Barry stood unmoving, staring blankly forward through the transparent shimmering wall where his hand still rested for a good few minutes after Knob and Swirly disappeared from view. His mind had been running on overdrive for most of the hellish night and he felt completely drained. Physically, he had neared his limit, but mentally he was truly exhausted. It took every bit of his willpower to avoid breaking down completely, and the only way he could do that was to refuse to move, refuse to think. Finally, after an unknown amount of time his hand began to slide down the accursed wall as his arm tired. The heavy drop of his arm to his side was enough to knock him out of his daze, and suddenly it felt like the weight of the world came crashing down onto him. Barry crumpled to his knees and his arms dropped into his lap as he began to sob uncontrollably. Tears flowed out of his eyes, running down his bare torso and soaking his trousers. The heavy rise and fall of his chest and shoulders caused the blades and arrows digging into his back and arm to move, cutting further into his flesh. The pain stung with a terrible intensity, and his health dipped, but Barry couldn’t stop his blubbering. Tuti was dead, and it was him who had walked her into that damned village to begin with. If it wasn’t for his decisions, she’d likely still be alive. On top of that, he was now separated from the only two allies that he had in this world. It was unbearable to know that they were so close to him and yet so unbelievably far away. Overpowering feelings of guilt and loneliness permeated Barry’s thoughts as he sat and wept.

Eventually, fatigue must have overcome his misery as Barry woke with a start to a tremendous pain in his back. He quickly realised he had fallen asleep and at some stage rolled over, pushing the still protruding foreign bodies deeper into his flesh. With a yelp Barry reached behind him and grasped one of the objects, a long dagger, before yanking it out. He then repeated the process a few more times until he had cleared his body of all foreign objects, including the arrow in his right arm. Barry wondered if being constantly jabbed with needles and other medical devices over his lifetime before the training grounds had helped to build up his tolerance to this sort of pain as he found it surprisingly bearable to force himself to remove the objects. He also realised it could have been his high vitality or willpower that aided him in this task, but Barry wanted to believe it was his exceptional pain tolerance and tough nature.

Barry shook his head at the thought, he knew he was giving himself too much credit, “Imagine what Tuti would think if she heard me talk about my toughness,” he thought with a sad laugh, “She would tell me in no uncertain terms not to get such a big head, or that she’d met worms with more backbone than me.” Barry could feel more tears coming on, so he distracted himself by looking inwards at the messages he had waved away during his battle when he levelled up.

Soul magic: has reached level 10.

Power level has reached level 10. Class options unlocked.

First one hundred initiates to achieve a power level of ten achieved – bonus five stat points awarded to two highest stats.

The messages were amazing. Free stat points to vitality and willpower just from reaching level ten, Barry would take that every day of the week. He’d not even realised he had gotten these until now, and there is a fair chance this boost helped him tank a couple of extra shots in the previous battle plus maintain a composed head during all the chaos. And he now had access to class choices, a bonus he had completely forgotten about, but was a welcome surprise. In addition to that, the messages showed that he was still one of the frontrunners of the training grounds. It was re-assuring to know that he was still in the top one hundred initiates for power level. Although on reflection, he realised he could just check the live rankings ladder and get the same information. The thought made him curious, so he decided to do a quick check of his ranking positions.

Individual Rankings: Barry Wines

Power level: Rank 19

Item level: Rank 24

Magic level: Rank 89

Total soul stat points: Rank 8

Wealth: Unranked

Vitality: Rank 1

Strength: Unranked

Stamina: Unranked

Dexterity: Unranked

Mana: Unranked

Perception: Unranked

Manipulation: Unranked

Willpower: Rank 34

There had definitely been some progress in his ranking positions overall. For power level he had made it into the top twenty from his combined item and magic levelling over the past day or two which was pleasing to see. He was also now on the list for soul magic level for the first time. He’d managed to move up from tenth to eighth position in total soul stat points, which was a minor but welcomed update. The biggest move however was with his willpower. He had gone from being unranked to rank thirty-four which was massive progress, and that was without sacrificing his rank one vitality position despite his change in points allocation. Unfortunately, he had dropped out of the top ten for soul item level, but with all the other improvements he wasn’t too disappointed, and he still ranked fairly well. With his curiosity sated, Barry moved his attention back to one of the other big messages in his mind… classes, as the words of Gupa came flooding back to Barry.

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“The gods will first grant an initiate the choice of five different classes when a power level of ten has been reached. Your selection will impact stat point allocation per level and also the abilities you can learn as you grow. It is vital that you select a class that resonates with you and reflects your strengths and interests in order to progress along your chosen path. Bottlenecks in development and growth are common, particularly in those who select an ill-fitting class. Upgrades to your class will become available at regular intervals through your journey, should you survive long enough and continue to progress.”

Barry didn’t know how exactly he’d just recalled the demons’ words so perfectly, it was weird. But the best guess he had was that his willpower was assisting his memory, or maybe the demon had some special ability that made what he said easier to remember. Whatever the case the information was invaluable, and Barry was ready to explore his class options with a renewed appreciation for the importance of the decision he was about to make.

Class choices - 5 available class options:

1. Heavy warrior (common) - A hardened warrior who focuses on defence and power. What they lack in speed, they more than make up for in durability and strength. Grants 2 skill points to vitality, 1 to strength and 1 to stamina per level up, plus 1 free point.

Reading through his first class option Barry couldn’t believe his eyes. If he chose this class he would be receiving a massive five skill points per level, almost triple what he was currently getting. With every level up he would be gaining massive boosts to his overall stats. The distribution of skill points was ok, not exactly what he would have chosen, but not bad by any means. He wasn’t entirely sure what the ‘common’ listed next to the skill name meant, but with the perks this option provided did it really matter? He found it hard to believe that he could receive anything better than this with his other choices, and he was tempted to just accept this straight away and move on. But common sense and intrigue prevailed, and he moved his focus to the second option.

2. Mental mage (common) - A talented mage who focuses on the improvement of one’s mental capacity. Mental mages are able to improve their soul magic utilisation through mental refinement and efficient mana usage. Grants 2 skill points to wisdom and 2 to mana per level up, plus 1 free point.

This was another great class choice, and the same rarity as the previous class. However, the lack of any vitality stat distributions was a turn off for Barry, as he still intended on investing heavily in the stat. Even with the willpower focus, which he liked, plus the free stat point available, this skill was overall less appealing than the first option.

3. Mind tank (uncommon) - An initiate who specialises in the fortification of their most valuable asset, their mind. With a heavy focus on improving willpower the mind tank is able to make lighting fast calculations in the heat of battle, and defend against external manipulation to a high degree. Grants 3 skill points to willpower, 1 to vitality, 1 to mana and 1 to manipulation.

Barry was beginning to feel like a kid in a candy store. This option provided a massive six stat points for every level. That was huge! With that many points he could double his total stat points in short order. The only let down of this option was that he wouldn’t receive any free points, but the split of points was pretty good all things considering. It was also the first option so far that wasn’t listed as ‘common’, instead being ‘uncommon’, which sounded more exclusive and appealing even without the extra point per level. Barry didn’t think of himself as common, he was by all reports doing exceptionally well so far in this training grounds and it seemed fitting that he would at least be offered a class that displayed this. With that he eagerly moved on to the forth option.

4. Soul defender (rare) – The soul defender flawlessly achieves the balance between safeguarding of the mind, and protection of the body. The soul defender prioritises the preservation of self above others, gaining access to powerful individual defensive skills and abilities to compliment the robustness of their mind and matter. Few can break through the secure guard of the soul defender. Grants 3 skill points to willpower and 3 skill points to vitality per level, plus 1 free point.

Now this was more like it! A rare skill, and one that seemed to so perfectly match his current path. The stat distribution aligned extremely well with his current plan, maximising vitality and willpower, plus still providing a free stat point to give him some flexibility if his priorities changed in the future. Forget the rest, this class was by far the best choice for him out of the options provided. The only slight hesitation he had regarded the line mentioning ‘preservation of self above others’. The mental scars from losing Tuti were still fresh in his mind and he liked to think that he could help prevent anything like that from happening again. As important as it was, he didn’t want to only focus on his own survival, but also that of his friends. That particular line made the class choice seem a selfish one to Barry which rubbed him up the wrong way somehow. But at the same time the numbers don’t lie, and this was the logical choice as it provided seven stat points per level compared to six or five for the previous class options. It would take something pretty special to compete with that.

5. Phantom protector (rare) – The Phantom protector is a stalwart enigma. Sturdy in both mind and body, and mysterious in methods. The Phantom protector does not follow the norm, gaining access to skills that are unique, peculiar and effective. They are a valuable ally and a feared enemy to all. Grants 2 points to vitality, 2 points to wisdom and 1 point to mana per level, plus 2 free points.

Barry couldn’t help but grin. If he could’ve created a class that was custom made for him, this would probably be it. It was a rare class that provided two points to vitality and willpower, a little bit of mana, and two free points for every level up! It was simply unbelievable. Even the name of the class was awesome, ‘phantom protector’. It sure had a nice ring to it. Plus Barry felt the description fit with his personality better than any of the others. It resonated with him. He was a bit of an enigma both in the way he fought and in the way he distributed his stat points. Not to mention his unusual affinity for illusions which also seemed to fit nicely with the whole phantom persona. Additionally, the fact that it still mentioned ally’s was reassuring. Barry didn’t want to be some lone, selfish hermit for the rest of his life which was the vibe he had gotten from the soul defender class.

It had become pretty clear from reading through all the class options that they had been customised for Barry as a result of his stat distribution and experiences, just like Gupa had said they would. Barry wondered if everyone who had vitality as their main stat received the ‘heavy warrior’ class option, or if even that was personalised more to him. He doubted it, upon re-reading the class description it seemed pretty generic compared to his last two options. As he thought about the information in more detail, Barry realised that the common rarity options provided five stat points total per level, the uncommon class six, and the rare classes seven. It didn’t seem a coincidence that as the rarity increased so too did the rewards.

“I wonder if there is a class rarity below common that provides even worse stat points per level? On that what if there are rarities above rare that provide even more stats points?” Barry pondered with a frown before shaking away the pointless thoughts.

He knew he’d done well with his options, and there was no reason to dwell on the what ifs. With a clear mind and the return of the grin to his face Barry selected the class ‘phantom protector’ and felt... Nothing.

Barry glowered at the lack of change. He’d been hopeful for a new skill, or some stat points, but there was just nothing. He felt around to his shoulders, back and legs to see if there was any physical change he could find, but there wasn’t. All he did was get blood on his hands from accidentally touching his still healing wounds. He then turned his focus inwards and opened his status screen. There he finally found some confirmation of the choice he had just made as listed next to class were the words ‘phantom protector’. It seemed he would have to level up before the true effects of his choice would come into effect. But that knowledge was exactly the type of distraction and motivation that Barry needed to get out of his slump.

Barry stood up a little taller. No longer was he the weak, feeble young man that he had been in the past. No, now he was strong, he was smart, and he was ready. He had learned a lot in the past week and a bit, and he had made mistakes that he never wanted to make again. Barry realised that the only way to prevent that from happening was to keep growing more powerful. If he’d been only a bit weaker he most likely would have perished numerous time over. His experiences had instilled in him the understanding that in this new world a single powerful person could be as dangerous as an army of weaker individuals. Against Peltra he’d been greatly outnumbered, ambushed, and injured, and yet he had probably managed to cause others more damage and pain than he had taken himself. In this place power was key, and if he wanted to be able to fight back against those who might use their strength for evil, then he needed to be even more formidable than they were. Clenching his fists, and looking up at the sky Barry made himself a promise. He would keep fighting; he would keep pushing on and growing stronger despite the inevitable physical and emotional challenges that would come his way. But most importantly he would do what he felt was right, and he would do it all his way. He would become the Phantom protector in both name and actions.