Ryel PoV

I clicked confirm the moment that I could, excitement making it hard for me to focus on the word. For years I had been nagging my parents for every little question I could think of, even if it was about well known subjects. All I had to do was focus on the word and imagine I was pushing or clicking the button, but in the moment that was a lot easier said than done.. 

As soon as I finally clicked confirm, my vision went pure white for a moment, before the light vanished, leaving behind a large empty room. 

“Hello?”

Hello? Hello? 

“Azalea smells!” 

Azalea smells! Azalea smells!

With my giggling echoing back to me as well, I took a single step forward and nearly fell over from sudden dizziness. The room filled in a flash, multiple mannequins my size and shape appearing around me, all wearing different types of armour and carrying different weapons. 

As I stepped up to the closest one on my right, a beam of light lit up the mannequin and light blue letters flashed in my eyes. 

Use [Inspect] by focusing on your target and thinking ‘inspect’. 

Following the instructions, an information window suddenly appeared in my vision. 

Explorer (Rare)

An unusual class that has many survival, movement and mapping abilities. Agility, constitution and wisdom are the most valuable attributes. The ability to dodge chasing boulders, survive poison darts or know the wisdom to avoid them will help you survive another day! 

Do you wish to select this as your Class? 

Yes No

I made a face. I wanted to hit things, not run away from them! Besides, it seems like it primarily uses whips as weapons. Skipping the rest of the information, I moved to the next mannequin. 

The next one was called Thief (Common), and making another face, I went straight past it. Being good at stealing wasn’t something a tough warrior did!

Skipping along merrily to the next mannequin, I wasted no time in inspecting it. 

Tinkerer (Rare)

Tinkerers excel at creating explosives or gadgets from scratch or by combining objects to create different effects. They are also excellent at upgrading and improving personal gadgets. Intelligence and Agility are key for this class. Quick fingers and even quicker intellect are required to save body parts from being blown off after all. 

Do you wish to select this as your Class? 

Yes No

“Ooo, explosions are fun!” I giggled, a silly grin on my face.

I looked at the mannequin. It was dressed in a long coat with a leather vest. Crisscrossing the chest were two bandoliers, full of small pouches. Two strange looking baton type weapons hung from a belt that was covered in randomly sized pouches. Long, thick leather pants and big leather boots covered its legs and feet and finally it had weird goggles on its head, with a bunch of different lenses. That was certainly better than the first two, though its outfit was a bit on the odd side. I shrugged and started for the next mannequin. 

The next one was dressed in a fur-lined leather miniskirt and bikini showing way too much skin, fur-lined leather boots, and carrying a single giant axe. 

Berserker (Uncommon)

Very few things can match the savage fury of a high level Berserker. Known for their incredible strength, as well as their incredible recklessness, Berserkers exhibit all of the savagery (and control) of a wild animal. Strength and constitution are the most important attributes of this walking avalanche of a class. 

Do you wish to select this as your Class?

Yes No

The brutality and sheer strength of this class was well known, feared, and respected among adventurers and soldiers alike. When several of the orc clans merged and became a horde a hundred years ago, it took several kingdoms working together to fight them to a standstill. Mostly thanks to the many Berserkers they had had among their ranks at the time. Among the orc clans, a berserker was a prestigious Class to have. I didn’t like the idea of losing control in a fight, though. It left me feeling uncomfortable. While it might be fun, I wasn’t among an orc clan, and I had my new clan with Kelcie and Azalea. 

Moving on, I stopped at the fifth Class selection. 

Voodoo Priestess (Rare)

Spirits of the natural and unnatural orders of creation bend to the whims of a Voodoo Priestess. Through the use of handmade effigies of nature spirits, a Priestess may channel their power and accomplish many fantastical feats. From summoning spirits of the dead, to harnessing the power of nature. The power to heal or harm in equal measure is theirs to decide. 

Do you wish to select this as your Class?

Yes No

This mannequin had long robes draped over it, with a proper, if simple and cheap, Voodoo mask in the shape of half of a human-shaped skull. I stared at the Class description for a good long while, before sighing and heading to the next choice. The Voodoo Priestess was a tempting class as well, completely disregarding the fact that it was yet another rare Class option. Most people never got higher than uncommon. I was just glad that all of my classes were combat capable, even Tinkerer, if applied right. 

Dancer (Uncommon)

The natural grace of a Dancer is a sight to behold. Able to glide effortlessly on any surface, whether that is the dance floor to entertain a king’s guests, or on the battlefield, it matters not. Dancers naturally have high agility and strength. Whether a Dancer is weaving in and out of other dancers or enemies, you can be sure they’re doing it in style. 

Do you wish to select this as your Class? 

Yes No

The dancer mannequin had a beautifully designed outfit. It appeared to be dozens of strips of colourful cloth, all entwined and twisted to create a long sleeved dress that came to its knees. Looking closer, I could see lots of little knives hidden in folds all over the dress. It also had a large belt around the waist. It held various weapons and tools; a makeup kit, vials of poison, and even more daggers. 

It was certainly beautiful and a close second after tinkerer as a choice, I had to admit. Even if a Dancer wasn’t a traditional orc warrior class. 

Sighing wistfully at the beautiful outfit, I made my way to the final class option. And pouted. It was the boring Archer (Common) class. 

“Aww. I don’t want to shoot pointy sticks at people!”

I looked around, hoping against hope that more options would appear as suddenly as the first had. It wasn’t until after my second look around the room that I noticed a door at the back of the room. Bright light spilled out of a gap as it swayed open slightly, as if a gentle breeze was pushing against it. 

“Hold the phone!” I said, copying Azalea. I had no idea what it meant, and she said it with a strange accent, but I liked it. I was pretty sure that door hadn’t been there when I last checked. Shrugging my shoulders, I walked over to check it out. 

As I reached the door, I slowed down, trying to not make any noise. Grabbing the gently swaying door as it knocked against the frame, I slowly poked my head through the small gap I made and gasped in shock, my hand slipping from the door and pushing it open further. 

The room had shiny, pure white, floor, walls, and ceiling, and except for the person standing there, intently studying a green and blue orb that just floated there, it was completely empty. I looked at them cautiously, the person's appearance almost as strange as the room in which they stood. 

They had short spiky white-blonde hair that stood up on its own, cut longer on the top closer to their forehead. Some of their hair flopped down to partially cover their glasses, which had thick black frames. They were clean shaven, revealing incredibly pale skin, multiple strange-looking piercings on their ears and face, at least from the angle I was looking at. They wore a dark purple vest over a white long sleeved shirt. Tight black pants made from shiny material with weird purple shoes that had white laces from the white tip at the toes to the top of the ankles completed their outfit. 

Suddenly, the orb changed, grabbing my attention again. It felt like we were falling down as a section of what we’d been looking at earlier got a lot bigger, and a lot more detailed. Plants, animals, and even people became easier to see, even if they were still incredibly small. When it finally stopped, it revealed a girl that was naked, pulling herself out of the water and onto the shore of a large lake. She appeared to be a nekokin, except her skin was pale and she had small black horns on her forehead along with white cat ears and the tail of their race. 

Her red eyes flashed in the sun as she looked around at her surroundings and, despite how cold she must’ve been, she didn’t seem to be affected by it from what I could see. I had just noticed what appeared to be broken egg shells floating on the water nearby, when several humans stumbled upon her. In a movement almost too fast for me to track, as the humans moved in towards her, she attacked them viciously, clawing at them, then using their own swords on them, tearing the weapons from them and plunging them deep. On at least one of her enemies, she paused, fangs sinking deep as she appeared to drink from them.

“Excellent,” they said in a soft male voice. “If Azalea fails, perhaps this one would be a suitable replacement instead. Or perhaps she could help her? Hmm. So many options. It is good to have contingency plans, for any eventuality, just in case.”

I perked up when I heard Azalea’s name mentioned, making sure to listen extra carefully. It was just too bad that I had zero idea what they were talking about. I jumped, startled as the person suddenly spoke up. 

“Come in, girl! Come in. It’s not polite to leave a door open like that. It could create a draft after all.” Even though there was a hint of amusement colouring their voice, the way they spoke left no room for argument. It was most certainly a command to be obeyed. I shivered involuntarily as I stepped into the room, closing the door with a loud echoing click behind me. 

As I got closer, I noticed details I hadn't been able to see before. His vest had a picture of several cute animals all dressed up in what looked like fancy party clothes, with one odd animal dressed in adventuring clothes. It had the words ‘Wrong Party’ above the picture. I could see that he had more piercings, several in the nose and even a few in his blonde eyebrows. His black eyes stared at me, sending cold sensations down my back and giving me goosebumps along my arms. They were cold, and not just cold, but freezing. Like he had very little joy left in his soul, if any. In the face of that, his smile felt even more forced than it normally would have.

I finally remembered that I had the [Inspect] skill and tried to use it on him. Nothing happened. It was as if he wasn’t a part of the system. His smile widened briefly to what felt like genuine mirth, actually wrinkling the corner of his eyes slightly, before it faded. 

“That won’t work on me, Ryel of the Green Hills Clan. No matter. My name is Assistant Directive Autonomous Mainframe. But, you may call me Adam.”

Frowning, I looked up into dark eyes after taking in his tall and skinny frame. “What sort of name is that?” 

“An only somewhat accurate name, I’m afraid,” he said, a flash of sadness visible for a second. “Now, down to business. Time is short and I’m extremely busy. You must gather your strength so you can help protect Azalea.” 

He stared until I nodded my head in understanding. “Ok, but why?” I asked, still very much confused.

The orb next to us shifted, showing — in slow motion — Azalea’s fight with the dragon. It looked far larger and scarier from this angle than what I remembered. 

Adam shook his head. “You must also tell that silly little fairy to quit being so reckless. I didn’t put so much effort into her birth, only for her to throw it all away. Foolish girl.” 

“Ok, but why?” I repeated. 

He stared at me for a moment, and I thought he might have been about to ignore me again, when he suddenly spoke. “Yours is not a need to know. Tell her. And choose your Class already, you already know which one you want.”

With a dismissive wave of his hand, the white room seemed to draw away from me, pulling the doorframe past me, before it slammed shut and with a flash of white, vanished, leaving a smooth surface. 

“Well… that was rude!” I was going to ask him about giving me my class early, but I hadn’t gotten the chance. I pouted, before turning back to the mannequins. 

Mackenzie

I would like to thank everyone who’s stuck by this story for all of this time, it’s almost overwhelming the responses. I really appreciate that. We’re getting close to the final arc for book one which is really exciting! I apologise in advance for not revealing Ryel’s class just yet, turns out I’m evil like that. I’m curious which choice you think she’s going to make? Anywho, stay safe and I’ll talk to you next week!