As long and draining as they were, the tutorials eventually came to their ends.

Wilfrid Pember - Historian - The Start of the Apocalypse

____

Choose between the 3 following classes you have unlocked through your performance so far. You can later switch your class at a hub, but you will lose all your current class experience on doing so.

Spearman (common)

Runesmith (uncommon)

Duellist (rare)

Silas gave a sigh of relief as he saw he had one rare class at least - it seemed both Aengus’s and Mia’s performances so far had outshone his as they had both had access to two rare classes on passing level 20. Still, he wasn’t going to decide from rarity alone, so he expanded each class description.

Spearman - you have shown considerable skill using the spear. This class allows you to continue down that path and master the weapon.

Increases proficiency with the spear and increases attributes by 2% for each friendly spearman in a 5-metre radius.

+5 strength, +5 constitution.

Runesmith - you have created a rune. This class boosts the effects of your equipped runes and increases the quality of created runes.

Equipped rune effects are magnified by 10%, adds +1 to each relevant attributes of created runes, and increases the duration of runes by 50%.

+10 perception, +10 arcana.

Duellist - you have high agility and overwhelming perception. This class greatly improves your one-on-one combat ability.

Allows you to see your opponent’s vulnerabilities, clarity increasing with perception.

+20 perception, +10 agility.

As to not rush with his choice, Silas first returned to the safe zone. Sitting down with his back to a tree, facing the freshwater spring, he then considered his options. He crossed out Spearman first as not only was its total attribute bonus only 10, it also appeared that a large part of the class relied on being near other spearmen. There was no doubt this class would be strong if he was in a spear wall, but he didn’t know how often an occurrence that would be.

On the other hand, Runesmith was a class that greatly appealed to him. He currently gained +6 constitution from his runes, but with this class, that bonus would just be shy of +10. That was 10 levels worth of attribute points from this simple rune, so how great would the class’s effects be once he learnt more advanced runes?

As for Duellist, he was confident it would substantially boost his combat ability as it generously increased his agility and its description suggested it would utilise his overwhelming perception offensively. He was clueless on what it meant by allowing him to see vulnerabilities, but since the skill fed off his perception (which would be 50 if he picked the class), he was certain it would be effective.

Done with evaluating them, he realised he had to effectively choose between a crafting class that could boost his attributes, thus improving him as a whole, and a combat class perfectly suited for him.

After mulling over it exhaustively, he closed his eyes and took a slow and deliberate breath. Opening them again, the same sunlit sight greeted him, but he felt lighter and more at ease than before. “I choose Duellist.” Besides its other pros, its perception boost would also spill over into engraving and improve his runes.

Congratulations, you have become a Duellist. You will gain more abilities as you increase your class level, which can be done through completing class relevant activities and quests, both of which will be unlocked after the tutorial.

Silas Wycliffe

Level 20

Level 1 Duellist

Mana: 110/155 (recovery rate: 0.55 per minute)

Strength: 15

Agility: 34

Constitution: 13 (+6)

Arcana: 11

Perception: 50

Abilities: Weakness Vision

He expanded the ability.

Weakness Vision - through covering your eyes in mana, you can see vulnerable points in other people. Uses 1 mana per second. Perception increases detail displayed.

Interesting. He collapsed the System screen and jolted forward, surprising himself at his speed; it seemed it would take some time for him to come to terms with his new agility. Now that he was no longer in deep thought, he froze up as he noticed several sensations barraging his mind.

He could hear his heart pounding, his throat swallowing, and the spring water crashing against the bank. His skin felt clammy and his clothes painfully itchy. Looking around, he could see everything in astonishing detail, even insects scampering about on distant trees.

Running his tongue across his teeth, he gagged at the taste of hot, wet garbage. Amidst all this, the tingly skin sensation was back; it wasn’t painful like before as he was used to this rate of mana absorption but it was heavily discomforting as he felt mana flooding in through his pores

Tearing his clothes off, wincing as they scratched against his skin, he jumped into the pool, shivering violently as he entered the freezing water. It was almost enough to make him jump out, but not quite as the water washing over his sensitive skin felt oddly therapeutic.

This was how Aengus and Mia later found him, both of them exasperated as he refused to leave the spring. It would only be as the moonlight shimmered across the dark blades of water that he dragged himself out, his skin wrinkly and his hair drenched.

****

Inwardly swearing at his increased perception, Silas pushed past a hanging branch, grimacing at the touch of its slimy leaves. With Aengus and Mia behind him, the plan was to clear at least two groups of minks today as they all had classes now. His high perception was still distracting but not as much as he thought it would be: he was fairly certain the System had a part to play in how fast he was adapting during the tutorial.

Raising an open hand to stop them, he sniffed at the air. It smelled musty but with a sweetness he associated the minks with. Given how strong the odour was, he was certain a group of them had been here recently. Goosebumps prickled over his arms as he scanned the ground, quickly spotting the soft footprints and squished leaves leading to his right.

He didn’t say anything in case the minks had supernatural hearing; instead, he pointed in the direction and raised his spear, hoping it was clear enough of a message for the other two to understand. Fortunately it was, as Aengus tensed and Mia clenched her hand, water draining from their surroundings to envelop her fist. She cast the water jet, and it first circled the spot Silas had pointed at before blasting straight towards it.

It didn’t hit the minks, but it spooked them enough that they burst out of hiding, intimidatingly screeching as they closed in on the trio. Unfortunately for them, Mia was ready as she instantly cast an electric bolt, shocking one of the five minks.

Simultaneously, Aengus ferociously roared, making two of the smaller minks flinch. He charged right at them, shield in front to absorb their attacks as he made a wide swipe. One of the monsters jumped back from this clumsy attack, only to land in the perfect position to receive Silas’s as he lunged, making use of his speed to gore the mink through its jaw before it could reposition itself.

Now only facing two enemies, the man-giant thrust his shield to one side and pushed back one of them before changing focus to its now-deserted brethren in front of him. The deserted mink attacked quickly while hissing, likely hoping to scare him back. It didn’t as the man-giant swept in an arc, using his greater range to split the mink through its chest before it reached him.

While they had been fighting, Mia had been hurling jets of water at the mink nearing her. Finally cracking open its barrier, a blade of water cut through the mink, making it wobble back for a moment before tumbling over.

The last two minks showed vastly different reactions at their failed ambush. One turned tail and ran for its life, not getting far before Mia electrocuted it, allowing Silas to take the kill. The other seemed to disregard its coming death as it stayed where it was and raised its hands into a cone shape around its mouth. It screamed with such volume Silas cringed away from it, fingers lodged in his ears, only stopping as Aengus took its life. Regardless, it was too late as the trio were now aware the entire forest had heard its cry for help.

Realising they would be waddling in shit up to their knees if they stayed, they hastily retreated. However, half-way through the minks’ zone, Mia called them to stop, ignoring their bewildered looks as she stared wide-eyed into what Silas assumed to be a System screen.

“It’s here,” she said in between rapid breaths. Her cheeks were flushed scarlet as her expression turned to abject fear. “The boss, it’s here!”

Silas brought his map up and immediately felt his heart drop into the cold, wet chasm beneath it. The red flashing dot which showed the alabaster mink’s position was rapidly closing in on them: based on its speed, it would catch up in less than a minute. Suddenly, the dot abruptly stopped some lengths away from them.

Tremors travelled down Silas’s spine, and he looked around in confusion, freezing over as he spotted the willowy mink peering down from a distant cliff.