No matter how hard I tried to make sense of the system notification, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Since when did the system add ominous little comments to its notifications? Was I missing something here?

Suffice it to say, I put off my decision until I got home, where I discussed what I had been offered with my parents, who seemed just as stumped as I was. Seeing no other option, I postponed the skill evolution until I had the chance to talk to someone of a higher tier. I could’ve asked one of our guards, but I didn’t trust them enough to share something that could land me in a lot of trouble if I wasn’t careful. As a result, I decided to ask Andros, Reito’s guild master. He was tier 5 as well, and he probably knew how to navigate this issue.

From what I could tell, choosing a certain skill would make me head down a certain path, none of which sounded like much fun on the surface. Despite all the attached nonsense, the skills’ practical effects were nothing to scoff at.

I could admit, for example, that [Method to madness] would be an immense power boost to any spellcaster. I, however, had no relevant knowledge when it came to spells. Apparently, you had to shape mana into a certain shape and in a certain way to get a certain effect, which would then translate into a spell. The mana would clump together and act as ordered.

Compared to skills, spells were rigid and inflexible. On the other hand, their major advantage was that they lacked many limits that skills seemed to be restricted by such as distance, properties and even power. Spellcasting required immense concentration and mana, but if done correctly, one could cross into the next tier seamlessly.

That all sounded good on paper, until you realised that most spells would never be recognised by the system, which meant that one had to learn new spells each tier, unlike skills that grew just as one’s level did.

Few proper spellcasters were worth their salt, but those that reached high tiers were typically people of unparalleled knowledge and wealth.

This was everything Cerion had told me, when I had asked him about spells and the like. I only took one thing away from his explanation, though. Spell casters preferred to get stronger by listening to lectures and reading books, rather than killing monsters by the thousands like the rest of us did.

Spellcasting had never been an option for me from the start, though. My affinity made sure of that. [Method to madness] was a ground-breaking skill, but I wouldn’t be the one to use it.

The next skill, [Crawling road], seemed to have a fantastic practical effect. It would allow all of my skills to become even more powerful in a clash, destabilising my opponents’ skills and spells on contact, bit by bit. Unfortunately, the bit about ‘sharing pain’ seemed a bit... morbid. I wasn’t in any pain when using overloaded skills, thanks to Dark form. Maybe the system hadn’t accounted for that? Did I need to be in pain to use the skill?

Not to mention the skill’s title itself. [Crawling road]. Who knew what the skill would eventually turn into?

The final skill seemed like the most unique of them all. Through sacrifice, I could ‘give sentience to my mana’? That seemed useful, especially since the mana was loyal.

The added blurb seemed the tamest of the three as well, though I didn’t like the correlation to liches, which became immortal by separating their essence from their body.

There was only one issue. An obvious, glaring issue. ‘Sacrifice’. The sacrifice of what? Others? Myself? My morality? Helios forbid... my family? The risk that came with this skill seemed... enormous.

I retreated into my room and sat on my bed. Hoping to distract myself from these thoughts, I retreated into my mental palace.

Appearing in the shoddy wooden shack, I didn’t even bother looking outside and closed my eyes to meditate.

Time passed.

-scene transition-

A week later, I left home. The time I had spent here the past few months had been... relieving? Was that the word? It had assuaged the fears that my last trial had left in my subconscious. Amber, Helios protect that little bundle of energy, had brought life into the house and had distracted us all from the past, where I had hardly had any time for my parents.

I hadn’t asked how they felt about that time. I hadn’t apologized. On some level, I was afraid of admitting that I had been wrong. I didn’t want to sour what we had now for the sake of reopening old wounds, and Amber had done a thorough job keeping my parents occupied.

Most of all, I was happy they didn’t ask me how I felt, myself. I don’t think I could’ve answered honestly.

On a brighter note, my skills had finally grown enough to transform, which meant that I was a few days away from reaching tier 3. At this point, I could safely say I had done everything to get the best possible class, apart from tiering up my aura.

Thinking back on the strange skills I had been offered, I sighed. I simply had to choose within the next few days. I couldn’t tier up with such a choice left blank.

I turned around and waved at two figures standing in the distance. My parents had refused to send me off from the bakery. No, they needed to accompany me as far as possible. Even now, mom was waving Amber’s little arm herself, as if the little meatball understood that I was leaving. Oh well. I would be back within a year at the latest, right? Young kids hardly made any memories at this point...

Now then. It was time to leave. With my shiny tier 5 bracers and tier 4 sword equipped, as well as some well-worn pieces of armor, I headed off into the horizon. Next stop: Reito!

-scene transition-

As I walked through Reito’s gates, I immediately felt at home among the city’s familiar hustle and bustle. It had been a while since I had been here, after all. To keep my identity hidden, I kept my helmet on as I made my way to the guild. I wasn’t without enemies, and I didn’t want to be mobbed by people who recognized me from the tournament, either. For a moment, I wondered why I had even bothered with that blasted tournament, until I remembered that I could now actually use skills without fear of being hunted by the church or accused of necromancy. At least within Roa, I was safe to act as I wanted, within limits.

A few minutes later, I was stopped at the gates of the guildhall. Two guards that I recognised from way back were asking for my guild badge. I took it out and took off my helmet as well, for good measure. The moment they saw my face, their eyes lit up and they started smiling. They patted my back like we were old friends and talked about how I ‘had made the guild proud’ and how I had ‘shown those noble bastards’. I accepted their praise, but felt a little awkward at the forced interaction. It’s not like I had gone there with those goals in mind after all.

Eventually, though, I was let into the guild master’s office, where old man Andros waited for me with a jubilant smile.

“Arthur, my boy! You’ve done us all proud! Rashid has been keeping me up to date with your situation. I have to admit, it came as a surprise when you mentioned you were taking a break. How’s the family?” he asked with his usual vigour.

“Good, thankfully. Little sister joined us a few months back, but apart from that I’ve been spending my time preparing for my class evolution.” I answered patiently.

“Ah right! Is it that time already? Considering you’re here now, are you going to attempt it? Are you sure you’re ready for the trial?”

“Yes, well, about that...”

I carefully explained my issue with my aura skill while Andros occasionally nodded. After hearing the entire story, Andros took a few minutes to think to himself. Eventually, he spoke.

“Truthfully, I can’t tell you much about this issue. As you know, there are certain types of skills that appear semi-frequently. Core skills, essence skills, and aura skills, just to name a few. I don’t have an aura skill myself, so I can’t say I understand what you’re dealing with. However, there are two things I can share. First of all, I’ve only encountered these ‘notes’ twice. Both times, they were involved with a rare title or item that I had acquired. The extra little blurb seems to imply some kind of history attached to the creation of the skill, but I’m not sure what that entails... The other thing involves a friend of mine. He has an aura skill at tier 5. One time, he told me that auras are an ‘expression’ of something. It involves some kind of reaction that the world has to you as a classer. In other words, auras are, by their very nature, an expression of its user. Maybe you should pick the skill that suits your personality the most?” he explained.

It seemed like a decent suggestion, though it came with some difficulties when it came to practical application.

[Method to madness] was dominant and turned mana into some kind of enslaved force. Sure, I acted overbearing sometimes, but I didn’t see that as something desirable.

[Part of the great sight] acted oppositely. It elevated mana to a godly status, literally placed the importance of mana over everything else that made us mortal, that made us human. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid with mental palace.

Finally, [Crawling road] involved sharing pain with mana. I had no idea what kind of pain the skill was alluding to, but the ability to share, rather than give or take seemed to fit me better than the other two.

Andros interrupted my line of thought.

“Should I send a letter to your uncle and the guild head?” he asked.

“...No. No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary...” I muttered. In my heart, I had already made my decision.

A few minutes later, I was heading to the protected room that had been prepared for my class evolution.

As I walked down to the dungeon, I picked the skill I had settled on. My status screen updated before my eyes.

Name: Arthur Titles [Dark prodigy] Class: [Overloading Death Knight] LVL 50 Strength 304 Constitution 300 Dexterity 300 Intelligence 100 Wisdom 263 Affinity 599 Free stat points 0

Skills:

Passive:

[Overloading combustion core](0%), [Dark flow sight](4%), [Cascading mana-intrusive Swordsmanship](16%),

[Mental palace](N/A), [Dark Form](52%), [Crawling road](0%), [Weak mana sense](N/A), [Blackened essence(formative)](0%)

Active:

[Ghost apparation](21%), [Corrosive mark](3%), [Relentless orbs](4%), [Sword laser](1%), [Onyx chain wind](2%), [Aura step](49%)

[Crawling road] would be a long, winding path, no doubt. And yet, here I was, ready to take that first step.

Now, to finally reach tier 3.