“Have you made your choice?” Healer Melon asked me.
“Yes. It is done,” I replied. It was instant. One moment I had chosen to pick a class and the next I had a class. “But it was just instant. Or close to it.”
“There is a selection process, that much is known, but no one remembers. Hopefully you didn’t pick something horrible. Some people have been known to do that,” Healer Melon said.
“It seems like a very boring choice. I am just surprised there isn’t anything better than Adult Human. Its blue ranked and the effects haven’t changed, just the tier and the name,” I replied.
“You are gambling on yourself. The maximum potential of your class has increased, but its effects haven’t narrowed. I looked over the College’s research on classes before we departed. Whatever choice you made in class selection is about keeping your possibilities open with the hope that you will raise the color of the class,” Healer Melon said.
“You didn’t tell me all this before?” I asked.
“Would it change anything? Ultimately class selection is a very personal matter. Interfering in one is a social taboo,” he chastised me.
“Sorry, just frustrated by my choice and not knowing what happened.”
“Hah. You need to trust yourself more. But I understand. It was probably the best class that you were offered, or the one you believed would be best for your future. Don’t underestimate the effects of stat gains. While those free stat points you have are tempting, gaining stat points through hard work, is always better,” Healer Melon said.
“I know.” I pulled out the bracelet and put it back on. “No need to gain more experience for now. Any ideas how to improve a class after it has been selected?” I asked.
“Soul fruits,” Healer Melon said and I winced at that. I would probably need a blue soul fruit, which would never happen without my mother giving me one. “There is a reason no one knows what is beyond violet.”
“It isn’t a bad choice, but it is a boring choice that makes things difficult for me. I need to find a way to increase the class, without a soul fruit. What about soul skills?” I asked.
“Possibly, there is a reason soul mages were wiped out. Part of that is they can bypass defenses with ease, but they tended to be bad people. Like dark healers, there is a strong stigma attached to such skills and classes. Your best option is to fight your way down into the dungeon and to find some natural treasures,” Healer Melon suggested.
“I guess I shouldn’t complain. There could be worse outcomes, like a loss in potential,” I replied.
“Exactly. It is a struggle for people to get the best possible options. Yours class is good, but it isn’t the absolute best, which would be an increase in color while the effects aren’t changed. But that never happens with such a high ranking color. Unfortunately, you aren’t an exception for the System,” Healer Melon said.
It was annoying to not get something special. But that would be my ego and hubris talking, not my rationality. The System was not my mother. It would not give me special treatment no matter how much I wish it did.
We made our way out of the dungeon over the next three days after that. We hadn’t run into any Abnormals except during the dungeon break. The stairs leading up to Genoa were slightly damaged. I had been worried we would end up at another passage up to the surface, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.
I could end up like Judy stranded on another continent. Away from everyone and everything familiar. It might be interesting, but the downsides right now were too great. After I graduated the College and had a lot of spell skills I could work on then I would think about trying to dungeon travel.
I was also going to get a lot of spell skills, without aiming to maximize them in my later years at the College. As long as I knew the initial spell, I could work to improve it. Better to get all the skills that I would need long term and work on them while fighting in the dungeon.
Using a rotation strategy between different weapons and spell skills would be useful in improving my overall skills at a more rapid pace. The College was useful, but anything that could be used in combat was best leveled in the dungeon, not in a classroom.
Monster Processing had been a decent choice for the first semester, but ultimately it wasn’t the best choice. I needed to think long term and this class selection was like a slap in the face telling me that I needed to take my future more seriously.
Once we reached the surface inside the dungeon fortress at the edge of Genoa, there was a lot of rubble and destruction. “Looks like it was worse than we thought,” I muttered while looking around. The stairs were mostly intact, so I hadn’t thought things were that bad, but apparently I was wrong.
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“Adventurers out of Genoa?” a guard came over and asked. He gave Ozy an intense look, but my pet was resting on my shoulders.
“Yes, but from the College of Advancement,” I replied.
“Then you better hurry. They aren’t sticking around. The departure is imminent, last I heard,” the guard said.
“Thanks,” I replied as we quickly made our way through the paths that had been made in the rubble. We reached the center of the city and got on a magical carriage headed back towards the elevator leading up to the College. A good portion of Genoa was wiped out.
“What happened?” I asked the staff member driving.
“Dungeon break. A bad one. A pack of ethereal monsters were the first to break out, which disrupted the defenses and then a lot of heavy hitters, breaking the fortress. After that monsters flooded out and the battle couldn’t be easily contained. Legends are great at fighting, not at minimizing property destruction. While the College helped out, some people in the city are unhappy, so we are departing. You got back just in time. We are leaving in two days at the start of the new semester,” the staff member explained.
“Do you know where we are going next?” Healer Melon asked.
“I believe we will be headed towards the port city of Garland. Not as big into trade as Genoa, they do more fishing there and shipbuilding. But it is still up in the air, literally. The Dean will decide,” the staff member said.
“A small nation, nothing of immediate note,” I said. At least my knowledge of the world was finally useful in understanding something. Garland was a decent choice for the College. It offered the chance to buy resources and for people access to the city.
“What about Genoa? It looked quite wrecked,” Healer Melon said.
“It got the worst of it, since there were dungeon breaks everywhere. The problem is that there are no dungeon entrances under the water and there is a lot of water around Genoa. People say that is what funneled the monsters into the city. Others say it was the College that drew them somehow. Tensions are only increasing, which is why we are leaving once the semester starts. If you aren’t on the College, you are getting left behind, not exceptions,” he said.
That would have been a massive headache, getting left behind and having to take a ship to where the College would be next. A flying College was nice, but it also created some headaches as well.
We reached the elevator and Melody was there. When she saw us, she had a look of relief. “You are back. Good. I was worried,” she said.
“Really?” I asked.
“You are the top student in your year. And your mother’s background is immense. If you died, that would be…bad. But that didn’t happen so nothing to worry about,” she replied. We all got into the elevator which began to ascend back up to the College.
“Thanks for worrying. It was a bit rough in the dungeon for a bit, but we managed,” I replied. Ozy gave a short nod while relaxing on my shoulders in agreement.
“Ah, well you might not have heard. But your father has left his role as an Assistant Professor along with 24 legends that had been teaching and protecting the College,” Melody said nervously.
“What? What is going on?” I asked as the elevator continued to rise up towards the College.
“He has declared that he is running for the position of Genoa’s Prime Minister along with the position of Supreme General. He is rapidly moving to consolidate power. The legends under his command countered the dungeon break, but…many of Genoa’s forces and key politicians were killed during the incident.”
My father hadn’t let the crisis go to waste. It looked like I wasn’t going to be taking Speech as a class next semester or having breakfast with him anymore. He was moving forward with his crazy plan of world domination. What was I even supposed to think of that?
I was already known as the legendary child due to my mother, now my father would only make me more infamous. He better get me some very good graduation gifts if he was trying to restart the Eldarin Empire, just without the slavery. I almost wanted to roll my eyes at that nonsense.
Sometimes things should stay in history and left behind. The world was perfectly fine without him trying to take it over. But I also knew I came from a very privileged position. The struggle of ordinary people, was something I barely understood or even thought about. My father cared, perhaps too much. I knew he wanted peace and prosperity and he wanted his way.
“His actions are his own, and I am not getting involved with whatever he is doing,” I said firmly. Melody let out a sigh.
“That is good to hear. Otherwise, there might be complications. It is the request of the Dean that you avoid any political statements while you remain at the College. In exchange we will continue to protect you while you study here,” Melody explained.
“That is fine. I am here to learn, not to cause trouble,” I replied. We arrived at the College. We made our way back to my dorm suite in the center of the campus.
Once there I noticed an obvious letter on my desk after getting changed out of my armor. My father must have left this here. I carefully picked it up. I felt a tingle of Mana and there was a flare of runes that broke apart. I had been careless, but my Danger Sense, Trap Sense, and Poison Sense hadn’t picked up on anything.
My Son, Justin,
I am sorry for leaving so suddenly. But I can’t let a good crisis go to waste. My goal for teaching a the College is completed. A total of 24 legends have sworn themselves to aid me in my goals. I know you doubt my plans for reforming the Eldarin Empire, but it is something that must be done.
The Beastkin tribes, the Demons, the Seraphims, and the Great Ocean Empire are all threats that exist in this world. While their internal politics and nations are opaque in many ways, they are an existential threat to the human race.
I wanted to tell you in person. But some things are hard to say. I was born with the name of Edrick Eldarin over two and a half millennia ago, at the time of the High Vostner human civilization. I became a Supreme Legend, rallying humanity to fight against the oppression of other races. Driving out the threats and enforcing order.
In time I became known as the Eternal Empire. Mastering soul skills and social skills. The steps I took at the time all seemed necessary to prepare for threats and handle various problems. Slavery was a way to enforce laws without killing people. The term dungeon comes from Low Vostner where it was initially used to execute criminals by forcing them to descend without clothes or weapons.
I tried more humane methods. To create an enlightened society. In the end it failed due to betrayal, corruption, and certain rebels.
I looked up, pausing a moment from reading more. This was a lot to take in.