Chapter 3: Class Selection
I stared at the group of men surrounding me with a growing sense of dread and anger. This scene had played out all too often in my past life as a child. The bullies at school used to surround me before they gave me a beatdown. The drunken step-fathers who would stand over me as I lay trembling beneath them knowing how much pain was in store for me. I could feel my spine stiffen at the memories as the anger slowly became prominent and my mind gained a new sense of clarity. I began to take in my surroundings. I knew that I had chosen to start in a more difficult zone, but I wasn’t expecting this kind of problem so soon. In retrospect, I probably should have. It might have even been a good idea to scout around and make sure the shelter I was building myself was actually safe. But the fact that everything looked so ancient and abandoned had given me a false sense of security. I felt perfectly justified though in blaming my low wisdom now that I could see my attribute scores.
The armed men looked more like bandits than priests with their mean weapons and rugged-looking leather armor. The only thing that could be remotely uniform was that every man wore a golden medallion with a sinister-looking eye on it. The eye uncomfortably reminded me of another eyeball from my world that was famous in the fantasy genre. The similarities probably meant these priests were not benign. No, if these priests were benign to begin with I wouldn't have gotten the damned quest. Still, this is a fucking starting zone. Even on extreme difficulty throwing eight enemies at me at once? Talk about rudeness. I mused. I started to cast my gaze around at the men. There had to be some sort of gimmick. Something I could work with that would help me in this fight.
As I gazed wide-eyed at the men around me I could see information boxes appear over their heads giving me very little data to work with. Only revealing their class and levels. Of the eight men that had ambushed me, all were level one except for one spearman who was level three. Given that I was still level zero that didn't seem to be a lot of leeway. Still, I didn’t feel completely overmatched. In most games, a difference of 3 levels wasn’t significant, especially in a starting zone. The man standing over me yelled at me in a language I didn’t understand. His fellows moved in closer all aiming their weapons at me. Their advance cost them though as the gimmick I was looking for soon became obvious. The way they all stepped forward, while practiced, still looked incredibly clumsy, one man with a crossbow fumbled his weapon as he did so. A bolt flying off narrowly avoided hitting the man standing over me. The level three barked in his strange language at the priest who had misfired.
No, they aren't just clumsy, I realized. They are young. They were inexperienced. Something about that irritated me. They were ambushing me as a god damned teaching opportunity? I stared critically at the ass-hats around me. Most of them seemed just as alarmed as I felt. I tried to keep a smile from spreading across my face as I stared at the group. That was how I could win. These weren't hardened veterans trained for rapidly changing circumstances. The only veteran was using me as the training fodder, and even he looked half-ready to spook. I had spent most of my adult life training my body so I would never have to feel helpless again. From martial arts to gymnastics, to basic self-defense. I hadn't been the most physically imposing of men, and I never had to seriously fight. I just knew I could, and the boys around me clearly couldn't.
"Grak Nik Shtu Vrein Mendoer!" The level 3 shouted. He was looking at me as he yelled. I tried to keep looking passive as I responded.
“‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.” My mind raced as I apologized to the man. Now that I knew I could fight them I had a more pressing issue. Starting equipment? What damn starting equipment? I came here with only the clothes on my back! I thought angrily but then felt like a moron as quickly as those words ran through my mind. Every game system had some sort of inventory space. Even games with satchels or backpacks still utilized a variation of dimensional storage. With a concentrated thought, I pictured an inventory screen and tried to hide my surprise as one appeared before my eyes.
“Gni-shtar Kren Mari Gnul!” The man over me shouted, more agitated this time. I had no clue what they wanted, but that no longer mattered to me. The quest had told me to survive so I didn't have any doubts about what they had planned for me. Are you a spy? Give up the details. Okay, we can kill you. My mind filled with their words as I thought about all of the cheesy spy movies and other tropes where the hero ended up in this kind of situation. Just so long as they were still in the mood to ask questions, it would give me the time I needed to prepare to strike back. If I felt relieved by their decision to ask questions first before killing me it faded as soon as I saw what lay within my inventory.
Item 1: Cell Phone
Item 2: Game Controller
Item 3: Bag of Dice
Item 4: Hunting Knife
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I muttered under my breath as I gaped dejectedly at my equipment. I know I had been labeled as a fantasy gamer by the system, but to make my starting equipment a controller, and dice? At least I had a hunting knife but the trick was how to get it and use it before I got turned into a pin cushion. Then a more horrifying realization occurred to me. I would have to use the knife. One of the main reasons I took martial arts was to not only never feel hopeless again but to also learn how to contain all the rage and hatred that I had let consume me. I wasn't an inherently violent person. Could I really kill others, especially people barely out of adolescence for the sake of my own life? While I was confronting my own morality another of the jumpy snots screamed at me, repeating the same phrase as his ally.
“I told you, I don’t speak your language!” I shouted, a little bit more hotly than I intended. Act or die. Those are my options. Work with what you have. I told myself and resolved to survive. A plan started forming in my head once I had accepted what I had to do. My plan required a lot of luck, which wasn’t comforting given my score in that attribute, but with a quick prayer, I managed to make my cell phone appear in my hand with a thought. The sudden appearance of the cell phone caught them off guard and the kid standing over me jumped back in alarm. The group shouted but they didn’t attack. No new holes where they didn’t need to be. The most dangerous part was hoping that their reluctance to kill me out of hand was enough to prevent them from shooting me. With a swipe of my thumb, I opened the camera of my phone and turned on the flash, before setting a 3-second timer.
By the time I had managed that the level 3 had barked at the teens and the group closed in on me. While they advanced I quickly threw the phone into the center of the priests, rolling away as I did. I heard the soft impact of bolts hitting the sand behind me just where my body had been. The next sound was a short whining click followed by a sudden burst of light. I was already pushing myself to my feet as the young men let out a startled cry. Yes! I cheered inwardly as I pulled the knife out of my inventory. I had been banking on the fact that this world wouldn’t be familiar with technology. Most systems that utilized magic lacked tech.
While they were all surprised I pushed past the two closest men and lunged towards the patrol’s leader. Not only was he the most powerful of them, but he was able to organize them which meant he was the most dangerous one. Get rid of him, and the kids would just be a mess. He was still covering his eyes from the camera flash as I thrust my knife toward him. I felt resistance as the blade tried to dig through the man’s leather robe, but the point of my knife proved effective and quickly sunk deep into the man’s chest. He let out a pained gasp of air and our eyes met. I couldn’t help but feel torn inside as I watched the light fade from his eyes.
No! No time for that! I thought, forcing my guilt down. I had to keep moving. After that briefest of pauses, I leaped to the next closest target and slashed at his throat. He too was still reeling from the shock of my phone’s camera flash. Before he had a chance to regain his faculties my blade tore open his neck releasing a geyser of blood. The teen couldn’t do more than issue a pained gurgle he dropped to his knees raising his hands to his throat. The other teens were no longer reeling from my improvised flashbang and started to move in on me. But their inexperience was evident. The next nearest priest had a spear and I pushed myself towards him before he could bring up his weapon. I kicked hard at his knee and with an audible crunch, he dropped down screaming. He stopped screaming a moment later as I thrust my knife into his eye before spinning away.
I was moving on instinct now, I couldn’t hear anything but the howling rush of blood pumping through my brain. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst out of my chest, but still, I moved. In the span of less than ten seconds, I had slain three people. I had a strong start but as the other 5 young men raised their weapons at me I knew I was losing the initiative. The last remaining spearmen lunged at me but I grabbed at his spear and threw it to the side. It had been a haphazard and sloppy strike, and it cost him his life as I plunged my knife into his neck. Then with a push, I sent him sprawling in the direction of the three of the priests that still had crossbows. In a panic, they wasted their bolts on their already dead ally and I sprinted towards them.
As I ran towards them though I could see that they were already reloading, and I wouldn’t make it in time. The other two teens had shortswords and were close enough to cut me off. I don’t know what compelled me but as fast as thought I placed my bloody knife back into my inventory and pulled out the bag of dice. I reached in blindly and managed to pull out three d100s. I smirked. I couldn’t help it. I loved using these in the past when I was the game master for my group and had often thought about chucking them violently at some of the problematic players I would get. Now, I didn’t hold back. I tossed them at three priests with crossbows who flinched back at my projectiles. Reaching in I pulled out another handful of dice and chucked them at the two with shortswords who had started to rush in towards me.
The unexpected assault of math rocks managed to only buy me a few seconds, but that was all I needed as I quickly withdrew my knife again, dropping the bag to the ground, and rushed towards the priest closest who still had a crossbow. I tackled him to the ground, plunging my knife into his heart. As we landed I grabbed his shoulders and rolled pulling him on top of me just as another bolt flew in our direction. His body took the attack and I pushed him off of me, jerking my knife out of his chest before climbing back to my feet and charging at the next teen. He had barely enough time to reload before he saw me approaching. His eyes went wide and he tried to retreat and fire without even bothering to aim properly. The bolt missed me by inches, and before he could make another move I took his life by plunging my dagger in his throat.
I kicked the body towards the last one with a crossbow just as a sword came flying towards my head. Immediately I kicked out my feet droppin to the ground as the blade flew over my head close enough to feel the air. As I hit the ground I saw another blade coming down towards me from behind and I dodged to the side rolling my body into the first swordsman's legs. He looked down at me, his face a mix of rage, elation, and terror. I felt a twinge of pity at his terror, but I didn’t let it stop me. Before he could bring his sword down once more I took my knife and stabbed upwards into his stomach a few times. He bent over howling in pain. Reaching for his robes I quickly pulled him down and interposed him between his friends and myself. That forced the other swordsman to pull back just in time to avoid swinging his blade into his ally, but I still had to deal with the last crossbowman who was fumbling with his weapon.
“Y’all ever heard of rage quitting?” I asked as I pulled my gaming controller out of my inventory. The priest with the sword stepped back, his eyes becoming wary. I grimaced as I threw the controller as hard as I could at the other man’s hands, managing to knock the crossbow out of it. The one with the sword charged at me when he saw that I had not meant to target him. I retaliated by rushing at him which seemed to surprise him. He tried swinging at me but was obviously unaccustomed to wielding the weapon against someone who purposefully rushed at him instead of focusing on his attack. His swing was wide enough for me to bring up both hands, blocking the arm holding the sword and then slicing at his wrist. He dropped the blade, screaming in pain, before I brought the hand that was holding the knife up into his jaw and piercing his brain.
I turned my gaze to the last teenager who had managed to pick up a spear while my back was turned. He was staring at me, his eyes red with tears and terror plastered across his face. He wasn’t even able to hold the spear steady as he aimed it at me. Once again the weight of realizing I had just taken lives started to settle on me but I shook it off. No time for remorse. I thought as I stared at the scared kid and waved my hand.
“Get out of here kid. Leave.” I demanded loudly. That fight had only lasted a few minutes but a stamina meter hovered in the corner of my vision revealing I was down to 10% left. I had already been pretty worn out when this fight started. I was hoping he would take the hint and just leave me alone. I was panting heavily from the exertions and my arms felt like lead. He murmured something through his tears and a golden red eye appeared for a moment shining with malevolence before vanishing. He visibly relaxed and instead of retreating, he took a tentative step towards me. God, this kid is going to rush. I assessed.
The point of the spear dropped for a moment as he began his charge, his scream turning into a snarl. I watched as he crossed the sand between us, the little stamina I had left was quickly dropping. I barely had the energy to move, my eyes fixated on his arms. Despite whatever fortitude had come over him his form was still sloppy and unsteady. He pushed the spear forward propelling it towards my heart. I turned my hips, rotating my body just out of the way of his strike as I reached up and grabbed the weapon.
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Using his own momentum I pulled on the spear forcing the last priest to stumble towards me. I saw the resignation and acceptance in his eyes as I made my final strike. Fortunately for both our sakes, it was quick. My knife plunged into his face, ending him instantly. As he dropped, I released my grip on the handle leaving my blade protruding from the man’s skull as I too fell to the sand.
“Son of a bitch!” I exclaimed and started coughing in pain as the battle took its toll on me. Tears filled my eyes as I realized in horror what I had just done. As much as I wanted to just let myself process what had just happened, the system wouldn’t let me. A long row of text appeared before me, and reluctantly I read over it, prioritizing the notification over my own desire to freak out.
Quest Complete. You survived the encounter. Bonus Objective Complete. Survive the encounter using only your starting equipment.
Now Rating Performance. [First Time Rating Notice. Rankings begin at F as the lowest tier and escalate to E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and then SSS.]
Quest Efficiency: 8 of 8 targets defeated. Rank: S
Damage Efficiency: Zero Damage Taken, Maximum Damage Dealt. Rank: S
Strategy Efficiency: Maximum Effective Use of Starting Equipment. Rank: S
Overall Quest Performance Rank: S
Notice. Due to bonus objective completion, all performance rankings will increase by one level.
Notice. Due to the difficulty setting by the lack of the Tutorial Guidance System all performance rankings will increase by one level.
New Performance Rankings have been elevated to SSS.
Despite the turmoil taking place in my soul, a strong wave of elation dismissed most of my darker thoughts as I read the message, and all potential regrets I had at choosing the more difficult path faded. I had survived an intense battle, and I was being rewarded. It felt amazing. Part of my mind told me that was just the adrenaline, but I ignored the more rational part at the moment. I didn’t want to be rational just yet. I feared what might come from that line of thought. Instead, I focused my attention on the next screen that popped up.
Now dispensing quest rewards. Notice. All rewards will be based on quest ranking.
Quest Reward. Racial rank and traits unlocked. You have evolved from ‘Fel-Human: F’ to ‘Fel-Human: C’. Inspect the Race screen for more information.
Quest Reward: Leveling System Unlocked. As a sub-species of human, you receive two free attribute points and one skill point per level. Bonus attribute points and skill points may be granted by class selection. You have received a 100% Bonus to combat experience. You have received 2.080 combat experience from the battle. You have reached level 5.
Quest Reward: Class System Unlocked. Class Selection will now display Rank SSS classes. Classes are based on primary, secondary, and tertiary backgrounds. [First Time Class Selection Notification. All Classes grant specific titles of equivalent rank upon selection.]
Quest Reward: Starting Equipment will now evolve to fit class selection to items of rank SSS.
“Hmmm.” I pondered as I read the screen. I found it slightly interesting that my racial rank only rose to C while most things were being listed as SSS. Then again, despite fighting eight enemies I did only rise to level 5. That probably meant that the racial rank operated differently than everything else and that leveling wasn’t as easy as expected.
That did seem to imply that I would be starting off significantly overpowered though. I tried to think of a downside to that and couldn’t really come up with one. Of course, I wanted to be overpowered, that was the whole point of leveling up in games after all. Sure, with challenge comes a sense of accomplishment, and I didn’t want to get bored with my new life. I once watched an anime where the main character was so powerful he had lost pleasure in life. I didn't want that to happen to me. At the same time though every geek dreams of god-like powers, and I couldn’t wait to see what else the system had in store for me.
Laying on the sand, I was still unable to move after depleting my stamina in the battle. Needing time to recover I decided to go ahead and look over my class selections. As I pulled up my class options though, I felt truly upset for the first time.
Based on Attribute Prerequisites you have gained access to the classes of Paladin, Ranger, and Mage.
Paladin Prerequisite: Strength: 5. Vitality: 5. Agility: 3
Ranger Prerequisite: Agility: 5. Perception: 5. Intelligence: 3. Wisdom: 3.
Mage Prerequisite: Intelligence: 5. Wisdom: 3
Notice. Based on background history class selection has changed.
Paladin has become the Black Knight. Ranger has become the Assassin. Mage has become the Necromancer.
Notice. Due to Quest Performance, The Black Knight class has evolved to the Renegade. The Assassin class has evolved to the Revenant. The Necromancer Class has evolved to the Regulator.
In just a few lines of text, I felt my heart plummet as I saw my choices go from heroic to villainous. I wasn’t thrilled at the sinister connotations. Sure, I had a dark side, but that didn’t make me a bad guy. Even in video games, I would feel guilty for playing as the villain. I had a lot of hopes that coming to this world meant I could chase my childhood dreams of being some legendary hero but reading over that screen made me doubt that those dreams would be fulfilled. The class titles went from normal good-aligned classes to obviously evil-aligned classes. Just because my class choices seem bad doesn’t make me evil though, right? I tried convincing myself as I read my class options.
Class: Renegade.
Class Rank: S.
Class Bonus: 10% bonus to health, and defense. You gain two additional status points added to Vitality, Strength, and Agility per level. You gain an additional three status points to spend per level. You gain an additional 4 skill points per level.
Class Perks: Perk 1: Anti-Trust. You are unbound by any form of oath. This gives you resistance to control-type magic and mental attacks. You also are not sealed by any contractual obligations. This perk will make you passively hostile against any authoritative faction.
Perk 2: Monolith. You are a lone pillar against the storm. You gain an increase of 1% to all stats for each hostile combatant when fighting alone, and gain an additional 1% increase to all stats for each minute in combat per level. When fighting with allies this bonus is reduced by half per ally, but the other half of the bonus is shared amongst your allies.
Perk 3: Kinetic Abyss. Constantly in motion, you draw others into the void. While in combat you consistently build up the aggression of your enemies, making you the primary target. While in combat your motion builds up a kinetic force that pulls enemies into your strikes making it more difficult for them to evade your strikes. The more aggression you have gathered the more susceptible to this effect your enemy becomes. As the kinetic force continues to build, your strikes deal increasing amounts of damage.”
Pass, I thought, dismissing the class. I didn’t know much about my new world, but the one thing I was sure of was that I didn’t want to spend my time alone. I had spent far too long of my last life alone, and this was my chance to finally build an existence that I could spend with others. Choosing Renegade would mean encouraging a solitary lifestyle. Yes, I generally played tank characters in games, but tanks were always best in groups, and this seemed to tempt you into abandoning groups. I started looking over my second class.
Class: Revenant.
Class Rank: S.
Class Bonus: 10% bonus to damage, and evasion. You gain two additional status points added to Agility, and Perception per level. You gain one additional status point in Intelligence and Wisdom. You gain an additional three status points to spend per level. You gain an additional 3 skill points per level.
Class Perks: Perk 1: Spectral Phase. You continuously dance between the realms of life and death. You are capable of altering your physical state. This allows you to make yourself translucent in order to go undetected, and even become incorporeal. This gives you resistance to physical damage. This also allows you to create an icy aura that can cause fear and anxiety to those within its range.
Perk 2: Dark Fate. Everything living must die, and you are the inevitable specter of death that claims all. You can mark up to 5 targets per level for death. Targets marked for death become blighted by your attacks, receiving increasing damage over time, as well as becoming more vulnerable to all forms of damage. For every target that has been blighted, you gain a 1% increase in damage dealt, health recovery, mana recovery, and movement speed. If an enemy is defeated while being blighted you gain an additional 1% bonus per level to these stats.
Perk 3. Haunted Eclipse. The darkness has embraced you completely, allowing the night to be filled with the wails of the dead and dying. While in combat you create an aura of darkness around you, obscuring your foe's vision. This makes it more difficult for enemies to target you, and maintain aggression towards you. For every enemy that becomes blighted, the darkness grows and increases in radius. While in the darkness your movement speed increases, and your enemies are more susceptible to fear effects, Horrifying screams also begin echoing through the darkness further misdirecting your enemies.”
This one made me pause. One of my favorite cartoons was actually about a kid who got ghost powers, and I couldn’t help but get excited reading through the class as it reminded me of that cartoon. I could tell it was a solid mix of melee and magic. A good choice for a close to mid-range combat style focusing on damage. This enticed me greatly, but the biggest problem I noticed was that it was essentially an aoe glass cannon. I could do increasing amounts of damage against groups of enemies and would gain some survivability in combat against multiple foes, and while I had some resistance to damage the class clearly didn’t focus on endurance. Which meant if I ever did get hit, then I would be hit hard. Another thing that convinced me to move on was that the utility of the class would be diminished against individual foes. I didn’t know what I would be facing, but I wanted the maximum amount of versatility for any situation. I turned my attention to the last class.
Class: Regulator.
Class Rank: S. Class Bonus: 10% bonus to mana regeneration, and magical effects. You gain two status points in Intelligence, Wisdom, Luck, and Charisma. You gain an additional one status point to spend per level. You gain an additional 5 skill points per level.
Class Perks: Perk 1: Master. You control all that lies before you, and all bow to your will. You can create obligations of servitude, and initiate oath bindings. This becomes more effective the more intelligence you have over the target. This can work on any entity with a consciousness.
Perk 2: Dark Marionette. The whole world is a stage to the showman, and all those who dwell within are merely puppets to be guided. In combat, you cast a net of dark tendrils around you that entwine with your targets. The number of tendrils you summon is equal to your level plus your intelligence bonus. For every target you control, you can summon five more tendrils. Another tendril can also be summoned every ten seconds of battle up to ten times your level plus your intelligence bonus. For every tendril you control, you gain a 1% increase in magical potency, health regeneration, and mana regeneration. As your targets become entwined they fall under your control and become your battle puppets. Every puppet receives bonuses equal to half of your current bonus. For every target under your sway, you gain a 1% increase in magical power, and healing effects, up to a maximum of 5% per level.
Perk 3: Deathsworn Army. A monarch must have an army that will follow them into death and beyond, and some armies are already beyond death. You can summon three undead servants per level to act as your loyal minions. You can choose the form and function of your summons, but you can not exceed the number of summons, nor can you summon a new minion until a previous one expires or is dismissed. If any conscious entity dies while under your control they are revived as a member of your undead army, and does not count against the total number of summoned minions. All entities labeled as undead are less resistant to your control spells, and abilities.”
Out of all of them, this one seemed the most sinister. I hesitated to choose it because part of me knew that doing so would resign me to probably not being able to become a hero in this world. No damsels in distress, no statues of me, and no parades. However, unlike the other two classes it offered the most survivability and the most versatility. If I was lucky I could even find a few people who could overlook the zombies and be my friend without me brainwashing them. At the very least I could always summon my own army which meant I never really had to be alone.
I was a bit curious why my class options were all rank S when my quest told me they would be a higher rank, but with a reluctant sigh, I mentally chose the Regulator class. Only nothing happened when I selected it. I tried again, and repeatedly there was a lack of reaction from the system. I tried selecting the other classes, and once more nothing happened. I swore as I sat there staring for a few moments before I finally began to understand the problem. My class was supposed to be ranked SSS, and I had three classes all being listed as rank S. With a slow and deliberate thought I mentally accepted all classes. This time there was a change in the information text before me.
Class Selection has been Approved. Notice. You have chosen all classes. Alternative Class program Enabled. Fusion Class Activated. Error. You do not have the attributes to maintain Class Fusion. Your level and attribute values have all been reset to their base value. The reduction has been enacted to ensure successful class integration. All accrued status points and skill points have been maintained. The experience required per level has been expanded to match the necessary amount for each class. Alert. Due to level reduction, you have gained the active effect of ‘Crippled’. All stat point bonuses and class bonuses are reduced by 100%. This effect will be lessened by 20% per level until you regain your original level.”
“Notification! You have selected your class! You will now be rewarded with a title of matching rank. You have chosen the class, Renegade. You have been awarded the title, The Hollow Knight. Title Bonus: You receive 50% less damage from humanoid opponents and 20% Less damage from all other opponents. You have chosen the class, Revenant. You have been awarded the title, The Phantom Reaper. Title Bonus: You deal 50% more damage against humanoid opponents and 20% more damage against all other opponents. You have chosen the class, Regulator. You have been awarded the title, The Dark Overseer. Title Bonus: Charming humanoid targets is 50% easier and 20% easier to all other targets. Alert. Due to the combination of classes you have been granted a new class.
Class Granted: Dark Monarch.
Class Rank: SSS. Class Bonus: [LOCKED]
Class Perks: Perk 1. Dark Sovereignty. To conquer the world, one should understand the world. You can now understand, speak, and read all languages.
Perk 2. Dark Majesty. A monarch should be as capable as any of his followers, and more capable than all of those he reigns over. You can now obtain skills outside of your class selection from those you control.
Perk 3. Dark Pact. You are the Lord of the Night, and even the shadows kneel at your command. All negatively-aspected beings are now passively neutral to you, and will not attack unless provoked. You are now able to tame and control all negatively aspected beings.
Due to class and title compatibility, you have been awarded a new title. You have been awarded the title, The Apocalypse King. Title Bonus: Enemies damaged by any entity you directly control receive 50% more damage. Damage received to any entity you directly control takes 50% less damage. When damage is dealt to you, 50% of the initial damage is inflicted upon the assailant. This is based on the damage dealt, not the damage you receive.”
“New Quest Unlocked! Title Quest: Dismantle the Realms of Light and claim sovereignty over the Ten Kingdoms.