Jaeden’s heart raced as he scanned the options in front of him. Each class presented a unique path to power, and a new identity, but none of them felt quite right.
The Arcane Blademaster's fusion of magic and combat called to his tactical side, while the Soul Warden’s resilience offered a strength that was tempting in its solidity. Still, doubt clouded his mind, overshadowing the excitement of choosing a class.
It wasn’t just the classes. The whole situation felt off. Jaeden didn't know where he was -whether this was a dream, a simulation, or some twisted version of reality. The more he thought about it, the less he trusted any of it.
What if this was all real? The thought sent a chill down his spine. If he chose wrong, what would that mean? Could he be stuck as something that didn’t fit him, bound to a class that he couldn't evolve or upgrade? The uncertainty weighed on him, gnawing at the edges of his thoughts.
None of the options seemed to perfectly align with how he saw himself. If this was real -whatever “real” meant- he had to be cautious. He didn't even have a bow, so the Phantom Ranger was out, and he lacked the proper gear to embrace a true fighter role. And Oracle of the Veil? The name alone was an enigma, something far too vague to risk committing to without more understanding.
Maybe the system gave him these options because of what he’d done so far. But even that assumption felt shaky. There was no certainty here. He didn’t know if this was a game like Endless Worlds Online, despite the eerie familiarity of it all. But if this was some warped version of the game, it didn’t explain the Soul Warden or the Oracle of the Veil. He couldn’t remember any classes that were similar.
Maybe it was the King of the Labyrinth messing with him again, or maybe it was something else entirely, something beyond his comprehension.
His gut warned him not to make a hasty decision. What if choosing now shut him off from something more powerful down the line? What if this choice was irreversible, locking him into a path that didn’t suit him? The thought sparked a creeping dread that smothered any excitement he might have felt. He had no way of knowing how this place worked -whether it followed familiar game mechanics or something far more rigid and unforgiving.
"Maybe I don’t need a class anyway," he muttered, though the words felt hollow even to him. It was a flimsy reassurance, a way to mask the fear of committing to something that might limit him forever.
On cue, a faint, mocking echo seemed to drift through the air, as though the labyrinth itself were laughing at him before its smug silence once again filled the void.
Jaeden sighed, knowing the System was trying to guide him, offering up these choices based on his actions and the decisions he’d made up to this point. But even if the System had presented these options, it didn’t mean it knew everything. Maybe he wasn’t ready to choose. Maybe there was a perfect class waiting for him, hidden behind a few more challenges or locked behind a quest he hadn’t even started yet.
What if this was just the System’s way of testing his patience?
Jaeden hovered over the options, his fingers twitching. His instincts told him to wait, to trust that something better was out there. If these options were a reflection of his actions, there had to be more, right? A class that would align with who he truly was, or who he could become. He couldn't risk sealing himself into something so limited. His knowingness screamed at him to resist, to hold off on choosing until he knew more.
He had always played Endless Worlds methodically. While others sought instant gratification through flashy skills and early power boosts, Jaeden believed in the slow burn, in cultivating the perfect build over time. Every stat point, every skill tree selection had been weighed and measured. He wasn’t about to break that tradition now. The game rewarded patience, and the thought of choosing a subpar class, only to regret it later, felt like a betrayal of his own philosophy.
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"Classes are just another kind of loot, right?" he muttered to himself. "The real stuff, the good stuff, takes time to unlock." He couldn’t shake the feeling that if he just waited, if he didn’t rush into a hasty decision, something far more fitting would present itself.
If the System had deemed him worthy of these options, surely there would be more -better- ones in the future. Ones that would truly align with his playstyle and strengths. He closed the menu with a decisive swipe, stepping back from the brink of commitment.
"No," he said aloud, more to himself than to anyone listening. "Not yet."
After swiping aside the class notifications, Jaeden released a long, uncertain breath. The options vanished, dissolving into nothingness, and an uncomfortable stillness settled over him. For a brief moment, relief washed over him -relief that he hadn't locked himself into something permanent- but it quickly evaporated, replaced by a gnawing sense of doubt.
Almost instinctively, his hand twitched toward the menu, trying to pull it back up, but the screen remained stubbornly absent. His heart sank, a cold realization settling into his chest.
"Ouch," he muttered, the weight of his decision -or lack thereof- pressing down on him. The finality of it felt sharp, cutting through his earlier certainty. The options were gone, possibly for good, and there was no undoing what he had -or hadn't- done. His fingers hovered over the empty space where the menu had been, as if somehow willing it back into existence. But nothing happened.
For a moment, Jaeden just stood there, frozen. The labyrinth was unnervingly quiet now, save for the distant drip of water echoing off the stone walls. His eyes flicked toward the crevasse where the Minotaur had fallen, the black chasm a gaping reminder of the earlier battle. The beast was long gone, swallowed by the abyss far below. It had been an intense fight, and his strategy of luring the massive creature to its doom had worked, but now, with the immediate threat gone, the victory felt hollow.
He could still hear the faint, distant rumble of shifting rocks far below, as if the labyrinth itself hadn’t quite settled after the Minotaur’s fall.
There was nothing left to fight, no immediate danger, but Jaeden’s mind was far from calm. The silence of the labyrinth wasn’t comforting -it felt like it was watching, waiting for him to slip up again.
Was this the wrong choice? Should he have picked a class, any class, instead of hesitating? The enormity of the decision crept up on him -if this was real, if he was truly locked out of those options now, what would that mean for the future?
His sigh echoed faintly in the cold, cavernous space, bouncing off the jagged walls of the Minotaur’s lair. The stillness pressed down on him, the weight of his doubt growing heavier. Should he have trusted the System? Was it testing him, or had he just thrown away a golden opportunity? The thought settled uncomfortably in his chest, curling up into a tight knot of regret.
"Maybe I didn’t need a class anyway," he muttered to himself, though the words felt hollow. It was a flimsy reassurance, a thin veil to mask the rising anxiety clawing at his mind. The choices had been there -tangible, real- and now they were gone, leaving him with nothing but the empty labyrinth and his own uncertainty.
Shaking off the feeling -or at least trying to- Jaeden tore his gaze away from the spot where the menu had been and forced himself to focus on his surroundings. He couldn’t afford to get lost in his head, not here, not in this place. The labyrinth was still dangerous, still alive with unseen threats. If there was anything he’d learned from his time here, it was that the danger wasn’t always as obvious as a charging Minotaur.
"Focus," he whispered, trying to ground himself in the present.
His eyes drifted across the vast, shadowed chamber, the jagged stone edges and broken pillars casting long, ominous shapes across the floor. The crevasse that had swallowed the Minotaur still yawned open, a dark scar in the ground, its depths disappearing into blackness. The battle had been chaotic, and in the aftermath, Jaeden hadn’t had time to search the area properly. Maybe there was still something here -loot or clues- something to make this moment feel less like a mistake.
Unsheathing his sword, Jaeden moved toward the rubble that had been scattered around the battlefield. Broken stones and debris from shattered columns littered the floor, remnants of the past.
He used the tip of his blade to sift through the mess, the rhythmic scrape of metal against stone giving his restless hands something to do. It was a distraction, if nothing else, from the lingering weight of his decision.
"Hopefully, I get better choices in the future," he muttered, his voice a low murmur against the oppressive silence. He had to believe that this wasn’t the last time the System would offer him a path. The vanished menu haunted the back of his mind, a spectre of missed opportunity, but he pushed the thought away, focusing on the task at hand.
There had to be something here, something useful that would make this moment feel less like a failure. As his sword caught on a chunk of fallen debris, he heaved it aside, revealing little more than dust and shattered stone. Still, he kept searching, the faint glimmer of hope flickering somewhere beneath the doubt.
The labyrinth, ever watchful, offered no reassurance, only its cold, mocking silence.