I spent the rest of the day being a murder hobo. Yup full sale slaughter of monsters on a scale that I personally find grand. I had to take breaks in-between groups to regenerate my energy, to be honest this constituted most of my time spent, as it was really easy to burn through my energy blast after blast in less than a minute.

After the first few groups, I felt secure enough in my ability to really try and practice with my energy, using my will to mold the blast into something that wasn't just a circle, a smaller circle, and a bigger circle. It took a few groups but eventually I was able to mold my blast into a flat wedge that allowed for piercing and the widening of the wound to inflict maximum carnage. I went for this shape because cutting a heart in two works just as well as pulverizing it - at least until I find a monster with enough regeneration to not die when its heart is cut in half - and since I didn't need to pulverize the heart, I could spend less energy while compacting it slightly to keep the same stopping power.

I felt quite good about myself and went on a bit of a killing spree with my new more efficient killing tool. I was in the middle of mowing down another group of beetles when I finally learned why I hadn't seen another barbed panther today. It turns out they like to hide and wait for prey to come close enough to ambush. The reasons I'm still alive are one, it wasn't dark out yet, and two there isn't much for a cat of that size to perch on in the city. It ambushed me from an alley, and I caught the motion of the cat out of the corner of my eye in time to backpedal, or more accurately throw myself back and onto the ground with the grace of a drunk bull. That move may not have been graceful but it's the reason I'm still alive.

The barbed panther pounced through the air where I would have been if I hadn't fallen. However, that doesn't mean it was done with me. As soon as the barbed panther hit the ground it spun and launched itself on me almost faster than I could react. Without thinking I dove towards the angry monster saving my life yet again, its pair of barbed tails flew over my head faster than I could keep track of, I only felt the small breeze across the back of my neck. With my palm outstretched towards the panther I willed far more energy than I should have into my attack, and I could feel the energy respond to my frantic attack with such force that I was unable to will the energy to launch like I normally did. I just knew that I needed the energy to enter the panther and rip at its internal organs. Responding to my need, my energy condensed and extended from my palm like a blade unsheathing from my body, plunging into the barbed panther like I was some old-world warrior plunging my sword into the heart of a beast trying to eat my family. For a single moment I held the weight of the barbed panther on a blade of pure energy as the panther reeled from having its heart pierced, then what little energy was left in the blade returned to my body and the monster fell on top of me, dead.

Pushing the barbed panther off me before the last two beetles could attack me, I got up and killed them with little effort or thought. I retreated back to my building; I needed some time to think, not just about almost dying, but what happened with my attack. My haste and fervor during the life and death encounter added to my will in an odd way, making my energy respond expeditiously to a desire that I didn't manifest consciously. It's like my energy knew what I wanted it to do before I thought of using it that way. It's certainly something I would do, and looking back if I knew my energy could do that, I would have certainly chosen that course of action. My energy knew my will before I could express it. After thinking it through I felt assured knowing that my energy wasn't working against me, it was actually working with me, and at a higher efficiency than I thought possible. Thinking of efficiency reminded me of my title and the 35% bonus I have to wielding my energy.

With my mind clear of worry I started to feel excited about what I was able to accomplish with my energy. Many of my favorite litrpg books had a spell sword mc, and it looks like I have the opportunity to do something similar in real life. It's a little different for me though, most Mc's had an actual sword and just used magic slash or something, but I'm using pure energy to create blades, or ... well I accidentally did it once. I'm not going to let that stop me though now that I know what's possible, I'm going to work relentlessly until I'm creating magnificent blades of pure unbridled energy to cleave my opponents in twain.

I rested in the staircase of my apartment building after my little debrief of myself, waiting for my energy to regenerate. Once it was done regenerating, I was going back to monster hunting, though I am going to keep an eye out for more barbed panthers.

With my task set before me the rest of the day went without another hitch. I practiced forming a blade every time I was waiting for my mana to regenerate, as I could dish out the energy, but without using it for anything I could pull it back inside my body. Within the next two hours I was confident enough with my new energy blade that I started using it on the beetles. The energy drain from stabbing or slashing at them was quite a bit less than launching a blast of energy, I think the reasons for this is because I'm not using energy to propel the wedge, I'm using my body as the force behind it. Getting comfortable again, I began using the blade in my right hand, and launching blasts from my left, which I have now refined into small dagger like wedges. It took the rest of the day practicing like that for me not to look like a drunk multitasking.

As night begins to set, I finally head back to the apartment building feeling like I've made significant progress, not so much in gaining energy for my class, though I did get a decent amount just not enough for a change in the class popup. No, where my progress came from was in my ability to wield my energy, I finally feel I have a handle on what my energy can do and how to use efficiently. Compared to me 24 hours ago I'm now a dangerous person and someone who shouldn't be underestimated.

Walking into the lobby I see that some of the corpses have been eaten, and more surprisingly the two in front of the door have been pushed aside, but it looks like they were pushed from the stairway side. I wonder if some of the other occupants of the apartment building left. I make my way up to the 5th floor; on the way I look down the hallways of the floors I pass, some doors are ajar, but they don't look like they've been broken down like the doors on the first floor. Hopefully that means nothing too bad has happened while I was gone, while I did come back every so often to check in, most of the time I regenerated energy closer to where I was fighting.

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Making It to Andy's door and see that it was still closed and locked I knocked.

"Andy, its Cass. I'm back." Andy quickly opened the door after realizing it was me.

"Holy shit Cass I thought for sure you were dead when you didn't come back in a few hours." Andy looked relieved which I could understand, he probably wouldn't survive too long without me, and I think he knows it.

"Nah I had a few close calls but nothing I couldn't handle. How has everything been while I was gone." I looked inside and didn't see Lilly.

Seeing that I was looking, Andy assured me that they were both fine, and that Lilly was in her apartment.

"Man, while you were gone some people came by and knocked on every single door. I heard our neighbor at 5A open the door, and then a gunshot. I think someone killed her! Then I heard the guy going through her apartment. After he knocked on the rest of the doors and no one answered he left." Andy was calmer than I thought he would be after something like that happened, I think he is finally coming to terms with how the world has changed and found some courage. I was happy for him.

"Alright let me get Lilly and we can talk more about this and what I found out while killing monsters." Turning around I went and knocked on Lilly's door and told her I was back and that she should come over to Andy's so we could all talk.

Lilly came out of her new apartment looking cleaned up and put together, she looked a lot better than when I found her in that alley.

"Is that blood all over you?!" Lilly asked, horrified.

Oh, right I totally forgot about that, I wonder why Andy didn't react the same way.

"Don't worry its monster blood, and I'm not hurt." I assured her and led her into Andy's.

Sitting down around a coffee table with Andy and Lilly, I gave them the general run down about what I figured out, though nothing about my abilities or my use of energy. Most of what I told them were about the four different kinds of monsters I found, and the class system.

"Wait, class system? Like in games and stuff." Lilly was surprised.

"Yeah, pretty much just like that." I responded and went into more depth about the classes the system offered and what they did. I also told them about the random class and the achieved class.

Andy looked thoughtful; I knew he had a pretty good grasp of our new reality because we read the same kinds of books and played some games together.

"So, we have to kill monsters to get a class, and you said we have to kill enough to reach an exp threshold?" Andy asked.

"Thats right, after I finished off the first barbed panther, I just felt it, like it clicked into place. Then the system gave me classes to pick from." I clarified for Andy.

"Then what class are you now Cass?" Andy wanted to know.

I debated lying to him, but I already told them about the last line of the class screen, so it wouldn't have really mattered.

"I haven't chosen a class yet." I looked towards Andy, and he looked utterly stupefied.

Preempting his inevitable question, I reminded him of the final line.

"Remember what I told you about the last line of the prompt. I'm waiting to gather more energy so I can get a different class."

Andy's expression relaxed into mild surprise as he thought over what I said.

"I guess I see where you're coming from, but it seems like such a big risk to wait." Andy explained what he was thinking.

"Wait you spent the entire day killing monsters and you didn't even get one of these classes?" Lilly asked, confused.

"Yup, I'm waiting to get one I really want." I told her. She just nodded and let it drop, though I could tell she didn't understand why I would do that. To her a class was just a class.

"So..." I started, trying to think of a good way to broach the topic I wanted without scaring them off.

"Are you guys interested in coming with me tomorrow?" I looked between the two trying to assess their reactions.

Andy looked contemplative, like he was truly thinking about it this time instead of just outright refusing like last he did this morning. It was progress regardless of his answer and I had hope for him eventually. Lilly on the other hand made a face like I was suggesting she jump into a meat grinder, which as he thought about, wasn't too far off from what he was suggesting, though he was going to help them through the grinder.

"I don't know Cass it seems really dangerous." Andy replied, not declining, but not agreeing yet either.

Gauging their reactions to be non-committal at best, I decided to suggest something.

" How about you two wait until I have my class and then, I'll take you both out and keep you safe while you get your classes. Does that sound alight?" I could immediately tell that Andy liked this idea far more, and Lilly seemed like she was coming around.

"That sounds like a great idea Cass." Andy agreed readily.

With both of us looking to Lilly for her response she acquiesced with a sigh.

"I guess I can try that, yeah."

With that decided we sat down to eat dinner together, making small talk. Man am I hungry, I need to remember to take some lunch with me tomorrow. After dinner was done, I bid my companions good night and went to my apartment. Taking my clothes off and throwing them in the trash I gave myself a quick and cold washcloth bath to get the blood and grime off me. I put some clothes back on in case I need to get up in a hurry and hit the hay.

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Darkness, he recognizes it fast this time. The cold is quick to permeate his being. He could feel himself falling into the dark abyss. Entropy was calling to him, trying to wither him away into oblivion, as all who looked upon the Void unwelcomed, would inevitably become one with it. Soon, just like last time the Void noticed him, the abyssal darkness coalesced and reached for his floating consciousness. Merely being noticed was enough to terrify him, but the closer it came, the more he felt like these were his last moments. He knew instinctively that anything that was touched by the Void would be annihilated then assimilated. He could feel waves of hunger rolling forth from the void as it neared, it was hungry, no it was hunger incarnate, and it wanted to satiate itself by devouring him. The cold ink black hungry Void wrapped itself around him, but before it could fully close around him and consume him for the rest of eternity, he felt ... something.

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Coming awake in an instant, I felt ... hungry, and cold. I need some breakfast; I don't even remember the last time I felt this hungry.