Barracks, Former Ulis Farmstead

Unequipping my gear to my inventory and falling back onto the straw cot designated as mine, I sigh with relieved satisfaction, "Much better."

Wriggling and stretching, I release a tired yawn, then force myself to sit up. Since there's nothing else for him to do today and he's pretty out of it, Jupiter has elected to log off early to let his Vessel recuperate. As it's still mid to late afternoon, the other three and myself will be sticking around to discuss our progress and attempt The First Step once we've rested a little.

"First thing's first, how's everyone doing after that?" I start with an icebreaker question.

"Easy was easy. Normal was also easy until the extra health on the boss started to become a problem," Jade comments, "It's a pushover when it doesn't have time to ramp up, but fuck me sideways if it ain't a damage sponge."

"A sentiment I agree with, if less crudely put," Angelus rubs his eyes, "Desire - the grab - becomes a serious problem in the latter half of the Normal mode fights. Most of my MP expenditure was dealing with that, rather than the 'tankbuster' - I can understand why Windy has to be the one to suffer through it since none of us likely could save maybe for you, Silver, but I sorely wish it wasn't necessary for someone to be grabbed in the first place."

"Mhm, that shit fucking hurts. My ribs are still sore even through the armour, which for the record, is below half durability now," Windy speaks up with a slight croak to her voice.

"You ok, Win?" Jade asks, concern overpowering her recent awkwardness around Windy.

"I'll be fine in maybe half an hour or so," Windy waves her off, "Other than that, I'd say I enjoyed it, overall. Just wish we got more loot out of it for the effort we put in."

"Preach," Jade gives her a thumbs-up, "Stingy fucking dungeon."

"Three Iron-Tier accessories, a bow, spear and staff are nothing to sniff at. It'd be like running three or four completions of Miner's Nightmare to get the same value for one item, almost," I assure them, "Besides which, the main thing we wanted out of that was Level 10."

"Yeah, what's this First Step bullshit about that you've been teasing for the past week and a half?" Jade demands, resting her head in her hands.

I glance off to the side, deciding how to frame the explanation, then drink some water and start talking, "Think of it like a coming of age ceremony of sorts for players, denoting the end of the 'tutorial' phase of the game, where you have to survive and grow as a community with your own personal skills and ingenuity before it hands you the real toys. It's not the most elegant system, but it does the job of forcing players to understand the basics."

"Learn to walk before you run, in other words?" Angelus muses.

"Precisely," I nod, "Say, for example, you swing a hammer with vastly increased force and damage as a class ability. But before that point, you've never so much as held one, so the moment you activate the Skill, you end up losing control and smashing your shin into pieces. The way things are done in Astral Reckoning is such that you get the simplified version of how the world and combat work before it gives you the chance to break your own kneecaps."

"They couldn't just make an actual tutorial instead of forcing us to go through ten levels of content as a second-class citizen?" Jade criticises.

"Please direct any complaints you have at the devteam, I'm just trying to interpret and teach here," I raise my arms helplessly.

She sighs, "Whatever, just get to the point, man."

"I won't be going over all the details, since I'm not the person to answer them, really, but I'll summarise what you ought to expect to see," I cough, then take in some more water, "So, as I said, it's like a coming of age ceremony, and as is often tradition for such affairs, there's a trial associated with it. Or, in this case, a personality test and a suitability test to determine what class you get."

"Like, horoscope shit?" Jade questions.

"No. As far as I know, the following things are taken into consideration: The stated desire of the player for the kind of playstyle they prefer, their activities in-game up to that point, the wishes of their Guide if they choose to be in attendance - extremely rare, but it can happen if you catch their interest - and finally, the attributes the player has. Classes you can get aren't exactly the most specialised typically and can be hybrids, but as you progress further into the game you naturally end up narrowing down into your niche," I explain, "So, if you're a Hedge Mage who spent a lot of time hitting things with a sword and you split your attributes between imagination, dexterity and agility, you'll more than likely be offered a magic swordsman class that specialises in magically enhanced speed and power. Then you'll be given a test to see if you can make that work and prove yourself worthy of it. As an aside, Classes get bonus attributes based on their archetype, and what stats you get depend on how specialised the Class is, so that magic swordsman would naturally get extra Agility, Dexterity and Imagination every level in addition to the 10 Free Attribute Points."

"In broad terms, that means I will likely get a class that specialises in dealing damage with two-handed weaponry, and I'll have the option later on to specialise into more damage, defence, or a magical hybrid and so on. Just as an example," I continue, "You won't need to worry too much about getting something unsuitable, it's fairly accurate, and it is down to you whether the class it offers is the one you take, but be warned that you can't, for the lack of a better term, reroll it indefinitely. Sooner or later you'll have to make a decision, and even if it's not quite what you want, you're not completely without options."

"So, I'd be getting a sword-and-board tank class, Jade'll be an archer of some kind and Angelus will be a pure healer?" Windy lists off.

"I expect so," I scratch my tapered ear, "Though if I had to specify a little further, you'd be a more offence oriented tank, and Jade would be more about shooting and moving. Angelus won't get anything too fancy, but gimmicks aren't always a good thing, and someone who's just really good at healing magic is still just as useful."

Angelus shrugs, "Fine by me. Just as long as I'm not expected to start praying fervently to the game's AI in exchange for healing like a priest class."

"Says the guy going for the angel motif," Windy raises a brow.

"I'm not about to start worshipping a computer program," he fires back indignant, "Is that a danger, Silver?"

I shake my head, "Shouldn't be. Healing isn't exclusive to clergymen of any type. Most religious organisations on Merrow don't specialise too heavily in one class identity."

"Then there's no problem," the healer smiles, "I'm interested to see where I end up taking it further down the line. Are custom classes a thing, perchance?"

I waver, "Besides Hero Legacy Classes - which are generally a custom class that was held by an NPC before their demise - that sort of thing is incredibly, incredibly rare. Maybe a handful out of a billion others, if even that."

"Shame," Angelus smiles sadly, "That would have been great."

"Don't discount the possibility, but don't get hung up on the idea," is all I can think to tell him. The existing class catalogue is diverse enough that allowing players to buck that to make their own would oftentimes be redundant and dangerous to the overall balance. One of the only such creations I heard about was a variant of the Ideamancer which allowed an artist player to literally paint things into reality for a short time. It wasn't very powerful in spite of this, however, and once the novelty of it passed, the player vanished with their five minutes of fame. No idea what became of them after that, assuming it was a custom class at all.

"Yeah, what's the deal with Legacy Classes?" Jade asks the question that directly concerns her which I've been putting off.

"Like I said, they're classes held by an NPC in life which they left behind the means to obtain after their death. Legacy Classes can be anything from a basic class to a Hero Legacy Class which are generally unique to that Hero. So long as you can meet the conditions to acquire it, usually by passing a dungeon called a Legacy Trial, you can change to that Class once. If you change to a different class, you can't do the same trial twice and change back, assuming the Legacy Trial is still active after you took it's prize," I tell her, "The interesting thing about the Hero Legacy Classes is that, because of their uniqueness and origin, rather than simply inheriting all of the Hero's power, you can also further develop and grow the class to suit you. A uhhh let's say a Spear Saint who only learned 2000 forms in life may pass it to someone who learns them and an extra thirty on top of it that get absorbed into the Class as a random example I just made up. More normal Classes progress by changing into other things, and Hero Legacy Classes change themselves, I guess you could say."

"So, when I get to Level 20, I have to pass another test and then that Class is my Class forever and ever?" Jade clarifies.

Windy nods to her, "Sounds like it."

"If you choose to stick with it, it will grow alongside you into something that fits you specifically, and only you, while you might find yourself changing to fit the mold of a different Class," I reiterate, "There's basically no downside."

"Sweet. Jade Fairy, Heroine of the..the fuck was this place called again...world of Marrow, at your service," Jade salutes sarcastically.

"Merrow," Angelus supplies helpfully.

"Yeah, that. So long as I get to use a gun, that sounds like a sweet deal," Jade smirks.

"From your description of your Guide, that would be quite likely as I've said before," I encourage her, "To get back to The First Step, the trial you undertake will be specific to that Class and to you, so you're responsible for your own well-being, as we cannot help. You'll be on your own, so don't worry about the rest of us and activate the Portal Crystal you received whenever you feel comfortable doing so."

I estimate I'll be sufficiently recovered in about ten minutes. Not enough to bring me to peak form, but that shouldn't be necessary.

---

 

Trial Ground of The First Step

At first, I feel a sense of almost spiritual liberation, and I cannot see anything but a deep black void. Slowly, though, I feel my body descend until I gently get placed upon the ground, standing. A light flickers in my vision, and the dark space that suffused the area recedes from around me, revealing clean, aged stonework flooring and a barren, grey stone room lined with arched windows leading out into a whiteness that, in contrast with the black of before, is simply too overpoweringly bright for me to see through. Ahead of me, on a raised platform, is a carved stone throne lacking in ornamentation or cushioning, and a simple, embroidered green rug.

This sure does bring back memories. Times like this that really hammer home the strangeness of my circumstances.

Raising my arm experimentally to check that the transference hasn't messed with my motor functions at all, I smile and start walking over and onto the platform, standing upon the rug, kneeling in front of the empty throne with my head bowed down and waiting.

When I started out, I had intended to seek out a Shrine to Lady Jannis before attempting The First Step, but with the confrontation with Geronil looming overhead and the nearest Shrine not exactly within walking distance, shall we say, I can only compromise and attempt it anyway.

 

 

I find myself frowning at Jannis' absence, as I thought she would have leapt at the opportunity to catch up with me. Which means either that she's too busy to see even one of her Blades, or that she's deliberately avoiding me. Of the two scenarios, I favour the latter, which only leads me to question what reason she could have to be absent from a pivotal moment in a Blade's development like this.

It's quite unlike her.

 

 

Rolling my eyes at the system's nagging, I clear my throat, "Mastery of 2-handed Blades."

I can't get too specific here, unfortunately.

 

 

Since she won't be showing up, I see no reason to keep kneeling and instead stand up. I know better than to try sitting in the chair though.

 

 

A little different to the previous timeline where I was offered the Path of the Warrior at a 64% Compatibility. At 96%, I've basically no reason to refuse - anything less than 75% would be unacceptable. Reaver is also just a very solid class, if a bit more offensive than I'm really comfortable with - more about wading through swathes of enemies than it is about duelling a strong opponent, my true speciality.

"I accept this Path," I announce calmly.

Far behind me, I hear the creak of a wooden door opening, an exit manifesting in the wall opposite the platform that wasn't there previously.