Chương 4: Chapter 3 – Classes

"Congratulations," Daniel nodded, clearly satisfied.

"That might be the best-case scenario." I don't think I've ever seen him so proud. Kai couldn't say he was surprised, though. She may not have known what she was doing, but apparently, she had gotten quite a bit of theoretical training already. Perhaps I should have… Oh, whatever. I hope I get something with swords. Lena was bobbing in place, clearly ecstatic.

"Can I cast–""Don't," their father cautioned.

"Wait until I can walk you through it. For now, read the descriptions of your new spells." She visibly deflated, but instantly refocused as she looked at what Kai assumed was her new list of class-given abilities. Aaand she's gone again. Kai quickly checked the log window. It was still only printing dots. Something in his chest began to tighten.

"Honey, what even is a class?" his mother asked. Daniel blinked.

"Essentially, it is a collection of Proficiencies, Skills, Spells, and Perks, tailored towards a particular–""That is a lot of proper nouns, Daniel."

"... It gives you a set of supernatural abilities. Wizards get magic, Archers get skills for ranged combat, Marauders learn how to hit things with axes really hard." Kai could feel some bias there, but elected against mentioning it.

"So, you just get assigned a class and then you're stuck with it?" Laura complained.

"Actually, no. You can buy as many classes as you want, as long as you have natural aptitude or training applicable to them. I personally have multiple Tier I classes. Wizard, Alchemist, Fighter…"

"You buy classes? How?"

"By spending Skill Points. I'll explain once we get there, Laura." Laura sighed in resignation, but the sigh suddenly turned into an alarmed cough.

"I got my class." Kai's chest tightened further as his mother squinted at an invisible screen.

"I'm a Druid now, I suppose. What exactly can I expect from that?" Daniel's face lit up again.

"Nice. I don't really get how Druids work, but whenever I partied with one, they were extremely useful. From what little I do understand, druidic magic is built on nature itself, and their spells usually focus on either plants or animals."

"So, more like the MMO druids instead of historical ones?" Kai interjected, mostly to distract himself from waiting.

"To a degree," his father affirmed.

"Think more body horror and less tree-hugging though. Every Druid I know is a ruthless darwinist." Body horror?!

"Darwinist?" Laura asked, seemingly unbothered by the earlier implications.

"The core tenet of most animal-focused Druid circles is natural selection. They hunt beasts, claim their souls as trophies, and summon them as minions in combat."

"Huh. And what about the plant-focused ones?"

"Those are absolutely terrifying in their own right. They can grow huge trees in seconds, and make the very same tree flay the flesh from your bones with thorny branches. Of course, those thorns also poison you, because why not," Daniel ranted. I can't help but feel there's a story there… Kai's mother, however, just made an appreciative noise.

"So, gardening, but without the pretension. Sounds interesting, at least." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"Most importantly for you right now, Druids want a lot of Willpower. Willpower is an incredibly versatile attribute."

"My attributes say I have six Willpower. That's good, then?"

"Very good for level seven, actually. You should focus on increasing that and Constitution as you level up."

"... You'll have to walk me through that again later." Daniel nodded, then turned towards Kai expectantly, who immediately checked his log once more. Nothing. He slowly shook his head and clenched his teeth.

"The system is still 'analysing class compatibility'." His mother shot him a worried look, which he pointedly ignored. Daniel's expression did not change.

"I see. Lena?" It took a few seconds and a tap on the shoulder before Lena returned to reality with a frown.

"What?"

"Please check your available classes." She blinked, eyes shifting as she rapidly scanned a new window.

"There are two entries. The first one is 'Alchemist', and–""Alchemist is one of the best combinations with Wizard," Daniel interrupted.

"Same primary attribute, different weaknesses. Wizards lack healing and frontline options. Alchemists cover both with potions and golems."

"Should I buy it?" Lena asked, mirroring his passion.

"Not yet. Cement your initial class first. Skill Points are difficult to come by, and classes are expensive."

"Okay, Dad. And what about the second option? It's called 'Sorcerer'." Daniel froze.

"Don't touch that one," he ordered. Lena's mouth snapped shut, only to hesitantly open moments later.

"... Why? It sounds cool," she mumbled.

"Because Sorcery is unreliable and dangerous," he explained.

"Sorcerers tend to die early in their careers, mostly by their own spells." That's not everything. Kai's father very rarely lied or hid information on purpose, but whenever he did, he scratched the space between his chin and lower lip, like he did just now. Thanks for the hint, Mom. If Laura noticed it herself, she did not mention it. Instead, she interrupted Lena's followup by asking, "It says I don't have any classes available. Is that bad?"

"Not exactly. You should focus on getting to Tier II for now, anyway."

"From context, I assume that Tier II is some kind of upgrade?" Laura mused.

"Correct. We'll worry about that later, though. One thing after another."

"Sounds good. …Kai, dear, are you alright?" Kai was, in fact, not alright. His jaw hurt from how hard he clenched his teeth, and the tightness in his chest had gone hollow. Where is my class?! He forced himself to relax, if only to stop the humiliation of being pitied.

"I'm fine, just a little impatient." His mother raised an eyebrow, but did not push the issue. His father seemed to take him at his word as he usually did.

"Here." With a wave of his hand, a slab of stone rose out of the ground.

"Sit down." The very tangible, yet disturbingly casual display of supernatural forces felt so off to Kai that he took a few seconds to collect himself before sitting down. The stone was cold and solid. Like any other boulder. It was a strange feeling. For what felt like an eternity, he sat there. Minutes passed as his family read through their respective interfaces. Kai tried to focus on what little information his one provided, but did not quite manage to keep his mind on the task.

The silence stretched, only occasionally interrupted by questions aimed at Daniel regarding spells and intricacies of the interface. As weird and reality-crushing as the spell demonstration had been, the 'starter sets' easily were the most absurd thing yet. Apparently, a new class came with a few pieces of beginner equipment that manifested out of thin air – or rather, mana – upon request.

Kai's mother got a set of padded armor in tasteful earthen colors, in addition to a gnarled staff his father called a 'shillelagh'. Lena got a staff as well, though hers was perfectly straight, with a framed gem on top. She had also received a long bluish-grey robe that she immediately donned on top of her way-too-large hoodie. Then, Kai watched as his father walked Lena through her first cast of 'Mana Beam', apparently similar to the mana bolt demonstrated earlier.

A shimmering ray of energy that left strange, hexagonal scorch marks on the tree stump they used as target.

"Less damage than a projectile, but harder to dodge and impossible to block," Daniel explained.

"Good against nimble targets and Fighters with shields." Her childlike enthusiasm was hard to stomach, so he observed his mother instead, who was sitting in her herb garden with her eyes closed. Occasionally, he saw a leaf sprout from one of the plants with alarming speed. Like one of those time-lapse videos. Kai waited, trying to clamp down on his impatience and worry and failing miserably. Asking his father what happened to people who didn't get a class was not exactly a tempting option, though.

But really, what was going on? Were his ten years of longsword training not enough to get him the 'Fighter' class his father mentioned earlier? That felt decidedly unfair. And just when the hollow feeling in his chest threatened to turn into something much uglier, the log window suddenly lurched back into focus. ~ Class compatibility analysis complete. ~ Initial Class assigned: [Sorcerer]