Sean Kaesor sat staring blankly at the wall of his childhood bedroom. He'd been sleeping in the family home ever since he'd been released from the hospital after his ordeal. It wasn't by choice. Vicky would have hunted him down and dragged him back by the ear if he tried to leave. She was frustrating like that. As much as he loved his sister, she could be a bit much like that, especially when she was worried. A shiver ran through him where he sat despite the warmth of the room and the blanket draped over his shoulders. He'd been sitting here staring at the wall for several long minutes now. Well, less the wall and more the strange screen that currently dominated his vision.

  "One of these things is not like the other." He muttered to himself, looking over the options in a daze. He'd been told this would happen by both Aiden and Uncle Wolf, but it still didn't feel real. It hadn't sunk in yet that magic was real. "Focus up, Sean. Class selection is important." He muttered, clapping his hands to his face. He had to think about this logically. The system said that he was being influenced by something external; he had to assume that that was Aiden. The attribute thing was secondary and could be worried about later when he knew what attribute would suit him best. For he needed to focus on his Class.

  Glancing up and down the list, he realized that the first words out of his mouth had been correct. Very correct. Warrior, fighter and mage all seemed like basic starter Classes. If Sean were a betting man, he'd bet Healer and some sort of support were on the list of possibilities for other people as well. Either he didn't qualify for those options, he wasn't suited for them, or they'd been taken away to give him the two new options. In the end, it didn't matter; he wouldn't be picking any of the three Classes he dubbed as 'Starter Classes'. The only real choice was between [SoulForged Vanguard] and [Tempest Sentinel].

  Sean leaned back, his mind racing. [Tempest Sentinel] called forth images of a being clad in armour that seemed to be forged from bolts of lightning. Flying through the air, smiting enemies from above with arcs of electricity that shattered the air around them. It appealed to him on a very deep level to harness the wrath of storms and leash it to his own. Yet he couldn't deny the draw he felt towards [SoulForged Vanguard]. There was something about the Class that called to him on a deeper level. It conjured images of a being clad in heavy armour, one that shrugged off titanic blows as if they were nothing, mere inconveniences. It struck back with a force that was impossible to understand; it levelled and razed everything in its path.

  "Screw it," Sean muttered, opening his eyes. "I've followed my gut all my life. Why stop now?" He muttered before he selected the [SoulForged Vanguard].

  As soon as Sean made his selection, a wave of energy surged through his body. It felt like molten steel was being poured into his veins, searing his flesh from the inside out. He gritted his teeth, fighting back a scream as the sensation intensified. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, the burning subsided, replaced by a feeling of incredible strength and resilience.

  The screen in front of him flickered, updating with new information. His information.

  “Hell yeah…” He trailed off as his gaze zipped back and forth, canvasing the entire stat sheet.

  ——-

  The sun had barely crept over the horizon when I arrived at the White Banner facility, my mind buzzing with anticipation. After a restless night's sleep, I was eager to dive back into the mysteries of my newfound Skills and see about picking up a few more. The cool morning air nipped at my skin as I strode through the parking lot, my breath forming small clouds in front of me. It made me glad I had no need for glasses; I was sure they'd be fogged over by now.

  As I entered the building, the familiar hum of magical wards washed over me, a subtle reminder of the hidden world my family and I now inhabited. The lobby was quiet, save for the soft clicking of his boots against the polished floor. I nodded to the receptionist, a stern-faced woman who seemed to materialize from the shadows, before making my way to the elevator. I stopped in briefly to see which training room David had assigned for my use.

  The descent to the training levels felt longer than usual, each floor ticking by with agonizing slowness. I used the time to center myself, running through mental exercises Uncle Wolf had taught me years ago. I needed to be focused, methodical in my approach; I had far too many things I wanted to try today to go about it haphazardly.

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  When the doors finally slid open, I stepped out into a corridor lined with reinforced training rooms. From what the receptionist had said, each room was similar to the one in which I had done my initial assessment. Reinforced concrete, heavily warded, wide open spaces.

  Exactly what I needed. I had a multitude of things to try today, thanks to my own resources and those of the white Banner. Stepping up to a room marked with '23' over the entrance on a large metal plate. I placed my hand on the palm scanner sticking out from the wall, and a soft hiss echoed down the hall as the door slid open, revealing exactly what I'd expected to find. A large open room with walls formed from reinforced concrete.

  I stepped into the room, the door sliding shut behind me with a soft hiss. The air inside was cool and crisp, carrying a faint scent of ozone – likely a remnant of previous magical training sessions. As I moved to the center of the space, I felt a familiar tingle of anticipation coursing through my veins. It was echoed by another familiar tinge, this one more magical in nature, a tingle of energy washed over me – the wards activating, ready to contain any magical mishaps. This time it felt more defined than it had before, less vague.

  "Alright," I muttered to myself, rolling my shoulders. "Let's get to work."

  First on my agenda, ironically, wasn't working on one of my Skills. At least not one of my Class Skills or one of my General Skills.

  [Fell Gaze] had lingered unused on my Status sheet for far too long, and it seemed like a decent place to start my work on Spells. The only problem was, I had no Spells to use with it.

  However, I had a solution for that, or at least I hoped I did. Sitting down in the center of the room, I opened my [Inventory]. I set down two golden orbs in front of me. These had spent some time in my [Inventory]; these were the items I had created with [Spirit Forge] back in the rogue dungeon. I hadn't even used [Analyze] on them at the time, and I hadn't had the time to sit down and look at much after the dungeon. That had led directly into the whole debacle with Sean and the Vish.

  Perhaps the most interesting thing about these two items was that neither had a rarity. Every item I had analyzed so far, the magical ones at least, had an associated rarity that I associated with relative power. There could have been any number of reasons for this, but my working theory at the moment was that it was due to them being created by one of my Class Skills. I had a feeling it might be to do with them being less defined as items, as their descriptions stated that they had 'many possibilities'. If their nature wasn't set, then the System might have difficulty assigning them a rarity.

  I picked up the [Forged Soul Core (Chimera)] first, turning it over in my hands. The golden orb felt warm to the touch, pulsing with an inner light that seemed to dance just beneath the surface. As I focused on it, I could feel the raw potential contained within, waiting to be shaped and moulded into something new.

  Closing my eyes, I reached out with my senses, trying to connect with the essence of the Chimera trapped within the core. For several long moments, I felt like a blind man groping for something to latch onto. Images flashed through my mind – a beast with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent. I saw it breathing fire, its eyes glowing with an otherworldly intelligence. I could feel the possibilities within; they spread out like myriad paths before me.

  "Let's see if we can work with this," I muttered. I knew what I wanted to do, at least in theory, but I had no way of knowing if it was possible until I actually tried it. I delved deeper into the orb, searching through the potential it contained. I poured my mana into the core, willing it to take shape as a spell. I honed my focus on the serpent tail of the Chimera on the concept of venom. For several long moments, nothing seemed to happen. Then, I felt a shift. The core grew hot in my hands, almost uncomfortably so. A rush of information flooded my mind, and I knew instinctively that I had succeeded. The only sour note, I felt the orb crumble in my grip, cracking an eye open, I could see there was nothing but dust left behind. Even that was rapidly fading away. I let out a sigh before opening my eyes fully and taking in the system screen in front of me.

  Unable to resist the temptation to play with the new shiny, I raised my hand and attempted to cast my brand new spell.

  Nothing.

  My brow furrowed while I stared at my hand as if it had betrayed me. Mentally, I reached for the Spell, but it refused to respond.

  I shoved mana towards it. Nothing.

  I pulled mana through it. Nothing.

  I didn’t understand what I was doing wrong. I frowned, frustration building as I tried again and again to cast the spell. Each attempt yielded nothing but a growing sense of irritation. "Come on," I muttered, flexing my fingers. I spent a long time testing and retesting, trying anything I could think of to make the Spell work. Going so far as to dip down into my mental world with the help of [Constellation of Soul] to try directing my mana manually.

  "What am I missing?" I growled in frustration, pacing back and forth as I attempted to wear a rut into the floor of the training room. Settling down, I dropped back into my mental world. It looked much the same as it had last time, with only a slight change. A smaller light that was situated outside where my Skills fell in my personal constellation. That was my new Spell [Venom Wave]. I stared at that infuriating point of light for a long time. My frustration reached a boiling point as I stared at it, and I growled in rage, lashing out by instinct at the point of light with my will. The point of light that represented the Spell flew off like a ball struck with a bat. I froze watching its trajectory, then my blood ran cold.

  "Shit, shit, shit!" It was on a collision course with another Skill. And not just any Skill, one of my Bloodline Skills. I watched in horror as the glowing orb representing [Venom Wave] hurtled towards the shimmering constellation that was my [Fell Gaze]. Time seemed to slow as the two lights collided, and I braced myself for... something. An explosion, a magical backlash, anything. Pain blossomed in the back of my mind as the green light of [Venom Wave] was utterly subsumed by the pale silver light of [Fell gaze]. For a moment, the pain was nearly blinding, and even my mental image flickered and wavered as if it had all been shoved into a blender set to 'absolute destruction'. For a long time, I simply lay where I was, having keeled over and curled up at some point, as I waited for the pain to subside.

  "Guhhh… Fuck." I ground out as I dragged myself back into a seated position after an unknown amount of time. Blinking my eyes, everything was too bright. "Note to self, no playing marbles with Skills." It took several moments for me to become coherent enough to realize there was a new screen floating in front of me.

  I stared at the notification, my mind still reeling from both the pain and the implications of what had just happened. The spell I had painstakingly crafted from the Chimera's soul core was gone, replaced by something entirely new. Something that seemed to be intrinsically linked to my [Fell Gaze] ability.

  "Well," I muttered, rubbing my temples, "that's certainly... unexpected."

  Slowly, I pulled myself to a seated position. I took a deep breath, centring myself before focusing on this new spell. [Gaze of Bane]. The name alone sent a shiver down my spine; nothing good came of a bane. I wasn't sure what the dictionary definition was, but I knew enough to make a few guesses. A bane was the opposite of a boon; it was the evil to good, the dark to light, the pain to pleasure. A gaze that inflicted something like that sounded… Strong.

  Cautiously, I reached out with my mind falling back into my mental space, feeling for the new spell in the same way I had searched for [Venom Wave]. This time, I felt an immediate connection, as if the spell was an extension of my very being. It was nestled comfortably within the constellation of [Fell Gaze], pulsing with a sickly green light that seemed to writhe and twist within the silver glow of its parent skill. Oddly, the Spell seemed to be in orbit around the [Fell gaze] node, as if it were dependent on it. I was surprised, honestly, I had expected the Skill and spell to have fused, consuming both in the process to make something new. That did not appear to have happened. Instead, the old Spell was gone, replaced by the new one, while the Bloodline Skill remained exactly the same.

  "Alright," I said, steeling myself as I returned to reality from my mental space. "Let's see what you can do."

  I focused my gaze on a spot on the far wall, channelling mana into my eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, I felt a burning sensation behind my eyes, and my vision seemed to sharpen and intensify. Colours became more vivid, lines became sharper, almost like someone had turned the contrast up on a TV screen.

  Nothing changed.

  I could feel the Spell was in effect, but it did nothing. I let out a sigh. "Venom based…" muttered, "Probably needs a living target of some variety. Venom doesn't do much to metal or stone, not that I know of at least." Another sigh escaped me; it seemed I wouldn't get to play with my new toy yet. The disappointment was quickly washed away; however, I had magic, actual magic. A part of me was giddy with excitement over the idea that I could cast actual spells. Obviously, I could turn into a giant spider and do other things, but it just wasn't the same as being able to sling spells like a wizard out of a fantasy book.

  I'd had some success so far, and now it was time to move on to my next project. [Auric Vision] was one of my Class Skills. I couldn't be sure if that would change anything. It hadn't been particularly useful to begin with, and was growing even less useful as my Skills with [Aura Manipulation] grew. I had a few ideas on how to modify the Skill to make it more useful to me, but I had no idea what was possible and what wasn't. No idea if there might be consequences for messing with any of my Skills, let alone a Class Skill, which seemed like they might be tied more closely to me than my other Skills. It was admittedly a risk, a large one. It wasn't as if the System was giving me any answers either, so I could only choose to make the attempt or not.

  I'd been rolling the dice ever since I'd woken up in the grip of the soul-Sheer and was first touched by the System, why stop now?