Finally! It was only hours away now, and Typhus could barely hold himself back from running circles, he was so excited.

Everyone gained access to a basic version of the System when they turned 10. They could see their Attributes and they could gain a few General Skills, but they couldn’t allot attribute points or even earn them, and they were limited on how many Skills they could have. Not to mention, they had no access to Class selection or Class Skills until their System fully unlocked. That happened when someone turned 20.

A full ten years of sitting there with the System just teasing you with promises of “one day” and what you could become. The only upside to this was that you had plenty of time to sway out General Skills and level the ones you liked. How many you got depended on a lot of things, but Typhus thought it was mostly a combination of hard work, and luck.

Most people seemed to finish their “probationary” time with three or four General Skills. The ones who spent all their time working on a set of Skills they had picked out from the start, with the resources to pursue the knowledge and ability to level their Skills, might end up with as many as six, but those were the wealthy and talented few.

It was rumored that if you sat around doing nothing for the whole ten years, you could unlock a class with only one General Skill available, but he had never heard of anyone so lazy and uninterested in the idea of gaining something from the System that they truly did nothing worthy of a Skill.

Typhus had finally reached the end of his timer. It had been counting down since the day he was first able to access even this watered down version of the System, starting all the way at 10 years. Now, it only had 4 hours, 27 minutes remaining.

There was a celebration being set up by his family. They would gather around and share finger foods brought by all the invited guests. He was not to arrive at the party until he had selected his class – a tradition designed to allow the youth to transition into adulthood with a calm mind and protect their desires from potentially being swayed by others.

Long ago, it was apparently common for those about to unlock their class to be pressured on their Day of Choosing to follow a certain path. Originally the tradition had one be separated from society at large for the majority of their waiting time, but as it became more and more taboo to influence youths in such a way, that became less necessary.

In an attempt to calm himself down and prepare to make his choice, Typhus decided to look over his System Status, again.

Name

Typhus Haltingwood

Health

120 / 120

Stamina

80/80

Class

Unclassed lv 0

Time to Class Selection

000:04:27

Attributes

Strength 7

Intelligence 10

Willpower 7

Charisma 9

General Skills

Big Bag lv 23

Identify lv 21

Lucky Choice lv 15

Appraise lv 14

Negotiate lv 11

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Like Skills, once you chose your class and fully unlocked access to the System, you would see more attributes on your Status screen. Typhus considered himself extremely lucky to have earned 5 Skills before selection, and got them all above level 10. He even had two over level 20!

He was hoping for a nice, easy Merchant class or a variation of one. His family never had a ton of money – they weren’t poor mind you, just not very well off either – and so he decided he wanted a class that would let him earn a decent amount to keep his head afloat and help them out if it was ever needed.

Sure, adventurers made more money, but he didn’t want to be constantly finding himself in a fight for his life. And while a production class was also another option, he didn’t have the resources to earn or level many Skills in a production area, and they also tended to have a sort of fanaticism about them that Typhus seemed to lack. So he settled on a Merchant class as they were relatively safe jobs that only required a solid mind and a good Charisma Attribute – something he’d worked on since he made his decision.

His General Skills were also selected to help with mercantile pursuits. Big Bag allowed him to select a bag, temporarily binding it to himself, and store more within it than should fit. It wasn’t a huge increase in space, but as it had leveled, the amount of extra space grew.

Storage skills would be essential as a burgeoning merchant, and starting with one would be a great boon. It was also one of the first General Skills he’d ever picked up, and the one he’d had the longest, from trying to stuff too many toys into his backpack. As a result, he was able to get it to quite a high level.

Identify and Appraise sort of went hand-in-hand. One was used to see what the System thought about an item, and could tell him a bit about how it was made or what it was used for. The latter would give him a rough idea of the value of an item or service.

It wouldn’t tell him exactly what it would cost in iron and copper bits, but it would tell him if the price the seller was asking for was too high or low. Together, these worked to give him the edge he needed to get another of his General Skills, and his most recent addition: Negotiate.

Negotiate was a simple skill; it gave him a bit of an edge when haggling. The skill allowed him to leverage his Charisma and Willpower when negotiating with someone. His hope was that the three Skills would merge when he unlocked his class, something similar Skills were known to do and which always leads to a vastly more useful and powerful combination. The merging of Skills also naturally freed up more Skill Slots to be used on other Skills to round out a class.

His last Skill, Lucky Choice, was a bit of an odd one. Once he decided on a Merchant Class, Typhus knew luck would be a part of getting valuable items and being able to get good prices for things, buying or selling. So he had spent some time in the gambling alleys, playing simple table games betting small amounts just to play once or twice a day. He would also flip a coin, guessing which side would end up, or play other games of luck with friends.

Eventually, he gained the Skill, which gives him a slight push in the right direction. When he would play “follow-the-lady,” it would help him remember the paths the cups took and nudge him towards the one with the prize. It was a weird thing, gaining intuition from a Skill, but he was grateful for it none the less.

Checking the timer counting down to his selection, he was glad to see a full review of his Status had taken a little less than an hour, leaving 3 hours and 39 minutes to go.

He was getting anxious and impatient, his leg shaking up and down to tap his heel against the floor as he sat there in anticipation. He decided that he needed another distraction, and what better distraction than food? There was a small feast set up just for him after all.

Along the side of the room ran a table, with samples from each dish brought by guests laid out across it. They didn’t want him to miss out on the food made in his honor just because tradition said he was to be sequestered away for the day.

Grabbing his plate, he made his way back and forth past the offerings, taking his time to select the ones that called out to his cravings the most. He ended up with a plate of Deviled Chabbock Eggs, some thinly sliced strips of Daikwon Jerky, and some candied fruit he couldn’t identify under the caramel coating.

His mouth drooling the entire time, Typhus managed to distract himself through another good chunk of his waiting time, leaving his countdown at only 1 hour, 46 minutes. He decided to run through his plans for the coming future.

He already got himself a job lined up with one of the local branches of the Traders’ Guild. He would be starting out running routes in the city, going from the sorting house out to the shops to distribute products around the city. An easy job, but it was something to get started with, and it would put his name in the minds of some of the local merchants and store owners.

If he did well and worked hard, he could get promoted through the Guild, or hired on by a private merchant. Whichever he ended up with would have a heavy influence on his class advancements going forward. Ideally, he would only have to run routes for a couple months at most.

Whatever happened, he knew he wanted to eventually run his own storefront, that way he could sit back and let the money make itself. All he would have to do then is manage personnel, and monitor income and expense reports.

He wasn’t sure yet if he would rather have his own brand, or just manage a location for a bigger Company. If he had his own brand, he could decide prices, salaries, and what they sell, and all of the profit would be his. It also meant he’d have to compete directly with the big Companies, and would take all the damage upon himself if something were to happen.

If he worked for a Company, he would have to follow their rules, and would only ever get paid what they offered him, but he wouldn’t have to make any of the big decisions either. As an employee at a Company, he would also be able to change positions or work at a different Company down the line if his path needed to be adjusted.

Unfortunately, decisions like these couldn’t be made until his talents were turned into Skills, and his Class had gained some levels. For now, he knew he would be working with the Trader’s Guild, and that he would hopefully be making good impressions and solid connections for when he eventually classed up.

Typhus was getting impatient. There was only 22 minutes left now. He could feel that weird mix of anxious and excited coming on, nervous about what was about to happen but unwilling and unable to stop it. Would he get an option that would suit his wants and desires?

He was always told everyone got offered something that was in the realm of what they wanted. And as long as it was close enough, you can make your Class into anything over time. He had Skills geared towards picking out items, learning about them, assessing their value, and leveraging that knowledge for a better deal. He also had a high leveled Skill for carrying more objects in a smaller container.

If that didn’t assure him a Class that would lead him straight down the mercantile path, he didn’t know what it would take.

The clock was ticking down now, so Typhus decided he would just close his eyes, and try to stay calm until it happened. He focused on his breathing, in and out, in a cycle he’d practiced for years before going to bed. He’d always had trouble getting to sleep as his mind would wander and he would excite himself, until he started this breathing exercise.

He found the almost circular pattern of breathing was enough to keep his mind focused, and that the rhythmic breathing put his body to rest while his mind was distracted. It was something of a meditation, though he’d never been offered a Skill for it.

Lost and drifting off in his trance, he hardly noticed when the Class Selection actually started.