Ch. 3
Class Selection.
“Who th-“ Amos almost stood then and there, but forced himself to remain still.
Throughout the entire notification process, he maintained a vigilant eye on the surroundings, or at least, as much as he could when he wasn’t doubling down in pain. There was nothing there, nor were there sounds of something sneaking up to him without his noticing.
When the reasonable options were eliminated, that was when it was time to accept the unreasonable ones.
With a squint, he looked at the orb. “Are you the one who spoke to me?”
“That is correct, Master Magellan. This one is known as the Seed of Potential.”
‘That name is familiar. I think it was listed under one of the notifications.’ As he thought back to the possible notification it had come from, Amos accidentally discovered he could mentally recall the information he had received anytime he wanted. ‘That’s useful.’ With that, he hastily scoured through all the information forcefully injected into his brain, actually reading the full contents of the magical missives for the first time.
There was a lot he still didn’t know, but both the mandate and the other text did provide him with some small amount of context to use. It wasn’t so much as here, have a few paragraphs and a wiki to explain this and that, but rather, it more so came based on impressions and intent.
It was similar to reading the room in a way, but instead of being based on assumptions, there was a tangible presence. It was all esoteric BS to him regardless, but it was hard to deny the obvious when it was actually happening to him.
‘I think I understand enough.’ Now that everything was settled in place, he decided it was time to confront the Seed of Potential dancing around before him, though there was something that needed to be done first for the sake of convenience.
“Hey uh, Seed. Do you have a name or something? It’s a mouthful to call you ‘Seed of Potential all the time and it doesn’t sit right with me to shout out ‘Seed!’ when I need you.”
“This one is called Seed of Potential. The Master is welcomed to assign a name to this one, but do note that this one is meant to be consumed within the next thirty days.”
‘Well. That’s kind of awkward.’
Amos didn’t know much about living with a literal ticking clock behind his back, but he continued anyway. He tucked away a mental note to not mistreat the poor bastard.
“Noted.” With a scrunched face, the man sat there alongside an unknown magical alien and thought of a name for his new companion. Still somewhat unsatisfied with the end result, he came up with something that’ll work for now, given the Seed’s… unfortunate situation.
“I think I’ll call you Pixie. You remind me of those little fairytale creatures back on Earth. If you didn’t know, that’s the planet I come from.”
“This one shall accept the Master’s designation.”
“Great! Since we have that out of the way, could you, uh, maybe explain to me your purpose? I understood some details that came from the… tattoo thing on my wrist, but I didn’t experience the weird brain probe from the mothership with you like I did with the rest.”
“Apologies Master Magellan, this one does not understand the definition of ‘mothership.’ The information the Master has received came from the Heavens, not this ship.”
“I meant tha-“ Amos paused for a second. With a wry smile, he shook his head before continuing. “You know what? Fine. Continue with your explanation, please.” The magical light bulb was literally a few minutes old, for goodness’ sake.
“The Seed of Potential allows the Master to use this one as a conduit for change.”
Two confused eyes met with the blank, yellowish light in silence. The atmosphere became more and more awkward until finally, Amos broke first after ten seconds.
“That’s it? Come on, man. Elaborate a little!”
Amos could feel the emotions of the ball in his hand. It was the first time it felt something strong enough for him to comprehend the fact he could. Pixie stirred in his hands a little, and with awkward embarrassment from what he could tell. As for how he could understand the emotions of this alien? Magical shenanigans.
“The Seed of Potential will allow the master to strengthen or change whatever he so desires. If the Master wishes to evolve a sword to a higher rank or tier, then the Master may transform this one into usable energy to fuel such an affair. If the Master desires to develop a skill or transform a certain function of said skill in The Convergence, then the Master may use his Karma through this one to trigger such abilities.”
Amos, somewhat assuming with the naming scheme a little, asked Pixie a follow-up question.
“If I’m understanding this right, then the cost is variable with the amount of Karma I use, right? What’s stopping me from hoarding as much Karma as possible, wait for the last second of this… tutorial, then create some god-tier weapon or whatever. Something like a diamond pickaxe or Mjölnir.”
“While there are no limits within The Convergence, this one does not believe there is enough Karma here to facilitate such a potent evolution. With the knowledge instilled in this one from the Heavens, there is much this one doesn’t know outside certain parameters, as this one is meant to serve as a limited form of guidance within The Convergence for as long as the Master sees fit. All information this one has only pertains to the normally seen cases, with fringe cases outside set parameters.”
Amos assumed his new companion was pondering for a few moments, as the luster surrounding it dulled. Then, it came back in full brightness, having seemingly come up with an additional comment.
“If this one could be so bold as to assume the Heaven’s plans, this one believes this is meant to serve as a small trial for you humans. When to use the Seed of Potential and forgo the guidance is a test in of itself.”
His reaction was to nod at that, his brows furrowing soon after as he theorized further. From the limited context he could garner from the notifications, or at least the ones he was meant to know, whenever he envisioned himself desiring to know more about this so-called Convergence, his mind automatically made a connection with the idea of a tutorial. Not out of his own will, but through whatever magic crap this context-feeling ability came from. He could understand most of the words themselves in each notification, but how could humans exist in some kind of shard? Heaven’s Spire? While he may have been given some context, he lacked the greater wisdom and knowledge to utilize said context.
What the mandate had provided was scarce in this case, limited solely to The Convergence, or tutorial in his mind. As for what Pixie said? It made sense as a test. It’ll be a delicate balance to not overreach, while at the same time, not holding back too much.
‘At least Pixie can act as an informant for a while.’ That was another bonus he didn’t expect. Again, that made sense, otherwise, why would the Heavens provide some kind of talking item? It was cruel, but he didn’t want to think about that right now.
With that, Amos stood without warning. The sudden movement upward caused Pixie to phase through his palm like a ghost. There was one question that kept coming back around, one that refused to leave the forefront of his mind ever since he’d accepted the fact he found himself in some kind of fantastical tutorial.
“Alright. I’m listening, Pixie. What should I do next?”
“This one recommends the Master to use [Initiation: Class Token] he received in addition to the mandate first. Then, the Master should use the second token soon after.”
‘Seems simple enough.’ Pixie didn’t tell him how to summon them but if his recent experiences were much to go by, all he had to do was wish for the items to come. Amos closed his eyes and envisioned a coin coming out of thin air and into the flat of his palm. When the thought came to mind, there was a shift of weight in his hand. Perfect.
When his eyes opened, a recent addition was there. It was a round, wooden item of some kind, something around the size of a medal. Well. It was supposed to be a coin and all, but it was much bigger than any normal coin he’d seen. On the surface was some kind of symbol, a common theme he was beginning to notice threaded throughout the magic.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Amos wasn’t sure how his new skill [Tongues of Myriad] worked, but he could tell the symbol or unknown language hadn’t been translated. The fact was rather obvious, since it still looked like nothing more than gibberish to his untrained eye.
Knowing the general method to trigger these sorts of magical phenomena now, he closed his eyes once more and willed himself to use the token. In his mind’s eye, he even went so far as to crush the token like a tin can, ensuring there was no confusion with his intent.
[Initiation: Class Token] (1) has been activated.
Amos understood the words that appeared in his mind, so when he went to open his eyes, he noticed he was somewhere entirely different from before. Again. This time, however, it looked much less mundane.
Rather than awakening in some kind of untamed wilderness that made him think of Scandinavia, he was summoned to some kind of black void. It was breathtaking in a way, since he could see distant stars, galaxies, and dense nebula all around him without the ground or atmosphere to impede their majesty. Some part of him wanted to sit there in awe, but he forced himself to ignore the outside. It would seriously suck if he found out there was a time limit.
But that left him confused. What was he supposed to do now? Amos went to turn around and when he did, he noticed several statues towering over him. If he were still on Earth, these statues would rival the height of an apartment complex.
“Maybe this is the wrong reaction to have, but this is awesome.”
Even someone like him could see the sheer craftsmanship. Somehow, the artists had made them look astonishingly alive, all while cramming as much details as possible into the stone.
The stone statues were beautiful, to say the least, but each one had a certain depiction that caused his impression-meter power BS to flow off the charts. With it, the statue he found himself closest to gave him some sort of feeling—one of steadfast determination.
With a curious glint, Amos walked to the statue and saw what looked to have been a horse made of stone. The artist captured a moment in time of when a horse was galloping forth; the wind blowing back its rather intricate mane. Moments later, he reached the base of the statue and noticed a difference in coloration. Whereas all the statues he saw consisted of stone and overgrown moss, what he saw here was a red gemstone on the round pedestal, not to mention the red arcane symbols that looked inlaid within the round pedestal at normal intervals.
The gemstone screamed button or activation, so he took it as where he needed to go. When he placed his hand on the gem, there was a scene that flashed through his mind out of nowhere. It reminded him of a cinematic in a way, but that fact alone didn’t stop him from taking a step back as it appeared, startled.
No longer was he there in the void, but rather, elsewhere.
There was a bearded man, one who seemed to have been in his mid-thirties.
Armor and weapons surrounded him on all sides. Broken chest pieces, pauldrons, swords, and other notable weapons were either driven into the dirt or left out to rust in the elements. With all the armor around the man, it came as a surprise to Amos that he wore none.
He was shirtless as scars and old wounds riddled his skin like the stripes of a zebra.
No.
Amos could feel it. This man was a tiger.
The man walked up to a wooden shaft and, with a quick heft, he pulled out the metal spearhead that’d been underneath the dirt.
Whoosh.
Amos heard something from afar and, with a curious look, he noticed several humanoid figures form around the perimeter of the stone walls. Realizing he had been too held up by the man, he looked around and noticed the familiar landscape. The man was in a courtyard of sorts, but rather than somewhere normal, it was in that same void space he’d been in before, almost as if this courtyard existed on some chunk of rock drifting through space.
With a small slam, the man placed the butt of his spear on the ground, though as soon as he did, Amos found himself whisked away. It was jarring, but he was quick to understand what had happened. No longer was he spectating from the air like some kind of ghost. He was now inside the man himself. The two became one as he now saw the world through the eyes of another, the loss of control uncomfortable as it tickled his heart and mind.
With a grunt, the man lifted the spear and held it in a classic pose, one he’d seen many times in the historical movies and shows he loved to watch. Enemies took that as an invitation and attacked en masse. Amos couldn’t count how many there were, but it couldn’t have been more than 20.
All the man did in response was unleash a thrust. It was simple. Out of place, even.
Amos expected more… oomph. It was like the man wasn’t in the middle of a life and death battle, but a training session, one he didn’t even bother to go all-out for.
That may have been how he saw it, but it was clear the enemies perceived it differently. Almost all of them scattered like dust, as if some kind of swift wind blew them off their feet and into the air. Amos had even noticed several of them in the rear get shot out of the scene entirely, their destination unknown.
‘Well shit, then. Sorry I underestimated you.’
The man took a side step and maneuvered his weapon into a sweeping motion, the glistening spearhead illuminating under the millions of stars. The weapon did untold damage to the black humanoids as a wide arc of something was unleashed in its wake, while the closer ones soon found themselves without heads at the behest of the metal blade.
The battle, if he could call it that, went on like that for an entire minute. The man didn’t even take the threat seriously. Before long, Amos found himself back out of the statue once more, the memories of what had happened in there firmly etched in his mind. Recollection came with almost perfect clarity, however, there was a certain impression that came along with that new realization, one that told him it would be gone as soon as he left the space he was in. From there, what he could remember would be on him.
This whole impression thing was useful, if not downright weird.
If he was going to treat this class thing like a video game, then he would say that the class he’d seen just now was more so on the warrior path. It wasn’t a perfect fit, however, as Amos had seen some bows thrown about as well, so perhaps it was more so about combat? He would have to see more.
Soon enough, Amos took a look to the left and there, saw another statue. When he mentally decided to walk toward it, the world around him shook. His heart panicked, but his mind didn’t know why. There was a certain fear his body has toward the tremors, but for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why.
With a groan, the massive statue in front of him shook him out of his thoughts as it began to slide away. Meanwhile, the statue he was intent on checking out next moved toward him instead. It was like all the statues were all anchored to some kind of wheel, with the horse statue now sliding away further and further to the right to replace the one that had been there initially.
‘Well, that’s handy.’
It seemed like he underestimated the size of the room he was in because it took almost thirty seconds until it was close enough for him to interact with. While from afar, he could understand some of the subtle clues it exuded, similar to how he go the whole ‘determination’ thing with the warrior class, but not enough for him to understand what kind of new class he was working with. Amos wasn’t too positive if the tutorial would go with the whole RPG system where there’s a warrior, mage, healer, archer, and rogue, but he was sure he’ll soon find out. That seemed a little too on the nose. Right…?
This new statue had a similar round base as the last one, but the depiction was different, not to mention the presence it gave off. It was more… ethereal. Somehow less grounded in reality and more on the supernatural. Unlike the last one, the impression of this statue was focused on ‘mysteries.’ As for what the statue showcased? It was a flower. Amos didn’t understand the correlation, but who was he to say?
There was a certain theory in his mind as to what this one could represent, so he took the initiative to place his hand on the blue gemstone.
It turned out he was indeed correct in his assessment. It was some kind of mage class that combined healer in there as well. Whatever dealt with this… mana, for lack of a better term, were all combined into one class here. The catch, however, was that there was a ton of school work at the start of the vision. Amos was unsure of how that would mesh well with being in the middle of the wilderness, but it was food for thought. For now, he will refer to the statue as the scholar class.
The last statue was more unexpected.
Craftsmen. It made sense, kind of. Surviving in this place for thirty days would require more than living in some makeshift tee-pee with a bunch of dead sticks. However, it seemed a little overkill at the same time. If such a class was necessary, then maybe there was a clue woven within. Would humans need craftsmen here to repair something? Create weapons?
Whatever the case, the decision before him… was tough.
All three classes appealed to him. All three were involved in his day-to-day life.
He appealed with the warrior class because one, it was awesome. Two, because he was a thrill-seeker by heart. It was the whole reason he took the risks he did, and haven’t taken the chance to retire from his midnight hobbies. There were others out there he could invest in, such as rock climbing or martial arts, but there was something inherent to the idea of racing. Learning how to fix cars is what shifted his life from that of hopelessness and poverty to the one he lived now. The amount of control he could exert with cars was an additional factor; the different engines, mods, wheels, body kits, and more made the experience customizable to a tee, and allowed him to test and tinker with cars.
It wasn’t so much the chase to the top that did him in, such as a rock climber reaching the top of a hard mountain, but the idea he could test out what worked for one car, race it, tear it apart and repeat. It was like creating the best car possible with his own knowledge, theories, and experience.
As for the scholar class, school was not something he was good at. Well, that was the wrong way to put it. School came rather easily for him when he actually put in the effort to try to succeed. There were a few times when he slept for most of a class and still aced a test because it wasn’t really all that hard to understand after a night of studying. What he had trouble with was forcing himself to remain interested in something he really didn’t care about. History and science were his favorite topics in school, so he did well in those, but with the rest? Apathetic would be the most endearing term to use.
Community college was when he found himself much more interested in succeeding and, because of that, he found a new love for learning. As long as there weren’t teachers cramming down unnecessary information down his throat he didn’t care for, he found the entire process rather fun.
The third class didn’t need mentioning. Amos ran a garage. He and the rest of his crew were mechanics.
Decisions… decisions.
[System Notice]
Three paths stand before you, each a foundation for the future to come. All selections are acceptable, but one should remember that while the destination is important, one must choose a path that calls forth your inner desire.
Note: The class you choose will unlock unique abilities and impact your records.
Skirmisher - All warriors must start somewhere. The Skirmisher class will create a foundation for the nascent warrior to-be with abilities that impact physical prowess.
Neophyte - All mages must start somewhere. The Neophyte class will create a foundation for the nascent mage to-be with abilities that impact magical prowess.
Apprentice - All craftsmen must start somewhere. The Apprentice class will create a foundation for the nascent craftsmen to-be with abilities that impact crafting abilities.
Make your choice.