! There was no delay in sending something in and retrieving it, and a quick look at my mana let me know there was no cost to using the ability.

“The dimensional space is tied to your aura, so the ability works in the same way a skill does,” Cax informed me. “When you activate it, your aura manipulates the energy around you to give you access to the space. As you level up and your aura becomes stronger, the dimensional space will also grow.” He paused as he checked something. “It looks like you get 2 slots for every level you have.”

I was glad I’d be able to get more space. Leveling up so I could make more dungeon rooms was high up on my to-do list, so the size of my inventory would soon increase. I’d just have to think carefully about what to put in there until then.

I continued experimenting with the ability. I put the pillow on the bed and tried to send it back into my inventory. I thought that since it was tied to my aura, it might be possible to send something in if it was in close proximity. Nothing happened. Need to be touching it. Got it. Maybe it would be possible when I became stronger.

Next, I willed the shirt I was wearing into my inventory. It disappeared immediately without a problem, leaving me standing there in just my shorts. With a thought, the shirt reappeared. It was on the right way and everything.

I wondered if it would work with someone else’s clothes, too. I grinned as I thought of a couple of times with my ex-girlfriend when that would have been extremely useful. Dexterous while drunk was not a skill I could claim.

I tried sending my shirt and pants in at the same time. They disappeared together, but I was disappointed to see they each took up a slot. I’d been hoping they would count as an outfit and only take up one area. Putting my clothes back on with a thought, I retrieved the two empty vials that had contained health potions from the drawer where I had hidden them.

Putting them into my inventory, I was happy to see they both only took up one slot. Having items stack would help me manage my limited space. The number ‘2’ next to the description would help me keep track of how many there were. I decided to leave the vials in there. I was probably just being paranoid, but I didn’t want to leave what was basically an alien item lying around. Whatever material they were made from was definitely stronger than any regular glass.

For the same reason, I decided to get my staff out of my car later and put it in my inventory. Plus, since I didn’t know when another shard would arrive on Earth, I would feel better if I had a weapon with me at all times.

After all that experimentation, I was curious and checked Inventory’s progress towards ranking up. It was only at 4/20. I tilted my head in confusion. It had a higher requirement to reach rank 2 than my other abilities. And I had definitely used it more than four times.

“Only sending new items into your inventory increases your understanding of the ability,” Cax informed me. “No matter how many times you take something out and put it back in, the count won’t increase any further. Items that stack are regarded as being the same, so they also only count a single time.

The higher requirement to rank up is due to the unique nature of the ability. Since you are not actively using your own mana to power it, it takes longer to become familiar with.”

I nodded as he finished. Makes a certain kind of sense. And even with the higher requirement, considering how easy the ability was to use, I could see it ranking up pretty quickly.

More than happy with the first ability I had gained and confident in its use, I moved onto the second one.

“What do you want to research first, Cax?” I asked him, wanting him to take the lead. He had been so excited about being able to use what was effectively his life’s legacy, I thought it a good idea to let him be responsible for it. I tried hard not to think about the other reason so he wouldn’t be able to pick it out of my mind. That reason being that I had no idea what to use the ability on!

I could feel him considering the question carefully before responding. “How about something that can keep void energy at bay? We saw that the shard was capable of such a thing, and since you absorbed the shard, the knowledge should be within your core. Even though we’re not capable of identifying or understanding how the shard did it, your new ability should be able to come up with something.”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “That’s a fantastic idea! Let’s give it a go.” It really was. We weren’t sure if a dungeon’s aura would be able to block void energy, so it would be a relief to have something that would definitely work.

I activated my new Research ability and read over the information that appeared.

Focus on the design you would like to create.

Hold a clear image in your mind of its appearance, function, and desired Tier.

Adjustments will automatically be made in order to achieve a working design as close to the desired criteria as possible.

I gave some thought to what would be good. It had to be something small enough that I could easily bury in the forest to keep people from discovering it and moving it. And it needed to be a simple Tier-I design because I wouldn’t be able to make something above my profession’s level.

Finally, I settled on a simple stone disc the size of my hand for the appearance. It was smooth on the outside with any necessary runes contained within. That way, if anyone found it they wouldn’t notice anything odd. I held the image of it in my mind as I focused on it being a simple Tier-I item that could repel void energy. I knew it was probably impossible for a basic item, but I imagined the effect covering a 1km area around the disc. I assumed it would be adjusted down, and that way it would be set at the maximum range possible. With the aspects of the design clear in my mind, I activated Research.

After several seconds, a notification appeared that also contained an image of the item just like I had imagined it. As expected, the effect of the item was far less than what I wanted.

Item information:

[Unnamed]

A simple stone powered by ambient mana that emits an anti-void energy field around it.

Rank: 1

Durability: 30 / 30

Enchantment 1: Repel void energy in a 20-meter radius.

Requirements: Enchanting – Tier I

Do you wish to proceed?

I smacked my forehead with my palm. “Idiot!”

The sense of amusement I got from Cax made me think he’d probably noticed the issue from the very start.

“You could have mentioned I should have learnt the Enchanting profession first,” I complained.

“I had faith you would get there by yourself,” he told me happily. “Besides, you said you wanted to work things out for yourself more. I was just respecting your wishes.”

I flipped him off in my head which only increased his amusement.

I mentally minimized the screen dealing with the research project and pulled up my experience. Confirming the expenditure of 30xp, I waited while the beginner information on Enchanting flowed into my mind from my knowledge core. Once it finished and the light-headedness passed, I pulled up the research screen I’d minimized earlier.

“It is likely that the range will increase as you rank up this item’s pattern,” Cax told me. “You will have to make sure to replace the older stones you place each time you reach a new rank.”

My dungeon’s aura even now would cover about the same area as the stones, and that started from the walls. Once the actual room itself was taken into account, it was the best option for protecting a wider area. Not to mention it would automatically grow as my level did, unlike the stones which would need to be replaced.

However, my ability to make dungeon rooms was limited. With the stones, I would be able to make any number of them, restricted only by time and mana. A combination of the two might be a good idea. A dungeon room at each cardinal direction like I had originally been thinking, and then some stones to fill in any gaps.

Confident this was the best use of the ability at the moment, I confirmed the new pattern to be researched. I needed to name the new item before it would complete. After a second, I came up with a simple one. Void Blocker.

A new pattern has been created. [Void Blocker].

Your [Research] ability will be available in 3 days.

I didn’t have a way of removing the void energy from Earth, but I was now capable of stopping it from spreading. I knew that the World Spirit was doing the same thing already, and I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I could do better. But I couldn’t sit around and do nothing. Besides, if I could lessen the pressure even just a little, maybe the Spirit would be able to focus on finding a way to eradicate it completely. I was planning on heading down to my dungeon soon and I would make some of the stones then.

Feeling a lot more confident, I went over my to-do list in my head. I had my class and I had maxed out my professions by learning Enchanting. With nothing left to spend my xp on except for spells, it was time to level up. The cost of spells wouldn’t increase with my level, so there was no reason to rush and unlock more. Plus, Cax had said I might be able to learn a new spell for each of my affinities for free once I hit level three.

Before I could pull up the experience section of my interface, my phone began to ring. It was Josh. I already knew what he was calling about, but I had to keep up the act.

“Hey mate. How’s your dad?” I asked him, trying to sound worried.

“Unbelievable!” he said excitedly. “The old man is running around the house like a little kid. He woke up feeling fine and without even a scratch on him!”

“You’re kidding! How’s that possible?!” I exclaimed. My acting wasn’t good enough to get on ‘Neighbours’, but I thought I could land a role on ‘Home & Away’.

“No idea!” he replied. “The doctors are stumped. They wanted to keep him in and do some tests, but he wasn’t keen. He checked out immediately and we took him home. You should have seen him. He said even all his old aches and pains have disappeared. He was squatting and jumping and cackling like a mad man. Haven’t seen him that happy in ages.” I could feel the smile in his voice.

“Mate, that is fantastic,” I told him happily, no longer needing to act.

“Damn right it is! We’re celebrating tonight! I’ve already locked in Jared and Tony. We’ll pick you up at your place at 7:00. The drinks are on me.” I was surprised. He was always generous, but usually only good for a round or two. “You can get us discounts at your pub, right?” The shameless bastard didn’t even hesitate a little to ask that.

“Yes, you stingy prick,” I told him. I would love to go, but there was too much to do. “I can’t go, though. I’m busy and …”

He cut me off. “Nope. No chance. You’re coming, even if I have to carry you to the car again.” Fuck. I knew he would, too. He’d done it a couple of times before when I tried to get out of going out. “We’re not only celebrating. You and I need to talk,” he said in a completely serious voice before hanging up.

Shit! I knew it would be suspicious how his dad fully recovered, but I wasn’t prepared to get grilled on it. It didn’t matter, though. I wasn’t going to go. I could hide out in my dungeon, or maybe even head to the forest and get started on making a new room there.

“I think you should go,” Cax suddenly said. I was taken aback. That was not what I expected to hear from him.

“What are you talking about? I don’t have time to waste on going out. There’s a lot to be done,” I reminded him.

“I know, and normally I wouldn’t recommend participating in an event where you willingly poison yourself. But I believe you need this.”

“I don’t understand,” I told him, confused.

“You were just in a series of fights for the first time in your life. You witnessed the memories of a World Spirit. You found out that your planet is under attack by two superior forces. This would all be enough to rattle a native of my world who is used to constant violence and danger. Considering how peaceful your life was before all of this, I’m surprised you’re still going. The fact that you are speaks to how resilient you truly are. I can see how shaken you are, though, and how much effort you are exerting to maintain your composure,” he told me gently.

I had no words. He wasn’t wrong. The memory of the crazed possum’s claws ripping into my skin kept popping up randomly, making my heart beat faster. The fear I felt when the skeleton came running at me was still there, just pushed to the back of my mind because I didn’t know how to deal with it.

“Many adventurers that fell in my dungeon did so because they just kept going. I saw from their memories that they pushed themselves every day, whether chasing power or running from memories. They eventually wore themselves out until they made a fatal mistake and I claimed their lives.

Don’t let that happen to you. To us. Yes, you have to do all these things alone. But that doesn’t mean you always have to be alone. I can see how important your friends are to you. Have fun with them. Release some stress. It’s admirable to want to save the world, but don’t let it consume you. You already know from the crystal that the World Spirit has the void energy under control for the moment. A night off won’t hurt.”

I thought seriously about what he had said, and realized he was right. There were so many things to get done and learn about that it wasn’t hard to keep going at full speed. But that didn’t mean it was a good idea to. Of course, the main reason was because I needed to be ready to protect myself and my loved ones. But I could admit that it was also so I didn’t have time to dwell on all the bad things that had happened up to now. Maybe a night with the boys, pretending that everything was normal, would do me some good.

“Alright. I’ll go. Thanks for the push,” I told Cax gratefully. Having him put my well-being first touched me. His survival depended on mine so I was sure there was a fair amount of self-preservation involved, but I could sense that he was genuinely worried about my welfare.

I checked the time. It was almost 2 p.m. With the decision made, I was excited to take the night off from the craziness and wonder of my new life and do something normal again. I still had plenty of time before my friends would get here, though. I wasn’t going to waste that time and would get as much done as possible before then.