The timer hit thirty seconds, and Luna felt it—a change in the air, somewhat familiar to what she'd felt before the summoning. Her skin tingled. The warehouse seemed to hold its breath.
"Does anyone else feel weird?" Sam asked, pressing a hand to his chest. "Like there's something in the air?"
"I feel it too," Margaret confirmed. "Atmospheric pressure changed, or—something."
Twenty seconds.
The sensation intensified. Luna's next breath felt different—richer, heavier, like drinking pure oxygen for the first time. Every inhalation filled her lungs with something more than air.
Around the warehouse, people were reacting. Some gasped. Others swayed. The businessman sat down hard, looking dizzy.
Ten seconds.
Heat flooded Luna's body. Not painful, but overwhelming. Her vision blurred and cleared and blurred again. Her hearing sharpened—she could hear individual heartbeats in the warehouse, could pick out Mia's panicked breathing from Sam's steadier rhythm.
And her ears—
They burned.
"Lu?" Mia's voice seemed very far away. "Lu, something's happening to you—your hair—"
Five seconds.
Luna's hands flew to her head. Her ears felt wrong. Hot. Reshaping themselves—
Three.
One.
Zero.
[Phase 1 of the First Trial is Complete]
[Gift Assimilation: Complete]
[All participants have awakened to Aether. Your bodies are adapting to function in Aether-rich environments and grow stronger.]
[Status available. Class selection available.]
[You have 10 minutes to select your Class and prepare for Phase 2.]
[Choose wisely. Your Class will determine your path forward.]
[Note: Choosing a high Affinity Class is recommended. Affinities rank from F to A, then S. High Affinity increases the advancement speed, improves the equipment and may provide other benefits. Higher Class Ranks are also a priority—though Iron is the only one available to Common Races by default.]
The transformation hit Luna like a tidal wave as new blue text floated before her for a few long moments.
[Aether threshold met for your Race's true form]
Her hair lengthened, strands spilling past her shoulders, the blonde deepening and brightening simultaneously until each strand caught light like spun gold. Not dyed, not bleached—fundamentally changed, as if her hair had only been waiting for permission to become what it truly was.
Her eyes shifted next. She could feel it—now they saw too much, too clearly. Colors became richer. Details emerged from shadows that should have been invisible.
And her ears—oh god, her ears—they stretched upward and back, reshaping into elegant points. Three inches long at least, tapering to delicate tips. The sensation was strange but not painful. Like her body was finally taking the shape it had always been meant to have.
"LUNA!" Mia shrieked. "YOUR EARS! Look at your EARS! And your eyes... they are shining silver!"
Around the warehouse, everyone was changing too—but differently. A faint shimmer covered the other humans, their skin taking on a slight glow, wrinkles smoothing out, muscles becoming marginally more defined. Enhanced, yes, but still fundamentally human.
Luna's transformation was different. Dramatic.
Her vision flooded with blue text:
[STATUS]
Race: High Elf
Level: 1
Class: [UNSELECTED]
[RACE TRAITS]
Aether Touched I (High Elf): Your connection to Aether is innate and powerful. Mana regeneration greatly increased. Mana Capacity increased by 30%. Resistance to all magic is slightly improved.
Nature's Blessed I (High Elf): The natural world recognizes you as one of its own. Enhanced performance in natural environments. Most animals are instinctively friendly to you, you intuitively recognize plant properties, and your resistance to Nature Magic is moderately improved.
Higher Race (High Elf): You are not bound by the limitations of lesser species. Maximum level: 250. Starting Class Rank: Steel. Experience gain reduced by 20% due to advanced baseline capabilities.
Note: Higher levels unlock more advanced Traits.
[DEFAULT ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: F+
Agility: E
Constitution: F
Arcana: F
Insight: E+
[AETHER SKILLS]
Aether Shield I (Passive)—You're protected by an invisible field of pure magic. Scales with your level and Constitution. Further boosted in a Class Form depending on the armor type.
[WARNING: You must select a Class to unlock your Class Form]
[AVAILABLE CLASSES - STEEL RANK]
Luna stared at the words.
Race: High Elf.
Not human.
High Elf.
"Lu?" Mia's voice seemed to come from very far away. "Lu, please talk to me. What's happening? What does your Status say?"
Luna's throat closed. She tried to speak but couldn't find the words. The System was telling her she'd never been human. And somehow she felt it, knew for a fact that she wasn't transformed by its magic, it just helped to reveal her true form. Twenty-one years of her life, believing she was just an ordinary girl who happened to be good at archery, who preferred animals to people, who never quite fit in—
All of it made sense now.
But how was it possible?
Her dad—had he known? Was he human? Was she adopted, or was he like her, hiding what he was? The questions spiraled through her mind, each one opening new abysses of uncertainty. She'd always found it a bit strange that Dad was her only family—no uncles, no cousins, not even grandparents. Mom? Died from cancer when Luna was a baby. Supposedly.
Oh my god, maybe my mother is alive! Luna thought, but a part of her was afraid to be given hope only to be disappointed in the end. Whatever was the deal with her Dad—perhaps he just adopted her in an orphanage and knew nothing of her origins—he had his reasons for sure.
"I'm an elf," Luna said finally, voice hollow. "The System says I'm a High Elf."
Stunned silence around her.
Then Mia muttered, "That's... that's not possible. You're my best friend. I've known you since middle school. You can't just be—"
"Look at her," Roger interrupted. He'd moved closer, studying Luna with clinical detachment, but there was a hint of apprehension in his eyes. "The ears, the eyes, the hair. The System isn't lying about her. She's different from us. Alien."
"So beautiful..." Steven stared, rifle forgotten in his hands. "B-but wait. Where did you come from? Are there more like you?"
"I don't know," Luna admitted. The words hurt. "I thought I was human. I've always thought—my dad, he never said—I don't know if I was adopted, or if he's—" She stopped, unable to continue.
If her dad was human, then the truth had been hidden from Luna her entire life—be it being adopted, or even her true origins. If he wasn't human, then he'd hidden himself from her. Either way, her closest person—her only family—had lied.
And the worst part was that as she went through some of her memories—how Dad was against her trying out archery, or was reluctant to let her have pets until she was almost adult—she had a growing suspicion that he knew of her true Race and tried to make her peculiarities less noticeable even to her. Especially to her.
"Everyone focus!" Margaret's voice cut through the chaos. Even those who didn't know Luna before were gawking at her. "We can discuss Luna's biology later. Right now, we need to select Classes. Nine minutes left."
She was right. Luna forced herself to look at her Class options, pushing down the identity crisis. Survive first. Ponder your origins later.
Four choices appeared:
[RUNEBLADE] - Steel Rank, Class Affinity: B
A warrior who combines swordsmanship with runic magic. Inscribe weapons with elemental power and strike with enhanced force. Balanced between melee combat and magical enhancement. Medium Armor.
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Class Form Bonus Attributes
Strength: D+
Agility: D
Constitution: D
Arcana: D+
Insight: E+
[DRUID] - Steel Rank, Class Affinity: A
A guardian of the natural world who wields the power of earth, growth, and transformation. Command plants, commune with animals, and shapeshift into beast forms to adapt to any situation. Light Armor.
Class Form Bonus Attributes
Strength: E
Agility: E
Constitution: E+
Arcana: C
Insight: C+
[HUNTRESS] - Steel Rank, Class Affinity: S
A master of the hunt who stalks prey through any terrain. Precision archery combined with tracking skills and connection to animal spirits. The silent death that strikes from shadows. Light Armor.
Class Form Bonus Attributes
Strength: D+
Agility: C+
Constitution: E+
Arcana: F
Insight: C+
[ARCANIST] - Steel Rank, Class Affinity: C
A pure spellcaster who manipulates raw Aether. Versatile spellwork ranging from devastating attacks to subtle enchantments. Power at the cost of physical fragility. Unarmored.
Class Form Bonus Attributes
Strength: F+
Agility: F+
Constitution: E
Arcana: B
Insight: C
Luna barely hesitated. Huntress had S-rank affinity—maximum growth potential—and she'd been an archer for years. The bow had always felt natural in her hands, more natural than any weapon should.
Maybe now she knew why.
So she didn't even read the expanded Class descriptions that include Attributes, Traits, and Skills before selecting Huntress.
[CLASS SELECTED: HUNTRESS]
[Initiating Class Form Transformation]
Light consumed her—golden and green, swirling together like forest sunlight through leaves. This was different from the racial transformation. External rather than internal.
The light felt solid, sculptural, building something around her layer by layer and replacing her mundane clothes.
First came the boots—soft leather materializing around her feet and calves, flexible enough to move silently but sturdy enough to protect. Then leggings, dark brown and form-fitting. The armor built up her body piece by piece: a leather cuirass molded itself to her torso, providing protection without restricting movement. The leather was tooled with subtle patterns—leaves and vines that seemed to shift in the light. Bracers appeared on her forearms, reinforced at impact points.
A cloak manifested last, forest-green and brown, falling to mid-thigh. It was weighted perfectly, designed to blend into woodland environments.
In her left hand, a bow took shape. The wood was warm, almost alive, colored like autumn oak. Runes ran along the limbs—not carved but naturally formed, like the tree had grown specifically to become this weapon. The string hummed with energy, perfectly balanced.
A quiver materialized on her back, already full of arrows. She could feel them—thirty waiting, and somehow she knew they'd never run out. A hunting knife appeared at her hip, its blade catching the light with a subtle green shimmer.
When the transformation completed, Luna stood in full Class Form.
She looked down at herself and barely recognized what she saw. The Luna who worked hotel night shifts was gone. In her place stood someone—something—else.
A huntress.
Around the warehouse, others were transforming too, and Luna watched with fascination as Class Forms manifested.
Mia emerged from white-gold radiance wearing pristine robes that seemed woven from light itself, trimmed with golden thread that pulsed with soft luminescence. A wooden staff materialized in her hands, topped with a crystal that glowed like captured sunlight. The robes covered her completely, modest and practical, but there was power in every fold. A small book appeared at her belt—prayer book, maybe, or spell tome.
Sam's transformation was more dramatic. Purple lightning swirled around him before solidifying into deep purple robes covered in silver arcane symbols that seemed to move when you weren't looking directly at them. A delicate staff appeared in his hands, topped with an orb that crackled with barely-contained energy. His glasses remained, completely mundane, but he took them off with a surprised expression.
"Huh, I don't need glasses anymore," Sam wondered. "I guess magic is better than LASIK."
Steven's transformation was the most dramatic physical change. Plate armor built itself around him piece by piece—chest plate, pauldrons, vambraces, greaves. The metal was polished steel that gleamed under the fluorescent lights, each piece fitted perfectly to his body. A longsword appeared at his hip, simple but lethal-looking. A shield materialized on his left arm, bearing no heraldry yet but clearly ready for use.
Roger's Class Form was subtler. Dark leather armor covered him from neck to boots—not heavy plate, but flexible protection designed for mobility. Multiple knives appeared at his belt, as well as a hand crossbow. His transformation screamed stealth and precision.
Marcus, who'd been quiet during most of the chaos, emerged in full plate armor almost identical to Steven's. Both stood as Knights, their armor nearly matching—one of the other women in their group received identical armor as well. They could have been siblings, triplets forged from the same mold. Only their faces distinguished them. There were more of the same-looking people in the other groups as well, though no one matched Luna.
The businessman, who'd selected some kind of mage class, wore robes similar to Sam's but in deep blue instead of purple. Another woman and Margaret emerged as Clerics like Mia, their robes white-gold and almost identical in design.
Derek's battleaxe was massive, appearing across his back, and he wore armor, too—not full plate like the Knights, but thick chain mail over leather. Some type of warrior.
The young couple wore brown leather gear not much different from Roger's, but they were equipped with wooden shields, one-handed weapons and backpacks.
Everyone looked transformed. Enhanced. More than they had been.
But Luna—Luna looked inhuman.
Her pointed ears were clearly visible now, her silver eyes almost glowing in the warehouse light. Her golden hair seemed to catch every photon. The armor marked her as something from another world, another age.
"Holy shit," Sam breathed, as he looked at his visibly magical staff in awe. "We really are in a damned game."
"Language," Margaret chided automatically. "But yes. It appears we're beyond the confines of normal."
Mia was staring at Luna, mouth slightly open. "You look... Lu, you look like you stepped out of a fantasy novel. The ears, the eyes, the armor—everything. You're beautiful. And terrifying."
Luna didn't know how to respond. She felt different. The Class Form wasn't just clothing—it was power. She could feel enhanced capabilities flowing through her, instinctive knowledge settling into her mind naturally. She knew how to use the bow—beyond her mundane training—knew how to channel Mana through quiver to make more arrows or use her Skills, knew how to read terrain and track prey. Information she'd never learned but now possessed completely.
Her Status updated:
[DEFAULT ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: F+
Agility: E
Constitution: F
Arcana: F
Insight: E+
[CLASS FORM ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: C
Agility: B+
Constitution: E+
Arcana: F+
Insight: A
[CLASS TRAITS]
Hunter's Eye I—Your perception in combat is unmatched. Weaknesses in enemy defenses become visible, and your reaction speed lets you easily avoid most ranged attacks.
Steady Shot I—Your arrows fly true. Reduced accuracy penalties. Enhanced Aether Shield penetration for ranged attacks.
Wilderness Stride I—Movement speed and endurance are increased in natural terrain. Enhanced tracking. Move silently through vegetation.
Animal Bond I—Connection to animal spirits. Communicate with natural creatures. Simple mental commands to allied animals. Summon spirit companions at higher levels.
[CLASS SKILLS]
Hunter's Mark I—Mark a target. You can always track the Marked creature until the Mark's Mana is exhausted. The effective range of your arrows increases against the target.
Mana Cost: Moderate
Cooldown: Until current target's death or Mark's exhaustion
Venomous Shot I—Imbue an arrow with natural toxin. Deals damage over time, decreases reaction time and reduces the effectiveness of healing. Stacks up to 3 times on the same target.
Mana Cost: Low
Cooldown: Low
"Everyone listen!" Margaret raised her voice, commanding attention despite her age. "Form groups! Melee fighters toward the front, ranged toward the back. Anyone with healing abilities, identify yourselves!"
"I can heal!" Mia called out, raising her staff. "I picked Cleric!"
Two others confirmed healing abilities—Margaret herself and a younger woman. Margaret began organizing people into rough formations, her war surgeon's authority making people listen despite the chaos.
The timer read two minutes.
Luna tested her bow, pulling the string back experimentally. The draw weight was perfect—not too heavy, not too light. She reached back without looking and her fingers found an arrow immediately. Drew it, nocked it, aimed at the far wall. The motion was completely fluid, natural, like she'd been doing it for a hundred years instead of three.
"You really know how to use that?" Roger asked, watching her technique.
"Yes," Luna said simply. "I knew even before whatever that Integration stuff."
One minute. A mage from another group tried to attack a helpless goblin with fire, but an invisible wall didn't let the attack pass through the cage—it seemed the System didn't want them to "cheat."
The goblins had gone quiet. All forty-two remaining creatures watched the humans with yellow eyes that gleamed with intelligence and menace. Waiting. They knew their time was coming. Luna wondered if they also received messages from the System or were alarmed by the suddenly changed humans.
Thirty seconds.
"Whatever happens," Mia said, moving close to Luna, "we stick together, right? You and me?"
"You and me," Luna confirmed, then included the others with a gesture. "All of us."
Ten seconds.
The warehouse fell silent except for nervous breathing and the soft scrape of weapons being readied. Fifty humans stood transformed, armed, waiting.
The cages opened.
