Tendrils of power, rising up from all the worlds, fueling me. Me. The champion. Of this Universe.
----------------------------------------
“Alright, that is weird… and very interesting,” Mia said. She had just absorbed the Class Assignment Core and her gaze was resting on something in the distance as she studied the new information.
Things had finally calmed down, and they were all seated around a table in the common room. Immediately upon returning from the Class Assignment Dungeon, Pete had escorted Mia outside the cave so she could regenerate her Growth essence quickly. While they were outside, Vic had prepared food while Matt had done what he could for Thor, who was in serious discomfort.
First, he had carefully undressed him, moving slowly and carefully to avoid disturbing any of the open wounds still scattered across Thor’s body. Mia had instructed him to leave the bandages in place, but to clean him up as best he could to make it easier to work on the wounds when she returned. One kettle was reserved for boiling pieces of cloth, and Matt threw a bloody rag to join a growing pile behind him as he reached for a clean one. He continued to clean blood and dirt off the man, slowly working his way up from the feet to the head. Matt winced as he revealed deep cuts, trying to be as gentle as he could as Thor tried to keep still through the pain. Finally, he finished by the head and carefully dabbed the cloth around Thor’s eyes, softening the crusted blood until the man could finally open his eyelids.
“Thanks,” Thor said, his voice hoarse as he forced the words up through a damaged throat. “Could I have some water?”
Vic had finished making the buckwheat porridge, and was nearby, ready with a mug of water that he handed to Thor. Matt held his head carefully as he drank. That had been too close, he thought. One more enemy, or if Pete had been just a moment slower, and we would have lost Thor.
“Here, drink this,” Vic said as he held another mug out to Matt. Matt took a big sip, enjoying the taste of the strong mead as it went down and sending a silent thanks to Harl.
“Thanks, Vic,” he said. “Good idea. We all need something extra after that dungeon. That was… too close.” He looked down at Thor.
“Maybe,” Vic squinted towards Matt, and continued in an uncharacteristically steady and serious voice. “But we made it. And it won’t be the last fight where we have to take risks, to stand on the edge. If we are going to do this… if we are seriously going to challenge the nobles, make a difference in the world, we need to get used to this. This will happen again and again. Don’t go soft on us, Matt. We need you.”
When Matt didn’t answer immediately, Vic looked at him sharply and said, “Understand?”
With a sigh, Matt nodded. “I do. I understand it up here,” he said and tapped the side of his head. “But honestly? I’m scared. I’m so–”
“Scared is good, Matt,” Vic interrupted him. “This matters. It’s important, and it’s dangerous. We are all scared. But don’t fucking lock up again.”
“You noticed?”
“Of course I did. Mia and Thor needed you, and you zoned out. Get a grip, sort out your thoughts. We need to be able to depend on you.”
This time, Matt nodded meekly, adding a soft “Yes” as he looked down at Thor. Thor was looking up at him with a considering look and looked like he was about to say something, just as Mia and Pete rushed back into the room.
She moved straight over to Matt and Thor, and when Matt threw her a questioning look, she nodded and smiled. “Full up on essence,” before her face became serious as she sat down next to Thor and looked him over.
“Good job,” she said to Matt as her hand reached out. Starting with his mangled hands, she spent a long time knitting together them together before she continued with his head. Once that was done, she moved her good hand down Thor’s body with slow determination. Dark, green threads reached out from her fingertips to wrap Thor’s wounds, dancing across the tissue as it regenerated and healed the damage. Matt watched in rapt fascination at the patterns hidden in the swirling threads; the same symbols repeating over and over, with strands of energy sparkling across the weave. As the hand moved across Thor’s chest, the skin rippled and bones reset and grew back together with a scraping sound.
Thor took a deep breath, and his chest rose as it filled with air. A huge sigh escaped from his lips. “Thank you,” he smiled up at Mia. “That skill–you, you are incredible.” He tried to sit up, and Pete leaned down to support him.
“It’s pretty good, isn’t it?” She grinned down at Thor. “But I need to learn how to ration it. You almost didn’t make it. For some reason, my essence didn’t recharge in there, even with all the grass and trees.”
“Those trees didn’t have any essence,” Matt said. “Nothing did in there. It was all empty, like it was somehow dead.”
“How does that work?” Vic said, carrying the pot of porridge over to the table.
They all sat down, finally able to take a moment to rest their legs and savour the taste of food. Matt answered him between bites. “I don’t fully understand yet. But there is something artificial about the dungeons. I get this feeling that they are not real, not part of the world. It’s almost like we are transported into a place that has just been created temporarily. Out here, I can see the essence everywhere.” He pointed over to the stove. “There, there are orange threads floating above the fire.” Then he pointed at them. “And around you, there are all kinds of different threads. Hundreds, or thousands. In the dungeon, nothing else other than us showed any sign of essence.”
“We could go back inside the dungeon,” Thor said, scratching his chin. “And if it is some kind of artificial creation, the people that we killed should be gone.”
“Let’s wait before going back, though,” Matt said. “We need a better plan. That was too close.” With a look to Vic, he added. “But we do need to get stronger. We fight well together, but there is still so much room for improvement. I know I need the practice.”
“You are right,” Pete agreed. “We have some basic tactics that work pretty well. Matt, you are decent at taking point and keeping the enemies occupied, but you need to fall back earlier, pull them into our formation. You push out too much, forcing me to track along the side, when I could rather—”
“Yeah, yeah. We need to practise. Let’s do that. But is everyone forgetting about the crystals?” Vic said. “I think it’s time to… to see what they are. Maybe they can give us something… some strange new powers. Whatever happens, we need to incorporate it into our training.”
He took out his dark grey Class Alignment Core and set it on the table in front of him.
“Alright,” Mia said, looking at Vic. “I agree. But let me go first.”
Vic was about to protest, but Mia was already holding her crystal up, peering into it. This will never get old, Matt thought as he watched the threads appear. He stared in amazement as a thick tendril of green wove through the air towards Mia’s eyes, much thicker and denser than he had seen before. Delicate symbols spun and danced as the threads kept increasing in brightness until Matt had to squint. A sudden flash of green light completed the connection, and the green threads disappeared into Mia.
“Oh,” she said in a small voice after a little while. “Now that is different.” After another long pause, gazing into the distance, she continued.
“So…” Her voice trailed off. “It’s what it says, it gives me options to choose a class. Classes seem to be different… I guess calling them professions works. I am looking at a page of text, which says,
Class Alignment in Progress; Please Select your Class.
Your Performance has been Assessed and these are your Options:
Healer [Common]
Your actions have demonstrated an aptitude for healing the body. Following the Path of the Healer, your skills will provide solace and safety to your allies, healing their injuries and keeping them alive through strife and peace.
Attribute Points per Level (8):, Magical Resistance+1, Wisdom+2, Presence+1, Insight+1, Free Points: 3
New Skill: Health (Temporarily increase the maximum hit points of an ally)
Nature’s Ward [Uncommon]
You are part of the circle of life, and your ability to manipulate the essence of Growth gives you a foundation to build a life connected with nature. Your Path will take you into the wilderness of Nature’s Life, where everything is interconnected.
Attribute Points per Level (10): Spiritual Resistance+1, Wisdom+3, Presence+2, Insight+2, Free Points: 2
New Skill: Regrow (By your touch, you regrow any damage done to living tissue)
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Hearth and Shield [Rare]
You are a bastion of protection. Always guarding and giving strength to your allies, they depend on you for advice and strength. Standing back from the front lines of battle, you are the sanctuary from which they can safely act, secure in the knowledge that you are there to catch them if they should fall. You are the solid foundation they need to create meaningful change in the world.
Attribute Points per Level (12): Magical Resistance+1, Intelligence+1, Wisdom+2, Insight+2, Perception+1, Presence+3, Insight+1, Free Points: 1
New Skill: Bastion (An area surrounding you will bolster all allies’ strength and abilities)
”
Vic was the first to break the silence that followed. “Oh fuck. That second one, the skill… Regrow. Does that mean what I think it means?”
They all looked down at the stump at the end of Mia’s arm.
“It must,” Thor said, looking intently at Mia. “So, if you select Nature’s Ward, then–”
Mia swallowed, and she looked down for a moment. Eventually she looked back up at Thor, a strange mix of determination, loss and hope written across her face. “I have already chosen Hearth and Shield.”
“But, why?” Matt exclaimed. For a moment, he had hoped there was a way to regrow her hand, to cancel out what he had done to her.
“Because what we are doing here is not about me, it’s about something more. And I don’t need my hand for the future that we’ve planned. Hearth and Shield is who I am, who I want to be. It’s what we need.”
Mia closed her eyes, and suddenly dark, green threads of essence began to whirl around her; first as thin wisps, barely noticeable, but as Matt watched, they grew in density and intensity until Mia was covered in them. How can the others not see this? Matt wondered, as she disappeared inside a cocoon of green power. Matt’s eyes were transfixed in rapt attention as the thin threads danced in intricate patterns, the brightness of the light increasing and increasing until the green cloud was absorbed into Mia in an instant.
Mia’s eyes gazed into the distance, and the determination in her face was replaced by a smile that grew with every passing moment as she read out the information.
Level: 3 Class: Hearth and Shield [Rare] (+12/+1 Free Points) Affinity: Growth Area Growth Essence Density: Drought Health: 32 (Regeneration: Base+0) Essence: 52 (Regeneration: Base+10)
Skills: Mend (I)*, Bastion (I)
*) Active in Skill Slot
Skill Slots: 1 (Base:1/E:0/E:0/E:0/E:0) Titles: None Heart Loci (Tier E / 1: +2 Health) Physical Resistance 0 Magical Resistance 1 (+1) Spiritual Resistance 0 Mind Loci (Tier E / 10: +10 Essence Regeneration) Intelligence 5 (+1) Knowledge 2 Wisdom 3 (+2) Body Loci (Tier E / 0: +0 Health Regeneration) Strength 0 Speed 0 Stamina 0 Soul Loci (Tier E / 11: +22 Essence) Perception 2 (+2) Presence 4 (+3) Insight (5 +2)
Unable to sit still as Mia shared her information, Vic had gotten up from the table and was now pacing around, bouncing his class crystal from hand to hand. The moment Mia finished, he held it up. “Now it is my turn!”
Matt’s fascination with the threads of essence only grew with each repetition of the miracle, and he found himself closely studying the patterns as the other three absorbed their Class Alignment Cores one after the other. He had started to ignore the totality of the spectacle, choosing instead to focus on the intricate details. Moving close to study each transformation, he was starting to recognise repeating symbols and patterns. Some were part of the weave in each of the different patterns, whereas other arrangements appeared unique to the different types of essence. One set of recurring symbols repeated for both Pete, Thor and Vic; with the same pattern connecting in the same way across their torsos, the sight of the pattern jolted something in Matt’s memory.
Turning his attention inwards, he found the same symbols clustered together in patterns that raced across the cloud of threads that danced across the pulsating sphere in his mind. I need to write all of this down; he thought. There is a system here, and if I don’t get it written down, I am going to forget it. Like that symbol, where the double lines cross over into the triangular shape, that connects this pattern with this pattern for both-
He breathed, returning his attention to Thor’s transformation, which was the last one. There was a puzzle, something to inspect and research and discover. The buzzing excitement in the pit of his stomach grew as he imagined uncovering the secrets hidden in the magical patterns.
With reluctance, he forced his attention back to the conversation going on around the table.
“So,” Vic said, “I have four options to choose between.” He took a drink from his mug of mead before continuing. “I have three common options; Thief, Rake and Rogue. I guess Rogue sounds interesting, but…” His eyes sparkled with excitement. “It’s not really a hard choice. The last option is marked as, wait for it…” He looked up from his drink, a strange grin on his face. “Legendary.”
Mia gave Vic an exasperated sigh. “Don’t make us ask.”
He shot her a grin before answering the unspoken question. “Shadowstalker. The description is just pure awesome. Listen to this: Your Domain is Shadow, and your Prey will learn to fear you. Hiding in the space that exists between light and darkness, you strike unseen. Finding your own morality in the chaos that is existence, you will walk a tightrope made of shadow. Your Will is your Way and your Way is your Will. When your dagger finds its mark, judge your actions on the scales of destiny.”
“That is…” Matt began, but didn’t quite know how to phrase his thoughts when Pete did it for him.
“That is fucked up, Vic. Ominous, twisted, and very appropriate. How about attributes and skill?”
“It gives me 15 more attribute points per level. 2 in Physical Resistance, 1 in Spiritual Resistance, 1 in Intelligence, 1 in Strength, 3 in Speed, 1 in Stamina, 4 in Perception and 2 Free Points. The new skill is called Assassination. And listen to this; Assassination (Requirement: Dagger or similar weapon equipped): Your next attack will do triple damage. The full writing now reads….”
Level: 3 Class: Shadowstalker [Legendary] (+15/+2 Free Points) Affinity: Shadow Area Shadow Essence Density: Abundant Health: 36 (Regeneration: Base+12) Essence: 48 (Regeneration: Base+1)
Skills: Hide (I), Assassination (I)*
*) Active in Skill Slot
Skill Slots: 1 (Base:1/E:0/E:0/E:0/E:0) Titles: None Heart Loci (Tier E / 3: +6 Health) Physical Resistance 2 (+2) Magical Resistance 0 Spiritual Resistance 1 (+1) Mind Loci (Tier E / 1: +1 Essence Regeneration) Intelligence 1 (+1) Knowledge 0 Wisdom 0 Body Loci (Tier E / 12: +12 Health Regeneration) Strength 2 (+1) Speed 8 (+3) Stamina 2 (+1) Soul Loci (Tier E / 9: +18 Essence) Perception 9 (+4) Presence 0 Insight 0
“That’s a lot of health regeneration,” Pete said. “I wonder how health works, though. Do we die when they hit 0? And when Mia heals us, does she regenerate the health points too?”
“We need to find out,” Matt answered. “How about you, Pete; what class did you get?”
“Three class options, and one of them was just so much better that I’ve already selected it. There was a Warrior class, and a Swordsman class–that was an uncommon one–but there was another uncommon class that I chose; Paladin...” Pete paused for a moment, checking on his information text, before continuing. “Attribute bonuses for strength, stamina and physical resistance, in total 10 more points per level. I should be able to take some hits. Just listen to this…”
Level: 3 Class: Paladin [Uncommon] (+10/+1 Free Points) Affinity: Steel Area Growth Essence Density: Normal Health: 42 (Regeneration: Base+14) Essence: 30 (Regeneration: Base+0)
Skills: Cleave (I)*, Shield (I)
*) Active in Skill Slot
Skill Slots: 1 (Base:1/E:0/E:0/E:0/E:0) Titles: None Heart Loci (Tier E / 6: +12 Health) Physical Resistance 6 (+3) Magical Resistance 0 Spiritual Resistance 0 Mind Loci (Tier E / 0: +0 Essence Regeneration) Intelligence 0 Knowledge 0 Wisdom 0 Body Loci (Tier E / 14: +14 Health Regeneration) Strength 8 (+3) Speed 0 Stamina 6 (+3) Soul Loci (Tier E / 0: +0 Essence) Perception 0 Presence 0 Insight 0
“42 health?” Vic whistled. “Not bad. You are formally nominated to be the guy taking the hits. How about that skill?”
“Shield?” Pete answered with a small smile. “I can–let me just show you. I just need to find out how to…” After a pause, Pete continued. “Ok, that’s how that works. You can change which skill is active if you focus on the writing. I have activated Shield now.”
A second later, steely blue threads coalesced around Pete’s hand, which he extended from his body. Soon, the threads spun together to create a dense disc of spinning energy.
“Awesome!” Vic said, then asking “Should I…?” as he drew the dagger from his belt.
Pete grinned and nodded, and Vic swung back to strike hard at the shimmering shield. Soundlessly, the dagger bounced off the disc.
“Impressive,” Mia said with a smile, before turning to Thor. “How about you?”
“I’m not sure why, but I had all of six different options. A few common, then an uncommon and a legendary. But one of them was… Epic.”