Chương 4: Chapter 3 - Unique Class

She sat there for what seemed like a few more hours, when finally some new text appeared in her mind: Congratulations! You are the first candidate in the World Engine Retrofit Initiative. It appears that you died before your scheduled death. We apologize for the inconvenience. To help smooth things over, you will be reincarnated as Shian Yountal, age 24. Your status has been upgraded, rewards are pending. This time, there was no waiting, no confirming that she was ready to proceed.

Instead, the vision faded, and sharp pain erupted all over, assaulting her from all sides. It suddenly felt like she had a body again, and that the whole thing was on fire. She had never felt such pain in her life before, and it was brutal. As quickly as it had started, the pain disappeared. It didn't slowly die down like after stubbing your toe, it just… vanished. Like it had never been there in the first place. She groaned and opened her eyes, then quickly shielded them from the bright sunlight.

That's when the realization hit her. I'm back! I have a hand again! She stared at her new hand for a moment, then sat up and glanced around. It was the exact same battlefield that she had seen before, and she was wearing the same armor as the young Shian girl had been wearing in her vision. The only difference she noticed was that her exposed skin was red, and she realized that she had a sunburn.

Looking around, the lightning storm off in the distance had stopped, and the bodies that had been floating aimlessly on the other side were now on the ground. She wondered how much time had passed while she was in that void, waiting for the World Engine to figure things out. That had been one of the most fun and enlightening experiences of her life. She had learned so much from the short interactions she had with the World Engine. She determined to try interacting with it again. Hey, World Engine, are you there? …

"Hey!" She tried shouting, now that she had a body.

"Wor… ghghg." She found herself unable to utter the phrase 'World Engine' out loud, which she found strange. She tried again, and got the same result.

"Hey, that's not fair!" She shouted at the skies.

"I didn't ask for this. And what was all that pain just a moment ago? Is that normal?" … Still no response. What now? She looked around at the deserted battlefield. It didn't stink yet, so she figured the battle must not have happened too long ago. What if another one sprang up? I should probably get out of here. The sun was directly above her, so she couldn't really get a sense of direction. Even if she could, she had no idea where she was. Which direction was home?

The World Engine did confirm that this is my same home planet. I guess I need to find a map, figure out where I am, then make my way home. I'm sure I can explain to mom and dad what happened. You will be unable to tell anyone of your true identity. You are now Shian Yountal. Just like that, the World Engine was back. Maybe she just had to try breaking some of its rules anytime she wanted to talk to it? Hey, there you are! She thought merrily towards it. Why can't I tell people that it's me?

Residents of this planet believe resurrection and reincarnation to be impossible. Any attempt to divulge your true identity will not be allowed. Ah, I see. Why couldn't I say 'World Engine' out loud earlier? Residents of this planet are not aware of the existence of the World Engine. Any attempt to discuss the World Engine will not be allowed. Hmm… ok. What were those rewards you mentioned? More text appeared in Kiara's view. She moved her head, and the text moved with her. It simply floated in front of her face.

She tried waving her hand through the text, but it simply appeared in front of her hand, overlaying her entire view of the world around her. Overview Stats Abilities Rewards She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the text. It didn't really make any sense to her. The words just floated there, not offering much of anything in the way of explanation. Glancing at her sunburned skin, she looked around and noticed a grove of trees in the distance.

She began walking towards it while she looked at the text, slowly making her way around dead bodies. Can I get a little help here World Engine? What am I supposed to do with this text? Focus on an item to make a selection. Along with that short explanation came an innate knowledge of how to interact with the World Engine text. She focused on the Overview text, and immediately the text in her vision changed. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Spirit: Kiara Dunsun Body: Shian Yountal Age: 24 Species: Human Status: Alive Class: Anti-Mage Tier: 0 This was similar to what she had seen in the void, except now it showed some new items: Spirit, Class, and Tier. She focused on Spirit, but nothing happened. She focused on Class next, and new text appeared. As a reward for your premature death, you were granted the ability to use magic, and your spiritual roots were strengthened to enable you to become a powerful mage.

However, something went wrong with that process, and an unknown error occurred. As a result, a new class has been created for you that seems to fit your spiritual energy. As things tend to malfunction when you are around, you have been granted the class of Anti-Mage. Basic magic won't affect you in the same way it does other people. As you grow stronger and advance through the tiers in your class, you will gain other abilities as well, pertinent to your new tier.

Current Tier: 0 Advancement through the tiers of your class will be time based. Next advancement: 1 week. She pondered on that for a moment, and nodded to herself, grinning slightly. This class honestly felt right. It fit. Next, she focused on Tier: 0, but nothing happened. She mentally prodded the World Engine to pull back up the previous text, and then selected Stats.

Strength: 20 Mind: 50 Endurance: 30 Healing: 15 Sleep Fatigue Resistance: 15 Food / nourishment requirement: 15 Durability: 10 Life Expectancy: 60 Wait a minute… Hey! Does that mean I'll die when I'm 60? Not necessarily. The life expectancy stat reflects the age at which your current body would die from old age. Many people die from other causes before reaching their life expectancy. When am I scheduled to die? You are not allowed to know the time of your own death. I guess that makes sense.

She reached the grove of trees, and took shelter under the shade of a large elm. Its magnificent branches spread out above her, shielding her from the sun. She took a moment to appreciate the shade. The grove of trees wasn't large, just twenty or thirty trees growing near each other, but it was nice to be out of the sun. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. She felt the cool breeze touching lightly on her skin, and could almost imagine that she wasn't surrounded by death on a massive battlefield.

Oddly, the text still hovered there, even with her eyes closed. The intuitive knowledge that the World Engine had granted her helped her know that she could hide the text and re-open it at any point. She did that a few times just to test things out. Hey, can I see my Stats from before, when I was still in my own body? No. Ha! Ok, whatever. She flexed her different muscles and jumped around a little. Shian's body was certainly stronger than her own had been. It made sense, Shian was a warrior after all.

She felt like her mind still worked the same way as before, and wondered if the Mind stat would make her smarter somehow. If so, it must have carried over from her other body. Or maybe it was attached to her spirit instead? The overview screen did show that her spirit was Kiara, just inhabiting Shian's body for the time being. She could guess that the Endurance stat measured how in shape she was, and after jogging around for a few minutes, she determined that Shian was in better shape as well.

Her own Endurance stat must have been lower. She wasn't sure what the Healing stat was. Maybe it reflected how quickly she would heal from injury or sickness? Sleep Fatigue Resistance was pretty self explanatory, and she assumed that a high Food / nourishment requirement stat would mean she wouldn't have to eat as often. What was Durability? Would that help her not get injured as easily? She had a pretty good idea what the Life expectancy stat was, after her conversation with the World Engine.

She decided to ask it some more questions for clarity. What is Durability? … Why did it answer some questions, but not others? That was annoying. Also, she needed to decide what to do next. She would need to find a town or a village of some kind so that she could get food and water, and a place to sleep. She also wanted to find a map. The World Engine had indicated that she wouldn't be able to tell anyone who she really was, but it hadn't said anything about going back home.

She should at least try to find a map and see where she was, and if getting home would even be feasible. She wasn't sure how far she would have to walk, and although Shian was in better shape than her old body had been, she didn't want to walk very far in this armor. Then again, she was in the middle of a battlefield… After some thought, she decided to ditch the armor. If someone attacked her, there wouldn't be much she could do anyways, she didn't really know how to fight.

She gathered up some spare clothes from the dead bodies, since they weren't using them anymore, and used them to cover her exposed skin. Then, she scanned the horizon for any sign of a town or something, but came up empty. She glanced up at the elm tree, and wondered if she should climb it to get a higher vantage point. Unfortunately, she wasn't very good at climbing, either. She spotted a small hill to her left, so she started walking that direction.

Hopefully from the top of the hill she would be able to get her bearings a bit better. She decided to peruse the other text options while she walked. She mentally focused on Abilities. Abilities [Personal Spell Negation] Basic magic does not affect you, and dissolves on contact with your body. Heh, I guess I have to actually learn how to do something before that will get filled out more. Even so, she was pleased with this new ability. Did that mean she could just fight any mage she wanted?

That was unheard of, mages ruled the world, as far as she knew. She would probably need to test out how that ability worked, and keep it a secret in order to stay safe. She had saved the best page for last, and she even giggled excitedly as she focused on the last text option: Rewards. She wasn't ready for what came next.