“Is it that obvious?” My voice quakes in defeat.

“Yeah, it is.” The man said shamelessly. “What do your skills look like?”

Is he trying to recruit me? “Well, about that.” I pause. Could it be bad to reveal info like that to a guy I just met.

“Wait, are you classless still?” His tone was even more patronizing than before, but maybe he doesn’t mean to come across that way.

Classless? I’m gonna guess yes. I laugh nervously. “Yeah, my home town was scared of the whole system thing, so we don’t really choose classes.” I am making a huge assumption thats how it works. Even if I’m wrong I can just feign ignorance of how that works anyway.

He stares for a moment, wearing a blank expression on his face. “Thats an easy fix, just open the class selection screen.”

I’m sure they see the dumbfounded look painted across my face. “Okay, I’ll give it a try.” I hold my hand out and focus on opening the class selection screen.

What kind of selection is this? I begin to get frustrated. “Nice, of course I get a bugged system UI.” I mutter.

“Did it work?” The man asks.

I feel uneasy about telling him the truth. I should keep him in the dark, I don’t want people to think I’m too special. “Yeah, I think I’m going to select mage.”

“That's fortuitous, we need a mage in the party.” His words surprise me. “Of course you should check and see if your buffs align with the class well.”

Not that I have any choice, but I do remember when I arrived it said I had high mana potential, and some thing called Mindcasting. “Thanks for the advice!” I pretend to open a few other screens so that he is none the wiser. “Okay, I think I’m ready.”

“Great. Why do we have to drag this loser along, Arther?” Lisa’s voice sounds irritated, even though she just met me.

“Well, if he gets some good starting skills maybe we can do some harder quests later on.” He spoke to her like a father trying to calm down a spoiled child.

“Whatever.” She tries to hide a smirk under her angry expression.

Harder quests? That does not sound like my kind of thing. I’m just trying to get— My thoughts are interrupted by a familiar sharp pain behind my eye.

My knees almost buckle under the new found sensation. I can feel the blood drain from my face as I fight the urge to vomit all over my newfound party members.

“Are you alright?” Arther asks, concern apparent in his voice.

“Yeah, the system feels taxing since I’m new at it.” The pain subsides. “Okay, I’m gonna choose it now.” Something popped up when I felt that pain earlier, but I didn’t catch what it said. I brush the thought aside and select the mage class.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

Now those are some choices. I am overwhelmed by the amount of information I have now. “All of the basic elemental spells are the same damage scaling” I mutter.

“Yes, and its well known that they effect the environment, as well as negate other elemental spells of the same rank.” Arther states. “Let’s sit down inside the guild house and I’ll tell you what I know. They both walk inside and sit down at a table.

I close the screen and follow their lead as I enter the guild house, it also seems to double as a tavern.

Wait, is that lizard person?

I blink to make sure I’m not seeing things, but there he sat. I stare for longer than someone probably should.

The lizard person’s gaze snaps to me. “What are you looking at whelp?” Its long lizard snout is imposing. Its tongue darts in and out of its mouth.

“Forgive him, he is new to Faendal, he hasn’t seen a lizardkin before, is all.” Arther sounds a little frustrated with the situation as he flashes a worried glance at me.

“Whatever…” The lizardkin mutters something in a language I have never heard before.

Shit, I hope I didn’t come off as some ignorant bigot just then. I lower myself into a deep bow. “I apologize for being rude, I shouldn’t have stared.” I’ll have to read up on the different cultures sometime.

“Just get away from me before I get even more irritated, whelp.” The lizardkin retorts.

We all sit down at the table and Arther takes a deep breath. “Alright so about elemental spells.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “They are all weak or strong against a different element. Fire beats air, water beats fire, air beats water, and earth is special in that its a defense school mainly. It is slightly resistant to everything.”

It is a lot to take in, but I think I understand it. I open the skill choice panel again and wrack my brain.

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

<5 DAMAGE + ELEMENTAL LEVEL MODIFIER(5 MANA)>

Summon D rank creature and the Mindcaster passive seem really high in utility. The amount of things that can be done with those open ended descriptions is endless. “Earth does seem pretty strong too.”

“It is the most creative of the four elements.” He adds

“Hmm, so I need that one plus the other two then.” I think aloud. “What about the other three?” It was a hard decision, but I have already been leaning towards one of them. Fire seems like it has AOE potential. My WoW experience inclines me to this belief.

“I know what to choose.” I feel satisfied with my decision.

Nothing feels uniquely different now, except maybe I feel a little lighter.

Curse mark? Is this what caused my headache earlier.

“Awesome then, lets finalize the party invite.” Arther taps his invisible screen.

or

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