Class System unlocked. 0/2 Classes chosen. Please select a Class.

  James’ eyes flew open. He sat up in bed and looked out the window. It was that moment where the stars of the night started to fade as dawn approached. The day of his birthday.

  Class System unlocked. 0/2 Classes chosen. Please select a Class.

  It was the strangest feeling, like someone else was thinking inside his head. He started to tremble excitedly. This was it, he could finally choose a Class! He was going to be an adult! As he turned his mind to choosing a Class, the strange thought-feeling happened again.

  Beginning Class Selection

  Suddenly he found himself in a vast, but not empty space. He was surrounded by… himself. But not himself as he was then. He was surrounded by himself as he could be. Himself wielding a sword. Himself wielding a miner’s pickaxe. Himself seated at a desk, writing on parchment and surrounded by books. Himself swinging a barstool around at invisible enemies. Himself loaded down with a large pack, counting coins in his hand. Himself with a scythe, harvesting wheat.

  James looked around for a version of himself wielding magic, but was unable to find what he was looking for. After a while, he recalled that he had no elemental affinities, and realized that he could never be a spellcaster. He was surprised with himself that he didn’t feel let down by this. It just wasn’t a part of him, of who he was or could be. There was no sense of loss.

  After a time looking around at all his potential, he found himself standing before two versions of himself. On his right, he saw himself wearing a Smith’s apron and hammering a piece of metal against an anvil. On his left, he saw himself holding his hands over a sword, which flashed as he applied an enchantment, just like the Enchanter Meridox had.

  I… want to create. James thought to himself, then reached out his right hand.

  [Smith] Class selected. Will you specialize?

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  All the other versions of himself disappeared, then were replaced by versions of himself as a Smith. One Smith was surrounded by nails and horseshoes, while another was surrounded by dozens of half-finished swords. There was a smith working on a Knight’s armor, repairing it, while another was forging new sets of armor. There were dozens of options, but none grabbed his attention more than the version of himself he’d first seen. Looking back at it, now there was more detail. He could see he was working on a sword, but there was half-finished armor, tools, and all manner of metal objects lying about that version of himself.

  As he decided in his heart not to specialize, the strange thought struck him again.

  Specialization rejected. No proficiency bonus applied. No proficiency penalty applied. [Smith] Class selected. Will you choose the [Smith] Class?

  James nodded.

  [Smith] Class chosen. 1/2 Classes chosen. Please select a Class.

  James could tell that if he wanted to, he could leave this place, return to his room in the early dawn and put off choosing another Class. But he was curious. He stayed in that place, surrounded by his potentials, and found himself now wearing a Smith’s apron, and so were all the other versions of himself. The swordsman swung a sword in one hand with a smith’s hammer in the other. The version of himself counting coins was now weighed down with an unbelievable number of swords and other weapons hanging from his pack. But almost immediately his eye was caught by a version of himself in a forge, examining a freshly forged sword and carefully, oh so delicately etching an enchantment design onto the surface. He could tell, though he knew not how, that he was altering the design of the enchantment to match the sword. He watched, enraptured, as the entire process of enchanting the sword was completed. Finally, he watched himself hold the sword aloft, when it suddenly burst into bluish white flames, the hottest flames he’d ever seen, surely hot enough to cleave through armor the way a hot knife effortlessly cut through butter.

  Yearning. He felt it from the deepest part of himself, and the other versions of himself faded from his consciousness.

  I want to create… the very best. He thought, and stretched out his hand.

  Enchanter class selected. Will you specialize?

  This time he found only two versions of himself to choose between. On the left there was the version of himself from before, showing himself adjusting an enchantment to a sword he had forged. On the right there was another version of himself, but he had a stack of enchantments he was applying to swords from a template on a piece of paper. He could see that the enchantments were being applied quickly, but that they were less efficient than the enchantments the other version of himself was adjusting. Far less efficient. He knew he wouldn’t choose that path.

  Specialization rejected. No proficiency bonus applied. No proficiency penalty applied. [Enchanter] Class selected. Will you choose the [Enchanter] Class?

  James nodded.

  [Enchanter] Class chosen. 2/2 Classes chosen. Class selection ending.

  James gasped and his eyes flew open. He was lying back in his bed. The early morning sun’s light was shining through his window. He climbed out of bed, dressed, and headed to the kitchen where he found his parents waiting.

  “Well?! Did you choose Hammer Warrior or Brawler?!” His mother grinned at him.