When Jax awoke, he did so in the void. Or it looked like a void. It took him a minute to gather himself, as he nearly shit himself, seeing the scary emptiness.
A few moments later, a slew of System text manifested in front of Jax:
Evolution to F-grade has begun. Skill selection will occur once during each evolution, then every five levels while in F-grade. Lack of profession has been noted. Choose a new class. Choose a new Race.
Class Options:
Spearman(common): Become one with your spear. You have fought valiantly, proving yourself more than deserving of a higher Class. This class grants access to mundane spear skills. (+3str, tgh, and agi, +2per, +1 other stats, +2 Free point)=16
Hunter(common): You’ve proven yourself both a cunning and powerful predator. Make use of these skills hunting, where your essence desires to be. Gain access to potent tracking, processing, and stealth skills. WARNING!: This option acts as both a class and profession!(+4per, agi, cog, +2str, +2 Free points)=16x2
Avenger(Rare): Their lives will have meaning, even if it comes after their deaths. You once held relationships closely, only for them to be stripped from you. Make them pay. Gain access to strong karma, curse, and conditional skills. (+4wlp, str, tgh, per, +2 Free points)=18
Veil Piercer(Ancient): Become their bane. Rid them from the world. Society isn’t safe until those who would assume the identity of another are purged. You will not be fooled again. Gain access to powerful perception, divination, and truth-seeking skills. (+5per, +4cog, +2wlp, int, agi, +4Free points)=19
???(?): System discrepancy. Outside System purview. Unable to provide certain information. WARNING!: Picking this class may lead to unforeseen dangers or boons. (+5int, +3wlp, per, str, agi, +2 other stats, +1 Free point)=20
Jax read through them carefully, pausing on the last option. While the lack of knowledge from the System that had seemed omnipotent before was strange, what was stranger was how Jax felt drawn to it. It seemed almost connected to him somehow.
Jax shook his head, deciding to at least run through the other options. Spearman wasn’t very appealing for a multitude of reasons. Most important of which was his lack of passion for the spear. It wasn’t something Jax wanted to make a habit of using. It just was too finicky, and Jax felt like it never did well in combat for him. He felt like he lost a lot of control when he kept his adversary at a distance, as well as a feeling of a lack of versatility.
Hunter, strangely enough, didn’t sound good either. While the class/profession hybrid was appealing, as it would give Jax a new stat income, there were a good few drawbacks. Jax was a hunter of necessity first and foremost. Hell, the only reason he’d been appointed the group’s hunter was because he was the only one with enough foresight to determine a spear would be helpful in the wild. He didn’t want to continue being a hunter.
The next two were clearly nods to Angela. It made Jax’s blood boil, thinking about her, or it, rather. That didn’t mean he really wanted to be an avenger, though, much less a detective, like the Veil Piercer class described itself.
For a multitude of reasons, the unknown class appealed to Jax. The stats, the fact that the other options sucked, and the fact that it might lead to more knowledge about exactly how far the System’s reach extended.
Without too much thought, Jax selected the unknown, hoping he didn’t just make a bad gamble, though he doubted very much that he did.
Class [???](?) selected. Choose a skill:
[Stealth Step](common): Speed and stealth are often considered to be two ends of a scale. What happens when you balance the scale? For more energy, take a long step, using mana to conceal sound and movement. Scales with Agility.
[Spearing Thrust](common): The spear is perfect for impaling foes from a moderate distance. You seek to extend the offensive range of the spear even further. Consuming vast internal energy, dash across the ground swiftly and impale your target with unparalleled piercing power. Scales with Agility and Strength.
[Rage](uncommon): A signature skill of Berserkers. Leave behind the shackle of reason in combat, it will only slow you down. Reduce clarity with which you make decisions, leaning into your instincts of rage. Consume more internal energy than normal, but reduces, if not entirely eliminates mental attack vulnerability. Scales with Strength and Toughness.
[Sword and Shield](uncommon): Refined to perfection. Perfectly matched offensive and defensive capability, a sword and shield is a jack of all trades, master of one, and that one is combat. Gain insight into how to use a sword and shield in tandem, as well as combat instincts on what to do. Scales with Strength, Toughness, and Agility.
[Discern](Rare): You’ve mastered the art of knowing what you don’t know. You look at a person, and where everybody else sees normalcy, you see… not normalcy. While you don’t know exactly what is wrong, you now know they have something to hide. And you intend to find out. Scales with Integrity, Perception, and Cognition.
Those were all good options. The only one Jax was kind of turned off to was Spearing Thrust, and even that was immediately more useful than the others. Stealth Step sounded like a good way to either sneak around danger or get the drop on prey.
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Rage was sketchy, but it looked effective. Abandoning logic to instinct wasn’t exactly an aspirational way to fight, but it would help work through panic and even mental attacks, which were apparently a thing. It was a last resort type of skill, and Jax wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but knew he would use it if he had it.
Sword and Shield. A strange one. Why wouldn’t they offer a spear skill for the Warrior class? Well, nevermind. He took the Warrior class, then picked a weapon. Maybe it was a find your own way type of deal. Regardless, it was appealing. Swords were versatile, and while they weren’t amazingly effective against animals, they still worked. The shield was something Jax was going to use anyways, as dodging everything seemed less realistic than just leaning more into defense. It was the skill with the most to look forward to.
Discern was strange, to say the least. Why was there a skill for knowing something was wrong, but not exactly what? Outside of that, it would have been immensely helpful, and maybe even have let Bradley and Mark live. Jax cursed that he hadn’t evolved sooner, then considered that skills and classes seemed to be given based on actions. It sounded like a passive that would basically give you a hunch that someone was concealing something, and maybe even had more environmental or combat potential.
Jax struggled over his choices. He wanted them all, but knew he couldn’t have but one. Instead, he decided to move one to what would probably give him more decision paralysis: picking a Race. With a nudge, the skill screen minimized and a new one took its place.
Race Options:
[Elf]: One of the most prolific races in the multiverse, elves are considered one of the Origin Races. Race skills pertaining to magic are available. (+3cog, +2other stats, +5FP)=20
[Dryad]: Nature’s children. A scarce race, but one few underestimate. This race is of quality over quantity. An invitation was extended from Briar’s Touch, a god of nature. Gain access to diverse racial skills that grant you communion with nature. (+2 all stats. +6FP)=20
[Scalekin]: Embody your Origin. Grow scales to defend yourself, and to bring you closeness with those who you borrow scales from. An invitation was extended from Miriam, Progenitor of Scalekin. Gain access to broad skills. (+2 all stats. +6FP)=20
[Ice-Sobbin]: Hermits of the world, Sobbins are known for their secular nature and cloistering themselves to their element. You are naturally suited to the Sobbins, particularly of the Icy nature. All energies become pigmented with the Ice affinity. (+2 all stats. +6FP)=20
[Shadow-Sobbin]: Hermits of the world, Sobbins are known for their secular nature and cloistering themselves to their element. You are naturally suited to the Sobbins, particularly of the Shadowy nature. All energies become pigmented with the Shadow affinity. (+2 all stats. +6FP)=20
Next to each option was a 3d optic of what looked like himself transformed into each race. The elf wasn’t too different, with his brown hair, brown eyes, and average facial features, but his body was taller, more lithe, and naturally thin. It appealed to Jax the most, simply due to how familiar it looked.
Him as a Dryad was… Strange. He looked more androgynous, and lacked, well, man-parts. It was disconcerting enough for Jax to dismiss it out of hand.
Scalekin was–nope. Next.
The Sobbin race was intriguing, because it looked like someone took Jax as a human and just dipped him in Ice-blue and Grey dye, respective to their order. The only turnoff Jax had was how it spoke of becoming tied to one element, which seemed like a poor decision to make while still poorly informed of what life would look like once the Battleground was finished.
Without much more to think about, Jax picked elf.
Evolution to [Elf] will take place after you select three race skills. NOTE: [Infinite Paths] and [Cultural Mimic] will be lost.
Skill Options:
[Enhanced Magic Sense](common)
[Simple Mana Manipulation](common)
…
To make an incredibly long list short, Jax wound up picking three he thought were broadly useful, considering the description for the race hadn’t lied; there was no lack of magic-based skills. The three were: [Enhanced Magic Sense], [Quantified Resources], and [Elven Grace]. Enhanced magic sense gave the ability to sense environmental mana better, quantified resources did just that, quantifying his vital, internal, and magical energies, and whatever other energies he might have, and Elven Grace, the only skill that was Rare, basically served as a broad-use passive that made every action Jax performed more smooth and accurate to what he wanted.
With that done, Jax was slightly surprised by how easy that had been. He imagined that most people would become elves simply due to how similar they were to humans, not to mention the factor that few would openly admit to including in the decision: elves looked way better than humans.
Jax cringed, though, remembering a choice he had put off. Class skill selection. After choosing elf, Jax narrowed it down to two final contenders: Stealth Step and Sword and Shield. Jax chewed his lip for a while over the choice, wishing he could take both, but he knew he couldn’t. Really, they would both be useful, but they were relatively defining of how Jax would make it to the end of the Battleground, and Jax hadn’t forgotten the initial System message:
Integration event has been initialized. Welcome to the Battleground, where all those deemed combatants by nature are sent. You being here means that the System has determined you to be related in many ways to a Path of Combat, no matter how that Path looks.
Rewards will be assigned at the conclusion of this event based on performance and decisions made.
That last part was what was making the choice so difficult. Jax had come to terms with this new world, or he thought he had. Turns out, he was still lingering in the past. Jax steeled himself, asking himself one simple question: “Will you run and hide, or will you fight?”
The fork in the road was right here. Jax couldn’t help but view the two skills more like what they really were, which was doorways, where he couldn’t–wouldn’t–turn back. “This new world is dangerous, but I’ll be either dead or oppressed if I choose to skirt this. I’ll fight. I’ll fight until I’m safe, until I’m unable, or till I die. If living means fighting, so be it. I’ll become a true warrior.”
Taken with his own motivation, Jax slammed a hand on the screen.
[Sword and Shield](uncommon) taken. All options complete, now implementing evolutions.
Jax blacked out, but felt something before he fell unconscious. A set of eyes on him, appearing above in the void. He didn’t see them for but a split second, but they would never be forgotten. Pure white, almost glowing, they stared down.