'It's finally my turn.'
The time has come for Cory to choose his class.
He stood before a bright blue orb, hundreds of meters tall and wide. Beams of blue energy shot out of the orb every few seconds.
The Orb of Awakening is what people call purpose. No one knows when or how it appeared. It's been a factual truth ever since, well— forever. When someone turns eighteen years old, their soul begins to produce a specific type of energy, accepted by the Orb of Awakening.
"Remember kid, no longer than one minute inside the orb."
The young man turned to guard and gave him a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah. I know what I need to do."
And with that, Cory walked through the bright ball of energy.
In mere moments, he lost all his senses. It was dark, and silent. And Cory felt as if he was just his consciousness floating through a dark void.
Before he could react to anything, something appeared in front of him.
(Choose your class)
Warrior:
Mage:
Rogue:
Cleric:
'What resonates with me the most...'
Cory had always wanted to be directly in the action. Being someone who stayed at the back, shooting fireballs from a staff, would not appease his appetite for combat.
'Mage and Cleric are definitely out of the question.'
Warrior and Rogue are the only two options left for direct combat in the starter class selection menu. Although the four choices may seem quite limiting, there are many subclasses in each category to choose from later down the road of progression through power.
At first, Warrior seemed to be the choice. Cory pictured a mythical sword in his mind. A red blade with dragon wings on the handle, that spewed flames from its sharp edges.
Then, he thought about the Rogue class. He might not be as strong and powerful like the Warrior class, but the Rogue's movement will allow him to get out of tight spaces much easier than any other class can provide.
'Survival over everything, obviously...'
He thought for a moment and decided the class he was going to choose.
(You have selected Rogue)
[Statistics]
Vitality: 8
Strength: 5
Stamina: 10
Agility: 12
Intelligence: 6
Hidden: 0
(Skill points remaining: 0)
'Hidden?! I've never heard about a hidden skill... I guess I can ask about it when I leave.'
(The system will open when the user says, "System")
The system then closed, and the dark space around Cory seemed to warp inside itself back into the light.
"Hey kid, what did you choose?"
"I chose Rogue, but there was a hidden skill. Do you know anything about it?"
The guard seemed genuinely confused.
"Hidden skill? Never heard about anything like that before. Anyways out of the line kid, your minutes up."
When children grow up they attend a school of magic. There, they learn the basics and fundamentals of how magic, skills, and the system all intertwine with each other. He didn't remember learning about a hidden skill stat. Although if someone had to get it, they probably kept it secret for a reason.
Anyways, when Cory exited the Orb, he thought his body would instantly react to his new found power inside of him. But he felt the same prior to entering the Orb.
At home, his parents congratulated him for his achievement, as if waiting eighteen years was difficult.
Cory's mother prepared a delectable dinner for the family. The family consisted of Cory, his mother and father, and his little sister too.
"When I turn eighteen I want to become a mage!"
Cory's little sister named Alexia, thought magic was the most beautiful thing in existence. Ever since she could walk, seeing magic around her was something that couldn't be described. It was a feeling for her, an emotion so perfect that magic alone gives her a reason to live.
Travelling to the Orb and back took half a day. So Cory, who was basically half asleep when he returned home, went straight to bed to rest.
However when Cory fell asleep, he entered a dream. He knew he was dreaming instantly, but couldn't tell what made him think that way. It was so vivid and real, his brain would have been easily tricked into believing so if it wasn't for that feeling inside the back of his head.
He couldn't explain where he was, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. All dreams are like that in a sense, but this looked like something that could of existed at one point in time.
It was a white cushioned room. The room was lit up by something he couldn't explain. Above him, was a rectangular yellow beam of light. The beam of light made a sort of buzzing sound. It never seemed to fade away.
'What is that sound...?'
Before he could theorize what his brain created for him, everything turned dark. He knew he was still in the room, but the obnoxious buzzing sound of the light above him disappeared.
It was silent. It was freezing. Cory's warm and safe environment was shattered in an instant. He blinked hard, trying to escape the dream that turned into a nightmare.
He couldn't wake up.
"Come back Cory."
Something was calling him, it sounded like many voices at once.
"Cory, come back."
It sounded like a man and a woman. There was a little kid calling out as well.
Cory's mother appeared next to him.
"Cory are you okay? I was calling you for so long, I was worried."
He realized he wasn't dreaming anymore, and he was back inside of his room.
"Yeah, I'm okay, just a bad dream I guess."
His mother's worry quickly faded and turned into a sigh of relief.
"Breakfast is ready so hurry on downstairs when you are ready, okay?"
When Cory's mother left, he thought about the dream, or rather nightmare, he had last night.
'It's just a dream, nothing to get hung up about.'
After breakfast he decided that it was time to go through his system.
Cory remembered what the system told him inside of the Orb.
'System.'
A grey screen appeared In front of him.
The system only appears for the person who summoned it. No one can see someone else's system. It holds key information on the user's stats, inventory and magic.
Even though Cory picked a class that is based on physical actions, magic was still a necessity that was used by everyone in the world. Magic is technology, and is used for many daily tasks.
The breakfast and dinner Cory's mother prepared, were both cooked by using flames summoned by his mother. Most people decide not to risk their lives trying to grow stronger, so they settle down. They live a normal, peaceful life.
Some people, Cory included, decide to do something special with the power given to them. The Orb is known as a deity. People worship the Orb like its a religion. But that doesn't mean the Orb is all good and peaceful. It needs to balance out the magic given to people, for almost nothing. So, it creates portals to different places on the same world, thousands of kilometers away, in special regions. Once entered, the location receives an impenetrable magical barrier. Only once the dungeon is completed, a portal back to the original location appears. The magical barrier only fades away when everyone who entered prior leaves through the exit portal.
***
(Customize the system)
Please select a color you wish to be primarily present in the system:
'I get to choose a color? Thankfully it's not going to be this putrid grey color. I'd vomit every time I open this thing.'
He thought of some good color combinations. Since the text is white, he wanted a color that stood out and made the system look shiny and fabulous.
'Ill go with blue.'
The system then changed to blue in the blink of an eye.
(Customize the system)
Please select a secondary color you wish to be present in the system:
'A secondary color? What goes good with blue...'
Cory need a color that can complement his blue perfectly. And he thought of the perfect one.
'Gold'
(System customization complete)