“So, I can take pretty much any psionic Path in existence…” he mused out loud, trying to organize his thoughts.

Avi merely nodded, likely knowing that he was just talking in an effort to organize his thoughts.

“The Domination Paths are out,” he said, shaking his head at the thought of mentally subjugating beings just so that he could use them. “I’m not sure about the Kineticist Paths yet. Sure, they’re great for blowing up stuff, and probably even with manipulating the world around me… but I’m not sure that’s me,” he said before looking at the next category.

“The Psychometabolism Paths are neat and all, but I’d rather not mess with my body more than it’s already been… altered.

“The Clairsentience Paths are neat, but I don’ wanna wind up being some sort of cosmic voyeur or something…” he mumbles, getting an odd look from Avi.

“Now, Psychoportation sounds good, but not quite as good as the Kineticist stuff. The problem is that I’ve already got access to everything here,” he said, shaking his head. “But the true problem is deciding what specialization I want to follow.”

‘Why don’t you take a lower rarity Path to start? That’ll give you some added abilities from them before choosing significantly more specialized paths.’

“I thought of that,” he said, nodding. “But I’m not sure if I’ll be locked into that general Path after taking something from it, thus being denied the other Paths in the process,” he said, not quite sure of his conjecture, but not willing to commit to one Path just yet.

‘I’m sure that you can just look it up,’ Avi interjects, quite reasonably at that.

Joram just about facepalmed, then started searching to see what limitations there were on Paths.

Sure enough, there were many limitations listed, but mostly for anything of opposing “schools” when it came to magic, psionics, or even certain classes. Like, being a “barbarian” type class generally disqualified someone from taking a “monk” type class that focussed on self restraint, meditation, and such. Their granted skills either didn’t mesh, or just plain negated one another. Which, really, was nice of the System to place limitations on taking those classes/paths together, as they’d basically cripple the person taking them.

Now, the various psionic Paths didn’t have any such restrictions. He was guessing that was the case because they all focussed on using the mind to accomplish things; specifically using psionic power to do stuff.

He perused his options again, taking note of something similar to the soulknife class he’d played in a past campaign. It was tempting, but he really didn’t think that he’d enjoy being a frontline fighter. Well, the sheer physicality of it was sort of tempting, as he’d always loved pushing himself when competing with others. That said, he was nowhere near being a masochist, so that ultimately ruled that Path out for him.

Which led him back to the Creationist Path, what his gaming books called “metacreationist”. Sure, it focussing on making things. Crafting, shaping, and all that. Which also called to him. But he was also drawn to how he’d be able to create things from nothing. Or, rather, create things from raw ectoplasm that he’d pull in from the Astral Plane to create those things.

Not to mention Astral Constructs. Constructs, or maybe calling them “golems” might work? Anyways, Astral Constructs would be his answer to not having to be close enough to an enemy to smell its breath… or being injured by said enemy. Having a tank to block and fight whatever was trying to kill him was certainly a plus in his books.

Not to mention not having to worry about said tank dying on him. He’d feel pretty damn bad if a party member kicked the bucket on him trying to save him/the party or something. But if he could use a disposable construct to do the same, take the same role as a tank would, then he’d feel much better about things.

Then there were the other parts that called to him. He’d always been an artist. From drawing to carving, he’d loved it. He hadn’t had much practice in the past decade or so, but now that he quite literally had all the time in the world… well.

‘The Creationist Path truly would suit you well,’ Avi piped in her two cents, getting a grin from him.

“Now, which class should I take?” He asked, not quite rhetorically.

‘That’s a bit harder to answer,’ Avi replied, shaking her head. ‘Even in that category, there are many specializations available that might close doors to you should you choose to take them.’

Joram nodded at that, but then started digging through the options and associated restrictions for each of them.

Focussing specifically on creating constructs, for instance, would limit his ability to create organic life. Though, looking a bit closer at the restriction, it seemed as though it was more referring to how long things would take, rather than a System-imposed restriction.

“System? Is it possible to adjust the parameters of recommendations, restrictions, and warnings associated with the Paths taking into account my specific race?” He asked out loud, not sure if that would work.

After a minute of standing there, sans pop-ups, he started to feel pretty silly when Avi pointed to his Status screen. In the top right of the window he found a… “loading” wheel spinning away.

“Seriously?” He asked, not quite sure what to make of that particular inclusion.

Soon enough the loading wheel stopped, then vanished. He quickly reloaded the class he’d been looking at and noticed the distinct lack of warning on it. No caution regarding time constraints, nothing.

He quickly flipped to another class and found the “restrictions” gone. After several more minutes of searching, he only found one class with a restriction, and that was due to another class being completely diametrically opposed to it. With the capstone ability basically turning the person into a positive energy elemental, taking the class that would turn the same person into a negative energy elemental didn’t’ make too much sense to begin with.

“Avi?”

‘Yes, Joram?’

“Just how broken is a High Elan?” He asked slowly, contemplating the various advantages he now had.

‘It isn’t “broken” at all,’ Avi replied, sounding slightly confused. ‘The High Elan race is very much stable.’

Joram did facepalm then, but let it go. He was what he was now, no turning back.

So, he really started getting into it, as it were. He went through every “Shaper”-like class that he could find, as that’s what seemed to call to him the most. He’d always loved making things, from his time in shops class in junior high and high school to carving things like stone, wood, and even wax. He’d even casually dabbled in metal casting as he hadn’t been able, or had the resources, to get into actual forging, though that had also called to him over the years.

He didn’t look at the actual “crafting” classes, as those were a bit… constrained for his liking. He was reasonably sure that he could pick up the various skills needed to do any crafting that he’d want to do as he went along. Heck, given his… abundant collection of textbooks, manuals, and the like, he was pretty sure that he could just take a few years to practice on whatever it was that he wanted to focus on next and get reasonably good at it that way.

Which also brought up the question of people. Would he eventually run into other people here? Would they be humans, or something else? None of the Paths or Classes referred to a race when listing requirements, so that didn’t help.

Was he the only human… er, well, humanoid on the planet? Were the residents of this planet plant-people? Dino-people? Or were they all “humans”?

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Joram shook his head, ridding himself of those useless thoughts. Given how his last relationship ended, he wasn’t in a hurry to get into another one. Especially given his new lifespan. That said, he’d been a borderline recluse, so that really predisposed him to not being in a hurry to find civilization. Heck, he really had everything he’d ever need right there in his apartment.

Well, not everything. He’d still need crafting materials and such. He’d-

‘You’re getting distracted,’ Avi piped in from his side, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Thanks,” he murmured, refocussing on the task at hand.

Looking at the lower-rarity “classes” in the “Shaper” Path, he found that they mostly “trained” the person for higher grade classes, giving out Skills and Powers that would lead up to those high-grade classes. Now, given that Altaea had dumped her psionic repository into his head, the System considered him “qualified” to take the higher rarity classes. That said, did he really want to jump into the deep end, as it were? He was reasonably sure that at least a part of the reason why those classes were locked behind various requirements was to “train” up a person so that they wouldn’t “get in over their heads”.

But….

The temptation to power game it was very much there. Sure, he’d likely need to do a hell of a lot of studying to get himself comfortable with a Mythic or even a Transcendent Class, but again, he’d have the time to do so.

Then something occurred to him.

“System? Do I have a time limit on taking my Path and Class?” He asked, a bit of concern in his voice.

No new screen popped up, but a small window in his Status Screen did appear.

There is no time limit imposed for Path or Class selection.

Joram sighed in relief, glad that he wouldn’t be forced to choose before he was ready to. Then another thought occurred to him.

“Are my current Path and Class option limited to what Skills I currently have?”

Yes.

That both didn’t surprise him and annoyed him at the same time. It would be too much of a cheat if every Path and Class option had been made available to him right from the start. That said, it was still pretty ridiculous that he’d been offered what he’d been offered right off the bat.

He turned to Avi and found that she was already regarding him. He was once again taken by just how stunningly beautiful she was and had to take a moment to clear his thoughts, then to clear his suddenly dry throat before speaking.

“I think that maybe some training is in order before I get to selecting a Path and Class,” he said, having trouble keeping eye contact with Avi due to his… downright terrible social skills. And his PTSD, if he was being completely honest with himself.

‘That is certainly advisable,’ she replied with a nod. ‘That said, are you sure that you’ll have the time to do so? I am certain that there are hostile lifeforms nearby, and having the added power of Levels will certainly increase your chances of survival.’

Joram nodded at that. The reminder that he was on an alien planet, surrounded by things that very likely would view him as lower on the food than they were, was once again jarring. Everything was just so new and, well, new! It wasn’t like a video game where you’d have your tutorial area to go through before being dropped into the thick of it. No, he was already in the deep end, as it were.

“True,” he said out loud to help his thoughts solidify. “But if there is a chance that I can get something even better than what’s offered, then maybe some training is in order. Besides, if I really need to, I can easily pick up a Path/Class if the situation calls for it,” he finished, nodding to himself.

‘That option is certain viable,’ Avi said, also nodding. ‘Ultimately, it’s up to you.’

Joram nodded again, very much agreeing with that. If he was going to have to live in this new world, he was certainly going to live the way he wanted to live. No society to tell him what it expected of him, no government demanding that he constantly pay them for the privilege of living under them, not even having to live according to what the people around him expected him to do or be.

He now had the freedom to live completely free and unfettered. No expectations to live up to besides his own. No naysayers to constantly crap on him. No rules saying that he couldn’t do something that he wanted to do. No social obligations. No financial obligations. Nothing.

But, no internet either.

No bookstores.

Joram suddenly slumped to the ground, the weight of true isolation finally registering in his mind. Sure, society came with so many restrictions and obligations, but it also came with those things that he also took for granted. Free access to information pretty much whenever he wanted. Sure, there were restrictions on what he could grab or view, but those restrictions were kind of important. Like, the exact specifications to weapons of mass destruction, security protocols and algorithms, and all that.

That was when he was sorely tempted to take a Clairsentience Path. Something that would allow him to tap into a sort of universal intelligence that could grant him access to knowledge as he needed it. But he quickly calmed.

Sure, he was currently limited to what he could access. But he also had several hundred terabytes of data and media that he’d acquired over the years and decades. So much in fact, that he hadn’t even read through or viewed a fraction of a percent of it. He would have time to find if there was civilization out there before he ran out of information and media to consume.

He hoped.

“Hmm…. Pause Path Selection?” He said, not quite sure if that would work or not.

Request granted; Path selection paused.

To resume Path selection, please use the “Level Up” function found on your Status Screen.

Ending communication.

After a few seconds the screen vanished, and he was left wondering just how… sapient this System was. Was it actually sapient? Or just a good V.I.?

‘Do you think that that was wise?’ Avi asked from the side, looking, of all things, curious.

“I have no idea,” he said with a shrug, not wanting to delve down that rabbit hole. “But if I can unlock better options by trying to, and getting, Skills, then why not?”

Avi nodded at that, then made a show of looking around.

‘What Skills will you try to acquire first?’

“I also have no idea about that,” he replied ruefully. “Maybe I can find some ideas in the help menus…” he finished, then proceeded to do just that.

Joram then spent the next two hours going through the menus. Not that it took him that long to find the section on Skills, but that he’d gone full research mode. It was fascinating.

Skills were broken down into three super categories: Combat, Defense, and General. Each one had varying numbers of subcategories, and even more subcategories under those categories. Then, there was a bit of overlap between Skills that he really thought should just be combined into one Skill. Like [Cleanse].

Sure, he supposed that one needed varying degrees of cleanliness when dealing with different situations. For example, making sure your cutting board was clean enough to not give you food poisoning after having used it for a meal was important. Not quite as important as making sure something was sterile for a surgery, though. Or even as immaculate as a microprocessor factory needed to be. Varying levels, you see.

But honestly, why not combine them all? Sure, it might take a bit of tweaking on the System’s end of things, but he was sure that it would be more efficient to combine the four different [Cleanse]s he had found than to keep them separate.

Anyways, he’d found a trove of knowledge that he wasn’t sure existed anywhere else. That said, he was also unsure if the world he found himself on had any sort of appreciable civilization or not. For all he knew, the Skills he’d found notwithstanding, the level of civilization was at the hunter/gatherer stage. Sure, having spotted Skills like [Librarian’s Knowledge: Where’s that book?] led him to believe that at least one civilization had popped up and advanced to the point where they’d had librarians had come about.

But was that civilization still around? Was he in a post-apocalyptic world? Would he be exploring the ruins of ancient cities? Would they have turned into dungeons that he would have to delve into, searching for clues as to who had once lived there? Were dungeons even a thing here? They were a very popular trope back home, after all.

He shrugged, not quite sure how he would find out without having to go exploring. And Avi’s warning that there was hostile life out there hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. His sword and hunting knife was proof enough of that.

Joram shook his head, then refocussed on his task. He needed to find Skills that were one: easy to get. Two: might allow him to get a better Path that what he’d been offered. And as a side “three”, give him a better idea of how things worked in this world. Heck, four: just how did Skills even work?!

Were they the kind, like in the tabletop games he’d played, that could be used at any time, no cooldown? Or were they more like video game skills where they would all have individual cooldowns; all for the sake of “game balance”? Did skills use their own resources, or did they draw from his Power Pool? Or did they “just work”?

From what he saw while perusing the lists, he got the impression that Skills were a mix of technical skills and basically magic. Some descriptions were very much in line with what he’d call a Skill back on Earth. The know-how and ability to perform a certain action. While he’d also found Skills that were basically cheats. Like [Dash].

Basically, the laws of physics were, at the very least, bent. Instant acceleration, no regard for traction and how your movement and sudden velocity would affect what you were standing on, nevermind air resistance. You’d just suddenly accelerate, your body perfectly fine with that, get to where you’d intended, then stop without so much as a whisper of whiplash. Everything was fine.

So, magic skills. Or maybe just physics-altering skills…. Anyways.

At least there was a basic note on how to get Skills. It boiled down to “desire and practice”, with a smidgeon of “success” in there. Well, more than a smidgeon, but still just “succeed X-number of times” and you got the Skill. Mostly. It was honestly more than a little frustrating given just how varied the criteria were for getting various Skills.

He shook his head again, then turned to Avi.

“Any suggestions?”

Avi smiled.