I had taken out an adventuring party. Considering the danger involved, I had expected to gain more experience points. After a moment of thinking about it though, I realized where the rest of the experience had gone. More than likely, the experience went to Alsvartr. After checking her information sheet, I discovered that I was correct. Still, half is better than nothing, and her getting stronger is also me getting stronger.

I almost missed the fact that I had more health points than possible. After a moment, I realized they must be left over from the extra heals. Since I was healed by the first two deaths, the next three deaths each gave me one temporary health point. I did wonder how long they would last.

YOU HAVE ENOUGH EXPERIENCE TO ADVANCE TO LEVEL TWO. Do you wish to advance to the second level of Eldritch Mind or advance to the first level in a new class?

My first impulse was to go ahead and advance. Immediately after that, I had second thoughts. While there was definitely a lot of flexibility with the eldritch mind class, there were also some limitations. I was curious about my other options. There was no need to rule out another class without at least looking. More than likely, it would be the same options as before, and I had been very tempted to take the arcanist class. Maybe it was time to change. Having these thoughts, I looked at the class options.

Choose one of the following classes:

* Banshee: Spellcasters who study various dangerous magics

* Blackguard: Unholy magic warriors who serve only themselves

* Dark Cleric: Evil spellcasters who serve dark gods

* Draconic Sorcerer: Spellcasters with a Draconic Bloodline

* Eldritch Mind: Spellcasters who use the power of the mind

* Monster Hunter: Magic scouts with monster companions

* Ritualist: Ritual spellcasters attuned to black magic

* Rogue Assassin: Skillful trapmakers who sneak attack

* Skirmisher: Warriors skilled in light armor and weapons

* Unholy Shaman: Evil spellcasters who strive for divinity

* Wizard: Arcane spellcasters with spellbooks

“Oh wow. There are a lot of changes,” I thought, looking at the choices. Then, after a few seconds, I realized some of the classes were simply evil versions of the previous classes. The ranger had become a monster hunter. The sorcerer had become a draconic sorcerer, which although not evil, was interesting since that wasn’t a choice previously. What had changed? Was it because I was being given more information now? If I had chosen sorcerer before, would I have automatically been a draconic sorcerer?

One interesting thing I noticed was that paladin had been replaced by blackguard. Also, fighter had been replaced by skirmisher. As for arcanist, it looked like banshee had replaced that class. However, most of the other classes were the same. What was different was my circumstances. Apparently, even a day-old hatchling wasn’t safe in this world. Because of this, I needed to ensure that I survived.

With this in mind, I looked at the choices again. While pure spellcasters were often the most powerful, they were sometimes squishy to sneak attacks. I needed something that was powerful and had the ability to survive. I also didn’t want to be tied down into something that would limit me.

Considering that line of thought, ritualist definitely sounded like it needed to go. I could already cast a few rituals, and taking the time to complete the ritual wasn’t guaranteed. I needed to be able to face assassins jumping from the darkness as well as high-powered magical enemies.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

I needed something that improved my defenses while still following the path of magic. While I almost felt like a monster hunter already, I also didn’t want to entrust my life to anyone other than myself. The same could be said of dark clerics. Could I really trust an evil god with my life? Because of this, both of these classes were crossed off in my mind.

Judging by how easily I had killed a team of seasoned veterans, a sneaky assassin was dangerous. Of course, they also didn’t have much to rely on, such as magic. I could already tell that magic was essential to survival. Despite my apparent aptitude as a rogue, I wanted more. Because of this, I eliminated the rogue, and the skirmisher. While there might be a few ways I could learn some magic with these classes, I doubted either route would be what I wanted.

I also rejected the blackguard. Since they were based on the paladin class, they were fighters. However, they had abandoned heavy armor and the gods on their own path to power, which was evident since they were unholy. That meant that they still retained at least some of their magic powers. Although that was nice, for now, I wanted to concentrate on the magic classes.

That pretty much left banshee, draconic sorcerer, eldritch mind, unholy shaman, and wizard. Considering those choices, I wasn’t actually sure which one to select. While I was pondering my choices, Alsvartr returned with the first set of loot. It was actually from the spellcaster. I decided to inspect them while Alsvartr went back for more.

The staff was …wooden. I actually had no clue, even with the help of the arcana skill. “Okay, I guess the Identify spell is going to be a lifesaver,” I said to myself. Taking the next few minutes, I ignored Alsvartr as she brought up more and more items while I conducted the ritual. While I could probably have used my magic points, I wanted to save it for healing in case any more uninvited guests arrived.

When I was done, I realized the staff was magical. In fact, it was a Staff of Sleeping with seven charges. “Nice,” I said before realizing the staff was too big for me. Since I couldn’t use it easily, I asked, “Uhh, system, can I use this to evolve my draconic bloodline?”

Not receiving a response, I tried rephrasing the question. “I want to use this staff to evolve my draconic bloodline.” Immediately after I said that, it felt like fire ants started crawling all over my body. Not only were they crawling over my body, it felt like some were crawling around inside my belly, biting me. I immediately curled up in a ball as pain wracked my tiny little body. The pain intensified until I almost blacked out. Slowly, the pain subsided, followed by a new notice.

ETHER BREATH UNLOCKED. The Staff of Sleep resonated with your ether breath, unlocking this draconic gift.

Right then and there, I started doing a little happy dance. After a few minutes, I realized I might be able to unlock some of my other draconic gifts if there were any other magic items that resonated with my gifts. Remembering the other item my familiar had brought, I dropped the now ordinary non-magical staff and picked up the spellcaster’s book.

By this time, Alsvartr had already returned several times. Apparently, my writhing in agony on the floor didn’t bother her in the slightest. Then again, maybe she knew it was for a good cause. Either way, it appeared I would have plenty of items to identify. Opening the book, I discovered it was an honest to goodness spellbook. It contained a variety of wizard spells and rituals. Deciding I might need it later, I set it aside for now. Afterall, wizard was one of the classes I was considering choosing.

Quite happy with the loot so far, I grew increasingly disappointed after recasting the Identify spell a few times until I realized I was wasting my time. Instead of casting Identify, I could use Detect Magic to see if any of the items were magical. Then I could use the Identify spell. Feeling like an idiot, I started using that method, which proved to be much faster.

Still, I mostly ended up with ordinary items. Nope, the boots were not Boots of Elvenkind. They were just stinking old boots that needed to have the soles fixed. Nope, the dagger wasn’t a magic weapon. It was just an ordinary dagger. However, I didn’t give up and looked at every item, just in case.

Luckily, one of the bags Alsvartr brought up was filled with bread and berries. Of course, that didn’t last long against my relentless hunger. Every so often, between casting the spells, one of the backpacks or bags would have more food stuffs. Soon, even the bottomless pit I called a stomach was full. It made me start to believe in miracles.