I glared at the display, immediately displeased at the limited number of choices. In fact, there were exactly seven options to choose from once again. I tried clicking on each one to see if any additional information would be given, but nothing happened.

“Dang,” I said, “I might have screwed up here. I really should have gone with the magic apprentice after all. It looks like an outsider isn’t as wonderful as I had thought it would be at first. I can’t believe I might have lost my chance to cast magic spells.”

I started muttering curses and thinking that I might as well have been born a gnome after making such a stupid decision. Then I came to my senses and realized nothing could be worse than being a gnome. I also realized I was hating on gnomes again and started trying to figure out the feats instead. Toughness seemed obvious. It makes someone tougher. However, how much tougher was the question.

Fade Away was the feat the scout had, which probably had something to do with sneaking around. Since I didn’t have the sneak ability, I was slightly puzzled to see this option come up. Still, without stealth, sneaking would be quite difficult and so Fade Away was a “no thank you.”

Death-touched probably had something to do with the vision about breathing in the lifeforce of the living. That made it sound almost like a necromancer or an undead. Running the risk of turning into an undead, such as becoming a vampire, didn’t appeal to me. While I might have roleplayed a few games as a vampire, there was no guarantee that I wouldn’t be a zombie instead.

It was bad enough I was considered chaotic evil. I was quite sure that if I chose Death-Touched, I would never escape the evil alignment. Exploring the world might be more difficult if everyone started running away screaming, “The death-touched chaotic evil kobold is here. Run for your lives!”

After dismissing that idea, I thought about the Eldritch Sigils. That actually sounded decent. I might be able to do some magic with it even if I couldn’t be a real magic user. “Hmm, from what I remember, eldritch powers were dark, mysterious, and scary. Often the power came from another world, much like me. Perhaps that is another reason I can access this feat. Not bad, definitely a strong contender.”

Sandman seemed kind of obvious. While I did love the Sandman comics, I somehow doubted I would become the king of dreams. More likely, I would be able to put people to sleep and control their dreams. That sounded okay but even in my past life I could put people to sleep. I remember having students fall asleep during my lectures and my tests quite often. Still, while it was an okay choice, it didn’t sound like the best option.

Shadowborn probably had something to do with shadows, maybe moving from shadow to shadow or becoming a shadow. That actually sounded cool, but since I had already opted out of stealth, it wasn’t the path I was destined to take. “Sheesh, and it actually sounded pretty cool. Can I go back and restart my choices?”

There was no response, not that I expected one. After a few hopeful moments waiting in silence, I finally moved on to the next feat. Survivor was almost as obvious as Toughness. I was sure it probably gave you a better chance to survive a fight. If there had been any more information, I might have appreciated the choice more. After all, he who runs away lives to fight another day. However, I actually had no desire to even be in a fight anyway the feat might really be about surviving in the wilderness. Without more information, it was a definite pass.

Reluctantly, I waited a few more seconds to see if any other options would pop up. Nothing did, so I finally selected Eldritch Sigils. Hopefully, I could get some type of magic power out of it. The pop-up screen immediately disappeared as soon as I made my choice and the screen refreshed.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Choose one of the following Eldritch Sigils.

* Physical Enhancement

* Mental Enhancement

* Supernatural Enhancement

“You have got to be joking! Really?” I could barely contain my frustration. If I had any hair, I would have been pulling it out. I walked over to the nearest wall, and started gently thumping my forehead against the stone. This only lasted a few seconds since it hurt. Also, I didn’t want to participate in child abuse.

Sure enough, nothing happened when I tried to see if there was any more information. Nothing. Just three options. “You are killing me,” I muttered. “I want all three.” Sighing, I finally decided to not choose the physical enhancement. While my kobold body was quite weak, I wasn’t sure it would be worth a feat to boost it up, especially since I wasn’t sure how much it would help.

That left mental and supernatural. “Dang, I really want magic powers but I love my mind. Ah, screw it. Let’s go all in on the mind.” While I was unhappy about giving up on the supernatural enhancement option, my mental stats were already very high, and even a small boost might make a big difference.

I felt an infusion of information bubble up from the depths of my mind, like some ancestral memory, much like how I could apparently speak Draconic. I was curious about what else I could select and checked to see how the information screen had updated.

image [https://i.imgur.com/7K7QyWp.png]

“Interesting,” I muttered. “When my constitution got bumped up, it also increased my health points. I also now have Mental Energy. That must be how I use the Eldritch Sigils. Speaking of which, all of those sound pretty strong. Mind alteration will definitely be very useful. Hmm, not bad. I can live with this. Yep, I knew exactly what I was doing all along.”

Even though I had given up my beloved path of magic, I had always counted on my mind in my previous life. Since my mind was already strong, doubling down on it seemed the best bet. After seeing that I had traded a couple of cantrips and a spell for extremely useful mind powers, I was extremely pleased.

I still wasn’t sure what to do about the obsidian had popped up as an evolutionary path, whatever that meant. I was kind of confused about that since I would have imagined that the evolutionary path, I would follow would be that of the bloodline. Apparently, they were separate. I was tempted to accept, but I also thought I might want to wait and see if there were any other options.

Just because I was named a Child of Folly didn’t mean I had to act like one. Deciding to wait on that for a little longer, I clicked on the new addition to the information screen, a class option. A new screen popped up again.

Choose one of the following classes:

* Arcanist: Spellcasters who study all types of magic

* Cleric: Divine spellcasters who worship the gods

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

* Fighter: Warriors skilled with armor and weapons

* Paladin: Heavy armored holy warriors

* Ranger: Magic scouts with animal companions

* Ritualist: Ritual spellcasters attuned to magic

* Rogue: Skillful trapmakers who sneak attack

* Sorcerer: Arcane spellcasters with innate spells

* Shaman: Spellcasters who strive for divinity

* Wizard: Arcane spellcasters with spellbooks

“What the freak?” I angrily muttered as I looked at the screen for a few minutes. I wasn’t sure whether to be deliriously happy or depressed and angry. I had eleven choices this time, and most of them were spellcasting classes too. However, I was annoyed because I had thought that the training would have to go along with the class choice. If I had known I could pick anything, I would probably have chosen something different.

“What is up with the descriptions now? Why weren’t there any before now? Also, now I have access to sneak after I turned down the stealth skill? Are you kidding me?” I threw my hands up and started walking around in a circle, shaking my head, while looking up at the ceiling. I started wondering who in all the worlds had invented the system that was “helping” me.

“Why couldn’t it have given me all the options at the same time? It looks like I don’t even get to choose some classes I would have expected to see, such as a barbarian or a monk. Wait, weren’t bards a class too? Why don’t I see them on my list of choices?”