"What do you mean, choose your class, and we’ll leave? Nope, we’re testing them out."

Mark looked at Alex, seeing passion in his eyes. He truly wanted to evolve, truly wanted to become strong.

"Just so you know, the system will tell us when we have to leave. It’s only for a limited amount of time that I can keep this place up."

The group cheered, all joyful for their classes. Sebas kept to his word and became an assassin, while Darius chose to become a tank. Xandra became a sorcerer, and Alex became a swordmaster.

"Well, I guess you can still use magic, even if it’s not class related, but its efficiency might be lacking. Well, what matters is how well you get to use your classes."

"Well, we’ll just ask our systems for help as well, I guess that should do it."

Xandra opened a system tab, trying to ask it for help. The same went for the rest of them, all yelling at the tabs after getting no answer, answer that never came.

"Mark, what in hell did you do for it to talk to you?"

Sebas stared at him, laughing slightly, expecting some sort of crazy answer.

"Well, I forced my mana inside the tab and-"

He was interrupted by the very consequences of his actions.

"Don’t try it; it’s worthless. I only talked to him because, at the moment, the system was too shacky to whitstand such a thing, but now things are different."

Darius listened, something about it maing no sense to him.

"Then why did you stay with him?"

"Yeah, good question, Darius. Why did you stay with me?"

Silence befell them, and the pop-up vanished.

"Well, I guess we’ll never know, or at least not now."

They all looked at Mark with clear dissatisfaction on their faces.

"Now, guys, cheer up, it means you’re better than me and need no help."

"Yeah, yeah", Xandra crossed her arms, "shut it now, I wanted a system homie."

"Let’s put these things aside for now. We got new classes, time to do something. Mark, get ready, we’re fighting you."

"We’re doing WHAT!?", yelled Darius, grabbing Alex by his shoulders, shaking him violently.

Both Sebas and Xandra stared at Alex like he was some sort of mental asylum escapee.

"Now, now, are you guys sure you want to do that?"

Mark’s face was all smiles, like he was laughing at them, which only made them more prone to the challenge.

Stolen novel; please report.

Xandra grabbed on to Alex’ arm, pointing a finger at Mark.

"Listen here, bozo! Get ready, because we’ll whoop your ass.

Mark turned around, creating some distance before the fight would start, carrying on a gentle smile.

Truly, you guys will be there when I won’t be able to do it alone.

Mark went on to do some stretches, listening to how Xandra yelled at him to get ready faster.

"I’ll make sure to enjoy this.", he muttered under his breath.

Four on one, let the battle commence.

"You guys, I’m telling you something... You better give it your all, since this is nothing for me!"

In the blink of an eye, Mark was in front of them. Alex was the one to react in time, striking him with his sword. Mark caught the blow, only to forcefully let go; otherwise, Darius would have turned him into mush. He spun around, repositioning himself, only to once again be forced to move, otherwise he’d be turned into ash.

"Not bad, I see. Time for me to become a little more serious."

Mark rushed them again, this time jumping over them, aiming for Xandra. Sebas popped out of nowhere, aiming his sword right at Mark’s heart. His eyes widened, striking away Sebas’ blade out of instinct. Sebas followed with his daggers, covering Mark in a flury of blows.

"I’ll be damned."

Mark picked up the pace, knocking aside each one of Sebas’ blows. Another blow came for his head, Alex coming from behind. Mark got stuck between the two, dodging each and every attack. From above, Darius came, his waraxe held above his head. Mark jumped, reaching the same height Darius was at, throwing him down at the two.

The three of them were piled up, hastily trying to reposition themselves. Xandra was the only one still standing, throwing whatever magical attack she could at Mark. From fire, to stones, to wind blades, all of them improvised at the moment –which Mark could see from how sloppy they were.

I’m amazed at how fast she can do that. She’s even giving me a run for my money. Still, it’s not enough.

Mark jumped around a few times, before trying a new attack.

"Watch and learn!"

A giant hand made out of stone formed in the air, moving just like Mark’s right hand did.

"Here’s a little something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. You giving up, lot?"

He had a serious look on his face, sweat pouring down his brow. It was his first time using that spell, which put a huge toll on his body.

"All together, now!"

Mark turned around, Sebas’ yell throwing him off. Darius was behind, swinging his axe at Mark, which he easily dodged, but Alex coming from the rear was a bit of a surprise. His sword struck for Mark’s neck, which he almost hit. A kick from Mark threw Alex off, creating a perfect window for Sebas, who popped out of thin air.

Magic? He sure learned fast, yet not fast enough.

Mark watched as Sebas shoved a dagger at him, only to throw it off. He then used the stone hand to gather all of them together, then caught even Xandra, who still tried to crack it.

"Welp, it’s over, guys. Time to go home. I’m hungry."

Everyone was exhausted, sort of glad that Mark was carrying them.

"Now, don’t be sad, you did better than I expected, way better. All you need is to level up a bit, and then perhaps I could go all out on you."

They all started yelling, visibly mad.

"What do you mean all out? We’ll fucking cut you down next time."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, Alex, sure you will. Actions, not words. But for now, I must say, you almost had me. That’s why I love hands-on education."