Mash lay in bed; his heavy blanket rested just beneath his chin. He wanted to sleep during the day so that he would be able to stay awake all night. It was his fifth birthday tomorrow and that meant he would get assigned his first class. He was shaking with anticipation.

He began shifting around trying to find a more comfortable position. There was no position that would stop his excitement though. He tried a bunch of different things to try and fall asleep, but nothing would work. He played a lot in the morning so that he would be tired now, but it felt like a warmup, and he wanted to do more now. He had eaten a big lunch in hopes that it would make him feel lazy, instead it made him feel like he needed to burn the excess energy and fueled his excitement.

Maybe if he checked his stats; he would get lucky and see his class early. He heard it happened to some people but didn’t know how. He simply focused in on himself and felt the information rush into his head.

Name: Mash Class: None

Level: 0

Health: 20/20

Stamina: 30/30

Mana: 20/20

Fortitude: 2

Endurance: 3

Strength: 1

Agility: 2

Intelligence: 2

Wisdom: 1

Charisma: 1

Skills: NONE

His abilities wouldn’t impress the best, but he managed to raise his endurance beyond what most kids could. Most kids only got their stats up to 2, and only through a lot of hard work. He wanted to raise all his stats but figured it wouldn’t be possible for him. He couldn’t change his body.

Being shorter than expected, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get his strength up. He hoped his class would be able to rectify the weakness. One of his friends grew a few inches as soon as he got his class. Apparently, he got a strength focused class, and the sudden boost forced his body to adjust. If he got something like his brother, it would cause his body to change.

Charisma too seemed to be lost to him. Mash’s grey hair and black eyes made him look like someone rung the colors out of him. Wearing his brother’s hand-me-downs, didn’t help either. His hair was supposed to be a silver grey, and his eyes should have had a similar shine. Instead, his hair was pale grey, and his irises were pitch black. His family told him that his eyes stole the colors from his hair. His eyes seemed to bother the other children and even some of the adults avoided eye contact. It made it difficult for him to make friends, so he ended up growing closer to his family.

It grated at him. He couldn’t raise his charisma because of his appearance. It’s not like he chose it or could even do anything about it. That wasn’t even the worst one though. He just didn’t get wisdom. He read a lot of books trying to raise it but only managed to raise his intelligence. He decided he would try for strength, even if it was unlikely to change, and got up to work out.

His room wasn’t large. Being the youngest he hadn’t been able to pick his room and ended up in whatever was left. His parents were successful however, and there were enough rooms for him to get one for himself. They weren’t nobles or merchants, so they didn’t have a mansion, although their house was almost as big. With four bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and 2 bathrooms, it was as close to being a proper mansion as you could get. Around the outside of the house there was a yard with a small garden where his mother grew some herbs. She was a healer and used the herbs to make medicine.

Mash glanced around his room, it was a mess, and the floor was littered with toys and books. A small chest rested at the foot of his bed and a drawer for his clothes leaned against one of the walls, but he didn’t bother using them. His floor worked just as well, and it felt like it was easier to find what he needed when it was all laid out. Looking over his things he grabbed an old brown jacket. It was a hand-me-down from his brother, but it was comfortable, and more importantly, durable. He also grabbed a stick that he had leaning by his door. It was the perfect stick, long enough to act like a longsword and light enough that he could swing it freely. Fully equipped he slid out of his house and into the yard.

The sun was out but it was still a little chilly. The occasional gust of wind made him shiver slightly as he stood in the yard. Rather than immediately practicing with his ‘sword’ he started with some light exercises to warm up. He began with some stretches to avoid injuries that mainly involved running around the yard and some pushups. After he stopped feeling cold, he started swinging the stick in a rhythmic overhand swing. He was working on putting his weight behind the swing like his father had shown him. It was difficult, and Mash thought it would work as strength training.

Mash’s father saw him once he came home and walked around to the yard to instruct him. His father held the Knight Commander class. It was a powerful class that gave him a lot of stats. It also granted him skills that made his teaching more effective and precise. His father was tall and fearsome. He was like a big statue, and in his armor seemed to tower over everyone around him. He had short cut silver hair and light brown eyes that seemed to darken as he looked down at you. Every other adult Mash ever met seemed to cower a bit before his father, but Mash never felt any of that fear. Maybe it was because of how quiet he was around Mash’s mother, but his father always felt reserved to Mash. His father was pushing Mash hard, and his precise instructions carried Mash late into the night.

Mash looked up to his father and was hoping he would get the knight class like his brother. The knight class was one of the most desirable classes for kids. Getting the class, meant that they got to skip the knight apprentice class and would be able to go further as they leveled. Furthermore, the class provided a lot of stats, and gave combat skills early. The class was general enough, that they could become almost anything. It was a starting step to power and was much easier to get access to than magic classes. The class could also level without fighting monsters, instead from training with other knights. They were like healing classes, which could level by treating people. He trained hoping to earn the class. The rest of his family had come home before he was done and were preparing a feast for Mash’s birthday.

When Mash finished exercising, he immediately rushed into the bathroom to take a bath. He would have liked to keep going, but now that the sun was down it was too cold, and his father had sent him to take a bath to warm up. His mother had left him a bucket filled with hot water, and there was a new bar of soap too. His family was going all out today, and Mash enjoyed washing himself with the hot water. He stepped into the remaining water and was able to relax in the large bucket. He was still small enough that he could sit comfortably inside. The rest of his family had to go to the local bath house if they wanted to relax this way. While melting into the warm water, he focused on his stats to see if there had been any improvements.

Name: Mash Class: None

Level: 0

Health: 20/20

Stamina: 40/40

Mana: 20/20

Fortitude: 2

Endurance: 4

Strength: 1

Agility: 2

Intelligence: 2

Wisdom: 1

Charisma: 1

Skills: NONE

His strength didn’t change but he practically jumped out of the bath when he saw his endurance. Even his brother hadn’t been able to get a stat to 4 before his 5th birthday. Deciding that he was clean enough, he rushed down the stairs to brag to his brother. He left a trail of water behind him as he charged into the living room. His brother and sister were talking with their father about something when Mash burst in.

His brother got the Knight class and worked with father to level the class. He was essentially a smaller version of father, but somehow managed to look even more apathetic. He never showed more than the smallest reactions, and everyone praised him saying that he was “mature beyond his age”. On top of that, he was wildly talented and had the stats to prove it. His parents often joked that he was the hero, but just didn’t get the class yet. He was even named Arthur after the name of an old hero.

His sister on the other hand hadn’t fully inherited his mother’s beauty. Only two years older than Mash himself, she was far taller than him. In fact, she was unusually tall for her age, dwarfing the other children. Her silver hair curled near her shoulders, and her silver eyes that reflected the moon. Her parents named her Lunaria, after the goddess of the moon. She didn’t look like the goddess though and was a combination of his mother’s delicate features and his father’s stockiness. The strange combination made her seem awkward. His mother guaranteed that she would be a peerless beauty in the future, but Mash couldn’t picture it. Mash thought she would always be a little awkward. She had the nurse class and was talented, although not as much as his brother.

“I got my endurance to 4!”

Mash was screaming as he stood before them, he was smiling widely as his pride swelled. His tone a clear challenge to his brother. His face doubly so as he tried his best to smirk at him. Bursting with joy, it came out as a toothy smile. His brother remained silent, uncaring of the direct challenge. His sister was clearly surprised though, as her eyebrows rose unnaturally high. However, his father was the one to speak.

“Put on some clothes, boy!”

He said the words harshly, but Mash only noticed his smile. His father rarely smiled, and Mash relished in it as he ran back upstairs to put on his clothes.

He had a new pair of clothes laid out on his bed. His mother insisted he get something that actually fit, instead of the oversized clothes of his brother. His father wanted Mash to have more practical clothing, so the set before him had surprised him. It wasn’t particularly fancy, and the shirt was comfortable and durable enough to run in. Despite the practicality the shirt had detailed embroidery of silver snakes wrapped around the long sleeves of an otherwise uniform black. His pants were similarly thick and made of black cotton that matched with his shirt, the pockets lined with the same silver. It would be perfect to wear at this time of the year.

His birthday landed on the 6th day of the 13th month, a cold season that was usually accompanied by layers of snow. However, this season seemed to be changing earlier as the weather had started moving into the first warm season already.

Mash rejoined his family, showing off his clothes in a confident strut. The rest of the night went perfectly for Mash. His mother had made all his favorite foods and his siblings had gotten him a book on advanced classes. He wouldn’t have to worry about it until he was 15, when his class would advance, but with this he could at least try and guide his class.

The book would tell him what he should try, to direct his class towards the more common and well-known classes. It would provide a list of weapons or exercises that he could perform to increase the chance to get offered a class. When someone advances their class, they would be offered a selection of three based on everything they had done leading up to that moment. Classes represented who a person was and defined how they lived. He would look at it later, but for now he was far too distracted with the time.

Despite not being nobles, they had a clock in their house. His father being a military general had a clock, and Mash used it to see when the next day would start. The clock worked by comparing the sun mana with the moon mana, so that it could gauge the time of day. It was through this, that Mash could tell that there were only a few minutes left in the day. His family had grown quiet, and everyone was staring at the clock. Even without a clock, Mash could tell as his stats adjusted for the new class and he got his skill.

At first it felt like he was being stuffed with energy and he started shaking as it kept growing. It quickly became too much, and the feeling had changed, Mash felt like he was drowning. The energy wouldn’t stop, Mash couldn’t focus, couldn’t breathe. There was a pressure growing in his body, like a balloon he was being filled far beyond what he could contain. He tried to hold it in, to preserve as much of the energy as he could. It was like trying to hold his breath under water, eventually he would drown. As soon as he felt like he could last no longer, the feeling left, and the pressure and energy escaped out of whatever exit it could find. Immediately Mash thought on his class. Falling to his knees as the information flooded his mind. It defined him as a coward.

Name: Mash Class: Runner

Level: 1

Health: 60/60

Stamina: 100/100

Mana: 40/40

Fortitude: 6

Endurance: 10

Strength: 2

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 4

Wisdom: 2

Charisma: 1

Free Stats: 2

Skills: Endure

Endure: Go beyond your limits. Continue current action even after depleting stamina.