Nearly blind from pain, Dalton could barely understand what the text box was saying. He slid down the wall of the cave and slumped on the floor.

Jackson rushed over to him, eyes wide with worry.

“Dude,” he said worriedly. “Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”

“Never… been… better,” Dalton wheezed, trying to smile. And to be honest, underneath the excruciating pain from his ribs, he did feel good. He and Jackson had done it.

He painfully raised his arm for a fist bump. “We did it.”

Jackson gently tapped his fist against Dalton’s then laid his arm back down against the floor. “Yeah, we did it, man. We just gotta get you some help now. Maybe…” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone. He tried to turn it on, to no avail.

“I was at 80% battery before all this happened,” Jackson muttered. “It doesn’t seem damaged. Where’s yours?”

“Right… pocket…”

Jackson reached in, grabbed it, and cursed. “Yours too. Maybe phones just don’t work down here, wherever this is.”

He placed the phone down, then blinked and swatted the air. “This annoying text box needs to get out my way.”

“Oh, you… have one.. too…?”

Jackson nodded. “Yeah. It’s saying I got a Special Class called Defender. This sounds pretty nerdy… whatever. I’m just gonna accept it.”

His face focused.

Then suddenly a bloom of light covered Jackson’s body. He gasped, and before Dalton’s pain-blurred eyes the cut on his head healed, leaving behind nothing but clean, unmarked skin.

“Whoa!” Jackson said, staring at the air. “I feel great. And I just leveled up and got like a million passive skills. Oh!” he exclaimed, turning to Dalton. “Did you get one of those Class thingies? Accept it, now!”

With not a little bit of effort, Dalton thought, I… accept…

[System Notification]

Class Accepted!

The Special Class “Glass Cannon” has been designated to your Bio. Skill Tree unlocked. Stat Allocation unlocked. For completing the Tutorial Quest and accepting your Class, all the wounds you have received from battle have been healed.

Passive Skills Gained:

Brawns Over Brains - LVL. N/A: You are permanently locked from increasing your Intelligence with stat points. For each point you place into Strength, gain two instead.

One Shot - LVL. N/A: You are permanently locked from increasing your Vitality with stat points. For each point you place into Dexterity, gain two instead.

Risktaker - LVL. N/A: When you do not equip any sort of armor, passively increase Strength and Dexterity by (4). Scales with your level with diminishing returns.

Late Game Scaling - LVL. N/A: From Levels 1-20, only gain 1 stat point instead of the normal 3. From Levels 21-40, gain the normal 3 stat points. From levels 41+, gain 5 stat points.

Active Skills Gained:

Item Inspect - LVL. N/A: Gain the ability to [Inspect] an item, thereby learning its capabilities.

For defeating the Stone Statue, 500 exp has been rewarded.

*Ding* You have leveled up!

*Ding* You have leveled up!

*Ding* You have leveled up!

After the flood of text boxes came a flood of energy that burst inside Dalton’s body like a broken dam. The pain fled before that energy, and he took a shocked breath before rising to his feet, staring at himself in wonder.

“I know right?” Jackson said, standing up as well.

“This is crazy,” Dalton muttered, poking his ribs. No pain whatsoever. He looked at Jackson, who had an awed look on his wide face. “Did you get 500 exp as well?”

“Yeah. I leveled up three times and unlocked a Skill Tree and this Stat thing.” Jackson scratched the back of his head. “Man, this is trippy.”

Before Dalton could reply, another System Notification popped up. This time, it looked like both Jackson and him saw the same one. As he read the words, his skin paled and a shiver went down his spine.

[System Notification]

Congratulations on being the 21st and the 22nd entrants to complete the Tutorial. Of the 951 entrants in the Dungeon of Crystals, over 600 have died so far. Congratulations!

To leave this room, you must create your Skill Tree. Open up your Skill Tree to proceed.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jackson said. “Is that saying what I’m thinking it’s saying…?”

Dalton swallowed past a lump in his throat. “Y-yeah. I think so. There’s around 900 students in our school, plus all the teachers and other staff members…”

“No way. No fucking way 600 of us are dead. I don’t believe it.”

But Dalton did. He didn’t know if all the tutorial rooms were the same, but imagining any of the freshmen or the sophomores facing up against those statues… they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Oh God, he thought, a horrible idea dawning on him. What about Kelsey? Please God, don’t let her be one of the 600.

“We gotta get out of here and help the others,” Jackson said, his jaw stubbornly set. “There’s no way they’re dead. How do we open up our Skill Tree?”

Dalton breathed out and tried to focus on the matter at hand, though thoughts of Kelsey getting struck down by one of those statues kept interfering. And what of his parents in the outside world?

“Hold on,” he said, closing his eyes. “Let me try something.”

Open Skill Tree, he thought.

[Skill Tree]

[Seed: Glass Cannon]

The Root of Destruction | The Root of Grace

From the Seed of your Class comes the Roots. These two Roots represent the possible foundations of your Skill Tree. Destruction will deliver power, for the price of your control. Grace will deliver precision, for the price of your potential strength. Choose one. You cannot go back.

The text box hovering mid-air, Dalton turned to Jackson. “Ok, I got it. You just gotta think, ‘Open Skill Tree,’ and it’ll pop up. Looks like we need to create our Skill Tree, but don’t rush through it. Take your time and think about it.”

“We need to hurry,” Jackson argued. “There’s no time to spend all day staring at the wall thinking about this shit!”

“I know how you feel,” Dalton said, thinking of Kelsey fighting one of those statues, “but this is important.” He thought of the passive skills he gained, especially the one called “One Shot” that permanently locked his Vitality stat from growing. If that meant what he thought it meant…

He swallowed nervously and focused his attention on Jackson. “Whatever this System is, it’s acting like a game, but this is real life. We could’ve been killed by that statue. We won’t help anyone by acting like idiots and rushing through this.”

Jackson tsked with annoyance, but he eventually nodded and sat down. “Fine. Fine! You’re right. God damn it. I’m gonna do this now.”

Dalton sat down too and thought about the two options in front of him. Destruction and Grace. If he was playing a game, he would pick Destruction without a second thought. Dealing more damage was always more fun.

But… this wasn’t a game. That blow to the ribs made that abundantly clear. This was real life, and the thought of sacrificing power for control didn’t appeal to him. Especially if his Vitality stat was locked, meaning he couldn’t increase his survivability with stat points.

He decided to take a quick peek at what the System called his “Bio” to see what that had to say.

Open Bio.

Bio

Name: Dalton Blake

Age: 16

Class: Glass Cannon

Level: 4

Exp: 0/400

Stats (Available Points = 3)

Strength = 5 (1+4)

- Increases physical strength and capability

- +4 boost from passive skill "Risktaker"

Dexterity = 5 (1+4)

- Increases physical agility and reflexes

- +4 boost from passive skill "Risktaker"

Vitality = 1 (LOCKED)

- Increases physical and magical resistance

- You cannot allocate points into this stat due to "One Shot"

Intelligence = 1 (LOCKED)

- Increases magical strength and capability

- You cannot allocate points into this stat due to "One Shot"

It was more than a little alarming seeing that half his stats were locked.

Glass Cannons may be more practical in a game than real life, Dalton thought with a growing sense of worry. Not being able to increase my physical and magical resistance is troubling. Clothes don’t seem to count as armor as well.

He then looked at his available stat points, and thought of something.

“Hey, Jackson,” Dalton called out. “Open up your Bio for me real quick and check how many stat points you have.”

“Huh?” Jackson said irritably. “Why?”

“Can you just do it, please?”

Jackson grumbled, but a moment later he called out, “I have nine. How many do you have?”

“Three.”

“Three?” Jackson echoed. “Did you already use some?”

Dalton shook his head, a grim sense of understanding dawning on him. “No, it’s because of one of my passive skills that I gained. It means I’m weaker earlier on and stronger later. But in a world with things like that statue lurking around…”

Jackson stared at Dalton, then nodded abruptly. “Alright. You just helped me make up my mind. I was deciding between my Roots, but I know what to do now.”

“Huh?”

“Shut up! Let me get back to it.”

More than slightly confused, Dalton blinked his Bio away for now, returned to his Skill Tree, and picked Grace.

[Skill Tree]

[Seed: Glass Cannon] | [Root: Grace]

The Body of the Bow | The Body of the Blade | The Body of the Staff

Here you must decide on the Body of your Skill Tree, the trunk that will tie together Root and Branch. However, the System has determined a special Body that is recommended for you, according to your preferences and style: The Body of the Glaive. Do you accept?

Dalton grimaced. If he was smart, he would pick the bow, simply because it was long-ranged. The fact that he couldn’t increase his Vitality with stat points meant he was squishier than a soft-boiled egg. For the sake of his life, he should pick something that would keep him at a far distance.

But… who was he kidding.

He went and picked the glaive. Like an idiot. At least it had a long-reach.

[Skill Tree]

[Seed: Glass Cannon] - [Root: Grace] - [Body: Glaive]

The Branch of Imbuement | The Branch of Extension | The Branch of Vitals | The Branch of Dance | The Branch of Ramping

The Root creates the Body, which in turn sprouts the Branches. Imbuement is the Branch of powering your weapon with external forces; Extension is the Branch of manipulating your weapon to its fullest; Vitals is the Branch of targeting or creating your enemy’s weak points; Dance is the Branch of movement and forms; Ramping is the Branch of gaining power over time.

Pick two Branches to finish your Skill Tree.

Dalton read through the options over and over again. He had no idea what to pick. All of them seemed equally good. He thought he definitely wanted Imbuement, as that sounded the most interesting to him; but as for his second Branch…

“Okay, done!” Jackson declared suddenly, jumping to his feet. The big guy stretched and grinned. “Sheesh that was a lot. But honestly, I got some cool stuff. I’ll show it to you later. For now, let’s get out of here, eh? You almost done?”

“Just about,” Dalton replied, finalizing his choice.

He decided to pick Dance because without access to his Vitality stat, his Dexterity—or his movement, in other words—would be his greatest safety asset. That seemed like it would compound well with the Branch of Dance.

[System Notification]

You have finished creating your Skill Tree. +2 Skill Points awarded.

Now, go forth and conquer the Dungeon of Crystals!

[Skill Tree]

[Seed: Glass Cannon] - [Root: Grace] - [Body: Glaive] - [Branches: Imbuement + Dance]

Active Skills (Skill Points = 5)

Waveform - LVL. 0

- The form of flowing movements empowered by the element of water. Used primarily for parrying and countering.

Boltform - LVL. 0

- The form of jagged movements empowered by the element of lightning. Used primarily for piercing and throwing.

Breezeform - LVL. 0

- The form of delicate movements empowered by the element of air. Used primarily for dodging and maneuvering.

Flameform - LVL. 0

- The form of explosive movements empowered by the element of flame. Used primarily for striking and smashing.

Stoneform - LVL. 0

- The form of solid movements empowered by the element of stone. Used primarily for deflecting and bracing.

Passive Skills (Skill Points = 5)

Glaive Mastery - LVL. 0

- Increase mastery of the glaive by 5%

Form Combo - LVL. 0

- Increase Form stat bonuses by 5% after switching from Form to Form three times. Lasts for 10 seconds, timer resets after switching to another Form.

Form Mastery - LVL. 0

- Decrease the drain on stamina when in Form by 5%.

“Perfect,” he said to himself, allocating each of the five forms with 1 point. He loved when things worked out like this.

*Ding* Waveform has been increased from LVL. 0 → LVL. 1

You have gained the active skill "Enter Waveform": When in Waveform, gain +1 Dexterity and +1 Vitality, scales with skill level. Greatly drains stamina while in Form.

*Ding* Boltform has been increased from LVL. 0 → LVL. 1

You have gained the active skill "Enter Boltform": When in Boltform, gain +1 Dexterity and +1 Strength, scales with skill level. Greatly drains stamina while in Form.

*Ding* Breezeform has been increased from LVL. 0 → LVL. 1

You have gained the active skill "Enter Breezeform": When in Breezeform, gain +2 Dexterity, scales with skill level. Greatly drains stamina while in Form.

*Ding* Flameform has been increased from LVL. 0 → LVL. 1

You have gained the active skill "Enter Flameform": When in Flameform, gain +2 Strength, scales with skill level. Greatly drains stamina while in Form.

*Ding* Stoneform has been increased from LVL. 0 → LVL. 1

You have gained the active skill "Enter Stoneform": When in Stoneform, gain +2 Vitality, scales with skill level. Greatly drains stamina while in Form.