Laurence was about to die.

Not the first time, nor even for the dozenth time. Laurence had gotten very good at dying.

Fortunately, Ken was even better at preventing Laurence from dying.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" the dungeon-dwelling powerhouse asked. He still hadn't taken to the habit of wearing shirts. "There has to be a better way to do this."

"No. This is the fastest." Laurence waved one arm in demonstration. He still had only minimal control over his wrist and fingers, but at least his shoulders were working again. Repeatedly dying and coming back had a way of putting you back together.

He wasn't sure why that was how it worked, but it worked.

Ken crossed his arms and scowled. "You're never going to reach my level at this rate."

"Don't be so sure. I'm just preparing myself. You wait and see. The world will tremble at the full might of Laurence Skystrider."

Laurence Skystrider: Level 5

(Scout)

"Right. Your full power." Ken pointedly looked at Laurence's tag, then tilted his head to look up at his own.

Ken Lewis: Level 29

(Fighter/Medic)

"Hey, you only have two classes," Laurence protested. "I'm going to have all of them."

"Is that what you've been doing? Dying so you can try every class before choosing one?"

Laurence grinned smugly. "No. I've been leveling every class so I can be every class."

He held out both hands in front of him—well, flopped both arms roughly in front of him… he still had a long ways to go before regaining full dramatic use of his limbs, but it was the thought that counted.

Magic gathered between his outstretched arms, forming slowly and dramatically into a swirling mass of icy shards.

"I've seen you do that a hundred times. It's not going to impress me any more this time than it did the first twenty, that's for sure."

Laurence cackled gleefully. "The first twenty, I was a level 12 wizard. Right now, I'm only a scout."

"I fail to see the point."

"The system doesn't control magic. It assists with magic." Laurence directed his mana through a precise sequence, shifting the expanding ice storm in front of him into elemental lightning. "And magic doesn't require the system. Classes are training wheels."

"Right." Ken didn't sound impressed. "Can we get back to killing monsters yet?"

"Can't you just play along? How many times in my life do I get to reveal the omniclass!" Despite his fervor, Laurence maintained the spell hovering in front of them perfectly. Ken seriously did not comprehend the difficulty in this.

"Omni-class? Is that what you're calling it?"

"Perhaps. For when I am none," he intoned dramatically, "I am all. Now let me die, so that I may be reborn."

Ken shrugged.

He really needed to get a more appreciative audience one of these days.

Laurence charged straight into next monster he saw, a level 33 ogre. The monster gladly stabbed a sword through his stomach before its other hand swung around to tear out his throat. Lacking any protection, Laurence crumpled to the floor, health obliterated in an instant.

He was only distantly cognizant of Ken jumping between him and the ogre. At this level the margins for error were nothing to play around with.

You really didn't get used to dying.

He kept thinking he would, kept thinking that the primal flinch away from enacting what he knew he had to would eventually go away.

It didn't.

Laurence lay dying, blood and levels seeping out of him, his already weak body draining further and further toward emptiness… darkness gathering at the edges of his vision...

"Last time, you say." With a reluctant flick of his wrist, Ken cast a healing spell.

Laurence's death ceased, then reversed.

Laurence Skystrider: Level 0

"Ow."

He lay there a moment longer, catching his breath while Ken held the ogre off with a constant blur of his flashing blade. Ken kept stealing concerned glances at Laurence.

Laurence Skystrider Class: None Level: 0 Stat Points: 0 Strength: 0 Psyche: 0 Spirit: 0 Health

95/95 Mana

5/5 Stamina

45/45 Health Regen

N/A Mana Regen

N/A Stamina Regen

N/A

Laurence would have given a thumbs up, but still couldn't. Instead he coughed a few times until his blood stopped clogging his throat, then grinned. "I'm good. Perfect. Prepare to be amazed."

"Yep. Ready when you are. Any time now."

Laurence sat up, rolling his neck to try and remove a stubborn kink. "Your enthusiasm is inspiring."

"Enthusiasm isn't really my thing. I'm better at the punching and slicing." Ken demonstrated with a heavy punch to the furious ogre, then a followup slice.

"The system is responsive. It understands and reacts. It took a while for people to figure out how to talk to the system, and for the system to figure how to understand people, but once that synergy was reached…"

Ken nodded, patient, but unexcited.

Fine. He'd see.

Laurence got to his feet, mentally absorbing a bottle of corrosive poison from his stash.

Incorporation. Medic.

In the same moment he filled his hand with fire, reached out to the monster that had killed him, and drove his flaming claws into its throat.

Metaphorically. He still didn't have working hands, but Fire Claw was the next best thing.

Mage.

The high-level ogre was far too sturdy to die to one attack, even after going up against Ken for the past minute. Laurence jumped into the air and activated Drift, his newest acquisition.

Scout.

He floated backwards away from its retaliatory swipe. It still caught him with the tip of its claw. Laurence struck back, kicking a knife held in his bare foot into the monster's wrist, activating his incorporated ability along with Pierce.

Fighter.

Snatching a manabow between his toes as he dropped the knife, he raised it in front of him and fired.

Ranger.

"Bring its health down a bit further, would you?"

Ken stabbed the ogre in the head a few times, until Laurence nodded for him to stop.

Dismay. Tamer.

All the while, Laurence mentally ran through the full litany of abilities he had gained access to over the past months, praying that the system would understand his intention and follow through with his will.

With one last kick, the ogre's final health disappeared and it fell forward in a sad pile.

"Thank you." Laurence mentally dusted himself off, feeling both anxious and unbearably excited, waiting...

Welcome back, Laurence Skystrider!

You have 1 level to assign.

Classes available:

Fighter Medic Ranger Scout Mage Tamer Omnimancer

"Yes!" Laurence grinned harder than he'd ever grinned in his life as he mentally hit the button.

Warning! You have selected a Unique-tier class.

No other class may be added afterward and all existing levels will be converted.

Warning! Omnimancer cannot earn or use ability points.

All abilities must be manually unlocked.

"No problem. I'm ready."

Omnimancer level increased to 1.

+20 health, +50 mana, +10 stamina

Unassigned Stat Points: 1

Unassigned Ability Points: N/A

Class selection locked.

"Ahahahah! I've done it! And you said I was mad. Hah! Behold, I am Omnimancer!"

Laurence Skystrider: Level 1

(Omnimancer)

Ken regarded him with confused respect. "How…?"

"I took off my training wheels."

Laurence Skystrider Class: Omnimancer Level: 1 Stat Points: 1 Strength: 0 Psyche: 0 Spirit: 0 Health

115/115 Mana

55/55 Stamina

55/55 Health Regen

1/minute Mana Regen

1/minute Stamina Regen

1/minute

"So," Laurence turned to Ken and grinned. "Are you ready to become the first professor in Skystrider Academy?"