I turned around, looking over to the giant mass of mist. From my vantage, it looked like an absolutely massive dome of white smoke, and to my [Magic Sense], it screamed of evil and wickedness.
It was exactly the sort of place one would expect to find a boss fight at the center. But I based this presumption on video game logic. But truthfully, I had no idea how this world worked, and I had no idea how long it would be until I found myself in severe danger again.
While the fact that the sky split open to suck me up into heaven, where I could be judged for my existence, made me think that I could be a little special, I had many reasons to believe that I was far from the top of the food chain.
Given the stakes, I had absolutely no clue what to do with the class selection. But I knew that my decision was vital.
Classes available: [Beginner Brawler] [Rookie Survivalist] [Rookie Tinkerer] [Arcane Neophyte]
Two new classes were available for whatever reason. I tried focusing on the first class on the list to try and get a description, but to my surprise, a different type of information flowed into my mind.
Class: [Beginner Brawler]
Level 1: Unlock skill: [Power Strike: F-rank]
Level 2: Unlock skill: [Brace Body: F-rank]
Level 3: Unlock Skill: [Leap: F-rank]
Class Completion Reward: Unlock Skill: [Tough Skin]
I had absolutely no idea what this was trying to tell me. There were levels, apparently, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t pull up any information on this. Did I have a level? Or did this class have levels? Did I have to pick the class to unlock the ability to level? What about the other classes? Would I have to upgrade this class to continue leveling? Or would I have to pick a different class?
Also, class completion? What did I have to do to “complete” the class? If my memory served me correctly, the [Rookie] class was completed automatically. Would I immediately get these skills if I decided to become a [Beginner Brawler]?
Numerous questions flooded into my mind. My instincts told me to hold off on making a choice until I had more information. But did I have the privilege to wait?
I had already run into one creature that could kick my ass, and it was very possible that it wouldn’t be long until I came across another.
For now, I should at least check out what all the classes did.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Class: [Rookie Survivalist]
Level 1: Unlock Skill: [Stealth: FFF-rank]
Level 2: Unlock Skill: [Tracking: FF-rank]
Level 3: Unlock Skill: [Condense Water]
Class Completion Reward: [None]
Well… this one seemed considerably more shit than the one before. There was no class completion reward, either. That made me frown. If I could only pick one class, I had a good idea which one I didn’t want to go with. I continued.
Class: [Rookie Tinkerer]
Level 1: Upgrade skill: [Create Item: FFF-rank] to [Create Item: FF-rank]
Level 2: Upgrade skill: [Create Item: FF-rank] to [Create Item: F-rank]
Class Completion Reward: [None]
I stared at this one for a long moment. The class still seemed a little underwhelming, but it gave me a lot of new information on how classes worked. First, not all classes had the same number of levels. Second, classes could upgrade existing skills. And third, given that it upgraded the same ability twice, that likely meant that I would get one reward first and the other later.
My guess was that I would get the first one immediately upon picking the class, and then, when I leveled up, I would get the second. But how would I level up? Did I just have to use the ability over and over? I wasn’t sure. It wouldn’t make sense for the level-up requirement to be to kill something, given the nature of the class, but fuck did I know? I was guessing based on knowledge about video games, a medium I hadn’t properly enjoyed in over a decade.
Sighing, I moved on to the final class.
Class: [Arcane Neophyte]
Level 1: Unlock Skill: [Meditate: F-rank]
Level 2: Upgrade skill: [Mana Manipulation: FFF-rank] to [Mana Manipulation: FF-rank]
Level 3: Upgrade skill: [Mana Manipulation: FF-rank] to [Mana Manipulation: F-rank]
Level 4: Unlock Skill: [Magic Missle]
Level 5: Unlock Skill: [Magic Barrier]
Class Completion Reward: Upgrade Skill: [Mana Core: FFF-rank] to [Mana Core: FF-rank]
As far as my current options were concerned, this class was the most interesting. I’ve started noticing a pattern—the “class completion reward” seemed to upgrade or unlock passive skills while the levels upgraded and granted active skills.
I’ve also noticed that some skills had ranks while others didn’t.
I wondered which class to choose. As far as quality was concerned, it was evident that [Arcane Neophyte] was the best on the list. But was it best for my current situation?
I had to remember that I was lost in the middle of nowhere. While I wouldn’t settle for something like [Rookie Survivalist] even if my life depended on it, there was an argument to be made in favor of the [Beginner Brawler] class.
[Arcane Neophyte] promised two spells that seemed pretty helpful and an upgrade to my mana core. But they came after three levels of skills of dubious value. If I had to fight off an opponent, I didn’t see how meditating would help. And as far as I could tell by manipulating the mana floating around my body, I could do very little with [Mana Manipulation] by itself. Maybe I was wrong. But I had no idea.
That was the main problem here—I was damn clueless. I could pull any number of conjectures out of my ass and still get utterly railed by the consequences of my stupidity later.
A sheen of sweat appeared on my forehead as I struggled internally. [Beginner Brawler] was the safer option for the time being, but I really wanted to take [Arcane Neophyte]. Finally, after a long few minutes of struggle, I made a decision.
You have selected a new class!