Blake’s body was killing him, literally. The broken fingers on his left hand continued to throb with each beat of his heart, and the right side of his face was frozen in place with heavy burns. His hunger was unending, as if it were eating him from the inside.

As he hobbled down the Mander tunnel, he suddenly let out another wracking cough from the heat which crisped his lungs. He hated to think what they looked like.

Over the last three days, the fire-absorbent kite shield had made his life relatively easy. That was, until its enchantments could hold no more heat, and it fell to pieces. He had hoped it would last until he gained his class, but his good luck finally soured.

Now, he faced off against the Manders and their oppressive environment without a shield. His broken left hand was incapable of holding his old dagger, so he was armed only with his longsword. To make matters worse, his stomach continually rebelled and demanded sustenance.

At least I’m almost done.

Once again, he opened his interface to remind himself how close he was to purchasing a class.

Nano: 791m

He quickly reviewed the math. Each Mander he killed netted him around two and a half million nano. As long as the last fight within this scenario contained four Manders rather than three, he would finally have enough for his class.

Just one more group.

Blake doubled over as he coughed from the superheated air and closed the interface. After he recovered, spit dripped down his chin. He absently wiped it away with the back of his sword hand, but was alarmed when it was coated dark red.

Shit, that’s not good.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could currently do for his damaged lungs except finish the scenario quickly. So, he wiped his mouth and resumed his painful trek through the furnace. He ignored his stomach’s complaints, and the ache of his left hand, as he searched for the last group of monsters within the scenario.

Finally!

As he rounded the corner, four Manders whirled to face him, alerted by his tumultuous entrance. They hissed, and their tongues began to gyrate as they cast their spells.

Thank God it’s a group of four and they’re all mana users.

Blake pushed down the pain and sprinted forward in the hope that he could disrupt their casts before they finished. He reached the closest Mander and immediately skewered it through its open mouth.

One down.

He ignored the wave of heat from the wall as he quickly withdrew his longsword and rushed to the next closest monster. Unlike the first, it canceled its cast and dodged backwards, quick as a whip. Once its cast was canceled, it was no longer a threat.

He ignored it.

His sword slashed and decapitated the next Mander just as its spell finished. The flames that left its mouth immediately died before they could assault him.

That’s two.

Unfortunately, just as he killed the creature, the one furthest away finished its fireball spell form. He raised his left arm to block as he shied away from the magic.

When the fireball enveloped him, he flinched from the extreme heat. It blackened the hide of his armor, but did little damage. However, his body in between his armor pieces was fully exposed and began to melt as the flame licked his skin.

Blake groaned.

Focus Blake!

He grunted and lunged toward the Mander which injured him. A quick slash of his sword ended the monster. He turned to confront the last obstacle.

Three.

The final enemy in the scenario had slithered up the glowing tunnel wall and perched atop a ledge eight feet up. Its mouth was opened wide, and its tongue danced back and forth as it frantically cast its spell. The edge of the tunnel’s heat distorted his view of the snake-like creature.

Blake pressed forward anyway.

He ignored the damaging swelter and leapt above the last monster, sword raised. His longsword descended toward the Mander’s head just as it finished its own spell. A plume of flames was expelled from the creature’s mouth and forced him to close his eyes. He grunted as his sword swung down, and the flames washed over him.

Please don’t move. Please don’t move.

Suddenly, he felt the vibration of impact and the torrent of flames sputtered out.

Yes!

Before he even received a notification, he danced away from the extreme temperature of the walls to the relative safety of the tunnel’s center. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath that was immediately interrupted by a wracking cough.

You have successfully completed the Combat Scenario. Would you like to choose your reward now?

Once Blake recovered, he minimized the message and checked his status.

Nano: 801m

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Finally!

His body ached and the heat of the Mander scenario continued to assault his now sensitive flesh. Blake needed to leave immediately for the cool mountain air. He was impatient to gain his class and finally end his gnawing hunger. To expedite his escape, he shuffled as fast as he could through the cave toward the portal.

As he traveled, he was forced to occasionally pause as he hacked up blood. Each cough caused him to double over in pain. When he reached the entrance, he was tempted to jump through immediately, but forced himself to wait and check his rewards.

He quickly selected yes on his notification, and two mundane pieces of armor with durability enchantments, and two large weapons with self repair were revealed.

His stomach protested.

Screw that.

Blake had already gained a large collection of similar rewards and had no desire to cook further while he waited for his selection to be assembled. Instead, he minimized the interface, retrieved his half melted duffel bag, and jumped toward the swirling portal which lit the room.

He entered the void between realms and gasped in relief as the heat disappeared. A moment later, he was spat out into the canyon on Earth, where cool air buffeted him.

He immediately collapsed to the ground in agony.

As he lay along the cool, hard surface and pushed aside his pain from his ravaged lungs and churning stomach, he navigated through his heads-up display until he reached ‘Combat Classification’. He selected the option and four choices were revealed.

Blake skipped past the first three and selected ‘Omni-class’. He confirmed that he wished to spend eight hundred million nano, and closed his menu. Like attribute enhancements, the modification was not immediate. It took time for the changes to take effect.

The moment he closed his interface, he was bombarded by another notification. Curious as to what it could be and despite his pain, he checked the message.

As the first of your species to gain a combat classification, you have been awarded an achievement. - [Combat Connoisseur]

The [Combat Connoisseur] achievement reduces all spell upgrade costs by fifty percent.

Holy shit!

The immensity of the reward excited him. As you accumulated spells, the cost to keep them upgraded quickly became ruinous. Every evolution of an ability required a hundred million nano. By the time he reached level five in his past life, he had chosen to skip the prohibitive cost of spell upgrades, and focused solely on his attributes and levels.

Now I don’t have to.

The achievement was yet another extremely powerful boon that was most likely wasted in his previous life by one of the previous Scions of Humanity. Blake shook his head and dismissed the message. Another suddenly replaced it.

As the first of your species to gain access to all four energy types, you have been awarded an achievement. - [Omni-Warrior]

The [Omni-Warrior] achievement increases all energy affinities by five percent.

Blake closed the message and checked his status, his pain momentarily forgotten, eager to see his affinities.

Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity

Combat Classification - Level 1

Chi - 19%

Mana - 52%

Psi - 61%

Aether - 94%

This was the first time all four affinities were displayed. In his past life, only chi was visible, as he had no access to the others. When he saw how high his non-chi affinities were, he could not help but bark out a laugh, which morphed into another round of painful coughing.

His entire post-apocalyptic life, he was hindered by his incredibly low affinity to chi. His weaker spells and slower energy recuperation forced him to rely heavily on skill to maintain pace with his fellow party members.

Over time, as he became a master at combat, the single digit affinity became an asset rather than detriment.

This was especially true after he regressed backward in time and fought without a class.

Wait, why is my chi affinity so high?

The omni-warrior achievement increased all affinities by five percent, which meant his chi affinity should be at fourteen percent, not nineteen. It now stood ten percent higher than it had in his past life.

How could something like that change?

Blake was flummoxed at the discrepancy, and could only shrug at his good fortune. He chalked it up as one of the many annoying mysteries of the Architect. After he admired the high numbers for a time, he decided to be thankful for his good fortune rather than worry about its source.

If only I knew about my natural aether affinity.

He tried to imagine how his past life would have gone if he had chosen aether rather than chi. Then, he realized he had no reason to regret his original choice. His low affinity for chi forced him to hone skills his party members ignored. The challenge made him the warrior he was even today.

Now, he could explore all four energy types and retain that martial skill.

The last notification vied for his attention, so he opened the message.

You have gained 50m nano for completing a directive.

He smiled in relief. The fifty million nano windfall would be incredibly helpful. Now that he had a class, he could begin to upgrade his attributes once again. However, he held off on purchasing anything as the faction town may take priority.

Blake’s stomach growled.

With a sigh, he closed his interface and opened the singed duffel bag. He reached inside, retrieved a bottle of water, and quickly unscrewed the cap. Blake grimaced as the hot liquid drained down his throat. It tasted like copper.

Yet, despite the unpleasantness, he drained the bottle dry and sighed in relief as his thirst was quenched. When his stomach cramped once more, he reached into the bag and retrieved a half-melted snack bar.

For the next two hours, he lay on the cold rock in pain. He emptied the last of his supplies as he waited for the nanomachines to complete their task. Eventually, a message appeared before his eyes and he sighed in relief. The action immediately transitioned into a cough. Once his fit was over, he wiped his mouth clean and ignored the blood which coated his hand.

Connection to chi energy established.

Connection to mana energy established.

Connection to aether energy established.

Connection to psionic energy established.

Would you like to select your spells?

I feel amazing.

A surge of energy overwhelmed him, despite his heavy injuries. The lethargy he had grown accustomed to over the last month and a half was gone. He no longer felt moody or cranky, and he could now think clearly.

His body was no longer forced to divert most of his vitality. The new links fed energy to the nanomachines within his body. Without the constant drain, he felt as if he just drank five cups of coffee and had slept for a week straight.

But, most importantly, he was no longer ravenously hungry.

I’ll take sore and coughing over starving any day.

He had agonized over his choices for the past few weeks. Now that he gained greater clarity with the end of his hunger, his hesitation over spell selection disappeared.

His path was obvious to him, and his mind clear.

Blake intended to upgrade his elite solo-warrior achievement, and he knew exactly how to accomplish the feat. He was presented with an opportunity to gain even higher attributes, and he could not afford to pass it by.

I can’t believe I created a faction and got an omni-class in a month and a half. That’s insane!

What Blake had accomplished in so short a time did not feel real to him. When he first set his goals, he expected it to take the entire six months, and that assumed he succeeded at all before Invasion Day. Fighting scenarios solo was incredibly dangerous, and would be a great way to die.

Now that he had a class with access to spells, he hoped it would become far safer for him.

Yes. Select spells.