The three classes floated in front of him as he sat in the warm tub of water. Xylus scratched his skull as he read them over and over again.
[Classes Available based on your Rankings:]
- Rogue
- Ranger
- Mage
"There's not a lot of options, huh?" Xylus asked aloud.
[Like I said before, these classes are based on your Rankings. You have high Ranking stats in Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma. These are the classes that would benefit you the best. Please choose amongst the three of these options.]
Xylus sighed and sunk himself deeper into the tub. It was big enough that he could do that if he tried, but hard enough in the case he actually fell asleep in the tub. He dipped underneath the water, listening to the bubbles as they rippled around him.
'What do I choose then?' Xylus wondered. 'Rogue would be the closest thing that I would be comfortable with. I have the Daggers of Shadowbane, too, so if I choose Mage or Range, I'll be at a disadvantage… Mage will probably make my Intelligence stat be the highest stat I would have to use. Just because I can use magic, doesn't mean I should… Estra doesn't like Dark Magic, so that's probably out of the question.' He popped back up and out of the water, taking a gasp for air as he wiped the water off his face.
'Ranger could be useful if I'm always traveling. It'll work off of Dexterity like Rogue, but I'll be using more ranged weapons… And that would be hard when I have these daggers…' Xylus sighed and leaned back onto the tub.
"I guess I'll have to go with Rogue. System, I choose Rogue as my class." Xylus announced.
[You have chosen Rogue as your Class. Are you sure about this? Once you choose your base class, you cannot go back.]
"Yes," Xylus answered after a long pause. It made the most sense to him. It would allow him to use all the training he had acquired thus far with Mr. Victor while also keeping his Dark Magic a secret. If he was going to figure out this whole Hero thing, he needed to be cautious about it. Plus, he could find ways to look for these people that kept on popping up in his head.
[The Rogue Class has been chosen. System and User has been changed. Please see the following changes:]
The System seemed to vanish and then reappear. It opened up on the pick screen. There were all of his tabs. They were the same as before. He had access to:
Rankings
Spells
Skills
Inventory
Titles
He tapped Rankings and his eyes immediately grew wide.
"Woah." He muttered. "Th-there's a lot more stats now…"
Rankings:
[You have a total of 17 Ranking Points Available*!]
Level: 11
Class - Rogue
Current XP:
HP: 215/215
MP: 250/250
Strength: 24
Dexterity: 32
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 24
Charisma: 20
"T-that's a lot of points leftover… It looks like it added c-c… Constitution?" Xylus struggled to read the text. He hadn't ever learned to read or write. The System just explained things to him and he learned what the words meant overtime.
[Constitution. Every point you put into it will increase your health by 10. Every 5 points, you will increase it by 35. This is also the case for every time you put points into Intelligence now. Due to your class, you have stopped receiving a high amount of Magic Points. Intelligence will still fuel your power in Spells, but it will now act as a MP boost.]
"Why did it change now? It was honestly better then." Xylus commented.
[You were Classless, then. Classless individuals have the ability to gain free stats and such, but they can only go so long with that. When an individual peaks in Estra, they will Class Rank up. Usually you'd have to go back to the Temples to do this, but since you have me, we can do it here.]
"Ahhh, so everyone goes through this basically…" Xylus nodded. "Do kids my age already have a class like me? And are their Rankings this much?"
[…]
[…]
[…]
[I am unsure of this. In terms of the average person, I would say you're at an Adventurer's level.]
"Adventurer's level… Oh boy… They're gonna think I'm strong when I go into the Academy."
[I should also note something else for you, Xylus. You see that star next to your current Ranking points?]
"Yea?"
[These points are the leftover points from your time as a Classless. Now that you're a Rogue, it'll be harder to gain Ranking points.]
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"Why?"
[Your XP threshold has been greatly increased. You'll get two points as always, but I have been heavily adjusted to work around your Class. You will have to work harder for points now.]
"Aw, that's a bummer." Xylus frowned. "But I guess if I can't do anything about it, that's fine. Will I really stick out at the Academy, then?"
[There might be a couple of students who are around your level, maybe a little higher.]
Xylus nodded and decided to dump ten points into Constitution, giving him 150 more HP. He dumped the rest into Dexterity.
Rankings:
Class - Rogue
HP: 355/355
MP: 250/250
Strength: 24
Dexterity: 39
Constitution: 24
Intelligence: 24
Charisma: 20
Xylus eventually got out of the tub, pulling the plug that kept the water from draining and wiped himself dry. He dressed and threw the bandages away and dumped his clothes into the laundry bin. Tyrian and Victor were nowhere to be found by the time he had finished. He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his backpack out of habit and walked out the door.
Tyrian was staring off into the water when the door closed behind Xylus. Xylus waved his fingers and locked the door with the glyph Victor had taught him. It was the first glyph he had learned.
"Ah, you're out." Tyrian looked up. He stood up and met the boy halfway. "Victor had to go to the Academy. You're with me now."
"Okay." Xylus nodded. Tyrian led the way into the forest. They were going to head straight to the Temple and meet with the Fathers and Priestesses. The Grand Magus and that blonde girl, Niya, would probably be there. Xylus bit his lip as he followed after Tyrian. Something about Niya had bothered him but he couldn't put his finger on it. The image of a young blonde girl flashed in his head and he yelped.
"Xylus, are you okay?" Tyrian turned to look at him. Xylus looked up and realized he had actually yelped aloud.
"Oh, yeah, uh…" Xylus stuttered. "I'm just thinking."
"About what, if you don't mind me asking?" Tyrian and Xylus walked side to side of each other.
"That blonde girl." Xylus told him. "She seems familiar to me. Who is she?"
"Oh, the Grand Magus' charge." Tyrian gave a half-hearted nod. Xylus could tell Tyrian had an opinion about the Grand Magus and that girl. "Her name's Niya. She's going to be joining the Academy in six months. Grand Magus thinks she's the Hero. She's blessed by all of the gods. Supposedly can wield all five elements."
"But she didn't even do anything." Xylus folded his arms. He couldn't really see her as the Hero. Yeah, she reminded him of someone he knew. That, in itself, was annoying him. Yeah, she could've been blessed by all the gods, but could she really be "Hero" material? "Could that old hag really just be lying?"
"Xylus, don't say that out loud! That's rude." Tyrian scolded him.
"What? Mr. Victor always talked about an old hag all the time. He described her as a 'mage' who wanted to 'retire' but wanted to keep all of the 'power' she had gained. I assumed that's who he was talking about, the Grand Magus."
"By Palia's Light…" Tyrian sighed. "Why does Victor have to go and say all of this stuff like it doesn't matter? Doesn't he know anything?!?" Tyrian and Xylus popped out of the forest and turned into the right side of the city. The city of Myst Crevice was split into different sectors. Going right, you would hit the Temples and eventually the Rich district. Going left from the Academy, you would hit the marketplace and the districts where the 'rest of society' lived. The district Xylus stayed at was a part of the Academy since Victor had to be near in case anything happened.
"Look, we're meeting the Fathers and the Priestesses. Grand Magus and her charge will be there. Be on your best behavior, alright?" Tyrian reminded Xylus.
"Psh," Xylus smiled. "When am I ever bad?"
"You really want me to answer that?" Tyrian looked at the boy. "Victor's told me many stories about you stealing and spending nights upside down in jail."
"Hehehe…" Xylus rubbed the back of his head and neck. "Mr. Victor really did tell you… Fine, I'll be good! I swear I'll be good."
"Promise?" Tyrian raised his pinky finger. Xylus wrapped his around Tyrian's and nodded.
"Promise."
