A terrible hunger woke him up. Jack looked around and spotted his mother. He was in an unfamiliar place somewhere outdoors with a lot of people.

“Here! Eat this.”

His mother gave his a bunch of meat. He devoured it like there was no tomorrow, his body was demanding sustenance. After a while he ate everything.

“Better?”

“Yes, I …”

“You have changed your class. I must say, very irresponsibly.”

Jack nodded. He looked at his right arm. It was healed, not even scars remained.

“I got poisoned. I thought I would die and class was offering better regeneration, so I kinda had no choice. “

His mother had clenched fists. He was not sure what that meant. Her face was not looking angry.

‘I feel a bit unfamiliar when talking to mother. Like I can’t understand her, or at least not as good as before. Is it because charisma cased to be my class skill?’

She lunged and hugged him.

“We were thinking that you had died. You were wounded and unmoving. Only after some time we checked out and found out that you were still breathing. We deducted that you had to choose a new class.’

She had a bit watery eyes and was smiling.

‘Ok. She is happy. What about the fists? Anger? Probably not. Wait. I was unconscious for some time, most likely a few days. She was worried. She couldn’t do anything. I see. She felt helpless.’

Ding… Your analyze skill has reached lv. 7

Ding… Your charisma skill has reached lv. 19

‘So, I was right. I can’t understand people as easily as before or at least, in interactions I have no experience with. The analyze increase is nice, though.’

The analyze skill was targeted skill, as Rick explained. You wouldn’t get a skill increase from casual thinking. Jack’s environment was limited in various objects so his skill couldn’t get high level.

‘I suppose I can increase it now analyzing people. It’s still a loss, since I would rather have charisma as a class skill. Well, I hope the new class skills are better.’

“Mom, what happened after I went unconscious? I know that Sam and Jerry…”

She slowly let him go from her embrace.

“From when should I start?”

“Soon after the roof collapsed.”

“Ok, so… When the roof collapsed – as you should know – insects were free to attack us. Fortunately, smoke disoriented them and we were able to somehow deflect their attacks. Unfortunately… not all of them. Alice and Greg died. There were more and more of smoke and, I think, because fields burned, the swarm moved. There were less insects with every minute. Soon, there were none. There were only me, your father, Anne, Bob and Tom at this point. We checked on Sam, but he was dead. As I said before, at first we thought that you also died. As for Jerry… We have found the skeleton. Seems these monsters don’t like bones too much.“

In one night Jack become one of 4 siblings, instead of 8. He never loved them very much, but they were still his precious family. He shook his head.

“What happened afterwards? Where we are?”

“Nearly all wheat burned. Beside us, there were survivors, about 30 people from our village. The neighboring villages had a similar number of survivors, but their elders died, only ours elder is still alive. He decided to prepare for the worst – the frontier breaking. Over the 3 days you were sleeping, we build this small earthen fortress.”

Jack looked around. He indeed was in some earth hole, surrounded by a one and a half meter tall wall from the soil. He stood up and checked what was behind the walls. There was nothing. A wasteland. Either naked earth or bunch of ash. There were no longer any trees. Insects ate nearly everything, only some lone trunks stuck from the earth. Probably only because the fire chased monsters out before they could devour the trees whole. All huts were missing roofs.

“What about the food?”

“We still have some. The dugouts were mostly intact.“

Farmers were storing meat in the dugouts. In a winter, they dug a hole in the ground and then created a roof. On the roof they were placing straw mixed with ice, then a layer of soil. Side walls in the dugout were treated similarly. On the inside of such a construction were near freezing temperatures and it was possible to store meat. Thanks to the layer of soil, constructions didn’t melt completely even in the hottest summers.

‘Seems that earth layer saved dugouts’

There were obviously doors, but while some of dugouts had wooden doors, some had a rock as a door.

“Totally, about 140 people are in this fortress. It was a good decision to build it, as some wolves were spotted a day ago.”

From those 140 people, most were adults. There were only about 20-30 children. No elderly people, excluding the elder. Most of them were tinkering with scythes.

“What about scythes?” Jack asked.

“We need some weapons, if wolves will decide to attack us. Metal scythes were the best available. We needed to create a few handles, but there is still wood out there. As for the rest of them, we are straightening up blades on the handles.”

A class crafting skill most people had, allowed them to be natural about tinkering. Jack used that skill only once, when his scythe broke and he needed to repair it. According to Rick, the skill represented humans desire to create tools for themselves.

“Right! What about Rick?”

His mother shook her head.

“Only a skeleton was found. “

“But he was a monster hunter!”

“An old one. Besides, such swarm is not something that you can survive with just being strong. We were lucky, that there was ten of us and we could fight with more insects at the same time. Your father also quickly lit the roof, and Jerry…” His mother lowered her head.

“I see…”

Dead of Rick shook him. Not only as a personal tragedy, his sworn uncle and teacher dying, but also his mindset. Even someone as Rick died. He was at the level 31. These insects were only a few levels in the second tier.

“What now?”

“We are waiting, mostly. Since some wolves were spotted, the frontier was most likely breached. We should probably escape further into the interior, but we are too small as a group. We don’t have people with classes for combat. Fighting at the level 25 against some level 6 or 7 enemies is fine. The difference in stats is great, so even without fighting skills it’s not that hard, but if a sizable wolf pack attack us, we will get exterminated. “

Jack wanted to contribute. He was not super helpful in the previous fight. Now he had a combat class. He willed his status screen.

Name: Jack Age: 14 Class: Survivor Level:6 99% to next lv Stats: Base Essence reinforced Strength 5.89/25 8.01 (6%/level) Endurance 7.03/30 9.98 (6%/level) Intelligence 10.93/25 14.86 (6%/level) Mental Endurance 9.88/30 13.43 (6%/level) Agility 5.94/30 8.43 (7%/level) Perception 9.43/20 12.82 (6%/level) Class skills Skill level

Economy of Movement

Scavenging

1

1

Professions: 0/5 One available Skills:

Analyze

Farming

Cooking

Sword Handling

Spear Handling

Rune Shaping

Charisma

Crafting

6

19

9

8

11

21

19

3

Vitality 423/444 Stamina 90/90 Clarity 126/130

His base strength lowered. It was not surprising. In the class change process, muscles, bones and internal organs are upgraded. Muscles became more dense and efficient, bones sturdier, internal organs could work harder now. All of this needed some mass to happen. Since Jack wasn’t fat, his body cannibalized his muscles. He was no longer muscular – he was skinny and unremarkable.

‘I was also poisoned.’

Base strength 5,89 when he was so skinny was testament how more powerful his muscles became on the base level.

‘There is slight increase to intelligence and mental endurance. Perception also raised, nothing unexpected’

There was also huge rise of his vitality.

For the human child class, the stat caps are at 10, excluding perception which cap is at 5. Meaning, that at 10 strength you can have - for example – the greatest possible strength a child possibly can have.

Jack had been quite muscular before change – to get strength to 10 with the human child class, he would need to become extremely bulky. Intelligence was easier to train – at least to Jack. He was proud of his high intelligence. He hadn’t however boasted about that. Most children at his age were at 4-5 intelligence. It was hard for them to believe, that Jack could think two times faster that they.

He was thankful for that to the old uncle Rick. The old man taught Jack a lot of things. He was not Jack’s true uncle, but Rick was fond of Jack and requested to be called that. Rick was old, about sixty years old – probably – and a former monster hunter. Jack had never asked about his age. Such age was very unusual. He heard from some other monster hunters that they usually die young or get transferred to more mundane work.

Old age actually lowers all caps. Someone who could kill a beast level 40 can only do it, if he is the level 45 or even higher. You get not as much of essence from lower leveled monsters, with means you can’t level as fast as before. You get stalled. Rick retired in his 30-ties and spend some time farming. The Frontier braking 10 years ago, saw him leaving his fields and going with the rest of people in the great migration further into the interior. Later on, he started teaching children and getting some food for that, as land was limited – only the best farmers got some.

Jack looked at his skills. Skills are not getting you anything. They are purely informative the same way base stats are, at least, until they hit the level 25. When that happens, you should get some boost. Jack’s charisma being at 19 was actually pretty low. Most people his age had charisma over 25, giving them additional +5% boost to intelligence and perception to interacting with other people. Important thing here is the second word “to”. It’s only working when interacting with people and only to improve that interaction. You can find a better riposte due to intelligence and a better control over your face due to boosted agility, but you won’t get better at solving puzzles or with manual jobs, even if you are doing it when talking.

Rick once said that it has something to do with change of the essence in you. That with a high level skill some pattern is created, but even Rick admitted that he is not very knowledgeable about essence things.

There was also an available profession. Jack checked it out.

Conman I

Requirements

Charisma skill lv.5

Analyze skill lv.5

Boost

+10% to perception

+1% per level to perception

‘Charisma?’

It was known that class skills can’t unlock professions. It seemed, that pushing the charisma skill out of his class skill gave him a profession.

‘Ok. I will take it.’

“Mom, so how can I help?”

“Probably you can’t . We have only around 70 scythe blades. Unless your new class can spawn new weapons…” His mother shook her shoulders.

‘Weapon… What can I…’

“I know! Rick had a bow. His old one from his monster hunting days. He showed me, but never allowed to use it. He kept it in the case lightly buried in the ground. I will go retrieve it!”

“Wait!” His mother caught his hand. “There are wolves outside. Do you want to die?”

He looked behind the wall.

“I don’t see any.”

“Wolves are fast. If they spot you, it will be over.”

“I have enhanced vision now, among other senses. If I spot them, I will run back. I have a combat class now, mom. I will be fighting. If I not level up now, then it will be harder to fight later on. You can’t stop me forever. Rick’s hut is not even far.”

His mother was still holding him. She looked sad.

“I’m going.“

He wrestled himself from his mother’s grasp.

“If you spot even one wolf - return immediately! Don’t try to be a hero, understood?”

“Ok, mom. I’m going.”

He climbed over the wall and started running to Rick’s hut. Former Rick’s hut. Running was a bit uncomfortable, like he was doing it wrong. He tried to change it a bit.

Ding… Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 2

‘Ok. So that’s my class skill. I need to follow this feeling then.’

He tried to change his running style to make it feel natural. He was observing surroundings meanwhile. He hadn’t trained his perception, but just looking around was easy. His upgraded sensory organs were making his perception better, even without training. His journey was uneventful, excluding notifications of the rising skill.

Ding… Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 7

Rick’s hut was looking the same as others. Inside was a white skeleton, nibbled in a few places. Jack stopped for a while. Judging from the skeleton position, Rick hadn’t died fighting.

‘Did he just surrendered?’

Jack was afraid of death. He couldn’t fathom how someone could just accept it.

‘Were you too weak, Rick?’

He shook his head. Wolves could find him any moment. It was not the time to daydream. Jack quickly found the place and dug the wooden case. Inside were a wooden bow and ten bone arrows. Jack took the whole case and started running back. He was getting better at running. He was getting tired more slowly and therefore could run faster. Once again, there were no wolves. He was thinking back about Rick and insects.

“Um, uncle” At this point Jack still wasn’t used to calling Rick an uncle “Can you tell me more about essence? Why can’t I level beyond 5?”

“You should know that you raise your level by gaining essence. There is essence in the air, but it’s not very concentrated. Essence is naturally seeping into you, even when you don’t do anything. At some point however, the concentration of essence inside you is the same as the concentration of essence in the air – you can’t get stronger.”

“What if I kill something?”

“You should get some essence, but it will seep quickly back. The system won’t even notify you about the temporal increase in your essence. To level up more, you need to change the class. Higher tier beings have an essence pattern inside them. Essence – rather than being equally placed inside you – is concentrated further inside you, while being sparse close to your skin. Thanks to that, you can accumulate more essence.

Jack thought for a moment and asked:

“Why then you can’t get essence from killing ants?

“As you know, ants are level one. Due to their small bodies they can’t accumulate much of essence – because of that they changing their class every level. I know you never have seen a level two ant. Most ants and similar small animals never level up in their lifetimes. Anyway – while a concentration of essence in an ant can reach the concentration in the air, the amount of essence in an ant is very small. It’s opposite with larger animals. An amount can be big, but a concentration is so small that most of essence get dispersed and won’t get inside you. It’s the best to kill similar levels beings to get essence or higher ones, if you can.”

“Does that mean big monsters should be a way stronger?”

“Yes and no. Bigger monsters are being born with a few levels and become adults at higher level. Generally, a level is reflecting someone’s strength very well. Two beings at the same level should have the same chances of killing each other. Obviously, there are many various monsters and skills. You may counter a monster ability and easily defeat it, or a monster can counter your abilities.”

When he climbed back, his mother, tinkering with a scythe, greeted him with a smile.

“So you are going to be an archer now?”

“I don’t know yet,” he shook his shoulders.

He was looking for some weapon, not for the life profession.

“I’m going to train a little.”

He marked a point on the wall and walked away from it for about 10 meters. He nocked an arrow and started to pull the bowstring. It only got pulled halfway.

‘Ugh, I’m too weak! Damn!’

He loosed the arrow. It hit half a meter from the target.

Ding… You have now skill – Archery lv. 1

Jack loosed a few more arrows.

‘Should I give this bow to someone stronger?’

Jack knew that by keeping the bow he wasn’t acting in the best interest of the group.

‘I also won’t be able to use a scythe effectively. I’m going to fight and to do that, I need a weapon. Screw it! It is selfish, but I’m not going to give the bow away.’

At some point in the training, he realized that he also could feel a bit unnatural when pulling the bowstring. Jack experimented a bit and was rewarded with notifications.

Ding… Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 11

Ding… Archery skill has reached lv. 6

His aim didn’t change, Jack was still mostly missing, but…

‘I should be able to draw the bow a bit further with a correct stance’

He continued shooting for a few hours until the evening. His archery skill reached level 13.

Most people started eating supper. Jack searched for his family and went to them. His father was looking bad. He had burns on his arms, either from venom or fire. Bob, Anne and Tom were looking gloomy. Jack’s mother distributed meat.

“So, what class you have now?” Jack’s dad asked.

“The survivor class. I got it for killing 3 higher tier beings.”

“Is it strong?”

Jack nodded.

“Better than the monster killer.“

“Jack,” asked Tom, “does that mean you are going to fight monsters from now on?”

“Yes. I think so.”

Tom shivered.

“You shouldn’t. You will die.”

“Tom! Don’t be like that,” said Jack’s mother, “there are many strong warriors. I’m sure Jack will manage.

“I heard that those insects were only a few levels in the second tier. Jack will die for sure.”

Tom soon started crying. Anne joined quickly.

“You know,” started dad, “when the frontier broke ten years ago, many died, including my own siblings. Actually, maybe there is my family somewhere. When we were escaping, we all got separated. Dying is the natural occurrence in this world. Everyone dies sooner or later.”

“I don’t want to die!” Tom shouted.

“That’s why you should raise your level and get combat class,” replied Jack.

“Didn’t your Rick also died?!” Tom shouted. “He was a monster hunter, right!? You will die for sure!”

“Silence!” Dad shouted. “You should not quarrel. Let me finish. As I have said, every one of us will die at some point. Dying is meaningless. The important thing is how we live. I love your mother and I wanted to spend my life with her. I love you guys. I’m going to protect you to the best of my abilities. Four of you were taken from me, from this world. It’s sad. I wasn’t able to protect them, but if I had had a combat class, I would probably never had a family. Everyone should do what they want. If you –Jack, want to fight monsters, it’s ok. I’m not saying that is a correct path. Let’s try to be happy. We should concentrate on the future.”

Jack was not so sure about dying.

‘I’m not going to die. I will become strong and not so easily killed.’

“Ok. I’m full. I’m going to train spells,” Jack said.

The rest of the family looked fairy conflicted what to think about it all. He walked away a bit and sat down.

Ding… Your Base agility has reached lv. 6

‘Only now?’

Changing class is basically gaining a new body, however, since his new body looked and worked nearly the same as his old one, it was expected that his agility would rise quickly to the same fraction of total possible as before, since he was getting used to the new body. Jack started drawing a spell inside his mind.

‘Damn! I’m close. I think I should be able to cast properly the minor recovery at about 16 total intelligence.’

He continued the training, even though his clarity was a bit on the low side from the previous training. Soon, he got two notifications.

Ding… Your Base intelligence has reached lv. 11

Ding… Your Base mental endurance has reached lv. 10

Jack was also positively surprised by another notification.

Ding… Your Rune Shaping skill has reached lv. 22

‘Is that because I can now create a bit more complete spell, so I got experience of maintaining a bigger spell?’

He continued training until he could barely think, and went to sleep.