When Johann stepped through the door in the Well of Potential he felt as if he was stepping into the wider cosmos. Not in a metaphorical sense, it literally looked as if he had stepped into outer space. All around him where countless stars, galaxies and the occasional quasar.
The effect was quite disorientating as the one thing he couldn’t see was the floor. It was definitely there, the feeling of falling face first on to it was thoroughly real, it was simply invisible, even at the end of his nose.
Get Up, Johann Alltud.
Johann quickly shot to his feet and stood in front of the Keeper nervously, though his eyes continued to glance at the heavenly surroundings.
Within This Space Time You Will Unlock Full Access To The System And Choose Your First Class. Feel Free To Take As Much Time As You Wish. When You Wish To Choose Your Class Say Or Think ‘Class Selection’. If You Wish To Review Your Status Say Or Think ‘Status’.
Johann took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Now that the moment was upon him his nerves were starting to get the better of him, his whole body tingling in anticipation. A few deep breaths were sufficient to calm him but to his surprise the tingling remained. He was about to ask the Keeper if it was normal when a notification, his first notification, popped up in his view.
Potentiality Trait Initialising...
Life Experience Analyzing ... Analyzed
Talent Analyzing ... Analyzed
Final Wish Included
Potentiality Trait has evolved into the Calling of the Arch Druid Trait
"What in the name of all that is chocolaty in this and all other universes past, present and future!?!?" Johann shouted, once he had fully read through the Notification and had determined the level to which he should be surprised.
Do You Have A Question?
"Not quite, I have several. What's a Potentiality Trait? How is it possible to evolve a Trait? What on Terra is the Calling of the Arch Druid Trait? And who's Final Wish was it? Cause it definitely wasn't mine, I still have lots of wishes left. For Harn's sake, I'm still a virgin. And If that was my final wish, could I change it?"
The Keeper waited patiently for the young man to finish. From the elevated heartbeat and the cadence and pitch of Johann Alltuds voice it was clear that he was suffering a mild panic attack. The Keeper had no knowledge of how to deal with this so it simply waited until the Half Elf was finished before answering the child's questions.
The Potentiality Trait Is A Unique Trait That Draws Upon A Variety Of Factors And Evolves Into A Trait Best Suited For The Individual Based On Those Factors. It Is Possible To Evolve Any Trait, Though Only Through Very Specific Methods That Differ With Each Trait. If You Wish To Learn More About Your Trait Simply Press On It In Your Status.
The Keeper paused for a beat.
As For The Owner Of The Final Wish, I Am Unable To Tell You This, Though I Am Able To Tell You What It Is; To Be The Best That You Can Be, No Matter What You Choose To Be
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“Your second reward, is the choice of an inborn Trait in your next life.” Atria said. With a wave of a paw a list appeared in front of John. “Though the options aren’t quite as extensive as your incarnation there are over ten thousand possible traits to choose from. I suggest you take your time and think it through properly before choosing as it may have far reaching effects for your next life.”
John paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. He looked through some of the options, which were many and somewhat varied. Almost immediately he found one he liked, Phoenix Kin, which altered his flames into Phoenix flames and gave the ability to be reborn in fire once a month.
The Trait was too amazing to pass up, until he saw the next one, Heir of Zeus, giving him access to all lightning based spells and skills and access to the divine dimension Olympus.
It took twelve amazing Traits for John to realize that all of them were amazing, though each in different ways. With this many incredible options indecision began to creep up so he decided to take Atria’s advice and think.
Since each option was amazing weighing up the pros/cons for each felt Sisyphian in difficulty. Instead, the better option would be to decide what he wanted his next life to be like, and then choose something suitable. The problem then became, what did he want for himself. Or rather, the him that he would become.
More to the point, did he even want to choose? His whole life he felt like he had no choice. He became a shield warrior to protect others and, even though he’d do it again in a heartbeat, he had never felt like he had the freedom to choose another path. If he were to choose a Trait it would be the same as pushing the new him down a path.
“Hey Atria, is there some sort of Trait that won’t force me down a specific path but will instead help me be the best that I can be, no matter what I choose to be?”
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Johanns mind was whirling. If he could see the ground he likely would've sat down. The implications of everything was simply too broad for his mind to handle. The presence of the Final wish worried him endlessly. He had no idea what it could mean but the sheer fact that it was included in the Potentiality Traits evolution meant ... Actually he still had no idea, but it was probably something big. As in big enough to threaten the lives of everyone he cared about. Back in System Studies Mr. Demerki had dozens of examples of various nobles, murderers, madmen and one baker who had performed highly dangerous and ridiculously illegal rituals to steal some poor sap’s trait. At one point it had gotten so bad that it became the height of rudeness to ask any specifics about someones traits.
Speaking of Traits, Johann decided to look at his and see just how much danger he was in.
Status
Name: Johann Alltud
Age: 18
Race: Mixed (Elf/Elemental)
Class: None (Class Selection Available)
Title: None
Health: 70
Mana: 230
Stamina: 60
Attributes
Strength: 4
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Agility: 8
Vitality: 7
Dexterity: 11
Perception: 12
Control: 16
Power: 23
Skills
General:
-Empty
-Empty
-Empty
Class:
-Empty
-Empty
-Empty
Traits
Elemental Mana Pool
Calling of the Arch Druid
Johann was thrilled to see the full status for the very first time. For years the only information available to him had been the first three lines which were as useful as an umbrella in a volcano. Looking through his attributes he was at first annoyed by the low strength and very quickly shocked at his magical stats. A 16 in Control was high but not exactly uncommon, but a 23 in Power was definitely unheard of. On average most attributes started at or around 10. It made a 4 in strength almost pitiful but a 23 in Power more than double the average.
With a Mana pool of 230 that meant he could cast the [Basic Mana Bolt] 23 times before he had to stop. This meant his training speed for Mana requiring skills would be double the average for a level one. It also meant he wouldn’t need to drop an AP in Power for at least the first ten levels.
As nice as Johanns Attributes were, the magical ones at least, they weren’t the main course. His eyes moved over to the Traits section and read over the descriptions for the two Traits.
Elemental Mana Pool: A Boon given to those born of the elements, or their descendants.
-Maximum Mana is increased 100%
-Gain access to basic Elemental spells
Simple enough, and exactly what Johann had expected. Traits often came with physical characteristics and pale blue hair was a sign of the Elemental Mana Pool Trait.
Bracing himself, Johann looked at the Calling of the Arch Druid Trait.
Calling of the Arch Druid: To be an Arch Druid requires more than just effort or talent, it requires a calling to be the best of the best, to reach heights that no others could even glimpse.
-Gain access to the Druidic Class line
-Increase all Druidic spells/skills effectiveness by 100%
-Increase Druidic spell/skill experience gain by 50%
-Gain access to the Arch Druid Quest line
-Gain access to the Grove of the Arch Druid
“Yup, as I expected, I’m a dead man.” The implications of all of it was too big for his poor mind to comprehend all at once, so he decided to go through it one by one.
The Druidic class access wasn’t immediately all that interesting or uncommon as plenty of traits gave access to classes. In fact, Johann had to read the line twice before he finally realized what was special about it, at which point he almost soiled his pants.
Rather than give access to a singular class, it gave access to the entire class line. Every class as well as its subsequent evolutions have strict requirements that become harsher and harsher to meet the further along it was.
The most famous example of this was the Heavenly Saint class, the sixth evolution of the basic healer class. Beyond the scarily high attribute requirements the class had near impossible requirements like never having harmed a living soul and being blessed by a Seraph. No one had even been sure that Seraphim existed until Juliana Falconieri mastered the fifth evolution class, Saintly Healer.
The latest rumors were that Juliana was still working to try and arrange a meeting with a Seraph, nearly eight hundred years after learning of the requirements. As such, having the entirety of the class line already unlocked was beyond insane. Granted, Johann would still have to master each step of the line, but the lack of future bottlenecks would be enormously helpful.
It would also be a dinner bell for anyone even half-way greedy or power-hungry, if this ever got out.
The next two lines would just be a delicious dessert. An effectiveness increase of a hundred percent was plenty powerful but the 50% increased experience was equivalent to having an S ranked talent. Best of all, or worst of all depending on your perspective, it was an additional 50%, over and above his talent rating meaning that even if he had zero talent he’d still match an S rank.
The first three lines a big ol’ bag of worry inducing awesomeness, but at least they were manageable. Class access would only be noticeable after he was already powerful enough not to be worried. Spell/skill effectiveness could be hidden by only using them at half power. The fast skill experience could be hidden by simply slacking off. Each of these amazing things could easily be kept a secret with some preparation and a cool head, so Johann wasn’t worried about them.
What did worry him, was the last two lines, if only because they were almost complete unknowns. It was not that Johann hadn’t heard of quests, of course he had, but he’d never heard of the Arch Druid quest line. He had no idea what it would involve, and that worried him.
As for the Grove of the Arch Druid, he had literally no idea what on Terra that could be. He assumed it was a location of some sort but he wasn’t sure and even if it was, that barely limited the possibilities. He’d once seen a shop called Wall Mart that didn’t sell a single wall, so Grove of the Arch Druid could be anything from a dungeon to a pair of underwear.
Still, as long as neither the quest nor the grove came with a big sign saying ‘Come get me’ he should be fine. That being said, he did take a few minutes to properly calm down and think things through.
Overall his situation … was actually pretty good. Yes, if even a single piece of information about his trait was revealed he’d be hunted for the rest of his very short life, but as long as he kept a tight lid on it he’d almost definitely end up OP as all Hel.
Once his worry had successfully transformed back into excitement, he pulled up his class selection. On it there were the standard seven, class options that everyone received at the start.
Classes Available for selection:
-Warrior: Whether they wield a blade, as shield or even their bare fists, Warriors are the masters of getting up close and putting the hurt on their enemies.
-Rogue: Silent but deadly but still smelling good, Rogues are the masters of striking from the shadows and getting into places they probably shouldn’t.
-Mage: Wielding the mystical arts and wearing fluttering robes, Mages may be soft like a pillow but they can strike with the force of a hurricane.
-Crafter: Whether your in need of a freshly made sword or you want pants without a hole in it, Crafters are your new best friend.
-Clerk: Do not look down on the humble Clerk for they are the wielders of the most fearsome weapon in existence, the dreaded Bureaucracy.
-Student: Relax, we’re not sending you back to school. Students are those who study the universe and everything in it. What they do with the information is up to them but it would be wise to remember; knowledge is power.
-Healer: Whether in times of peace or in times of war, the most treasured are those who heal, for they can give you the most precious commodity of all, life.
However, right at the end of the list was one last option.
-Druid: If you see a crazy person hugging a tree you may have just spotted a Druid. Be careful not to look down on the tree-huggers though, as they wield the impossibly powerful forces of nature.
Johann didn’t hesitate to select the Druid Class. Whatever dangers it may include there were also opportunities. Besides, he had originally been planning to take a druid or druid-like class anyways, though he thought he’d have to go through mage first like most people.
Druid Class Accepted
Power +5
Control +5
Dexterity +2
Perception +2
Vitality +2
Core Skill Plant Attunement gained
Core Skill Animal Attunement gained
Core Skill Weather Attunement gained
Class Skills +3
Johann groaned and smacked his palm to his forehead. In his rush to get the druid class early he’d forgotten about the Core skills. When gaining a Druid class for the first time every person got the three attunement skills, immediately locking up all the class skill slots.
This meant that in order to unlock skills that might actually be useful in a fight you first had to internalise one of the attunement skills, which could take months. For most, this wasn’t an issue as they would have already mastered the mage class and gotten some actual attacking spells.
Congratulations On Attaining A Class. You Will Now Be transported Outside.