Chapter 13

Jay entered the shop with Aiden, the bell above the door jingling. The shop was longer than it was wide, and shelves lined the walls, all containing new looking leather pouches and small Figurines, all different looking and holding various items. They shopped for a bit looking at various levels of expense, the figures looking more lifelike the more you paid.

Jay finally found one that had a book attached to a leather strap which itself was attached to the Figurine's belt. It held a staff in the other hand and wore simple clothing. It seemed simple but detailed which Aiden assured Jay was important. He hadn't yet picked it up. “How do you know how skilled they are?” Jay asked.

Aiden shook his head while putting a Figurine back, not happy with it for some reason. “No, no. The Figurines don't have skills themselves. They mimic whoever owns them. What's really important is how detailed they are. The more detailed the more work was put in to them and the more magic they can handle. If your Figurine is cheap it won't last very long and it won't be able to power fancy visual effects. No skills, just visual details and magic.”

“Ok..anything else I should look out for?” Jay asked, now unsure if his Figurine choice was a good one.

Aiden nodded seriously, “The most important thing to look for, compatibility. When you hold your Figurine and its a good match for you you'll get a satisfied feeling. Its tough to describe, some call it a resonance. You'll know it when you feel it.”

None of the other Figurines Jay had tried gave him any feeling. Some of the prices gave him a feeling but he thought that was probably natural.

Jay lifted his chosen Figurine and felt what he could only describe as a vaguely warm feeling. “This one gives me a sort of warm feeling but its very faint.”

Aiden nodded, looking at the price. “That is about the best you are going to get here. You're lucky, some people can have difficulties finding a good Figurine match. It happens all the time. The one you have is good. Detailed without being too fancy, it should hold a good amount of magic and last a while, plenty of time to last you your classes. Good choice.”

Aiden sighed, “I don't see anything here better than what I already have. Why don't you pay for that and we can head back.”

Jay spent about 10 silver on the Figurine which went in to a nice new looking leather storage bag just big enough to fit the Figurine. Attaching it to his belt Jay left the shop and returned to The Guild. Jay dropped off the Figurine in his room. He remembered his room was B4 without having to check his keycard, which he had already almost left in his room once.

“What now?” Aiden asked.

“I need some help. I've got a Class Choice to make and I need to look at some notifications.” Jay said, not willing to put it off any longer.

“Oh wow, is it your first one?” Aiden asked with a grin.

“Yup. No idea what I'm doing.” Jay said with a sigh.

“Its not that hard. The only way to go wrong is to pick things you won't use. They're your choice, but it helps to have a plan of some sort going in to it.” Aiden explained. “You'll get at least two options to choose from, some people get more, some never get more than two, no one knows why or how to increase your options.”

Jay nodded. “Ok. Is there some where we can go?”

Aiden thought about that before nodding. “I know exactly where we can go.” The two young men headed back to the library. Jay smiled and waved at Glenda as he went past her and wondered if she always worked the front desk.

Glenda did not wave but nodded an almost imperceptive nod in his direction.

Aiden took them down a level and in to one of the study rooms students could use. “M'redith!” he exclaimed quietly. Just because they weren't on the main library floor that didn't mean the Librarians would approve of loud talking.

Jay saw a young woman standing over one of the tables full of books comparing two of them to each other. “Oh gods what now Aiden. I'm not going in to town today, there's something I want to check out first. I'm loving the library here.”

M'redith finally looked up and appeared startled to see Jay there, then looked a bit cross at Jay for startling her. “Who are you?” she asked without preamble.

“I'm Jay,” he said while offering his hand to shake but it was already too late as she had already looked back down at her books.

Aiden watched them interact before saying almost offhandedly “Jay was looking for help with his first Class Choice, but if you're too busy I understand.”

M'redith looked up and shut the two books, leaving bookmarks at her spots of course. “I'm in. Let me get my notebook.”

M'redith went over to another table and grabbed a note book and a writing kit with some nice pens that Jay noticed and wouldn't mind getting his hands on. She settled in to a chair and pointed at two others. Jay and Aiden took a seat.

“M'redith thinks that Class Choices aren't randomized but follow a pattern that we don't see because we just don't keep well enough track. So she 'collects' information on other people's Choices. The chance to actually participate in a Choice is too good an opportunity to pass up.” Aiden said with a smirk.

Jay nodded, smiling a little as well now that he understood what was going on. “What about your research?” he asked.

“Screw it, it was for a bet anyway and I already won it so no big deal.” the young woman replied, using a finger to push an errant hair back behind her ear. She had shoulder length hair and an intense gaze that was a bit disconcerting when it was turned upon anyone having a conversation with her. It was now focused on Jay.

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“I'm sorry,” she began, “my people skills aren't great. As Aiden already said I'm M'redith and I'd love to write down your Choices if you are ok with that?” she said, making it sound like the reasonable thing to do would to be ok with that.

Jay shrugged, “Sure, I don't care. I'd just be happy to hear another person's thoughts on it.”

“What is your level and class?” she asked.

“I'm a level 1 Adventurer.” Jay said.

“Huh.” she replied, “Don't see a lot of those. You're going to have a tough time finding groups you know.”

“Yes. Someone has mentioned that already.” Jay said with a sigh. Things weren't looking great for his class but he was hoping he'd get something good for his first Choice that would make him more valuable in a group. As things stood he couldn't blame anyone not wanting him in their group.

Jay selected the notification for his Class Choice and mentally selected it.

As a level 1 Adventurer you have been awarded your first Class Choice. Please choose from the following selections:

Jay described his choices out loud. “I'm just going to give the summary for each. My first choice is common. Living Backpack – gives me a personal inventory slot that allows large stacks of one item.”

M'redith seemed disappointed but dutifully wrote it down, her lips moving as she wrote. “That isn't great but if you can find a group that can hunt one type of monster quickly and those monsters have valuable skins you could be very useful. There are culling groups out there that specialize in that very thing. Its a niche skill I'd say.”

Jay paused a moment as she finished up writing before she pointed her pen at Jay.

“My second choice has a green border. I forget what that's called.” Jay stated while shrugging lightly.

M'redith jumped right in, “Uncommon.”

Jay nodded, “Ok, uncommon, thanks. It says Malicious Intent – I am able to vaguely read an enemy's true intent.”

M'redith nodded, “That can be useful for some boss fights. You'd have to rank it up for it to be really useful though and that is very expensive. You'd need a group feeding you upgrade stones or enough money to buy them.”

Aiden yawned, “Sorry!”

“Third choice,” Jay said, clearing his throat while building up suspense, “is blue.”

M'redith took a sharp breath, “Are you sure? That usually doesn't happen. Choices usually start out low rarity and require stones to reach higher rarities! You lucked out!”

Jay nodded, “Rare. Lucky Mascot – as long as I am given a share of the loot there is a chance of a loot rarity upgrade.”

M'redith sat there tapping her pencil. “What does the whole thing say?”

Jay read it to her:

Lucky Mascot – as long as your group awards you a share of the loot they each, along with you, have a chance of a loot rarity upgrade. When triggered a brightly colored Parrot will appear on your shoulder and fly to a party member. Whoever the Parrot lands on will trigger a loot rarity increase for that person. The parrot will then announce the upgrade, flying back to you before disappearing. Chance to trigger is variable and based on loot value, encounter difficulty level, ability rarity, share percentage, along with others not mentioned here.

After a moment of quiet Jay said, “I know which one I want to pick, even though I hate birds. Now tell me that I want to pick the third choice.”

M'redith laughed. “Ok, it sounds amazing, but rare abilities often do. The key is how often its special effect occurs. This ability gives you no idea on that. Many don't though, requiring the user to figure things out as they use the ability over time, learning its quirks.”

“Another thing I noticed was that it said each member including you got a chance – that means anyone could trigger an upgrade. That could be huge if it works like that. Adventurer class abilities are known for often affecting the entire group but this is just ridiculous.” M'redith finished, writing things down furiously.

Aiden had been quiet all this time but finally spoke up. “If that ability works as well as it sounds then your group would have multiple chances at upgrades, possibly triggering each time your party stops to divide up loot. Usually you would wait until the end and do it all at once but if it works the way I'm reading it a group would be better off passing out loot after each boss fight. I think.”

M'redith didn't nod but tilted her head to the side, tapping her pen on one of her teeth. “This could be big. You're going to really upset the math groups use to pick members. You can't fight but you're like a loot pinata in the right group and this is just your first Choice.”

M'redith looked at Jay in a way she hadn't before and Jay found himself a bit uncomfortable under her intense gaze.

Turning back to his Choice, Jay smiled. He had gotten lucky and happily picked Lucky Mascot as his first Choice.

Congratulations! You have selected Lucky Mascot as your Class Choice! As the owner of a Mighty Book you have unlocked a new chapter, Class Choices. You may now reference your chosen selections there along with additional ability information you may gather over your lifetime. Your ability information has been added to the Book.

As the owner of a Toy Chest you have unlocked your first toy! Open your chest to discover something new!

Jay read those as well and M'redith now appeared fascinated with Jay. “You have some very interesting items! Any chance I can see them? I'd love to take a look at the Mighty Book and the Toy Chest!”

Jay nodded, “Books are for reading and toys for playing with. You can help me out with the Book too, I'm honestly not sure what to do with it or what its actually for. Its too big to even carry.”

M'redith nodded and made a note in her notebook on a separate page.

“We can go grab them now if you don't mind walking over to my room but its getting late – up to you two.” Jay said.

Aiden sighed, “I'm a bit tired from today. Can we meet up at breakfast and do it first thing?

M'redith nodded. “I should go to bed anyway, I've been reading too long. But be sure you do show up. Don't make me go looking for you,” she said with a smile.

Jay shook both their hands and they left the library, again passing Glenda who was too busy to nod to Jay this time apparently. Jay waved to the two of his new friends as he peeled off from them to head up to his room. He went straight to bed and made a strong mental note to get a bath before breakfast. M'redith hadn't said anything but she may have just been being polite. Right after that he fell asleep, already looking forward to tomorrow. One more day then classes start.