“Rowan?” Olivia asked, her voice breaking Rowan out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, sorry.” Rowan spun around and offered her a guilty-looking smile. “I hit rare but there’s a problem.”

“Problem?”

“The options are a bit, um… grim?” Rowan said and decided to explain things by sharing the system tab that listed all of his class upgrade options.

It took several very long seconds for the rest of his party to read through Rowan’s options. And then they all broke into laughter in unison.

“It’s not funny. Why are you all laughing? Keep it down,” Rowan hissed, looking around again to see the soldiers sending funny looks their way.

“Are you worried that your class choices sound evil?” Olivia tittered, only worsening the hero’s embarrassment. “Oh, Rowan. It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like? I mean, look at those options and tell me they’re normal.”

“Oh, they’re not normal. At all. They’re one hundred percent Rowan flavored,” Marcus laughed, shaking his head at the window Rowan had shared with him.

At this point, even the densest person in the world could see that Rowan’s worries were unfounded. Rowan himself relaxed too. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Oh come on now. You choose to constantly throw yourself into danger, you go for the most dangerous and risky builds, and you enjoy using two cards that are practically cursed. Now you’re wondering how you ended up with these choices? They’re almost as bad as mine.” Milena joked.

“I’m not that bad.”

“Yes, you are. Ask anyone,” Olivia said as she ticked through the options again. “Class upgrades come from notable achievement or performing the right set of actions for the system to label you as compatible with a class.”

“You’re saying that I’m a dark, cursed hero type?” Rowan asked, his shoulders slumping a little.

“Have you looked through the descriptions for these classes? A lot of classes have weird names and they’re perfectly fine. These? They’re on a different level,” Olivia said.

Before Rowan could go back to his system screen, Milena agreed with Olivia with a mumble. “My choices when I hit rare were pretty suspicious looking too. [Dread Shaman], [Marrow Lord], and [The Repository of Curses].

“Wait, timeout,” Rowan said. His head felt like it was about to explode with all of the information being thrown at him. “You’re saying that class names don’t mean that much? So if I picked [Acolyte of Blood], I’m not going to get hunted down by an inquisition or something?”

“Of course not,” Olivia exclaimed. “Why would you think that? If anyone was going to get hunted down, it’d be the [Blood Reaver] if mother hasn’t already gotten to him.”

“Okay, okay.” Rowan took a deep breath. “Sorry, I got ahead of myself there for a bit.”

“I don’t think anyone ever told you. No one knows how classes are named besides the system,” Olivia explained. “There are some pretty self-explanatory ones, which are just a basic profession names. But then you have the infamous examples, like [Herald of The Pink Dawn] which has absolutely no logic to it.”

“Huh, what does that class do?”

Olivia blinked. “Oh. Um. Well. Milena?” Her cheeks turned a rosy red.

“You brought that one up Olivia, you get to explain it,” Milena cackled, taking inordinate joy in seeing her friend flustered.

“It’s a specialized class,” Marcus said. “Rather popular in the less reputable parts of town.”

“Less reputable?”

“A bagnio.” When Rowan still showed no signs of recognition. “The cathouse.”

“Ah.” Rowan wasn’t too sure how to respond to that. He escaped into his system menu for individual class upgrade options.

[Spearmaster]

You have proven your mastery of the spear, allowing you to further advance the spear path.

By picking the [Spearmaster] class, you will get a large boost to the strength of all cards and attacks related to the spear. You will also master and improve in all spear-based combat skills much faster.

Additional beneficial effects:

* A large boost to the effectiveness of your dexterity and strength stats

* A medium boost to combat maneuvers and synergy with other spear wielders

Class penalties:

* N/A

Attached card: Spear Mastery (Rare, Passive)

It was the most basic of the basic upgrade options and Rowan dismissed it.

“Look sharp!”

Rowan closed his window and ducked as a soldier sailed over his head. Marcus’ aura billowed out and enveloped around the soldier, saving him from a painful reckoning with the ground.

In front of the army, far too close for comfort, was a ridiculously muscular gorilla. As Rowan watched, the colors of the jungle shifted and dozens more beasts appeared, all apparently in possession of some kind of camouflage-based card.

“Defensive formation!” Rowan called out. “Spearmen on the flanks and in the back.”

If there was a benefit to the constant fighting, it was that he was learning how to command an army. At the start of every engagement, the soldiers instinctively looked to him. Every word that he said mattered. After that, the officers could take over and give more granular instructions.

“Olivia?” Rowan asked.

“Uncommons. A couple rares, nothing we can’t handle. Stay there and wrap up your class advancement, we’ve got this,” Olivia said, her self-assured tone brought a grin to Rowan’s face. “It’s time we got some experience for ourselves.”

“Fine,” Rowan said, quickly scanning and dismissing the some of the options so he could join them sooner.

[Lightning Lancer], [Curse Adept], and [Syphon Adept] were allquickly thrown out of the equation. If his experience with the lightning card he owned were anything to go by, he wouldn’t appreciate having a class that focused on lightning. And the latter two choices seemed to be more suited for solo fighters.

There was a roar in the background and Rowan risked a glance.

Marcus was tanking hits from two larger than normal monsters, while the soldiers were holding back the regular variants. Milena was building up her wall of miasma again, and Olivia was recklessly chucking potions left and right, as usual.

The army was working.

Rowan almost dismissed [Acolyte of Blood] as well, but a secret part of him liked the sound of the class name. Besides, while he was often thwarted by various odd physiques, his bleed effects came in handy more often than not.

[Acolyte of Blood]

You have made your enemies pay the price of offending you in blood, and wrestled control over this primal element of mana for yourself.

By picking [Acolyte of Blood], you gain the ability to cast a variety of blood-based spells and enchantments that will enfeeble your foes, bolster your allies, and make your weapons far more deathly. You will also gain an innate understanding of mana manipulation and the use of Blood Arts in battle.

Additional beneficial effects:

* A massive boost to the effectiveness of your intelligence and dexterity stats

* A massive boost to the growth of your mana pool

* Debuffs, poisons, and other debilitating effects will be less effective against you

* You become capable of sensing and tracking every entity with blood flowing through their veins within a certain limit

Class penalties:

* Part of your spell casting costs will be paid in blood

* Buffs, healing, and boosting effects will grow much less effective when used on you

Attached card: Blood Rite (Rare, Active)

Rowan closed out of the class description.

If I was a spell caster, this would have been amazing. But it doesn’t even mention using a spear.

So [Acolyte of Blood] was out. Rowan checked on his friends. They were doing okay, and one of the larger monsters had fallen. The soldiers still left something to be desired but no one had died or gotten seriously hurt. Their teamwork was strong enough that they could pull the wounded back but not enough such that they could reliably bring down their opponents.

They need more training on how to attack. Not marches through the wastes and fighting whatever comes up. Individual, specialized training.

Rowan dipped his head down to read the last two class descriptions.

[Berserk Spearmaster]

You will not fall before your foes.

By picking the [Berserk Spearmaster] class, you gain the ability to imbue your body and weapon with the unbridled power of rage. You can maintain your boosted state and delay the effect of exhaustion and injuries as long as you have a target in sight. If you fail to designate a new target within sixty seconds, your boosted state will wear off and all the delayed effects will be applied to you simultaneously. The berserk state cannot protect you from the loss of limbs.

Additional beneficial effects:

* A massive boost to the effectiveness of your strength and dexterity stats

* A grand boost to the power of your combat cards

* All fear and debilitating effects are rendered useless against you

Class penalties:

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

* Your reasoning capacity will be reduced for the duration of your berserk state

Attached card: Rage (Rare, Active)

[Sacrificial Spear]

You are willing to sacrifice your very self for the destruction of your foes.

By picking the [Sacrificial Spear] class, you gain the ability to trade mana and vitality for massive boosts to your damage that will grow in proportion to your offered sacrifice.

Warning: Be wary, lest you burn yourself out.

Additional beneficial effects:

* A massive boost to the effectiveness of your strength and dexterity stats

* A massive boost to the effectiveness of your damaging or debilitating effects

* You grow much more capable of ignoring injuries and negative effects during battle

* You gain an extremely accurate innate understanding of your current condition and an instinct for the impact of using various cards

Class penalties:

* External attempts to help you heal or recover from the damage caused by your sacrifices will be ineffective

Attached card: Blood For Blood (Rare, Active)

Rowan grimaced. Both classes were great options. The hard part about decisions isn’t when you have a bunch of bad ones, it’s when you have two good ones.

For most people, the berserker option was lethal. Accumulated damage applying at once was more or less a death sentence. The harder they fought, the more likely they’d die. Rowan actually had a chance to survive the damage, especially in combination with his two recovery cards.

On the other hand, the sacrificial option was equally attractive. It was a bit of an assumption but the wording on the class penalty meant that his recovery combination didn’t count as an ‘external healing attempt.’

It came down to the question of preference. Did he want to keep fighting for a long time or dish out a massive amount of damage at once?

A roar ripped through the air and Rowan found the army now fighting against a monster that was twice the size of the other gorillas. It almost made the others look cute.

“Need help?” Rowan asked as he jogged a few steps forward.

“You read all of your class options?” Olivia asked back.

“Not yet.”

“Then no. We’ll handle this.”

The new gorilla stomped on the ground, and a miniature earthquake rippled through the army. It scanned its opponents before settling on and charging at Marcus.

The shield bearer managed to angle his shield at an angle that dissipated most of the power from the charge. But the blow still rocked him back. In the change of momentum, Milena stepped in with a thick fog of miasma while the spear division flanked the monster.

They had things under control.

[Dark Spear]

You have slain corrupted foes and your spear has been quenched in their blood.

By picking the [Dark Spear] class, you gain the ability to turn the power of corruption against your foes. With every corrupted monster and demon slain, your strength grows.

Additional beneficial effects:

* A massive boost to the effectiveness of your strength and dexterity stats

* A massive boost to your affinity with corruption, rot, and disease mana

* You gain the ability to bind a spear to you so you may grow alongside it

Class penalties:

* Your mind grows more fragile and prone to instability

* Your chances of succumbing to corruption increase

Attached card: Corruption Wielder (Rare, Passive)

Truth be told, Rowan almost chose [Dark Spear] after he read the beneficial effects. It was like the class had been designed for him. The stats were in the right place, and the specialization was perfect. After all, he was about to fight the demon king. Plenty of corrupted and demon opponents in the future.

But the class penalties were almost too high for him to accept. It wasn’t just the fear of his mind growing more fragile. It was the cascading effects that would have with Keen Spear and other cards. Olivia had mentioned that rare and higher cards had their own spirit. [Dark Spear] meant that he’d be more susceptible to their effects in the future.

“Don’t panic! Stay collected!”

Rowan closed his system window to find a completely different world. The giant gorilla had somehow beaten attempts at containing it and was now rampaging through the army. No one seemed to be in too serious of trouble, but Marcus was looking paler by the second.

And then his aura broke. For the first time, Olivia looked scared. She paused her potion throwing as the gorilla smacked away the officers trying to maintain order. And then the monster focused on one specific officer. It ignored everyone else as it closed its paw on the spear division officer.

In that instant, Rowan knew what class to choose. It was an odd feeling. A moment ago, he had been unsure of his choices. And now, when his hand tightened on his spear and his intent sharpened, he knew that he made the right choice.

The new class slipped into place around what Rowan imagined was his soul, and power surged through his body. When he dug his heels into the ground and rocketed forward, the exhilaration he felt was just barely tampered by the seriousness of the moment.

The anger at the beast for hurting someone was there. But it was a quiet, mastered thing. The emotion that Rowan really felt was one of desire.

His spear lit up with the crimson glow that had been his trademark since reaching the uncommon tier. But the red color began to intensify and darken until it was pulsing a red-purple. Rowan felt energy leave his body, his attack sapping away at some vital part he didn’t even realize existed. He didn’t care. New strength surged into his limbs, assuring him of his eventual recovery.

When Rowan landed in front of the monster, poised for a strike, the Stalwart Hero’s frame was almost gaunt.

The lack of muscles did nothing to mitigate the power of his strike when the spear dug into the monster’s flank.

Power exploded out of the spearhead, surging into and tearing through the demonic gorilla’s belly. The creature had barely enough time to attempt a pain-filled roar before the sound was aborted.

There was head-sized hole, starting at the front of the gorilla’s stomach and exiting out its back. A shower of blood sprayed over Rowan but that was the gorilla’s last hurrah.

The monster released its grip on the spear officer and looked down in shock. It swayed, stumbled, and collapsed in concert with an experience ping from Rowan’s system.

Through a haze of shock, Rowan noted that the monster just gave him almost as much experience as the demon mount. That meant it was a high leveled rare. And he had just slain it with a single hit.

Then reality reasserted itself, and each and every one of the smaller gorillas surged at Rowan to avenge their leader.

Unfortunately for the monsters, they had the entire Rest’s Remorse army in their way. It was a slaughter and Rowan joined in as soon as Lavish Feasting rebuilt enough of his muscles.

Rowan began to understand what it meant to have a rare class. He danced around blows that would have required serious dodging before and dealt near-lethal blows almost casually.

Hell, Rowan realized that he was having a ton of fun.

The way he could feel his body more intensely than ever before blew him away. He could feel every single source of his power, his mana, his blood, and even the vague, ephemeral concept of ‘vitality’ that his class had described.

By the time the final gorilla monsters fell, he was back in top condition, a grin almost etched on his face.

“What was that?” Marcus was the first to reach Rowan, and the awed quality to his voice made Rowan’s grin grow if that was possible.

Seeing the rest of his party gathering around him, Rowan simply shared the description of his newest card in lieu of an answer.

[Class] Blood For Blood (Rare, Active)

Offer up your mana, blood, flesh, and vitality to fuel a strike that will fell your foe. The power of this card grows exponentially with the size of the offered sacrifice.

“All of those options, seven or eight of classes available to you, and you pick the one that gave you a card that has an actual, solid chance of killing you if you overuse it?” Olivia asked, exasperation obvious in her voice.

Rowan resolved, then and there, to never share his class description with Olivia. It was the only class he’d ever seen with an honest-to-god red text warning attached to it. Some things were better held close to chest, especially when they could result in a lengthy lecture from his favorite alchemist.

“I guess so?” Rowan said.

“Only you, Rowan, only you.”

Rowan smiled. [Sacrificial Spear] came with its problems, there was no denying that. It cut into his survivability but he also just felled a rare tier enemy, in a single blow. If they ever encountered another demon mount, or even an epic demon, he wasn’t going to be useless anymore. Even if all he managed to do was deal one single good blow, he could make them bleed.

And that, more than anything, was what had guided Rowan’s next choice.

“Officer? I never got your name,” Rowan said as he joined the spear division officer.

“Bryson. My name is Bryson,” the officer replied. “And thank you, Hero Rowan. I wanted to gather my men first but I owe my life to you.”

“It’s my job,” Rowan joked. When the officer didn’t understand, Rowan cleared his throat. “But I need your help. I just made a mistake.”

“A mistake?” Bryson asked.

“I killed the monster.”

“And that’s a problem?” Bryson said slowly like he didn’t want to offend Rowan by not understanding things.

“It is,” Rowan said. He turned to the soldiers and saw starry-eyed faces. Not a single one of them saw fit to feel bitter over the fact that he’d dragged them all out of the town, constantly killed off all the rare ranked monsters and the majority of the uncommon ones to level up before them. “Can you ask everyone to come closer?”

“Men, form up,” Bryson yelled. His voice cut through the air like his spear had cut through the monsters, and the troops tensed before springing to comply.

“How many of you are at the max uncommon level? Raise your hand if you are,” Rowan called out.

Hesitantly, at first, then with much more gusto, hands rose into the air. A full tenth of the soldiers had their hands up.

Ever since arriving at the frontier, Rowan had a nagging question at the back of his mind. He could understand how the rest of the kingdom was stuck at the common levels. It was hard to find opponents to fight. But that logic didn’t apply to the soldiers stationed on the frontier.

“How many of you have fought and killed something higher rank than yourself? I mean something at the rare tier,” Rowan asked.

The hands went down. No one had, which made sense since they were all at the uncommon rank.

“How many of you could have killed something at the rare rank?”

This time, a few hands came up. Rowan noted the people they came from and realized that he knew a couple of them. One was an extremely quick swordsman who rescued his comrades when they slipped into an unfavorable condition in battle.

Another of the soldiers, a woman with a pair of axes, tackled each battle with ferocity that outshone even Rowan’s own, and actually avoided sustaining a single wound the entire day.

“Why didn’t you kill the rare ranked opponent?”

No one responded.

Bryson was the one who answered Rowan. “Army policy states that higher rank kills are reserved for the highest-ranking officer.”

“Do you agree with that policy?” Rowan asked.

“Different policies make sense in different eras. We’re entering a new one,” Bryson said.

It was a diplomatic answer and Rowan’s estimation of the officer rose.

“Okay. Hands down everyone.” Rowan turned to look at Olivia. “How much more time do you think we can spend out here today?”

The question earned him a soft smile and a fond shake of her head. “One, maybe two hours at most. It’s too risky to spend the night outside of the walls without a larger force and a lot more preparation.”

“I can work with that.” Rowan nodded, then faced the troops again. “Listen up! We’re staying out here for as long as we can today, and we’ll be hunting down every rare tier creature we come across!”

His voice carried over the gathered crowd, and Rowan immediately saw most of them slump just a tiny bit. A few of them, though, brightened and looked at Rowan with something very closely resembling hope. They were the ones who put two and two together.

“We’re going to hunt them down and teams with the largest number of max level uncommon members will get priority for the kill. It’s not going to be a perfect system, but let’s try to get as many of you to rare as we can today, okay?” Rowan didn’t need to yell those words. The dead silence after his first sentence meant they naturally carried across the army.

As one, the soldiers erupted into cheers. Rowan could feel the tides of morale changing. They weren’t just willing to fight, they were excited to do so. And the number of unhappy faces could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Ironically, most of them were the officers.

Rowan quietly noted the ones that seemed to disapprove of his actions and was glad that Bryson wasn’t among them. If they continued to feel that in a couple of days when he had more than a few of their peers to pick from as replacements? Well, he didn’t know any of them, nor did he know why they were elected to their stations.

Familiarity wasn’t something a person could count on when a new ruler rolled into town.

“Bryson, can you get the men ready for marching in five minutes? We’re going to hunt as much as we can until we need to head back,” Rowan asked.

“Yes, Hero Rowan,” Bryson said.

Rowan walked over to Olivia and slipped his hand into hers as they watched the army reorganize itself.

“So I have a question,” Rowan started, “why does the army have that policy? Doesn’t it make sense to help people rank up higher?”

Olivia giggled. “You did all that on instinct? Remind me to never bet against those instincts. But now that you’re rare, the only way you can progress is to kill monsters at the rare or higher tiers. The same applies to the officers. Why would a commander let soldiers advance when they can climb the ladder of power themselves?”

“Am I making a mistake?” Rowan asked softly, looking over the gleaming faces of their troops.

“No, mother would have abolished the policy too. Father prefers to keep his troops as high ranked as he can and the officers hold power through personal courage and intelligence instead of raw power. That’s why his army was the first thing he was stripped of when he was demoted.”

“Just how influential was your father when he was a duke?”

“Influential enough that if he so chose, I’m pretty sure half the kingdom would have backed his rebellion.” Olivia’s voice was flat, and a tiny bit frustrated.

“You know, Olivia?” Rowan said. “If I get close to really making you mad, please remind me never to upset you instead of immediately chucking potions.”

Surrounded by the racket of happy troops, Olivia Sutton offered the hero a wide grin, slipping her arm around his. “I’ll consider it.”