ARISE - Chapter 11: Class And Traits

Regis's status opened without his doing.

Name: Regis Folk

Race: Human

Class: The One

Strength: 10

Vitality: 20

Agility: 12

Endurance: 12

Spirit: 500

Skills: [EX - Devour] [EX - The One's Gift]

Traits: [S - Elemental Affinity]

The same voice echoed in the selection world.

[DETECTED CLASS: THE ONE. SPIRIT STAT IS THE HIGHEST. CHANGING TO ARCANIST.]

"Arcanist? What does this mean?" Regis stared back at his status, the words shifting and updating before his eyes.

Name: Regis Folk

Race: Human

Class: [Arcanist] [Hidden - The One]

Strength: 10

Vitality: 20

Agility: 12

Endurance: 12

Spirit: 500

Skills: [EX - Devour] [EX - The One's Gift]

Traits: [S - Elemental Affinity]

"Hidden?" He tilted his head in confusion. The attendant outside said he could only have one class forever, which made this situation strange. His class field started to blink and pulse, and he felt strongly drawn to tap it with his finger. The status window changed and revealed new information.

[Class]

[Arcanist] - A wielder capable of transforming mana into devastating spells, barriers, and runes. A delver of the mystic arts.

[The One] - The One Delivered By The Tower.

Spells? Mystic arts? Regis loved to hear that, prancing around the empty world and laughing his heart out. He only heard such things in fairytales and myths on the 0th floor. For it to be real was a dream come true for him. His smile soon faded, and he pondered, staring at the status window. The mystery behind [The One] had no answer. What did it mean for him to be delivered by the Tower?

For some reason, a surge of information popped up in his mind, and he waved his hand to the right. The status window returned to its original wording, the [Skills] and [Traits] flickering this time. Curious, Regis whistled while clicking the [Skills].

[Skills]

[EX- Devour] - Consume the mana, the soul, or the bodies of others and gain a boost.

[EX- The One's Gift] - Transfer your [Spirit] stat to increase the potency of another stat. Limit: 5% of [Spirit] can be transferred.

"Five percent? What is five percent? Let's see. Grandpa explained this. Sixty minutes is one hundred percent. Thirty is fifty percent. That means three minutes is five percent." Regis struggled and felt his head hurt. "So what is five percent of my stat?" He smacked his head and laughed at himself. The surge of information from earlier had taught him how to activate his skills.

'The One!' Regis focused his mind and willed his skill active. He transferred the five percent from his [Spirit] stat into his [Strength].

Name: Regis Folk

Race: Human

Class: [Arcanist] [Hidden - The One]

Strength: 10 → 35

Vitality: 20

Agility: 12

Endurance: 12

Spirit: 500 → 475

Skills: [EX - Devour] [EX - The One's Gift]

Traits: [S - Elemental Affinity]

"Ooooo! That's how much it is." Twenty-five stat points were amazing to transfer around. Regis transferred the stat points back and checked his [Traits].

[Traits]

[S - Elemental Affinity] - All the elements dance and sing around you, allowing you to wield them all.

"I need to ask Astar about this class. What the heck is [The One]?" As he said that, a searing pain coursed through his head like hot magma flowing through his brain. He writhed on the ground and screamed out, the familiar sensation he was all too familiar with.

"NO! NO! NO! DON'T TELL! DON'T TELL!" The voices from his nightmares returned to haunt him, speaking in the words of thousands of different beings, high, low, young, old, man, woman, everything.

"Ok! I won't tell anyone! Please stop!" Regis clutched his head. The voices seemed appeased by his words since they backed away into faint whispers until finally disappearing into the void of his mind. Darkness shrouded the corners of his eyes, and he couldn't keep awake, slowly fainting into deep unconsciousness.

…….

Her blond hair whipped freely along her back as her red eyes gleamed sharply on her fair face. Yvel Stratun strode into a large floating palace; its walls stood tall, made entirely of glass, but nothing could be seen through it as it reflected the sunlight. The guards and attendants quickly bowed before her regal presence, but she ignored their fearful gazes, not even acknowledging their existence. Inside the center of the domed room, at the center, sat the First Floor Master Saleos.

"I still can't believe the Imperator of the Stratun Family decided to spend her time on the first floor as a test administrator." Saleos's bony, skeleton-like face looked creepy as he laughed.

Yvel chuckled once. "Mr. Saleos, I'm sure you didn't call me for idle chit-chat. What's the deal?" She curled her lips into a smile. A Floor Master having to interfere would certainly be an interesting and exciting event. First little Regis and now Saleos, more and more, she loved her decision to come down here. Calming herself and returning to her calm demeanor, she waited for Saleos to speak.

"Look at these." Three stone orbs floated over to her side.

Yvel frowned and held on in her hand, studying it, but found it was nothing more than just a simple rock. She flicked her finger, hitting it away, unimpressed by these mere rocks. "You summoned me for rocks?"

"These rocks were some dream orbs housing gremlins. Somehow, the gremlins are all dead. The mana within the orbs is gone." Saleos lifted his hat off and rested it on his knee.

"Wait! You said these were dream orbs?" Yvel snatched the three orbs and observed them more closely, still finding them to be simple rocks. "Even if the mana is gone, they should still be empty dream orbs. You're saying they became rocks?"

"That is what I am saying. Young Stratun, you understand what it means. Nothing should change the property of another like this." Saleos sounded serious. "I knew it would interest you."

"What's the story behind these?" Yvel stored the stone orbs in her storage.

"They were along the pathway of one team of new Climbers. I found nothing wrong with them, but I would like to delegate the investigation to you." Saleos flipped a piece of paper, and Yvel forced her eyes to remain still, containing the thunderous rumbles exploding in her mind, her heart beating fiercely.

In the picture was Regis with two others. She already knew the answer to Saleos's mystery. The cause of the three orbs turning to stone had to be Regis, the boy who was summoned twice. Yvel took the picture and smiled. "How interesting. I'll look into it."

"Thank you." Saleos nodded his head and gestured for Yvel to leave.

Yvel bowed slightly and exited the palace. The moment she was alone in the sky, faint giggles spilled from her quivering smile before she laughed wholeheartedly, raising her head to the high heavens. Staring at the picture of Regis, Yvel tapped on his adorable little head, smirking. "Ah, little brother. You're lucky he came to me first. I'll make sure no one has to bother you with this."

She stowed the picture into her pocket and remarked, "He needs other clothes, if I'm not mistaken." She pulled out her phone and made several orders.

…….

Faint, strange light cracked through the darkness. Regis cracked his eyes open against the oppressive light and found himself staring at a strange glass ceiling, groaning in distress. "Where am I?"

"You're up!" Someone came into view. His vision was still blurry, but the figure had a shroud of green hair and bright yellow pupils shining like the sun.

Regis admired this view and said, "Beautiful."

"Huh?" The figure staggered back before she reached her hand out and flicked his forehead. "Don't you remember you were not supposed to say those words so easily?" Finally, clarity returned to his sight, and Regis chuckled weakly at Astar's questioning gaze. Unknowingly, he had said those words to her.

"I feel lightheaded. What happened?" He flipped his silver watch open and saw two hours had passed since he entered the selection world.

"You fell and wouldn't react to anything we tried. They put you in a separate room while Danube and I got our classes. Why do you cause trouble all the time? We were worried for you and waited here until you finally woke up." Astar answered. "Danube went out for a moment to get you a drink."

Danube burst through the door at that moment, playing a wild solo on his guitar. "I heard Regis from outside. Here. Have a drink." He tossed over a strange metal cylinder, and Regis rotated it around, not knowing what to do with it. Danube laughed and showed Regis how to do it, cracking it open on the lid.

Regis followed Danube's method and pulled, cracking a hole in the lid, an instant sweet smell wafting over as a fizzling noise tingled his ears, his stomach growling in response. He drank and coughed, his throat burning from the liquid, then a sweet taste soothed his taste buds, and a bright smile arced across his face. "Delicious!"

"Astar can teach you manners. I'll have to teach you about life in the Tower. This is a soda, and it's in this metal can." Danube downed his soda in one gulp and crushed the metal can in his hand. He threw the can on the floor and played so many notes on the guitar that Regis could see smoke steaming from the strings.

"What now?" Regis asked.

"The First Floor Trial requires a team of four people. We're one short or two if the elf here wants to leave." Danube wiped his guitar with a handkerchief.

"Who's going to leave?" Astar yelped in a high-pitched voice, clearly offended by Danube's statement.

"As an elf noble, you can team up with the other elves. After all, aren't elves so blue-blooded and far above humans." Danube taunted, tilting his head closer to Astar. They stared daggers into each other, and a strange white aura emanated from their bodies, something with a dangerous feeling.

"Excuse me!" Regis interrupted, unable to bear seeing them fight any longer. He turned to Astar and then to Danube. "I will like it if we can all be on the same team."

"I'm not leaving. I said I have to teach you proper manners." Astar glared at Danube. "As a high blue-blooded elf, I must set a proper example for others and keep my promise."

"Thank you, Astar!" Regis smiled, delighted to have her onboard. "We just need a fourth!"

"Before thinking about a fourth, we need to do something else." Danube sighed. "We need money."