"So is there any reason in particular that I'm staying here the night?" Zack asked a bit unenthused with his arrangements. It was a tightly packed room with a whole lot of bunks, and it smelled quite... Awful, to be honest.

"Well, it's where all of our refugees have been staying while we make new housing. You'll probably have priority for a place to stay given your skill is pretty useful." Kalee told him matter of factly.

"Alright, alright, i mean it's better then sleeping on the streets... Actually, is it? Hey do the nights happen to get particularly cold around here or will it stay somewhat warm?"

Kalee glared at him unamused, "no, you'll freeze on the spot if you're exposed to the open air. What do you think?! And in the first place it'd be rude to not use what you've been given. That'd be like spitting in the face of a man who's just given you a loaf of bread as you starve on the streets!"

"Hey didn't mean anything by it, chill out, calm down. Now, why exactly are you here with me Mrs. Strongest in the village?"

"Hmph, yeah, yeah. And that's a pretty easy answer, actually. I was told to make sure you're safe for the day and that's about it. So I figured I was supposed to stay with you for a little longer yet. Besides, you asked me what an EGO user was didn't you? Don't want to hear about it?"

"Well you're not wrong, but why exactly are you making such a big deal out of this? I mean surely it's not that hard to explain?"

"What, I can't have a little dramatic flare? But no, you'd be right. It's technically not that difficult to explain, but there's alot of nuance to it. But no better time to get started I suppose."

Kalee sat down at a nearby table and beckoned for Zack to follow. He nodded, and sat down opposite to her.

"Alright first things first, what do you know about EGO classes?"

"Absolutely nothing, amnesia, remember?"

"Right, amnesia. Alright, EGO classes are stronger classes with much more potential for growth when compared to normal ones. People get EGO classes through their desires. That's about all I can tell you about it. It's... Quite fickle really. Depending on what you want the EGO class itself will change, and those that have the strongest desires often end up with the strongest classes. Then people subsequentially gather around those class users. But, EGO classes and EGO users are two different things."

"Uhuh." Zack nodded and gestured for her to carry on.

"EGO users are still people with EGO classes, but not all EGO classes can actually use an EGO manifestation."

"Hold on the hell's an EGO manifestation?" Zack asked before she kept talking.

"Think of it as... Ah, just conjuring equipment out of thin air. I'm pretty sure there's more to it then that, but I don't really care for it. I have a sword and I will swing it, that's all I need to know really."

"Are you sure you're the best person to be explaining this?"

"Hush." She glared at him again. "The reason that most EGO classes can't use a manifestation, is because generally you need at least an EGO three class. That's what I have, by the way. And said manifestation is effectively summoning the desire you have into a material form."

Zack nodded again, not really having much to add to the conversation. "Just throwing an example out there, almost nobody would have enough dedication to their craft to get a EGO three class from it alone. But let's say a blacksmith were to reach the point of EGO manifestation, and that's what their class focus was. Their manifestation would likely improve the quality of their work by a wide margin, and serve as on demand tools for them."

Zack nodded for a moment, before asking another question. "EGO three? What exactly do you mean by that?"

She stared at him blankly for a moment, before pinching her nose. "By the four... Alright, alright. No use getting surprised you just clearly know nothing. EGO classes, they're stronger classes with more growth potential. You can get an EGO class through having the desire and willpower to do something. As I told you just before.

When you class advance, if you satisfy whatever invisible requirement is out there. You'll have the option to pick an EGO class for your advancement. If you advance further along the path that got you the ego class to begin with, want something with all that you are, follow your heart pretty much. Then you'll have the option to pick even higher levels of EGO classes. The inverse is also true, lose whatever drives you and the next time you advance you'll find your growth stunted beyond repair."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Alright... But if you can just get stronger through wanting something, that seems a little dangerous. Surely there's been some people who have wanted bad things, right?"

"Oh yeah, tons. Most of them are just surface level desires and never really manage to grow into anything that terrible. Ego one or two at best. But throughout history, every once in awhile somebody will manage to grow an EGO class off of their sheer wickedness. It usually never ends well. Tier threes and fours are managable. But once somebody crosses into the realm of an EGO five class they're nigh unbeatable by anybody not at a similar level."

"Right... And if somebody had a tier five EGO class off the basis of wanting to kill people or something similar..."

"Yes, terrible things happen. It's lucky that such cases are less common then those who want to do good by the people. The more, "pure" desires end up being weigjed more heavily then bad ones most of the time. Like wanting the betterment of your people to such an extreme degree that you reach a high level ruler class of some kind. Or a defender of the people or something similar. We don't have anybody like that here, the highest EGO classes we have are all threes unfortunately."

"Is that everything? Anything else or...?"

"Just about, besides two things. The higher level an EGO class you have the more clear the manifestation of it becomes. I can only do..." Kalee stopped speaking for a moment and lifted her hand up. concentrating on thin air. Shortly after a thin, light, see through red blade appeared in her hand

"Thiiiis. I can also manifest armor but it's just about useless on its own. It repairs almost instantly but provides little resistance. So it's only helpful when paired with other equipment. Same for the sword really, but it's at least usable. Oh and those high level EGO nutcases we talked about? They tend to pop up more during rising fluxes... So that's just great."

"Well... That's a bit foreboding. But uh, what's your class? Swordsman something I'm assuming?"

"Hah! Not even close! At least in the name anyways. My class is called Unyielding Bastion. It focuses on regeneration, both of myself and others. It's also pretty good in a straight up fight."

"That's a uh... Odd class name."

"Tell me about it, you should hear about some of the EGO five names. They get real specific, or weird, at higher levels. Here's one I've heard of, 'expedited monster obliterator'. Supposedly it was EGO four, the guy really, really, hated monsters. Heard he died fighting against a tier nine monster. Not sure what EGO it was though."

"Huh, neat. But uh, just one last question?"

Kalee stared at him for a moment before sighing. "What?"

"What's a tier?"

"Oh my goodness-ok, you know what? How about I just go over every separate bit of terminology real quick for you? Class tier, the level cap. EGO, the growth potential. And Ascensions, which let you influence the growth of all your future classes." Zack opened his mouth to ask about the third thing she'd said, but Kalee immediately cut him off.

"I realize you're going to ask about class ascensions now as well, but they're actually fairly simple. Every five or so class advancements you'll get an ascension instead. Your class won't tier up or EGO up but it wont get harder to level either, and you can permanently influence your stat growth in a certain direction. That's everything, can we be done now?"

"You sound a little agitated, doing alright?" Zack asked with a semblance of a shit eating grin.

"I think you'll do just fine on your own for the night, my mission is complete and I'm going back to the town hall to let management know that your ability works. Good day!"

Kalee stood up with sudden force and began towards the door. She didn't even spare a glance back on her short trek.

"Hey, wa-" "I said good day!"

SLAM

Well... Crap. Well still got a few hours before everybody turns in, so I'll go look around, cause why not? Town here I come, I guess. I'm thinking... Food? If "food" is my desired destination will Wanderlust lead me to it? No better time to find out I guess.