Looking away awkwardly, Fortuna hesitantly answered Chester's question.

“That I can’t talk about that either, but you should be more careful this time around, no becoming a restaurant dish this time, OK.” She finishes her sentence by placing her hands on her hips with a serious expression.

Raising his hands up and shaking them, Chester replied with a grin now that Fortuna had given him another opening to tease her.

“Alright, Mum, I’ll be careful.”

Now becoming flustered again, Fortuna took a step away from Chester.

“I-I am not your mother! I don’t even have children! I should smite you with divine punishment for this transgression!”

Chester couldn’t help but try to stifle a chuckle seeing how this goddess behaved once teased, making her seem more human than divine.

“Not trying to be rude, but you are nothing like what I would expect from a goddess. I would have expected someone more… aloof and irritable?”

Looking away awkwardly while slightly downcast, Fortuna started to make an excuse.

“I see… well I am normally like that with mortals, but I seem to have got caught up in your tempo…”

Lightly coughing to regain her composure again, Fortuna put on a serious face while her demeanour changed again.

“Well, enough of that, it is not why I came. I am sure you have many more questions, but you will either need to figure out the answers for yourself or remain clueless forever.”

Saying so, Fortuna briefly wore a triumphant smile after being able to get back at Chester. Returning to her serious expression she continues speaking.

“In regard to your time travel, there is a slight issue. For something to be gained, something must be lost. You cannot take without giving. By going back, causality has been altered and it will eventually destroy you as you are now.”

“As such the gods have decided to remove Chester Branford from the world and replace you. Your body and soul will be altered, you shall remain but become someone new. This is the will of the gods and by Jupiter’s decree I have come here to enact his will.”

Hearing this, Chester’s face paled, all of his previous teasing mood vanishing as Fortuna's words hit like a dropped anvil.

“Wait… become someone new...? That’s a bit… what will everyone think when Chester disappears and is replaced with another guy? And what about the conglomerate I lead?! Everything will fall apart!”

Stopping Chester before his panic increased, Fortuna moved to try and reassure him.

“Fear not, for the appropriate preparations have been made. Chester Branford will have unfortunately passed away in a car accident and his sister will return to the Branford family and take over. As for your friends, I shall personally tell them of the situation as I imagine that it will be more believable when you tell them.”

“Did you just say sister!?” Chester shouts.

Startled by Chester’s shout, Fortuna became flustered again losing her aloof goddess facade.

“Y-Yes, I did. Please, believe me, it was not my idea, Jupiter forced it! He thought it would be ammu-!”

Fortuna Once again covered her mouth with her hands, becoming even more flustered with a furious blush on her cheeks.

“Oh no, I almost said too much again! Please forget that! *Ahem* This is by the will of a higher power and cannot be changed.”

Feeling a stone of worry form in his stomach, Chester spoke up.

“Seriously?! I always thought of the myths about the gods were told to keep people in line and to keep the kids in bed at night… now I’m not so sure.”

Sighing in Exasperation, Chester asked another question, grasping onto the last straw of hope.

“Are you sure you can’t just change me into a tall male dwarf or a handsome ogre or something? I still have my pride as a man!”

Regaining her composure, Fortuna looks at Chester with a smirk and her hands on her hips.

“Nope, this is the price that you have to pay or your soul will be destroyed.”

Seeing the panic on Chester’s face, Fortuna smiled feeling like she had got her own back for Chester’s teasing but then felt guilty realising what she was getting proud of saying.

Falling to his knees, Chester’s mind was in a spin. Taking deep breaths to compose himself, he started to rationalise the situation in his head to keep his sanity.

‘Well, it is thanks to the gods that I got the chance to live again, and with a massive advantage at that. I could be completely dead, but I am at least still alive and have the chance to correct old mistakes. If the price is to give the gods some amusement at my expense, then while it is quite shameful, it’s a small price to pay. Besides, it’s not like I can’t still enjoy a glass of whiskey while smoking a Churchill… but I will have guys hitting on me…’

Arriving at that thought sent a shiver down his spine.

‘A-anyway, besides that, it could be worse. And if I can be turned into a girl, maybe I can become a guy again? But what if I get used to it… ugh, those are issues for future me. Time is ticking and this is inevitable. I need to get in game and move forward. Sitting and wallowing in self-pity will only hinder me more.’

Collecting his resolve, Chester picked himself back up and looked at Fortuna.

“I don’t have the time to waste complaining. If there is no other way, then so be it. Let’s get this over with.”

Impressed by Chester’s resolve, Fortuna nodded her head.

“Sadly, there is no other way. But don’t worry, the gods spent a lot of time creating a perfect body for you, and you will look incredibly beautiful!”

Feeling a pain in his heart that he will become incredibly beautiful instead of incredibly handsome, Chester decided to make a snide remark with a raised eyebrow.

“Let me guess, ALL of the gods had lots of fun while making my future body?”

Hearing his remark with his emphasis on ‘all’ while intensely staring at her, Fortuna looks away with an awkward smile.

Coughing slightly to get Fortuna’s attention back to the topic, Chester asks another question.

“Ok, so what’s next? Do I go into the game’s character creation like usual or…?”

Looking around, Fortuna bumped her fist into her palm as she assessed their current progress.

“Oh! Yes, umm, that stage is skipped due to the circumstances, and we go straight into selecting your class.”

Snapping her fingers, a shimmer of light appeared before the two revealing a young woman standing with her eyes closed.

Her beautiful waist-length golden hair cascades down her back, shimmering in the light that reflects from each strand, while her facial features were as otherworldly as the goddess standing next to her. The woman’s expression is neutral yet still shows off her full cherry red lips and a slight flush of red on her cheeks, easily able to take the breath out of any man who lays eyes on her.

Looking down at her body, Chester could see that it was as stunning as her face, with perfect proportions that could not be hidden by the slightly baggy starting clothes that adorned her figure. Chester’s eyes were drawn to her decently sized chest that is neither too big nor too small, while also looking at her legs which were long and slender while her waist was narrow.

Chester was completely caught off guard and left bewildered for a moment until Fortuna’s voice brought him back to reality.

“This will be your new body, what do you think?”

Taking a moment to register what Fortuna had said, Chester spoke up.

“This will be me…? Honestly, she is just way too beautiful… I can only see problems in my future. I guess you gods will be getting your entertainment, huh.” An inscrutable expression was plastered on his face by the time he had finished speaking.

Thinking about how this new development will impact him, Chester fell into thought again.

‘I can’t see any major issues compared to before, besides getting used to the new changes and additional… assets.’

Sighing, Chester nods.

“Right, let’s move on.”

Hearing Chester’s words Fortuna snaped her fingers again and a number of Florissant outlines of various weapons appeared around them, each representing a different class.

In order, surrounding them were the following classes.

 

 

Warrior:

Uses a one-handed weapon and a shield. After class awakening has access to two-handed weapons.

 

Berserker:

Uses two one handed weapons. After class awakening has access to unarmed combat skills.

 

Magic swordsman:

Uses a two-handed sword. After class awakening gains access to magic skills.

 

Paladin:

Uses a one-handed weapon and a shield. After class awakening has access to holy magic.

 

Ranger:

Uses a bow. After class awakening gains access to one-handed short swords.

 

Tamer:

Uses a one-handed short sword and has the ability to tame monsters. After class awakening gains access to spears.

 

Assassin:

Uses daggers. After class awakening gains access to thrown projectiles.

 

Dancer:

Uses crescent pendulums. After awakening gains access to glaives.

 

Shaman:

Uses a staff. After class awakening gains access to musical instruments.

 

Sorcerer:

Uses an amulet. After class awakening gains access to a scythe.

 

Mage:

Uses a staff and a short sword. After awakening gains access to magic catalysts.

 

As with many MMO’s in the past, in Caelus Online players could choose one out of a selection of different classes, each one having its own specialities and skills. Upon reaching Lv 75, a player can then awaken their class which for most players would follow a set path, while others who manage to meet certain hidden conditions can acquire unique variations of their class. The hidden variations of each class have a slightly higher number of skills available to them and occasionally some unique traits making them more desirable to acquire.

Looking around, Chester swiftly found the icon of a staff and short sword and pressed it, causing the icon to light up.

“As expected! You chose your old class again!” Fortuna called out.

Turning around to face her, Chester replied.

“Of course, I have enough to get used to already, no use in changing something else to get used to. Besides, I know nearly everything about this class, everything has become muscle memory at this point.”