With his personal matters out of the way, Raine went through the new equipment in his inventory. He started with the full suit of leather armor he’d found in the king's display case.

[Prestige of the Transcended: (6 Piece Set - Medium Armor - Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (HP +250) (AP +50) (DEF +200) (RES +50) (MS +2) (PTC +25) (FIN +25) (ACU +25) (PHY +25) (CNC +25) (Durability 275/275) (4 set bonus: 50% Reduction in fall damage) (6 set bonus: 15% Additional damage dealt with martial weapons and skills)]

Attributes are low for its level but that full set bonus is amazing.

Losing the obfuscation of his face shroud was unfortunate, but there was no other reason to hesitate. Raine equipped all six pieces of the set. The rush from an over fifty percent boost to his attributes was beyond euphoric. His eyes rolled back as his muscles twitched with untapped power and speed. He yearned to dive toward the ground where he could sprint, leap, and flip through the air.

Luckily, his cloak obscured his image, so when he did finally land, his shiny new armor wouldn't catch too much attention with its immaculate dark leather and Lustrous Blue undertones.

Next, he went through everything pulled from the chests. There were three additional pieces of Lustrous Blue armor but none would be an upgrade after losing the bonuses of his set. He went through the weapons from the rack and chests, swapping out upgrades in his roulette where applicable.

[Damascus Spiked Knuckles: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (Attack Power +56) (Attack Speed +1.5) (PTC +18) (ACU +12) (PHY +15) (Durability 140/140)]

[Immaculate Damascus 2-H Mace: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (Attack Power +78) (Attack Speed -.25) (Defense +22) (PTC +14) (PHY +16) (CNC +15) (Durability 200/200)]

[Kindred Heart Shield: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (DEF +90) (PTC +15) (PHY +30) (Durability 250/250)]

[Spine Splitter Greataxe: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (Attack Power +105) (Attack Speed -.25) (PTC +35) (PHY +10) (Durability 200/200)]

[Staff of Four Winds: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (Elemental Power +115) (DEF +20) (PHY +12) (CNC +24) (Durability 150/150) (Innate skill - Four Winds: Conjure strong winds to blind and deafen for 10 seconds in a column AOE (Cooldown: 4 times per day)]

[Heavy Spear of Conductivity: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (Attack Power +75) (DEF +15) (PTC +12) (ACU +12) (PHY +12) (Durability 200/200) (Innate passive - Channeled elemental damage increased by 15%)]

[Immaculate Damascus 2-H Sword: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (Attack Power +85) (PTC +19) (ACU +7) (PHY +19) (Durability 180/180)]

As if being fully decked in Lustrous Blue gear of his level wasn’t enough, there were nine additional weapons that he didn’t need as their attributes didn’t align with his build. He organized the abundance of basic regeneration potions from the chests for later use. Finally, he moved on to the best rewards from the mystic realm: The four items snagged from the armoire.

[Locket of Rendition: (Lustrous Blue) This beautiful necklace contains a glimpse of what could have been, and what could be again (Durability 75/75) (Innate skill - Returners Privilege: Teleports the wearer to any location visited in the last 5 minutes) (Cooldown: 1 hour)]

Such an amazing life-saving treasure! Regular instant teleportation can break almost any crowd control, but this is way better than that! It has very specific wording that indicates it bypasses some of the usual restrictions. For instance, attacking a raid boss traps you inside its arena, and regular teleportation won’t allow you to escape. But this…

Some raids are unique encounters and dying once means you lose your only shot at the loot. With this, I could test the bosses as many times as needed to determine an appropriate strategy! Not just bosses, I could escape traps, other realms, invasions, does it have any limitations? I can’t wait to test it! If this was the only reward from that entire Mystic Realm, I would have been more than satisfied.

Raine equipped it immediately, enjoying the feeling of the cold metal draped around his neck. It had a locket in the shape of a watch. Opening it, he was greeted with a moving image of where he'd been five minutes ago. With a greedy, secretive smile, he tucked it beneath his armor.

[Fruit of Innate Aptitude: (Lustrous Blue) Grants the imbiber 1 General Skill Point]

What an absolute gold mine!

In the past, there had been a number of rare fruits and plants that people consumed the moment they found them. To a man, those hasty fools regretted their actions. Once personal residences were included after the second expansion, fruits and seeds could be planted, producing an endless supply. Gold coins glistened Raine’s eyes as he gingerly stored the fruit and moved to the next item.

[Race Change Stone (Gromut): (Lustrous Blue) Allows the holder to change their race. The Gromut are a proud race of pseudo giants. Boosts physical size and force multipliers, Potency, and Physique at the expense of Finesse and Acuity (Charges remaining: 15)]

As far as playable races, the Gromut aren't bad. Especially for tanks. Bosses that send a tank flying can be a real pain. A Gromut could take the same blow head-on. I'll save it as a reward for guildies who perform well. And finally, the best for last.

[Monument of the End: (Marvelous Gold) Contains the hopes and dreams of a race lost to time. Activate to construct a new home for the scattered descendants of these once proud and prosperous people]

Now this, this is something truly special.

Raine's grin turned evil as he imagined the first of his enemies learning the hard way how foolish it would be to pick a fight with his future guild.

Stolen story; please report.

image [https://i.imgur.com/hpsW3fY.png]

Raine flew high in the sky, catching the largest and most powerful wind chutes while maintaining his altitude with Lunge. Since he no longer needed the lifts, he took the most direct route northwest. The mountains flowed gracefully into plains cut by dozens of trickling streams. They eventually combined into a large river.

On foot, even utilizing the roads, the journey to Silverlight City would have taken nearly a day. The sprawling central metropolis of the Tri-glades came into view in a quarter that time. The royal palace at its heart dominated a large river island, towering over the rest of the city. Crystal clear water flowed around its tall walls, trade hubs and fisheries sprinkled along its outer shores. Spreading out in all directions, buildings of various sizes and styles could be found for as far as the eye could see, even from Raine’s aerial vantage.

image [https://i.imgur.com/taxjzNe.jpg]

Not wanting to cause a fuss and get tossed in a cell for a day, Raine angled to land well short of the outermost gates of the city, several kilometers away from the palace. His boots crunched into the hard-packed gravel of the main road. He bent his knees lightly, thrilling in how easily the impact was absorbed.

He sprinted by a line of farmers and hunters come to sell goods, the wind whistling in his ears. He danced through his new martial steps, shuffling, sidestepping, and dashing in a blur. With a maxed out Leap, he backflipped seven times and landed near the massive gates with a huge, sloppy grin. Several guards had taken notice of his antics, one bulky female approaching with a sensual smile.

“Hail Traveler! Halt for inspection!” The large female guard raised a palm his way, a spear butt thudding into the stones at her feet. Raine complied and the woman in half-plate approached, “Identification and purpose of visit?”

[Sentry of The Seventh Wall (Elite): Level 100 (HP ????/????)]

Even if she were lower level, Raine wouldn’t have any desire to cause trouble. Silverlight City was going to be his home for the foreseeable future; maintaining a positive reputation was of paramount importance. “Alaric. Class acquisition and residency, ma’am.”

Hearing his brusque tone, her friendly demeanor slipped, “Very well. Temporary residency is ten silver, paid now. Permanent requires an additional registration at the guildhall of your choice with a further fee determined by them.” She held out her hand and Raine promptly dropped a slip of paper onto it. She furrowed her brows for a short second before her eyes widened. “You found the stolen weapon shipment?”

[Lost Weapons Manifesto: Return this slip to the guards of Silverlight City for a reward]

“They were in the hands of a village of crogs in the mirror lake territory,” Raine withdrew one of the hard iron weapons he hadn’t sold yet and passed it to her.

She examined it, quickly finding the Silverlight seal, “Please, follow me, sir.” With quick steps, she guided Raine into a side door after the thick wall's portcullis. They walked down a long hallway inside the wall, coming to a heavy wooden door. She rapped it three times, then waited patiently until a gruff voice called for them to enter.

Inside, a harrowed middle-aged man with a scraggly beard and mustache glanced up at them. He twirled a feather pen in his hand, then resumed scribbling a few more notes on a sheaf of waxy paper. Dropping the feather in a vial of ink, he motioned the sentry forward. She handed him the manifesto and repeated Raine’s description of the weapons’ location.

“Well, nothing we can do about them. They’re in the wrong direction and at least they’re not in the hands of the Dantinians. Still, we’ll pass along news to the scout forces in case they want to take action. As for you, Traveler. Consider your temporary registration fee waived,” he grabbed a new sheet and hastily scribbled a few words before passing it to the sentry. “This is a general introduction for whichever guildhall you wish to apply for citizenship with. Don’t expect another discount, but it’ll get you through the front door at least.”

“Thank you, sir,” Raine’s simple response was met with a shooing motion from the captain’s hand. He followed the sentry out, adding the note to his inventory. Like the man said, it wouldn’t save him any coins, but it would allow him to skip several introductory fetch quests designed to familiarize him with the city. Outside, he nodded politely in parting to the sentry, then hustled down the main street.

I’ve got to pick Mel up in three hours and I need to get to Shillids for a refitting before then. I should have just enough time to get a few things done.

Bustling activity was all around him, perfectly fitting a city with a thriving economy at war. There wasn’t another player in sight, which wasn’t a surprise. There was room for fifty million players in the current Silverlight City, and ten times that number of Vaaterrans. The reason for the commotion wouldn’t be readily obvious to most newcomers, but Raine knew it was due to the ongoing conflict with the neighboring Dantinian Empire.

He could have questioned the captain and started a short chain quest for more information, which would eventually lead to some reputation gains with the royals and army, but there were much faster ways to end up at the same location. The war itself would need to be dealt with eventually as it had the potential to cause untold headaches to the region. There was little point worrying about it until the guilds managed to build up sufficient forces and unite long enough to push back the Imperial tide.

In his last life, the Silvergate Kingdom lost the war and the Celendine Dynasty was wiped out. Losing had a significant impact on the flexibility of grinding zones and access to vital trade goods, leading to less than optimal growth for the city and its guilds. Raine had no intention of allowing that to happen again.

There were several vendors he wanted to visit, but before digging into that, he wanted to finalize his class choices. He stopped at the first tavern and bought a glass of water for a single copper.

[New resurrection location bound: Silverlight City (Commoners District - West Gate)]

Raine left the tavern. Standing on the street he whistled loudly and a hand-drawn carriage came zipping around a corner, pulled by two young men. He jumped aboard, “Zeletin Academy.”

“Very well, sir. Five silva if ya’d be so kind,” the boy on the left responded.

Raine paid and they were off, rushing through the streets at a pace that would have gotten him arrested if he tried it himself. He sat back, mind buzzing over what to do.

My class change token will let me start one class, buy a few skills, then change to the class I actually want. My brawler build is mapped out to perfection, and almost any other class has decent starter skills that would have drastically boosted it. But now…

The skills the armsmen demonstrated were way too powerful to ignore. The question is, do I take armsman first, grab the skills, then swap to brawler? Or, should I pick something that compliments what I’ve seen of armsman first, then swap to an entirely unknown class…

There are benefits both ways. Sticking to brawler will guarantee success. I’m confident in unlocking a Lustrous Blue upgraded class at level fifty, but that's the best I could possibly do with a basic class. An advanced might be able to move straight to Marvelous Gold, but that’s just a guess. I know the class has solid skills, but I don’t know if I’ll have access to them right away, or how much AT they’ll cost.

Then there’s the question of what would pair best with armsman. Caster, berserker, stealth, scout, any would likely pair well with it. Am I really considering scrapping my entire build? Or, stick to what I know…

Raine had spent much of his flight ruminating over the same thoughts. He scoured his memories for every detail he could recall about basic, combination, and hidden classes, wondering if one would pair well enough with armsman to risk gambling his future over.

Immediately, he discarded the combination classes—each a mix of two basic classes. With slightly more attractive names and descriptions, they had lured in many early players. The need to hunt down specific Vaaterrans to gain access to them also created a mysteriousness that drew in the masses. Unfortunately for those who took that permanent choice, combination classes had several drawbacks that made them unsuitable for anyone below a class four martial.

With a wider range of class skills to choose from came the need for more Attunement, more general skill points, and more spread out attributes. Additionally, their skills were statistically weaker than the ‘pure’ variants, leading to players being unable to properly fill their roles without significant martial prowess to fall back on. Ninety-five percent of those who chose a combination class ended up regretting it.

All too soon, the academy came into view and Raine hopped off the handcart. He boldly walked through the open gate. The two guards posted outside didn’t try to stop him. He was greeted by an open training yard surrounded by low walls. It was packed with young cadets in training, led by several sergeants who snapped orders, leading their groups through drills. The air was filled to the brim with manly energy, and Raine itched to join them.

He cut to the right, briskly walking along the wall until he reached a large, bleached-stone building. Outside, a man in royal livery stood idly, staring at the sky.

Raine dipped her head to the man, “Hail, Master Trainer. I’ve come to choose my destiny.”