[Class Change]

This skill has a large mandatory interval between usages.

After using it, you must wait [1 year] before using it again.

Are you sure you want to proceed?

He confirmed it mentally, and the content of the Heavenly Message changed.

[Class Change]

Select a class for more information.

Available classes:

1. Learner

2. Hero

He waited for more classes to appear on the list, but nothing came up. With a sigh, he first checked out the Hero class, as it had a more attractive name.

[Class: Hero]

Special

Heroes are called to perform great deeds. They don't remain silent in the face of injustice and don't hesitate before sacrificing themselves for others.

Bonuses: +6 body, +6 energy

Penalties: Unable to change classes, unable to lie, unable to hurt innocent people, infertility

There were all kinds of classes in that world, but the vast majority of them followed the same pattern: they increased the level of one attribute by one and reduced the level of another attribute by one.

Knights, for instance, got a bonus point to the body attribute and had a point removed from their energy attribute. Sorcerers went the opposite way, gaining one point in energy at the cost of one in body. Those two classes were the only ones he had heard about in the market.

Since an attribute was nothing more than the average of the sub-attributes, an extra level in an attribute meant that all sub-attributes would increase one level. So, it was obvious how powerful the Hero class was.

However, its penalties were too heavy for Aaron. Absurd, even. With those disadvantages, Aaron would become a harmless puppet.

The worst penalty was the ban on hurting innocent people. Not because Aaron had such plans, but because the class system came from the Cage. That meant that likely Cage would be the one to decide who was innocent or not, and it obviously would classify itself as innocent. That alone would render Aaron unable to act against it and those under its protection.

Then came the ban on lying. Depending on the Cage's definition of a lie, he wouldn't even be able to pretend he didn't want to destroy it, something necessary for his own survival until he became strong enough to protect himself.

And infertility was an obvious way of ensuring that he wouldn't have offspring to avenge him for any injustice that happened to him.

It was either that or the system just wanted to give him the opportunity to be a powerful Hero, as long as he paid for it. The chance of someone as powerful as him getting summoned to the world was almost nil, so it made sense to empower the summoned Heroes to complete the tasks given to them by the summoners, at a cost.

Either way, no matter the reason they were in place, those limitations weren't worth it for him. He'd rather stay classless than become a Hero.

He checked out the other class.

[Class: Learner]

Common

A class available to all inhabitants of this world. Ideal for those who haven't unlocked other classes yet. The number one class for children.

Bonus: +1 reasoning

The Learner class was horrible for the standards of that world, but it was perfect for Aaron.

The Heavenly Message didn't state it, but classes and attributes also affected people's minds. Someone with a higher body attribute than energy would learn physical skills more easily than energy-based ones, and vice versa.

The greater the difference between the attributes, the harder it was to learn things of the lower attribute. Thus, it was natural for people to focus on what they were best at. Knights, for instance, practically tried to only increase their physique attribute and neglected their minds. If they needed to balance their attributes, they just bought enchanted items.

Moreover, certain skills were class-specific. Theoretically, they could still be learned by anyone, but those with the right class had a much easier time acquiring them. Knights easily learned how to handle weapons and how to ride, Sorcerers had an easier time with spells, and so on.

In contrast, learning skills from other classes became much harder. With so many disadvantages, it wasn't worth it to waste time learning skills outside your class. It was much better to change classes for a year if you wanted a skill from another class that much.

Aaron didn't need any advantages in the body or energy attributes — they would increase with his cultivation — and his mind had already reached the limits of that world. Nor did he need to learn any more skills, since he had adapted his skills to this world already, and the likelihood of finding any other skills that attracted him was minimal.

So Learner, for Aaron, was far superior to Hero because it had no penalties. Besides, choosing Learner was also a way to trick the Cage.

Choosing Hero was definitive, and it was natural for him to have reservations about it no matter how good the class was. Still, if he completely refused to choose any class for a long time, he would likely raise suspicions about what he thought of the Cage and the system it had established.

To avoid having to choose a class with penalties in the near future, or have it forced upon him somehow, it was best to choose the Learner class now and become worry-free for at least a year!

'Select Learner!' he thought decidedly.

[Class Change]

Are you sure you want to select the Learner class?

This choice will be irreversible for a year!

'Confirm.'

When he arrived in the world, a kind of spell in the air tried to force the Hero class on him and he protected himself. But this time, it was the Cage itself that acted inside him, and he wouldn't have been able to protect himself even if he wanted to.

[Class Change]

New Class: Learner

Bonus: +1 reasoning

Attribute limit [10] exceeded.

Enforcing limit... Done.

The Universal Core could manipulate reality directly, with no need for manipulating any energy, and the Cage took advantage of it. Something simply changed in Aaron's mind in an instant.

His reasoning reached level eleven, and he found he could think better, faster, and more clearly.

The world limited all attributes and sub-attributes to level ten though, so the Cage removed the extra point, just like it had when he arrived in this world. The quick change gave him a headache.

At last, he opened his status and confirmed that the change had worked.

He was a Learner.

For one year, he wouldn't have to worry about classes at all.

With both his cultivation over and his class change complete, it was time to find a place to spend the night.

He was about to stand up when three muscular middle-aged men appeared in the alley he was in. Two of them stayed on one exit, the third one on the other. They wore dirty and worn clothes, carried daggers, and didn't look like they had good intentions.

"I told ya!" said one man while pointing his dagger at Aaron. "Look ther'! Like da Circle sa'd, all dirty and smelly!"

"Ya sniffed yourself yet?" asked the man beside the first. "Everyone in da fifth layer be dirty and smelly," he said with uncertainty in his voice.

"But I sa' he 'forehands! He was all cle'en!" insisted the other. "And look, he be sittin' with legs cross' like the Circle sa'd!"

"Everyone be sitting cross-leg' one day too," replied the second, but his uncertainty had lessened. He sighed. "He be our best shot." Only then did he turn to Aaron. "Hey, kid, come here if ya wanna live."

Aaron looked disdainfully at the man. "Are you threatening my life?"

"Kid be dumb as door, ain't he?" the first said with a chuckle.

"Ya bet I be threatening your goddamn life, kid. Da Circle said dead or alive. Dead pays less, but it be easier, ain't it?"

Aaron shook his head. "You are just pathetic ants, so I shall allow you to leave with your lives despite your threat. You have three seconds to get out of my sight or I'll kill you."

Instead of leaving, they took out their daggers and stepped ahead. "Dead it be," the leader said.

Three seconds later, Aaron's body exploded into motion. He had relied only on his knowledge and experience when he acted against the Royal Guards, but now he had Two Star Qi to push through with even more power.

He got up and jumped at the exit of the alley that had two people. Before their brains couldn't even process the fact that he seemed to have disappeared from where he was sitting, their heads were crushed together by his hands.

Their skulls broke with a loud sound, and their brains turned into pulp. They were dead.

Aaron pulled the two bodies into the alley to prevent them from being visible in the street, turned, and went to the other exit.

All the man on that side saw was Aaron disappearing from where he was sitting, appearing in front of his two companions, killing them easily, and then disappearing again. He didn't even see Aaron appear in front of him and break his neck.

Aaron also pulled that body into the alley.

His breathing was labored, his body still unused to that kind of physical activity, but his psychological state was perfectly calm and controlled. Killing people who had come for his life was a common happenstance, something unnoteworthy, nothing that affected him.

Quietly, he took off his dirty clothes and cleaned his body of the dark fat that covered him, the impurities that had been removed from his body. Then he took the best clothes from corpses, along with all the money they had and their five daggers.

He had the dignity of an Absolute Immortal and would not plunder innocents, but these men were no such thing.

They had mentioned the "Circle." He had heard about the Arcane Circle in the market, and it was a powerful organization, one he had best not cross now. But they had indirectly crossed him. He had to at least send them a clear message of the consequences of their actions.

And he knew just the right message to send back. If the Arcane Circle had thugs searching for him, he would kill the worst of the bunch that he found in the city. Not petty thieves, of course, but no assassin would live to see the sunrise. He had plenty of ways to make them confess.

And if the Circle didn't get the message and insisted on going after him, he didn't mind start killing their members until either they all died or sent someone powerful enough to force him to flee!

Qi Spying Arts: Dark Disappearance!

He harmonized himself with the surrounding shadows, and they seemed to envelop him into a dark embrace.

He disappeared into the night.

The next morning, shortly after sunrise, Aaron came out of the city doors. He had bathed and was wearing new clothes that made him look like a new person.

His hooded, long-sleeved shirt was made of dark gray linen, just like his pants. His boots, gloves, tight jacket, belt, and four sheaths were made of black leather. The sheaths hung from his belt. The single sheath on his left had a short sword, and the three on the right held daggers. The gold spatial ring on his finger didn't hide its energies like Tia's, and it was full of money, a hundred throwing darts, and many kinds of weapons.

He had had a profitable night. The ring especially had been on the hands of a Three Star Qi Manipulator who had gotten rich by killing for the even richer. In fact, the man had had quite a few rings, and the surplus was stored in the ring he wore.

Aaron spotted Tia, Logan, Lana, and the last member of the unit next to a tree and five large animals. They were looking at the city gates and saw him immediately.

Tia gaped, Logan's eyes narrowed, Lana's eyes widened, and the fourth member...

She gaped, opened her eyes wide, swallowed hard, and froze in pure dread.