Chapter 118: Long Awaited Destiny pt. 1

Kaius gasped, sitting bolt upright like he had been hit by lightning. He whirled his head around, disoriented and confused. A moment ago he had been sitting on the summit of the dwarven city, confirming his class selection. Now, he was…somewhere.

Craning his head back and forth, he gasped as he realised that he was in the Sea. It was unmistakable. The rich scent of earth and pine, the cold wind that rolled off the mountains, and the ever-present warmth of the sun. Jaw slack, he looked up. 

Far above him, a green canopy rustled. Branches shifted and swayed in the breeze, sun streaming through the leaves as odd bars of illumination shone through the gaps. Through those, he saw an unmistakable blue.

It was gorgeous.

He sat there, rooted in place, simply drinking in the environs. Letting the soft sounds of wind, trees, and nature suffuse him. Drinking in the warmth of the sun, he realised just how much he had felt confined in the restrictive environments of the Depths. Even with caverns larger than most cities, and underground groves, it was a poor substitute for the world at large.

“Gorgeous isn’t it? I can see why it was chosen for you.” An oddly familiar voice said from behind him.

Kaius started, whipping around as his hand dropped for his sword. His open palm slapped a hip covered in soft cotton. Wherever he was, his armour and blade hadn’t come with him.

Standing behind him was a cowled figure, leaning up against the trunk of a tree. His robe was a deep mottled green, made of a thick woollen weave that did much to obscure all identifying details in its depths.

Kaius launched to his feet, backing up as he raised his arms, ready for a fight. He might not have his weapons, but that didn’t mean he was helpless. 

“Who are you?” Kaius called out, his tone hard. “And how did I get here?”

The figure stayed lounging against the base of an oak tree, unperturbed by his readiness for violence. He chuckled softly.

“I am your guide,” they said simply. “And this? This is your class selection.”

The words rushed through Kaius, shock radiating down his spine. He’d known little of what to expect for class selection, only that he would have to pick between a number of options. He’d expected many things, but being plopped down in the Sea with a mysterious figure was not one of them.

He eyed the cowled man warily, his arms slowly lowering to his sides. “Guide? What do you mean?”

The cowled man lifted his arms up, causing Kaius to raise his fists once more. 

“Woah there,” The man said, raising a placating hand. “Just taking off my hood.”

Their hands continued upwards, gripping the thick fabric of the cowl that obscured their face. They pulled it back slowly, revealing a thick mop of brown hair streaked in grey. A scarred, strong nose jutted out from rugged features marred by the slightest wrinkles. Piercing eyes magnetised his own. Green, with flecks of gold.

Kaius froze.

“Before you ask, no, I am not you from the future.” Kaius the Elder said with a wry smile. “I am a construct of the system. Your guide, your choosing grounds, are shaped by the system to be in a context you can understand, and feel at ease with.”

Kaius the Elder gave Kaius a long look. “Relatively at ease, that is.”

He simply stared agog at the venerable version of himself, still leaning against the tree.

Kaius the Elder gave him a wry smile. One he had seen before in still water. “Look, I get that it's weird, but it's a lot better than when you just got plopped in a white space with a list of options. Much more likely you pick something suitable. I have your knowledge, but also I have just about everything the system knows locked up here.” The system construct tapped his temple with one finger.

“I can’t share most of it, but I can advise. Are you with me so far?” They asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Kaius gave a slow nod, coming to terms with the fact that he was talking to an aged clone in his childhood home. Now that he knew it was all a creation of the system, it did much to put him at ease. What was something like this in the face of a power that had reshaped his world?

“Good!” Kaius the Elder clapped, standing up straight from the tree and walking towards him. “Now, we have a little ground to cover. You’ve been a busy fucking bee, haven’t you?”

Kaius looked at the construct in surprise.

“What? I’m based on you, you swear all the time.” Kaius the Elder said.

“I mean, yeah…but isn’t it a little undignified for an emissary of the system.”

The construct waved him off. “Maybe if this was some grand proclamation, but I am only here to help guide you, and to do that effectively you need to feel at ease. The second I swore you just got a whole lot less tense, didn’t you?” They gave him a cheeky grin.

Kaius frowned, rolling his attention across his mental state. His guide was…right. He was feeling less guarded.

“See? Told ya.” The construct clapped him on the shoulder, before they walked past him deeper into the forest. Kaius hurried to follow. 

“Now, you’ve got some really good options here, and a whole bloody lot of them. That's what you get for being the first unclassed to get Honours in your cohort, and some really bloody good ones at that. Now, are you interested in seeing anything not tied to glyph-binding? I promise you there are some really good options in that camp.” Kaius the Elder said, waggling his eyebrows in a ridiculous attempt at convincing him.

Kaius laughed, striding forwards to keep pace with his strangely aged reflection. “No, and make sure to narrow it to classes that make the best use of my general skills, and involve swordplay.” He said resolutely. Mixing magic and blade had been his goal since he was a child. There was no way he was ever going to give it up, not even if the gods themselves descended and offered him an Epic class. 

“Are you sure? That will reduce your available options by more than you could ever imagine.” Kaius the Elder said, fixing him with a deadly serious look. “Think about it. Some of your feats are… immense. Even with discovering glyph-binding for your cohort, most of your skills and combat style lends itself towards direct confrontation. You have some strong achievements in that vein too. It goes the same with pure glyph-binding. It is powerful magic, one never before seen, and you will miss some of the deepest depths of it without a focused class.” 

Kaius paused, considering the construct’s words as he stepped over a particularly thick root that snaked its way through the leaf litter that crunched with his every step. 

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Kaius the elder sighed in relief. “Good, you’re not an idiot.”

The construct took the lead once more as they weaved through the dense life of the Sea. Kaius the Elder was silent, though Kaius thought that was more to give him time to collect his thoughts than any need on the construct's end to ponder its words. Birds chirped softly in the distance, bringing a light smile to his face. Even if this place was fake, a simple mirage woven by the system to placate him, it knew its stuff. He felt more relaxed by the second.

The construct broke the silence. “Generalists suffer in some fashion, always. Even when the positives handedly out weigh them, you must consider the drawbacks. Glyph-binding is one of the few routes, and the most complete, though which one can utilise the arcane in close combat. Yet, splitting your focus like that has downsides. It is highly likely that the grandest workings will be out of reach, and it is even more likely that most of your spells will come from divine insight from the system, and you will have less of the base required to customise and derive new ones as needed. This is one of glyph-bindings greatest strengths, and you will be sacrificing it to use a sword.”

Kaius the Elder turned his head, watching him closely as they led their way forwards with confidence. “You won't be sacrificing power, and you are still likely to develop a number of spells per skill and tier through the system’s aid- far more than most magi on your planet. Yet, this is still a sacrifice. I know you think you might be able to do it yourself anyway, you won't. Not for a long, long time.”

Kaius bristled, staring at the construct. “How could I not? I already have a glyph, see?” He raised his arm, showing off the runic construct that wrapped around the back of his hand and wrist.

The construct shook its head gently. “Kaius, I say this with confidence. Your father was perhaps the most dedicated, successful, and down right genius runewright of his generation. One of the best, ever. That-” Kaius the Elder jutted one finger at his glyph. “Is a hodge podge piece of shit. Not because your father is bad at what he does, but because glyph-binding is thoroughly divergent from other runic arts, and requires different sacred forms. Your father might have been able to do it with the reference, but you do not have a hundredth of his knowledge. His genius and dedication, maybe, but not his knowledge nor the backing and resources to gain it quickly. Without a dedicated class, you will not be freeform designing your own spells. Not for a long time.”

Kaius paused, digesting the construct’s words. At first he had felt disgruntled at his aged reflection’s disparagement of Father’s work, but as he sat and thought on it, he realised the construct had to be right. If, by the system’s own metric, Father had barely been able to patch something together that half worked, then he had no hope in the hells of devising new spells. 

It was a sacrifice, one he couldn't ignore.

Kaius chewed his lip. “Would I be locked into specific spells, if I went that route?”

Kaius the Elder tilted his head back and forth. “In a sense. It differs by class, and each spell you select will be set in stone, but there is a lot more flexibility than you are probably imagining. At the very least, you will get multiple choices to select from. At best, you will eventually build up a sizable repertoire of examples and references to tweak of your own accord.”

Kaius’s ears pricked up at the construct’s closing words. Accruing hymns that he could learn from on his own time… That was more like it. Plus, it hadn’t said he would never be able to design them unassisted, only that it was a long way’s off…

“Do it.” He said, his spine straightening like steel. “Cull the pure glyph-binding classes.”

Kaius the elder looked at him, green and gold eye’s twinkling. “Good choice, kid. Now, let's talk about rarity. You’ve got quite the selection, do you want to trim any of the lower ranks?”

Kaius hummed. It made sense. He was sure he had done well. Unusual classes for sure, and perhaps if he was lucky a handful of Unique ones. That said, it seemed like a bad idea to ignore the Rare classes just because they were lower. Rarity was incredibly significant, but it wasn’t everything, he might miss something perfectly suited to him.

“Cull everything below Rare.” he said, resolute.

Kaius the Elder only grinned at him and gestured upwards with his thumb. Kaius gapped at the construct. It wanted him to go higher? 

He took a deep breath, steadying himself. While his mind rebelled at the idea, he trusted that the construct was there to guide him to a well suited choice. He’d never heard of anyone having something bad happen during class selection. Even if people avoided talking about the experience, that was the sort of thing that would get out. 

“Cull everything below Unusual.” He said, chewing on the words.

Kaius the Elder’s smile widened until it was almost manic, and the construct pointed up again. He froze, staring at them in sheer disbelief. It wanted more? That was ridiculous, how many Unique options could he possibly have to make it worthwhile to ignore an Unusual class? This was his first selection! He’d never even heard of anyone getting a Unique class so early, only in bardsong. It was only his legacy and Honours that gave him the confidence to even get one.

Slowing to a stop, Kaius placed one hand on a nearby trunk, feeling the reassuring grit of its bark. Unclenching his jaw, he worked the words out of his mouth. “Cull everything below Unique,” he said in a small voice, looking intently at the construct.

Kaius the Elder looked at him with feral intensity, green and gold eyes burning with ambition. He pointed upwards again.

“Come on kid, let’s see if you’ve got some balls.”

A/N: puts on a pitchfork proof vest and hides under a fireproof blanket