Jay strode into the room, seeing a man turned towards him, a diamond on his lapel. "Hello, student. I am Diamond, the headmaster of this school and the leader of the Gemstone council. What is your name?"

  Jay's eyebrows rose. "Don't you already know my name? I'm in your school, Jade probably told you my name, and you asked me to be brought here."

  Diamond sighed. "On the third count, no. Jade brought you here without telling me. She never tells me," he said, glaring daggers at Jade, who was walking out of the room. "On the first two, that's true. I was trying to put you at ease."

  Jay nodded. "So, why did Jade bring me here?"

  Diamond looked Jay in the eyes. "You're the only person to ever have more than a single path."

  Jay shrugged. "Does it matter?," He asked Diamond. "Or are you going to try and cut me up and study me?"

  Diamond shook his head. "No. I just wanted to let you know the Gemstone Council is watching. We've been missing a member for quite a while, and a replacement would be ideal. You are the one we're going to put in that position, after you become strong enough."

  Jay nodded. "What position is that?"

  Diamond leaned back. "You would be Onyx. Our old Onyx... defected."

  Jay's eyes widened. "What would be expected of me in this position, and where did he defect to?"

  Diamond's Dominion crashed into the room. "This is an Aura of Privacy. No one can hear this other than you," Diamond said.

  Jay staggered under its weight before regaining his feet, feeling the sheer volume of power around him. "Impressive."

  Diamond shook his head. "No. All the more impressive that you can feel it."

  Jay shrugged. "Moving on, then."

  Diamond grabbed a file out of a wall, opening it and grabbing a miniature painting before putting it back. The wall rippled around his hand as he did so. Jay eyed it suspiciously before moving his attention to the painting in front of him. It was an image of a group of people who appeared to be posing. A man wearing an onyx on his brow stood in the front, watching the painter. Behind him stood a massive array of people, the numbers comparable to the Gemstone Council, all of them wearing a different type of metal in a way that easily identified it as being their emblem. As Jay glanced through, he saw a gold necklace with a medallion on the end, a pair of silver guantlets, a finely crafted steel sword, and many other metals scattered throughout. "Why are they using metals as identification? This doesn't seem very efficient, given that people could mistake an emblem as being jewelry."

  Diamond reached back into the wall, grabbing the same gold necklace Jay saw in the picture. His eyes widened as the sheer amount of Mana in the necklace blasted out at him. "The people who need to know who they are, know. Others don't. The Metallic Council is an underground association specializing in, simply, evil. They will do anything for money and power, even making deals with other dimensions to help them conquer our world."

  Jay didn't dare to touch the gold necklace, his hair standing on end until Diamond put it back in the wall. "So, I'll be expected to fight people who casually infuse so much Mana into necklaces?"

  Diamond nodded. "After you get stronger, of course."

  "Of course. So. How fast do I need to be?"

  Diamond stared Jay in the eyes, looking as if he was staring directly into Jay's soul. "As fast as damn possible."

  Jay nodded. "Should I stay with the class, or will I be moved out and put into a training program of my own?"

  "You'll stay with the class, and have extra training on the side."

  "Anything else?," Jay asked.

  "If you don't want to do this, I'll let you off the hook and ask someone else. However, we really need people to help here. The Metallic Council assassinated Quartz not too long ago. We put his disciple in his position, but... They're getting more confident. I expect war to start soon."

  Jay nodded. "I'll take up your offer."

  Diamond nodded. "See yourself out. I'll find you tonight."

  Jay nodded, Diamond's words echoing in his mind as he exited the room, walking past confused teachers as he walked towards the training room.

  There was no time to relax, not now.

  Jay killed the three-hundredth virtual monster with a water bullet. After crushing the next one, he decided to test out his other abilities. Jay opened the list of abilities for his Collector class.

Collect:

Take materials from any dead being without needing to take it apart.

Eyes of the Collector:

The Collector sees the things he wishes to collect.

Scales by level.

Not very useful in combat, though Jay expected it would gain abilities he would be able to use later. He checked his Child of Summer Blossoms class next.

Seasonal Embrace:

Current seasons available: Summer

Summer:

Increase the attack power of you and all of your allies while forcing your enemies to fight in sweltering heat.

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

Main stat: Intelligence

Dominion cost: Moderate

Flowering Domain:

Within the radius of your domain, summon and control flowers of any type. The strength of your flowers scales with Wisdom.

Main stat: Depends on flower type

Dominion cost: High

  Jay nodded to himself. That would be more useful at the moment. He activated seasonal embrace, mentally choosing the summer effect, and let his Aura flow out of him, fueled by his Dominion. It settled around him, the temperature perfect, though maybe a slight bit too hot. As the next monster appeared, it started sweating, his Aura pressing down on it. Jay walked over, punching it with slightly less than half of his strength.

  The monster's bones shattered, instantly killing the virtual beast. Jay looked at his hand. That was definitely more than half of his strength.

  Deactivating it, Jay activated his other ability, his Aura flowing out once again, though in a different pattern. The next monster stepped into a field of flowers, all of which had sharp tentacles sucking its blood out. The monster tripped and fell over, another flower pulling it into its gaping mouth, filled with sharp teeth. Jay's strength fueled this flower in its crushing of the monster. He grimaced as the flower crunched down the monster before it suddenly disappeared, leaving the flower waving its tendrils in confusion.

  Releasing his aura, Jay opened the ability list for his Commander class.

Mastermind:

Plan 13 steps ahead.

Marching Song:

Bolster your troops-let them march for as long as you want.

Note cost: Low

Song of Pure Truth:

Receive no lies.

Note cost: Moderate

  This wouldn't be much help right now, but it would probably be a useful thing to have in a war. Jay shot a water bullet through the brain of another virtual monster before examining his Weaponmaster class.

Weapon Mastery:

Activate to know your way around whatever weapon you have.

Error-User already know)S 8weapon0 forms092

Skill disabled.

Thoughtcleave:

Strike with your mind.

Will cost: Low

Thoughtshield:

Defend with your mind.

Will cost: Low

Hooks of Thought:

Hook your mind into the world, letting you pull yourself around. Does not work on living creatures.

Will cost: Moderate

  After reading the error message, Jay shrugged. It didn't particularly matter. He grabbed a sword, attaching a hook of thought to the ground and his blade. As the next monster came in, he violently retracted it, his blade swinging at ridiculous speeds directly through the monster. Jay dropped the sword. Next class, Soulsworn.

Soulblade:

Summon a weapon made of your soul.

Soulshift:

Change the form of your soul, from fire, to water, to ice, to any element wished for.

Causes minor soul fatigue.

Soul Regeneration:

Your soul heals itself over time.

  Jay created a pike out of his soul, but it suddenly stopped before growing as much as he wanted it to. The next monster fell directly on it, disappearing almost instantly. Jay went for a quick introspection, finding that his soul was... simply gone from the inside of his body and was now in the shape of a pike, held out in front of him. His soul wasn't large enough to create anything bigger than a stupid-looking pike, with how short it was. He created a single shortsword, condensing his soul and shoving as much as he could into the small space. Jay nodded. This would do. He swung it right through another virtual monster. Then he shifted his soul to acid and did it again.

  His blade turned into corrosive acid, held together by his intent. It stayed in the same shape, and maintained a cutting edge, but was now a liquid-an acidic one. The next monster he cut through slowly melted before it expired. He shifted his soul blade back to normal, if a 'normal' existed, and returned it into his body. He could feel a slight fatigue from doing that, but it resolved itself in a relatively short period of time.

  Last class. Amber Form.

Amber Body:

Increases the physical power of your body by a small amount. Always on.

Amber Creation:

Make a construct out of amber. Not very sturdy.

  Jay created a very large sphere of amber, wondering how much he could sell it for. Then he discarded the thought. He would be breaking hundreds of laws doing this. He casually tossed the amber at the next monster that came along, watching it blast through the thing's head without a sweat. Jay raised an eyebrow. Not very sturdy, eh?

  Stepping out of the room, Jay walked back into the dorms. It was almost nighttime, and he needed to get ready for Diamond's appearance. Stepping into the dorms, he noticed Millie sitting at a table, alone. No one else was in the eating area. He walked up to her. "Hi."

  She turned to him, holding up a cup of coffee. "C-offe-e..."

  Jay's eyes narrowed at the coffee. There was something in it. A slightly putrid scent emanated from it. He grabbed the cup, watching Millie fall over onto her face. He placed it next to her arm, sliding into the shadows. Whoever came over would pay.

  One of his classmates, a Mage, doddered into the room. "Heh. I have the princess now. Just need to get her to the Metallics and I'll be set for life!"

  The Mage raised a hand, roots emerging from the ground and making a cage for Millie. Jay's eyes narrowed. This wasn't an ability he showed during their class. He was faking weakness. Jay summoned a soulblade, turning it to fire. The mage looked around at all the tables in the room. "I guess I'll inconvenience them by removing the tables."

  The tables shattered into pieces of wood, and the started to sink to the ground. Jay suddenly felt an explosion of Mana behind him and stepped to the side as a spear of wood crashed through the wall. He sighed. Why did his plans never go right? "Brat! You're the one who thinks himself so high and mighty, interacting with the princess here! However, you're still a level one. A single hit from me, at level 100, will kill you. Surrender and I'll take you to be enslaved to the Metallic Council instead of killing you."

  Jay sighed, shifting his soulblade to fire. It started burning with a hungry flame as he activated his domain of flowers. Stepping forward, he entered a ready stance, waiting for his opponent. The Mage's eyes glowed with rage. "Kid. Power rules the world. I WILL MURDER YOU!," he shouted, roots spiking up from the ground, forming a trail moving towards Jay.

  As the roots spiked up from below him, Jay's mastermind barely let him avoid them, stepping into the perfect place to stay alive. The launched up around him and Jay cut through a pair of roots to exit the wooden prison. The Mage stared at him. "Well, this is going to be annoying," Jay said, watching the man's anger spike further. "I'll have to spend an entire five minutes dealing with you."