A quiet, rational part of Dan's mind suggested that he had fallen asleep and was dreaming, or else had suffered a schizophrenic break with reality or some sort of traumatic neurological event. That part of his mind was drowned out and washed away by a flood of absolute certitude. This was real, he knew this more surely than his own name, or that the Sun rises in the morning and sets at night. Before he could form thoughts beyond these, the translucent overlay in his vision and the deep, strong voice in his mind continued.

Please choose one of the following Legendary rarity Blessings before proceeding to Class Selection.

Gifted Generalist (+15 to all unlocked attributes), R7

Power Well (+10 to Aether Attunement, 10x multiplier to Aether Regeneration Rate, Increases Aether Pool gain per class level by 25%, Grants additional free Aether Ability at class levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20, opens additional Aether Abilities for selection at class levels 10 and 20), R8

Griffon Heart (Grants Aether Ability "Form Shift: Griffon", reduces Aether cost of "Form Shift: Griffon by 95%, +5 to Perception Attribute, +5 to Constitution Attribute, Attribute World Aether (Aura) Attunement unlocked and set to 10), R8

Notice! No Ambient World Aether Detected!

Absolute Self Sufficiency (removes need for all external sources of energy, including heat, water, air, and food, and eliminates need for rest), R9

Chosen Esper (+20 to Perception attribute, 2x total Perception attribute multiplier, unlocks Esper class, 3x multiplier to power of Esper school Aether abilities, aether cost of Esper abilities reduced by 2/3, grants Esper school Aether abilities Unerring Aim [self], Sensory Locus, and Peer Through Past [recent, item focus] at level one of Esper class, grants additional Esper abilities with each Esper class level, and greatly improves mental capacity to process and recall sensory and extra-sensory data. Non Esper school Aether abilities receive 1/3 penalty to power and aether cost.) R10

The first thing Dan did was stand. It was the first time he had been able to do so for nearly eight years. He'd dreamed of a cure, though never in quite these circumstances. His legs felt strong, whole, with no sign of atrophy. He felt, clearly and distinctly, the gentle friction of his slacks against his legs, his socks within his shoes, the pebble he had not known was under the heel of his left foot. This mysterious System had not lied - he was healed. Now, he had a decision to make. While he had not been given a time limit, he felt an unnatural pressure weighing on him to choose. Dan forced himself to think things through, as best he could.

He had options, and they were rare and presumably powerful. Which would give him the best chance of surviving a goblin attack in an hour? Dan assumed Aether abilities functioned like magic did in fantasy games or literature. Minor Heal seemed self explanatory, and Minor Aether Bolt was clearly a ranged attack. There was no way to know how useful either was against goblins, but if this was a test, logically the tools this System granted had to be at least serviceable. How should he choose?

First things first, how would he rate his survival chances without any of the five blessings? The system had told him that his opponent was a troop of goblins, so he used the goblins from the RPG Oblivion as a rough basis for comparison. Humanoid, feral, smaller and physically weaker than humans, but quick, aggressive, and adept at swarm tactics. Proficient with simple weapons like spears and clubs, possibly bows and swords. Probably there would be some sort of elites within the troop such as a chief or shaman. In a word, dangerous.

While Dan had some experience in hunting and in wrestling, and was an avid sling marksman, he had never been in a genuine, life or death fight. He knew the building and surrounding grounds quite well. His van was parked in a handicap spot near the rear entrance into the second story of the building, next to the ramp, and he had his sling and lead sling bullets packed, along with his emergency kit - water, trail mix, utility knife, flashlight, aluminum blanket, rope, bandages, ibuprofen, pressure wrap bandage, MREs, activated carbon drinking straw, wasp spray (more effective than pepper spray against human assailants, even if the legality of such use was dubious), backpack to hold it all. He had a tire iron.

If he could get the drop on the goblins, then he could probably take out two, possibly three with his sling before they closed the distance. After that, it'd be a hand to hand brawl where he had the advantage of size and strength and they had numbers and experience. Unless they had ranged weapons also, in which case he was probably just dead. Minor Aether Bolt may be more effective than the sling. Minor Restore Health may be able to keep him alive if he survived the initial fight. Overall, he estimated that his chances were low, maybe something like 20-25%. There were too many unknowns for any level of confidence in that estimate, but he had to work with something and that was what he had.

Conclusion: If he was going to live through this, it would probably be on the strength of the blessing he chose. That made it easy to eliminate Absolute Self Sufficiency. While it was fascinating, and crapped all over the fundamental laws of physics as he understood them, it didn't help kill goblins.

The other four all had good arguments in their favor. Gifted Generalist would make him stronger, faster, tougher, maybe even smarter or better with Aether. It struck him as the type of boring looking force multiplier that was deceptively powerful and easy to underestimate, and it had no apparent downside.

Power Well looked extremely strong if he had time to learn how to use Aether. If he understood correctly, it would make him roughly twenty times more effective as an Aether mage in a sustained engagement. He had no frame of reference for the long term benefits. They sounded good in an intangible, vague way. They could be awesome eventually, but that wasn't really relevant now. Overall, to select that option was to put all his eggs in the Minor Aether Bolt basket, and he didn't know how powerful that ability would be. Comparing the two head to head, Gifted Generalist seemed like a much safer choice, and in the immediate short term more useful, so Power Well was out.

Griffin Heart was interesting. It had attribute bonuses. He liked those. They were useful and easily understood. It unlocked a new attribute that did who knows what and might not work at all here based on the disclaimer. Throw that out for now. Obviously it would let him shape shift into a griffin. It was a safe bet that he would be able to fly in that form and be at least somewhat physically powerful, perhaps comparable to a large Golden Eagle on the weak end of plausible estimates. It might be monstrously strong and make the entire test trivially easy, though that seemed unlikely. If he could fly, and if he could change back to human form at will, he could get to the roof and fight from the high ground. How much was that worth? Probably less than the attribute boost from Gifted Generalist. It was close, but he leaned toward picking Gifted Generalist over Griffon Heart, as with his life on the line Dan felt more comfortable with a sure thing. He had no idea how to fight as a Griffon after all. He might not even have time to learn how to use the body well enough to fly, if the ability did not program his mind with the skill instinctively. Overall, it just did not seem like a safe enough gamble.

Finally, there was Chosen Esper. It had the highest rarity - presumably the highest rarity possible. It had by far the longest description, and it was reasonable to assume there was some correlation between rarity and power, even if the type of power may not be useful for this specific trial. Attributes seemed to have a base of 10 for average, in which case a flat bonus of an additional 20 points of perception and a 2x multiplier to total perception would mean a functional attribute score of 60, or 6x the human average. At minimum, that would mean incredibly acute senses. Important when fighting against an unknown number of enemies with unknown capabilities. If it also affected balance and spatial perception, it would be invaluable in a fight. Greatly improved ability to process sensory data sounded terribly useful as well, for dodging and such. Unerring Aim seemed a bit nebulous. Did it help him physically execute the movements necessary to follow through on that aim? How long did it last? How long did it take to, for lack of a better word, cast? But it could be very powerful if it worked like he hoped it did. Sensory Locus sounded like it would let him create some sort of a fixed point and perceive what was going on around it for an unknown length of time.

Finally, and decisively, there was Peer Through Past. Based on the name of the ability, it would let him look through the recent past of an item. In the northeast corner office of the first floor of the building, which belonged to the managing partner, Gabriel Gonzalez, there was a safe. Dan happened to know that his boss kept an M9A3 Beretta handgun with a full magazine in that safe. Gabriel bought the gun from from Dan's grandfather, who owned a sporting goods store with a firing range. Dan did not know the combination to the safe, but if that combination had been a sixth option for his blessing, there was no question that's the option he would take. Dan also knew Gabriel kept a bottle of very good whiskey in his safe, and that when the weather was good he would pour himself a shot before putting the bottle back in his safe, locking it, and walking home. Peer Through Past could potentially give him the combination. That meant that Chosen Esper had a very strong fail case - essentially, he'd have super senses - as well as an extremely high upside if everything worked out. On top of that, it was what he wanted to pick. In any unfamiliar situation, what he wanted above all else was information, something to grab on to and analyze. Chosen Esper was all about knowing more, and so was Dan.

Dan didn't know how to actually make his selection, having decided on it. He guessed that saying it aloud would work, but on a hunch decided instead to form a certain, directed thought, and made a mental declaration, aimed at this System: "I choose Chosen Esper for my blessing." This worked.

Congratulations! You have received the Legendary rarity Blessing "Chosen Esper". Associated attributes, skills, and abilities granted. "Esper" class unlocked.

Please select a class (5 available).

Ranger (+2 Agility, +1 Perception per level, skills and level perks focused on ranged combat, stealth, evasion, wilderness survival and scouting) R2

Generalist (+1 to unlocked attribute of your choice each level, +1 to a base attribute [in the repeating sequence Strength, Constitution, Agility, Perception] per level. No class specific skills, general class perks) R1

Aetherist (+2 Aether Attunement per level, choice of one available Aether ability granted each level, skills and level perks focused on Aether Abilities) R3

Aether Healer (+2 Aether Attunement, +1 Perception per level, choice of one available Aether ability granted each level, additional Healing school Aether abilities available for selection, additional Healing school Aether abilities granted at levels 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20. Skills and level perks focused on Aether Abilities with a primary sub-focus on Restoration school abilities.) R4

Esper (+2 Perception, +1 to unlocked attribute of your choice each level, choice of one available Aether ability granted each level, additional Esper school Aether abilities granted at various levels. Skills and level perks focused on Esper school Aether abilities and the Perception attribute. Class bonus: Increased ability to process and retain sensory and extra-sensory data.) R6

This was a thankfully easy decision, one Dan had already made when he chose his blessing. He made his selection with another mental command. Immediately, a torrent of sensation washed over him and nearly overwhelmed his hold on consciousness. Ambient sounds - the whir of the air conditioner, the chirps of insects outside the window of the break room, his own breathing and heartbeat, the rattle of a bit of loose metal in one of the air vents - were suddenly each clear, as if he'd been right next to them and listening intently. A melange of scents assailed him. He smelled the leftover Chinese takeout most of his co-workers had apparently had for lunch, the tacos a lone culinary dissenter ate instead, a previously imperceptible whiff of the molecules of dog crap he hadn't known was on the right wheel of his chair, the supposedly scentless antiperspirant/deodorant combo he'd used after his shower and the sweat it almost covered, remnants of cleaning products, and above a dozen other odors, the rich aroma of coffee, deeper and more vibrant than he'd imagined possible.

Beyond these, Dan felt an influx of information from new senses alien to human experience. There was an omni-directional heat map of his surroundings - again, lit up by the coffee. He could - it was difficult to describe - almost see in every direction as well, before he realized that it was in fact some form of echolocation. He could sense a new, latent energy within himself. It had to be this "Aether" the System kept referencing. Most bizarre of all, he could sense the future. It was only by a handful of seconds, but all of his senses, old and knew, revealed both each moment as it happened and those to follow, simultaneously. It was all far too much to handle, yet somehow he knew he was much closer to processing the rush of data than should have been possible. With each second that passed, it became easier to center himself in the stream. No doubt his class and blessing bonuses to sensory cognition were to thank for that. After thirty or forty seconds that subjectively felt like thirty or forty minutes, Dan acclimated, picked up his mug with the image of a lion cub that his grandma had given him, and took a sip of coffee. It was the most delicious, intense taste in the lived experience of humankind on Planet Earth.