Upon reaching the third level, you will have the opportunity to select a class. I was late to this eventuality, but our studies have shown that the majority of the classes will resonate with the culture and desires of your populace. Of particular note is that the class will evolve in line with your actions every Twelve levels. Our studies suggested that there are exponential increases in how high we can raise our attributes, essentially making it harder and harder to increase them, and that the class changes are accompanied by a reset of what the effective limit is, to higher and higher values. Of notable exception are any attributes raised by your class per level – these allow for dramatic growth, and picking a first class that benefits your favoured attribute is paramount – your future classes will add to your increases, not replace them, so an early growth can become truly titanic.

- What you need to know to survive the Voidbound System, by &*%:”%^%

Jonathon looked around at the shaking, momentarily distracted from the prompt in front of him: Obligingly, it went transparent. “What the fuck?” He asked, as the shaking died down as quickly as it had started.

“Apologies, Jonathon. The Fortification had an unusually large expansion to accommodate your twenty-three thousand, four hundred and twelve new guests.” Jeeves replied, primly. “I have expanded the core and group facilities that can be expanded to compensate.”

Jonathon blinked. “...Okay. That will be all, Jeeves.” shaking his head and letting that number roll around in his head as the AI vanished, he refocused on his class selection. Skipping over the core classes, jumping straight to.. Ah-hah.

You have selected a Custom Class.

You have 36 points available. These may be used as so:

3 points – per point added to an Attribute on each level.

2 points – per point added to a chosen Ability per level.

12 points – Per Trait gained by achieving this class.

1 point – per point of Resistance to a chosen type of damage gained by achieving this class.

24 points - per point added to a Resistance to a chosen type per level.

9 points – choose an upgradeable perk available to at this time: Automatically gain a purchase per level.

9 points – per 12% increase in a chosen pool (Health/Mana) per level.

6 points – per additional perk gained each award in a given ability.

Alright then. Mindful of the System's habit of not letting him undo choices this time, he leaned back in thought. What sort of build did he want? What would be a good class for surviving all that was to come, not just the next month? What would be fun? What did he want to become?

He had decided he liked magic. So he definitely wanted to keep going in that area. The healing was useful, but... limited: he wanted to do more. Just being a healer wouldn't cut it – and that was only a small part of what he could learn. He was painfully aware too that, like it or not, he was being pushed into a leadership role. But he wanted to lead by example. Not to give orders, or manage things – Shawn could handle that - but to mark a path that others would want to follow. So – fishing out a pen and paper – he started making notes, building his class. Helpfully, as before, the prompt went translucent: He wasn't on a time limit, this go around.

He started with a firm conclusion: He wanted to be good at magic. Really good. So his first thought? Every single magical ability – all twelve – would increase by a point per level. But even as he wrote it, he started tapping his pen against the paper, in irritation: abilities, after all, had a definite end point – they capped out at grandmaster 12. Levels, as far as he was aware, did not. So he left a question mark there – because wasn't there a class change nine levels from now?

The next idea was simple: His magic attribute should increase every level. That would be four of the points.... and attributes, as far as he knew, did not have a cap. More mana was never a bad thing, so he underlined that a few times. As far as Traits go... the list was huge, and uninformative. He did consider the various 'immune' ones – they seemed linked to specific skills, of all things. Continuing to peruse, he was struck by one called 'Demigod' which he pencilled in with a question mark – if that did what he thought it did, he wasn't entirely sure it was a good thing.

He wasn't interested in the resistance modifiers – much – but mostly because he knew there were perks for resistance to damage types, and he was certain he could create spells that would do similar. The automatic perk purchase, on the other hand, looked very tempting indeed.

Toying with the numbers, he skipped out on the Traits – he was pretty sure when his class evolved he'd get the option again - he made his decision and named the class.

Class: Omnimage

Awards per level:

+1 ability point in Solid, Gas, Plasma, Liquid, Time, Space, Life, Death, Destiny, Void, Creation, Mana.

+1 Purchase of the Perk Mana Capacity (Mana) per level

+1 to Magic attribute per level.

It was designed as best as he could to push his magical abilities to the limit, and make himself as powerful as he could: maximise his mana pool, to give him the magical stamina of the energizer bunny, and fill his head with the knowledge needed to cast any spell he could find.

As soon as he finished his choices, he felt the Class settle upon him: His mind and body both seemed to Flex for a moment, as his head filled with knowledge. It took him a moment to let it all sort itself out, and he smiled as the basics of every other path of magic became available to him. And he was first! Of his gang, anyway: Given how the system behaved, he wondered what the first person to get a class got as a reward.

Shaking his head, he brought up his sheet, to bask in all it's glory.

Name: Jonathon Black

Age: 45.2 Standard Stellar Revolutions (SSR)

Level: 3 (12 XP to next level)

Class: Omnimage

Respawns: 4 remaining

Home: SanFran Recovery Point – Lord's Chamber Change>

Balance: 759 SMU

Health: 288/288 (Stamina x Level x 12)

Mana: 887/887 (Magic x Level x 13.44)

Spell Slots: 2 (May cast 2 spells simultaneously)

Attributes

Strength: 6 Dexterity: 7 Stamina: 8

Intelligence: 8 Perception: 4 Alacrity: 5

Charm: 5 Looks: 5 Luck: 7

Essence: * Magic: 22 Creativity: 8

Resistances

Infection - 100%

Starvation - 100%

Plasma - 27%

Age - 27%

Sleep - 27%

Skills

Basic Life Skills

Stone Magic

Liquid Magic

Gas Magic

Plasma Magic

Time Magic

Space Magic

Life Magic

Death Magic

Destiny Magic

Void Magic

Creation Magic

Mana Magic

UMA

Instruction

Wheeled Vehicles

Perks

Additional Spell Slot Magic> - Increase spell slots by 1

Peak Conditioning Life Magic> - Injuries heal 27% faster, you age 27% slower, immune to infection.

Vampiric Touch Life Magic> - 27% of damage dealt is added to your Health.

Life Aptitude Life Magic> - 12% faster skill development in Life magic.

Life Synergy Life Magic> - 12% Reduction in mana cost of Life spells.

Sustenance Life Magic> - Your body no longer requires food.

Balanced Biorhythms Life Magic> - You require 27% less sleep, and you recover from strain and injury 12% faster.

Supernal Awareness UMA> - 27% increased awareness of incoming attacks.

Refined Mana ・ 3% reduction in Mana cost of all spells.

Plasma Resistance Plasma> - 27% reduction in Plasma Damage.

Plasma Aura Plasma> - Those who strike you take 27% of the Physical damage they inflict on you as Plasma damage.

Accelerated Learning Instruction> - Students under your Instruction accrue skill points 27% faster.

Boosted Start Instruction> - Students who learn a new Ability from you will start with an effective skill rating of your Rank in that Ability.

Additional Perk Instruction> - Students under your Instruction gain an additional perk upon reaching the next Perk threshold.

Expanded Perk List Instruction> - Students under your Instruction may select from any Perk you hold in the Ability you teach in addition to their System designated ones upon reaching the next Perk threshold.

Create Dataset (Spell) Instruction> - You may encode a spell you know into a physical medium, at a cost of Spell Value> Mana, at most per day.

Cooperative Learning Instruction> - When teaching a student, the Student is assumed to have an Instruction value equal to your own, and may choose to instruct you in turn in an Ability you do not possess.

Mana Capacity - Increase Mana pool by 12%.

Spells

Arcane

◦ Hygiene Life, 3.5m> - Clean and sterilize yourself and your wrappings!

◦ Heal Life, 5.2m> - Touch: Heal 6 points of damage

◦ Mend Life, 10.5m> - Touch: Regenerate 4 points of Permanent damage.

◦ Rejuvenation Life, 64.4m) ・ Touch: Restore subject over course of 48 minutes, 12 seconds, restores Targeted individual to their sexual prime, and boosts their Health and Fitness to 12% above baseline if not already.

Hero's Blessing Life, 92.2m> - Upon casting this spell, up to Life Magic Rank> individuals receive a 27% increase to their Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Perception, and Alacrity for 6.84 minutes.

Growth of Immolation Life, Plasma, 100.7m> - Upon casting this spell, a target within line of sight is encapsulated by nearby plant life, Trapping them for one cycle: At the end of this cycle, they suffer Plasma damage based on the level of encapsulation and density of encapsulation, and are ignited.

Change Species Life, 46.1m> - Upon casting this spell, the target lifeform changes into another lifeform of the same genetic origin.

Memorize Genetic Code Life, 7.7m> - Upon casting this spell, you learn and memorise the precise genetic pattern needed to create it.

Dragon Form Life, Plasma, Mana, 423.4m> - Upon casting this spell, the target's Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina are tripled: Reduces received Kinetic and Plasma damage by 33%, reduces the target's weight by 66%, and gives the target wings, claws, and a spiked tail; gains the trait Natural Weapons and Minor Magic Resistance. This spell lasts for One Local Rotational Period.

Gaze of Malignancy Life, 218.5m> - Until dismissed, any opponent you can detect suffers Life Level> Permanent Damage per Cycle.

Stylist Life, 5.1m> - Upon casting this spell on a human, you may alter, recolour, and style their hair, including stimulating growth.

Elemental

◦ Spark Plasma, 3m> - ignite an object within your reach.

◦ Fire Elemental (Life, Plasma, 24m) - Invoke a lesser Fire elemental from any plasma source to serve you for 24 minutes. It gains the Soulbound trait upon creation.

Traits

Governor (SanFran Recovery Point) - +3 Charisma, +12% recovery rates when inside SanFran Recovery Point.

Indomitable – All alterations to your sheet by other players require implicit consent.

It was slightly terrifying how quickly he'd grown. The build he had in mind was aspected towards being able to cast every spell he came across, with a massive mana pool to supply it. To let him quickly shoot up in his ability, and then.. His thoughts paused, as he realised what sort of path this would set him on. Assuming he didn't lose anything at each class change, then by level eight-seven at the very latest, he'd be a grandmaster of magic. With a mana pool of – frankly – mind boggling proportions. He'd likely focus his magic perk spends on gaining yet more spell slots – and the image of being able to just throw out multiple, battlefield dominating spells that fast... He'd be a living nuclear weapon.

He had considered having the automatic perk buy him additional spell slots each level – that would be a game changer – but he had noticed that the prices of his spells were becoming very large fractions of his mana pool – as it stood, he did not think he could, at present, afford to cast two journeyman spells at once, or even in quick succession. But still, if he got the opportunity to upgrade? He was planning on cherry-picking out most of the perks in the Magic branch.

New class built, it was time for bed – and with a stretch, he did just that: He could select his new plasma perk in the morning.

---

He woke up completely refreshed just after eight: Unsurprisingly, Jeeves was floating beside his bed to greet him.

“Good morning, Jonathon. Congratulations on achieving your class. Just to remind you that your gang is addressing your new guests at noon. You also have three hundred and twelve messages from your new guests.” the AI intoned, solemnly. “Would you like me to read them to you?”

His words caused Jonathon to sigh. “No? Any way I can read them?” yawning, stretching, and clambering out of bed, moving to grab a shower: Of course, the AI followed him.

“I can project them onto the wall of the shower? Do you have a preferred format, Jonathon?” Jeeves replied, without hesitation: Jonathon was becoming increasingly aware the AI was pronouncing his name like a title, rather than a personal designator, and sighed as he turned on the water by touching the wall.

The shower itself was huge, with multiple jets – he got the strong impression that it was designed to accommodate larger creatures – but it made it sinfully luxurious: there was a moment, then, before he realised the AI was waiting. “Sure. Show me a list of their titles, the name of the sender beneath in a smaller font, and let me delete them by swiping them left: Open by swiping right.” even as he spoke, the message list appeared, built as he described it.

Perusing the list as the water came to life, the wave of relaxation he felt as the multiple jets hit was paused as he realised spam was alive and well in this new world: Had had messages from unpronounceable – and in some cases, literally unprintable – senders offering him discounts on things such as weapons, armour, skill discounts, drugs... There was even one promising him a ten percent cut of a lost heir's SMU inheritance, if he could just send the release fee to help the account manager out of his little fix....

“Jeeves? Can you delete all the ones from off-world, please?” That cut the list down to just fourteen.

Opening the first, he frowned as he read it – it was a transcript of a voicemail from his brother: Just checking in, letting him know that he was safe back from patrol, asking if he had a class yet – and stating he'd blocked out between nine and ten for calls.

“Jeeves? Are you listening to my phone messages, or something?”

“Indeed, Jonathon. With the establishment of the communications array, all local communication systems have been integrated into a single interface. You will note that you can read them audibly, if desired.” Jeeves replied.

“Huh.” Jonathon was somewhat distracted: Looking over the others, there were requests to join his gang from whom he presumed were new arrivals, a message from Shawn, asking him if he wanted a weapon made – Jonathon sent back a quick request for armour, instead – and a message from Maskeline, asking for him to swing by the temple – the deity was quite colloquial, and said he had something to give him.

Leaning back – and wondering what the god wanted to talk about – he remembered he had a perk to select: Bringing up the plasma perks, he considered what he had learned. While he'd built his initial sheet based on unarmed combat – he had been envisioning fighting lowly level one monsters at first: He wasn't convinced he wanted to get that close to the monsters outside with their magic swords and gamma ray lasers. Though... Wouldn't gamma rays be classed under radiation? Looking at Radiation resistance... he wasn't convinced it applied to a fricking laser beam. He was also pretty confident – even idly thinking about it – that he'd be able to repair any genetic damage or cancers with his life magic if he spent a couple of hours working on a spell. He toyed with another level of living flame... but No. He'd put together a class all about mastering magic – so he should make it as easy as possible. Elemental Aptitude – to make learning all his elemental abilities easier – seemed like the best buy: and with a thought, there it was.

Nice and clean, he pondered his next steps while he dried and got dressed – which triggered another thought. “Jeeves? What facilities are there to clean our clothes?”

“Your clothing is cleaned automatically while you sleep, Jonathon.” the AI replied. “Repairs are also made, where possible. At this level of accommodations, even armour and weapons will be maintained – unless totally destroyed, they should be in a usable state the next day, ready for the day's adventure!”

“Uh-huh.” Jonathon replied, somewhat laconically: He stretched one last time, then headed out the door. “I should see what the god of magic wants.”

Moving through the fortification at this hour, he still passed people he didn't recognise, a couple in groups as they chatted with each other: He tapped one as he passed, with a smile. “I take it you just respawned? What's the afterlife like?”

“You didn't?” His subject – a rather overweight man Jonathon pegged as being in his mid-forties replied. “It's.. weird. I did not expect the holy gates to include Candy Crush. It's... Alright, I suppose, if you like games? Not that this is any better.” he shook his head. “Still, of all the places to be reborn in, I like this one. It has walls to keep the damn monsters out.”

Jonathon winced. “Sort of. They'll be attacking every twenty-eight days or so, and we'll need to defend it. Just.. There's a meeting in a few hours, make sure you turn up and we'll fill you in?”

The older man scowled. “Fucking figures. I'll make sure the family s there, mister..?”

“Jonathon. I'm.. the one who built this.” he rather reluctantly admitted – gaining more than a few looks from the others in the hallway. “I'll see you there? For now, I have a meeting to get to...” he made his escape as others started his way, and soon found himself in the Temple.

Seeing it again, he still found the room rather awe-inspiring: The marble walls, the pillars describing the twelve principles of magic – he could identify all of them, now -and the marble walls, the flecks of gold shimmering with power. His gaze moved to the imposing statue of Maskeline, even as a prompt filled his vision.

Congratulations!

You have gained the Trait Scion of Maskeline!

Jonathon started to frown, even as he heard Maskeline's voice within his head. “My thanks, Jonathon, for choosing a class that so perfectly symbolises my purpose. This is my gift to you – the first step on a path.”

Jonathon was ever so slightly perturbed, as he examined the trait – he noticed he now had an 'essence' attribute, a rank 1 divine link to Maskeline.. and if he ran the maths correctly, a thirty percent increase in his mana regeneration. Nonetheless, he eyed the statue suspiciously. “Isn't indomitable supposed to stop things like that?”

Again, he heard the voice of the AI in his mind. “I told you I had a gift for you, you came to collect it, implicitly accepting it. Do well, and that Trait can be upgraded.”

Quest Received: Path of the Scion.

No details provided at this time.

Unknown Quest Rewards.

Jonathon opened his mouth, then shut it again before he got into any more trouble. “Thank you, I guess. Is there anything you'd suggest I do with regards to this quest, or the problems we're having?” He waited a good minute before he realised he wasn't getting an answer – glaring at the statue. “Fine, be that way.”

He started towards the training area – figuring he'd work on his new magical abilities before the big meeting – when Jeeves manifested to his left. “Jonathon. Shawn has timetabled a meeting in three hours to discuss what exactly you will be presenting to your guests.” Jonathon nodded.

“Probably a good idea. Is there any way to distribute the guide widely? So that all our guests can get a copy?”

Jeeves was silent for a beat. “You can. For a fee of eighty-one SMU. Do you authorise this expense, Jonathon?”

He nodded. “Yes. If everyone gets a copy now, we can hope some of them will read it before the meeting.” Jeeves vanished as Jonathon moved on into the training room – he was going to spend that time improving himself.

He started flicking through the list of magic – trying to decide what to train. He mostly wanted to bring more of them up to the level of his life magic, and he was rather tempted by focusing no death magic – it would help with the Dungeon, and he could get himself a mentor. But something held him back. David had Time and Space: many of the others had creation, so he thought he would look at a school of magic he hadn't seen yet – either Void or Destiny magic. He decided he's start with Void, spend those three hours working on it, then work on Destiny in the afternoon – he wanted to at least see what their perks were like: he knew that they gave a good snapshot of what that school of magic could do. Locking it in, he stepped into the room.

As before, one of the walls was filled with books and knowledge crystals, a veritable library of lore on the school in question: The ceiling and the floor were covered in runes relating to the School of void. The remaining three walls? Looked out onto blankness, emptiness. It wasn't any one colour, it was a depth of scintillating space, that at noe and the same time was up close, and endlessly far away. It was engrossing, and he spent many minutes just looking at the shimmering currents, his mind teasing out knowledge, before he was able to tear himself away and look over some of the books: as a rank novice, he needed to learn more, and he was soon engaged in his studies.

Jeeves alerted him when the three hours had passed, and as he left the training room, he was pleased to be alerted he had achieved Initiate 4 in Void magic, and had a perk to select.

Tabling that until he was seated, he entered the Boss room, noting that David and Michelle were the only other ones present: Nodding to them both, he sat down and looked over the perks while everyone else filtered in. They both looked rather tired.

The void perks were downright creepy, reading over them: They seemed optimised for a thief or assassin. Still, one of the first he read of was an obvious gimme, and he selected Void Aura as the last of his team filtered in.

Shawn cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the sleepy and the awake alike. “I trust everyone slept well? I gather you have a class, Jonathon?”

Jonathon nodded. “I used the fact I could get experience for making spells to level up, and build myself a custom class. It's.. overpowered, frankly: Every level gets me A rank of every single magic ability a boost to my magic attribute, and purchase of a perk that boosts my mana pool – it's going to make me into a siege weapon as it develops. I cannot believe how quickly things ramp up: It should make things much easier.”

The air beside Larry shimmered, as 'Bob 'came into view, laughing. “Is that what you think? You're like a child compared to the galactics.” he chuffed in response to the glares his words received, shaking his head. “I suppose I should tell you about the galactics, huh?” he materialized a chair. “And what things are like when the training wheels come off.”