***

Peter was at a total loss. The inability to understand how he rolled -100 for [Karma] caused a short circuit in his mind. An unusual amount of time went by before he could think straight enough to be angry at his horrid luck.

"I... I can't actually believe that skill would screw me over. How could it have done this? It was supposed to be my second chance!"

Peter gritted his teeth, and clenched his fists at his sides. The gloves of his Avatar armour groaned under the stress of his grip.

"I'll likely never have another chance to change it again. Even B67 thought it was an incredible skill which was perfect for someone like me.”

The stress was making his eyes glow brighter and brighter, frustration built up to the point where he had to call on his trait [Powerful Mind] in order to calm himself down.

“Alright, let’s think about this logically. I need to move forward despite it and become strong anyways."

Even though he was so upset he could cry, he knew doing so wouldn't change anything now. He looked back and forth at his status, cringing each time he did so. He looked back towards the 'dormant skills' list in an attempt to get his mind off of things.

The first thing he noticed was of course that [Lucky Dice] was no longer on the list, and both skill slots were free once again. Peter also noticed that the Arbiter class was working overtime for him. He had already gained 5 new physical combat skills from the past few days of training, and the fight today in the spider pit.

"Well... despite my terrible luck I seem to have earned quite a few useful skills. The mastery skills are interesting. I'll have to ask Jogun about those soon, but [Shield Bash] and [Equipment Storage] are outliers. Let's see what they do."

Arbiter level 10 unlock - [Equipment Storage] Type: Passive Allows you to store equipment you're wearing inside of a preset slot. While equipment is inside of a preset slot, you may not retain any defensive stats, damage stats, or innate skills from the stored equipment. Every type of equipment can be stored in each preset slot: (Helmet)x1 | (Mask)x1 | (Gauntlets)x1 | (Body Armour)x1 | (Boots/Leggings)x1 | (Weapon)x1 | (Shield)x1 | (Cloak)x1 | (Necklace)x1 | (Ring) x4 | (Bracelet)x2

This skill does not level. One extra preset slot is added for every 30 regular levels you gain. Presets go up to a maximum of 10.

Current preset slots: 1 Cost: None Cooldown: 1 minute [Shield Bash] Novice level 5 Type: Active Allows you to focus more force into any shield type equipment to ram into your opponent. Various effects may occur based on impact location, force, or angle of the blow. These effects include, but are not limited to: broken bones, confusion, stun, and severe contusions. Damage varies greatly based on the quality and type of the shield you use. Cost: 10 Stamina Cooldown: 10 Seconds

It didn't take long for Peter to forget about his [Karma] after reading these new skills. [Equipment Storage] looked like it was a must have. His class was all about melee fighting, so he needed a reliable way to get any equipment he needed, and quickly.

One of the many major drawbacks to not having magic, is not having any way to store things. Dimensional storage magic is one of the most sought after and useful skills someone can have. Peter was forever prohibited from using that kind of skill due to his lack of [Mana], so having something that can store a whole set of gear for him would be invaluable.

On the other hand, [Shield Bash] was especially interesting when Peter considered how useful his shield was in the fight with the arachnids. It saved him from the surprise attacks twice when he hid in the wooden shack. The first spider nearly knocked itself out cold just because he held the shield in front of him.

If he had an ability that focused his [Strength] into the shield in the same way that [Dash] focused his [Strength] into his legs...

Just imagining the possibilities of combining the two skills into a single attack made Peter begin to salivate involuntarily. His fingers tapped rhythmically against the bed he was lying on, and his breathing became faster.

This reaction surprised him.

"What? Why am I so happy? Am I beginning to like fighting? I feel like I should be upset, or angry, or at least feel guilty about wanting to fight and kill things."

No matter how Peter felt, it was an undeniable fact. He was excited because of all the strength he was gaining, he was excited that his overall battle potential had risen, and he was especially excited that he could go back to the spider pit even stronger than before. He was experiencing an incredible battle high, or blood lust.

"I need these. The mastery skills can wait until the next few skill slots are available," He thought as he selected those two skills, and brought them down to his skill list.

While his eyes passed over the list, he glanced at the bright red skill [Evolve]. It’s uniqueness had been pestering his need for symmetry on his status page for a long time now.

"I've gotten a taste for fighting. I think I should use this now. I still have 72 hours to decide after I activate it anyways," Peter reasoned to himself.

He hovered his finger over the skill, then selected it with determination.

Congratulations!

You have activated your single use of [Evolve]. Several advancement paths for your current race are now being generated.

Each path will bring unique advantages to your growth or combat power, but be careful as they may also have unique disadvantages as well.

You have: |71 Hours, 59 Minutes, and 42 Seconds| from now to make your final decision.

High Human

You become the epitome of the Human race. Your natural talent and potential for power know no bounds.

Grants you 2 extra unspent stat points for every level you gain. Every level you have gained as of right now will give you 2 extra unspent stat points upon choosing this race. Grants the passive skill [Leadership] which makes all regular humans feel compelled to follow your orders (to an extent).

Dreadnaught

You become the immovable object of battle. Standing your ground is what you do best.

Grants you the passive skill [Rock Steady], which makes you virtually impossible to move when both of your feet are planted on the ground. Also grants you the active skill [Heavy Blow], which takes advantage of your body’s density to apply force behind your attacks

Any stats allocated to [Vitality] are doubled from now on.

Juggernaut

You become the unstoppable force of battle. Keeping your momentum is key, and slaughter is the only way forward.

Grants you the active skill [Threatening Shout], which inspires fear in your enemies, and morale in your allies. Grants you the passive skill [Anger], which gives you more damage temporarily when you take damage.

Any stats allocated to [Strength] are doubled from now on

Shadow Walker

You become the ideal assassin. The shadows become your ally, and stealth becomes your best friend.

Grants you the passive skill [Shade-step], which allows you to travel short distances between connected/overlapping shadows, and also reduces the sound that your footsteps make. Also grants the skill [Ambidextrous], which will make dual wielding any weapon as easy as using only one.

Any stats allocated to [Dexterity] are doubled from now on.

Psionic Human

You become a mental powerhouse. Your mind works faster, and more efficiently than anyone else’s.

Grants you a single ESPER skill, which will allow you to use your mind to affect the world around you. The generated skill will depend on your own psychic talent. Also grants the consumable stat [Focus], which allows you to manage your mental fortitude.

Any stats allocated to [Processing] are doubled from now on.

Oracle

You become the seer of the past, present and future. None can escape your vision.

Grants you the passive skill [Present], which allows you to see everything in a radius around you, even if you're not looking at it directly. The radius of [Present] increases with skill level. Also grants you the active skill [Past], which allows you to specify an area to see all events that happened in that area before the skill was activated. How far in the past you can see depends on skill level. Also grants you the passive skill [Future], which allows you to see all events that will happen to you in the immediate future. How many seconds you can see into the future depends on skill level.

Any stats allocated to [Perception] are doubled from now on.

Untouched

You become nigh impervious to magic and any of its effects by rejecting the power of [Mana].

Grants you the passive skill [Nullification], which reduces all effects of magic cast on you by a degree based on the skill's level. Also grants you the active skill [Anti-magic Shield], which is made out of the inverse of [Mana]. The shield blocks projectile spells and elemental attack spells of all kinds to a degree based on the skill's level.

Any stats allocated to [Magic Resistance] are doubled from now on.

Elemental Hybrid

Access to [Mana] is required for this option.

You become a half Human, half Elemental, but you are stronger than both.

Allows you to become one with any element of your choosing, but decision is final, and can never be reversed. As an elemental, you will only take 5% damage from Physical attacks, but taking a magical attack of an element you are weak to will do 400% damage. Your lifespan will become infinite. You will gain an assortment of skills related to the element of your choosing, and you will gain an Affinity to your element.

"Well well well. This reminds me a lot of the Equilibrium Construct," Peter said aloud, while reading through the list.

After reading through all of the effects of each path he could take, he noticed that the majority were derived from each of his stats. 'High human' seemed to be similar to the others, but it could make all of him stronger without going down any particular direction. 'Elemental Hybrid' looked like an incredible way to go, but of course it required access to [Mana].

"Son of a... ugh. Why does it even show me that option?!" Peter thought in frustration.

After considering all the options, he decided to hold off on spending his stat points. If he ended up choosing one of the paths that doubled allocated stats, it would be best to save his points so he could take advantage of that perk.

Peter closed his status, and got a notification that asked him to confirm the skills he chose. He selected 'Yes', then a window popped up in front of him.

Alert: Due to your current experience with using your shield as a weapon, [Shield Bash] will start at Novice level 5.

Peter nodded, impressed with how high [Shield Bash] already was.

"Not gonna complain about that. At least [Karma] doesn't mess with how I interact with my skills... so far." Peter thought with an unimpressed look on his face. Thinking about his ultra low [Karma] was not improving his mood, but there weren't many silver linings to this situation. He would likely never get a chance to fix it for the rest of his life.

"Hmm. I wonder how I use my storage. I’m starting to feel a little stuffy in this body suit," He thought as he reopened his status, and tapped on the [Equipment Storage] skill.

He was greeted with a window that prompted him to store his worn armour. He accepted, and was greeted with a drop down list that only had "Preset 1", and 9 other grayed out selections that said that they couldn’t be used yet. He clicked on the one preset he had, and all of his armour including the bracelet were whisked off of him and disappeared.

"Woah!" Peter let out involuntarily. Being undressed by a mysterious force actually tickled a little bit.

He opened the [Equipment Storage] list again to check on where his armour was.

Equipment Storage Menu [Enhanced Armour of the Avatar] + [Nightband of the Spider] [Preset 2 - Locked until level 30] [Preset 3 - Locked until level 60] [Preset 4 - Locked until level 90] [Preset 5 - Locked until level 120] [Preset 6 - Locked until level 150] [Preset 7 - Locked until level 180] [Preset 8 - Locked until level 210] [Preset 9 - Locked until level 240] [Preset 10 - Locked until level 270]

Peter let out a sigh of relief. He was now wearing the clothes that the tailors made for him the other day. These clothes were under his armour before, but they seemed to be in perfect condition. The sleeve of the shirt, where his arm was mangled by the elite spider, didn't have so much as a loose thread.

He waited one minute, then re-equipped his armour. It appeared nearly instantly in the same way they disappeared. He then waited another minute and unequipped it. Every time he activated the skill, it tickled slightly.

"Well that's handy isn't it! But it's also very odd. Why don't I feel weaker like when I had my shield yanked from my arm earlier today? When my shield was forcefully taken, the bonuses from my [Exo-Skeleton] skill vanished and it felt awful. What's going on?"

Just as Peter was going to check his status for the answer there was a knock on his door.

-Knock Knock-

"Peter," Kayel's muffled voice came from behind the door to the room, "I have someone here to make sure you're entirely healed. I know that you've said you're okay, but honestly the recovery speed seems a little too fast considering how badly you were injured. Not to mention you fainted right after. Is it okay if we come in?"

Peter wasn't too surprised to hear they were concerned. Fainting out of nowhere, then saying you're fine, and that your broken arm healed itself in an hour is kind of crazy.

"Yeah, that's fine. Come on in," He replied.

The door slowly opened. Kayel and an extra person walked into the room.

Peter's head tilted to the side at the sight of a blonde woman. His eyes widened as he realized who this 'person' was.

"The elf!"

***

Kayel walked down a hallway towards the medical wing. Just behind him, matching his pace was a beautiful lady who caught the eye of every man... and some of the women she passed.

"Thank you for agreeing to see the.. er.. my friend Eve. Don't feel bad if you can't do anything to help him. He said that he was okay, but I just feel like making sure. I trust you as our top student cleric to take good care of my personal friend," Kayel said with a smile.

"Yes, of course Master Kayel. It's your personal request after all, so I will do my absolute best," An angelic voice came from Eve.

"Haha, there's no reason to be so formal. I've bothered you by taking you out of your lecture after all. This is a favour to me, not something you should feel compelled to do."

"I understand Master Kayel, but I feel like it's the least I can do. I'm under your protection just by living here after all. I would have to be the most self-centered person in the world to refuse," She replied with a beautiful smile.

*BANG* "Son of a--"

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

“Sorry!”

A few voices came from behind the two of them. Eve rolled her eyes.

*sigh* "Every. Single. Time." She thought to herself, slightly exasperated.

It seemed like every time she smiled, men would be so distracted that they either forget how to walk, or forget where they were going. It usually ended with them running into a wall or another person.

Kayel turned down a few more hallways, then stopped in front of a door. He knocked twice, then spoke towards the door.

"Peter, I have someone here to make sure you're entirely healed. I know that you've said you're okay, but honestly the recovery speed seems a little too fast considering how badly you were injured. Not to mention you fainted right after. Is it okay if we come in?"

This simple action stunned Eve. The great Master Kayel, the head of the Justicar, actually asked permission to enter the room. Who on earth was this friend of his?

Just 15 minutes ago, Kayel had barged into her lecture with a master cleric leading the class, and halted the lecture to ask her to do him a favour. Not even the master cleric was deserving of a grain of his respect, but this person in here was?

"By Adrestia.. what have I gotten myself into?" She thought with a worried look

A slightly muffled reply came from the other side of the door, "Yeah, that's fine. Come on in."

Kayel smiled and opened the door, while gesturing for Eve to follow. She followed obediently, then made eye contact with a familiar man.

It took only a second to recognise his very unique glowing eyes, and large stature. Although his eyes had changed from the last time she saw him, and he was not nearly as scrawny as he looked before, he was still very recognisable.

"The large guy everyone's been talking about is also Kayel's esteemed friend?!" She thought with surprise.

"Let me introduce you to one of the temple's most successful students," Kayel said with a smile. He put his hand on Eve's back and pushed her forward, "She's a student looking to become a Justicar affiliated cleric, and studies under one of our best. "

Eve nodded towards Peter with a shallow bow out of respect, "It's nice to meet you officially. We've only briefly bumped into each other in the hall before, and I had no time to introduce myself," She bent into a small curtsy, “My name is Eve.”

About 6 or 7 seconds of awkward silence passed before Peter shook himself and replied, "H-Hi. I thought I recognized you from somewhere. Likewise, it's a pleasure to meet you. Kayel seems to have said this already, but my name is Peter."

He was totally embarrassed by how he froze just now. Being literally less than a week old, and having only the memory of one other woman as attractive as Eve made it difficult to behave normally in front of her.

Kayel jumped in to rescue Peter, "Ah, just before Eve gets started I wanted to relay something to you. The report has been sent to my colleagues in the Justicar. Soon they will know you're strong enough to kill a level 18 elite monster while level 8, and injured. You're definitely going to impress a lot of people! And yes, that is the goal. The more confidence they have in you, the more support you will receive. That is all I will say in front of present company though," Kayel gestured to Eve with his eyes.

Eve, however, was totally unaware. She had lost track of the conversation at the part about Peter defeating a level 18 elite at level 8. The implications of it all were too much for her to process so quickly. First off, he was only level 8? How could someone so intimidating, and seemingly 30 years old, be the average level for most 14 year old kids. Second, how was such a weak person capable of defeating a level 18 elite monster!? Elite monsters were usually equal in strength with normal monsters that are 10 levels higher.

She, who had recently leveled up to 34, would be troubled having to dispatch a level 18 elite on her own. Although this was mostly due to her being a support type mage when it came to combat, it was still a fact. She specialized in healing, and strengthening her allies more than dealing direct damage to enemies.

Peter raised his eyebrow at Eve's reaction. She was staring at him with dead fish eyes, completely lost in thought like he was a moment ago. He took his focus off of her, and put it on Kayel’s statement.

"If I prove they can rely on me, what kind of help can the Justicar offer?" Peter asked.

"I can't discuss the specifics, but rest assured. They're very capable, and their influence spreads to all corners of this world. From high quality items, to elixirs, to trainers, to your own personal army... their help can potentially be invaluable." Kayel said with confidence.

Peter perked up at the mentioning of 'elixirs'. He'd never heard of them before.

"What are those 'elixirs' you mentioned," he asked.

Kayel smiled, and stroked his beard, "They're a type of extremely rare world energy item. Nearly thought to not exist by the general public. Various powers of the world will kill for them without a second thought, so most people who've had them don't have the time to tell others they exist. Again, I can't tell you specifics now."

He looked towards the dazed Eve and tapped on her shoulder to bring her back from whatever world she was in, "Eve, I know it's a lot to take in, but I did ask you to come here for a reason. Please do a scan of his condition and make sure Peter is okay for getting back to work."

"Ah.. Yes! Sorry," Eve was flustered and confused, but shook herself out of it and walked to the side of Peter's bed.

"Wait, let me stand. I feel stiff from laying here for so long," He said as he shifted the blanket off of himself, and stood up in front of Eve.

Eve was right about 6' tall, which is pretty tall for a woman, but even she was completely towered over by Peter. His glowing eyes looking straight into her hers, which were emerald green. They were both lost in each other's gaze briefly. She then slowly brought her hand up, placed it on his chest, and said the trigger word for her skill out loud.

"[Analyze Soul]"

A glow swirled around Eve's arm, then transferred into Peter. She looked at a window that popped up in front of her as a result.

Target: Human / Male Name: Peter Valk Kastell Status effects: None Level: 10 Highest Stat: Strength: 32 Lowest Stat: Magic Resistance: 10 Health: 550/550 Stamina: 400/400 Mana: !ERROR!

She audibly gasped, then caught herself.

"No. No no no. He's a manaless. The vanguard will kill anyone who knew, and didn't turn him in!"

Eve went into a full blown panic attack within her own mind. The hand on Peter's chest withdrew, and she took an involuntary step back. A light sweat broke out on her forehead.

"Aha! See Peter, I knew something must have been wrong!" Kayel's voice brought her out of her panic, "Miss Eve, please give us the news. How bad is it exactly?"

Her brows furrowed, and she pointed at Peter. "Y-Y.. You. You're a manale--MMMPH!!"

Peter launched forward like a flash of lightning. He put one hand on the back of her head, the other completely covering her mouth. His grip was so strong, and he seemed to be doing it so effortlessly that she knew with little effort he could crush her skull. She secretly used the trait of her race, and began silently chanting a spell to cause a large electrical blast. She knew she likely couldn't beat someone that fast in such close quarters, but if she could briefly get his grip off of her, she could get Kayel to help her.

Before she could finish the spell, Peter had already mentally reached into his H.U.D., and mentally activated Preset 1.

To the shock of both of them, he was suddenly covered by a layer of metal, and fine leather. Eve was so surprised that she almost let the spell fail. He clearly activated a skill, but said nothing! Only elves should be capable of doing that!

"Kayel," Peter said with a low volume growl, "She knows. Her skill let her see that I have no [Mana]."

Peter’s new found taste for conflict and fighting seemed to be showing itself.

"What?!" Kayel yelled, "Her skill shouldn't have reached the Expert tier yet! She was supposed to be a novice cleric just a couple months ago. She hadn’t even learned [Analyze Soul] back then!"

The realization that Master Kayel knew about him being manaless, and that he seemed angry that she now knew it too made Eve lose hope. She let her spell fail, and a the small portion of her [Mana] that she'd poured into her spell was released.

Peter's grip suddenly loosened a bit, and he looked at her with a single raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry," Peter said unexpectedly, and slowly released his hand from her mouth, "She won't talk."

The hand still on the back of her head pulled her closer, and he leaned down right to her ear to whisper something. It was so quiet and sudden that Kayel didn't have the time to activate magic that would allow him to hear Peter.

He only said one small word.

"Elf."

Eve's eyes went wide. She trembled so hard that she lost her footing, and fell flat on her backside. Pure terror on her face, she attempted to crawl away but couldn't. Her arms and legs refused to listen, even though she was internally screaming at them to run.

Peter's viridian eyes narrowed, as he unequipped his armour in an impressive flash. His huge figure loomed over her like a wolf deciding whether or not it was hungry.

"That's what I thought. Looks like our lives are tied together with our secrets. Aren't they Eve?"

***