Kaius pored over the three classes that had been offered to him.

  He found each fascinating in its potency, its vibrancy, but also in how they differed from what he already had. It was clear that each one had a focus, but he was unsure what it would really mean for him.

  "These three," he asked. "How will they change me — change what I can do?"

  "They are all, at their core, a development of what you already have," his guide explained. "You can be certain that there will be the mix of glyphbinding, Vesryn’s use of VOS, and the swordplay that you are used to. Some of your glyphs may shift in focus — you may even be offered the ability to change them entirely.”

  His guide circled the statues, examining them from every angle.

  “The general theme of the classes differ. The first one, the Wayfarer — as you can see, it is based on exploration and deep dives. You’ll find your abilities shift towards persistence and long campaigns.”

  “Similarly, the Vizier” He lay his hand on the statue on the right, “With a greater focus on team dynamics and those you lead, you will find yourself gaining flavours of your abilities focused on this. Ones that enable you to achieve greater heights of efficacy by working with your companions, and spells that will bolster and benefit your group as a whole."

  “And the Hellion?”

  it had caught his eye with its ferocity, and its simple unbarred might.

  His guide nodded knowingly, a hint of a smile creeping at the edge of his lips.

  "Well, this one is something of a concentration of what you already have. Your current class is an initiate’s one — a generalist — but at its core, like all glyphbinding spellswords, it is tuned towards brilliant fires of violence. Flaring bright, but not the best for sustained conflict. The Hellion leans on that — it is a shock troop. An elite of the elites. While you personally will find your weakness for greater numbers perhaps a little less serious, the class is mostly focused on putting things down hard and fast. In the situations where that is impossible? It doesn’t so much as magnify that flaw, but it does little to cover for it. Your other options will — either through the Wayfarer’s staying power, or the Vizier’s empowerment of your team. In return, the direct power the Hellion can wield is, well — it’s quite something to see."

  The Guide’s words ignited a fire within him. He thought he’d be torn by indecision, but he wasn’t.

  The Runeblade Hellion was exactly what he wanted.

  He knew better than anyone that specialisation was often the key to power. Yes, he enjoyed exploring, and yes, he wanted to have more staying power — who didn’t? The same went for the Vizier; of course, he enjoyed being a leader and supporting his friends.

  He didn’t need his class to support him in those things. Strength — power — was an endurance of its own.

  With enough power, it didn’t matter. His team was more than capable enough without him — let alone the fact that they had a dedicated mage with buffs in their repertoire.

  As for the limitations of a glyphbinding class and its reliance on preparation? He didn’t fight alone. He had Porkchop, Ianmus, and Kenva — all more than capable of supporting themselves. More importantly, he had his bladework. The Hellion, at least in his eyes, was perfect.

  Besides — anything that would help him deal with swarms by blowing them to smithereens was a good pick in his books.

  "The Hellion," he said.

  His guide laughed, loud and long. "Oh, I knew it was likely, but I hate to crunch the numbers in a situation like this. I do so love your decisiveness, Kaius. It is ever so refreshing. You’re sure of your choice?"

  "I am," he replied, his voice firm.

  "Good. Then let us talk briefly of what to expect as you evolve your class — and how you may bolster your rebirth with cycling."

  Kaius focused.

  "Thanks to the steps you have taken on the path, i will tell you a little more. The energy you remember from your first class selection? It is, as you have surmised, something akin to essence, but more refined and more powerful. Not something you will grasp until you have walked your path.”

  His guide stepped close, laying a hand on his shoulder. It felt heavy.

  “As I use it to reshape the construct around your soul, I will use my reserves to flood you utterly with its power. Normally, by simple pressure and presence, some of that would seep in, bolstering you permanently every level."

  "And the aspects — how do they assist?” Kaius asked, “You mentioned that aspect ignition, embodying, and cycling all compound for successive increases in benefit."

  "I did indeed. The difference is not overwhelming, but as Xenanra told you, but it is one that accrues with every tier. A worthy reward, even disregarding the impact that those things will have on the future steps in your path to its terminus."

  His guide walked closer to the statue of the Hellion, looking up at it. Kaius could see a mirrored fire in the eyes of stone and the eyes of a god, both wearing his own skin.

  "Quintessence, it is called. Its presence will cause your aspects to flare, In those that have them, at least. This friction allows me to guide more of its transformative effects into your being. What is traditionally a lossy and inefficient transfer, caused by simple osmosis for those with less than the full set or none at all, becomes less so — further strengthening one of the three domains for each aspect that has been ignited: body, mind, and soul. Similarly, for those that have embodied either partially or completely, they instinctively feel the process and, with a little guidance, can simply will themselves to take in more. It is also not particularly efficient — a simple, mindless grasping in the dark, reliant on simple conviction and an instinctive talent."

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "What about cycling — for those who have learned how to do it consciously?"

  "The most efficient," his guide said. "The motion of your own essence, from body to mind to soul to self — the culmination of your being — carves a path for quintessence to follow. That flow increases the uptake. As I mentioned, the differences compound. Someone who has mastered cycling, of strong will, who follows my guidance well — they might expect to gain a third as much again as somebody who lacks any aspects. You see something similar for later steps and later tiers."

  "It compounds."

  "It compounds," his guide agreed. "This is but the first class evolution you will experience. Every gain you make now is magnified during your next transfusion."

  "A mirror of the path," Kaius said, his eyes widening in realisation.

  "A mirror indeed. You are ready to begin. Approach the Hellion. Accept it into your soul."

  Kaius did so. The air warped in his eyes, and he reached out to lay his hand on the statue’s plinth at his waist level. It seemed to spark at his touch — potential coursing through his veins, into his heart, before it moved deeper, into his centre. A system notification flicked into being, thrumming with primacy.

  **Ding! Runeblade Hellion Class Available, would you like to proceed? This choice is pivotal and irrevocable.**

  Kaius gasped, feeling its cold touch tumbling through his skin. He stumbled back, flying to the ground — then he was thrown into his centre as a preeminent power streamed into his soul.

  His soul space was as he remembered it—the burning fire of his self, surrounded on its axial and coronal planes by a circle of ten platinum and ten gold skill shards. Above that writhing mass sat a trio of pillars, each holding a burning flame themselves, crackling with the truths he had discovered within.

  At the very core of it, surrounding the fires of his soul, he saw his class — a decagrammic net, a formation of unimaginable complexity, potency, and stability. Woven of a power he’d only just barely begun to understand — a cousin to essence, of a higher purity.

  Quintessence, the system had called it.

  Writhing tendrils of it reached into him from every side and set into his class, bringing with it change and benevolent mutation.

  It was then that he felt it — the iridescent force spreading out. Each tendril was tightly wound, moving like a surgeon’s instruments as they added to the weave of his class and adjusted its core structure, yet each one was surrounded by an aurora — a haze that disseminated through the center of his being.

  Was that the pressure he could feel? That struck him from every side at once? It weighed upon his existence, reeking of a god’s Authority. He could feel it sinking into his soul, his body, and his mind.

  And then — in that moment of friction — his pillars burned.

  More potent and powerful than even in Xenanra’s forgotten temple, where he had first felt essence in its totality.

  Quintessence shot to the very peak of his soul space and curved around as a bubble.

  In that conflagration, Kaius felt the generation of his own essence churn to life.

  Instinctively his Will urged on the process, knowing and feeling the beneficial transfusion of the system’s own strength. His being pulsed in time with his intent; the steeping increased, and the osmotic transference potentiated.

  "Now, Kaius. Cycle."

  The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. His own: aged, weathered, and strong.

  Kaius listened immediately and moved with the world in the way that Xenanra had taught him. He pulled on his essence, feeding it into Mentis.

  It dissolved like a sugar cube in water. In that moment of breaching, quintessence followed, suffusing his mind.

  It was a lightning strike. A volcanic eruption. The loudest sound and the brightest colour. It was… too much. His focus and grip began to slip.

  "Hold strong, boy!”

  His father’s voice. He could almost hear him — urging him on, much like he had through every trial he had faced as a boy. It was a simple memory, but it gave him the push that he needed.

  “You must complete a full cycle to gain the full benefits! It will be harder with every pillar!" the system urged him on.

  Kaius grit his teeth, and through his will, stabilised his connection to his essence.

  To his shock, it grew easier.

  Around his soul, from the circle of his Legacy Skills, came a sound. It wasn’t the mournful, avaricious scream they had once cried when he was unclassed. Instead, it was harmonious — a calming song that soothed the energy within him.

  It didn’t speed up the process or make it any more effective, but it soothed the eddies and turbulence in the power within him. And in that moment, he tightened his grip on the essence within — and fed it into Corporus.

  Once again, he reeled, overwhelmed as his blood boiled and his skin split, quintessence dissolving him from the marrow out and building him back stronger with a mutagenic itch.

  It was difficult.

  He was used to difficult — struggle and strife had been his playground for many years. His existence had been branded mad; a veteran warrior.

  Discomfort was nothing. Pain was nothing. This was an opportunity he would not let slip by.

  His essence moved, as the reforging of his class continued below.

  "Good, you’re keeping pace," his guide said, "Maintain your speed. The quintessence will not last forever."

  As the power hit his Animus, it went beyond explanation — a single transcendental moment of becoming and growth that split his mind open and left him shivering.

  He held on, and forced the essence down into his soul and self. From there, it suffused everything, and all he felt was a flash as his vision inside his soul space whited out.

  Yet in that moment, he heard four notes among the chorus of his general skills that screamed out in delight. He could feel it now that his focus was freed. The resonance peaking within his skills.

  Explorer’s Toolkit,Resonance Amplification, Lesser Regeneration, and Uncanny Dodge had accepted the quintessence within, filled to bursting as they too underwent refinement and change. Three cut off swiftly, drinking their fill, but Lesser Regeneration continued — drinking deep and growing until it shone with a new brightness.

  Then finally, Kaius heard joyous chimes — system notifications that rolled across his mind.

  **Ding! Class Reforged! Runeblade Hellion obtained!**

  **Ding! General Skill Evolved! Explorer’s Toolkit (Unusual) has become Sergeant’s Insight (Unique)!**

  **Ding! General Skill Evolved! Resonance Amplification (Unique) has become Spellblade’s Harmonic Control (Heroic)!**

  **Ding! General Skill Evolved! Lesser Regeneration (Unusual) has become Greater Regeneration (Heroic)!**

  **Ding! General Skill Evolved! Uncanny Dodge (Unique) has become Moment of Flow (Heroic)!**