*Ding*

  For turning 25 as a human without choosing a second class you have been awarded with the [Patient Decider] feat.

  “MOM! DAD!” Sally yelled as she stormed up the stairs to her parents’ bedroom. They had slept, on the night of her twenty fifth birthday no less. The gall, Sally thought. How could they miss her twenty fifth birthday, the moment she’d been waiting for nearly twenty years to see. The Patient Decider feat was hers at last! Zoe wouldn’t be the only one with the coolest feat in the world. It wasn’t her fault they decided to spit her out at two in the morning.

  Sally heard her dad yawn and stretch across the bed, the rough fabrics dragging and scratching, with the mattress creaking under his shifting weight. “Sally?” He mumbled. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah!" Sally yelled at the closed door. ”I’m twenty five now!“

  “Ohh. Okay. Happy birthday honey.” He said.

  Sally waited a moment.

  “Wait. Lauren! Babe! Get up!” Peter shouted.

  “Hmm?" Sally’s mom hummed.

  “It’s Sally’s birthday, sunshine.” Peter said.

  “Oh is it now?” Lauren yawned, the mattress creaking more as she shifted around in bed. “Good for her. I’m going back to sleep, doe.”

  “She’s at the door.” Peter whispered, barely audible to Sally’s ears.

  “Happy birthday dear!” Lauren shouted, slurring her words.

  “It’s her twenty fifth birthday, sunshine.” Peter said.

  “Oh. Oh!” Lauren exclaimed.

  Sally heard the bed rock and feet scraping on the ground before the familiar sound of her mom’s slippers tapping on the wooden floors over to the door.

  “Happy birthday sweetie!" Lauren threw the door open and embraced Sally in a firm hug. "Did you get the feat?”

  Sally nodded. “I did!”

  Lauren smiled. Peter hopped off the bed and came over to join the hug.

  “Proud of you honey.” He said.

  “So have you decided on what you’re going to do yet?" Lauren asked.

  Sally pursed her lips and tilted her head down. In truth, she’d decided a long time ago. Her parents wanted her to take a class, wanted her to stop being a frail level eight, stop putting herself in that danger. But she loved it. The skills she got — and now she even had another twenty five stat points!

  In another twenty five years, she’d almost be as strong as if she just took a class and got a few levels. She could do everything she’d done over again, why not? And not to mention all the skills and feats she’d acquire along the way. Maybe she’d get another, stronger feat at fifty years old that would make taking a class now seem stupid. And then maybe another at one hundred? Or a thousand years old.

  Where was the limit? When did it stop being worth waiting for her class? As far as Sally knew, there was no way to change her first class. Second class? It seemed odd that people called it her first class, but maybe that was just because she’d spent so much time with her actual first class. Most people would barely remember their time with their actual first class, Sally imagined. But she did. Intimately. Years and years of her life spent with Abyllian staring her in the face as her one and only class.

  Sally had made her decision years ago, she just hadn’t found the right time to tell her parents. On one hand, she felt a little bad about it, too. Her parents probably wanted to go on trips, on adventures of their own. Leave Foizo for a while and see the places around her.

  She told them they could — Sally could stay with Joe, or maybe Emma if she came back sometime soon. Or heck, Zoe would probably be willing to stick around for a few months if they asked and what better protection would there be than Zoe? She probably wouldn’t even notice the time passing, Sally thought.

  But they never did. They stayed home, worked on their restaurant. Sometimes her mom would go work on a contract she got and be gone for days at a time, but she was never far away. It was never her passion. It would be great if they didn’t feel so responsible for her, so scared for her safety.

  Sally understood it. They loved her — and she loved them, too. And she was frail. She had a great repertoire of skills and even a handful of feats under her belt, but that didn’t do much to alleviate the only almost five hundred health she had.

  She was grateful her parents convinced her to put all of her points into Vitality as a child. So often, she remembered thinking to put them into Intelligence just to spite her parents. What a stupid mistake that would have been. Sure, the extra mana would have been wonderful for her skills but there was more than one occasion when Sally remembered losing more than a hundred health. Never quite enough to be dangerous to her with four hundred fifty, but enough to appreciate her parent’s advice.

  “I have.” Sally answered after a long pause. “I’m not taking a class yet. I’m not sure when I will, but I want the best first class anybody’s ever gotten.”

  Sally’s mom smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I see. I’m proud of you, sweetie. I love you.”

  “I love you too, honey.” Her dad said.

  “I love you two too.” Sally said. “Is it okay that I’m not taking a class yet? You’re not mad?"

  Peter shook his head. “No, honey. We decided long ago that this is your decision. Whatever you want to do is okay.”

  Lauren nodded.

  “I’m not holding you back?” Sally asked.

  Lauren scoffed. “Of course not. You’re our daughter. We love you, you’re alright.”

  “Okay.” Sally said.

  A snap broke through the dampened mood as Peter clapped his hands. “So, I’m told you have some more stat points to spend now. What are you gonna do with them?”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Sally smirked. “I was thinking I’d put twenty into Vitality.”

  “And the other five?" Lauren raised an eyebrow.

  “Intelligence?" Sally asked.

  “If that’s what you want. I think you should put all your points into vitality until you get to at least two thousand though.” Peter said.

  Sally’s eyes shifted around as she tried to do the math. At ten health for every vitality, that would be another one hundred and fifty five years? And then she’d finally have some extra magic? That was way too long! And besides, having some extra mana would help her in a pinch far more than an extra fifty health. That was so little compared to her total pool, but fifty mana was an extra fifty percent! With more mana regeneration to go with it.

  “That’s too long!" Sally shouted. ”No I’m putting five points into Intelligence.“

  Lauren laughed. “If you’re not taking a class, then what’s your plan for getting older? Cause at some point, you’re going to be old and decrepit.” She elbowed Peter. “Like your dad here.”

  “Hey!” Peter said. “I’m not old, yet.”

  Sally laughed. “But you are decrepit?"

  Peter shrugged. “Your mom’s right, honey. If you want to not take a class then that’s fine, but you need to think seriously about how you’re going to beat getting old.”

  “I was thinking Zoe could deliver me a cosmos elemental?" Sally smirked.

  Lauren snorted. “I almost halfway think that’s not a bad option. But no, you should work on something yourself rather than relying on a handout from her.”

  “I know, I know. I was honestly thinking that when Emma’s done in the capital I’d see if she can teach me the Cosmos skill. That’s how she got immortality, right?” Sally asked.

  Peter nodded. “Mhm. I believe so. Joe got it from one of his classes, but you could try asking him for some advice too.”

  “I already did. That’s where I got the idea to ask Emma from.” Sally said.

  “Ah.” Peter said. “That makes sense. Does he know when she’s gonna be done with her trip, by the way?”

  Sally shook her head. “They’re both coming to my party later, but I don’t think they’re staying very long.

  Lauren yawned. “Ah. Well I’ll ask then, I guess. Happy birthday my little squirrel. I’m very proud of you.”

  “Thanks mom. Sorry to wake you up.” Sally said.

  “No, no. You’re excited. It’s alright. We’re just old and decrepit, waiting on death’s door, trying to stave him off with sleep. No worries, no worries.” Peter said.

  Sally laughed, shoving her parents back into their room. She couldn’t really move them, but they tended to play along with her antics. “Go be old and decrepit again, I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll try and get things ready for the party.”

  “Goodnight, honey.” Peter said.

  “Goodnight sweetie.” Lauren said.

  “Goodnight mom, goodnight dad.” Sally said.

  The door closed, and Sally heard their slippers drag along the floor as they got back into bed. They whispered something to each other, but Sally tried not to listen in to their private conversations, even if her hearing was better than most thanks to her Observant feat. Instead, she tiptoed her way back downstairs and started cleaning up the mess she’d made and prepared for her party.

  At times, Sally found herself envying Zoe’s vampyric abilities — extra stat points, more regeneration? It seemed too good to be true for somebody like Sally, and she often found herself confused at why Zoe took a class so early, too. It seemed to have worked out, but why wouldn’t she have waited longer? She already waited twenty years, what was another twenty years? But Sally knew that such skills were out of reach for her. Where was Zoe from, anyway? It was a somewhat poorly kept secret that she wasn’t from Abyllan, but nobody seemed to know where she was actually from. Or maybe that part was the actual secret that people kept?

  Whenever Zoe stopped by, she seemed so open. So honest. So forthcoming with information — something Sally appreciated, given how tightlipped everybody else seemed. Their classes were private, their skills were private. Their goals and aspirations were spoken of in vague terms, avoiding being too specific and giving something important away. But never did she say where she was from. That she wasn’t from Abyllan, sure. But where she came from? It just never seemed to stick.

  There weren’t many people coming over for Sally’s party — most of her childhood friends had left Foizo, and a few that had stopped talking to her as she kept getting older without taking a class. The pressure to just conform to society was incredible, to just take a class so she wasn’t an outcast. The looks she got, the pity she felt from people who saw her level. It disgusted her, if she was being honest.

  But she had a few friends who stuck around. Mazie was a great friend who was in town quite often, but just unfortunately not right now. And Lou stayed in Inkley training as an apprentice escort to Flester’s Might. He said he’d be stopping by for a bit, but had an appointment later on in the evening he couldn’t miss.

  The morning rolled around, and Sally’s parents meandered down the stairs. Her dad started on making some breakfast — a simple meal with scrambled eggs, some eggy brul and sausages. Lauren joined in, hugging him from behind.

  Sally enjoyed seeing her parents love each other. Other kids thought it was gross when they came over, but wouldn’t it be weird if her parents didn’t love each other? What was wrong with some hugging and kissing? They were married and they loved each other, and it was somewhat comforting to see them be happy together.

  Though, she did have them move her room a bit further away several years back. Sometimes their love for each other was a little too noisy. That part she could do without, Sally thought as she chuckled to herself.

  Zoe and Emma were the first to show up, a few hours later. Sally opened the door and identified them both. Zoe was only level ninety seven and with her fifth class! Emma was a far higher three hundred forty three with a bright red colour showing she had her sixth class. She almost never saw that colour in Foizo, unless somebody from Flester’s Might happened to be stopping by.

  “Hey!” Zoe said. “I hear you get a fancy new feat today.”

  “I already did.” Sally said with a smug smile.

  “Oh hoh?” Zoe questioned. “You’ve got it already? How do you like it?"

  “It’s pretty awesome. Hey, why did you take a class right after getting it? You already waited for twenty years and you were already immortal. Why didn’t you wait longer?" Sally asked, leading Zoe and Emma to the living room to sit down. Peter and Lauren greeted the two of them then got back to working on Sally’s birthday cake.

  “I didn’t wait twenty years.” Zoe said. “I waited two years, I think. We didn’t have classes, back home. And at the time, that felt like a lot. If I could go back and do it differently, would I? I dunno. That’s a difficult question, right? Cause I’m happy where I am now. And if I did things differently, would I still be here? Would I still be happy? Would I recommend following in my footsteps? Again, it turned out well for me. I think, given the information I had at the time, it was probably the wrong decision. I was impulsive and excited and I felt like I’d waited an eternity already. But it worked out, so it’s tough to say.”

  “Hmm. I think I’m gonna wait longer, personally.” Sally said.

  “Don’t be dumb like me then, and put as many points as you can into Vitality. Get some in Endurance too, you never know when you’re gonna get super worked up and find yourself exhausted.” Zoe said.

  “I’ve never run out of stamina before.” Sally said.

  “Yeah, and you never want to, trust me.” Zoe laughed, shaking her head. “Ever.”

  “Okay. Some into Endurance then.” Sally said.

  “Hey, can I ask you two a question?” Sally asked.

  “You just did.” Emma chuckled.

  Sally rolled her eyes. “Could I come stay with you at the capital for a bit? I’d like to come see it.”

  “WHAT?” Lauren and Peter shouted in harmony from the kitchen.

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