Lucian seemed to have noticed her quiet contemplation over the first hour or so of travel and had taken it as displeasure over what happened.

"They wouldn't have been good allies. It would have taken far too long for them to recover to be of use. Given how they looked at you with fear since the beginning, they likely would have lashed out or betrayed you no matter how much you aided them."

Serena sighed before looking up from where she sat on the bed. "You are not the first person who told me as such. At least we don't have to split our supplies so badly."

Lucian seemed about to ask her what she meant but decided against it in the end. She appreciated that her companion knew when to not push things and had tact. "Do you know about Leveling and Classes?"

"What nonsense is the unwanted fae spewing now?" Ravana questioned. "Ask more about this, Serena. It could be useful, or it could be entertaining."

Even if the pushy pest didn't demand it, she would have questioned it. "No, I don't. Is that tied to the Divine Messages?"

Lucian nodded his head, and he seemed almost giddy that he could teach her something new. "Long ago, the pantheons created the Divine Messages as a way to easily commune and interact with the mortal world. Those who accepted their divinity into their lives received various boons from the action. A century ago, a prominent Hero who was an Outsider like yourself called the phenomenon that the gods bestowed as Leveling and Classes. Those who chose to abandon the gods could grow in strength in other fashions and old methods. Even those who despise the gods in some fashion tend to acknowledge their influence and so have access to Leveling and Classes."

"He really is a fanatic," Ravana muttered.

"So you need to acknowledge the existence of the gods to have access to the Divine Messages and by extension Leveling and Classes?"

Lucian paused and seemed to consider that. "Theoretically, that would work. In practice, you either pick or are drawn to a patron deity from an early age. Or you pick up skills and other kinds of knowledge or expertise in different fields which draws the attention of a deity. There is much we don't know about the finer details and even to this day many are discovering new things about it."

"It's unreliable then," Ravana said. He seemed distracted as if he was fiddling with something back in the dark library she found him in.

"Please tell me more of what you know."

"Leveling and gaining a class relies on mentality along with compatibility. If you feel you are unsuited for something, or you find it tedious, you would be unlikely to get any benefits from them. As such, the skills, feats, abilities, techniques, classes, and everything else attached to that would be lost to you until you changed. Skills, abilities, feats, and techniques can level and evolve too, alongside classes and specializations. There doesn't seem to be a hard limit to what is achievable, especially considering racial or cultural bonuses, but there are some common elements. Close combat classes tend to find it harder to learn magic, while magic specialists find the opposite to be true. This is commonly believed to be done as a balance by the gods."

The gods again... Serena was really beginning to get interested in their scheme here.

"Not all those that have the same class have access to the same gifts. What they hold of value, how they were brought up, and their goals and desires among other differences are reflected in their class. Many also don't acquire a class until adulthood and it is considered a right of passage."

"What is the maximum amount of classes one can hold? What is the maximum level?"

Lucian shook his head. "That is unknown. Each class starts at level one, but depending on the individual they could gain several to even dozens or even more classes of varying levels over their lifespans. Others could merge classes, just like they could do with feats, skills, abilities, and techniques. This evolution shows one's prowess and talent while cutting down on having seemingly endless gifts."

"Useless," Ravana muttered, and Serena couldn't help but agree with him.

"How does the ruling class work? Are royalty and nobility just classes?"

Lucian sighed as he shrugged. "Traditionally, both royalty and nobility are from ancient lines or newly upraised houses. As such they do not gain a class but rather a title. One can not decide they are nobility and gain a noble class since it is so tied to the country and society. Likewise, one can not decide that they are a ruler and be crowned as such. This is to limit the chaos that the Divine Messages, Leveling, and Classes can inherently cause."

"So theoretically, if one wanted to be seen as a ruler, they had to appeal to the masses and otherwise prove their right to rule. From there, they can slowly build up resources and connections, and depending on how things went could gain a title in such things which would reinforce their progress?" Serena asked Lucian.

He nodded before continuing. "That's generally what happens when people ascend to power. The only problem is those who seek to usurp an existing government by force."

Serena was silent at this news. There was so much to unpack from this that she didn't even know where to start. The local gods were clearly high out of their minds and tripping when they designed this gimmick to trick mortals into following them. She had to respect the hustle though.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt us to find a way around these rules," Ravana said slowly. He seemed hesitant. "If we can get used to the classes, I'm sure our chances will improve greatly, especially if you can manage something similar with your abilities, Serena."

"What are your classes, Lucian?"

"Oracle, Entertainer, and Slave among many others. Those three are my highest classes and I have some subclasses and specializations within them. I had them from a very young age, though acquired Oracle less than a year ago. Oracles commune more directly with the gods and have various abilities and blessings they can bestow upon others. I am more focused on various divination magics to see potential and possibilities. I also share the words and blessings of the gods with the masses on a more personal level than a high priest or priestess might."

Serena noticed that he flinched at the reveal of him being and slave and an entertainer. The fact that slave was a class, and one that lasted to this day and continued to be leveled, revealed many messed-up things about this system of power and the world that used it.

The first was that there were classes that were far more negative by nature. Someone born as a slave or treated as one for a long time would seemingly create the class and that would affect how the world treated the individual no matter what.

It was a marking showing their filth that can never be washed away.

"How useful," Ravana said, his voice contemplative.

Second, the gods did not give a flying fuck, may her brother forgive her for such crash language passing through her thoughts, about this world and the inhabitants outside of what they could give them.

Third, whatever the gods were getting out of this was huge. And personally, she doubted they were divine. At least organically. If anything, they were likely members of the lower castes of her species that decided to mess with the locals over time. It would fit the insanity she saw so far and the way they forced such dependency even if the people hated them.

Finally, Lucian had been a slave for a very long time. Perhaps shortly after he was swapped with the human babe as one himself.

"How long does it take to level?"

Lucian seemed to stiffen at her words. "There is no real set pattern to leveling. Though it tends to happen more frequently as one experiences new things, learns, through trial and error, and other breakthrough moments, there are also times it jumps forward a good amount."

These bastards who designed this method of gaining power for themselves didn't think about this at all. There are so many loopholes to take advantage of, Serena thought bitterly. She'd never liked this specific system of magic in any form before but this just made it seem like the gods were dicks of epic proportions.

"This is madness," Ravana muttered quietly under his breath.

"You mentioned there were differences between skills, feats, abilities, and techniques? There was something about racial benefits too. Can you elaborate on them and anything that needed to be expanded upon?"

"Skills are the broad knowledge to use, make and understand certain things. How to use a sword, how to make a basket, how to cook, or how to understand the fundamental rules of the world (Laws, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, and so on). Every last being should have hundreds of Skills unlocked simply by being initiated to the Divine Messages. You can practice, increase, enhance Skills, without a real upper limit."

Serena nodded. That distinction was rather useful to her so far. "Please continue."

"Abilities are knowledge or techniques linked to Skills. You can only acquire them with some prerequisites met. How you acquire them and what the prerequisites are can be different."

Serena nodded her head in acceptance and Lucian continued his lecture. As he continued to speak, he became more emotional and passionate.

"Feats are knowledge or techniques linked to Classes. You can acquire more by leveling your Class and meeting prerequisites. How you acquire them and what the prerequisites are can be different."

"How much do you want to bet that he's going to repeat those lines and become more passionate each time," Ravana asked, darkly amused by the madman before them.

"Not going to take that bet."

Lucian continued on his lecture, filled to the brim with whatever deity he was channeling or praising or whatever he was doing. Serena was beginning to zone out by now even if the sight of him motioning wildly in his discussion was amusing. "Traits are knowledge, techniques, virtues, and flaws linked to a race or culture directly. Traits can be positive or negative or even both. Perks are knowledge, techniques, virtues, and flaws linked to the individual directly. As Perks can be acquired, they can also be lost and evolved or maybe even trained."

Her hidden companion seemed to take her stunned silence to continue.

"Titles are only linked to yourself, and what notable thing you have accomplished, how other beings are viewing you, and how they react to you. You may have dozens of Titles depending on what you have accomplished. You can not hide what and who you are – except by some acquired Perks, or if the Title has the “Hidden” addition in the description and does not show up for people not of your organization."

He finally stopped moving around as he finished his monologue, and Serena found her gaze lingering wistfully on the still bloodied shortsword she left near the curtain to the wagon's exterior.

She snapped back to him as she clapped her hands. Her smile felt a little forced to her, and she hoped Lucian didn't realize that. "Thank you very much for all this information. It will help me."

"I am glad I could be of service," he said. He truly seemed pleased to help her.

"To think the divines could create such a thing. They are truly wondrous."

Lucian's gaze brightened at her words and even through the cloth covering his body, she could tell he was grinning in pleasure. "You truly understand."

I understand that they are completely batshit insane.

Serena kept that to herself and instead thought of something else. How can I find out about my class? I assume I have something...

The blue screen appeared before her eyes once more and glee filled her until she saw two words beside Class 1.

Class 1: Muscle Wizard

Her heart skipped a beat when she read those words but she was soon filled with righteous rage and the urge to murder Ravana.

"I am saying this from the bottom of my heart, but go fuck yourself."

Ravana laughed cruelly at the response. "It's fun to wile up someone so uptight light yourself. Relax! We will be together for a long time, so might as well be able to make jokes at one's expense. Besides, is that any way to thank someone for giving you a class?"

"I will kill you."

"Oh sweetheart," Ravana uttered, the endearment poison that bit away at her mind to hear. It was disgusting to hear such words from this monster. "I'm already dead. Have been for a long time. It would seem you would have to wait for a while before you can attempt that."

All she could do was fume as she observed the strange information before her.