Dave

Fallen Jungle

53rd of Cycle 2, 1015

The walk towards the stream was pretty quiet so far, so I decided to ask some of my questions to break the silence. “How do you get a class?”

Jason looked at me like I was some kind of ignorant fool, then explained, “You meet some requirements first, and then you do a small ritual to check your options. Draw blood and chant something in ancient elvish. That’s our ritual, I’m not sure how humans do it.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t even ask me what the human ritual was. I didn’t know whether to feel relieved that I didn’t have to come up with a lie or to feel slighted because he didn’t expect me to know the answer.

“What kind of requirements?” I asked.

“Swordsmen swing a sword. Archers shoot arrows at a target. It’s different for each class.” Jason looked me over and said, “For a lost boy in a jungle, something like hunter or lookout is probably the safest bet. Probably the latter, as there are more perception skills in the lookout class to help prevent you from finding yourself face to face with a grey panther.”

Lookout, huh, that sounded pretty lame, but I guess it kind of made sense. I didn't really have the experience to be fighting battles constantly, so being able to choose my fights was probably a good thing. “Can you change classes?”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself, boy, but yes, you can. It requires a different ritual and is a huge waste of all the experience you gathered, but many fools do it anyway in search of a ‘cooler’ class,” Jason said in an accusatory tone. “The requirement for the lookout class is to spot an enemy and then relay that information about its location to someone. You unlock the class if the person you told kills the enemy.”

“That’s it? Isn’t that a little too easy?”

“In my opinion, it's actually a lot harder than something like a swordsman, but if you have a reliable person with you then lookout is plenty easy as well,” He said. “So what do you say? Want me to help you become a lookout?”

I stopped walking and looked up at Jason. “Why would you do that? What’s in it for you?”

“Lookouts have a lot of perception skills, and it just so happens that I need someone with those skills." He gave me a fake smile. "So if you became a lookout, I’d have an easier time getting out of this jungle with you than I would alone.”

So he wanted to use me. It wasn't all bad, though. In exchange for helping him get out of the jungle, I would get an elven hunter as an escort. “Alright, you got yourself a deal, Jason.” I reached my hand out toward him.

He looked confused for a second before he said, “Ah, this must be one of those dreaded handshakes I’ve heard of.” He put his fist to his chest in some kind of salute. “This is how we do it in elven society.”

I copied his motion, and then we continued to the stream. When we finally reached it he looked to me and said, “I’m going to deactivate my hunter sense here. Look for some prey and point it out to me if you find anything.”

I nodded, started scanning the area with my eyes, and found a turtle drinking from the stream. The ‘turtle’ had a blue shell with spikes coming out of it, like in that one racing game I had back home.

“There’s a turtle over there,” I said to Jason.

Without a moment of hesitation, he readied his bow and fired at the turtle’s extended neck, severing the turtle’s head from its shell. It wobbled without its head for a bit and then slumped down, dead.

“That’s a rare catch, these turtle shells sell for quite a bit.” He said as he waltzed over to the corpse and picked it up. He tossed me a dagger and said, “Draw some blood, and let’s get this ritual over with.”

I already had my suspicions, but now I was sure that this world is considerably weirder than my old one. How can he so casually ask me to cut myself right after slaughtering an innocent turtle in cold blood? I mean, I was the one who pointed the turtle out to him, but still!

I let out a sigh as I unsheathed the dagger and pricked the tip of my finger with it. Jason walked back over to me, held out a hand in front of my face, and said some gibberish. The world around me went black, and a window appeared in front of me that read:

Please select a class

Savage(common) - A savage is an unintelligent brute who fights enemies unarmed. Not to be mistaken with the fighter class, the savage has no form or style, instead, he uses his own body in any way possible to kill his opponent mercilessly.

Requirements: Kill something violently with your bare hands.

Class skill slots: 1

Okay, wow. I mean I did meet the requirements, I guess if you count that rabbit, but that was when I was starting in this world okay? I wasn't a savage anymore. I use a bow and arrow, Mr. Screen. The next option made me feel a little better.

Archer(common) - An archer is disciplined, focused, and always ready to fire his bow. If an archer misses his shot, he probably wasn’t aiming at you.

Requirements: Have the archery skill.

Class skill slots: 5

Lookout(common) - A lookout is like a human alarm, generally stationed at an allied fortress or defensive point. The lookout is extremely perceptive of danger, but ironically is usually the first one killed during a nighttime raid.

Requirements: Relay information about an enemy to your allies, leading to the enemy's death.

Class skill slots: 5

Well that was... underwhelming. A human alarm? That doesn't sound like it's going to save me in a pinch, and I don't want to be relying on other people my whole life. Jason said it was the best pick for me, but I don’t think I trust him enough to just blindly listen to him. “Are there seriously no other options?”

I let out a disappointed sigh and looked around. How was I even supposed to leave? I tried walking around for a bit, but that didn’t seem to do any good, so I looked at the screen again. Why didn’t the person who made this screen add an exit button? Was choosing a class a mandatory decision?

“Just pick something and go,” A voice suddenly called to me. “Your presence is disturbing my rest.”

I looked around frantically, searching for the voice, but when I couldn't find it I responded, “All these options blow, so can you just send me back? I’ll come back after I complete some other requirements.”

“No, no, that won’t do. You think I’ll just let you leave after you insult the wonderful classes I have offered you?” His voice rumbled through my very soul, and a wave of absolute terror washed over my body. Nice one Dave. You made the fucking super god angry at you. “Hmm, you’re not from this world are you? Yes, yes, you seem interesting.” I felt like the voice was violating my privacy, and I didn't appreciate it.

“Let’s cut a deal.” The voice said, sounding like some kind of demon that was going to ask for my soul in exchange for unlimited power. “I’ll give you one extra class option, requirement-free, but in return, you do a favor for me.”

I probably should’ve refused outright, but my curiosity got the better of me, so I asked, “What kind of favor?”

“Oh, nothing much. No, no, nothing much at all. Just think of it as a quest of some sort. Or better yet, I’ll just give you a quest.” The screen in front of me changed its display.

Please select a class

Scout(rare) - A scout spends his life in the death-zone between allied and enemy lines, gathering information, sabotaging ranks, and killing stragglers.

Requirements: Accept the quest.

Class skill slots: 5

That’s not what the scouts in my world did... this sounds more like a mix between an assassin, a saboteur, and a scout, but hey, I wasn’t going to complain.

Quest: The Silver Panther - The local elves consider the silver panther to be a legendary beast of incomparable speed and stealth. Find and kill it. Reward: Aspect of the Panther(Unique).

“What happens if I fail?” I asked.

“If you somehow survive an encounter with it, you try again. There is no time limit, but you may not leave the jungle until it is complete.”

So if worse comes to worst, I could just stay in this jungle for the rest of my life? I didn't see much of a downside, then, and honestly, the idea of hunting down a legendary beast with the skills of a rogue assassin sounded too cool to pass up. "I accept."

“Very good. I’m looking forward to seeing your results, scout.” The voice said with a sinister laugh. Suddenly the world around me regained its color, and I was laying in the dirt looking up at the night sky.

I hope that doesn't come back to bite me one day.