I crumpled to the soft soil of the forest beneath me as the system bequeathed Realm General unto my soul.
I shivered as the class was imprinted.
Groaning, I stumbled to my feet, my head lolling before I clutched it, stilling it's movement and getting my bearings. Evolving into one's next class wasn't a painful experience, per se, it was just uncomfortable. The very essence that composed my existence was "rewired" to accept the next evolution.
I opened my status with unconcealed excitement.
Name: Ryan Selaer Age: 15 Titles: {None}
Classes: Blademaster()() Realm General()()
Stamina: 94 Charisma: 20 Strength: 108 Agility: 114 Constitution: 96 Intelligence: 102 Will: 100 Dexterity: 115
Cohesiveness: [] Synergy: [] Distribution: [] Hierarchy: [] Arsenal: []
Unassigned Stat Points: 43 Unassigned Team Points: 0
[Blademaster] Skills:
(Create Blade) [Level: Max][Limit: 24 weapons; 18 hours/weapon]
(Swordsmanship) [Level: 48][Rank: Combat prowess exceeds 86% of sword wielders within ages 15-20]
(Spearmanship) [Level: 44][Rank: Combat prowess exceeds 94% of spear wielders within ages 15-20]
(Unspecialized Weapon Proficiency) [Level: 22][Rank: Combat prowess exceeds 12% of dagger/bow/lance/axe wielders within ages 15-20]
(Selaer Spectacular Stance Dance){Artificial} [Level: 56][Technique: Greater than 100% of wielders]
(Autonomous Extension) [Level: 49][Limits: 16 blades.]
Negligible Skills:
{Expand[6]}
~~~
[Realm General] {Base skills pending selection}
~~~
Life Skills:
{Expand[83]}
There it was, Realm General! I constrained my outward reaction to a loud whoop and a mini fist pump, but inside it was bubbling over. I was giddy.
Coming out of my little moment-bubble, I cast a look to the west. The sun was setting. I had set out at about five in the morning. The battle with the Moth Hound had taken the better part of the day. It being over 10 levels of what I was. I needed to head home soon.
I grimaced, some of the happiness ebbing. Home was...troublesome. But I had an obligation, despite how terrible the situation was, family was family.
Reopening my status to take my mind off it, I started my trek down Dunhaven Hill, through Moth Forest. I had come through these forested hills so many times I was on autopilot moving through it.
Name: Ryan Selaer Age: 15 Titles: {None}
Classes: Blademaster()() Realm General()()
Stamina: 94 Charisma: 29 Strength: 108 Agility: 114 Constitution: 96 Intelligence: 102 Will: 100 Dexterity: 115
Cohesiveness: [] Synergy: [] Distribution: [] Hierarchy: [] Arsenal: []
Unassigned Stat Points: 43 Unassigned Team Points: 0
Class Skills:
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
{Expand[6]}
Negligible Skills:
{Expand[6]}
~~~
[Realm General] {Base skills pending selection}
~~~
Life Skills:
{Expand[83]}
My eyes went to the unassigned point row first. I was saving up stat points for a surprise boost mid battle. 43 wasn't a small number, 20 being a base human's stat spread. But I wasn't saving up for the run-of-mill foe. This reserve would only be used when things truly got bleak.
My eyes flickered up to the Team categories row. I made a face, I had been avoiding it, but I need to start building a team. Or, at the very least, join one. Building a team at the moment wasn't likely. I was heading to Academy this week. Maybe building one at the Academy? Plausible, but it wouldn't be worth it. Building a team of prissy nobles is like a marriage.
There would be less fighting and more posturing. Even to build it, I'd have to run through a swathe papers and obligations, all while my teammate, the "bride" in this metaphor, has their parents hound my background and worth. Everything to them is about benefits. Why winning was so important to them, at such a flitting game, I'd never know.
I sighed, things were racking up. I needed to hash out my priorities and start working. Shaking myself out of my thoughts I picked up the pace. Not ideal to stay in the forest past sunset. Moth Forest was treacherous during twilight.
Calling on (Create Blade) two shimmering short swords appeared in my hands. Cutting left into the shortcut I had found many years ago, I hacked my way though the unused path. The sound of chirping and creaking wood quickly grew polluted with the hums and clangs of a human population as I neared the road that ran parallel to the forest and into Nightlend City.
Dismissing my blades, and slipping my bag off my shoulders, I pulled on my blue-green cloak and whipped the hood over my head. Stripping my combat boots off I pulled on more comfortable soft leather boots.
Slinging the bag back over my shoulder I jogged towards the towering city walls.
Merging with the incoming traffic I quickly made my way into the city. Taking a sharp right through the stalls and shops and heading through the alleys I made my way to Ament Avenue. It was a wide road, stone and wood shops lining the sides. The remarkably clean and organized slums were only a couple hundred feet beyond the road.
Sprinting across the streets quick enough to be but a blur and displaced wind I crossed over into another dark alley. A tavern acted as the barrier to the alley and in a show of high agility and familiarity with the building, I propelled and ricocheted onto the roof. Running across the even-heighted buildings to the slum beginnings, I quickly hopped down into the dirt packed, thin lanes that crisscrossed the slum.
Jogging through the dark patches and avoiding the brief splashes of light I quickly made my way to Auren's house. Auren was my best friend, someone I met when I had escaped the stuffiness of my noble life. Launching myself off of the brick barrier they had – which acted as a fence – and onto the roof, I quickly scampered over the incline and down the roof into Auren's backyard.
Hearing a soft singing I shouldered my way into the warm house, my steps loud.
Auren's mother, Malenfd, turned to me with a bright smile. She bustled over, her rotund body moving with ease through the kitchen. I set down my bag and equipment in a little closet they reserved for me. She opened her arms and I accepted her hug.
After a brief greeting, I asked, "Is Auren home?"
Her smile dimmed, "Him and his father are speaking to the debt collector. We don't have much for them to repossess and it'll be to the whipping pole if we don't come up with the money or grain within the month."
I grimaced, I had asked them, begged them to accept my money, but they had always turned me away. I didn't know if it was pride or fright that they would be found associating with a noble in this part of town. Pushing again would be futile so I dropped the topic.
"Do you know when they'll be back?"
"Around dinner-time. A bakery in the Inhorl Quarter is throwing out their bread tonight and Auren and Mistad will be heading there after finishing at the guard station."
I nodded, "I can't stay till then. I'll speak to them in a couple days before my next hunting trip." I gave her quick hug before stepping back outside and whipping my cloak back on.
I wasn't permitted to leave my family's property without a guard detail and I had to have all trips approved by my grandparents, the current heads of the Selaer Line. That's why I had to stash all my gear at Auren's house. A noble's method of training is completely artificial – employing a Summoner to simulate battle and consuming pounds of enhancing pills. I never took to the method. Often getting results that decreased in XP and skills. Real battle was the only thing that stimulated my node of the System to advance.
I looked around me before sprinting through the slums and back into the Neutral Quarter with the full breadth of my 114 agility. Speeding through the road and into the Gold Quarter I quickly made my way to the top of the incline.
Nightlend City was organized into Quarters and Districts that segregated social classes and professions. The city was also built on an mountain – a gently sloping one. The base of the city was the homeless and the docks. As you went up you'd hit the Slums, then the Pandaga Quarter (a red light district), then the Inner Wall, then the Inhorl Quarter (bakeries and other artisan professions), then the middle-class residential areas, parks and others, and so on. The very top hosted the mansions and properties of the elite. To the east was the Moth Forest.
I sped past the opulent roads and ornaments that decorated the avenues. Passing the massive mansions and properties I reached my families plot. About a square mile with a beautiful mansion in the center. I hated it. But it was home.
Entering the property gates, I trekked my way to the house. I had a deal with the guards. Three golds every year for ignoring my presence on these returns if my presence was confirmed to them that it was actually me. I opened the front door quietly, everyone was likely still asleep, I thought.
And then the lights switched on.
"Grandson, let's talk."