Cole thought for a long time, mulling over his options. The Runic Berserker was too simple, with no real room for growth, the Vagabond was far too fragile. Songweavers were far too complex for him to wrap his head around. The Hallowed Knight was interesting, but also too much of an unknown. And as much as he’d considered it, he simply couldn’t make himself pick the Duskborn, or any Recusant class. A life that revolved around draining his fellow man was sure to be lonely, not to mention incredibly morally dubious.
So what was he going to do? The classes all had strong elements, but their own drawbacks.
If only he could combine them, paring the bad and keeping the good.
What if I can?
His mind raced with the possibilities, imagining a Vagabond with a blade that vibrated with a deadly Song. A Berserker whose power grew exponentially, runes drinking in the souls of his slain foes.
Or a Spatial Mage who would be fueled by an external source of mana, with that he could set up a whole network of permanent portals around Vestria, charging money for merchants to use them.
But that didn’t matter now anyway. He would never be able to become a Spatial Mage, never be able to use the Instant Portal Technique, even though he knew exactly where it was located.
But could he combine classes?
Cole knew there was one way to find out.
He tentatively reached out with his soul, towards the Hallowed Knight. At the same time, he split his focus, reaching out towards the Runic Berserker.
It was incredibly hard. Cole lost control multiple times, forcing him to restart. It was akin to the old game of patting your head and rubbing your belly that had fascinated children for years, with about 100x the difficulty.
Finally, he made proper contact with both class runes, and began to experiment.
He couldn’t fully connect to both, that much was clear, and wasn’t really something he’d expected anyway. It would basically be like having two classes, something that while possible in Vestria Online, was only reserved for extremely high-level players, definitely not for a Level 1 Newbie who was just starting out.
He had to cut something out, to allow for a combination. The class runes on their own were like closed circuits, self-sustaining. He focused more heavily on the Runic Berserker class, while keeping the Hallowed Knight in the back of his head.
He forced his will into the centre, imagining himself as some sort of mystical surgeon. Cole chuckled inwardly.
There was a feeling of tension, and then suddenly a RIP, as the Berserker part of the Class was torn away, vanishing into the blank void. He was left with the idea of the magical alphabet of Runes, an entire library of symbols that could create powerful magical effects.
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Cole then stupidly tried to meld that singular rune directly onto the Hallowed Knight class. He was hit with a huge wave of pain, feedback from the failed connection. He almost completely lost control, only barely managing to hang on to the class and a half he was focusing on.
Something also had to give in the Hallowed Knight rune, but he didn’t want to completely tear it in half like he had to the Runic Berserker.
What if he could perform some far more precise surgery? Instead of the vicious tear that had been his first attempt, how about something smaller, more clinical?
Cole turned his focus towards the Hallowed Knight, searching for the part he had in mind. He wanted to change the source of power from Holy magic, which would create a small opening to connect to the Runic magic rune. In theory, by substituting the power source for runes, he’d also be able to use the effects of those runes, while still maintaining the unique properties of the Hallowed Knight’s abilities.
Cole would be combining something he knew, runes, with something he didn’t, and that excited him.
He pared away the divine energy part of the rune, allowing it to fade away.
He then repeated his earlier attempt, using his strength of mind to force the two together.
They resisted at first, like two magnets with their north ends pointed together. Then they began to come together.
Cole was instantly thrust into pain, but he forced himself to hold on. Rather than two magnets pushing away, it was like he was clutching an electrified wire, unable to let go.
It’s nothing, he told himself. You used to feel this pain every day!
The pain grew, and he tried to scream.
But then it was gone.
Cole breathed a sigh, relieved for his respite, and looked up.
There, still connected to him, was a single class.
Hallowed Knight of Runes
As the connection finished, Cole felt the rune being drawn into him, becoming part of him. His previously expansive knowledge of all runes was being cut away, leaving him with only the knowledge of how to use a few basic ones. He could also see the other classes that were still floating around all fading out.
The void began to shine, and Cole was bathed once more in a bright white light, unable to see or do anything.
When it faded, he realised he was on his back once more. He felt like he was falling into a bit of a pattern.
While he could feel grass at his back, Cole knew he wasn’t in the same area as before. The chanting had been substituted for soft birdsong. When he opened his eyes, he could see the same moon that he’d seen upon his arrival in this world, except it was now low on the horizon, no longer dominating the sky.
Instead, a pale blue hung above, a bright, small sun shining warmly upon his face. It seemed some time had passed since he’d chosen, or rather stitched together his class.
Cole sat up, looking around at the peaceful wood he’d been transported to.
Speaking of my class…
He wasn’t quite sure how he could access his class info. In the game world he’d just thought about it and a huge status screen would fill his vision, listing all the skills and stats that his character had. But in the VRMMO world, he’d also had health and mana bars hanging in his peripheral vision, as well as a HUD that listed his active quests and messages.
Here he had none of those, and so he was certain that his class would work differently as well.
Thinking for a moment, Cole decided to try his usual method of picturing the status screen. The words Hallowed Knight of Runes, seemed to be superimposed onto his eyes, almost like an AR headset, layered over what he was seeing normally.
Instead of stats, Cole had an intuitive understanding of the limits of his body. He knew how long he could sprint for, how much energy he could funnel into his spells, and what those spells were. It was as if he had a photographic memory of 3 runes, that he knew he could call on at any moment.
Runic Strength
Runic Speed
Runic Blast
There was also a 4th, set apart from the others, that he could feel tied directly to his soul. It was named Rise.
The first two, Strength and Speed, were simple and small. He could channel his energy into increasing his basic physical attributes, no doubt a holdover from the Runic Berserker class that he had cannibalised.
The 3rd, the Runic Blast, was more complicated, he could only guess due to it being stronger than the two basic runes. It would allow him to create a short-ranged shotgun blast of energy, something that would be incredibly useful in combat.
The final rune was immense. Cole had no understanding of how it worked at all, only able to ascertain that one concept of Rise even after studying it for a while. The lines that made it up were golden, leading him to believe it was part of his Hallowed Knight abilities, which he endeavoured to further explore later.
Having taken stock of his abilities, Cole stood, and began moving through the forest.