As much as I wanted to experiment with more lightning based spells while we walked, I decided it would probably be for the best to wait a while. After my little accident that morning, Norbert was in an even worse mood than normal. I didn’t think he would appreciate any more lightning flying around.
Rather than risk antagonizing the large man, I practiced with my invisible force spells.
As I was switching from launching pebbles across our path to trying to make barriers, Norbert held up a hand to stop the group. He pointed through the trees where something large was moving.
As I reached for my spear, something purple flashed at the edge of my vision. I readied my weapon as quickly as I could, but soon relaxed a bit. The purple flashing was just the indication for my boon finishing integrating.
Peering between the trees, I tried to identify what sort of creature we had encountered. I caught a brief glimpse of gray hair from something large moving through the underbrush. With a spell ready, I cautiously stepped to the side to get a better look.
The mysterious creature turned out to be nothing more than a grune.
Returning my spear to my back I tried to convey to the others that we weren't in danger. After some less than effective attempts using gestures, I opened my interface to try communicating through pictures.
Ignoring the message about a new class being available, I displayed a picture of a grune. The picture of the large beast didn’t seem to set my traveling companions at ease, so I added a picture of someone fairly close by being completely ignored by the grune.
That seemed to do the trick as most of them relaxed. Norbert still had his weapon ready, but he looked more hungry than worried. I couldn’t blame him though. Grune steaks were tasty.
With no present danger, I took a look at my newly available classes.
Classes available:
Class selection limited without communal computation. Rejoin society to create new classes.
Magician
Main Focus: Magic
A class focused on the creation and usage of spells and enchantments.
Requirements: Have completed the novice magician class.
Boons: A mix of physical enhancements related to mana manipulation, codex enhancements related to mana forms, and mana pool enhancements
Novice Rune Carver
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Main Focus: Wilderness Survival
A class focused on the creation of runes.
Requirements: Demonstrate the capability to create runes
Boons: A mix of physical enhancements related to mana manipulation and codex enhancements related to runes
Outlander
Main Focus: Social Acclimation
A class focused on joining society.
Requirements: Originate from outside of the primary society.
Boons: Primarily codex enhancements. Integrates very quickly.
Novice Ranger
Main Focus: Wilderness Survival
A class focused on thriving in the wilds.
Requirements: Survive with limited assistance far from settlements for an extended period of time.
Boons: Primarily physical enhancement, with some identification related codex enhancements
The first note caught me by surprise. Hadn’t I already rejoined society by encountering Martin and his team? Why did it still have the same message about communal computation as before?
Communal computation: Enabled
Enables collaboration between multiple instances of the system to evaluate more complex situations and utilize excess organic processing capability. Requires at least 20 system instances for full functionality. Subfeature of codex link. Enabled by default.
Evidently, the system didn’t consider a group of seven people to be a society.
With my curiosity assuaged, I took another look at my options.
At first, I thought that the first class was the same as my current one. It took me a moment to notice that it was just ‘Magician’ rather than ‘Novice Magician’. From what I could tell it was a continuation of my current class.
The next one looked similar to the magician class, though more specialized. Considering that the benefits from the novice magician class helped me start creating runes in the first place, I figured that the magician class would be the better choice of the two.
The third option was very different from any of the other classes I had been offered. Where most of the others would have helped with surviving in the jungle, this one promised to help with social interactions. I didn’t know if it would let me communicate with the others or not, but it didn’t seem impossible. Interestingly, it mentioned that the boons would integrate quickly.
The final class was the same as one from my first set of choice. The novice ranger class likely would have been quite helpful when trying to survive on my own out in the wild, but I no longer needed that. With the promise of a new home and allies willing to work with me, I didn’t need to consider the class further.
The final choice was between the magician class and the outlander class. Though the boons from the novice magician class had already proven invaluable, my life was no longer in such danger that I immediately needed greater magical power. I was still learning to utilize what I had already been given.
Beyond all else, I wanted a way to communicate with my new companions. Only the outlander class was likely to give that to me.
Without any further deliberation, I selected my new class.