How long has it been since I slept in this much comfort?

This fluffy and warm feeling that envelopes my entire body carefully and penetrates through my skin, flowing through my blood vessels right into my heart.

It’s the touch of my most beloved in this universe, my dearest, the one who has been with me through thick and thin and who has silently been supporting me and encouraging me to face every new day of my life. How can I ever forget it? I may be the scum of Earth, a man of such low moral quality that being called a devil is not excessive to describe me, but I can never feel ungrateful to this existence.

My love, my heart, my soul, my… bed. It’s the springy softness of the mattress that adapts to my body’s shape, the malleability of the pillow that allows my hands to sink when touching it, the tender and gentle warmth and softness of my blankets… I would cry but I feel too afraid to ruin this moment of reunion with my filthy tears.

It’s at this moment that I truly felt complete. It was as if a part of my soul I never knew I had clicked into place and the world suddenly became so much more vibrant and colorful, so much more full of meaning and with so many hopes filling it, that living in it stopped feeling like a chore and became an adventure.

Ah! Life is so beautiful! Vive la vie!

*Toddormm*

Even this storm outside my window will not ruin my appreciation for life! How does it go?

Raindrops keep falling on my head~! But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red~!

Why would my mood sour because of a mere storm? ‘Tis but a trifling instance of nature’s wrath, something insignificant in front of my bed’s supreme kindness and comfort.

“Hahahaha”

Even this villainous laughter outside my window will not make me feel alarmed. The voice of the laughing man is soft and soothing, just perfect to listen to while trying to fall asleep.

*Baddomp*

Even the sudden feeling of fear I am feeling will NOT ruin my reunion! I shall rejoice over overcoming my weaker self, the one who couldn’t keep his emotions under tight control!

*Wheeeeeee*

And even the sudden feeling of falling through space shan’t make me tremble!

AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaa

...

“NOOOOOO!!!!!”, springing up from the huge silvery corpse of the gecko-like creature I killed the other day, I realized in terror that what I have experienced was nothing more than a simple dream.

“Are you alright?”

“Hhhaaa… hupp… Hhhaaaa… sobsobsob”

“Did you have a bad dream?”

“Awwwuuuuuaaaaaa!!!!”

….

…

…

I woke up and my body felt refreshed because, apparently, mana can do that to you but then I almost immediately began feeling tired and demotivated.

It was only after Ralph asked me why I haven’t made a bed on my own yet that I understood that dwelling on the past can only drag your hind legs. Yes, hardships make us stronger. Only in a strong fire may powerful steel be born, the kind that the best of swords are made of. One who hasn’t experienced pain can never be anything more than a flower in a greenhouse.

Who am I? I am god damn Victor Norman. I am the most talented mage on this planet and the man who can cuss right in a reality-bending demon’s face and get away with it! Something like making my cave more inhabitable and making my own bed is nothing but a simple trick!

“Before we do anything, check your status”

“Oh yes, I forgot that I had that!”, I wonder how many levels I earned. The gecko seemed pretty high-levelled to me, I should’ve risen by several levels now.

Status:

Name: Victor Norman

Race: Human (Otherworlder)

lvl: 12

Current Class: None (A class choice available!)

Second Class: Locked

HP: 13/13

MP: 251/251

ST: 28/28

VIT: 4

STR: 1

DEX: 1

END: 5

INT: 5

(8 attribute points available!)

Active Skills:

Adrenaline Rush (rare, lvl 4) – usage restricted

Mana Insight (unique, lvl 1) – usage restricted

Mana Perception (rare, lvl )

Mana Manipulation (rare, lvl 4)

Mana Visualization (rare, lvl 3)

Multitask (very rare, lvl 6)

Passive Skills:

Demon's Blessing (unique, unranked)

Internal Mana Manipulation (uncommon, lvl 2)

Lesser Mana Regeneration (uncommon, lvl 4)

Lesser Stamina Regeneration (common, lvl 4)

Self-Regeneration (uncommon, lvl 4)

Resistances:

Psychosis Resistance (advanced, lvl 4)

Mental Fortitude (common, lvl 4)

Mental Torture Resistance (advanced, lvl 1)

Warped Mind (unique, lvl 1)

Titles:

Abnormal (unique)

Slayer of Giants I(rare)

Survivor of Hell (rare)

True Demon Ancestor's Messenger (mythological)

Otherworlder (Inner Realms) (unique*) (*A composite title made out of two unique titles)

Miracle Fighter I (rare)

Veteran Warrior (Rare)

Now, what do we have here… let’s see:

Psychosis Resistance (advanced, lvl 4)

A passive skill that protects the user’s ability to distinguish what is real and what is not (limited to mental perception, does not extend to the effects of physical illusions)

Mental Torture Resistance (advanced, lvl 1)

A passive skill that protects the user’s mind from suffering extreme emotional pain.

These two are pretty self-explanatory. Let’s not dwell on them too much. I have already reviewed Warped Mind so I won’t go over it again.

Then we have the titles…

Slayer of Giants I(rare)

A title given to those who have killed at least 1 and no more than 10 beings at least a hundred levels above their own.

Survivor of Hell (rare)

A title given to those who have survived extreme circumstances while going through amounts of suffering (physical or mental) beyond the biological capabilities of their species and survived with relatively intact ability to function

Miracle Fighter I (rare)

A title given to those who have fought a battle with a chance of winning less than 5% and won.

Veteran Warrior (Rare)

A title given to those who have the experience of fighting (primarily in close combat) at least 10000 foes in a life or death fight.

“Ralph, do titles even do anything?”

“Yes. They don’t give “clear” benefits but they affect your growth and the way the system interacts with you”

“Can you tell me how they do it and the effects?”

“Sure. As I have said it before, the whole System works on lifeforce and with lifeforce. Obviously, skills, magic and status attributes are of no exception, When it comes to living beings, they also have their lifeforce, it defines them from the big details to the smallest of things. Even when you think, your lifeforce’s state changes in a way that reflects your thought process”

“And titles somehow affect it?”

“Yes, they do. If you look at a wooden plank, you’ll see its grain. Now think of that plank as yourself. Your titles somewhat define how your grain looks”

“And then the System, by looking at my grain, chooses how to work with me”

“Right. Where to assign and balance the lifeforce, how to integrate the skills into the whole structure, how to change your levels… it decides everything”

“Then aren’t titles super important?”

“No, they aren’t really as important as I made it seem. I said they define your lifeforce’s state somewhat. They can’t make you into what you aren’t and generally are given only according to your experiences”

“So, the titles that I have won’t hurt me by messing up the System’s perception of me?”

“No. Titles are rare and the System seems to invest a lot more computing power when giving anything or anyone a title than when it comes to other aspects, except for giving classes. It’s when it comes to skills that it can get a bit iffy. You haven’t noticed it, but it took away your Ness language skill, for example”

“What? Pertemi ou astem li ker Ness-okloppedi s’ighq… I seem to be fine with speaking Ness though?”

“It’s because it wrongly assigned you the skill Ness language. You don’t have the English language skill or whatever other languages you speak, right?”

“Yeah”

“The System thought that your ability to speak Ness was a skill. A skill is “made” of lifeforce, so to speak, so it balanced your lifeforce so that this “skill” could be supported but after judging you for a title, it “saw” its mistake and took it off on the way. I said it so you could see just how much more it pays attention to things when giving titles. Look, even your Otherworlder title shifted to the “Inner Realms” category because of it. It recognizes you as well as it recognizes Otherworlders that came from Universes under its influence now. Though it did take quite a few titles to get to this point”

“Then I’m glad. I hope these titles work in my favor in the future. Let’s assign the attribute points. I have eight, how many should I dump into VIT?”

“3 would be enough”

I wanted to cry again when I saw the precious attribute points dwindle down…

HP: 22/22

MP: 279/279

ST: 30/30

VIT: 7

9, 28 and 2 are the amounts my HP, MP and ST were raised by accordingly. Nad I had just 5 attribute points left… 25 points to go to have enough for the ritual that will solve my problem with VIT...

“The Slayer of Giants title says that the gecko was at least 100 levels above me”

“Yes”

“And killing it earned me only 8 levels”

“Yes”

“Why?”

“Cause you’re an otherworlder”

“How do I solve it?”

“Get a class”

“And I’ll be swimming in points then?”

“No. But it will let you earn 16 levels in the dungeon if you clear it completely”

“16 points… does it mean it has strong monsters in there?”

“Oh yes. It does have a lot of strong monsters. None compare to the beast you have slain though”

“I’m scared”

“Then don’t be”

“Sigh… Right. Let’s get a class. How do I do it?”

“The same way you assign attribute points”

“Sigh… Let’s do it!”

[Begin analysis of available class trees…]

[Error! Anomaly detected!]

[Warning! Title [Otherworlder (Inner Realms) (unique) detected]!]

[…]

[Error solved successfully]

[Title: [Otherworlder (Inner Realms) (unique)] changed to [Otherworlder(Outer Realms)(Legendary)]!]

[All available class trees detected!]

[All available classes analyzed!]

“Ralph, it changed my title back, but added “Legendary” in the second pair of parentheses”

“It means it just analyzed what to do with you and how to interact with you. No need to worry. Now you won’t meet System problems more often than the native inhabitants do”

“The way you worded it doesn’t sound encouraging but I guess this will do. Now, what kinds of classes do I have access to?”

The number of classes I could choose from was staggering. There were all kinds of things in there. I’ll show the ones that I decided to choose from and get rid of things like "Lumberjack (Common rarity)" (why did I even get that? I've never even held an axe in my whole life).

[Currently Available Classes:]

[

1) Apprentice Mage (All attributes) (Legendary rarity):

Description: A mage that can wield the power of all magic attributes. The lowest rank of a mage.

Analysis: While comparably stronger than its counterparts with access to fewer attributes, it’s the most simple class that only slightly affects the user. At the same time, it’s the class that leads to the most choices down the tree in comparison to other classes of the same level range that are based on the user’s ability to wield magic.

Conditions for acquisition: Have affinity for all 8 magic attributes.

2) Apprentice Archanist (Legendary rarity):

Description: A magic professional that specializes in charms, magical glyphs, enchantments, buffs, spells and anything that is based on manipulating mana or magical materials of any kind. One of the most versatile type of mage, the lowest rank in its type.

Analysis: A strong yet hard to level tree of magic casters that, while allowing for a great amount of power and control over all things magical, requires great effort to increase knowledge and understanding of magic to progress.

Conditions for acquisition: Have affinity for at least 4 out of 8 attributes, have over 50 MP, none of listed the affinities must be below the “average” standard, at least one of them must be at the “above average” standard, have the skill Mana Manipulation, have the skill Internal Mana Manipulation, have the skill Mana Perception.

3) Magic Seeker – Beginner(Legendary+ rarity):

Description: A mage that seeks to find the ultimate truth of all and has the tools and abilities necessary to stay long enough on this quest to have a chance of fulfilling it. Among the most versatile magical classes, the lowest rank in its type.

Analysis: A very strong yet very hard to level class tree that offers great versatility and control in terms of available skills. Requires incredible effort to increase knowledge and understanding of all things magical to progress.

Conditions for acquisition: Have affinity for at least 6 out of 8 magical attributes, have over 30 MP, none of the listed affinities must be below the “average” standard, have the skill Mana Manipulation at least at level 2, have the skill Internal Mana Manipulation at least at level 2, have the skill Mana Perception at least at level 3.

4) Shaman Lord – I stage(Legendary+ rarity):

Description: A non-traditional mage that uses spells ritualistic in nature. Generally more powerful but requires longer preparations to cast. Among the least versatile magical classes with firepower well beyond its level range. The lowest rank of its type.

Analysis: A very strong but very hard to level class tree. Offers great power and resilience to the user. Unlike other magical classes, doesn’t require the user to increase their knowledge.

Conditions for acquisition: Have any kind of affinity for at least one magic attribute. Have the skill Internal Mana Manipulation. Have the skill Mana Manipulation. Have the skill Mana perception. Have the blessing of an Eternal-level existence.

5) Spiritualist Apprentice(Legendary+ rarity):

Description: A mage that strives to achieve harmony with nature. Uses non-traditional ways of casting by communicating with spirits of the elements and things living and dead, this class shows a good balance of versatility, unpredictability and power.

Analysis: A very strong but very hard to level class tree. This class is the most unpredictable of all magic classes in the same level range, its final ability mostly dependent on the user. The lowest rank of its type.

Conditions for acquisition: Have affinity for all of the magical attributes except for space and time. Have the attribute for psychic and aura. None of the listed affinities must be the “below average” standard and lower.

6) Renegade Seeker(Mythological- rarity):

Description: A mage that forsook their humanity in an attempt to reach the truth. Very powerful and versatile but is prone to stronger mental issues and disorders than most other mages. Impossible to change once chosen, impossible to upgrade once chosen.

Analysis: Arguably, one of the strongest mage classes out of all existing mage classes regardless of the level range. While the class cannot be upgraded, all the benefits that come with leveling stay the same, the class increases in its functionality as the level progresses. Requires an incredible amount of effort in increasing knowledge and understanding of magic to progress.

Conditions for acquisition: Have total affinity for magic attributes sum up to the “extreme” standard. Have talent for INT at least at the “genius” standard. Have the skill Magic Insight. Have the skill Warped Mind.

7) Magus apprentice(Mythological- rarity):

Description: A class that is the opening of, arguably, one the most versatile and powerful trees of magic classes. Despite its significance in the long term, it brings next to no tangible benefits in itself within short term and only shows its worth during, at shortest, the next class change.

Analysis: A class that only sets up the framework for the coming classes, it brings no benefits in and of itself and leaves the user relying on their own personal abilities until the next class change. Doesn’t affect the leveling speed in any way until 10 levels before next class up, creating a bottleneck at that point. The lowest rank of its type.

Conditions for acquisition: Have the title Abnormal. Have the skill Magic Insight. Have affinities for all 8 magic attributes, their total affinity summing up to the “extreme” standard. Have talent for INT at least at the “genius” standard.

8) Arcane Collector - Beginner(Mythological- rarity):

Description: A mage that greedily collects all magic knowledge and abilities that can be found. Belongs to the most versatile branch of magic classes.

Analysis: Arguably, the most versatile magic class in its level range. Requires an enormous amount of effort in collecting, studying, experimenting and generally acquiring skills and abilities that are connected are magic in nature.

Conditions for acquisition: Have the title Abnormal. Have the title Slayer of Giants I or other equivalent or greater titles of its title set. Have title Veteran Warrior or its equivalent titles of the Veteran tree. Have the blessing of a being of an Eternal-level existence or any other type of connection or interaction with such a being. Have the skill Mana Insight. Have the skill Multitask at least at level 4. Have affinities for all 10 attributes summing up to the “extreme” standard.

9) Spirit Lord – I stage(Mythological rarity):

Description: A being that surpasses its own species’ limitations and wishes to ascend to a higher stage of existence.

Analysis: The hardest to level magic class in its level range that comes with the most unpredictable consequences. Leveling the classes of this tree is ridiculously hard. Little can be predicted about what this class will signify for the user but only exceptional beings can have the chance to try walking this road.

Conditions for acquisition: Have the title Abnormal or other equivalent or greater titles in its title set. Have the title Slayer of Giants I or other equivalent or greater titles in its title set. Have the title Survivor of Hell or other equivalent or greater titles in its title set. Have a title of the “Miracle” series. Have a strong connection to at least one being at the Eternal-level of existence. Have at least 1 experience of crossing Realms of any kind. Have at least 1 experience of being biologically dead. Have the skill Magic Insight. Have the skill Warped Mind or other skill that belongs to the “powerful will” set. Have the affinities for all 10 attributes.

The choices I got were all… quite interesting to say the least. Not to mention the latter rarer ones, even the most basic was at the legendary level of rarity. I don’t know how rare legendary is-

“Statistically speaking, less than 1% of all people ever get to possess a legendary class, ever in their lives, as for Legendary+, it’s about 0,0004% of population we are talking about”

“Okay...”

As for the Mythological rarity…

“Mythological rarity is basically the System saying that it’s so rare, it’s basically a myth. When legendary classes can be reliably expected to appear when the population reaches a certain degree, I can list hundreds of universes, or Realms, for that matter, that have never had a Mythological class appear in their whole history”

While being rare sounds really awesome, it doesn’t mean it’s good. For example, the Renegade Seeker class is the last on my list of choices, even above the Apprentice Mage.

Besides, all the rare classes seem to have ridiculous requirements for levelling, especially the last one, Spirit Lord – I stage that was outright called “ridiculously hard” to level.

What do I even choose?