'Investment? What does that even mean?' His brow furrowed deeper as he tried to parse the familiar yet also unfamiliar terminology. 'I gave Mira money to help her - is that an "investment"? And what's this about returns?'
The message mentioned his "Amount Invested" as 2000 credits, but to him, that was simply the money he'd spent to help his friend. The concept of expecting something back from helping someone was foreign to his understanding of charity and kindness.
'Target's Growth? Special Condition?' The terms felt like they belonged to some merchant's ledger, not exactly a class ability. 'What is the Great Weave trying to tell me?'
He recalled the crude banking system he'd learned about - simple lending and borrowing, mostly among merchants. But even that involved straightforward transactions: you lend money, you get it back with extra. This seemed... different somehow.
'Maybe it's like... placing a bet on Mira's success?' he wondered, grasping for any framework that made sense. 'But that sounds more like gambling than anything useful.'
The most frustrating part was the complete lack of reference material. Every other class had histories, examples, and known abilities. His class was a complete mystery, and even its basic mechanics were new.
Sure, he knew what the word 'Investor' meant - someone who puts money or resources into something expecting it to grow or return more value. But that was just theoretical knowledge from dusty economics texts.
There were no actual Investors in Aethelgard, or anywhere else he'd heard of. It wasn't a profession, wasn't a recognized role in their society.
'So how does that translate into a Class?' he wondered, rubbing his temple. 'What am I supposed to do with this? Walk around town asking people if they want me to... invest in them?'
The whole concept felt abstract and impractical.
Warriors fought, Healers healed, Merchants traded goods for profit. But an Investor? What did they actually do on a day-to-day basis? How did they level up their skills? How did they contribute to society?
'Maybe the Great Weave made a mistake,' he thought glumly. 'Or maybe this is really some kind of evolved Merchant subclass that got miscategorized.'
But deep down, he knew the Great Weave didn't make mistakes. Every awakening was deliberate, purposeful. Which meant there had to be something he was missing, some hidden potential in this mysterious class that he couldn't grasp yet.
'I guess I'll have to figure this out as I go,' he thought with resignation. 'But first, let's check out my Soul Tome.'
While the projection panels displayed the awakening results for the crowd, the true, detailed interface of one's Class manifested with a personal, metaphysical book called the Soul Tome.
Nael took a steadying breath and closed his eyes, reaching inward to that new presence he could feel nestled in the depths of his consciousness — a warm, pulsing sensation that hadn't been there before his awakening. He grasped that feeling with his mind and gently drew it forward.
The air in front of him shimmered like heat waves rising from summer pavement. Motes of golden light began to coalesce, spinning and weaving together until they formed the solid outline of a book
A moment later, a weightless, leather-bound book materialized before him, hovering in the air.
Its cover was unremarkable — dull brown, devoid of intricate, glowing sigils that often adorned the Tomes of higher-grade classes.
'Guess, the class is really a common one.'
Nael thought as he willed it open. The first page was filled with basic information about himself and his class.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Name: Nael Korbin
Age: 16
Class: Investor
Grade: Common
Level: 1
Essence: 0/100
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
'...Yeah, it's just as I expected.' Nael nodded inwardly and opened the next page.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Primart Stats:
Vigor: 140/140
Aether: 100/100
Focus: 130/230
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
'Well, starting stats are high enough for a common class,' Nael chuckled wryly. In fact, it might even rival some of the Rare or Epic classes.
His focus stat was particularly high, which somehow made sense for a class that seemed to rely on... 'investments', whatever that meant in practice.
'...No, it still doesn't make that much sense,' he admitted to himself. 'And, did that skill use the missing 100 Focus?'
'...Probably.' Because he didn't do anything else. It also explained the strange sensation he experienced just before that message appeared.
'...Alright, let's keep going for now.'
The next section displayed his attributes in neat rows.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Attributes:
- Strength: 9
- Vitality: 10
- Agility: 10
- Intelligence: 15
- Wisdom: 20
- Charisma: 13
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
'Oh, that's why the Focus is so high,' Nael nodded, seeing his highest attribute, Wisdom at 20. 'And it went up by 5.'
Considering the base limit for unawakened was 15, then he had already reached the limit before awakening, hadn't he? If so, his dedication to studying and his logical mindset had clearly paid off.
His Intelligence attribute increased by two, while Strength, Vitality, and Agility only went up by one each. As for Charisma, it hadn't changed at all.
'Makes sense,' he thought, analyzing the pattern. 'The awakening seems to boost your natural talents more than compensate for weaknesses.'
His mental attributes had received the biggest enhancement, which aligned with what he'd observed about other classes. Warriors typically saw massive Strength and Vitality gains, while Weavers got Intelligence and Aether boosts.
His class apparently favored wisdom and focus over raw magical power or physical prowess.
'...Keep going.'
He turned the page, his curiosity mounting.
The next spread was dominated by a single, central entry.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Class Skills:
[Invest]
· Rank: N/A
· Cost: Variable
· Description: Formally allocate resources into a viable target, establishing a metaphysical contract recognized by the Great Weave. Returns are determined by the target's achievements and the significance of your contribution.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Nael read the description once, then again, more slowly. The fog of confusion began to lift, replaced by a spark of stunned comprehension.
'So that's it...' he breathed, the pieces clicking into place.
It wasn't a loan he could call in. It wasn't a gamble on a fixed outcome. It was a partnership, sanctified by the universe itself.
The terminology finally made sense as well.
He provided capital—a "significant contribution"—and in return, the Great Weave granted him a share of the "returns" generated by the "target's achievements."
'But, I still haven't seen it in action yet.' He squinted his eyes. Aside from doing his first 'investment', he had yet to do anything with his class.
And therefore, he made a mental note to experiment later.
'What defines a "viable target"?'
"Nael."
'A person? A place? A business? And what counts as a "resource"? Just money, or could it be knowledge? Items? Or even a favor?'
"Nael!"
The sharp call finally snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts, dragging him back to the world outside the Soul Tome.
"H-huh? What?"