Ophelio’s silver hair waved in an invisible wind as the bishop guided us through his church. His body visibly trembled in excitement. I don’t think Gerial had warned him in advance that we would be here.

“This room is completely private.” Ophelio spoke.

He opened a door and I found myself looking into a small room with three cushioned chairs and an ornate stone table. I couldn’t sense the mana within it until the door was open.

Something blocked against my mana sense.

Gerial, William and I made our way inside, but the bishop stayed by the door. I waved my hand and the papers containing my class data appeared from my inventory.

Mr Black had told me to burn them after proper viewing or once I’d selected my class.

“Ophelio, if I choose a class today, would you be able to help me unlock it?” I asked him.

“It would be my greatest honour, sir.” Ophelio’s lips broke out into a grin.

I even saw a tear forming at the corner of his eye.

His duty of guiding us was over, and Gerial gave him a nod. He bowed low to us and then left the room, the door closing gently behind him.

It was strange to see my friend so comfortable with giving orders.

One day I would join him in that duty.

We spread out across the chairs and Gold hopped down from my shoulder and onto the table. The comfortable material of the furniture distracted me for a moment. It was almost as fluffy as the dirt sofas that had occupied Unice’s castle.

“I brought us thinking food.” Gerial grinned.

He waved his hand over the table and four different cups appeared in front of us.

“Ice cream?” I looked down.

My cup had vanilla in it.

Gold chirped happily as the familiar red lustre of dragon’s blood ice cream appeared beside him. A similar cup appeared in front of William, and Gerial had vanilla in front of him.

“Sometimes I want ice cream too.” Gerial flicked his fingers and spoons appeared.

William and Gerial shuffled through the papers carefully as we ate. I’d expected there to be lively debate and discussion, but instead there was silence and the rustling of papers.

Their eyes were glued to the words on the pages, and I could see alternating smiles and frowns as they made their way through each class.

“Geez.” Gerial put his hands over his eyes and leaned back. “This is a lot more than I got.”

His hands didn’t hide his smile.

William nodded at his words and put his papers down. He looked from them to me and then coughed lightly.

“May I be frank?” William asked.

His expression was deadly serious.

“Of course.” I smiled. “We don’t need to tiptoe around each other.”

William tapped his chin pensively. He stayed that way for a few minutes, and we waited with bated breath.

“The wisest decision changes depending on context.” He finally spoke. “What is your goal?”

“To survive the Ascension.” I responded. “Anything beyond that is just a bonus.”

I was surprised that he was asking me that. I came from a humble background, and any class I chose would give me power, reputation and riches.

Those would still be there if I survived.

However, my main goal was living a life without the restriction of a guillotine floating over my head. Twenty years was a lot to live. Eighty to one hundred years was even more.

“Is there another option?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

He nodded.

“Are you planning on having children?” He asked.

I choked as my body jolted in surprise and the ice cream went the wrong way down my throat. I smacked my aching chest as it melted and looked up to see William grinning at me wryly.

“Excuse me?”

“Children.” William mimed two feet walking along the table with his fingers. “Those little things that poop and eat and cover themselves in dirt.”

“I think your description is a little off.” A smile crossed my lips.

“From what I’ve seen of you it’s completely accurate.” William paused. “I mean, what I saw when you were a baby. Not now.”

I gestured for him to keep going. I hadn’t expected the family talk to come from William, and definitely not at this time.

“There is always the possibility of leaving a legacy and protecting your heirs.” His tone halted any response I had. “People rarely ask what happens to the families of Marked ones after they’re gone, but, on average, most Marked ones decide within the final year of their life to have children.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Perhaps they feel that’s the right time to start leaving a legacy. We’ll never know. My point is those children and any spouses are then left with the bare minimum. The church houses them, but they do not consider them divine in any fashion.”

He looked towards Gerial and the Marked one nodded slowly, confusion in his eyes. Then William turned back to me.

“It would be wise to consider whether you will end up wishing to start a household or business in the future. If you do, then picking a class with the thought that it may help you survive the ascension may not be the best option.”

I opened my mouth to speak but William held out his hand.

“I know, I know. Families are way out there. But I’m not considering the short term. This is a decision that impacts your whole life.” He lowered his hand. “Statistically, the classes that revolve around your Mark won’t help you survive ascension. They’ve never helped your predecessors.”

His words stung. I could see Gerial shuffling uncomfortably in his chair. Being told that we wouldn’t survive no matter what class we picked wasn’t a pleasant experience.

I accepted my pain and then let it go. William was helping me, and I didn’t intend to allow my emotions to get in the way.

William pointed at a single class.

Transcriber of Reality (Legendary).

“Your father still holds his inscriber box and makes a living out of it.” He gazed at me. “This is also despite his disbarring from his family.”

I found myself nodding as he spoke.

It didn’t feel good to hear his words, but that was the impact of hearing a different perspective. Right now, what I needed was to think of the options I hadn’t before.

“The church may not always look after your household.” William frowned. “There are cases of people abusing their parent’s divinity for personal gain and being cut off from all aid. Some learn their lesson and come out the other end with nothing. Your legacy can tide over the bad times should this happen.”

I stroked my jaw and looked down at the paper with my class information.

William was right.

No Marked one in history had survived past the age of twenty-five. This was across all divines and all Marked ones.

A thousand-year legacy of death.

My chances weren’t good.

“I’m not telling you that it is wiser to build a household.” William saw my expression. “But I am asking you to think over your priorities properly before I can tell you what decision I would make.”

“You’re right.”

I took a deep breath and sighed.

“I didn’t think I’d be talking about having children here.”

It was an incredibly strange moment for me as someone from Earth. Sure, all of us were teenagers physically, and my friend’s minds had also reached beyond that stage into adulthood years ago, but it was still weird.

“Even if I did have a family, it doesn’t stop the repercussions of my death. In fact, it worsens them.” I shook my head. “For me, surviving the ascension is just as important as it’s always been.”

I was sure of my words.

“Good.” William smiled. “Now, normally people would consider which class makes them richer long term, or more reputable. Or powerful in other ways…”

His voice trailed off.

“But you already have those no matter what option you choose.” Gerial picked up the conversation. “You have no idea how good these options are.”

“Oh?” I looked at him.

I’d expected Gerial’s options to be similar to mine as a fellow Marked one.

“Most people are only taught up to the eleventh pillar in schools. Even in Koshima academy some students are given fewer options by Mr Black.” Gerial twirled his finger lazily in the air. “The eleventh pillar is a legendary class, and at most other academies that’s used as an example of what you won’t receive.”

I’d heard something similar before. I pursed my lips as a distant memory floated to the top of my brain.

My dad had explained the exact same thing the first time he had taught me about classes.

“I’ve been meaning to ask something. Everyone keeps calling the class options pillars.” I stroked my chin. “Is that a literal thing? Like, will I walk into a room with pillars in it?”

Gerial and William looked at each other.

“Do you have a mental space or construct that you enter when you meditate?” Gerial asked.

I nodded.

“Good.” He grinned. “Have you ever made anything there?”

“Yeah, of course.” I’d re-created an entire city from Earth.

“That’s what we mean when we say pillars. It’s a mental construct.” Gerial pointed towards my head. “The process is here, and the pillars are how our mind understands and visualises the class options, but nobody knows why. It really freaks people out when they do it. Especially those that don’t know the meditation skill.”

The pillars were in my mind? Things were starting to become clearer to me.

It would be similar to seeing the buildings that I created in my blank space. I could touch them, and manipulate them, but they weren’t real.

Except classes were real because they actively changed what I could do when I selected one.

“The difference is that you can’t control the mental construct and create more pillars at will. You have one choice and you’re stuck with what the system gives you to choose from. If you get one pillar, then you get one. You can try as hard as you want, but it won’t change that outcome.” William continued.

“So, I may not even get the full sixteen pillars?” I asked.

“Or you will get slightly different class options than you were told about.” William folded his arms. “Or perhaps you will get different skill options to choose from. That’s why we must consider every angle.”

“Oh boy.” I tapped the skill lists that the paper provided. “This is going to take a while.”

My words were prophetic.

Our entire afternoon turned into evening and eventually we decided to spend the night at the church, discussing my options.

We covered everything, from individual skills to the benefits of various bonuses. Gold joined in on occasion, but I could see him growing bored until we went into a discussion about the symbol classes.

I learnt a few things.

Intelligence stat boosts did not remove the human limiter.

Regent creation would still require expensive materials, but those could be sponsored.

Choosing the divine conqueror class would reveal my divine mana to the world.

“Did Amanda end up agreeing to join us at Gesti Sky?” Gerial’s voice floated towards me.

I looked at him and saw a pair of tired purple eyes.

Beside us William had drifted off into meditation to rest his mind. The strain of keeping his concentration going for an entire afternoon was getting to him. Gold was beside him, snoozing in a bundle of dirt I’d conjured.

We’d been forced into a break from discussing classes.

“Are you going?” I looked at him.

“I am. Don’t ask how.” He put a finger to his lips. “I have my secrets.”

“Keep your secrets. As for Amanda, I hope she does.” I rubbed my fingers against my temple. “There’s a lot going on right now.”

I updated him on her situation, and he grimaced.

“She’s going to be in for a rough time, even if you guys win that duel.” He pointed at me. “You’re exempt, but that monster did critical damage to loved ones and businesses alike. The entire power structure of this city will shift and change. That guy you're fighting, Shar, is taking advantage of that.”

“He is?” I recalled the instigator of the duel.

It was a fellow future earth magician. He was probably a full magician already if he had his class, although society would only consider him viable for the title once he finished school.

“His family was left completely intact.” Gerial’s voice was soft. “That means that if Unice and Ouros are damaged too much, Shar’s household will eventually try to supplant them as the top earth magician household in the city. Their businesses are rivals as well, and I don’t see the Destins coming out of this completely intact.”

I absorbed his words and frowned.

“Amanda is going to be used as a political tool.” I put the pattern together. “If Shar beats her, he gains brownie points, but he also shows that symbolically he’s better than Unice and Ouros.”

“Right now everyone is in disarray. Both damaged and undamaged noble households will participate. Nobody wants to be seen as weak, and Amanda’s family is going to be targeted to prove they aren’t.”

Realistically, I knew that nothing would change. Amanda wouldn’t be harmed, only her reputation. However, the noble households weren’t interested in her. They were interested in what she represented.

An opportunity.

“Symbolically is the key word here.” Gerial crossed his arms. “Reputation is everything, and if Shar is beaten it doesn’t matter. Every household will be working towards cementing their reputation and the beginning of that is taking care of the cause of the issue, Amanda and her family. Whether it’s in the academy or outside of it.”

Amanda’s issues weren’t mine, but that didn’t mean I had to sit back and watch her be harassed or chased out of town.

One of my biggest weapons would be my reputation, and the best way to solidify that was to get a good class.

“Don’t let this duel sway you into choosing a battle-oriented class. Most of these class options help you in the longer term and not directly in a fight, but they’re worth it.”

My thoughts were dragged by his words towards my class options again.

“I won’t.” I leaned back. “Besides, that’s why I have you and William here.”

I’d been given the resources of the church and Koshima academy, providing me with information others would need years to gather, or never would at all.

Now, I had the combined intelligence of a Marked one and a person with [Wisdom] to help me make sense of that information.

It was almost cheating.

“All I’ve done is supply ice-cream.” Gerial tried to blink the drowsiness out of his eyes. “You’ll save a lot of time with the verification of your identity if you get a Marked class.”

“If it fits, it fits.” I shrugged. “My priority is survival, and if I have to sacrifice a couple of years and stay anonymous in return for sixty or more years of life then I’m okay with that trade.”

We fell quiet at my words.

Neither of us said it out loud, but Gerial wanted to live just as much as I did. Possibly more, because he had never been comfortable with the pain and fame that came with being a Marked one.

Gerials’s head drooped downwards as he started to doze off and I tapped my hand against the table.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?” His head perked up.

“Is the sky going to crack open the moment I choose my class?” The words slipped out of my mouth.

Gerial looked at me in stunned silence.

Then he laughed.

That was all the answer I needed. I felt my cheeks turning as red as Amanda’s hair.

Gerial’s eyes glimmered with new life, and he grabbed a page.

“I like this class.” Gerial thrust the paper towards me. “I’m not sure why I’ve never heard of it before.”

I gazed down at the paragraph his fingers were tapping.

Mana’s Friend.

“I’m interested in that one as well.” William’s voice interrupted us. “Magic and mana are still mysteries to me. One and the same or two but connected. Maybe an unknown third option. Getting closer to these mysteries fascinates me.”

William had mana, but he wasn’t a magician.

Even as a potential magician I wasn’t too clear on the intricacies of mana and magic. I had my theories on magic, and I stuck with them, but that was for peace of mind.

I didn’t have a conclusive statement of what magic was.

“Okay.” William looked at both of us. “I’m well rested and can go for another few hours.”

“Perfect.” I clapped my hands together. “One last leg of the race to make sure we’ve gone through all the options.”

I grinned.

“Then I’ll go through the class selection process.”