Chapter 29 - Class II

There were so many great classes to choose from. And a few less great for me, personally, that did not quite fit me. As cool as the Hunter class may have seemed, I was not the type of person to fight like that. I was the type of fighter that would come close, shake your hand, and cut your neck.

But there were so many ways to do that. And only one I could use in the end.

"What if I change my mind after a while? Can I come back and change my class?" I asked the mayor.

"Are you kidding me? Of course not, idiot! Classes are not refundable. Every mistake, error, or mishap after leaving the town hall is your own responsibility and you have to deal with it"

"Yeah, I thought so..." I sighed.

I tried to measure in my head the pros and cons of each class to come up with a conclusion that I would not regret later on. First of all, I was not going to choose any of the ranged classes. That was a given. So, I got rid of the papers that described the Hunter, the Shooter, the Scout, and the Mage. I was having second thoughts about the mage, but in the end, I knew it would be better for me to choose something else.

Then, it was time to get rid of the Trapper and the Psychic. I did not think I was smart enough to benefit from the potential of these classes and Trappers avoided fighting themselves anyway, something I did not trust myself to be able to do.

Spy was also out of the question. As nice as it may sound to sneak up on someone and effortlessly fool them into giving you all the information you seek, again, there was not enough action. I could not spy my way through the dungeons that were to come.

So, I was left with the Healer, the Assassin, the Warrior, the Paladin and the Skirmisher.

The Healer would probably not be my choice. It did sound like a subordinate character, after all, and that was not what I was going for.

Paladin was a class that focused a lot on defenses and keeping everyone—and especially themselves—safe from the incoming enemies. I did not have it when I needed it and I didn't think I would need it from that point onwards. So this one got discarded as well.

And I was now left with the Assassin, the Warrior, and the Skirmisher. They all sounded equally good, to the point I could choose one at random and not have any issue with the result.

"What do you think about the Assassin?" I asked Jack and the mayor. "This class seems nice."

"Absolutely not," said the mayor. "You are too much of an idiot to become an Assassin. Why does everyone want to pick this one?" she sighed in the end.

I turned to Jack who refused to give me an answer.

"I told-o you before. You have to listen-o to your-o heart-o," he said as he patted his chest with his right hand, at the point his heart was.

Jack was right. I should listen to my heart. The mayor was not quite as right.

Thinking deeper about it, Assassin was probably not the best idea. It was a great class, a really useful one, too. One I could definitely take advantage of and enjoy myself while doing it. But it was not something that would help me achieve my end goal. What would I do? Sneak behind the Demon King's back and slit his throat? It was not possible to go near him without him knowing. At least not based on the faint memories I had.

So, I was left with the Warrior and the Skirmisher. Two equally strong classes. But I could only choose one. Which one would it be?

I looked back at the two pieces of paper, reading and rereading the descriptions, the [Abilities] and the bonus stats.

The Warrior was very strong. A very potent fighter. Choosing this class would make me storm through the dungeons without a problem, smashing every enemy in my way, be it a spider, an orangutan, or something more sinister.

But the Warrior had a few drawbacks, too.

Warriors had most of their bonus stats added into Vitality, which was definitely a stat that was important for anyone fighting in close combat, but it was also not something I was going to prioritize. In comparison, the Skirmisher's Agility fitted me just right, as I already had a high Agility stat and was going to focus on bringing it up anyway.

Then, there was the weapons they wielded. They tended to be either heavy weapons that did a lot of damage, or wielding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. I was sure this would definitely help the Warrior stomp the opposing armies, but it felt too restrictive in terms of movement to me. A single sword sounded more appealing. And the Skirmishers even had the option to wield two swords! I did not know if I would ever get to use that, but it definitely was something that intrigued me.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Finally, their [Abilities]. The Warrior seemed more like a 'man versus the world' kind of fighter and the [Ability] added into that. The Skirmisher's [Ability] was more suited for duels. Landing slash after slash after slash in a bladed frenzy sounded really appealing.

Thinking about all of these things, the choice became more obvious regarding which one would help me tear Bastildon into a million pieces, just like I promised my to myself and to the memories of my dead friends.

I should choose the one that would turn me into his nightmare.

"I'm ready." I stepped forward and handed the pieces of paper back to the mayor. "I am going to be a Skirmisher!" I said with conviction.

An audible gasp escaped Jack's mouth after hearing my choice.

"Did you not expect that?" I asked him.

"I did-o. That-o is-o exactly what-o I expected-o. I was-o just-o surprised-o with-o by my ability to guess-o correctly. I'm-o such-o a good-o guesser-o after-o all-o."

The mayor took the papers back and lifted part of her seat to hide the classes underneath it once again.

"It is time to move one with the procedure then," she said. She turned her back to us and walked away, until she reached the corner of the room, far back and to the left, where there was a door that blent in with the rest of the room so well that I had failed to notice it up until that point.

She then came back out holding a big and fairly old sword. It looked ancient, like it was a prop used by travelling storytellers that was purposefully made to look old.

"What's this?"

"This is another part of the process. Something necessary if you really want to get your class." She walked back and stood right in front of me.

Holding it with her two hands, the mayor lifted the sword high in the air. From there, she dropped it down, just a few inches over my left shoulder. Then she did the same thing on the other side, stopping the old blade right before cutting into my upper traps.

"Mighty warriors of the past... our honourable ancestors... please, grant this idiot the class of the Skirmisher," she said, bringing the blade over my left shoulder once more and from there back to the right.

For one last time, the blade pointed towards the ceiling as the mayor lifted it up once again. She turned it sideways, turning the blunt part towards me. With one forceful move, she brought it down and hit me right on the top of my head.

"Ow! What the fuck!?" I said, taking clumsy steps back while holding my pained head with my right arm.

"I'm sorry. Okay, I'm far from sorry," the mayor said, trying to keep a sadistic smile from forming on her face. "But this is also part of the process."

"What is wrong with this process?" I complained. "Just give me my class already!"

The hit made me feel dizzy. I lost my balance and had to take a few more steps back, but in the end, I still fell back. My eyes closed. My conscience lost.

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My eyes opened to face a blue, lightly clouded sky.

where am I? How did I get here?

I remembered being at the city hall with that damn mayor. I remembered she hit me hit that old, rusty sword on the head for some reason. But that was the end of my memories.

Getting back on my feet, I was shocked to find out that the same thing I was seeing above me, I could see it below my feet two. A blue, lightly clouded sky.

Am I flying? No, not exactly. Floating? More like it, but not really.

I was able to stand and walk on the sky like I had a perfectly sturdy stone floor below me. Except I didn't.

Looking around, there was nothing else there. There was nothing else anywhere. Blue and white for as long as the eyes could see.

Nevermind where I was. How would I go away from here?

I wanted to stop floating. But not immediately and fall to an uncanny demise. First find land, then get really close to it. At most two meters above the ground or something. And finally, stop floating and get back to the mayor so I can go get my class.

"Hey, kid. You want a class?" a mysterious male voice sounded behind me.

Aah shit...

I did not know who the voice belonged to, but I had a feeling this was not going to go well.

I turned around to see a tall-ish middle-aged Anthir looking at me. Loose black clothes dressing his body. Messy black hair his head. A faint stubble his face.

I looked at the man, unable to believe what I was seeing.

"Are you... me?" I said.

"Exactly," he said as he took a couple of steps forward. "I am y— wait, no, what the fuck? Why would I be you?"

"Something about the way you look. Feels like that is what I will also look like when I reach your age. But maybe a bit cooler."

"I'm sorry, young Anthir, I am not the future you."

"Are you my d—"

"I am not your dad, either. Is everyone fatherless in this era? What is going on with you people? My name is Ersalon. And I am the first Skirmisher."

"The first Skirmisher? Wow, that's awesome and all and well done, you must be really great. But do you know how do we get away from here? I am kinda stuck in this endless sky. Did you also get bonk'd on the head and ended up here? Was it the stupid mayor?"

"You cannot leave yet. I am the reason you are here. And you are the reason I am here. We are in this place so that you can gain your class. So that you can become a Skirmisher, just like me."

Looking around and back at Ersalon, the first Skirmisher, I said, "Okay, based on what has happened so far, it seems reasonable. I do wish you would choose another place to do this, though. Anyway, how do we do this?"

"Well, I am dead," he answered. "I chose a place half-way between your world and the spirit realm. It's only fair, right?"

"Spirit realm? What is this?"

"That, you don't have to know right now. Right now, you need to take out your sword and..."

Ersalon dashed to me and punched me in the face, making me fly back and fall down on the... sky.

"...fight me."

"Wait wait wait! I just went through that phase," I said as I was getting up. "I just did the same thing with the mayor literally ten minutes ago. We fought so she could see if I was worthy of getting a class."

"You did?"

"I really did."

"Well, that's a pickle," Ersalon said. "You see, young Anthir, you just got scammed. No mayor can decide whether you deserve to get your class or not. This is my job. This is why I am here. Did you think I am here just to give you a warm welcome and a pat on the back?"

"I expected you would not be here at all. Actually, I did not expect me to be here either."

"You know, I have a unique combination of sounds that I say when things like that happen: c'est la vie. I like to think of it as 'that's life'. Hope it sticks with people, eventually."

I thought about it a bit. Maybe I could see myself using this phrase. But for now, I had to focus on the situation at hand.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked.

"There is but one logical thing to do from here."