“I am Moira, your proctor for the duration of this tutorial. Please note, I am not here to coddle you or answer your every question, you must discover this world on your own,” she stated tersely, “Now, if you would please, designate your desired class and we will begin your tutorial. Please note, class designations are irreversible and can only be subject to evolutions. This decision is permanent so please take time to consider your options.”
At that, a large display of text, information, and graphics appeared in the air in front of Oak. He stumbled back in surprise and fell onto his rump. He looked up, wide-eyed, as the display blocked out half the sky. He tried to read a hundred things at once and quickly became frustrated. With a thought, the text disappeared, leaving one string of boxes left in his window. Five boxes hovered in the air reading: [Swordsman], [Archer], [Mage], [Healer], [Lancer].
Oak’s concentration hovered over [Swordsman] and the frame expanded with a definition, Swordsman: a standard melee class that specializes in damage-dealing blade techniques. Users can take a physical or magical approach to this class.
He hovered over the other classes, seeing much of the same for the other classes, even a physical stipulation for both the mage and healer classes. He wondered for a moment how that might work. He pulled his mind out of these thoughts for a moment to take in his situation.
“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, getting Moira’s attention, “What the hell is going on here? You just throw all of this at us and expect us to roll with it?”
“Holy shit!” Caine interjected, “A mage Class? There’s magic?”
Moira cast Caine a piercing glance then addressed Oak, “First, I feel it important to inform you that the tutorial starts in 15 minutes, at which time, if you have not selected a class, one will be selected for you. I advise not wasting your time with frivolous questions. As I said earlier, you have been brought to the Grog, a galaxy curated by none other than Grog himself for the purpose of cultivating and raising up the strongest fighters in the galaxy. As a system curator, I must also inform you that other forms of cultivation, known as career paths, also exist but are not considered viable paths for ascension. Moreover, the mighty Grog has required me to inform all initiates that he ascended to the divine realm with no career class and has built this galaxy for the sole purpose of ascending powerful fighters through the paths of glory and into the heavenly realms,” she said flatly as she rolled her eyes, “Therefore, both the world you now inhabit and the tutorial you are to participate in have been formed with this goal in mind. Now please, select your class.” She said, finishing with an impatient smile.
Oak’s face was twisted into confusion, “Okay, all of that aside, what is up with these classes? We select one and then what? Also what’s up with the options, we just have the five options?”
Moira continued to smile but looked at Oak as though he were an insufferable fool and replied tursely, “The classes will afford you specific gear and skills to start with. Your path will be defined by this decision and other forms of combat will be restricted from your skill trees. The five classes are there to guide your decision but are by no means fully encompassing the many paths strewn throughout the galaxy. You may select another path of your choosing but Grog has set the specific stipulation that any technological weaponry or classes are strictly prohibited in his universe, describing such paths as ‘cheating’. I implore you to avoid such selections as to not anger the lord. Now please, select your class.” She said, her eye twitching.
Oak looked back over the classes and opened his mouth to speak again. Moira fixed him with a glare and he hesitated. The others seemed to have questions too but were scared to ask the growingly frustrated being. Oak smiled awkwardly at her, “Sorry, just one more question, I see there are both physical and magical pathways for these classes, does that mean I could select some obscure path like say…” He thought for a moment and remembered a particularly heated argument Alex and Hayden had over the uses of the dramatic weapons in one of their favorite vampire anime, “Say a class that uses a morning star/whip combination, like that thing from Kill Bill, and use a magical path to enhance it?” he asked in a quizzical tone.
A ding sounded out and Moira gave him a smirk. Another voice spoke into his mind, “Class selected: Magical Brutalist selected, Specilized Weaponry designated, calculating outcome: Enhanced Metal Scourger selected. Please select the first skill. Note first skills determine early skill paths and cannot be revoked. Choose wisely.”
Oak’s eyes widened as she spoke and he scrambled to pull his thoughts together. “No, no, no, wait, that wasn’t my selection! I was just asking a question! Please, I don't know how to use something like that.” He said in a panicked tone. The others glanced at him questioningly until a hole opened up in front of Oak and a leather belt fell from it. Next, a hilt dropped and a long chain followed, the chains clanged as they piled up neatly in a circle on the ground and a loud thud ended the procession as a spiked ball dropped to the floor. The handle looked to be made of simple wood, the chain was rusted, and the spiked ball looked clunky and dented.
The others stared incredulously, Ashley was the first to pipe up, “What the hell was that?”
Oak stared at the weapon for a moment and then said, in a defeated tone, “That was my class weapon…” he bent down to examine it, then looked up at the others, “Don’t say anything about classes out loud until you’re ready! I didn’t mean to get this but she took my mentioning of it as confirmation. Don’t rush into anything.”
The others looked at him like he was crazy for a moment and then turned to each other with questioning glances. They resumed their searches and quietly perused their options. Alex and Hayden whispered something to each other and nodded in agreement. A moment later, two blades thudded onto the ground and a leather strap with sheathes fell with them. To everyone’s surprise, it fell in front of Caine who was just finishing whispering into Moira’s ear and smiled as he picked up the twin blades.
“What? I picked a rogue, it was an easy decision. The first five looked boring,” he said with a grin.
Oak held out his hands, “Okay, on second thought, let's do this one at a time, we can't say our classes out loud until they’re decided but we don’t want to overlap, we should try to be as well rounded as we can be.” he said, looking around, “Is anyone else ready?”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Alex and Hayden’s hands shot up and Oak looked at them flatly then nodded to them. They looked at one another and nodded, Alex chose a Swordsman and Hayden chose Lancer. Oak was surprised at this decision and had expected Alex to pick some obscure weapon from his vast stores of knowledge on the subject, like a halberd or something. A rusty sword and steel-tipped wooden spear fell in front of them, leather bracers accompanying the spear and a belt and sheath with the sword.
Grey stepped up next and looked to Oak, Oak nodded at him and he said confidently, “Mage.” Then a ring and a robe fell before him, the ring was studded with a small gem and the robe looked like little more than a humble monk’s robes.
To no one’s surprise, Haven selected a brawler-tank class and a pair of bracers and a front plate of flimsy armor fell down, easily the biggest thing yet.
Mia surprised everyone by selecting a healer and a staff and robes fell before her. Oak raised an eyebrow at her, “What? Every group needs a healer if they want to live,” she said defensively.
Finally, Ashley stepped forward and Oak was curious what she would select. He had assumed she might be a healer or mage or something when she spoke up and surprised everyone, “Berserker.”
Oak wasn’t quite sure what that meant until a massive, two handed battle ax fell down and thudded on the ground followed by a pair of leather gloves. Everyone glanced around in confusion as the girl picked up the ax, almost the size of her body, and slung it over her shoulder.
Oak shared a wide-eyed glance with Grey and they shrugged their shoulders, “Alright, that seems pretty well rounded, what’s-” Oak started but was cut off by another female voice.
“Archer.” Maxine said from behind him. Oak jumped in surprise and spun around, “What? We need more ranged fighters, it just made sense.” She said, looking as if she’d done something wrong.
Oak smiled at her as a bow and quiver fell from the sky, “A good choice, thanks for taking one for the team.,” he said, trying to make it seem as though he hadn’tjust forgotten about her.
“It’s not a big deal, I was considering it anyway but figured, since I’m the newest one here, I’d let everyone else go first.” She replied.
Oak nodded his head and looked back to Moira, “Okay lady, first off, how much time until the tutorial starts?”
She smiled at him with a forced smile, “First, with the remaining 8 minutes, you must all select your first skill. Then I will be free to answer any questions before the tutorial starts.”
A new notification popped up in Oak’s vision and, based on the jumps of some of the others, they had received one too. Oak opened the prompt: Select one of three skills:
* Basic Weapon Telekinesis: You may use telekinesis to slowly move your weapon with your mind or to make minor adjustments to a faster trajectory. Cost: 5 MogMog/second or per initial cast.
* Stunning Smash: Charge your weapon with a stunning effect and increase damage by 10%, stunned enemies experience reduced vision and hearing for variable durations of time. Cost: 5 MogMog/cast.
* Double Scourge: Split your extended flail into two, casting a twin whip in the same direction as the first with 50% reduced damage from the original. Cost: 8 MogMog/cast (Single cast).
Oak considered his options briefly before choosing Basic Weapon Telekinesis, knowing he would have nowhere near the amount of precision needed to use the other skills. This time, he was offered a confirmation screen and he scowled at the smirking Moira as he selected [Confirm]. He felt a rush of energy and information slam into his mind and he staggered back. He grabbed his head and felt a massive migraine oncoming but then, as soon as it came, it disappeared.
Oak extended a wary hand forward and activated his new skill. The flail-whip lifted slowly off the ground and floated to his hand. He let it hover in the air for a moment and waved it around with a growing smile. The chain followed the hilt in a flowing pattern and danced in the air. Suddenly, the hilt dropped and slammed into his foot, crushing his pinky toe. The chain and spike followed and he danced to the side before they removed his toe completely. He glazed up at a blinking display on his HUD and saw his “MogMog” was empty.
“Okay, what is MogMog?” He asked Moira.
She smiled brightly and replied, “Participants are still selecting skills, please hold your questions.”
Oak gave her a scowl and looked back to his HUD, the blue MogMog circle still shown with a 0/100 in the center and he focussed on it. An information blurb popped up reading: MogMog, used to cast spells and certain skills. Can be refilled passively, through cultivation, or via potions.
Oak saw a second circle filled in green which read Grum and was filled 100/100 points. When he focussed on it, the text read: Grum is extra physical energy that can be used in specific attacks or channeled to enhance physical stats.
After reading that line, Oak perked up, he searched his HUD and found a drop-down that displayed his various stats. All of them were set to 10 points as a standard and were listed in the order of Strength, Durability, Agility, Dexterity, Awareness, and Intelligence.
Oak nodded, it seemed pretty basic and he assumed the stats functioned like in games or animes he had seen. Strength would boost damage output, durability would boost defense, agility increased speed, dexterity accuracy and control, and intelligence would make casting magic or “MogMog” easier. He wasn’t too sure about the application of awareness other than the assumption that it sharpened the senses but that seemed to affect the body more directly than the others.
“Is anyone still selecting their skills?” Ashley asked, breaking the silence. Oak looked up to see everyone either looking around or playing with their new skill.
Moira chimed in, “All participants have finished, you now have two minutes to ask any questions. You may seek out Terminals for more guidance. You may also use a Terminal to exchange collected goods for points and gear upgrades. You will be provided the basic items needed for the first couple of days, after which, you will need to use your skills in order to survive. You now have one minute to ask any questions.”
Oak tried to speak up when Caine chimed in, “What the hell is ‘MogMog’ and ‘Grum’?”
Moira smiled at him and Oak wanted to slap him, “MogMog and Grum are derived from the ancient language of our overlord Grog who hails from a tribal planet which was integrated into the seventh colonized galaxy. Upon the formation of this universe, Grog established these as the standard terminology for what your planet might call ‘Magic’ and ‘Stamina’ respectively.” She said, smiling brighter now and seemingly looking right at Oak as she said, “That concludes the pre-tutorial orientation, now raising shields.”
“What, that wasn’t a whole minute!” Oak protested.
“What does she mean shields?” Grey asked with wide eyes.
Just then, Oak finally took a moment to gather in their surroundings. They had been on a platform seemingly suspended in the sky but now he could see the outlines of rolling, forested mountains below them. The platform began to tilt to one side. Everyone stumbled to find their footing as the incline continued to grow. They were being tilted toward the one wall on the platform that stood a little taller than Haven.
“Shields are up,” Moira said and spheres of shimmering light surrounded the members of the group. Their feet were lifted from the ground and they each collapsed into the soft ball that surrounded them. They quickly rolled down the slope and slammed together into the wall below them as a great heap of rolling, shimmering balls. Moira gave them one last smile, this one seeming far more sadistic than the others and pulled a lever saying, “Happy hunting!”
Mechanisms clicked and something whirred beneath them. Oak’s bubble had landed next to Ashley’s and they shared a panicked glance. The platform stilled for a moment then a loud clang rang out and the nine balls of light were launched into the night sky.