“Please give me four different choices, with the highest attribute gains per level up,” Alex spoke out loud. Maybe he could steer the system by thought, but he was to excited to even try.

Class: Robin Hood

Requirement: Lived near/in a forest for at least a year. Shot a bow at least once. Selflessly supported a community.

Gains per Level: +2 Dex, +2 Agi, +2 Free Attributes

A ‘Robin Hood’ protects the weak by venturing outside of his comfort zone. He is responsible for the livelihood of his community and easily gains their favour.

Class: Oliver Twist

Requirement: Lives in an orphanage. Has gone hungry more than once. Is henchman to someone stronger.

Gains per Level: +3 Dex, +2 Const, +1 Free Attribute

An ‘Oliver Twist’ is passively more resistant to the needs of his body. Small Vermin will more easily follow him and be trained. His boss holds his reins.

Class: Trickster

Requirement: Played tricks on at least five people and got away. Has ‘borrowed’ items before. Is smaller than 1,80 meters.

Gains per Level: +2 Dex, +2 Agi, +2 Int

A Trickster knows how and where to find wealth. He is a master of deception, not even halting before his friends. Tricksters work best in bigger communities and cities.

Class: Shadowblade

Requirement: Defeated two foes five levels stronger, before gaining a seed. Absorbed a seed of at least epic rarity. Absorbed a seed belonging to the darkness attribute. Is younger than eighteen.

Gains per Level: +2 Dex, +2 Agi, +1 Str, +2 Free Attributes

A Shadowblade is the danger in the night. Their group produced the most successful scouts, most deadly assassins and the most elusive thieves. They are naturally harder to perceive.

As he read the requirements for the first class, Alex had to grin. Apparently the time before the advent of the system was counted. It was a pretty fun workshop, the orphans had taken part in. He had missed his target more often than hit it, but it was apparently enough for the system. Sadly Oliver Twist and Trickster were from darker parts of his pasts and before he could reminisce, Alex wondered why two classes were from Earths lore. ‘Perhaps it is just an appropriation? Maybe it’s decided or selected subconsciously? I need to ask the shopkeeper! It is definitely interesting, how the system works here…’

The last class, shadowblade, had the highest requirements, but also the best attribute gains per level. And, if he understood it right, the other three were dependant on their communities or ‘boss’, and Alex had absolutely no interest to work himself to the bone for the other orphans. He would help his best friends Janine and Lin, as far as he was able to, but the other orphans were at most acquaintances. And after the ordeal with Jones a few years prior, and possibly why he was offered the Oliver Twist, he didn’t have any interest in supporting them.

So Shadowblade it was and Alex mentally selected the class.

Warmth spread through his flayed body, the wounds in his face knit together and Alex felt refreshed. Power lanced him and if he wanted to, he could take on the whole world with his pinky finger. Alex roared in elation. The echoes jumped through the big room, but he couldn’t care less. He finally had an essence and a class and come what may, Alex swore he would live through this apocalypse and pull his friends with him.

All to soon, the warmth receded but the glow in him stayed. He wasn’t sure how it could be, but this glow extended around him and Alex could finally see. Of course, all he saw was a concrete floor, a concrete wall and some bloody remains, a few meters back. ‘Wait…What? How?’ Alex rapidly closed and opened his eyes, but he could still see the dead bat. ‘Is it the shadow essence?’ he asked himself.

Alex stretched his hand in front and examined it. It still hurt, but he couldn’t see any wounds, even if big splotches of blood covered the hand. ‘Awesome, I can see in the dark,’ he grinned, imagining the possibilities. But soon, a frown replaced the grin. He could see, but just a few meters, until the darkness won and his vision cut like a wall of nothingness. Sighing, Alex finally pulled his attention from his ocular powers and gave it to the furiously blinking system notifications.

He mentally selected the icon in the right corner and a new prompt came up front.

Class confirmed: Shadowblade

Calculating status…

Status updated:

Name: Alex Braff

Essence: Shadow (M)

Class: Shadowblade

Level: 1

Coins: 0

Attributes:

Free: 0

Constitution: 5

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 4

Willpower: 4

Health: 52

Stamina: 52

Magicka: 41

‘Hey, why is my Intelligence so low?! I am not an idiot…’

Displaying Classskills.

Select 2 active and 2 passive:

Again, an enormous list leaped up and the teenagers whole view was blocked. Skill on Skill on Skill stood in a neatly arranged list and Alex scrolled it down with his eyes. He wanted to count them, but it would take hours, so he tried the trick from before.

“System, please advise me on the four best active and passive skills based on my class.” Alex hoped, the system would comply and help him out. He would never be able to choose the four classskills and it wasn’t made easier, as only the skills name was shown and he was wary selecting a skill to see more, just to select it for his class.

Active:

- Shadow Infusion

- Distract

- Eviscerate

- Shadoweyes

Passive:

- Darksight

- Aura of fear

- Shadowdrinker

- Muffled

“System, please show me the Skills information.” Alex clenched his fists, hoping against better Judgement, but the system didn’t comply this time. ‘Damn, so it’s up to guesswork…At least the skills are sounding alright.’ “I guess infusing something with shadow would be poison? Distract and Eviscerate are self-explanatory and maybe the eyes are for my darksight? But I can already see in the dark and they are also a passive?!” Alex groaned. Selecting two of those four were harder than he had thought and without any more help from the system and those confusing names he had a problem.

“Okay…Eviscerate sounds like a strong offensive attack. I could need it…” Alex continued to mumble, but a moment later, he plucked up his courage and selected Eviscerate.

Eviscerate:

A huge damage boost to an unsuspecting foe.

Pick Eviscerate? Y/N

“Really?!” Alex cursed the system and himself loudly and gradually selected the other skills.

Shadow Infusion:

Infuses your Weapon with shadows to poison your enemy.

Pick Shadow Infusion? Y/N

Distract:

Summons distracting shadows.

Pick Distract? Y/N

Shadoweyes:

See through surrounding shadows to scout.

Pick Shadoweyes? Y/N

Grinning, Alex selected the passives. Maybe he could work out a fitting build for his future.

Darksight:

Strengthens your vision to see in darkness like in light.

Pick Darksight? Y/N

Aura of fear:

A shadowy aura surrounds you, frightening everyone around you.

Pick Aura of fear? Y/N

Shadowdrinker:

Passively drinks surrounding shadow essence to heal.

Pick Shadowdrinker? Y/N

‘I wonder how strong the heal is…But definitely a must.'

Muffled:

Surrounding shadows are muffling every sound you produce.

Pick Muffled? Y/N

Alex thought long and hard about his career as Shadowblade. Did he want to become a thief? An assassin? His morals were not that hardened to back off from theft, but assassination? A clear no-go for him. ‘But I don’t need to be an assassin to pick eviscerate, it also helps against the beasts. Secondly with these skills, I could make a pretty okay scout, I guess…’

Without further ado, Alex picked [Eviscerate], [Shadoweyes], [Shadowdrinker] and [Muffled]. “I hope I can strengthen my darkvision in the future, but right now I need to be careful and hide from enemies or quickly eliminate them,” Alex justified his picks.

Confirming choice.

Displaying Essenceskills.

‘More skills? What the hell? Do the others also have that many?’ But no one could answer Alex’ questions. Maybe the system could, but again it wasn’t really obliging.

Pick 2 attack and 2 utility skills.

Another list jumped up and Alex quickly reacted and let the system decide a selection.

Attack:

- Shadowweapon

Conjures a weapon of shadows, defined by the user.

- Shadowbolt

Fires a bolt of Shadows, damaging and blinding the recipient.

- Shadowcurse

Curses a foe with shadowessence, weakening it.

- Shadowbind

Conjures binding shadows, inhibiting a foe.

Utility:

- Shadowmask

An illusory mask of shadows to disguise yourself.

- Shadowmark

Marks your target with shadows, making it easier to follow.

- Shadowcloak

Cloaks yourself in shadows, making you harder to detect.

- Shadowclone

Summons a clone to distract enemies.

Alex picked shadowweapon at once, as he was prone to lose more weapons and to have one ready with a small mental command was heaven. The three other skills were a bit harder, but after some thought, he picked Shadowcurse, Shadowcloack and the clone. ‘Why should I disguise myself if I can vanish in shadows?’ he thought with a wry grin. He called up a skill summary to examine his choices.

Essenceskills:

Attack:

Shadowweapon (T1)

Shadowcurse (T1)

Utility:

Shadowcloak (T1)

Shadowclone (T1)

Classskills:

Active:

Eviscerate

Shadoweyes

Passive:

Shadowdrinker

Muffled

Alex laughed out loud, extremely satisfied with his selection. He wasn’t yet sure, what the T1 meant, but based on his experience with Games, it meant, he could upgrade his Essenceskills. Elated, he closed his skill page and finally took a look around. With his slight darkvision, maybe he could find his weapons again? At least the pistol. Even if it didn’t work anymore, it would be a nice keepsake.

He slowly walked around the garage, as the tires and rusted remains around them, meant that a car had been parked there. As soon, as he knew how big the room was, he made smaller and smaller circles to the center, but he couldn’t find anything. ‘Maybe somewhere on a higher deck?’ he silently mused. During his search, he also had found the exit and after his unsuccessful search made his way there. Carefully the teenager climbed the staircase.

The concrete showed more marks of decomposition, but it should hold while he walked up. Carefully he cast his first skill [Shadowcloack], hoping that eventual enemies would have a harder time to find him.

He felt a slow drain and checking his status he wasn’t sure, as the actual numbers weren’t shown. But it should be his magicka, slowly being used up. Alex concentrated on shadowdrinker and it felt like the skill was working, but maybe it couldn’t regenerate magicka? The teenager wasn’t sure, but resolved to test his skills later, when he was secure behind the camps wooden walls. On his way up, he looked at the other parking decks, but couldn’t find his weapons. ‘At least, I can conjure my own now’ and with a short mental effort, nothing happend. ‘Huh? I wanted a dagger and not nothing…’ Alex cursed. Apparently these skills needed more than a command and he tried again.

A few minutes and more tries than he would ever admit, he held a wafting mass of shadows in his hands, which soon formed a dagger, similar to the bowie knife he lost. ‘So I have to picture exactly what I want to conjure? Neat.’ He grinned, dismissed the dagger and tried to conjure a huge, two-handed battleaxe. But nothing happened. He concentrated again, harder, but the shadows wouldn’t move. Alex recast his dagger and it plopped into his hand. ‘What the…Is the axe too big?’ Alex tried to conjure a smaller weapon, but to no avail. He couldn’t create a second weapon.

Alex recast the skill to make sure, it still conjured his dagger. The shadows wafted around his hand, but nothing happened. “What’s the matter now? Five minutes with a skill and I’ve already destroyed the system, as Jutta would have said it.”

Alex tried again, but it was in vain. Eventually he noticed that his cloak was gone, too. Concentrating on the inside, Alex felt empty and drained. ‘Damn, my magicka is already gone? How much is used up with shadowcloak, how much with the weapon? Does muffled cost magicka? Stupid system, not showing me the numbers…’ But cursing didn’t help and Alex sat down in a corner and concentrated on shadowdrinker. It was uncertain, if the skill worked with filling his magicka as Alex couldn’t quantify his new resource.

Alex rested for nearly half an hour before he stood up, sure that his magicka had regenerated enough for him to safely continue his journey back to the orphan camp. He recast shadowcloak and a few minutes later, left the garage after climbing three more floors. A mighty GROWL that roused nearby birds was heard. Alex twitched, carefully taking a step back, until he noticed, that he had growled, or in fact, his stomach had. Apart from the sun, that conveniently hadn’t risen yet, there was no possibility to tell the time. So Alex oriented himself to the outskirts and where he supposed the camp was. Cautiously, hiding with every sound and rustling, Alex walked through the dark city.

Fortunately with his new found power, he was able to see where he was walking. The cloak kept him hidden and his passive muffled steps were enough to let him walk relatively unhindered. A snuffle to the side woke him from his thoughts. Alex cursed under his breath, but soon he saw a sheep, searching for food under some crumbled building. ‘Hmm, let’s try to hunt it. Maybe Jones will be not as angry with me, taking the essence, when I come back with meat.’ Alex sneaked around the animal, paying attention to the way he placed his feet. ‘I wonder, how I know how to walk silently…’ Distracted by that thought, the teenager kicked against a stone, which rolled a meter away. Alex flinched, but the field of silence generated by his [muffled] passive, was apparently big enough, and no sound escaped from his mistake.

Soon he was directly behind the sheep and conjured his dagger. The animal looked up, eyeing it’s sides and took a few steps forward, just to put it’s nose back to the ground. Alex silently exhaled, pointed the tip of the dagger at the sheep and used [Eviscerate]. Alex was wrenched forward, the blade penetrating deep into the hind leg of it. Reflexively, the teenager dropped the weapon, while the animal cried out:

BAAAAH!

Panicked, Alex recast [Shadowweapon] but his magicka had sputtered out and the dagger was gone too. The sheep turned around and beady, red eyes, fixated the teenager. It bridged the two meters, they stood apart, in less than a second and with more luck than wits, Alex dropped to the side, dodging the charge. Only now did he register, that the animal stood nearly as high as hips and had excellent shot at his crotch. Frantically, Alex looked for a weapon. He grabbed a stone and threw it with all his might. But five Strength isn’t that much and while the stone did some damage, the animal just got more enraged. It snorted, aiming his next charge at the fallen teenager. Alex scrambled backwards, creating more distance, searching for a way out. The animal charged again and while Alex rolled out of it’s way, he wasn’t fast enough and it strafed his thigh. An enormous bruise appeared nearly immediately.

Deeply in pain, Alex rose himself, back to a wall. In the meantime, the sheep had realigned itself. It clearly had gotten slower, the wound in its leg, taking its toll, but Alex was sure it wasn’t enough. It charged again and Alex let himself drop to the side. The animal hit the concrete wall and stood dazed for a moment. The teenager conjured his dagger, and with a silent roar, plunged it into the animals throat. The sheep jerked a few times, trying to loose the dagger in its throat, but with every movement the wound got bigger and it got weaker and weaker until it finally stopped moving.

Exhausted Alex dismissed the weapon and tried to rise, but quickly gave up. Hurting everywhere and with a throbbing thigh, he curled up, promising himself ‘Just a few minutes to get my strength back…’