Michael stood up feeling refreshed. The events of the first chamber had culminated half an hour ago with the deaths of the final two wolves, but the fight had been so mentally draining he had asked for a brake. He could take too long though, so after half an hour he decided to get back to it.

He applied his attribute points, going for Dexterity this time, and looked over to Olivia saying "Okay, I'm ready to get going."

Olivia looked at him, studying his face for a moment, before speaking "Good. It's nice to see that you know when to take breaks. I've seen quite a few who push themselves too hard too fast and end up collapsing at a critical moment

Everyone agreed, and returned to dungeoneering. Now that Michael was rested and back to full Mana, it was time to move on.

The next group of wolves didn't bring any unexpected surprises. There were 5 of them this time with levels ranging from 6 to 9. By the time Michael had finished he was level nine and his Dupli-Cast had gotten to level two. When they moved on to the next chamber, Michael asked Damien to bring them all at once. Damien didn't really care about Michael trying to take on five wolves at once so he left without so much as a word but Olivia did ask Michael if he was sure. Michael assured her of his suredness and nocked an arrow, drawing the bow to full draw and waiting. The tension on the string started to increase, making Michael think about adding a few points to his Strength attribute.

Fortunately Damien didn't take long, the scout appeared in the tunnel running towards them in full sprint, five wolves appearing behind him. Fortunately, Damien was Agility focused so he left the wolves behind so quickly it was comical. As soon as Damien was past Michael activated his Thunder Shot. The arrow pierced through the first two wolves and slammed into the third, the leftover energy making it fall backwards and trip up the next two. The first two wolves dead, Michael continued to fire at the third, killing it with another two arrows. The last two wolves had gotten up by now and passed around the third.

With the two wolves bearing down on him Michael returned to his arrow/Magic Missile combo, the wolves lasting four rounds before collapsing, managing to get nine feet away. Olivia should have intervened, according to her own rules, but she figured Michael had it handled. After Michael had killed the wolves they decided to take a break. Michael had hit level ten.

"Okay, when you're choosing your Class and Profession your mind will be transported to the Pavilion of Choice." Olivia was currently prepping Michael to choose his Class and Profession. "You'll be given several different options based on what you qualify for. Piece of advice, choose the option that's best for you, not the best option. Since everything essentially occurs in your mind you'll be moving at the speed of thought so you can take your time thinking over the choices."

"Wait, I get moving at the speed of thought but won't that mean my thoughts are the same speed? Doesn't that mean that I shouldn't take my time?"

Olivia gave him a look. "It's a realm that occupies the reality of the mind and is created by a universal and possibly multi-dimensional magical System. I'm pretty sure it can ignore silly little things like logic and reason. Besides, I don't really want to argue with the System and pixie it off."

Michael grimaced. "Good point. Anything else?" he asked.

"Yeah." Olivia answered. "You only get Class and Profession experience from doing related actions. For instance, I could kill a dragon but if I don't do it with Magic then I wouldn't get any experience. Remember that when choosing. You should be fine. It's only the first choice, there shouldn't be many options. Just take your time and be careful."

"Thanks" Michael said. He then pulled up the notification he got after hitting level 10.

Congratulations!

You have reached the first threshold and have unlocked your Class and Profession options!

Would you like to choose now?

Yes / No

Mentally prepared, Michael pressed yes, and the world turned black.

When light rushed back in he appeared in what looked like a gazebo. The gazebo was large and circular with many columns and, in between the columns, eight statues. Alarmingly, all the statues were of him yet each statue was different. The each carried different weapons and wore different armors. Michael approached a particularly fierce looking statue. The statue Michael carried a deadly looking bow and covered in brown leather armor. At the base of the statue was a golden plaque.

Archer

A master of the bow, killing enemies with a rain of arrows

+2 Perception, +1 Agility, +1 Vitality, +2 Unassigned Attribute points per level.

Requirements: Level 10, Novice Archery lvl 5, 10 Perception, killed 10 enemies using a bow

Michael was unimpressed, Archer was very ... basic. Not bad, per se, but boring. Michael moved on. The next statue looked much more interesting. Clad in blue robes and wielding a staff in one hand and a book in the other, the statue faintly radiated power.

Mage

A master of Mana, bending the very elements to your will.

+2 Magic, +1 Dexterity, +1 Perception, +2 Unassigned Attribute points per level.

Requirements: Level 10, Magic Missile lvl 5, Beginner Mana Manipulation lvl 5, 10 Magic, Killed ten enemies with a spell

Michael was much more impressed with this one, he did enjoy spell slinging as he called it. After a bit of contemplation michael realised that it wasn't actually that impressive a class, just new. the description, attributes and requirements were almost exactly the same as the Archer class. That being said, Mage was still more fun than Archer. He moved on. The next statue was similar to the Archer Class in that it had a bow and leather armor but that was where the similarities ended. Vines curled around one arm and a panther-like creature was lying at its feet. Michael looked at the plaque with eagerness.

Ranger

The forest is your home. The bow, your weapon. You move through the world, stalking your prey. To those you protect, you are an angel. To your enemies, you are the arrow that will end them.

+2 Perception, +2 Magic, +1 Agility, +1 Dexterity, +2 Unassigned Attribute points per level.

Requirements: Level 10, Novice Archery lvl 10, Beginner Mana Manipulation lvl 5, 10 Magic, 10 Perception, 10 Dexterity, 25% Nature Affinity

Michaels eyebrows shot up. "Hot damn, that's a class!" Michael frowned. "Eesh, did I really just say that?"

Ignoring his own possible insanity he continued to look over the class. The attributes alone were amazing, the description a nice little cherry on top. The requirements made it clear that the class was a rare one, and rare usually meant strong. It seemed that the class was some sort of mix between Mage and Archer and practically made Michaels mouth water. Michael wanted to select the class immediately, and almost did, but he still had more statues to look at. The next class seemed ... odd. The statue radiated power, similar to the mage class but the power seemed gentle and calm. The statue carried a staff like the Mage but was clad in leather armor rather than robes. Michael read the plaque.

Healer

A master of life, you stand between those you care about and death itself.

+2 Magic, +1 Vitality, +1 Perception, +2 Unassigned Attribute points per level.

Requirements: Level 10, Novice Heal lvl 5, Beginner Mana Manipulation lvl 5, 10 Magic

... Nah. Michael had chatted with Anne about her class and a Healer had almost no combat skills. Healers were reliant on a team and Michael wouldn't have a team forever, or even for long. He moved on to the next statue. This statue was massively different, covered in metal armor and with no visible weapons. Michael read the plaque, curious as to what the class was.

Brawler

Forgoing the distance created by weapons, you charge at your enemies and destroy them with your bare fists..

+2 Strength, +1 Vitality, +1 Agility, +2 Unassigned Attribute points per level.

Requirements: Level 10, Novice Unarmed Combat lvl 5, Novice Dodge lvl 5, 10 Strength, 10 Vitality

Nooooope. Michael hated getting close to monsters and he really didn't want his entire class to be built around the idea. Next.

The next statue was almost the opposite of the previous one. Rather than no weapons this statue had too many weapons. A bow strapped to its back, multiple throwing knives on various straps along with what looked like boomerangs and a javelin held in one hand.

Ranged Warrior

A master of ranged weapons, you focus on raining death on your enemies from afar.

+2 Perception, +1 Dexterity, +1 Strength, +2 Unassigned Attribute points per level.

Requirements: Level 10, Novice Ranged Weapons lvl 5, Novice Archery lvl 5, 10 Perception, 10 Dexterity

Okay, interesting. The class was actually somewhat interesting, though it was somewhat odd. Similar to the Archer class but more diverse. The class was certainly nice, and fit with Michael's 'kill them from far away' theme, but it certainly didn't beat the Ranger class. Michael moved on. The next and last statue was similar to the Archer class but with slight differences. The leather armor had glowing runes, the arrow nocked on the bow was glowing and there was a sense of power like the Mage statue, but not as much. Michael had an idea what the class was but read the plaque anyways.

Magic Archer

A master of both Mana and the bow, you now combine the two to defeat your enemies.

+2 Magic, +2 Dexterity, +1 Perception, +2 Unassigned Attribute points per level.

Requirements: Level 10, Beginner Mana Manipulation lvl 5, Novice Archery lvl 5, 10 Magic, 10 Dexterity

Michael smiled, he had guessed right. The Magic Archer class was nice and if the Ranger class wasn't available it would definitely be his first choice. Since it was though, Michael was definitely going to take it. He did take a moment to think it through and weigh all the options but couldn't think of a reason not to take the Ranger class. Olivia had told him to choose a class that suited him rather than the strongest class but in this case the strongest class was also one that spoke to him.

In the end, he chose Ranger.

Status Name Michael Volker Age 33 Level 10 Experience N/A Class None Profession None Path Boundless Adventure Race Human System Credits 10,437 Tier 1 Health 387 / 387 Mana 589 / 589 Health Regen 35 per min Mana Regen 53.2 per min

Attributes

Unassigned Attribute points : 0

Strength 19 Agility 23 Vitality 25 Dexterity 23 Perception 22 Magic 38 Skills General

Basic Alchemy lvl 5

Novice Archery lvl 10

Beginner Camping lvl 7

Beginner Cleaning lvl 3

Beginner Climbing lvl 5

Basic Construction lvl 4

Basic Cooking lvl 6

Novice Dodge lvl 5

Dupli-Cast lvl 1 Beginner Exploration lvl 9 Basic Farming lvl 2 First Aid lvl 7 Basic Fishing lvl 5 Beginner Herbalism lvl 4 Novice Heal lvl 7 Identify lvl 3 Basic Leatherworking lvl 4 Magic Missile lvl 10 Beginner Mana Manipulation lvl 6 Limb Regeneration lvl 3 Basic Skinning lvl 7 Novice Stealth lvl 9 Beginner Taming lvl 1 Novice Throwing Weapons lvl 7 Beginner Tracking lvl 8 Beginner Trading lvl 3 Basic Trap Making lvl 5 Novice Unarmed Combat lvl 5

Basic Woodworking lvl 7

Affinities Nature 49% Water 32% Light 23% Fire 21% Earth 18% Metal 7% Life 6% Death 5%