I snapped back into my body, my hand jerked back from the building.

Shuddering, I looked around. It hurt to move my head. I was surrounded by the troops. Some of the new footmen had already received their power armor and had joined in guarding me. Now, 18 pairs of eyes watched every shadow, scanned every roof top and examines every person who come near.

John and Jim kept their attention on me. I could tell they were ready to put me down if I wasn't myself anymore. I had mentioned the possibility at some point, after we dealt with Grais.

"That went well. How long was I out?" My voice slurred, I wobbled a bit. Yup, all the alteration of my stats had messed with my balance. Not unexpected. I still had more to do so it would likely get worse.

"About an hour, Hoss. You Good?"

"Yes, the main problem has been fixed. Now, I have to pick another class. Please, keep an eye out?"

"We're on it." John gave me a nod.

I placed my hand on the Town Hall again and picked Choose Class.

[ Mage of Transformation

+2 to Will

+1 to Cool

+2 to Intelligence

A Mage that specializes in transmutations.

Starting Spells: Change Color, Alter Minor Property ]

I had to admit I didn't see how this was useful. Changing something's color while interesting didn't seem necessary. Alter Property could be very useful or it could be worthless. I wouldn't be able to tell without picking it.

[ Elemental Mage

+2 to Will

+1 to Cool

+2 to Intelligence

A mage that wields the Elemental forces. Specializations are available.

Starting Spells: Flame Bolt, Frozen Shackles, Displace Earth, Breeze ]

There was a lot of utility there. The Elements and Nature would likely synergize well. I had noticed nature mana seemed to have some of the properties of the four base elemental forces. On the other hand, It might end up being a hat on a hat situation. Raw Nature Mana could be shaped to do most of the things the starting spells seemed to do.

[ Mage of Space

+2 to Will

+1 to Cool

+2 to Intelligence

A Mage that manipulates the fabric of Reality itself.

Starting Spells: Dimensional Pocket, Expanded Step ]

I had no clue. It sounded badass. It would really depend on what I could learn down the road. A dimensional pocket would likely be a good way to hide things. I wasn't sure what Expanded Steps did but it seemed interesting.

Hmm.

I took a chance but not much of one.

[ Mage of Space has reached Level 6

You have gained Dimensional Pocket

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You have gained Expanded Step

You have gained Between Points

You have gained Know Location

You have gained +7 Will

You have gained +6 Cool

You have gained +7 Intelligence

You have gained +12 Free Points ]

My hand flew from the Town Hall. Everything whirled around me. Stop the ride, I want off.

I stumbled backwards

Managing to catch myself before my ass hit the ground, I then struggled to not throw up.

"Someone get me the number of that truck." I groaned. Swallowing back the raising bile.

"Deep Breaths." John encouraged.

He was a wall of darkness, his thoughts and feeling hidden deep. Maybe even from himself.

It took a few minutes of sucking air and pretending that controlling my breathing mattered for me to regain a semblance of normalcy.

"Alright, that step two down. Now we need to hit the Nexus and then see Meadran, so I can increase my strength."

"Hoss, you don't need to shoulder everything yourself. It's okay to lean on others." Concern burned in his voice, and I could feel it coiling around him. He didn't want to fail again.

What? How did he fail? No, not my business. He'll tell me when he is ready.

"Would you? Jim, in my situation, would you really want others to help you? Even if you did, would you let them?" He shrugged and I nodded, "I need your help and I am doing my best to share the burden, but some things I have to do myself, because there is no one else."

Even all the folks I summoned would likely go their own ways if I died. I might never be the hero. I might not be the one to bring our enemies to their knees. I had a hard time accepting that.

I was the glue. I could see that now. It was my task to gather all the people who still cared under one banner. To create a place for them to thrive. I don't know why it took so long to see it.

That resonated all the way down to my toes.

Let's look at the new Class.

Dimensional Pocket creates a space of (Level of skill) yard(s) cubed. This space couldn't be accessed by others. Sadly it couldn't contain living beings. After the initial casting I only had to spend a small amount of mana to open or close the space.

Expanded Step increase the distance my steps traveled. Additive. So at skill level one my steps gain one extra yard of distance. At skill level two, two extra yards and so on. It would last as long as I provided mana. I could see this being very useful, but it would likely take a lot of training to use it effectively.

Between Points was odd. I could change the distance between any two points I could see. That would require some testing.

Know Location was a spell that could locate anything that was A) not protected from scrying and B) within the same causal reality. That wasn't exactly clear to me. Some testing required.

Alright I'll let all of that percolate in the back of my mind. Time to get some food.

"Come on, we'll grab a bite before we head into the Valley." Somehow, I felt a lot more alive.

We wrecked quite a number of ration packs. It's like we had been starving. I wonder why.

When we were finished, we marched up the path to the Valley.

Of some concern was that Jaina hadn't shown up. Nor did Megan or Sally. Not even Amanda had come by to see Raynor. Something was going on. I just hoped it was unrelated to the burning fear in my gut.

We bypassed Meadran and headed to the Nexus first. Partially because I wanted to save bumping up the Arch Druid Class til last. Partially because I wanted to stop in real quick to look at a few of the lasgun schematics. Maybe, make a few adjustments and build one. Just one.

I mean, Come on, it's a laser gun! My inner kid was fucking going nuts.

Sometime you have to listen to your inner child, dammit!

[ Warp-Smith has reached Level 6

You have gained Psi Technique, Overclock Self

You have gained Psi Technique, Expedite Build

You have gained +3 Psi Resonance

You have gained +2 Tech

You have gained +4 Free Points ]

After the screaming agony my first coherent thought was, Nice!

Overclock Self let me speed up my thought processes.

Expedite Build was an ability to speed up any form of construction. That's was just what the doctor ordered!

Giggling like a schoolgirl I ran to the forge and loaded up the schematic of the Marshall's Laspistol. I immediately used Overclock Self.

I didn't even notice the judging stares of my men. Even if I had I was too invested in this idea.

Less than 5 minutes later I had an improved design ready to go.

Just switching it to have a Psicrystal power and control system increased it's output and stability by quite a bit. It could even be overcharged if it was operated under the Psifield.

Using crysbronze for the shell decreased the weight and increased the durability. I altered the design to look a little more like a modern firearm.

Using Expedite Build had the first prototype out in three minutes.

I danced a jig.

Again I barely noticed the guys all laughing at my attics.

I took the newly forged weapon out to the testing ranged just behind the Nexus and let loose a few shots at the crysbronze targets.

In a phrase, Great Success!

A couple of shots slagged each target. The beams were a bright electric blue, and crackled like plasma. Yet they had the stability, distance and accuracy of a laser.

This was without the overcharge feature.

I now had a light weight pistol that could function as an anti vehicle weapon.

I immediately cast Dimensional Pocket. Once, I could feel the space open I gently laid the pistol inside. I liked that the spell had no obvious opening.

Once everyone stopped giving me shit for splurging out, we went to visit Meadran.