As the words finalized in my mind, I could feel my body changing on a fundamental level. The glow surrounding me receded and I sensed something almost like a blanket enveloping me in a warmth and solidity. In my mind’s eye, an image was projected that I understood on a fundamental level represented me.

While some aspects of the image seemed to appear quite fluid, others snapped into place unbidden. Four limbs, rounded ears, a general approximation of height - these impressed themselves on the template in front of me. Other aspects seemed more flexible - the colour of my eyes, hair, and skin seemed to be completely open to my whim.

As I experimented with the height and build of the figure, I could feel the changes impress upon my physical form, and pushing the upper limit of height at just under 7 feet made me feel incredibly uncomfortable - like being stretched against my will. I quickly retracted and compressed, seeing how small I could become. Anything below 5 feet made me feel like I was being forced into a container too small for myself, so I decided that those were probably the confines of what my human form could probably support.

I settled for a height just a couple of inches above 5 feet. For some reason, this felt comfortable though not quite familiar - still, that excited feeling swelled inside me once more, so I decided to go with it. Similarly, I found myself visualizing waist-length auburn, green eyes, and honey-coloured skin. The decision seemed automatic, like it had been waiting for this opportunity to present itself. I had no reason to argue.

I soon found myself staring at a petite, brown-haired woman with a heart-shaped face. As I felt the form settle in, the vision in my mind receded, and I could once again see and hear the quiet beach around me. The stone in front had lost its lustre, and the characters had returned to that language I could not recognize. Even without the glow, they seemed to swim and wriggle in a manner that made it very uncomfortable to look at. I quickly turned back towards the water.

I drank in the feeling of the sand between my toes, the wind on my skin and through my hair. That excited feeling had transformed into a giddiness that momentarily made me think my heart was bursting out of my chest. I hadn’t moved from the stretch of beach I’d found myself on, but still, I had a whole world to explore. Nothing could be more exciting than that!

As I closed my eyes and revelled in the feeling of the wind on my skin, a new stream of information flooded into my mind.

Heredity: Human

Innate Traits Assigned:

Able Learner Educated

I found that somewhat humorous since I currently found myself not remembering much of anything. Still, whispers of knowledge flitted around the edge of my awareness, tantalizing me as I could sense that I should know much more about my current scenario than I currently did. Regardless, it didn’t seem to affect how I thought, simply what I knew. I surmised that some aspects, like my thought process, were simply too intrinsic to my being to be wiped away by the current amnesia.

I didn’t know much about what these traits represented, though, so I focused on that thought with the intention to understand more. Soon, the information presented itself.

Able Learner: You have a flexible mind that is eager to learn. Skills outside of your favoured skill list are not more difficult for you to acquire.

Educated: You benefited from a formal education and understand methods for learning and retaining knowledge. All knowledge-based skills are considered favoured skills for you, and two fields of knowledge of your choice are considered specialized skills. Selected Fields - 2 options remaining.

This was interesting information. Both the first Status screen and this new information seemed to imply that Skills were a formalized thing. I once again felt a sense that this was both familiar and new, and that same feeling of excitement. Curious about what Skills entailed, I attempted to gather more information on them the same way I had my traits.

The result was mildly disappointing.

Skill List Unavailable. No Class assigned.

When I mulled over that information, it seemed to resonate with a certain emptiness I felt inside my soul - like a potential that remained unfilled, almost like before I had selected my Heredity. I searched inside myself and once again found a stream of information.

Searching for Available Classes…

Displaying Available Classes:

1 Class Found.

Commoner

I stared at the screen, dumbfounded.

Commoner? This sounded bad. Like… really bad. Something about this made that part of me held back beyond my conscious grasp writhe in panic. Desperate for confirmation, I plumbed deeper.

Commoner: The Commoner Class represents the labourers of the world - those without particular skills or abilities that fill most roles required to keep civilization running. They have limited Resilience, Skills, and Proficiencies, but their lives normally do not require more. Those that do, rarely survive.

Yep. This was as bad as it sounded. I noticed that both Resilience and Proficiencies were also capitalized, like Skills were, so this was clearly something formalized, and not having very good options would be a Very Bad Thing. I could innately tell that my options should not be so limited, at least based on my innate understanding.

Why couldn’t I see any other Classes? Why couldn’t I learn to swing a sword, or cast a spell? I knew those were possible, somehow, so why couldn’t I do them? I pushed and prodded at the thought, straining myself until I got an answer.

Key Ability Scores Insufficient for additional class options.

...Of course.

I opened up my Status and looked again at that list of 10s with (0)s next to them. I was totally and perfectly average. While I didn’t fall short in anything, I certainly didn’t excel in anything. Everything about my Status seemed to be totally and perfectly common, so why wouldn’t I have access to Commoner? Even my innate traits seemed to be a holdover from the life I’d left behind, and I could tell that my thought processes were severely limited. I had no idea what my Intelligence used to be, but I had not doubt it had been higher than… 10.

I fell back into a seated position, and wrapped my arms around my knees. I despaired, and seethed. It rankled. Oh how it rankled. It didn’t appear that I could access or improve my Skills or Abilities unless I chose a Class, but how could I grow with something like Commoner? Everything about it screamed at me that it was antithetical to my goals, to my journey, to why I was here in the first place!

Whatever my Bargain was, I had given up everything for a chance at a new beginning, for adventure, to explore this new world. I was an explorer, Bargain-damn it! I had an island to explore and infinite time to do it. What was I going to do, day-labour my way to glory? Farmhand my way to fame? No! I wanted to find undiscovered places, face off against deadly threats. I needed this!

As the pressure built inside my head, I could feel my vision tighten as bitter tears of frustration and unwillingness fell. A warm trickle fell on my lip and I could tell that my nose was running. I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to relegate myself to anonymity and nothingness, and I wasn’t willing to begin my great adventure with the constraints a Commoner Class would bind me to. Without my notice, a hum began to build once again, quickly crescendoing into a roar in my ears.

Then, with an audible pop, it stopped, and yet another screen appeared.

Psychic Resonance Triggered…

Remnant Bargain Energies Synergized in Harmonic Resonance…

Initial Class Selected.

Level Acquired - Human Paragon.