Class Selections happen at Levels 1, 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100. We don’t know what happens after 100 but it’s assumed that everyone who’s found out has either been killed or doesn’t want us knowing.
-Scholar at the Grand Library of Zietris, bitter at the lack of knowledge higher levels give out.
Holy Shit.
“Ok, System.”
Yes Mr. Salatur?
“Call me Li, now please tell me you’re messing with my memories…”
…Why do you ask, Li?
“Because there is no way I would’ve forgot doing THAT!”
Mage (Common Path) Everything in this universe holds and conducts Mana. A Mage is just a person who conducts mana in a way that makes things blow up. Governments, Monsters and Real Estate owners tremble at your destructive power. Don’t get a big head though, you’re only at the beginning.
+5 Intelligence
+3 Wisdom
+2 Perception
Mana Skills and Greater Affinity
Tier 1 Neutral Spell Skills and Affinity
Tier 1 Elemental Spell Skills and Lesser Affinity
Magic!!! There is a -1000% chance I would’ve forgotten doing magic!
There is a memory available if you’d li-
“Wait! What the hell are affinities? I have so many questions right now!”
The System is here to answer them, but would prefer less interruptions.
“…sorry.”
Affinities allow for a greater Skill gain and leveling of a certain topic. For example, with this class, Tier 1 Neutral Spell; Mana Bolt. Anyone can, and most of the time do, learn this with any amount of effort to the process, but an affinity allows you to gain said skill faster.
“Huh… huh?”
…I see you are still confused. Let the System put in another way. The average person would have to do say 10 minutes of training to unlock Mana Bolt, A mage could do it in 5.
“I’m guessing it’s not as simple as a multiplier… what about Lesser and Greater Affinities?”
The System is glad this method of explanation works for you, to continue with it; Lesser Affinities would take 7 and a half, while Greater ones would take 2 and a half minutes.
“Are there more then 3?”
The ranking goes; Minor, Lesser, Neutral, Greater, Major, and Legendary.
“So by your explanation, Legendary would take like 30 seconds?”
37.5 seconds, but close enough, any more questions?
“You said training before a person activated the system would grant affinities also, are those ranked the same way?”
Yes, for all intents and purposes they are the same.
“Is there a way to see our current affinities?”
With your Rank and Intelligence, no. Anything else?
“Stats. Explain what they do.”
That’s a rather esoteric question, but the System shall try. Going down the list… Hm, actually, how about this.
Strength
Defines Physique, Maximum Weight Bearing, and Part of Stamina
Intelligence Defines Mental Processing Speed, Memory, and Max Mana Toughness Defines Max Health, Resistance toward Damage and Negative Effects, and Part of Stamina Perception Defines Strength of Senses Wisdom Defines Application of Knowledge, Strength of the Mind, Mana Regeneration, and Mana Usage Dexterity Defines Agility, Proprioception, Coordination, and Stamina Usage Charisma Defines Persuasiveness and Allure
“Did you literally make a whole chart… and bold things like I’m 10?”
Yes, the system didn’t want to bore you with needless talking and wanted to experiment with forms of information distribution that were quicker and more efficient. How would you rate the chart?
sigh…
You cannot sigh in System-Induced Stasis, time is essentially frozen outside of your mind.
“Let me imagine! Um… 10/10 chart, very informative and took measures to ensure ease of access for the reader.”
Thank you for your rating! Would you like the system to use charts more often in lieu of talking when explaining concepts more easily understood with a chart?
“…Yes, despite my misgivings born out of a desire to not appear unintelligent, I’d like that… Why did I say that so honestly-”
The System simply forced you to speak the truth, had you lied you would’ve only hampered your own growth.
“I mean that’s real creepy, but fair enough I guess.”
Great! In that case, here’s another chart!
To give some examples to counter common Q/A concerns about stats.
By mana/stamina usage, the system means that Dexterity and Wisdom make your movements and spells more efficient, and waste less stamina/mana.
Skill leveling and mundane practice achieves the same to a greater effect, so don’t rely on stats to make up for an underleveled, underused skill.
And… yes, you could argue Toughness is health usage.
No, memory and knowledge application are not the same. You might remember a whole textbook, but without wisdom it’d take you an hour to sift through it and find what passage you’d need to quote for the English essay you’re procrastinating on, Darla.
Think lots of capacity, no efficiency, it’d take hours to recharge the enchantment.
No, charisma won’t automatically make you get more “chicks”, strength or a better personality might help with that.
Charisma just means that when you start talking about your “wallpaper-peeling ass blasts” on the first date, people won’t mind as much.
For the record, it still doesn’t mean I want to hear about it, Tyler.
Yes, strength will give you a “killer bod” but without Toughness those “gains” will fall apart the moment you stop weightlifting.
Monolithic stats are not a good idea, Tyler. Even a [Bodybuilder] has some toughness to them.
No, intelligence won’t make you actually more intelligent, Tyler.
Please stop submitting your questions for the Q/A Tyler, other people see these.
Responses to real questions asked by ignorant System-Users like you!
“I… Well, Tyler sounds… interesting.”
Very. But the System heard he pulled himself together by his Level 10 class evolution… but apparently he still kept some… quirks.
“You heard? Arn’t you his system too?”
No, I’m yours, he has his own that likes to gossip.
“Well now I feel a little special, getting my own personal system and all.”
I’m glad to hear you enjoy my presence, but we’re getting off-topic, would you like to see the Class Memory now?
“Oh, um, uh, I guess you’re right… Yeah I wanna know when the hell I did magic.”
You may be a bit dissatisfied, but alright.
Generating Memory…
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
***
“What’s that?”
Li froze as his boyfriend asked from behind him. He had been much too interested in the tome he was reading to notice the badly-sneaking Warri- Knight crawling up to him.
“Um… uh… nothing!”
He quickly tried to hide it away from Jayce, but what the man lacked in subtlety and stealth he more than made up for with nosiness and dexterity (at least compared to his blushing boyfriend).
“Fredrick’s Guide to Beginner Magicks… Liiii!”
Jayce cooed, making Li’s scarlet blush deepen. It was already embarrassing to get caught with a child’s spell book, but the excited look on Jayce’s face made it all the more horrid.
“If you want to learn about magic that badly, I guess I can take some time out of my busy day to help~”
He said that, and yet he was almost vibrating with excitement. Jayce Vian loved every opportunity to help his boyfriend out with stuff, especially things he knew barely anything about. Jay was that special kind of dumbass.
“Jay, you really don’t gotta-”
Too late did Li say that, as the Knight had already scooped Li up in a bridal carry. Ever since the oaf had evolved his class he’d just gotten more and more unreasonably strong, and the idiot was only level 13.
What kinda shit would Jay pull when he got to 25? 50?!?!
***
“The first step to magic, is being able to sense mana…” Jay began, stirring up memories of Freshman year of high school.
“Mana flows throughout the world and everything in it.
Every stone and tree and person has a unique flow due to the channels that make them up. Only difference between sentient beings and any regular rock, magic wise, is that we produce our own mana.
What I want you to do, is to sense the mana your body is constantly generating.”
“Wow, gosh I had no idea, it’s almost as if we were taught that in high school.”
Li rolled his eyes, this is literally kiddy shit, even that spellbook thought it too basic to mention.
“Well it seems like you forgot, considering the book.” Jayce countered, crossing his arms while grinning.
Li tactfully glanced away from Jayce’s arms and the way the formerly loose fabric now stretched in response to his movements.
Who was gonna tell me evolving and leveling a Physical class involved clothes shopping. One more job and that poor shirt is done for…
“S-shut up.”
“So like… sense mana then?”
“Huh?”
“That’s the first step Lily, start sensing mana.”
“I…can’t.”
“You…huh?”
“You can’t sense mana…”
“Li, of course you can sense mana, literally anyone can.”
“Well here’s a plot twist, hot shot, I’ve been trying to sense my mana for the past half hour and it’s not working.”
“Well first off sensing your own mana is definitely not the first step, of course it didn’t work.” Jayce looked punchably smug as Li gaped… his teacher was a fucking liar.
Perhaps that’s why he got fired after his first year and we all failed our exams…
“And secondly, maybe if you had a genius and wildly attractive instructor around, it’d work.”
Li believed Jayce had those qualities, he had some standards in a boyfriend, but no way in hell he would show it.
“As if I need you for that, Professor Vian, I could just go to Alia, or Garret, or Rei… or like anyone el-” Li scoffed, before the impromptu teacher wrapped his hands around Li’s mouth.
”Liiii, stop talking about those losers!”
…
“LI, WHAT THE FUCK!”
A bad decision, really. As the prospective mage immediately started licking the hands over his lips.
The well-trained, disciplined, seasoned Knight was now furiously washing his hands while shooting his boyfriend death-glares.
“Jeez, fine, can you sense the mana around us? In the air and all.”
A minute of awkward concentration gave the answer… no.
“Since you’re too dumb to sense the ambient mana around us.” Jayce said after the near boiling water washed away Li’s crime against humanity. “We’ll start smaller. I’ll direct my mana towards you and we’ll see if even someone as gross and dumb as you can sense it, alright?”
“Perfect.” Li responded, still pleased at the lack of hands on him.
5 minutes later, after got Jay got over the “trauma of your saliva on my hands”, the two sat face to face on the floor.
They both their eyes on focused on their various tasks.
Their very important tasks which, in the UNLIKELY event someone couldn’t complete, would be super boring.
“So, this may not be the best time to mention my [Mana Manipulation] skill is at level 3…”
After 10 minutes and 3 levels of [Mana Manipulation] later, the unwilling student finally sensed a presence dance across his skin.
“Huh, maybe you aren’t completely useless, Teach.” Li remarked, glad to be relieved of the intense boredom of sitting on the floor for 10 minutes.
“Holy shit, I’m amazing!” Jayce exclaimed.
“Now, now, don’t get a big head. Mages could do that in 2 seconds.” Li jokingly chastised.
“Yeah but I’m not a mage, so I’m still amazing!” Jayce countered.
“…eh, fair.”
“Now then, let’s do it again! You’ll be able to sense mana in your sleep by the time I’m done with you!” Jayce encouraged cheerfully.
“Can we maybe… not?” Li asked, not wanting to sit on the floor any longer. Wood did a number on his 0 Toughness butt.
Jayce eye’s softened, and he suddenly pulled Li’s head into his knightly chest in a bear hug.
“Y’know, I’m really proud of you! You did amazing! Can you please just do it one more time then we’ll stop… for me?”
How unfair. Jayce gives Li the best hug he’s had in weeks and uses that sweet, sincere tone and expects Li to refuse?
Impossible.
So they did it again, this time in 6 minutes and 2 more levels of [Mana Manipulation]. And again, Li was smushed against his muscly boyfriend’s pecs.
Li had known Jayce would get bigger and stronger with the evolution, but had never really tested it out. A pity, as this was so nice.
After a minute of intense pec smushing and furious blushing, Jayce pulled away and got up.
“Ok, we can stop now, thanks for obliging me… Li? Is something wrong?”
“We don’t… have… to stop now…” Li choked out, still frazzled from the hug.
Jayce grinned excitedly.
“Heh, what changed your mind? Oh let me guess, it was my awesome hugging skills.” Jay joked, flexing a bicep.
Li looked away from Jayce’s face, and said nothing. The silence was deafening.
6 months dating and 14 years of friendship and he still couldn’t handle a an hug.
How the hell would he get through-
How… would he get through that.
Jayce laughed heartily.
“Haha, so you’re a sucker for touch, huh… Good to know, no wonder you haven’t let me kiss you since my birthday. I…kinda assumed my breath just stank.”
Li continued to say nothing, but his blush had reached his ears. Why, oh why did his body constantly betray him.
“You can always just ask for a hug, I am your boyfriend after all. Plus, I like hugging you just as much as you like being hugged!” Jayce explained, making Li feel a bit better about his addiction to Jayce’s arms around him. “But since you wanna turn it into a reward… half an hour of training and I’ll give you the best hug you’ll ever have!”
So, so unfair. It was those dumb muscles, man, they were cheat codes for good hugs!
Li was still recovering from his secret being revealed, but he nodded, unable to refuse Jayce.
“Great! Now, let’s go again!” Jayce practically yelled, looking really happy.
Maybe he really does like hugs and kisses and that gross stuff. But he never really does it often… was he holding back for me? Gods, then I’m sure in for it if he’s half as enthusiastic as he seems.
“Yes, teach…”
***
Huh, so that’s how he found out I was touch-starved… He started being so clingy after that! Like after the 30 minutes, he-
He… He, um… What did he do after the training… no, wait… what did he do in the training?
“W-wait, where’s the rest?”
His voice came out small and weak after the force of that memory.
The System doesn’t understand what you mean.
“The… the 30 minutes… the hug… where is it?”
That wasn’t part of the Class Memory.
“Then why can’t I remember it?”
…Li.
“Bring it back!”
Li, I can’t-
”What did you do with my memories!?”
…It doesn’t matte-
“NO! You don’t get to kill my fucking boyfriend then just remove my memories of him!”
The System did not kill Jayce Vian.
IT MIGHT AS WELL HAVE.
“Then who did!? GODS! No one will tell me because they think I’ll fucking BREAK! But look at me, my boyfriend’s dead! What… what else can even be broken?”
Li…
“Please… just give them back… they’re all I have… I don’t even get his fucking stuff because of guild dues, and the scouts couldn’t find the FUCKING SWORD!”
The System paused for a long while, in which Li sobbed out in the emptiness of his soul.
Do you wanna know the truth about Jayce Vian?
“S-so…so fucking badly.”
Then get stronger.
“Huh?”
The reason those guild heads won’t give you Jayce Vian’s belongings is because you aren’t strong enough to demand them. To say hell with the costs and the rules and the money.
“Wait-”
The reason those scouts didn’t use all their power to look, is because they didn’t fear you enough to do their best. To be willing to die rather then face you empty-handed.
“They-”
And the reason you have lost your memories is because your Intelligence is now lower then when you had an inactive system.
“Wait… what?”
You had stats before your system activated, they just weren’t visible. They came from your whole life, the good and the bad, every second and moment.
Li could only gape at… well, nothing.
When your system activated your stats were all set to 0, the Achievement System was supposed to remedy that. But the Achievement System only counts big events, such as… acing a test, or catching something you dropped before it fell.
Slow gain constantly versus High gain sporadically.
Not even we can do everything.
“H-hold on-”
Li, your Intelligence was 33 before you got your first level.
Your brain shrank in storage space, and your memories began to overflow.
The System tried its best, and removed memories like Class Gaining, or explanations of the system, things I can reexplain, but it’s not enough.
“And so you… you-”
Li, you must understand, there wasn’t much the System could do. Almost your whole life involved Jayce Vian, and it’s not like we could remove your baby memories without leaving you unable to walk or talk!
“So… I lost those memories because… I was w-weak?”
Yes, and the System is truly sorry. That is why I… the System has a solution.
“What is it?”
Once your Intelligence reaches and/or passes 33 without the use of a title, the System will return the missing memories.
“Ok… ok. But, uh, why without a title?”
There are skills and magics that can disable titles, and sudden memory loss doesn’t seem to be something you’d like to repeat, is it.
“So… I need to get more intelligence?”
Yes, and how lucky for you that you are at a precipice of growth. It’s time to make a choice, Li.
A warbling sound began behind his soul-body.
Li turned around to see another gate in front of him.
This one smelled of ozone and ash. It reeked of the devastation of a master mage. He saw himself, slinging spell after spell, a joyful grin on his face.
Li idly wondered if that meant he had an affinity for lightning and fire, or the System just chose the elements that Li thought would look coolest.
Did it really matter?
Li turned away from the gate, but it didn’t disappear. He had to look at his other options.
“I’m ready.” Li swallowed the ball of despair that had been building in his throat.
Good.
Generating Classes…