When the fog retreated, I was faced with the now-familiar sight of my class space. In most of the previous times I’d come here, it had been with a sense of excitement, as I’d come to grab myself new and hopefully powerful skills.

While I did have some class points this time around, they were sadly spoken for. Not only were they spoken for, but also for particularly boring skills as well. Suds had recommended (demanded) I max out my binding skills, partially to help sell my “Jack of All Professions” persona, and partially because maxing out your starting skills was apparently just something you were supposed to do.

It made a little sense. If the rest of the class was built on top of the starting skills, keeping them at 1/5 points forever felt like a mistake.

Still, it rankled.

Maybe I’ll convince him to let me bank the points up and go for the gloves next. It felt like too many points thrown into the utility tree, but hopefully after a few months of school, I’d feel less weak in the offensive department.

I threw one point into Bind Weapon and Bind Armor. Maybe if I got lucky, Suds would let me bind my spear again. What the new armor slot would be used for, I couldn’t say. Didn’t hurt to have more options though.

With that part of my visit dealt with, I moved onto the even less enjoyable part.

With little fanfare, I grabbed the boots from where they lay and made my way down the staircase that then appeared. The now-familiar and still-unpleasant sensation of my stats departing soon followed, leaving me in…

The tunnel?

I already beat the boulder. I don’t have to do the whole boulder thing again, do I?

I started off at a jog, keeping Mana Feet active.

Eventually, a rumbling sounded from behind me.

Are we- Seriously? I did this! I’d already beaten this part!

I turned my jog into the full-on run I knew would be necessary.

Having done it all before, the experience wasn’t much different than the previous times. That was to say: It still sucked. Eventually, however, my run ended as the iron door came into sight. This time, thankfully, I knew it was a pull door, and managed to shut it before the boulder crashed into the wall, sparing myself from the shrapnel I’d had to endure earlier.

Only to bring me back to the water.

With the fish.

With the teeth.

While I hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of coming back here, that didn’t mean I hadn’t been thinking about it and how to survive. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t have any ideas — it was the opposite, really. I had too many.

My first thought had been trying to fight the fish. It was a dumb first thought. Without my stats or even any of my skills save for Mana Feet, I’d quickly decided that was a fool’s errand. Maybe if I could lure it onto land, but seeing as it hadn’t come until I was a good while out from the shore, I doubted that would work.

My next thought was to try sneaking, preventing it from finding me in the first place. That one was also a bust. It was possible that the fish hunted via vibrations, and the ripples I caused while walking were what drew it in. The problem there was that I’d already been walking pretty slowly last time around. I kind of doubted I’d be able to control my steps all that much more.

It was my last thought that was my least favorite.

This was a test of Mana Steps. The solution should involve the skill in some way. What did I have that could help me avoid the fish?

In the end, there was only one real variant that held any hope: Jet Step. If I triggered the skill quickly enough, theoretically I’d be able to rocket my way out of getting eaten.

The big problem there was that I’d find myself hurtling back down toward the water only moments later.

Well. It’s the best I got. Cross that bridge when we get to it?

The words were at odds with the heavy anxiety I was feeling. Just because death wasn’t real here didn’t mean I was looking forward to it.

Here we go!

Burying the part of me that wanted to just stay by the shore forever, I channeled water mana into my boots and then stepped out onto the water.

Things went well for a while — which was to say, I wasn’t attacked by any freaky fish.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

This time around, knowing that it was coming, I was ready for it, though. I mean, as ready for a giant tooth fish trying to eat me as I could be, I guess. The moment I even thought I could see something beneath me, I jumped, switching the water mana in my boots into fire mana.

I was rewarded for my efforts by the sight of a massive fish jumping into the air directly behind me, its freakishly strong jaw snapping shut on nothing but air. Fully exposed, I was able to get a better sight of this time around, and the less said about it, the better. It was big. It was ugly. It was probably something that would spark a few nightmares.

As focused on the fish as I was, I nearly forgot to switch from fire mana back to water mana. A split second before I would have sunk into the water, I snapped the mana back to water walking, managing to shakily land on my feet.

Even as I started to run, I couldn’t help but break out into a loud (if somewhat nervous) laugh. “I just actually did that! I used my little feet jetpack to run away from a giant, deadly fish!”

Not that it was over. While I wished the fish would just be a good sport and accept its loss, it seemed rather intent on evening the score. Only a few seconds later, it struck once more, and I barely managed to repeat my earlier performance.

While I was keeping myself from immediately dying, I knew it wasn’t sustainable. My mana was dropping at a prodigious rate, and the island was still far off in the distance. My only real hope was if I could figure out a way to regain my mana someh-

Wait. Is that… a tiny island? I caught sight of a small circle of sand that could only loosely be called an island at best. I was surprised that I’d missed it the first time around, but with my Perception reset to ten, I imagined many more things were bound to slip by me. I readjusted my course, making my way towards it, hoping it would prove a temporary respite from the fish.

Then, right as I was about to make it there, I slipped up.

My body wasn’t quite in the right position as I activated my jet step, my angle sending me towards the water faster than I could switch to using water mana. I smacked into the surface hard, partially submerged.

Frantically, I channeled water mana into my feet and tried to get them above the water line somehow, but it was no use. I couldn’t, after all, just vertically jump straight out of the water.

While not entirely proud to say it, once I realized that I wasn’t going to cut it, I closed my eyes. Some things, I had no desire to see.

A blissfully short time later, it was over.

You have failed a class trial!

Class space locked for 12 hours.

“Fuuuuu- Wait. Drinking first. Then swearing. Then maybe drinking again.”

I summoned up some fruit booze, not even bothering to get myself a glass and instead sipping straight from the levitating orb.

Then I swore.

And then I took a nap.

With my newly enhanced Endurance, I found myself waking up only having spent a few hours asleep, but feeling as well rested as if I’d gotten a full eight hours. Between the comfortable bed -- probably made by someone with an actual magical bed-making skill -- my Endurance, and the Captain Cozy’s Nightgown of Spatial Compression I still wore nightly, I was confident that not even a trillionaire back on Earth could sleep as well.

Plus, whether by magic, skills, or my brain just being too tired to bother, I slept a deep, dreamless sleep. No toothfish haunted me in nightmares, nor did freaky blood rituals. My best guess was that I had Trauma Suppression to thank for that one, although it was hard to say.

The class trial still had a good while more before it unlocked, so I figured I’d do some more exploring. It had grown dark out, and most of the spots I’d visited during the day would presumably be closed, but that was all the better. I still hadn’t seen what the Knowledge district looked like at night, so I figured it was worth a go.

Feeling a little grungy from sleeping but not in the mood to shower, I activated my pendant, letting the cleansing waters flow over me while also leaving me perfectly hydrated.

Never gets old. Don’t care if I get to level five million someday; I’m keeping this thing.

A quick loop ride later, I was back in the area I’d started my day trip in. As expected, most things appeared to be closed. Student-aged people still seemed to be milling about, but with a more muted intensity as compared to the daytime.

I followed the general flow of the group I saw, eventually finding myself on a street with a far more chaotic feel to it. The buildings were still built with massive stone blocks, but instead of being classrooms or schools, I discovered that nearly all of them were pubs. I ducked my head in a few, but didn’t find anything that called to me.

Wandering some more, I discovered that pubs weren’t the only drinking options around. There were a few restaurants scattered here and there, but to my surprise, I found that a lot of bars were housed within the many cafes I’d passed during the day. Little kash and tea joints transformed by night, turning into cozy and rich-smelling cocktail bars.

Out of curiosity, I retraced my steps from morning to make my way back to the almost hidden Tree of Knowledge cafe. At first, it seemed closed, but even through the thick walls, I could make out the faint sounds of people within. Deciding to at least give it a try, I opened the door and walked in. To my relief, I received no odd looks past the standard ones I normally got.

The green lights from the morning had shifted into browns, blacks, and burnt oranges, vastly changing the vibe of the space. Momentarily, I felt like I’d been shifted out of a fantasy world and into some sort of spy movie, and incredibly enough, I felt more out of place in spy-like settings than fantasy settings. Fireballs, I could handle. High class, sultry environments like this? No clue.

New world, new me, though. Right?

Brimming with resolve, I grabbed the last available stool, a couple to my left and a trio of friends to my right. With a grimace, I looked over the bottles of liquor behind the bar, realizing that only a small amount of my Nadja-taught knowledge would transfer here. Most of the bottles were completely new to me.

When the bartender -- around my age, and likely a student himself if I had to take a guess -- came around and asked me what I wanted, I had to fess up to my ignorance.

“Well, I’m kind of new around here. Don’t think I know any of the bottles back there. So, uh, bartender’s choice?”

He raised a brow my way and hit me with a few questions before nodding and settling on something. Shortly thereafter, one of the trio to my right turned my way.

“Newbie to the city? Just a tourist, or here for a while?”

Still feels kind of surreal, honestly. I don’t think it’s kicked in that this is “home” now, but…

“Seems like I’m here for the long haul, I guess. Or at least a medium haul.”

I started chatting, making some new unexpected friends while drinking cocktails. It was nice. Familiar. Maybe I’d start visiting the cafe-turned-bar a bit more often after this. In the back of my head, there was just one real hope.

Please, whatever gods are listening, let’s have this bar be less dramatic than my last regular spot?

The following day, after some time spent vegetating and enjoying my last breath of relaxation before the storm, a fist banged on my door.

“Oy! Open up.” Despite knowing that I had superhuman hearing, Suds opted to bang and shout when even a whisper would have done.

With a sigh, I complied. “Yes, dearest grandfather?”

“Hah!” he bellowed. “Brat. Come on, I’ve got a present for you.” He started walking off, expecting me to follow with explaining further.

“A present?” I asked the question as cautiously as I could, feeling like there was a 50/50 chance that it was an actual gift versus something bizarre that I wouldn’t really want.

“Well, you’ve been doing like I said, yeah? You put your class points into your binding skills? Normally I wouldn’t even ask, but sometimes you take after the boy, so it’s hard to say if you’ll pop off and do something hairbrained here or there.”

Really still couldn’t see what he meant about Barb. Out of everyone I knew, he seemed the most normal out of the bunch. Sure he had distinctive facial hair and an abnormal love of tea, but as quirks went, those were pretty standard.

Perhaps it was something confined to his youth.

Or perhaps Suds was just kind of an ass.

“Out of spite, maybe I’ll spend the next points on something more fun, but yes, I spent a point on both skills.” I idly wondered if the earth mana version of my Mana Feet skill would let me leave dirt marks everywhere I walked. Considering the man’s class, he’d be able to clean them away in no time, but it would still be a fun way of annoying him if I could.

“Hah! Not if you don’t like the taste of soap, you won’t.” He led us to the same basement area I’d previously tried out binding weapons for him. “And in any case, hopefully you’ll be less bothered when you see the gift. High time you got something other than that pickaxe and leather, yeah? Consider it a back to school present for tomorrow.”

As we descended the stairs, I discovered that the basement area had largely been cleared out, save for a set of… weapons and some… armor?

This is a joke, right?