I took a comfortable position on the couch at the reception hall on the tenth floor of the hospital building. The white cat curled up nearby, occasionally glancing at me as I continued to browse the holographic messages of the System, eager for me to get over with them and start using magic. But first, I was intrigued to learn what the second part of the default Quest—which I had completed in a record time—had to offer.

[Novice: The New Beginning Part 2] (Common)—You've become a proper Novice, but don't let this simple name fool you. Being a Player is already a rare privilege, but it's only expected that you're too ignorant to truly understand how blessed you are. If you're smart enough, you've probably already completed some basic training in the Development Trial—if not, then you should, even if you've advanced already. Your Skills are your lifeline, Player.

Objective: Raise three Skills to lvl 5

Reward: 50 LEC

"T-the first part of the Quest completely changed everything, and the next one just gave some coins?" I said out loud in doubt.

"This is a Tutorial Quest," Ciesta said without raising her head, "what else have you expected? It's just there to guide the Players on a predetermined path and help them with the Trials. At the point of getting this one, pretty much everyone is broke."

I had fifty LEC more without doing pretty much anything, and it was good enough for me. Those Quests were marked "Common" for a reason. Just as expected, I had received another notification the second the Coins were delivered to my Player account.

You've received a new Quest! [Novice: The New Beginning Part 3] (Common)

I hoped that it would be another automatic completion for me, but the congratulatory notification didn't appear.

Well then, let's see what the System expects from those who'd entered the Tutorial.

[Novice: The New Beginning Part 3] (Common)—You've trained well—it's a good thing. But as a Player, the Skills are the least of your powers, and your true value lies in the clever use of Concepts. As a Novice, you have the opportunity to find your own Path to the peak. Don't underestimate this Class. It's given to beginners for a reason—it opens up the room for experimentation no other Class does.

Objective: Achieve Neophyte-lvl 5 Mastery in four or more Concepts

Reward: Unlock Class Change

"Now we are talking!" I blurted.

I didn't know what exactly the Class Change did, but it obviously was something that affected my future development significantly. Also, this description really made me curious about my Class. I had checked it briefly before, but it hadn't been relevant back then, so I hadn't thought much about it.

[Novice]—A starting point of any Player, it's the weakest Class that gives no real advantages in battle and even makes you somewhat weaker, but it is very useful to figure out your fighting style or to train Concepts. A Novice can't progress past Level 10.

Class Traits: [Quick Learner I], [Concept Readjustment I]

I mentally willed to learn about the Traits in more detail, and the screen expanded to follow my command.

[Quick Learner I]—Not burdened by any specialization, you progress somewhat faster.

Effect: All Skills and Concepts improve 15% faster. The bonus is doubled while in combat.

This one seemed like a good bonus all around, and it probably was one of the reasons why I'd been advancing my Skills at a steady pace.

[Concept Readjustment I]—Your mind is not set yet, and your possibilities aren't limited by your decisions. Because of this, your Concepts aren't fully a part of you.

Effect: All of your abilities derived from Concepts are 10% weaker. In exchange, you can rearrange your Concept Slots once per hour, though the process takes one minute per removed Concept and doesn't work on the Primary one.

I frowned at the description. I couldn't know if the active ability was any good, but being weakened by one-tenth didn't seem like a nice addition.

As she felt my doubts, Ciesta commented, "Just check the Concept page, and you'll see why this Novice Trait is a rather broken ability, considering that it's just the starting Class. Many very powerful Players pay a fortune to achieve the same effect on higher Levels. Also, I think you can choose your Perks first."

I still felt a slight doubt about being removed from the Hall of Fame, but someone who could send destructive energy beams while being locked in a cat's body surely knew what she was talking about.

Shadow of Humanity (Legendary)—You are the one who protects your kind from the Shadows. You can interfere with abilities that give others information about your Status—altering what others can perceive about your Status to make your Level seem lower, to change your displayed Class and Race, and to completely hide your Titles. When you are alone, you deal 100% more damage to Bosses. Criticals from ambushing an opponent deal 50% more damage. Passively increases the effect of your Luck by 50% and increases your Affinity with Shadow Concept by 20%. This Perk permanently removes you from the Hall of Fame. Improves with your advancement in Rank. Can become a Title of its own.

Getting a bonus to the Concept was just in time, and the improvement from ambushing surely could help me. Perhaps if I had chosen this Perk before the fight against the Elite, my bullets alone would have been enough to completely defeat him.

You receive a Personal Perk —Shadow of Humanity (Legendary)!

The true hero lurks in the Shadows—your achievements are hidden from the Hall of Fame.

I expected something more grand. Honestly, I didn't feel any different, even if the influence of my Luck was supposed to get a serious boost. I wondered if the change in the Hall was noticed by other humans?

Anyway, I had another Perk to choose. The new selection screen was kind of underwhelming compared to the Mythic and Legendary Grades I had gotten before.

[The Early Bird]—First come, first served! You were in a hurry, weren't you? While others trained hard at the Tutorial, you've rushed through the Trials like a madman. What drives you, oh brave hero? Is this confidence or ignorance? In any case, the courageous ones get their reward, but the next time maybe you should think about getting the most out of your opportunities before proceeding to new challenges?

Perks available: Haste Makes Waste (Ultra Rare), Here's Your Worm (Rare), Look Before You Leap (Rare)

"W-what the?" I exclaimed. "The Perks for this Title aren't only inferior, the System also isn't sure if it trying to praise or humiliate me."

Yawning, Ciesta explained, "The one who's the first to complete the necessary Trials and return to Earth is guaranteed to be someone extraordinary—it's a truly marvelous feat. But to be the first to get the Contribution Points, it's enough to rush through the Trials, which isn't that hard and is also a bit stupid because the second and third Trials are there to help you grow. This Title is more of a consolation prize."

"Makes sense." I nodded.

A brief look at the descriptions told me that none of the Titles improved Concepts. I decided to postpone this one choice until later.

I gave Ciesta a smile, though I wasn't sure if she saw it. "I g-guess it's time to check what kind of superpowers I can gain, heh. It would be cool to learn how to fly, but sending power beams like you should be fine, too."

The cat opened just one of her crystal blue eyes. "Dream on, Lexy. You have a long way to go before you can compare even to my kitty avatar."

Ignoring her comment, I opened the recently unlocked menu.

Concepts

Equipped Concepts

Primary Concept: None

Secondary Concepts (limit=2): None

Concept Links (limit=0): Unlocks at Level 10

Available Concepts

Elemental: Water (24%), Mirage (36%), Void (Grand, 9%), Shadow (27%)

Biotic: Cat (27%)

Occult: Cups (24%), Wheel of Fortune (64%) Magician (5%)

Ego: Sadness (22%), Loneliness (53%), Solitude (34%), Affection (36%), Love (21%)

This page seemed kind of lackluster and didn't have a lot of details, but I could expand on pretty much any part of it for further explanation.

Primary Concept Slot—The slot that directly links a Concept to your Essence Code, bonding it to you. Your Primary Concept can't be removed by any means but can be Evolved, so choose carefully. You gain Mastery over your Primary Concept twice as fast, and all of its powers are 50% more effective. You can raise your Primary Concept past the boundaries of your Rank. For example, you can achieve the Initiate level of Mastery as a Bronze, though your progress would slow down after that.

It seemed that I'd need to choose one of the eleven available Concepts to accompany me for the rest of my life. This choice was likely to influence my future path as a Player and sooner or later determine my life or death. If I made a mistake now, it would doom me. Thankfully, I had a wise mentor! Even though she was but a cat.

"W-what do you think, oh Great Sage?" I asked Ciesta, who was still lazily resting like a fluffy ball of warm snow.

She perked her ears at the sound of my voice. "Did you know that cats need at least twelve hours of sleep per day, Lexy? Wake me after you have finished learning about each of the available options."

With a sigh, I stopped disturbing her. Ciesta had it hard. I couldn't remember seeing her rest ever since we met, and, as she said, cats did require a lot of sleep to function properly. Whatever way she had used to possess the small feline body, it didn't absolve her from the build-up fatigue. And so, I absorbed myself in the reading.

The Secondary Concept Slot was just what it sounded like—it allowed me to use Concepts for their powers but without the benefits of the Primary Slot. Apparently, I would expand the initial limit of two Secondary Concepts and even get more types of Slots as I advance in Class and Rank, Novice Bronzes having the least amount of them all.

Each of the Concepts had three main characteristics—its Rarity Grade, Mastery, and Affinity percent. There were some outliers with unusual features, the most prominent being the Void Concept.

Void Grand Concept—Nothingness gives birth to the Void, and in the Void, everything else exists. Void is everywhere and is nowhere. Void is everything and is nothing. Void exists, except it doesn't. Comprehending the Void's paradox gives you the Key to the Elements. But even as the Void Touched, you aren't qualified to touch those mysteries. Not yet.

Rarity Grade: Mythic

Affinity: 9%

Mastery: Neophyte-lvl 0

Passive: Locked

Surge: Locked

Spellcraft: Locked

Note: Gold Rank required to Equip Grand Concepts

It was the only Mythic-Grade Concept I had. Moreover, it was called a Grand one, and the description alone sounded awe-inspiring. I had no doubt that this Concept was closely related to my unique Trait. I'd select it for my Primary Slot if not for the restriction.

Without raising her head or opening her eyes, Ciesta said, "You can't even imagine how incomprehensible it is for a Bronze to have a Grand Concept available, moreover so with a whopping nine percent Affinity. Peak-level Golds would be ready to slay their families and raze whole planets to get their hands on one. It would be their lucky ticket to Platinum—to Transcendence."

I sighed with regret. "I can't even use it for anything. . ."

"Indeed," she confirmed, "you can't. You'd need to get to the Golden Rank just to get a glimpse of this power. That's level two hundred fifty for you. Nonetheless, even without the Void Concept, you are absolutely loaded. Most people have only four Common Concepts by default—one per Category—and some Uncommon Concept as their specialty."

Still sounding sleepy, Ciesta lazily explained to me that there were four main Concept Categories—Elemental, Biotic, Occult, and Ego. The first two were self-explanatory, with elements and life forms being their main inspirations. The Occult Concepts apparently corresponded either with Tarot cards or with the ten Sefirot, though I wasn't familiar with the latter. The Ego Category was all about emotions and desires. As a human, I had a Trait that granted me an Affinity with at least one of each.

[Basic Concept Affinity]—Each human has an Affinity with at least one Common Elemental, Biotic, Occult, and Ego Concept.

Each of the Categories had four Common Concepts and many more than that of higher rarities.

The cat continued her explanation, "Most humans also have at least one Uncommon Concept, and they usually take it as their Primary after choosing the two Common as support. One in a hundred is lucky to get a Rare Concept, and one in ten thousand—Ultra Rare, just like the Shadow you've gotten for free. Epic Grade is as high as a non-Grand Concept can be from default, and you have two of those, one with an insane Affinity percent for a Bronze."

Ciesta was talking about the Mirage and Magician Concepts that I had gotten for being the Void Touched.

"What about the Wheel of Fortune and Loneliness?" I asked. Both were considered Uncommon Concepts. They had the highest Affinity with me.

This time, she raised her head at me. "The Affinity represents how great is your innate connection to a Concept. It makes all of the Concept's effects and powers respectively stronger. The same ability used by a person with forty percent Affinity would be twice as strong as that of someone with only twenty. More than this—they would improve their Mastery twice as fast as well. Nonetheless, the Rarity determines how strong and unusual a Concept is, and I'd say that it's more important long-term as you can actually raise the Affinity as you use the Concept, of course, if the difference isn't too big. On the other hand, the more common Concepts are easier to get or to develop, and the evolution options can not only raise their Rarity but alter them to suit you better."

I supposed that all of it should have been taught to me at the Tutorial. Without Encycloesta's knowledge there was a high chance that I'd do something stupid due to my ignorance.

She continued, "For a Common or Uncommon Concept to become available to you, it should have at least twenty Affinity. The threshold is fifteen for Rare and Ultra Rare and is ten for Epic. As you can see, your Magician Concept is below the necessary minimum Affinity, so you have it only thanks to this rule-breaking Trait of yours. In usefulness, though, it shouldn't be nearly as good as the Wheel of Fortune, which I believe could advance to the hundred percent before even Silver."

The last part Ciesta said in an intentionally mysterious tone as if expecting me to ask—I obliged. "W-what will happen then?"

"At one hundred, you can evolve the Concept to a higher Rarity, but it would be more specialized and potent than a similarly-Graded default Concept—you'll start from twenty-five percent in this case. Or, you can Fuse it with another Concept that has the full Affinity to get something even more powerful—it's the most common choice at higher Levels. There's also the choice to sacrifice it to improve the Affinity with another Concept, which usually isn't worth it. In other words, there are a lot of options to choose from."

Before I could ask her more, Ciesta abruptly ended her lecture. "That's it for now. I think that I told you enough for you to make a decision on your own, and learning too much at once isn't going to do you any good. The right Primary Concept should be obvious to you already, and the Secondary ones can be changed at will. In any case, you'd need to try each of them to find a battle style that's perfect for you."

Encycloesta completed her relatively short lecture and closed her eyes, curling up into a fluffy ball yet again. I decided not to bother her anymore, as I knew what exactly I needed to do.

To reassure myself, I read the description of the Concept I was choosing to bind myself to for the rest of my life.

Mirage Concept—What is real turns illusory and what is illusory turns real. Tricking living beings is one thing, but how about fooling the reality itself? The light is refracted, the mind is deceived, and the truth is hidden—this is the Mirage.

Rarity Grade: Epic

Affinity: 36%

Mastery: Neophyte-lvl 0

Passive: [Illusory Existence I]

Surge: [Mirage Veil I]

Spellcraft: [Primary Mirage Magic I]

The description reminded me of my only Grand Concept—I had no doubt they were related. The abilities provided by the Mirage were a dream come true if I wanted to use my advantages to the fullest. The character "I" meant a number, which proved that each power had a higher version of it.

Illusory Existence I—You touch the veil of unreality, even if ever so slightly.

Effect: Your ability to hide your presence is slightly improved. You are slightly less restricted by the pressure of surrounding physical matter (for example, air resistance), easing your motion.

This was a passive effect that I didn't need to activate and that didn't use any resources. I couldn't be sure how significant its bonuses were, though.

Mirage Veil I—Allows you to empower your physical body with the power of Mirage by consuming Vita.

Effect: It's hard for others to concentrate on you and all of your actions leave an illusory afterimage. All magical damage is slightly reduced, and forces of nature—be it fire or gravity—are less effective on you.

Primary Mirage Magic I—You learn the fundamental Spells of the Mirage Element.

Effect: You can use [Phantom Bolt I] and [Phantom Image I].

The Spellcraft Discipline, interestingly enough, gave two abilities in one. It didn't mean that they were weak, though.

Phantom Bolt I—You create a bolt of illusory, barely visible Mana that can be launched at will.

Effect: Deals minor magic damage and confuses the target for a short period of time.

Phantom Image I—You use your Mana and imagination to create visual illusions.

Effect: Your illusions can't affect physical reality. Their characteristics can be customized based on your creativity and Mana consumption.

I couldn't wait to use those abilities in practice and to explore the possibilities opened by them. More than this, though—I could get two other sets of somehow weaker powers with my Secondary Slots. A new holographic screen appeared before my face, the last thing that separated me and my chosen future.

Do you want to set Mirage as your Primary Concept?

"Yes," I replied firmly. I was already past the stage where any hesitation mattered.