“Time for some lodestone dungeons?” Emma asked. “This time, I get to be the strong protector.” She puffed out her chest, slamming her hands on her waist.

Zoe chuckled. “Maybe. I had an idea, though.”

“Oh?” Emma’s eyebrow rose.

“Getting my sixth class this time really, really sucked.” Zoe said.

Emma nodded. “Mhm.”

“But by the time I got it, I did have a lot of stats, and five thousand intelligence was a requirement for several of my classes.” Zoe said.

“Mhm. Mhm.” Emma nodded.

“I’m going back and forth on whether or not I want to get high rolls for my classes, to get a sixth class that is as high as possible, or if I want to get low rolls for my classes and see if I can get a seventh class at a really low level.” Zoe said.

“Hmm.” Emma leaned back and forth on her feet. “I’ve only ever seen the Okiu with its seventh class. Assuming that green was seventh class. I don’t even want to think about what it would be if it wasn’t. Could be cool to be the only person with a seventh class for miles.”

Zoe nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking. And I was doing the calculations. My Seasoned Persistence has a cap of twenty two. So if I got my fourth at forty four, fifth at eighty eight and sixth at one seventy two then I could get my seventh class starting from just over three fifty. That’s not even…” Zoe pursed her lips. “That bad? For a seventh class, at least.”

“And most of your levels would be in higher tier classes with better stat points, too.” Emma said.

“But three fifty is still pretty high level, even when I only had my fifth class. With my sixth class and the experience bump that comes from that — especially without having Cosmic Mystic’s experience through the passage of time and space helping me along, that might end up taking decades. Just for a single, very low chance of getting my seventh class.” Zoe said.

“Mmm, that’s not wrong but it would probably take decades just to set it up perfectly like that anyway. And you’d end up settling on close to perfect rather than exactly perfect anyway, especially for your fifth and sixth classes. By the time you actually get there, it might not even be that big of a time investment, relatively speaking.” Emma said.

“That just makes it feel even worse.” Zoe pouted.

Emma laughed. “But again, you’d be getting most of your levels in higher tier classes and have an insane amount of stats by the time you get to your seventh class.”

“Not as many stats as if I got a really late sixth class and then a really late seventh class. That would only be about two hundred levels in my sixth class. If I kept going with this one I just got, I could have had over six hundred fifty levels in my sixth class.” Zoe explained.

Emma looked at her like she was an idiot. “If you kept going with this one, you wouldn’t have seen your seventh class. Ever. I doubt you would have even made it to five hundred before you found some reason to reset your classes again. How would you even get experience at that point? Just relying on Cosmic Mystic? Yeah, having a higher class cap means you can get more levels in each class, but it also means that you’re never reaching the seventh tier.

“I’ve been thinking about it myself a lot lately. Cause growing up, we’re always taught the benefits of both, and really everybody just takes whatever they can get. When we’re going to die in another sixty, maybe seventy years anyway, it’s not worth spending years of our life trying to optimize things, we should just work diligently and take what we can get.

“But we’re immortal now, Zoe. We’ve got time to spare. I mean how old are you now, anyway? Sixty something? If you were mortal, you’d be getting old and decrepit soon. Your grandkids would be taking over your business, you’d be maybe three hundred something with your sixth class and only another few dozen levels under your belt before you’re bedridden and die of old. Instead you’re here thinking about what to do for the next few decades. Maybe it’ll take a long time, but are you keeping these classes forever? The ones you’re taking now?” Emma asked.

Zoe shook her head. “Not forever, no. I want to get combined classes at some point, at least for my third class if nothing else.”

“Exactly. So these are temporary too. One day when you have the classes you’ll be using for the rest of your life, go for the highest level classes you can get. Spend centuries or longer working towards your final goal. But for right now? I dunno. Getting a seventh class seems like it would be fun. Plus, if you get a system down for getting your seventh class, that gives you another one to use for combining classes. It’s win win, I think.” Emma said.

“I guess, yeah. I was going back and forth on it myself, but you’ve convinced me. I’ll try and get the lowest levels I can, then. For the first couple, I’ll try and be perfect but after that then I dunno, maybe I’ll try to get within five percent or something.” Zoe said.

“Good. Then my turn.” Emma said. “Since you’re going to have to spend so long getting your fourth class anyway.”

“Oh right, you said you have a surprise. What’s up?" Zoe asked.

“What level am I?" Emma asked.

Zoe identified her friend. A dark blue level three hundred fifteen mage.

“Three fifteen. Why?" Zoe asked. ”Are you at your cap?“

“I figured you didn’t notice. You still don’t really identify me, do you?” Emma asked.

“Not really, no. I find it difficult to remember to identify people anyway. You’ve got your sixth class now too?” Zoe asked.

Emma laughed. “Yup. I hit my cap not too long after you did actually. The dungeons around here are great for getting some easy levels in.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Huh. And you didn’t even have to loop for it. That’s pretty nice. So, what are your options, then? What kinda thing are you looking for?" Zoe asked.

“I took a look at some of the options already. There’s three that seem interesting to me. Most of the good classes were space stuff, but honestly I already have enough space stuff so I ignored them. I think I’ll probably loop again at some point just to get some requirements for other classes but it’s really hard to decide to do that when I’ll be losing hundreds of skill levels now. Probably still worth it.

“Especially after I just went on a whole rant about how you’re immortal and should be thinking on a larger scale more regularly. I’m immortal too, and I should probably do that too. Advice is always easier to give than take though, y’know?” Emma asked.

Zoe nodded.

“Okay, but there are three classes that kinda interest me. The first one is space adjacent, but it’s a healing class. Spacial Mender, it’s called. Extra bonuses for healing people, some extra spacey stuff. It seems cool, but it’s definitely not worth having along with my other two space classes so taking it is kinda committing to looping eventually. Which I should do, but it’ll be even more of a thing if I take this one. But it seems good, since my ability to heal myself is pretty bad right now. I mostly rely on potions or hiring a healer but that cuts into the profit I’m making from the dungeons.

“Anyway, the second one is also kinda space adjacent, but a bit of an upgrade. It’s Cosmic Archmage, but it feels like I’d need to replace my Space Archmage with it if I did that and I’m not sure I want to. I like the cosmos, but it’s less good at spacey stuff specifically, which is honestly the part I enjoy more. The time stuff is much less interesting to me. But it seems good.

“And the last class that interests me, and the one that I think I’ll probably take, is for my cats. It’s called Feline Warder. Gives me a lot of bonuses for having cats, and also lets me protect them better. I’ve had a bunch of classes for the cats but none of them felt very good. This one does seem pretty good actually with relatively hefty requirements. I feel like I’ll feel bad if I don’t take it?" Emma questioned.

“Any class you take will make you better at keeping them safe, Emma.” Zoe said.

“I know. But it’s a specific class for it. I need to take it, right?" Emma asked.

“If you want to, you have to make that decision for yourself. I think you’ve kept them safe for a very long time now, and you’ll be able to do that just fine going forward regardless of what class you take.” Zoe said.

“Mmm. I know I can. It’s just this is a strong class just for keeping them safe. Any class will make me good at keeping them safe, but will any of them be as good at it? I don’t think so. And if I don’t take it, and something happens to them, will I ever be able to forgive myself for that?" Emma asked.

“Eventually, probably. It’s up to you, Emma. You can take the Feline Warder class and be a crazy cat lady. Or you can take another class, and still be a crazy cat lady. Cause you’re definitely a crazy cat lady.” Zoe said.

Emma laughed. “I know. I love them, though. You know? They’re my babies. My little boys. Just adorable little fuzzballs. I need them to be safe, Zoe.”

“Then take the Feline Warder class. You’re definitely not going to regret taking it, even if it’s not the best option.” Zoe said.

“You think?" Emma asked.

“Like I said, it’s your decision. But you can always change it if you don’t like it. I think the cats will be safe no matter what you do, though.” Zoe said.

“I think I’m gonna take it.” Emma said.

Zoe watched as Emma’s eyes shifted, looking at all the information presented in front of her by the system as she took the class. Her face lit up with a soft closed mouth smile, her tongue pressing up against the inside of her cheeks as her fists clenched and fidgeted.

“I like it.” Emma said, the tips of some sharp incisors poking out through her lips.

“Good.” Zoe said.

“Wanna know what it does?" Emma asked.

“Duh.” Zoe said.

“It’s honestly pretty basic.” Emma laughed. “The stats are good, and it gives me a lot of mana, health and stamina which is nice. But most of the bonuses are actually for the cats. I can heal them, I get some likability thing for felines. Like your charm skill I guess, but only for little kittens. I can, uh… store? them? I’m not sure how that works. But one of my skills lets me shunt them away to a separate space. It specifically says its comfortable, but I’m not sure how I feel about that. I guess if we ever get attacked by another Fire Elemental then it’s better than nothing at least.

“But the coolest thing is it kinda makes me more like a cat myself?” Emma laughed, showing off thin, sharp claws that jutted out from her fingernails. “If that makes sense? It gives me claws and fangs. These are so weird, though.”

Zoe made a show of her own claws. “You get used to them.”

“I’m faster now, apparently. But not like your Haste faster where everything else seems slower, my mind isn’t processing things faster. But apparently I should be able to move quicker and more nimbly, according to the class bonuses.” Emma said, hopping back and forth on her feet. “I do feel like I’m balancing better, maybe?"

“Go for a run?" Zoe asked.

“Sure. Yeah.” Emma said before she bolted off into the forest, jumping over roots and darting around dense bushes in a circle around where Zoe was. She seemed faster than Zoe was used to — but she wasn’t sure how much of that was Emma being faster and how much of it was Zoe feeling sluggish compared to her usual.

“I think I’m faster?” Emma said. “I definitely feel more nimble. It’s weird to get used to, but I don’t think I have to pay as much attention to where I’m putting my feet while I run. But I still do cause I’m used to doing that. But it kinda feels like if I stopped paying attention to it, I’d naturally know where to put my feet. Gonna be weird to get used to.”

“How strong are your claws?" Zoe asked.

Emma stopped next to a tree and scratched it, ripping off a small sliver of bark where her claw cut into the tree. “Strong enough to cut through tree bark, I guess.”

“You should try and break them at some point. It’ll hurt a bit though, but just so you’ll know what they can take.” Zoe said.

“I don’t know if I’ll be using them for much else than scratching trees or whatever, really. I’m not going to suddenly start scratching my way through dungeons.” Emma laughed.

“And be careful with them. Next time you pick your nose, it’s gonna hurt.” Zoe laughed.

“WAIT NO. I didn’t even think of that!” Emma laughed. “I can’t pick my nose anymore?”

“You can, carefully.” Zoe said.

“Oh gosh, these are gonna be really weird to get used to.” Emma said. “I’m just thinking about all the mundane things I do now. Petting the boys? What if I poke their eyes out?”

“Well you probably won’t, but also you can heal them now in the worst case. But you probably won’t. Cats have claws and scratch each other all the time. Just don’t be violent with them, which you shouldn’t be anyway. It’ll be fine. Can you put your claws away? Cats can put their claws away, so maybe you can?" Zoe asked.

Emma scrunched her face in different ways as she tried, but the thin claws remained poking out from her fingernails regardless of what she tried. “Don’t think so.”

“Well that’s stupid. Would’ve been way cooler if you could.” Zoe said.

“Agreed. Alright, lets head home to the boys and work on getting you your next class now.” Emma said.