“You’re only 16 years old Miri, you should really talk to your teacher or mom and dad about this, not me.”

Rune was only a normal big brother, so when Miri came to ask him advice on what to do, he was taken aback.

“But mom said that you’ve already made your choice, so I just want to know what you decided, just for reference of course!”

It seemed that Miri knew that his big brother couldn’t say no to him, so his argument was just for show.

“I’m not that sure, I still have a week before the first wave comes back, and even if that’s right that I have a general sense of what I want, do you even have an idea of what you want?” Rune started by making sure Miri and him were on the same page.

“Yes,” Miri answered.

“And did you choose how you’ll fight in the future?”

“I’ve done as everyone did and read forums talking about build and how there is no best but only most suitable, when I fight with monsters I favor fast strikes with evading as the source of my defense, Miro chose the tanking hits and hitting back harder so we could fight together in the future.”

Miri was ready for any question, Rune couldn’t escape from his grasp.

“Then why do you want to know what I choose? Just follow some guide like I did, start with the easier class ratio, did you already do that?”

“Yes, tell me yours!”

‘So that’s what he wanted to know.’

Rune wasn’t surprised, there was a 2 000 stat points limit per stat at tier 2, which was a very large amount of EP to gather and invest.

Choosing a class ratio would make you gain a very big advantage on some stats but also weakness in others, and maybe his little brother searched for comfort in his choice?

The rule was that at tier 1, every stat had a ratio of 1 to 1 for EP, always needing 10 000 EP to gain a stat point.

At tier 2 however, it was possible to change this ratio to 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 as long as the total ratio remained the same as the start, so the total ratio equals 10, and that changed everything.

“Ok then, let me do it with a process of elimination,” Rune didn’t have a choice, saying no to his cute little brother? Unthinkable.

“So, my fighting style is a very, very slow burner style, it allows me to take risks because I’m very resistant to damage and can recover. From my point of view, the true essence of it all comes from normal strikes, dependent on body control strength, and my energy armor, and energy compression is dependent on only 2 energy stats, energy, and energy regeneration. So I took those 3 stats out.”

“As for my soul specialty, it affects my perception, so it’s a no-brain choice. I also chose to sacrifice momentum because I can substitute it with an energy platform mixed with strength. So? Which stats did I place at high priority? And which are low priority?”

Rune exposed his complete train of thoughts about his fighting style to Miri, making him reflect on what he chose by himself.

“Energy, energy regeneration, perception, and strength are high priority, that’s minus 2 ratio points, then purity, affinity, and momentum became low priority, you gained 3 ratio points if you put their ratio at 2,” it was easy, that’s why Miri answered nearly instantly

“That’s right, now I have the leftover stats, health which is the last rampart of anyone, health regeneration that adds flexibility to any loss of health, and cohesion which reduces environmental effect and damage that your health is subjected to.”

“If you were at my place, with my current ratio equal to 11, I can reduce two of them to half price, which did I choose, or did I invest this point in another way?” Now, this was a multiple-answer riddle, Rune was proud of putting his situation like that.

Thinking for a few minutes, Miri thought really deeply about what his brother would do, but in the end, there were only 2 possibilities, or he transformed a low priority stat into a medium one, or he created another 2 high-priority ones.

But Rune had valid reasons as to why he put low priority on a stat, that’s because he would not need them in the future.

To be sure Miri, asked for more details, “Did you decide to replace the momentum stat with just running using strength and energy platform?”

Rune’s smile got a little brighter.

“I did, but there’s a limit, strength-based speed increases explosively at the start, more than momentum, but becomes stale once a certain threshold is passed, though that threshold is only at 2 000 strength, so I got some time before reaching it.”

“In contrast to the momentum stat which increases linearly without a breakpoint, the higher it is, the crazier it gets, and once it goes beyond 42 000 equivalent stat, no other stats can compare to it in terms of ratio for cost to speed.”

Getting some food for thought, Miri continued to muse for some minutes, until he decided to deliver his choice.

“You probably decided to make cohesion and health regeneration into high priority stat, you can respond to the problem of a future less steady long-distance speed, but you can’t respond to environmental damage and death by evading,” that was Miri’s point of view, and it was a flawless answer.

From Rune’s point of view, of course, he was far from all-knowing so he couldn’t say it was a perfect answer.

“The new education reform really is a working miracle, that’s right, that’s what I’m going for, and in case you ask, slotted masteries are what I’m supposed to use to correctly exert my stats, but so many masteries exist that I’m just lost.”

“At the start, I was going for a simple energy armor spell mastery, but the more I read, the more the possibilities expanded, so don’t try to make me say my current choice; it’s not optimized at all, and it’s not like a class, you can always switch them if you change your style.”

Rune finished educating his little brother in beauty, at least from his standards.

‘How could I speak about maybe including fireworks magic in them? Your big brother is too shy for that. So many choices exist that my confusion is only increasing as I read.’

That was what happened to everyone who had infinite choices mixing with an indecisive personality, during the last 3 weeks, the Undecided that all had a certain degree of inner indecisiveness were becoming crazy.

‘Defensive compressed energy mastery? Sphere deformation mastery? Energy platform mastery? Energy armor mastery? Fireworks energy mastery? Momentum gravity weight mastery? Reinforced sphere mastery? Maybe just an…’

Slotted masteries, the most powerful symbol of being independent, but there were only 3 available at tier 2, then 6 at tier 3, then 9, then 12, every tier up made you gain 3 additional slots for the masteries of your choice.

There were even massive changes happening at tier 4 with a new type of slotted masteries appearing, the provided masteries.

And that was without mentionning the specialized masteries you clould take anytime as long as you learned the slightest bit of minor stat manipulation and energy conversion...

Not only was the choice itself difficult, but the consequences on the future also had to be accounted for and optimized as well.

Rune could just think for a bit and remember all the amazing paths the heroes from the biographies he read chose to go on.

Some masteries were incredibly focused on one aspect of the fundamentals, some were focused on making a minor effect become major, Rune even found a way to create a mastery dedicated to resisting dimensional effect on one's perception, imitating his own soul specialty.

And how could he forget that becoming tier 2 meant that his specialty would evolve and that he wouldn’t know what would be the choices before it happened?

The board said the truth, becoming a tier 2 was the beginning, the first step to the indecision hell.

If slotted masteries couldn’t be switched out, Rune would just die, his human brain couldn’t read and learn everything he wanted.

An upside to the situation was that every time he remembered he still had a week before knowing what the IGS expected of its citizens, he gained another burst of motivation to continue the arduous and enjoyable task of browsing the board.

…

[Utopia: My mother said it was for soon, so be ready, our landing zone is very peaceful, only a tier 1 zone, there’s no information on the region yet, so we can just gather using the IGS prepared Adventurer’s Society branch, the north one, then we’ll take a mission as a group and help do whatever while becoming tier 2]

[Gar: Thank you god Utopia, we’ll be your faithful underlings, you’re the protagonist of our group so become conceited and arrogant please]

[Rune: Have pity master Utopia! Have pity! I’ll do my job correctly, don't fire me! Mercy! Mercy!]

[Astryde: I’m the reincarnated princess of an empire with an imperial guard only composed of tier 5, be my knight and escort me back! Humph Peasant!]

[Arik: All those biographies affected you all too much, come back from your insanity, you need to choose which masteries you’ll take!]

[Nelo: Look at him! He’s trying to make us believe he’s completed his choice! To the pyre ya go heretic!]

[Adreana: The pyre! Burn! Ahahah!]

That was the day just after the first wave came back and transmitted all their info to the IGS, the Undecided were crazy from so many choices.

Rune had a primary choice in mind, but he still had till he became tier 2 to think about it, maybe he missed some info? So he wouldn’t seal his decision for the moment.

2 hours later, the IGS, which was, in the end, the unique major power of their dimension, made its announcement.

[Dear Citizens of the Intergalactic Society and Unknown Civilizations that will soon be contacted, here is the summarized version of the announcement we made.

This is an announcement to express our opinion, stance, and undertaken actions following the recent event of our defective dimension completing its awakening and subsequent assimilation into the greater community of the Ether Law’s Information Board.

Given the recent complete fusion of the Information Board’s reach to the whole dimension, this message is destined for all civilizations that didn’t have previous contact with us that are possibly open to negotiation, some have already contacted us and even created minor alliances, but for greater efficiency in the management of the situation, please contact us soon.

The recent event has led to the IGS becoming the beacon of civilization of our Universe, now named Defective Physic Laws Dimension 527, but as we’ve always done, and will forever do, only administrative management will be fully controlled by the government.

This dimension, our dimensions, will forever be a safe harbor where you should feel safe returning to, but it should also be the foundation from where the manpower needed to take hold in the Endless comes from.

Never before have we been so proud to belong to a greater whole who can lead our dimension to further horizons, and as such, all individuals will be free to do as they want, without restrictions of any kind except the moral restrictions that come with being part of the IGS.

Compared to millions of years old empire, kingdom, country, or any form of society, we’re just weak newcomers, and as such we should act as one.

Everything will be used to increase the sharing of information and opportunities for everyone, not only our citizens who signed the IGS-civilian contract, but also everyone who desires help.

As such, a new IGS-sponsored profession, the Ether Guide, will recruit immediately for an emergency 1-year curriculum, with the objectives of gathering all sorts of lost legacies on the Information Board, to help you forge your path in better condition.

Some may already know, but culture will take a large hit in the near future, as all ether technologies that have been developed until now are not suitable for a complete Ether Law environment.

Companies and research institutes are currently trying to remedy the problem, but new infrastructures need to be built and raw materials have to be gathered, your help is solicited on the other side.

Before touching on the plan of the IGS, an official apology had to be made, the IGS high sphere of command was aware for months that the current situation would change drastically.

Fortunately, this situation is far from the worst-case one, our home dimension still can’t bear ether lifeforms, no danger exists for us there, so I invite everyone to forgive us and advance together.

Only peak tier 1 entities can survive the ether life form transformation that will happen directly upon entering the Endless, but the IGS prides itself in the number of such individuals being in the millions.

For those who can survive entry, you’re invited to help the IGS take possessions of the surrounding territory and use your perception sphere to detect the necessary raw materials needed for fast industrialization as an emergency response.

Once in the landing zone, you’ll find yourself in a plain currently being transformed, follow the indications to be directed to one of the 4 Adventurer’s Society branches if you want to contribute, a lot needs to be done.

To end this announcement, as the new era down on us, as the current leader of the IGS, I am proud to be the one who will help our civilization have a smooth transition to the Interdimensional Era, and hope that your hard work will be rewarded.

Don’t be left behind, the IGS Leader authorized this announcement.]

‘Then it’s time.’

Rune finished reading through the IGS’s announcement.

He already made up his mind long ago, maybe not at the very beginning, but soon after it.

[Utopia: I’m departing now, I’ll wait for everyone at the north branch]

[Gar: Same, see you soon guys, tell your family that you’ll miss them]

[Nelo: We’re departing now, see you soon]

[Astryde: Ya]

[Arik: I loved the board, but I need to advance]

[Adreana: Drama!]

Asocial, shy, and indecisive, those were Rune’s traits, but he still made true friends, and that was something he should be the happiest about now that the tutorial part of his life was finally over.

[Rune: See you soon]

Entering the airlock, he wanted to say goodbye to his mom and dad, from now on he wouldn’t even be able to give news if he wanted.

‘Maybe the IGS will put a system in place to send back news? If I can think about it then it’s pretty confirmed that they can too.’

“I’m departing now,” as usual, his mom and dad were in the living room.

“Take care, send back news if you can,” his mother was used to his absence now, she would only worry if he wasn’t heard of for a year or two.

“Mmh,” that was more than he expected from his silent father.

He was always here, and he was also the origin of his personality, so Rune had genuine respect for him, a simple grumble was more than enough to know that he wished him good.

He checked to see if his bedroom was clean, that his computer was turned off, and he was ready.

As nothing could be taken through the Ether Law dimensions transportation, he didn’t prepare any baggage.

Thinking about landing naked, he kept reminding himself to be ready to condense energy clothing, his exhibitionist side was very slight after all.

Dimensions

Endless

Only liveable for independent ether lifeforms

The Endless Dimension, or simply the Endless for most intelligent beings, is a multi-tiered dimension where ether moves and flows across infinite distance, there is no end to its infinite continents, seas, skies, and undergrounds.

This dimension spans everything known, every dimension is in some way linked to it, but some of those links are very subtle and nearly undetectable.

When entering the Endless Dimension, you will enter it through your current dimension’s link to it.

Enter?

‘Yes.’

And his body disappeared from his home dimension, being teleported following the link between their dimension and the Endless.

He didn’t feel any differences between this teleportation and the others, it was still as horrendous and uncomfortable as the first time, no way to get used to it even after all the time he did it.

Maybe it was long, maybe it was short, but in an instant, he felt gravity again, and accompanying it was something he never experienced following this type of teleportation.

He felt the ground below his feet.

After a momentary absence, he condensed energy clothing and then felt his perception sphere send information back from within a sphere of 500 meters around his body, penetrating into the ground while also sensing the thousands of people around him.

The ether in the air was light, only some occasional familiar white vapor-like clouds appeared, it was a very low ether density, probably less than the Deep Void dimension’s one.

But this simple ether density was making him feel things, his sense of pain was deactivated, but he could feel his body burning from its contact with the ambient ether.

It was something he knew would happen, something the IGS warned everyone about.

It was time to transcend his past self, becoming another lifeform, something that couldn’t live in his home dimension if the ether density didn’t increase a lot more.

It was time to become an ether life form.

A human ether life form.