After Al had gone home and the scheduled rain was done, Erick walked through the farms, feeling secure in the fact that he knew where he was supposed to be, and that place was here at the farms. A few people waved to him as they finished picking the last harvest, or started preparing the fields for tomorrow. Erick waved back. More than a few people smiled at him.

This was a good feeling.

He glanced at his Class.

Particle Mage

If you witness a Particle spell and you understand it, you may unlock that spell for free.

Sure, it was mostly empty, but that just meant it got to be filled again! Maybe this time he could choose what when in those slots. He didn’t care much for the extra damage done by Particle spells; the rest were alright, though. If a bit bland. Erick recalled back to when he talked to Ramizi about Class abilities, and Ramizi had said something about his Force spells costing less mana.

That would be a good one. What kind of reduction was it, though? Percentage based? Flat?

It had to be percentage based.

… An extra 25% off? Like for Favored Spell, maybe?

That would make [Call Lightning] completely free. No way was it an extra 25% off. No way.

... Area of effect would be good. Erick smiled. Yes. More area would be great.

And so, Erick found himself walking up the Courthouse steps, waving to redscale Taro who was busy talking to someone, and taking a left at the globe in the center of the main hallway. Irogh’s Script-blue door was open. Erick approached, and after asking Poi to stay outside, knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

Erick walked in and shut the door behind him. Irogh was as handsome as ever.

“Hello, Erick.”

Erick sat down in the chair. “Hello, Irogh. So. About this Class business?”

Irogh nodded. “I’ve already been informed. Rozeta just threw your Class together, but since you are pursuing this yourself, you can now guide how your Class grows.”

Erick smiled, relieved. He said, “I would like to get area, cost reduction, and… I’m not sure what else.”

Irogh said, “I have a list for you,” and flicked a hand through the air.

A very large blue box appeared.

All Spell Cost Reduction 10%

More Mana x 2

All Particle Spell Cost Reduction 20%

More HP x 2

All Ability Cost Reduction 5%

More Mana Regeneration x 2

Less Spell Damage Taken, General x 0.75

More Spell Damage Done, General x 1.25

Less Spell Damage Taken, Particle x 0.25

More Spell Damage Done, Particle x 2

Finer Spell Control, General

More Area of Effect, General x 1.25

Finer Spell Control, Particle

More Area of Effect, Particle x 2

General Spell Duration x 1.25

Particle Spell Duration x 2

Less enemy effect on your Particle Spells

More effect on enemy Particle Spells

Lingering Particles, continue to disrupt enemy Particle magic for the duration of the previous spell, in the area of the previous spell

Particle Spell Creation, Easier time creating Particle Spells

Particle Shell, Mana spent on Particle Spells grants you False HP equal to mana spent, up till base HP. Lasts 1 hour, renewed with new Particle Spells.

Particle Ripper, offensive Particle Spells rip away a % of enemy HP. Less effect on stronger enemies.

Particle Healing, your non-offensive Particle Spells restore HP to all people in the area commensurate to the Mana you spend.

Particle Poison, offensive Particle Spells corrode enemy HP for a % of damage done over spell duration. Less effect on stronger enemies.

Monster Killer, 2x damage done to any monster

Killer, 1.5x damage done

Sculpt Spell, All Spells are always affected by Major Mana Shaping, for free. Greatly reduced cost to alter ongoing Auras.

Particular Insight, for 100 mana, probe the manasphere, discovering if a spell might be possible before you risk an Error

Mana Shield, damage taken is split between MP and HP

Blood Mana, spend HP and MP to fuel spells

Sapping Particle Spell, gain False HP from hurting your enemies, lasts 1 hour, is renewed with more damage done to enemies.

Particulate Force, able to create spells that blur the line between Particle and Force magic. WARNING! Errors will occur.

Erick read, and read, and re-read.

He quickly decided. “Yup! I’m not qualified for this! I have no idea which ones are the best.”

Irogh laughed. “Let me help you—”

“No no no. You’re great and all, and no offense meant, but I need to get my daughter in here.” Erick looked over the big blue box again, and his eyes glazed over. “This is, like, what she does.”

Irogh chuckled, smiling as he said, “I’ll try not to take it personally that this isn’t also what I do.”

“You’re great and all, really, but she would murder me if I didn’t talk to her first.”

Irogh smiled softly, then said, “Of course. Any questions, though?”

“I have no idea where to even start.” Erick asked, “Can I just [Telepathy] her now?”

Irogh nodded as he quickly touched the air in front of him, then said, “Go ahead.”

‘Hey, Jane! Are you—‘

‘FUCKING HELL, DAD!’

The connection was not ‘unwanted’ or else Erick would have been mind blasted for 150 damage. Erick counted his lucky stars that she was only screaming at him.

‘Okay. I can talk now.’ Jane sent,‘I’m just peeling potatoes, over here, wondering IF MY FATHER IS ALIVE, sitting next to his greenscaled spy, wondering if she had anything to do with what happened—’

‘I love you and I’m fine. But a lot of things are happening fast and I don’t have time to get properly chewed out right now.’

‘… I love you, too. I was just worried. A lot.’

‘I know! So the basic run down is that I dug too deep and the Manasphere loves me and there was a lot of blood and I got 12 points for the creation of a spell which denies all harmful magic in a super large area— With me so far?’

‘Yes. Continue.’

‘My next stop after this is the Church to potentially talk to Koyabez about that spell but I got slapped down by Rozeta because the Relevant Entities didn’t like what I did, and she took away 5 of my 6 Class abilities and I’m in the Registrar’s office right now, talking to Irogh about getting them back. And HOOOLY fuck, there are a lot of options. I am not qualified for this. Please help?’

‘… Send me an image of the options.’

Irogh interrupted, “If she wants to see the options, she needs to come here.” A bit chagrined, he added, “This is supposed to be a sacred event between you and Rozeta; usually people are a bit more private about this.”

Erick relayed that to Jane. Jane promptly started cursing up a storm, then told Erick to wait.

Erick waited.

Irogh waited.

‘So are you—’

‘I’m hurrying!’

Erick closed that connection and turned to Irogh, saying, “Soooo… Iroogh… Have you tried the fries around town, yet? A lot of places are serving potatoes in various forms. Oh! I made some really nice lemon pies, if you ever want to stop in for coffee or somethi—”

There was a knock on the door. Irogh flipped his hand and the door clicked open. Poi stood disbelieving on the other side as Jane walked in, looking mad, glad, and excited all at once, and quite a bit stronger than the last time Erick saw her. She was lean and mean, with shoulder length hair tied up in a clip at the back of her head, piercing brown eyes, and tanner than normal. Her clothes were loose. Her hair might have been a bit blonder, too.

Erick stood. Jane rushed into his arms.

Jane spoke into his shoulder, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You got stronger, didn’t you!” Erick pulled back a bit. “You look great, Jane.”

“You, too, Dad.”

Jane smiled, sighing out, pulling away from Erick. Irogh flipped his hand through the air; the blue door to the room closed with a magical click. Erick sat back down in one chair in front of Irogh’s desk. Jane sat in the other.

“I don’t have a lot of time.” Jane said, “Show me.”

Irogh said, “I need your verbal permission to show her, Erick.”

“I give you permission to show my daughter my Class options.”

Irogh nodded. The blue screen he had shown Erick, now appeared in the air atop Irogh’s desk, writ large.

Jane’s mouth formed an O. “That’s a lot of options.” She began concentrated reading.

Erick read with her, mentally choosing the ones that looked good to him. More Mana, sure. More Regen, yes. More Area of Effect, bigger rain storms, yes. Particular Insight, seemed like a must. Healing, great. Particulate Force seemed like the only way to create something like [Exalted Storm Aura] ever again without tripping out the Manasphere. Sculpt Spell and Particle Shell seemed really nice. More HP was a safe choice.

All Spell Cost Reduction… Hmmm…

Erick asked, “Am I really allowed to get the Particle Spell Creation option back?”

“Yes.” Irogh said, “You don’t have to, though. I suggest you pick up Insight, if you pick up Creation, to avoid most future problems like this.”

Jane asked, “What does duration mean with regard to Auras?”

Irogh said, “The every-second cost on the spell description will either go to every 1.25 seconds, or every 2 seconds in the case of a Particle Spell, cutting the cost of those spells in half. Be aware that some of these options will exclude others; you can’t have both duration options, for example.”

Jane nodded, but Erick had heart palpitations.

“Woah woah woah.” Erick paused. “Really!?”

Irogh said, “Yes. But every single one of these Class Options requires a Quest to unlock. For the Duration quest, you need to keep a spell going for 24 hours. You’ve already unlocked that based on previous actions. The rest of them are similar. You might not want to take the damage options, since those require Kill Quests.”

Erick read over the list again.

Jane asked, “What about changing these later?”

“That will take a grand-rad and then you must complete the Quests for whichever Class ability you want. If you’ve already unlocked the new ability, or you’re switching between abilities you’ve already unlocked, all it takes is 1 grand-rad; no Quest.”

Erick said, "I should have a few grand-rads coming in from killing cats in Kal'Duresh."

"Let's try to get this right the first time," Jane said.

Erick read the list again. So did Jane.

Eventually, Jane said—