A surge of power rolled through me, rocking me back in my seat as my new class settled over my soul like a power suit. I immediately felt fundamentally stronger.

  “Are those secondary stat calculations retroactive for earlier levels?”

  “Ha! Nice try. Now that you’ve unlocked your class, you can redistribute base stat points any way you like, but must keep a minimum of 1 point per your level in each base stat slot.”

  “Thanks.” I’d deal with that later. I didn’t expect to make any fundamental changes. All of my base stats were important. With my focus on both melee and magical fighting, I couldn’t afford to let any of my stats lag too far.

  First, I opened my stat list to verify my new abilities and levels were applied. Seeing them was a huge boost to my confidence. Jane had been right. Gaining a class resulted in a big power jump.

  Crap. I wouldn’t be able to share with anyone that I’d gotten my class.

  “Hey, will people see my class with Identify?”

  “No. That would lead to questions that cannot be asked.”

  “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  “Lucas, no offense, but you’ve barely cracked open the book.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Of course I do. Keep advancing, and we can talk about pages eventually. Now, you may want to check out these other messages,” Cyrus said as messages scrolled past my vision again.

  The first was one I’d seen after I killed Bristleback announcing Harvest and Soul Feed had upgraded. I was surprised to see another similar message.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! Your spell Tether Slide has upgraded.”

  “Tether Slide. Spell. Rare. Level 2. Upgraded to: Mark up to two objects or items as your tethers. Within 10 minutes you may cast a magical hook and slide to those object across any terrain up to a distance of 500 yards with up to 1 change of direction at the first tether point. The first Tether must be within sight when spell is triggered.”

  “Already? I barely permanented Tether Slide.” I loved the upgrade, though. The chance to set one tether, then change directions to the second one opened all sorts of possibilities.

  The spell reminded me of Link’s hookshot ability in that Zelda game. A few other game characters used similar concepts. It was such a super cool spell. Maybe I’d made a wiser choice permanenting it than I’d thought.

  “You had few great options for upgrades this time. You’ve shown a rare mastery over this unusual spell already. It proved instrumental in your escape of the collapsing stage. Thus it fit the parameters for upgrade.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  “You’ll notice that your other abilities have all upgraded one level with your class selection. They will also now be able to level up more regularly.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  More than a relief, it could literally change my entire power level. Upgrading spells and abilities would allow for eventual evolutions to tier-1.

  I couldn’t help taking a final dig at that annoying dearth of upgrades. “I still don’t understand why we couldn’t get more upgrades earlier.”

  “There’s a cost to everything, Lucas. Those who don’t prove themselves worthy do not merit the extra expense.”

  That was cold, but I could see the logic. About 50% of us had died in the first week. Then again, some of those folks had just been unlucky. How many of them might have survived if they’d gained access to upgraded abilities sooner?

  I scanned my abilities again, then noticed something interesting with my stats. A new column called Efficiency had been added. Cyrus had talked about how my tier-0 spells and abilities limited the efficiency of my tier-1 stats, but he’d never included that in the stats page before.

  I studied the new Efficiency column and the effects it had on my stats. Interestingly, my Life Points, Mana, and various resistances had Efficiency of 100%. That was welcome. CHA also showed 100%. Of course, the stupid, fake stat would act different.

  All of my other stats showed an Efficiency of 40%, dropping their values by more than half. My Constitution at 16.9 equated to 169 tier-0 points, as expected. However, with the 40% efficiency rating, the stat got reduced to an effective Constitution of only 67.6.

  That was still pretty good, but just unlocking my full efficiency, I’d more than double my available power. That would give me as much raw power boost as around 20 levels of stat gains, not to mention the improvement to my spells and abilities.

  Cyrus had explained that having tier-0 spells and abilities after upgrading to a tier-1 body was like trying to push water from a reservoir using only garden hoses. Upgrading and evolving those spells and abilities would begin transforming the garden hoses to water mains, able to handle vast amounts more flow and increase the efficiency of my stats.

  Cyrus interrupted my thoughts. “You made it this far, so you should be asking what class spells did you just unlock?”

  “Oh, yeah!” I totally forgot about that.

  In my menu, a new tab activated: Class Spells.

  Eva read, “You may select up to 3 Class spells to join your active spells list. Class spells can be swapped out with an activation time of 10 minutes before the new spell can be used.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Available Class Spells:

  1. Elemental Harmony. Level 1. Combine the effects of up to 3 elemental-based potions with any spell you cast to add a melded elemental effect to the spell. Effects vary depending on potions applied and base spell used. Mana cost: minor.

  2. Cascading Force. Level 1. Apply a random force effect to any melee strike, drawing from one of the following types of natural force: Kinetic, Auditory, Electrical, Thermal, Gravitational, Magnetic, Solar, or Hydraulic. Mana cost: moderate.

  3. Ace Arcana. Level 1. Pre-cast any single available spell, scroll, or potion and pay any related mana cost. The pre-cast item will not manifest, but remain undetectable and ready to be insta-cast with a thought. Mana cost: variable.

  4. Spellforge. Level 2. Cast up to 1 spell plus 1 spell per level of Spellforge onto an appropriate weapon for use as a physical fulcrum to unleash the final synergized spell. Mana cost: minor.

  5. Nexus Storm. Level 1. Summon a storm cloud and cast up to 5 spells into it to meld their spell effects. Direct the storm up to any distance within visual range to trigger the melded magical storm. Mana cost: major.

  Warning. The more spells cast into the cloud, the less stable the the melding of powers and the greater the chance of losing control and being targeted by the resulting magical storm.

  “These are fantastic,” I laughed.

  “They’re a pretty good starting pool. More will open up in time. It’s possible to swap spells in and out, but use caution. The more you keep any single spell equipped, the more likely it is to upgrade.”

  “Thanks. Makes sense.”

  I considered the spells for a moment. I wanted every one of them, but refrained from asking Cyrus for more spell slots. Still, the choices seemed a lot easier than the initial class selection.

  Both of the weapon-focused spells looked good, but I decided to limit myself to one. I’d get more blades, but I had no idea what kind of abilities or powers they might have.

  After a bit of consideration, I settled on Cascading Force for that purpose. The unpredictable nature of the force applied to melee strikes was not my favorite, but the fact that I could draw on power outside of my existing magic pool was a huge bonus.

  I had a lot of potions with elemental effects, so I decided to add Elemental Harmony. Nexus Storm sounded super cool, but the warning made me hesitate, so I chose Ace Arcana for my third spell. Having a pre-cast, read-to-go ace up my sleeve sounded like a good idea for desperate situations, which I tended to run into a lot.

  “You have selected Cascading Force, Elemental Harmony, and Ace Arcana as active class spells. They will become available to cast in 10 minutes.”

  I sat back, feeling a bit wrung out. That was a lot of mental energy to expend after having only recently barely survived the crazy running battle. Time for some fun, then. I turned back to my messages, looking for loot box notifications. I got a lot of them.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For setting a trap and luring a mini boss into it, you receive a gold Pied Piper loot box.”

  The gold box appeared, glinting in reflected firelight. In it, I received another page of emoji trap stickers and another potion of Create Darkness.

  “Thanks, Cyrus. The emoji stickers have been super effective.”

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For timing the start of your mini-boss death battle just as the stage 1 countdown ended, you receive a gold Brass Bowls loot box.”

  Eva read Brass Bowls in a distinct Inspector Clouseau accent. I snickered, thinking of the funny casino scene from the Pink Panther movie. I expected the loot box to have a gag gift, like an alarm clock set to go off at the end of stage 2. Instead, it held a box of 12 exploding lava grenades. Nasty, and very welcome.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For creating a unique boar-koala mini-boss evolution, you receive an emerald Doctor Moreau loot box.”

  Apropos. The box flashed to reveal a long, slender dagger with a strange, circular wheel at the end of the pommel.

  “Poniard of Random Were. Rare. One stab is enough to deliver a dose of poison to trigger a randomized were transformation, or drain the victim’s health by 50%.”

  “That’s freakishly awesome,” I breathed as I examined the blade and tilted it so that the light played along the sharp edge. Were transformation in a blade.

  What would happen if I stabbed myself with it? Maybe I could transform into a werewolf again. Memories of incredible power and savage bloodlust poured through my mind.

  Without conscious thought, my hand rose and my arm twisted until I held the sharp point of the dagger over my thigh. A single movement could plunge it into my skin and unlock that power again.

  I shook myself, flinging the weapon into my inventory. What was I thinking?

  Then again, I could heal from a 50% health point drain. My bracelet still had a bunch of power. It would fade if I didn’t use it. Why not try it?

  “No,” I said aloud, rising and pacing across the living room. The movement helped clear my head.

  Where had that come from? I’d thought I was free of the lingering influence of that werewolf transformation, but maybe it was still affecting me more than I realized. Stabbing myself to unlock some random were power was stupid.

  Whispers of thought still tried to argue, but I crushed them. No. I’d consider how best to use the dagger and when it would be worth the random result. Turning a powerful enemy into a were-butterfly might make defeating it a lot easier, but a were-dragon could eat my face. I would not experiment on myself. I forced myself to focus on my remaining loot boxes.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For defeating a level 50 secret boss in an extremely unique way, you receive an emerald Mehmed loot box.”

  “Mehmed?” I asked as the glittering giant emerald appeared in front of me.

  “Mehmed the Conquerer, leader of the Ottoman empire, was known for brilliant courage, vision, and tactical cleverness. He conquered Constantinople in 1453, among other things.”

  “Huh. Sounds pretty boss.” I didn’t know nearly enough about ancient history. The loot box exploded in a loud, trumpeting fanfare and shower of brilliant green particles, revealing a single scroll.

  “Upgrade scroll. Upgrade a single weapon with the ability Double Tap.”

  “Double Tap. Effect. Uncommon. Use your enemy’s own vitality to fuel double damage of any successful strike. Cooldown: 5 seconds.”

  “How does that work? If I hit someone for 50 life points of damage, my blade would drain another 50 life points to hit them again for another 50? That would be triple damage.”

  “No, if you do 50 points of damage, your enemy loses double, but the ability is fueled out of that extra stolen life force instead of your mana.”

  Sweet. Thankfully, the scroll didn’t require immediate use. I didn’t have any weapons left that I planned to make central to my build. I pushed the scroll into my inventory until I got a new blade. Then I laughed when I saw the next loot box.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For hitting a giant death whale with Time Out and avoiding certain death, you receive a platinum Teacher’s Pet loot box.”

  Inside was a tiny ceramic carving of the death whale. The description was anything but cute, though.

  “Death Whale Dinner Cart. This figurine will teleport any 1 target to within 10 yards in front of the death whale you escaped. You deprived it of one meal. It’s only fair to give it a different one.”

  “That’s more than a little scary.”

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For killing the Crimson Kite raptor from the inside and proving there are always unique approaches to victory, you receive an emerald Aliens loot box.”

  “That’s appropriate,” I shuddered, imagining the tiny alien terror bursting free of that poor sap’s chest in the movie. The sparkling emerald loot box contained a single scroll and I laughed with glee when I read it.

  “Scroll of Stat Boost. Plus 3 points to all base stats.”

  “Yes! That’s huge.” I applied it instantly and leaned back in my chair, eyes closed as a river of new power flooded through my body and mind. Each level would now give me 3 total base stat points. That scroll had just given me 6 times as much, since it affected CHA. That was the equivalent of 180 tier-0 points!

  I couldn’t sit still, but threw myself into an acrobatic tumble across the room. When I reached the wall, I ran up it and returned by swinging from one exposed beam to the next. I easily held onto the hard wood, and felt like I could drive my fingers into it if I wanted to.