The line moved quickly as more and more people entered the Trial Instance. Before long, it was my turn.
[Do you wish to change classes?]
(Yes) (No)
A prompt appeared before my eyes. There was no need to hesitate, so I simply confirmed with a "Yes."
The next moment, the world around me dimmed and vanished. By the time I noticed, I was already in a completely different space.
If I had to describe it in one word, it would be "white." Everywhere I looked, everything was covered in blinding tones of white.
Yet there was solid ground beneath my feet. While I stood there, trying to process my new surroundings, another prompt echoed from Elysium.
Should I just call it the system? Yeah, seems fitting.
[Choose your new class!]
Below the message appeared an interactive window with dozens of options. None looked particularly impressive — things like "Archer", "Baker", "Thief" and so on.
I notice there were no classes like "Magician" or the like so I simply followed my heart and selected "Swordman".
[Do you wish to select 'Swordman'?]
(Yes) (No)
I selected "Yes" and the prompt faded away. A warm current flowed through my chest as another prompt appeared.
[You have selected 'Swordman'! Select your weapon and proceed to the Trial by Combat!]
As the message disappeared, numerous swords materialized in motes of light — with all kinds of shapes and sizes. Among them, I quickly found one that matched the dimensions of the sword I used to practice with.
"Perfect… this one." — As soon as the sword settled into my grasp, a countdown began.
[30...]
[20...]
[10...]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
Just as I finished adjusting to its weight, the countdown ended.
A strange sphere of light appeared before me out of nowhere. It was mesmerizing — a swirl of black and white, a monochromatic dance that felt fantastical and unreal.
'Is this what magic looks like?' — I wondered, secretly longing for it.
A sword-wielding knight was cool. But a knight with magic? Do I even need to spell it out? That would be the coolest thing ever.
Not gonna lie, as much as I like swords, I would have jumped at the chance of using magic had there been any such classes. — 'What a bummer...'
The sphere expanded, distorting the space around it, then burst apart, leaving behind an extremely ugly creature.
It was humanoid, around 1.2 meters tall (4'). Its limbs were long and disproportionate, with pointed ears, a pronounced chin, a mouth full of jagged teeth, a long nose reminiscent of a Minecraft villager's, narrow yellow eyes, and a round belly.
It also had sharp nails and wore something so torn it made rags look luxurious. And the smell… half as bad as a crowded public bus — which was still terrible.
Me: "Hey, O magic sphere, it seems you have dropped something... it stinks, please take it back."
Magic Sphere: "No refunds!"
Me: ヽ༼ಥ_ಥ༽ﾉ
Without wasting another second, I cast appraisal on it and dashed forward even before the result appeared, already swinging my sword at the ugly bastard.
Why didn't I wait? Because I'd never appraised a living being before, so I had no idea if it would work, or if it would give any useful information. And besides — my gut told me this thing wasn't dangerous unless I stood still and let it maul me. Which definitely wasn't going to happen.
When I got close, it finally reacted, swinging its right arm to claw at me — something I had no intention of letting succeed.
I adjusted my strike and sliced cleanly through its forearm, sending its hand flying behind me. Green blood sprayed everywhere in a disgusting display of gore, some even splattering on my face, though I forced myself not to think about it.
Its eyes widened as it screeched in agony, stumbling back while clutching its bloody stump with its remaining hand.
Not giving it any chance to recover, I stepped in and delivered a swift, decisive cut to its neck, ending it. God, even the blood smelled foul.
Holding back my nausea, I wiped the droplets from my face.
The corpse and all its remains began dissolving into motes of light as another system prompt chimed.
[Congratulations! You are now a Swordman! Would you like to continue the Trial Waves? Extra rewards will be given accordingly the further you go, with a special reward if all Waves are completed.]
(Yes) (No)
A warm sensation spread through my chest again, and I could tell my strength had increased.
I then looked at the appraisal result from earlier.
The weakest type of goblin. Unsuitable to even become fodder. If having bad odor was a superpower, this would be Superman.
[Tier]: 0
Overall: F
Threat Level: Low
'This is actually useful.'
I was genuinely surprised at how thorough it was. Knowing the Threat Level alone was invaluable — no unknowingly provoking something I shouldn't.
'This seems fine. If we go by this, the next trials might not be impossible. Even if there's a difficulty spike, the first few should be manageable.'
Next, I opened my status screen to check what had changed.
[Status]
[Name]: Valerius Everett
[Race]: Human
[Gender]: Male
[Age]: 23
[Class]:
- Slight increase in VIT growth.
- Increase in STG growth.
- Increase in AGI growth.
- Slight increase in DEX growth.
- Minor increase in SPI growth.
- Minor increase in ARC growth.
- Comprehension increase for sword-related masteries and skills.
[Tier]: 0
[Stats]:
- VIT: 13 F
- STG: 13 F
- AGI: 14 F
- DEX: 14 F (3.0x) (42)
- SPI: 11 F (5.0x) (55)
- ARC: 10 F
Overall: F
[Special]:
- LUK: 2 (2.0x) (4)
[Masteries]:
-
[Skills]:
-
[Traits]:
-
-
[Fame]:
Level 1
(0/250)
[Valor Opus]:
Active: 2/2
-
-
Inactive: (None)
'Oh! So that's how classes work! They boost stat growth and understanding of related skills and masteries. Interesting. Based on this, the Swordman class focuses on strength and agility — and both stats indeed went up by one after killing the goblin.'
Just thinking about the possibilities made me excited, so I pressed "Yes" without wasting another moment.
Another countdown began immediately.
[10...]
[5...]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
Three more light spheres appeared, distorting the air around them.
'A 1v3? Sounds fun. Bring it on!' — I thought as I rushed toward the nearest sphere, ready to take down whatever emerged.