The only breaks I got from training were thirty-second periods of respite to leave the mansion. Although it would be convenient, now isn't a good time to be isolated from the rest of the world.

Little to no update on the lawsuit situation, just humble brags from Free Chains. There is also an evergrowing list of things I can do or events to attend if I want to increase my popularity. Credit to the assistant for that.

I checked the "world" news, and the country isn't on fire any more than it already was. Good or bad, life continues. Someone dethroned a famous ranker and made it into the top 10. I do not care.

There is a single message from master Giles. "I'm here."

I pop back into my mansion and collect my beasts. They aren't a requirement, but I want them there. Duchess stops me and speaks to me with her mind as we leave.

[Carry thisss one there. Thisss one was hurt due to your brutal dismissal.]

I think she's being playful. Not sure. Also, mind reader, aren't you too big for me?

[Thisss one is also hurt that you have no interest in my other forms.]

She shrinks until she looks similar to how I first met her. Except she has better-looking feathers and wings. She lifts herself telekinetically until she wraps around my shoulders like a piece of garment as Duchess used to before she grew out of it.

I scratch her head like I used to. Why did you pick this form, and what's the other one?

[Being travel sized is convenient in the concrete jungle. Slithering into places thisss one is barred from was a consideration. My health is slightly lower in this form, but my magic and mind are untouched.]

And the other form?

[Thisss one refuses to tell you since you forgot to acquire this information before thisss one revealed this form. It will come up, or it won't. Either it won't matter, or you'll find out eventually.]

What's your new spell, I can check manually, but I want to hear it from you.

[The light constructs were the framework of a barrier skill. Thisss one can create self-centered shields depending on only thisss one's mana and concentration.]

What's the upkeep?

[Miniscule unless thisss one is receiving attacks. There is a reason it took thisss one such an embarrassing amount of time for one spell.]

Good job, Duchess. I Walk over to master Giles' house after informing master Wang. He said he'd be there in an hour. And to wait for him before commencing anything. He didn't even ask where I was for the last week or what I was doing.

On the way, I pass by that ex-military guy sitting alone in his car with the windows down. He makes eye contact with me before pressing a button on the dash. A thin robotic hand places a cigarette into his mouth while a smaller one lights it with a small flamethrower.

He drives off.

What a guy.

~

I asked master Giles to recount his journey after greeting him and showing off my beast's new forms. He's seen them before, but now it's official. I had Duchess get off and go back to normal before reaching his estate.

I'm interested in the elvish territories since little information is available to the public. I'll have to go there eventually as the human representative.

"Disciple, I'm not allowed to speak freely of the elvish territories."

"What can you tell me?"

"The lands are beautiful but dangerous. I managed to bury Old White in a field of his favorite flowers. The melancholy clashed painfully against the natural beauty of the land."

"How did you get to the elven country?"

"I paid off some sea elves and smuggled myself in."

"Now I have even more questions."

Since master Wang is going to be a while, master Giles gave me a quick lecture on elves. As much as he could, anyways.

There are many different types of elves and subspecies within those types. The average elf has better affinities than the top 20% of rankers. Not humans, but rankers. There are humans without the capability to break free from rank F, and they aren't even considered in the metric.

They have naturally higher spirits and a larger mana pool. They also have intrinsic ties to nature, so much so that most subspecies of elf results in generations of elves living in a type of habitat. Those types of elves are nature elves. Sea, forest, mountain, desert, etc. Without any modifiers, elves already have ten times the lifespan, so I don't want to think of what generations of elves look like.

If an elf has a child every thirty years, and their child has a child every thirty years, for five hundred years, that'll be around sixteen generations of life beneath them. Your fucking ancestor might be selling apples at the farmer's market and only halfway done with life. I don't know if they mature slower than humans, thanks to the lifespan thing, so I may be wrong.

There are two main types of elves, ignoring subspecies: a high elf and a spirit elf. A high elf is an elf that has less connection to the "spirits of nature" but has a better mana pool. They are deemed the purest type of elf.

Master Giles has never seen nor heard of a living spirit elf. Only their descendants, the aforementioned "nature elves," are around. Master Giles ended the lecture by mentioning that there are many missing links and that the progenitor of the elves has been long since extinct if they actually existed. As humans, it will be impossible for us to know the history of the elven race fully.

Master Wang arrived a few minutes later while I was trapped in thought. With a direct equation, I'm not even considered two years old by their standards. A human's natural lifespan isn't enough to even be a preteen.

I wonder how long an elven vampire would live? Is that a stupid question? Vampires are pseudo-immortal beings, but they can age on a technicality. Who created all these bipedal creatures with similar attributes?

I get knocked on the forehead by master Wang. It hurt like a mother fucker.

"Ellis. Giles and I had different methods to attune to energy, so pick your poison."

"Giles, your way of attunement can be hardly called a 'method.'"

"I researched more traditional means and adapted them to the martial arts a while back."

"How did you attune your energy, master Wang?"

"It just happened at some point. I woke up one day and realized I had it for a while."

"..."

"Disciple, my method is more orthodox. I'll try to spark the attunement process with a concoction of herbs and a few ritual inscriptions for protection. That's how I did it."

"That's not too dissimilar to my approach. Consume a pill I forge, and I'll have to beat you in specific spots to start it."

"I almost praised you. I'm glad I held off, Wang. Don't beat our disciple in my presence. He's not a dog for you to abuse."

"He's used to it."

"...can we do both? You are both my masters, after all." I've been waiting for this moment for such a long time, and I won't let petty squabbles ruin it.

"That can be arranged. I'll have to adjust some things to account for Wang's pill."

"Just handle the safety shit." Master Wang said as he tossed master Giles a small ring box.

"Can someone actually walk me through what's going to happen?"

"You do it, Wang. I'll be right back."

"Since I happened naturally, I'll regurgitate the accepted information circulating the masters' circle. We will induce an "out of body" experience to help you "grasp" the energy that calls you. If the choice fits, everything will be alright."

"Alright, then, what benefits will I be getting exactly? Does it solely depend on the energy type, or is there a blanket effect?"

"Casters usually get manipulation of that energy, and fighters get blessed by them. Casters wouldn't necessarily need spells anymore of that type since they can freeball it if they know what they are doing. Fighters gain massive resistance and elemental-infused attacks.

Technically you are a utility class, but since you are closer to a fighter, I'm sure you'll get a blessing instead."

"That did not answer my question." Master Wang ignores me and continues talking.

"It will be a trait. Sometimes a title, but that's usually a precursor to something fucked up, and you're about to die a gruesome death. There is a blanket effect, you impatient disciple of mine. Hidden benefits in everything related to your energy. It's also a requirement to change classes or rank up when you get into the higher levels. And I mean the GOOD type of classes.

The energy really only starts to get good at level 300."

"..."

"Until then, it's just a signifier that you are, or will be, a big shot."

"All this time wasted for something I won't use in 200 levels?"

"It's worth it. You no longer need to change out a class every time you reach a "bottleneck." There are no more checkpoints in leveling. You can rank it up your class at any point instead. It's technically more difficult, but you'll always have the option.

People rarely change the class they get at level 300."

"What's the highest level possible?"

"Who knows? Ten is a cutoff for those unable to walk any path but the mundane. I'd say the average citizen is at your level. One hundred. The soldiers are double that at two hundred. Three hundred is another cutoff point. People who are extremely lucky, talented, or hardworking will reach or surpass that. More than one of those, actually. Maybe all three.

After that, I'm unsure. There is no technical limit. If there is, it hasn't been found yet."

My current class is ranked C. If I rank up incrementally, at level 300, I'd be at A. I could always push for S or whatever's beyond that. SS? SSS? U?

~

I'm sitting on a stone patio with a runic language carved into it. A single, large, elemental stone is embedded in the center. I make eye contact with Flash Gordon before deciding not to bring it up with my masters.

The first thing I do is strip to my underwear. Master Giles slathers a tangy green paste on my skin. I'm left to ferment for a few minutes before everything gets absorbed into my flesh. The next thing I have to do is bleed onto the stone. Just a smidge.

After that, I swallowed the pill master Wang made before sitting in the lotus position. The runes start glowing, but nothing happens. I put the rest of my unassigned stat points into attunement, hoping that would help.

I look around, confused since something was supposed to happen. Master Wang nonchalantly pokes me in my glabella, and I go unconscious.

It's peaceful like I'm floating in an ocean of tranquility. I can't tell if my eyes are open or not. Tangible nothingness surrounds me. Clear as water, with the place around me being pitch black. I see a few stars far below me. Sources of light in this infinite darkness.

I try to call for one, assuming they are the energies I'm supposed to harness. I can't tell what feels the strongest. They are all so muted. I search for the nugget I felt while conscious, but that's even harder.

"Calling on death? Bold."

Huh? Are my weird thoughts separate in this form?

"No. Your thoughts are uniquely your own."

A cold hand grasps the back of my neck and stands me upright. A jolt runs through me. I have the same feeling when I realize I'm in a dream and have conscious thought over my actions running through me. I'm standing on the surface of the 'water.' Completely naked in front of some figure.

It's within arm's reach, but I can't tell how tall they are. No matter what, their face is slightly out of sight. When I try to look at the top of their head, I can only see their chin and neck. They are almost invisible, camouflaged against the black background of wherever we are. Inside me?

I can vaguely see their outline. They are a robed figure, holding nothing.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? How are you here?"

"Many questions. Questions with answers you are not obligated to know."

Their voice. I couldn't focus on it earlier, but it's nonexistent. Sounds are not reaching my ears, nor is it telepathic. I know what it feels like to have something telepathically talk to me. I understand what it's saying, regardless of the means of projection, in this case, none.

"Am I dead?"

"Valid question. No."

Im overwhelmed and confused. Why? What? Who? Why again? My mind is racing. The imaginary blood in this body of mine is coursing like white rapids.

A globule of energy shoots from the still-inky ocean and tries to go into me. With a simple outstretched hand, the element moves and floats in the palm of the figure.

"I am a spirit guide. Not my name. Barely a title. Not a god, barely a mortal."

"My orb thing..."

"Indeed. Your orb thing."

More of these globules rushed out of the sea and into the palm of the figure's hand.

The energy that tried to touch me was a mass of separate blackness engulfing a red eye.

An orb of flesh covered in muted but screaming mouths.

There is still darkness, unmoving and lifeless. Opposite of that is a white orb, radiant and warm. Between those opposing forces is a mute gray, lurching back and forth.

The last one looks like a planet without water or an atmosphere.

Wait, no. There is one more. One that was there first. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it now that everything else had moved. It's the most refined shape, a book of some kind, but the same color as the work around me.

"Peculiar race. Peculiar member of said race. Freedom of having any energy inhabit their body, but rarely does anything worthwhile appear. The entire race only lived seconds in comparison to some others. It wouldn't be strange for you to be the first."

"First? What?"

"Weirdo. First weirdo. The first outlier."

"..."

"Madness, Pain, Death, Life, and Undeath. There is even a smidgen of a rock here. Why?"

"You're asking me?"

"Not earth. Rock. Weird. No elements. Only concepts. Life and Death. Having both in one body. Unheard of. I understand why Undeath is strong in you. Strange human, hopefully, the first of many. Pick from your fields. What will shape you as much as you shape them?"

"What about the other one? The first one?"

"That's Taboo. Forbidden."