Shawn watched a half dozen columns of smoke drift lazily up into the morning light from across the river. The wooden bench he placed himself in provided much needed relief to his aching leg as he observed the partially burned southern portion of Central Maston. Several hours had passed since he had sat in the concrete storage room with Kaylish. Shawn talked for at least a half hour before Anisha returned from her trip further into the underground facility with the necromancer in tow. The man was wasted, the stench of alcohol fully soaked through his torn shirt, suit pants, and, unfortunately for her, Anisha’s shoulder.

            With the unconscious perpetrator tossed over the knight’s shoulder, the trio made a hasty retreat from the slums back to the river. It was around the time Shawn limped halfway across the nearest bridge when the fires began behind him. According to Anisha, a platoon of combat troops had been dispatched into the infected part of the city with flame throwers to clear out any infected that had yet to be killed by the ever-growing force of reservists surrounding the city. Overhead, Shawn could still make out the patrolling shadows of griffons and their riders watching for any stragglers that may have slipped through containment. If Anisha wasn’t instantly recognizable in her dark metal plate armor, Shawn was almost certain they would have been shot attempting to cross the river.

            Anisha had been ushered quickly away so that the necromancer could be properly detained. Shawn could have made it back to Anisha’s estate but had decided to rest his leg for a while along the riverside. Thus, here he sat as the sun slowly began to rise on a new day. Shawn was incredibly tired, but there were a few items of business he had to take care of first. With a quick flick of his wrist, Shawn brought up his status menu.

Shawn Driggs

Level: 3

XP: 1056

Skills:

• Blade    (Level 1): You know which end of a knife to hold. Gain Proficiency with basic edge based weaponry.
• Firearm  (Level 1): Do not point towards your own face. Gain Proficiency with basic handguns and bolt action rifles.
• Observer (Level 1): Basic object permanence obtained. Unlocked the active ability ‘identify’.
  • Identify: This active ability allows you to see the race and basic title of any person, object, or item you use it on. Leveling up the ‘Observer’ skill will allow for more detailed information to be gained by use of ‘Identify’.

 

**Note**

• You recently advanced to level 3 and have yet to select a specialist class. 
• You recently leveled up and have stat points that remain unallocated.
• Would you like to level up now?

|| Yes || No ||

 

            Just like last time, Shawn had skill points to allocate.

            Though… Shawn’s eyes lingered on the term ‘specialist class’. That’s new.

            He jabbed the ‘yes’ button and scanned the page that appeared in front of him.

Shawn Driggs

Level: 3

XP: 1056

HP: 65/120

Strength:        12 +

            (Strength affects your effectiveness with hand-to-hand combat and melee weapons. It also slightly increases your resistance to most forms of physical damage.)

Dexterity:       14 +

            (Dexterity affects your effectiveness with long range weaponry. It also slightly increases your ability to avoid incoming attacks as well as your ability to remain undetected.)

Vitality:           12 +

            (Vitality affects your maximum health and your ability to regain lost health over time.)

Intelligence:   12 +

            (Intelligence affects your effectiveness with skills and spells. It will also marginally improve damage, cool down times, and range of certain skills and spells.)

Charisma:      10 +

            (Charisma affects your interactions with the people around you. It improves prices at vendors, your ability to understand and navigate quests, and the number and attitude of any companions in your party.)

 

Points left to allocate: 10

 

            Shawn subconsciously nodded as he read through the description of his stats. The last level up, he had prioritized dexterity since it would directly improve his ability to learn the ‘firearm’ skill. Though Anisha made melee combat work, and Shawn planned on learning a thing or two from her in that department, he knew that ranged combat was the way of the future. If this world’s technology was set to continue advancing, firearms would only grow more powerful as time wore on. Shawn paused on his untouched Charisma skill.

            ‘Charisma Opportunity Available.’

            Anisha would not have been able to come with him yesterday if he hadn’t passed that charisma check with colonel Peirce. The other skills posed a more direct and consistent advantage, but an itch in the back of Shawn’s mind told him that he shouldn’t write it off as he had before.

          I’ll look at the class selection first then before I make a decision. Shawn reasoned as he scrolled down to the relevant section.

Specialist Class selection:

• Warrior: 
  • Primary stat: 
    • Strength
  • Starting skills: 
    • Blade (Level 1) **If not already unlocked**
    • Counter (Level 1)
  • Description:
    • The warrior is an up close and personal fighter. A warrior’s mastery of melee weaponry makes them the deadliest combatants when the fighting gets personal.
• Ranger:
  • Primary stat: 
    • Dexterity
  • Starting skills: 
    • Firearms (Level 1) **If not already unlocked**
    • Sureshot (Level 1)
  • Description:
    • The ranger is an expert at longer distances. Should combat begin from afar, the ranger is second to none when it comes to damage and accuracy.
• Aegis
  • Primary stat: 
    • Vitality
  • Starting skills: 
    • Shield (Level 1) **If not already unlocked**
    • Regen (Level 1)
  • Description:
    • The aegis is a sturdy member of any team. With unmatched self-healing and tough skin, the aegis can take huge amounts of damage and remain in the fight.
• Caster
  • Primary stat: 
    • Intelligence
  • Starting skills: 
    • Firebolt (Level 1)
    • Mana pool (starting amount determined by intelligence level: 12)
  • Description:
    • The caster is for players that think they’re better than others. A caster can be the highest DPS character on any given team, but they are made of tissue paper. A light breeze will absolutely kill a caster if they are not careful. 
• Leader
  • Primary stat: 
    • Charisma
  • Starting skills: 
    • Inspiration (Level 1)
    • Steel Rain (Level 1) (*note* requires charisma 20 to use)
  • Description:
    • A leader provides direction and support for their team. A leader is able to provide teamwide buffs, protections, as well as the ability to call upon an assortment of support to turn the tide of any battle.

 

            Shawn let out a dry chuckle.

            It’s pretty normal in games to specialize in one field. It’s a big decision in games, but it means even more for me now. Shawn scratched the back of his head nervously.

            This choice would drastically change the rest of his life in this world. Like all of the decisions Shawn had made before now, he had to work under the assumption that his choice would be permanent. The first option, and the one that made the most sense to Shawn, was to become a ranger. The class was clearly built with long range combat in mind, perfect for the advancing world around him. The second most intriguing class was caster. Magic was still a large unknown factor to Shawn, and it could potentially be extremely powerful.

            That description doesn’t build a lot of confidence though… Shawn frowned.

            The last thing Shawn needed was to pick a class that the system, or whoever was in charge of these things, deemed it ‘for players who think they’re better than others’.

            What about the one under it, Leader?

            Shawn read through the charisma-based class.

            This is probably what Corporal Barnes back on the frontline specialized in. Shawn realized as he recalled the buff he had been given by the stoic soldier.

            Barnes’ skill, ‘inspiring presence’, was largely responsible for helping Shawn survive that experience.

            If there are multiple skills like it… Shawn pressed the two starter skills under ‘leader’ and brought up their description. Then this might be incredibly helpful.

            Inspiration (Level 1): You’ve read a pamphlet that contained inspirational quotes and remembered parts of a few of them. Members of your party receive +5 to their defense against fear attacks. 

          Duration: 30 minutes. 

          Limit: 3 times per day.

 

           Steel Rain (Level 1): No one really thought about the consequences of giving you authority to call in fire support, yet here we are. Call in an artillery fire mission on a target of your choosing.

           Current number of shells per fire mission: 3

           Limit: 1 time per day

           (*note* requires charisma 20 to use)

           (**note** requires operational radio to use)

           (***note*** requires a ‘friendly’ artillery battery to be within range of your target. Current maximum range away from battery: ~11 kilometers, ~7 miles. This range increases with skill level.)

 

            Surely this isn’t a real skill. Shawn rubbed his tired eyes and read the text twice more.

            The inspiration skill seemed like a smaller, less powerful one that corporal Barnes had at his disposal. Shawn was positive that the skill would level up to be the same eventually, if not better, given enough time. The second skill, on the other hand, seemed ludicrous. If the artillery in this world mirrored the development back in Shawn’s own, this meant he could call on one hundred- and fifty-five-millimeter cannons to fire one-hundred-pound explosive shells to any position of his choosing.

            Granted the restrictions on this skill mean I could only use it near the front lines. Shawn shook his head and looked at the last line of text. ‘This range increases with skill level’. Does that mean I can artificially extend the operational range of any cannons I call on?

            Eleven kilometers was already near the maximum range artillery in this time period could fire effectively.

            If that’s where it starts… How far could I push it?

            Shawn felt himself grow increasingly intrigued by the concept. The description of the leader class mentioned the ability to call upon an assortment of support to turn any battle in his favor. If steel rain was any indication for the types of support he would get from being a leader, then Shawn was eager to see what else was in store. With a grin, Shawn put his ten stat points into charisma and selected ‘Leader’ as his specialist class.