"System delete class!"
.......
"System remove class!"
....
"WHY!?! All I wanted was to protect what's mine and help everyone. I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!"
You have gained the opportunity to gain extraordinary abilities that many would kill for. You would deny this oppurtunity?
I read the notification and freeze. The system responded to me? It has the ability to respond at all? This can't be normal.
Normal? You are the first of your kind to earn the opportunity at being a dungeon master and you are worried about "Normal". Wouldn't most of your fellow Humans be excited by this prospect?
Yup. Too much time working in the fields, too many back breaking days, now I am imagining the system is actually talking to me. I think I am just gonna have a nice sit.
You truly think I am a figment of your imagination? Do you even know how I came to be? Do you even know what I am capable of? Maybe an example of my abilities is in order.
Oh good, now the scary notification box is trying to scare me. I need more coffee, that is clearly the issue here.
You have lost your Farmer Class
WARNING: SKILL INCOMPATIBLITY DETECTED
You have lost Green Thumb (Tier 2)
You have lost World Shaper (Tier 3)
You have lost Worlds Bounty (Tier 1)
You have gained 12 skill points as compensation
You have gained Elemental Control (Tier 1) as compensation
"You...what? GIVE ME MY FUCKING CLASS BACK!" I fumed "I worked my ass off gaining those skills and broke my back to help those around me. Who or what the hell do you think you are to just dictate what I should do with my life?!?" though as soon as I finish speaking my mind, my body freezes. I find that I am unable to move or do anything except breathe, and in the next moment, a soul crushing pressure slams over every inch of my being, rooting me to where I am standing, unable to even draw breath.
You dare argue with the will of a GOD?!? You think the system a creation of your own people? You think what you have achieved thus far was purely due to your own efforts? Without the system, MY system I should emphasize, you would still be shoveling dirt by hand and would be unable to provide for even yourself.
Your kind has wraught many a wrong upon this world, and I had judged you to be one of several among the best of your kind to right the wrongs of your people, but maybe I have chosen wrong. This is the first true hardship you have faced, and you are already at the preipice of breaking. Are you truly so weak?
Feeling the pressure suddenly dissaper, I hit the ground gasping for breath, mind reeling with what I was just told. "What do you mean my kind has wronged the world? All I have ever seen are neighbors who help one another, a community that has grown and is strong through times of hardship together."
"I mean, yeah, the kingdom overall could use some improving, letting those Heroes they have summoned get away with just about anything so long as they get the job done, but things could be worse. As for breaking, what do you expect? You have basically upended everything I have ever worked for in an instant, are you saying I should be grateful for your sudden and unexpected intrusion into my way life? Also why me, couldn't you have just summoned a Hero of your own to fix whatever?"
Your way of life? Why it's that exact reason I chose you. You could have done many things with your skills, but you chose to aid those around you unconditionally, shown unending kindness to those who would have otherwise ignored your very existance, and you have tried to live in harmony with the land itself.
In other words you are the ideal candidate to help fix things, specifically those Heroes and the people in charge who use them. You know about but a small part of your world, those Heroes while meant to do good, have caused much torment to the other species of the world which your Kings and Queens have deemed to be lesser lifeforms.
"What exactly do you mean by 'lesser lifeforms'?" I asked while pacing about still mildly agitated "So far the only things I have heard of the Heroes being sent to do is cull some threats to our towns and cities such as the Goblin King that people are starting to talk about or other monsters. Are we not supposed to defend ourselves when a threat shows up?"
You truly have no idea what is actually happening in the world around you. Allow me to show you a small example of what exactly these so called 'Heroes' are doing on their missions and the so called 'monsters' they are sent to slay.
The room around me starts to dissolve into a pitch black void leaving me with a sensation of weightlessness as I see a speck of green in the distance. The weightless sensation is replaced by the feeling of falling which sends me into a panic as the small speck of green rapidly becomes what is clearly a field that I am plummeting toward. I try to scream but no sound is made as I slam into the ground with enough force that I should have just turned into a pile of gore, let alone being able to pick myself up immediately after.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Once I regain my bearings and start looking around, I notice I am in what appears to be a small village surrounded by woods, a beastkin village I realize by the thatch roofing and pelts lined up on lines outside one of the buildings. Instantly I become wary, I have heard stories about how wolfkin will stalk and taunt people, utterly exhausting them before going in for the kill, or the felinids who ambush travellers in the woods, dropping from the trees above and savagely cutting their throats open for easy kills before taking their goods and leaving the bodies to rot just to name a few.
As I look around I see a kitsune woman approach me, she was wearing what appeared to be a strange mix of floral print robes and layered leather armor, with bands of glowing gold seemingly floating around her wrists and ankles and nine shining tails flowed behind the woman glowing with a what I assumed to be an impressive amount of mana. She was wearing a rather servere expression while scanning the woods, her ears twitching and moving to pick up any sounds nearby. Seeming to somehow be completely oblivious to my presence, I slowly start backing away from her when suddenly she turns and shouts a cry of alarm in a language I can't understand.
The clearing suddenly explodes into action as five more kitsune appear and start chanting, with more toward the center of the village clearly ready for something to happen. I see their hands starting to glow at the same time I see the trees starting to move near the edge of the clearing. Before I can get a good look at what is about to come out of the forest, all six of them face their palms toward the disturbance and a bright blue light flashes from them, sending a stream of light that strikes the ground a few feet before the treeline where a nearly transparent wall starts forming. As the wall grows I notice the formation of kitsune moving around, shaping the wall to surround the small village with it. Just as the wall was closed around the village, I saw, well I am not entirely sure what exactly it was.
Something was there. The area where it stood, whatever it was, I could see that it looked just slightly distorted, like there was a heatwave even though it wasn't all that hot outside at the moment. The thing walked up to the wall and you could see a ripple from where it was poked, but it didn't let the thing through. Shortly after I could see the thing back away from the wall slightly and then an eruption of loud noise as the wall was assaulted by some unknown noise. At first the wall held as what seemed like hundreds of small projectiles impacted the wall, but then it started to waver a bit.
The loud noise stopped briefly as I heard a series of what could only be described as a clicky clacky noises and then the roaring of whatever weapon it was using was heard again, though this time along with each impact were small explosions which the wall couldn't handle. Whatever magic this thing was employing was terrifying as after the wall fell the loud noise persisted for another second where I saw two of the kitsune were struck by the attack, one in the forward formatoin whose arm was rent clean from their body in a spray of blood and chunks dropping them in an instant while they released a blood curdling scream of agony, another toward the center group whose head just disappeared, the body hitting the ground lifeless leaving those around simply staring in horror at the suddeness and violence brought against them.
After this, there was another series of weird clacking noises at which point one of the kitsune rushed forward and immediately dropped to their knees and bowed at the being. They were saying something to the nearly invisible bringer of death, tears flowing from their eyes, presumably begging for them to stop. The creature brought its arm to lift the kitsunes head up, then revealed itself to be a woman, it's camoflage gone you could see she had short cut purple hair, and what appeared to be a body of some sort of black material, similar to leather but clearly something else, and cold calculating eyes that you could tell have seen more death than any living being should. Slung around her shoulder was something clearly made of a black metal, and two other, smaller but similar objects strapped to her thighs by some sort of black material which they fit perfectly into, and around her chest was another object made out of that same material, but with multiple pouches and a few round things with silver handles on them. While maintaining a cold blank expression, she slowly stood up and took a step back, shifting the object in the sling from behind her back into her hands.
From the center group there was a bright flash followed by a crashing explosion as one of them fired lightning at the woman, sending her flying into one of the trees with a sickening crack, then falling onto the ground in a smoking heap. For a moment, no one moved and every breath was held as they weren't sure if that got the woman. Then with a groan, she stirred, getting back up to her feet, and immediately blended in with her surroundings once more.
At that moment, all hell broke loose as every kitsune present unleashed spell after spell where the woman was standing, sending fireballs, clods of earth, shards of ice, and streaks of lighting, kicking up a huge wall of debris that no one could see through. After a few seconds everyone stopped, thinking that the lack of action meant they had won. After the dust settled, a crater where she was standing was visible, and the kitsune started to look relieved as it appeared they had obliterated the threat to their village. At that moment I look toward the center group and see the distortion in the air again, and I scream a warning at them, hoping to get their attention about the danger they are in to no avail.
They hear a small clink and then a soft thud as one of the small objects that was on her check appears in the center of the group. Curious, one of the kitsune picks it up, and then it explodes, turning the upper half of the group into a fine mist of blood and viscera, their lower havles spilling out and falling to the ground. The front line kitsune all fall to the ground, seeming to lose their will to fight after the display of ultraviolence.
Once again the woman appeared in front of them, slung her weapon back behind her, and then took one of the smaller versions from it's side holster and pulled the top half of the weapon back where it slid back into place with a racheting sound. She immediately extends her arm, taking aim at the kitsune and then a sharp, piercing crack sounds as the weapon buckles back slightly. One of the kitsune drops to the ground, dead in an instant, pierced through the head by the weapon, followed shortly by the other four.
The woman then goes around checking the houses in the area, the occasional crack or two ringing out from each one as she went around executing the remaining kitsune. Once she visited every house in the area, she vanished from sight once again, rustling a few bushes as she left back into the forest, leaving behind a scene of carnage.
Now do you understand? This is but one example of evil from many that your so called 'Heroes' have taken part in. Your rulers have decided that anything not human is lesser, inferior to themselves, and therefor a threat.
You saw their tears, heard their agony, experienced their fear and panic. This cycle of violence can not continue. They are living, breathing, thinking beings that are just as capable, or even moreso than you humans. Your superiors fear that which is different from them, they fear that which they cannot control.
Consider what you have seen, consider the good you could bring to this world, and come to a decision. The choice is yours whether or not you help those in need out or not. You have shown to be one who values trush, honesty, and integrity. Now is the time to show whether you will live a life of mediocrity, or something more.
Back in my room, I am in my chair, stunned, and immediately feel the need to expel the contents of my breakfast. I run to my window and let loose, spraying the bushes just under the window. Numb and shaking, I notice another notification, and I know exactly what it is. I ignore it, my head swimming in a mix of emotions, still replaying what I saw trying to understand it, to wrap my head around why such violence was needed.
I have heard of war and what that entails, but this, this wasn't war, this was cold, calculated slaughter that I had just witnessed. Was it even real? Would a god even make something up that was that fucked up and morbid? Too many questions, too many emotions right now, I can't stop shaking, I can't get the noise of that weapon out of my ears. I decide to close the drapes on all of my windows, climb into bed, and lay there as I preccess what I just experienced. Never had I considered, as annoying as the Heroes are, would they be used for something so, so savage. They were Heroes, they are supposed to do heroic things, they are supposed to carry the best intentions for the people!
"What am I supposed to do? What is the right choice here?" I mutter as I drift into oblivion, overwhelmed by the mornings events.