"Keya!" a panicked woman shouted from within the crowd.
Because of the arrival of this adventurer team, the people on both sides grew more crowded, and a small boy, five or six years old at most was pushed out of the mass of bodies.
He suddenly stumbled into the path of the adventurer party "Four Wind"
The boy lost his balance and fell, scraping his arm against the ground. His skin tore, and blood immediately welled up.
"Ugh... waaah!!"
The pain in his arm, combined with the shock of being shoved out of the crowd and the panic of losing sight of his mother, made the young boy cry loudly.
Suddenly, something unexpected happened!
It caused Ukama, the captain with the striking black mohawk at the front of the group, to perk up with excitement.
This was a great opportunity!
For most adventurer teams, raising their visibility was extremely important.
"Anet..." Captain Ukama turned with calm expression, preparing to call for assistance from Anet, the one with the pink mohawk.
But before he could even speak…
Anet stepped forward. The long slits on both sides of his white robe fluttered with every stride.
His muscular thighs, tightly wrapped in large fishnet stockings, were exposed before the crowd.
It made some people turned their faces away; others spat on the ground.
"Little one, it's alright. Let me see it."
Anet knelt down with a gentle smile and a voice completely at odds with his appearance, lifting her palm toward the boy's bruised arm.
"Minor Healing!"
A soft white glow radiated from her hand. Under its light, the boy's wound closed instantly.
Feeling the pain vanish, the boy stopped crying. Tears still clung to his eyelashes as he looked up at Anet's smiling face.
"Thank you, sis—?" the boy began softly, but before he could finish, he stepped back in fear.
He didn't know why.
Even though the person in front of him smiled warmly, he felt an odd sense of unease from that smile.
Crack, crack.
Soft creaks of armor sounded.
Captain Ukama, clad in full plate, approached, bent down, and inspected the boy.
To the surrounding onlookers, it looked like he was checking the boy's injuries.
But in truth, Ukama was threatening Anet in a low whisper:
"You pervert. I told you not to wear weird stuff like that. I don't want our once honored party getting associated with your bizarre fetish fashion."
Despite the threatening words, for some reason the captain's voice came out sounding gentle, almost sweet.
Hearing the warning, Anet stared at him for a few seconds before responding,
"Captain, have you even looked at yourself in the mirror? This flashy appearance was your idea in the first place."
The boy stepped back again.
He didn't understand why these intimidating people produced soft, lovely voices like pretty ladies, but to him, that only made them scarier.
Behind them, the other two male members of "Four Wind" exchanged weary glances and sighed in unison.
In the midst of the crowd,
A middle aged woman squeezed through, panic on her face. She finally exhaled in relief upon seeing her child unharmed.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
She bowed repeatedly, overflowing with gratitude and nervousness.
Adventurers held little respect among the nobility, but among common folk, they enjoyed a certain level of fame and prestige.
Ukama and Anet straightened up, returning to their usual expressions and waving politely to show it was no trouble.
But Saelran's attention no longer lingered on this small scene. When Anet cast her healing spell, his attribute panel reacted.
『Skill "Minor Healing (Level 1)" Detected. Requires basic Priestess or Priest class, levels 1–7. Current requirements not met…』
『Class "Genius" activated. Conversion successful. Requirements fulfilled. Consume 1 Skill Point to learn?』
Priestess?
So Anet was really a woman?
Saelran stared at the prompt on his attribute panel, surprised, but his eyes gleamed with a strange light.
Since he didn't intend to keep watching, Saelran turned and left immediately, seeking a quiet place to sort things out.
It was midday.
The sun was blazing. Based on his earlier deduction, it should be around May, yet the heat felt more like June or July back on Earth.
The Nine Gates of Helldusk were expected to descend upon this world around mid July, four years from now. That meant Saelran had just over four years left.
Time was tight!
However, Saelran also knew choosing a class shouldn't be rushed.
The arena was located near the Royal Castle, nestled beneath a hill and surrounded by lush trees, separating it from the densely packed civilian homes around the capital. From above, it must have looked like a ring of green.
Saelran found a shaded spot to sit and opened his attribute panel.
[Ability Table]
Innate Ability: Player
Overall Level: Lv. 2
Experience Bar: 0/100
Classes:
Basic Class: Genius Lv. 1 (Warrior, Priest/Priestess)
Intermediate Class: Sword Saint Lv. 1
Skill Points: 0
Passive Skills: Item Box, Slash Enhancement (1%)
Active Skills:
Warrior – Instant Reflexes, Four Consecutive Light Slashes,
Rapid Slash – Minor Healing (Level 1)
——
Skill: "Minor Healing"
Cost: 5 MP
Description: Consumes mana to treat a wound and restore 10 HP.
...
Because Saelran had learned "Minor Healing," the "Genius" class now included the basic spellcaster class "Priest/Priestess" as a convertible option.
What truly surprised and worried him, however, was the basic spellcaster class "Priestess."
The name alone told him everything.
It was a female exclusive class. In Oblivion Gate, there were subtle differences between the "Priest" and "Cleric" classes.
Simply put…
The "Cleric" class leaned toward magic specialization, while "Priest" offered slightly stronger bonuses to healing.
Of course that wasn't what bothered Saelran. The fact that a "Genius" could even convert into a class normally exclusive to women was unexpected.
Did the appearance of a woman exclusive class mean he possessed some kind of "female character amplification" effect, allowing him to access classes meant only for female characters?
And because this involved a special class job,
Among all the special classes he'd heard of in the gaming community, Saelran had only ever obtained five: Umbra Sovereign, Warshade Berserker, Bloodborn Sentinel, Primordial Warden, and Heavenbound Sacrificer.
Of course, aside from these, there were also Mythic category classes—rare classes spoken of only in player legends, such as [Bearer of Epochs], [Cataclysm Herald], and others nearly impossible to obtain without extreme effort.
Other special classes existed too, but Saelran had no business considering them right now.
Thus, the realistic choices narrowed to these few.
From the six special classes, Saelran immediately eliminated [Umbra Sovereign], [Warshade Berserker], and [Heavenbound Sacrificer].
[Umbra Sovereign], one of the special classes belonging to Gurath Goat Govenant, had very clear requirements: you simply had to learn all types of Darkness Magic across multiple classes and reach level 95.
This special class could only be obtained through extreme class structures or cheat type skills such as Dark Knowledge.
Precisely because he understood the structure, Saelran dismissed it at once. Under identical class setups, he knew he would never match Gurath Goat Govenant.
Besides he was alone, while Gurath Goat Govenant was backed by several level 100 bosses. Extreme class structures like that were far too hard to compete against.
[Warshade Berserker] was also a no. Saelran had zero desire to lose his mind in combat.
As for [Heavenbond Sacrificer] that class required monstrously high karma.
[Bloodborn Sentinel] and [Primordial Warden] were less restrictive… but Saelran doubted he could face the Nine Gates of Helldusk with just one of those.
Saelran thought of another special class, one he had never obtained while playing Oblivion Gate.
The special class: [Red Apostle].