Jack could see a blue screen hovering in front of his eyes, taking him by surprise. He did have many questions— one of them demanding to know exactly when he had been microchipped, or its alien technology equivalent. But he did not protest or voice out his complaints out loud, not wanting to give the suspected extraterrestrial life-form any reason to treat him with a bias.

Jack read through the class descriptions, taking a few minutes to go through each description of the options assigned to him carefully. His eyes lit up with excitement when he heard mention of the word ‘Qi’, which based on the descriptions he interpreted as an otherworldly energy source that could be channeled to fantastical effect— unlike anything human civilization had witnessed before.

“Respectfully, Sir, if I may ask a question?” Jack asked politely, not knowing exactly how to address the being in white robes— hoping that a mere question would not be taken as an affront.

“You have ten minutes left to choose, human. Or a choice will be made for you,” The white robed entity answered in response, but the tone remained as neutral as ever— without the slightest hint of emotion within.

‘So that’s a no then,’ Jack mentally added, with some disappointment. Ten minutes was less time than he’d like, but still enough for him to make an informed decision. It was clear that this integration would involve combat in some manner or form, but Jack would honestly prefer his handgun over any of the weapons offered to him. The fact that it was taken away from him, coupled with the ominous words the entity had spoken, about ‘civilization returning to origin’ led Jack to some conclusions that were unfavorable to him.

‘A challenge, then,’ Jack thought to himself, assuming he had just lost the home ground advantage. It was not hubris or overconfidence speaking, merely expectation— no true doomsday prepper expected the apocalypse to come with a prior announcement. He had always believed that his actions, which other people mostly saw as an eccentric hobby of a rich, delusional man— was exactly that, until things went south.

And the first lesson in his handbook, was also the most important one- Adaptability. The apocalypse could strike when he was vacationing in a foriegn country, in a state where carrying firearms openly was illegal, or a variety of different situations which were less than ideal. He would use whatever he could find, and do whatever he could to survive— and the mix of adrenaline, validation and the tinge of fear he felt, made him feel more alive than he had ever before in his life.

It was time to make his selection, giving the options a final look-over before he made his decision. The first option he considered was Pugilist, evaluating its pros and cons.

Pugilist: Receive basic pugilist gauntlets and recovery skill: Heal.

Heal: Slightly intermediate form of qi-usage, cycling non-elemental qi through the body to recover light to intermediate wounds at accelerated speeds.

‘Rejected,’ Jack concluded barely thirty seconds later. The heal skill looked very useful, but without knowing what type of hostiles he was facing, charging in with only his fists seemed like the epitome of recklessness. In his view, the class was only fit for professional boxers or barbarians.

Mace-Knight (Defensive): Receive a basic grade mace artifact and receive basic shield skill: Qi Tower Shield.

Qi Tower Shield Skill: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the off-hand and creating a tower shield that covers all frontal attacks. Note: Skill cannot be maintained while running or jogging.

Mace-Knight was another easy rejection. The shield might guard against frontal attacks, but it left his back completely exposed and crippled his mobility— the skill couldn’t even be maintained while jogging, let alone running.

Assassin (All rounder): Choose a basic dagger artifact (curved, serrated, long) and receive basic movement skill: Qi Steps.

Qi Steps: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the feet and significantly increasing movement speed while muffling sound of footsteps.

‘Intriguing, but no,’ Jack thought, shaking his head with some disappointment. It was indeed quite frustrating for him, having extensively trained with guns the most, to be offered a selection of medieval weapons to choose from. There was no situation where a sword, dagger, spear, or even bow could outperform his handgun, it was simply not possible. Thus, to maximize his chances of survival, he had stockpiled ammunition and had enough variety in guns to take out a target at any range.

His experience with medieval weapons came mostly from his interest as a collector, though he had flown over a close quarters combat expert and trained with him for a few months. There, he had extensively used rubber knives and daggers in the practice bouts— leading him to the conclusion that the dagger was not fit for a primary weapon. A secondary weapon for when his ammo ran out and the aggressor charged at him instead of putting a bullet in his head? Perhaps.

The Qi Steps skill was an attractive offering though, because when confronted with unknown danger Jack preferred mobility over any other parameter. It was a pity it couldn’t be offered with a better weapon.

His remaining options were the two Swordsman variants, Spear Adept and the Archer - the abilities were similar. Out of the three, if he were a novice who had never utilized these weapons before, the Spear Adept class would be the one he would lean towards. The spear was a simple weapon— it had great range, and simple thrusting attacks were both potent and hard to avoid. Historically, they were fashioned out of wooden shafts with a metal tip on top, its lightweight allowing for deceptively quick strikes. However, there were downsides. The spear excelled in group warfare, with lines of spears pointed at charging cavalry. On its own, it was still a good choice, just not as potent.

And in all honesty, he had never found the spear a particularly interesting weapon to train with, so his experience with it was limited. The ability promised increased sharpness and decreased wind resistance, so that wasn’t a particularly special offering either. He hadn’t ruled it out just yet, but overall was leaning against it.

The next on the list was the Archer class.

Archer (Offensive): Choose a basic bow artifact (short, long), receive basic quiver and attack skill: Qi- Marksman.

Qi- Marksman: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the tip of the arrowhead, significantly increasing arrow speed and penetration.

Now you would think a guy called Jack Fletcher, who owns almost every ranged firearm a civilian can buy would be good at archery. Turns out, there was a reason his ancestors fletched arrows instead of shooting them— he was a terrible shot with a bow. Give him a hand gun, a semi-auto or hell even a hundred year old bolt action, and he was one helluva good shot. Funny how that worked.

But even if he was a good archer, choosing the class was still tricky. If they could include a knife, or some sort of close quarter combat weapon to defend himself if an enemy snuck up on him— he would consider it. It was unrealistic to draw a bow, nock an arrow, aim and then accurately fire if someone came within ten meters of him. Even then, it was not guaranteed to be fatal or disabling.

If he chose the class, he would just be hiding up in a tree and trying to pick off targets from a distance, until eventually, someone came knocking. Staying stationary for long periods of time and sacrificing his mobility trying to aim at a target from afar, well it just wasn’t his style.

Finally, came the Swordsman classes.

Swordsman (Offensive): Choose a basic sword artifact (short, medium, long) and receive basic sword skill: Qi Blade.

Qi Blade description: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the sword and creating a sharp sword halo that increases sharpness and decreases wind resistance.

Swordsman (Defensive): Choose a basic sword artifact (short, medium, long) and receive basic sword skill: Qi shield.

Qi Shield: Most basic form of qi-usage , channeling non-elemental qi into the off-hand and creating a small circular shield that can block physical and Qi-based attacks.

Jack wouldn’t lie to himself: he was obviously biased towards swords. They came in all shapes in sizes, and for all types of purposes- thrusting, piercing, slashing, stabbing, decapitating, and the list went on and on. He enjoyed collecting swords the most- the single-edged arabian scimitar, the sickle shaped Khopesh that defined an empire, the small, yet lethal roman gladius, among many other great historical swords. He had also trained the most with swords, training with a HEMA practitioner once or twice every fortnight for a few years now.

He preferred one handed swords over two handed ones, though combat with the two types of swords followed a completely different style— two-handed swords had the option of overwhelming the opponent by force alone, though that was considered poor form in practice bouts. He had the experience, found them comfortable to use and liked the active style of combat. By his estimates, five minutes had already passed— the time to make his decision was coming, and he had pretty much decided on the swordsman option.

As someone who had envisioned this scenario dozens of times, the obvious did not miss him. Humans could both be great and terrible, and in times of apocalypse he had a feeling it would be the terrible ones that had an upper hand. If he was to fight another person, he would rather be the one that used this ‘Qi’ to break down shields rather than hide behind one.

“I choose the offensive swordsman option,” Jack called out to the white robed entity, who remained motionless.

A new blue screen popped up in front of him, but maybe he should have expected it.

Are you sure you wish to choose Swordsman (Offensive)?

“Yes,” Jack replied, his tone not wavering the slightest. Once he’d decided on a matter, he was not the type to hesitate.

Please choose a sword type:

One-handed Short Sword

One-handed Medium Sword

One-handed Long Sword

Two-Handed Long Sword

“One-Handed Long Sword,” Jack replied, unsure if he was still on a timer. He had many questions, not knowing if the sword was single-edged or double-edged, whether the length was proportional to it being a one handed or two handed sword, and other such considerations, but he didn’t want the choice taken away from him because he ran out of time.

Confirmed. Processing class selection…

Jack watched on with amazement, feeling chills run across his body at the miracle he was witnessing.

The hiking clothes he was wearing magically metamorphosed into a full sleeved dark navy blue shirt whose sleeve ends were masked by a pair of comfortable leather gloves, brown trousers that were tucked into long leather boots meant for weathering the terrain— affixed to the waist with a perfect fitting belt. Before he even realized it, he was holding a straight double-edged sword with a sharp tip that was bluish-silver in color, with a small silver cross-guard for balance and some sort of white covering wrapped around the hilt and a circular pommel at the end. It felt perfect, but it was only maybe twenty seven or eight inches in length. It was long, but when Jack measured it up from his shoulder to the tip of his hand it still fell a little bit short— Jack was satisfied, any longer and it would be unwieldy for one-handed use.

His close-set green eyes, high cheekbones and a long scar running across his forehead, coupled with his six foot three athletic frame decked in medieval gear made for an impressive, even intimidating sight when the sword was added into the mix.

“A bastard sword, eh,” Jack muttered out loud, staring at the blade in his hand with satisfaction. A double edged weapon opened greater possibilities in combat, and he was skilled enough to take advantage of those options.

The next instant he felt a presence around him, only for an instant, before he felt a splitting headache tear at him— almost overwhelming him. Compressed information flooded his mind, fragments of complex calculations and rules that Jack couldn’t grasp— beyond anything humanity had ever envisioned, let alone grasped, followed by a transmission of muscle memory akin to actual experience flowing through him.

“Haaah,” Jack panted out loud with a large gasp for air, thankful that the ‘download’ of information stopped— that was the most relatable way he could explain it. But that only lasted a second, before the wronged expression on his face was replaced by a wide grin.

“Fuck yeah!” Jack couldn’t help but lose his calm demeanor for a second, because now the ‘three realms’ were speaking his language.

“You have made your selection,” The white robed entity calmly replied, not moved or affected by Jack’s outburst in the slightest. “Now, you must leave,” The entity clapped his hands together, and the next instant sparks started flying in a rectangular pattern in front of Jack— seconds later, a part of reality itself was cut open, and on the other side lay a lush forest that could tell was still in Malanike, due to the Douglas-Fir trees.

“Can I stay a bit longer and test out my new skill?” Jack asked, even though due to the muscle memory ingrained in his body he knew he would be able to cast it.

“No,” The entity simply replied.

“Can I have my gun back?” Jack asked once again, not revealing the slightest hint of exasperation that he truly felt.

"Weapons belonging to the improper path are forbidden,” The entity replied, and then pointed a finger in direction.

Without even a chance to resist, Jack was pulled into the portal, and for a second— it felt as if Jack had peered into a different dimension, seen things that should not be seen.