“… in her infinite generosity, the Plane Heart granted us mana, but look to our betters, see how they smother her gift. See how they rob you of the opportunity to learn! Strangle your ability to grow! Look upon their palaces, see how they have hoarded power, and now they expect gratitude? Rise brothers and sisters! The time for rebellion has come! Let the fires fuel our rage! Mera has brought us the chance to rise and we will teach those worms fear!”

  Inciting Speech of the Savix Riots, Delivered by Grand Priest Istton; Tier 7 [Imperial Librarian], Tier 5 [Quiet Revolutionary], Tier 1 [Street Preacher], two days after the ascension of Mera and Erhard. Spoken 287 years pre-System. Recorded 9 years post-System. Book case 8, shelf 19.

  ~***~

  The sensation of having your soul pulled from your body, no matter how gently, was incredibly jarring. The first of my senses to leave was touch, my soul no longer within my body on the material plane. Followed by taste, hearing, sight, and finally smell. It was no less jarring when my senses returned to me on arrival in the demi-plane within the Awakening Stone.

  I collapsed to my hands and knees and retched as mana trawled my soul to create a physical avatar for me in this plane. After collecting myself, it took me another minute to realize that I had locked my hands into a death grip, crushing clumps of knee-high grasses and wildflowers between my fingers. Above, the heat of a false sun baked the freshly created flesh of my back.

  I leaned back on my knees and surveyed the world around me, only to gape at what I saw. An old growth forest unlike any I had ever seen surrounded the clearing I was in on all sides. The tree line created a perfect circle around me and the five trees that occupied this clearing. The trees that encircled me were each a different variety than their neighbors, and every single one was a paragon of its species. I spotted spruces tall enough to scrape the clouds with needles sharp enough to pierce flesh. Oaks with mighty trunks and canopies spread tall and wide across vast stretches of sky while their roots locked them to the earth of this place. Each tree, perfect in nature’s imperfect way, was so densely packed against its neighbors that even if I had the greatest lumber axe ever created; I would spend decades to chop down enough trees to move even a single foot out of the clearing.

  With no other options for what could be my class besides the five trees trapped in this clearing with me, I moved to the closest, the soft earth and lush grasses heavenly, even on the uncalloused feet of this new body.

  The tree before me was short compared to its brethren, its stout trunk the metallic grey of unpolished steel and the way the ridges of its bark gleamed in the false sun told me the edges would be razor sharp. Three veins of red rose from the tree’s roots to its canopy. Each vein constantly leaked a sap the same color as what had piled into small mounds like stalactites around the trunk. The tree’s canopy was so loaded with leaves that every branch sagged under the weight. Within the canopy, rather than leak sap, the three veins sprouted pinecone like flowers wherever they’d spread. As I neared the tree, I smelled the rusty scent of blood emanate from each of the flowers; and each leaf took the form of a blade. Some had the standard double-sided edge and tip of a sword, others had the half-moon shape of an axe, more still had variations of blades I’d never seen before.

  I knew just from the sight of the tree which class it would offer me, and once I got within a foot of the canopy, I was proven correct.

  Congratulations! Through your efforts you have been offered the class [Warrior]!

  The sight of free-floating words in my vison made me jump slightly. I’d heard growing up that the System most often took the form of a scroll, so the free-floating words before me had caught me off guard. I quickly got over my surprise and focused on the words before me, hoping that the System would offer more details on what was being offered.

  [Warrior] – Common, +1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Free Point per level.

  You are a student of the Martial Dao, and have been offered the opportunity to step higher on your path to power.

  Bonus exp awarded when performing tasks related to the Martial Path.

  I stepped back from the ironwood, unsure of how to close the message on my own. It dismissed itself once I was far enough away, which I was grateful for. [Warrior] was a foundational class and the one I was most likely going to take, but I still wanted to see what else the System offered before I made a final decision.

  Next to the [Warrior] ironwood tree was a pine tree of truly massive proportions. Its bark and needles were a familiar, if healthier, color to the trees which grew within the Weeping Forest around Twin Oak. Aside from the size and fantastic health of the tree, what set it apart was its pinecones. Each pinecone was made of a different material than the rest. Pinecones of masterfully carved jade, diamond, ruby, and more rested amongst pinecones of marble, bone, metals, textiles, and more. I had no idea what the material cost of even a single pinecone would be, but I knew that even before the System shaved them into perfect replicas; the sheer material wealth on this tree would be enough to buy me a crown

  Almost in a daze at the sight of it all, I continued forward until I was about a foot away from the widest point in the tree’s canopy and a System message appeared in my vision.

  Congratulations! Through your efforts, you have been offered the class [Apprentice]!

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  [Apprentice] – Common, +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +1 Free Point per level.

  You are a student of the Artisan Daos, and have been offered the opportunity to step higher on your path to power.

  Bonus exp awarded when performing tasks related to a craft.

  [Apprentice] was a fine class, just not one I’d ever consider. I stepped away from the pine and towards the next tree in the clearing. The System message vanished from my vision as I did so and revealed a skinny birch tree that constantly shed its leaves.

  Orange leaves crunched underfoot as I neared, but something about them was off. They were too soft and damp enough that rain had to have fallen within the last twenty minutes. I picked up a leaf and noticed that rather than an actual birch leaf, the one in my hand looked like a feather pen. The stem of the leaf transitioned into a shaved point, and its veins imitated the feather of a bird. I ran my fingers along the stem and a beautiful blue ink squeezed from the pen tip. Strangely, the ink didn’t stick to my fingers and instead rolled off the leaf and onto the ground.

  My curiosity for what this class could be rose but as I stepped nearer to the tree, no message appeared before me, it wasn’t until I placed my hand on the trunk and felt the paper like quality of its peeling bark that the System offered me the class.

  Congratulations! Through your efforts, you have been offered the class [Village Administrator]!

  The offered class genuinely took me aback. Never in my life had I done anything to help administer Twin Oak. The closest I’d ever come was figuring out who would supply the cider for the harvest festival this year. The only reason I could see for why the System offered me this class was that my mom was the de facto [Mayor] of Twin Oak.

  [Village Administrator] – Uncommon +2 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom, +1 Free Point per level.

  Through the station of your birth, you have experienced the rigors of administering a village. This class will give you the skills to make your village thrive and perhaps allow you to glimpse into the Dao of Rulership.

  Bonus exp awarded when performing tasks related to the administration of a village.

  The description of the class confirmed that it was my mom who had unlocked the class for me. Part of me wanted to dismiss it out of hand, but I still took the time to consider the benefits this class could give me. Not only did it provide me with a clear path to advance, but it would also allow me to remain near Helena. The problem was that taking this class would be a betrayal of my duty to my people and, more importantly, my duty to Helena, which removed it from contention.

  I stepped away from the birch and [Village Administrator] class and looked to the next tree, only to be brought up short. Stood in the clearing with the majesty of a masterwork marble statue, its roots covered by the perfect shade of its canopy, was Ylena’s True Form. With unsteady steps, I neared her divine form, awed that she had appeared in this demi-plane. Dread slowly replaced awe as I noticed more details about the tree. Her leaves were the wrong color. The Grace Mother’s leaves were the shimmering purple of a summer sunset and the oppressive gold of an empress’ crown. Yet the imitator before me had leaves of tyrian purple and flaxen yellow.

  More details emerged as I drew closer. The bark of this fake did not gleam golden like an early spring dawn in the light. The veins of opal that ran up its trunk lacked all but one of her true colors. Even the sway of the leaves was wrong. They lacked all her divine grace and instead flopped about as if pulled by a drunken [Puppeteer].

  Rooted in place, I stood before the tree. I had made the pilgrimage of renewal every year since I was a toddler and spent years under the shade of the Grace Mother’s canopy. That the System would present me with a beginner’s replica of her was wrong on a level inherent to my being as her chosen.

  It took me a minute to accept and get over my disbelief, but each step after that was leaden. Still, I had to know what class this represented and marched forwards until an aura washed over and enveloped me.

  The harsh frozen winds of winter screamed over snow banks and up cliff sides. Spring showers drenched the land around me. Twilight came and dawn banished it. Trees died, but their seeds brought new life into the world. The subtle music of willow leaves as they swayed in the summer breeze comforted me as I lay under its canopy.

  The aura that washed over me felt like Ylena’s. It felt like having her attention on me as I prayed.

  How had the System failed so spectacularly at imitating her form but replicated her aura so well? It was the mystery of that contradiction that got me to move my feet again and place a hand against one of the opal veins that ran up the tree before me.

  Congratulations! Through your efforts, you have been offered the class [Priest of Weeping Grace]!

  [Priest of Weeping Grace] – Rare, +2 Wisdom, +1 Aura, +1 Endurance, +1 Free Point per level.

  Blessed by both a nascent Divinity and her Demi-Goddess daughter, you have pledged them your devotion in return. This class will teach you the skills to spread your faith, serve your patrons better, and perhaps allow you to glimpse into the Daos that form your patrons’ fledgling Domains.

  Bonus exp awarded when performing tasks related to your faith.

  Clearly, the patrons the System described were Ylena and Iona, both of whom had blessed me when I was young. However, I couldn’t decide if I was thrilled or offended. Although the class confirmed that I remained favored enough for Ylena to offer me a spot in her clergy; the System had insulted her by calling her a child Divinity and claiming her domain to be fledgling.

  I turned to the last tree in the clearing. It towered over me, almost twice the height of the [Apprentice] tree. Its rust red bark bore the scars of failed logging attempts. I craned my neck back and saw a sparse canopy coated in pine-like needles. What shocked me the most about the tree was that it was a sapling. I did not know how I knew that, but there wasn’t a shadow of doubt in my heart that the tree before me still had centuries to grow before it was done.

  When I neared the tree, like with the [Priest of Weeping Grace] an aura enveloped me as I neared. While the last aura had mimicked Ylena’s, this aura was unlike any I had ever experienced. The aura that enveloped me wasn’t hostile, instead it freely offered protection and sanctuary, the ability to rest under its shade without fear. The aura promised that no matter what happened, the sapling before me would stand tall, ever vigilant, ever sturdy.

  Congratulations! Through your efforts, you have been offered the class [Grove Guard]!

  [Grove Guard] – Rare, +2 Constitution, +1 Strength, +1 Aura, +1 Free Point per level.

  Blessed by a woodland spirit and protector of another, you have dedicated yourself to providing sanctuary to the beings of the forest, and in return, the forest has granted you strength. This class will teach you the skills to guard those within your grove and allow you to glimpse the Daos of Sanctuary and Forests.

  Bonus exp awarded when performing tasks related to the Martial Path and woodcraft.

  Overjoyed, I closed the System notification. That was it. That was my class. It let me be a warrior while remaining focused on the things I was born for. I was unsure of who the woodland spirit was as I doubted the class referred to Ylena or Iona, who the System had already referred to as Divinities. But I ignored that in favor of the boon that was [Grove Guard].

  All it took was an effort of will to accept the class, and when I opened my eyes again, the paper scroll of a System notification entirely blocked my vision. The notification disappeared when I took my hand off the Awakening Stone.

  What awaited my newly cleared sightline was Mera’s [Cleric] staring up at me, uncomfortably close.

  “Took you a while. Did the System offer you anything good?” The man asked, a knowing grin on his face.

  “It did, sir.” I revealed.

  I bowed at the waist in thanks for his time and ran from the clearing at a near sprint. I needed to return home and tell mom about my new class, and hopefully get Ylena and Iona’s approval of it as well.