The process could have taken days for all Samael knew. There did not seem to be any way to mark the passage of time, not even tiredness, as he felt just as fresh as he did when arriving in the white room. After spending an absolute age in trying to find out how to work the modifications; he ended up using a complicated method of speech and hand signals. Samael methodically and dedicatedly went over every part of the model in front of him.

What he was left with was familiar, comforting and decidedly him, and if the nose was a little straighter, the chin a touch more chiselled, an extra inch in certain places, Samael could still accept the body in front of him as his own.

The only recognisable thing left of the previous figure was the silver scar on the right side. It was a deliberate choice, to remind him of his recent experiences and in part as a mark commemorating the man who died, allowing Samael a second chance.

“Umm... Done?” Samael said to the model in front of him.

The model shimmered and began to distort, however rather than disappearing, it reached out and touched Samael, leading to his body tingling all over once again. It was quickly over and Samael began to flex and bend. Instead of clumsy movements which he had been making earlier, when he reached and stretched it felt so much more natural to him.

He had started to get used to having a thick clunky body. The sudden change back to the one he had spent most of his life in felt wonderful. It was akin to slipping on a comfortable set of boots that had already been well worn in, as well as instantly sobering up and regaining his sense of balance.

“Thank god!” Sam exclaimed, though he did notice that his voice was a touch deeper than he remembered growing up. He was not too fussed however, certain he would get used to it and even subconsciously liking the small change, even if he hadn’t intended it.

*

You have been given the opportunity to change your base stats.

Do you wish to change you Base Stats?

Yes/No

A new box had popped up and Sam was stroking his slightly more prominent chin as he read it. Considering the video games he had played, he had a pretty good idea of what these would be. Also since these ‘opportunities’ were specifically chosen for him by the Construct, it probably had a much better idea of what Samael needed than he himself did right now.

“Yes.” Sam spoke confidently.

Resetting Base Stats to average human.

80 skill points to spend in Base Stats.

Please amend the following as required:

Base Stats Strength 0/20 Affects the physical power of the body. Agility 0/20 Affects the physical speed and reflexes of the body. Endurance 0/20 Affects how long the body can perform physical tasks. Constitution 0/20 Affects the bodies resistance and recovery. Intelligence 0/20 Affects the speed of thought. Increases overall mana. Wisdom 0/20 Affects the clarity of memories. Increases mana regen. Willpower 0/20 Affects mental strength and resistance. Perception 0/20 Affects the quality of the senses. Finished Amending Base Stats? Yes/No

Samael read, and then re-read each stat. The selection seemed nothing special. There were none that seemed particularly out of place, and he thought he had probably come across each one at some point when creating a gaming character in the past. There were several stats missing that he might have expected to see however, such as luck and charisma which he often neglected anyway in favour of others.

In some games Samael would drastically shift the numbers to utterly favour a certain build, however his ignorance about how these stats would affect his own body, rather than a gaming avatar, made a cautious decision seem wiser. For this reason, he was tempted to just evenly distribute his points across all of them, though doing so a bit of a wasted opportunity in his eyes.

Wanting to test out how to distribute his points, Samael consciously thought of the strength skill and tried to shove a single point into it.

Strength 20/20 Affects the physical power of the body.

“Holy Balls!” Samael yelled out loud, “Undo! Back!” Using every ounce of mental ability he had, Samael ripped and tore at the stat screen until thankfully it began dipping back down, before finally returning to 0/20. At least found out he could seemingly remove misplaced points, probably until he hit the confirmation at the bottom of the stat screen.

‘That was lucky’ Samael thought, recovering from the panic of spending the rest of his life as a strength toting meat head. He did take into account that a medieval world would probably have more practical applications of strength than the one he had previously expired in, however a physical build just didn’t sit right with him. It never had.

The potential of almost having the decision made for him cemented Samael’s position on what he would do. He mentally turned his attention to intelligence and wisdom. ‘When was having too much of those a bad idea?’ he reasoned. Carefully and tentatively, Samael thought of intelligence and, as gently as he could, tried to push a single point into it.

Intelligence 1/20 Affects the speed of thought. Increases overall mana.

“First one down... 79 to go...” Samael muttered to himself, before carefully and methodically assigning the others.

*

Samael looked over his finished Stat screen and nodded to himself at his choices.

Base Stats Strength 6/20 Affects the physical power of the body. Agility 9/20 Affects the physical speed and reflexes of the body. Endurance 8/20 Affects how long the body can perform physical tasks. Constitution 6/20 Affects the bodies resistance and recovery. Intelligence 15/20 Affects the speed of thought. Increases overall mana. Wisdom 15/20 Affects the clarity of memories. Increases mana regen. Willpower 12/20 Affects mental strength and resistance. Perception 9/20 Affects the quality of the senses. Finished Amending Base Stats? Yes/No

The build Samael had chosen relied quite heavily on having strong mental abilities. This was a standard choice of his and although it did mean making some physical sacrifices, most notably in strength and constitution, Sam felt the mental boost would potentially help him avoid the need for them in the first place.

Samael also didn’t neglect his physical stats completely; Perception and Agility remained fairly high at 9, his reasoning that he still needed to see things and potentially run away from them. Endurance was at a respectable 8, allowing him to hopefully still run for a reasonable amount of time. The only real problem, Samael figured, would be if he got caught, as constitution and strength were the lowest stats.

He was a bit worried he was being naive, especially as it seemed like the realm of Vaelen was a very physical place, however when those guards had assaulted arrested him, having bigger muscles wouldn’t have really made much difference. Being able to think his way out of the situation might have.

There was also the fact that 'mana' seemed to be a major factor for intelligence and wisdom. ‘And who needed to hit someone harder when you could fling fireballs into their faces!!!’ Sam thought excitedly, revealing his true reasons behind his decisions, justifications be damned.

Concentrating on the stat screen, Samael mentally thought 'Yes' to show he was finished, causing the screen to vanish a few moments later.

What happened next felt incredibly peculiar, as he experienced a brief sensation of feeling like a slowly deflating balloon. Patting his arms, Samael could physically feel that they were smaller than they had been a moment ago. He half expected this, though it was still a bit of a shock, though still nothing compared to what he had already been through with his physical changes.

Testing himself, Samael started walking away from the statue and began to circle the white room. He began to jog, then finally started dashing around, trying to find his new limits. After a while he did begin to feel tired, however it didn’t seem like he had lost much from what he could already do. Slowing back down to a walk and breathing heavily from the brief exercise, Samael walked around the room until he felt he had recovered.

When he was still breathing heavily a few minutes later, Samael thought he might have found a potential problem. His new constitution was fairly low, meaning it took longer to recover when he exerted himself like that. Reading it on a stat page was one thing, living it was a different experience entirely. Realising there was nothing that could be done about it now; Samael crushed any feelings of self-doubt and strode back over to the statue, eager to continue the rest of what was essentially his character creation.

*

The third gift, is the gift of Wisdom.

The Construct will now evaluate you to determine which three skills and abilities you will benefit from the most, equivalent to current denizens in Vaelen.

Expecting a tingling sensation, Samael instead saw his life flash before his eyes. He saw through his own memories the moment he started crawling; his first then last day of elementary school; The time he got into a fight in middle school and his first day of home schooling; Receiving the diploma his mum had bought for him; his first day of work and the boring repetition day after day; the time he left work that night and didn’t make it home.

Samael felt oddly optimistic after the flashes of his life finished. All the things he wished he had done, all those regrets, they were made in a previous life. He now got to start again... He did miss his mum though, and hoped she was doing ok.

You have been granted the opportunity to receive the skill:

{Instinctual Interface}

Provides the ability to instinctually manipulate the Construct, utilising it as simply as one might flex a limb.

Learn Skill? Yes/No

To Samael, the Constructs current level of user friendliness left him with the same feeling as a swift punch to the crotch. Anything to improve this was a must have in his eyes. Samael mentally focused on “Yes” until the box went away.

Congratulations!

You have gained skill: {Instinctual Interface}

Samael dismissed the box from his mind... with so much ease he did a double take. It was similar to lifting something really light that you thought was actually incredibly heavy. With a thought, he brought the box back up, and then dismissed it again just as quick. ‘Thank you Construct!’

Samael felt a small pressure in his mind, as the next skill box wanted his attention. Just to show who was in charge now, he waited a full 30 seconds before allowing the new box to appear before him.

You have been granted the opportunity to receive the skill:

{Common Tongue}

The language spoken by the majority of humans in Vaelen.

Learn Skill? Yes/No

‘Well that seems pretty damned useful!’ Samael thought. ‘If I could understand what on earth the guards had been saying, maybe they wouldn’t have clobbered me over the head!’

Using his new found knowledge on how to operate the Construct, Samael simply willed his acceptance of the skill, causing the box to disappear.

Congratulations!

You have gained skill: {Common Tongue}

“Yes, yes I have” Samael smiled. He then tried to say a few words. Rather than suddenly having the entirety of a new language dumped in his head, the skill instead guided him to attempt to speak in English, but channel the skill whilst doing so. Having {Instinctual Interface} seemed to help him here, as he just seemed to comprehend how to utilise the skill. It very much felt like just speaking normal English, but putting on an accent whilst doing so.

Extremely pleased and thankful for the gifts so far, Samael gladly brought up the next box as it made its presence known.

You have been granted the opportunity to receive the skill:

{Karmic Meter}

This skill allows the user to see the sum of their good and bad deeds. Destined for heaven but tested once more. Beware the abyss wayward soul.

Learn Skill? Yes/No

Samael’s good mood dimmed as he read the description of {Karmic Meter}. There was a seriousness and weight to it unlike the other gifts. Those last sentences as well, they felt a bit too personalised regarding his current situation, as if added in warning to him specifically. A second chance at life, filled with opportunities and adventure, including the risk of damnation to his eternal soul.

It was something Samael had not even thought about, but certainly should have on reflection. He had previously been considered worthy enough to enter heaven, but this was on the measure of his previous life. Anything could happen in his new one. ‘Another valuable gift.’ Samael thought to himself solemnly.

Congratulations!

You have gained skill: {Karmic Meter}

Samael looked at the message of his third and final skill. He could feel it in the back of his mind, symbolised by a set of antique scales. They were currently unbalanced ever so slightly, his good deeds only just outweighing his bad. Samael face blanched. He felt the balance was not as far in his favour as he might previously have assumed.

*

Only one thing remained for Samael, the last gift that the Construct had ordained to give him. A class. From what it had told him earlier, the class would stay with him for his entire life and was the primary method of channelling the Constructs power. With great nervousness about what might happen next, Samael allowed the message of his last and final gift to appear in front of him.

The final gift is the gift of class.

The Construct will evaluate your lifetime achievements to determine what class would best suit your lifestyle, providing three classes to choose from.

‘Wait...’ Sam realised, ‘Your class is based on what you’ve already done with your life? But I haven’t done anything important yet!’ Caught off guard, Sam was unable to stop the following boxes from slipping into his vision.

Clerk

Through trial and error you have forged a path of sales. No transaction is too great or small for the likes of you, except if it is over $100, then it needs managers approval.

Select Class? Yes/No

Jailbird

Life keeps on hitting, and you keep on taking it. Abiding by man's laws is beneath you. Spending over half your life in Jail shows your dedication and perseverance to a life of crime

Select Class? Yes/No

Necromancer

You are touched by death. A deep comprehension of the beyond allows you to channel the mystic energies of the Construct to bring unlife back to the dead. Power is yours if you would but take it.

Select Class? Yes/No

Samael was dumbfounded at the choice of class the Construct had given him. Clerk? Jailbird? If it based the selection on previous achievements, then he could see the link. Clerk was his old life, jailbird from his short time in this one, but the descriptions! ‘It was as if the Construct was insulting him!’ Samael thought to himself. ‘How did it know I needed manager’s approval?’ he wondered with a flushed face.

To say he was disappointed that the standard ones were missing would be an understatement, after all where were the warrior, hunter and mage classes? The only choice that wasn’t completely unacceptable in his eyes was the last one. Necromancer. If clerk was before and jailbird was after, necromancer would have been his experience in between.

‘Touched by Death indeed’ Sam thought, shivering as he remembered grazing the bony skeletal hand of the boatman. In all the games he had played in his previous life, never had he ever been a necromancer. He was more used to firing awesome spells at his foes and blasting them with powerful magic’s.

‘There is no real choice...’ Sam concluded. He had selected his stats based around some sort of magic user, of which the last choice was the only one. The alternatives were also too pathetic in his eyes to even warrant wasting any thought on. What instead drew his thoughts were the scales he now felt in the back of his mind. ‘Necromancers were evil though, right?’ He asked himself, wondering if he was about to doom himself.

‘Clerk is the old me, I don’t want to be that person any more. What is the point of a new life if I just live my old one out again? Jailbird is just unlucky, I am no criminal. This ‘Construct’ must have a plan for me right?’ Slowly at first, then faster and faster he finalised his decision until with his mind he slammed 'Yes' to select necromancer as his class. The choice that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Congratulations!

You have gained the Necromancer class

Congratulations!

You have received your final gift from the Construct. You will now be returned to Vaelen.

Not a moment after the message told him he received his last gift, Samael felt a pulling sensation through his {Instinctual Interface} skill, then was promptly sucked out of the white room.

Once Samael was gone, the marble statue lowered its arms, and then shattered.

In its place was a humanoid form made of shimmering light, with a pair of glorious angelic wings protruding from its back.

“At least he will have a chance now...” an ethereal voice solemnly spoke. The white walls of the room wavered then dissipated into mist, a mist that was then sucked down into a glowing whirlpool on a dark and calm river.

“And what was your contribution! Forcing the soul to choose a Necromancer class?!” The ethereal voice of the angel suddenly asked the still retreating death, slowly punting away on his little boat.

“There should be some nice interesting tales to hear when I next see him.” Came the only reply, slightly muffled as death had not even bothered turning around.

The angel made a backhanded motion towards the boat, sending out a wave of power which capsized the little craft. Strangely however, rather than flipping over to present its keel to the surface, the boat flipped and yet remained unchanged, as though it had been righted instead.

Death cackled as he continued on his journey unfazed.