After preparing myself, I was about to leave with Heinesia.

“Ah I have work to do, so you’ll have to go there by yourself.” Heinesia looked up at me apologetically with a sweet smile. She didn’t seem to be free, but considering how busy she usually was, I didn’t mind it.

Although it was astonishing that I was out cold for so many days, I was grateful that Heinesia had gone out of her way to remind me of today. It might have also been her obligation as my observer too, but I was still happy that someone was looking out for me in this world.

That’s right. In this world, I had no power to stand on my own for a long time. I was the one who only received help and goodwill from others and never the opposite. But all that was about to change.

The day an Ascendant receives their class was the day their fates would change considerably. 

Heinesia stepped forward and straightened the unironed clothes. When her hands remained on my chest for an unnatural amount of time, I lurched backwards consciously.

I was still aware of the distance I needed to take from her. But I thought that the way things are right now, they might also change at the end of today.

Heinesia’s hands remained in the air briefly before she returned them back, a wry smile on her face. The woman turned her back towards me, and spoke in a small voice.

“...You, know the way right?”

“...Yeah.”

“Then good luck. I hope you’ll get a good Gift.”

I watched her leave after those words, and I shook my head slowly while heading out myself as well.

(Heinesia-san…)

Right now, I cleared away all the unwanted thoughts in my head. I decided not to bog down my mind over what was arguably the most important day of my life.

 

---

 

As I’ve read about them in preparation of this day, I learnt that the class and skill systems were basically the same from the game I’m familiar with. However, the existence of [Gifts] had slightly changed how I perceived powers in this world.

Gifts— Special abilities given to people who had reached a level milestone in the system.

It is a ‘bonus addition’ to a character’s parameters; They can range from dragon-slaying proficiency, to increased weapon efficiency with swords, or even increasing your likeability with cats. When paired with the right Gift, a [Warrior] would become far stronger with a simple damage modifier, and even a [Beast Tamer] would be able to amass an army of cats.

...

Alright, I’ll admit it. The latter might have been cutting it a little. Some Gifts are completely pointless. Although I didn’t like leaving things to luck, there was no way to change the fact that Gifts were fully randomized.

It does make me worry too, as I already had a handicap right from the start; The passive skill「Disarmed Circuit」has since made my body unsuited for magic. This meant that any Gift that benefits from mana or spellcasting would mean nothing to me. 

Because of the mana circuits going haywire in my body, my hopes of becoming a Mage was already dashed. I had already compromised for this shortcoming by considering becoming a Berserker, which I at least had a bit of talent in. Although it wasn’t in my character as one, I thought that I might get used to it over time. 

After all, this was a real-world fantasy. Having talent meant that one would be able to obtain more [Skill Points], or “SP” in the beginning after choosing the class. And while it was technically possible to obtain that bonus SP through other means, being choosy is the privilege of the rich. I wasn’t someone who could afford those skillbooks in this world. Every single point mattered.

… … … …

It took me a little while, but I’ve finally arrived at where I was supposed to go for the Class Selection. From the people gathered around here, I could tell that the church was just up ahead.

It was a big day after all, and some of the citizens had come just to join in on the commotion. 

Class Selection was only held once every year, and Halvan was one of the three major cities where you could obtain one. Although not all Ascendants became adventurers, they were still able to be granted a class as long as they fit the Level 5 requirements. Through the Class Selection, the Ascendant’s lives would become much easier in general with their improved bodies and Gifts. It was akin to receiving a promotion in life. As a result, some family members had also come to show their support for their loved ones. They weren’t allowed to join the queue, but they could stay around the perimeter of the church as long as they weren’t obstructing the road.

The mob consisted of people who came from all walks of life, and there were even a few familiar faces in the crowd that I’ve recognized. One of them was the lazy shopkeeper where I had bought my camping kit from, and there were also the stall owners who sold street food. 

I wasn’t very amiable with them, so I didn’t bother giving my greetings to them. Instead, I felt a little under the weather from all the voices around me. Getting a little sick of the crowd, I pulled up my hood and pushed through them without attracting any attention to myself.

When the white noise of the surroundings slowly receded in the distance, I also began to slow down my pace. 

In the distance rose the purplegray spire of a church, and the irregular forms of old buildings. The building before me featured beautiful old stone and stained glass. Stone statues of the four goddesses of this world were centered around a water fountain, bearing historical meaning of the origins of the system, growth, life and morals.

Although I wasn’t one of the latest to arrive, there was already a long queue that extended out of the church’s entrance. I found the end point of the queue after looking around, and only started to relax once I’ve secured my position in line.

Still, the amount of people who had come for Class Selection was really more than I had expected. Even now, the number of people who queued right behind me were growing without any sign of stopping. I could see a pair of clergies creating some space for the ones who had just arrived. Many of them were wearing some kind of typical adventurer gear, while some came in formal clothes.

I silently thanked Heinesia for reminding me that today was Class Selection day again. If not for her, I would have to wait for a full year for this again. Before then, I would still be completely stuck with doing grunt work and constantly worrying over expenses.

Currently, I was still a ways away from my turn. I took out a book to read, but after a while I realized that I just couldn’t focus on it so I put it back into my backpack. 

My gaze gradually locked on to the person in front of me. 

His set of equipment were all considerably of high-quality, most of them probably custom-made which meant that he came from a rich family. His build was a little taller than me, and he had curly blonde hair— 

(...Hm? This person, could it be…) 

I know this guy! This was the one who hit on Heinesia on the day I registered as an adventurer! His name was Vincent, and someone who was around my age and had also started a week earlier than me. The young man always had an egotistical temperament that matched the wreath of jewelry adorned on his head. 

So he had also come here to choose his class, I thought. Though, I could tell from the annoyed look on his face told me that he didn’t like to wait in line. His eyes kept shifting left and right, giving me the faint impression that he was trying to find some way to jump the queue. After all, he had a notorious precedent in the guild before. He was someone I'd rather not come in contact with as much as possible.

Fortunately, nothing I had imagined happened. Vincent followed the line properly even though he was clearly sour about it, and he soon entered before me with giant strides. 

The entrance to the church was a large double leaf door. Made of polished oak, intricate designs of crosses and sigils of the four goddesses could be seen carved at the corners of the entrance and adorned with silver.

One could tell from a glance that the church was a resourceful place. The kingdom must have invested a considerable sum in the building and maintenance of Halvan’s church.

Once a full minute had passed after Vincent had entered, the clergyman at the front door beckons me over and bowed respectfully. Speaking of which, I understood that Ascendants were considered children of the Goddess Ennieus, which is why the followers of the church would treat them with similar respect.

“White-sama. It’s your turn now, please head inside.”

“You know… my name?”

The clergyman was an old man with a fair set of wrinkles on his forehead. His eyes seemed to be closed all the time, but they suddenly opened when I asked him that question.

He chuckled faintly, while revealing a small glimmer of light in his squinting eyes.

“Of course we do. The goddesses see everything. Now then, hurry along. We don’t want to impede the queue now, do we?”

I nodded and hurriedly took the marble steps up towards the double-leaved doors. 

The old man still left me a little befuddled, but I still went along with him. It was true that I shouldn't keep everyone else behind me waiting.

But once I was inside, do I have to follow any kind of etiquette? 

The old man seemed to have seen through my worries, and bowed again.

“Rest assured, another of my colleague will guide you inside. You can just leave everything to him.”

“I-I got it…”

When I had finally entered the premises of the church, the still breeze of conditioned air left a cool sensation on my sweaty skin. 

The door closed behind me again and the echo of the large doors rang in the solemn silence of this place, causing me to look back on instinct. Atop the entrance was the stained church glass, with various imagery of symbolism that I had seen before in a book. It was the teachings of Herale.

“—White-sama, you have come.”

I turned around to the voice who had called my name. It was still a little unnerving for these people to know my name so easily, but I tried not to show it on my face.

“My name is Mary, I will be in charge of you while you’re in the church. Please take care not to do anything outside of my jurisdiction.”

Standing before me was a girl with yellow turnip hair, dressed in white clerical clothing. Mary had a fairly mature appearance behind her rather plump proportions, which suggested that she was in her mid-twenties. She had a rosary hung around her neck, but the cross was nestled in between her boobs so it was hard to pay much attention to its finer details.

“Is... something the matter?”

Her words had broken me out of my trance. 

“N-Nothing in particular.” I shook my head meekly, trying to avoid meeting her eyes. 

“Ah, please remove the hood before we proceed. Your robe as well.”

“Eh?”

“Haven't you heard from the person outside, all must be laid bare before Ennieus-sama. You cannot hide your face in front of her.” Mary spoke a little sternly. 

“I-I see…”

He didn't say anything of he sort though, must've forgotten about it huh.

I didn’t question her anymore, and took off the particulars she had mentioned. I wasn’t told to take off my inner singlet and pants, so that was a huge relief.

“Thank you for your cooperation, White-sama.”

Mary said with a neutral smile as she heard me sigh. She received the folds of clothing and my backpack with both hands, and placed them in a cubicle nearby. 

“You can come back here to collect them later after you’re done with your Class Selection.”

“Okay.”

“Then without further ado, please. This way.”

Mary started walking ahead so I quickly followed after her, trying to hold back my feelings of anticipation as I maintained an eager pace.

I wonder, what will my Gift be.