The complete lack of humans made the place quite peaceful. The eerie silence of the basement floors was replaced by the ambient sounds of nature from the garden and the world outside. Uruvi sat on the chair behind the reception desk, lying back lazily as she planned her build. She remembered the explosions from the previous day, powerful enough to rock the whole building, but now it was nothing but peace and quiet. The chaos appeared to have died down for the moment.

  She shifted her focus back to the screen before her. She had some big decisions to make, as the choices she made now would be permanent. Or were they?

  “Hey Robot, do I have the option to reset my class or any points allocation I make?” she asked.

  “Negative. The class, once chosen, cannot be reset. So, do the points.”

  “I guess the points make sense. By the end, I need to level up all my Chakras. Okay, Robot, I think I have made my decision. But can you list the classes once again?”

  “Affirmative. The options available to you are – Warrior, Ranger, Magus, Sage, and Rogue.”

  Warrior (Yodha) – A close-range/Melee combatant who thrives on physical strength.

  Ranger (Dhanvi) – A ranged combatant who relishes calmness and precision.

  Magus (Mantrik) – A magic user who focuses more on using Spells than Skills.

  Sage (Rishi) – A magic user who balances the mind and spirit to cast devastating spells.

  Rogue (Kapati) – A deceiver who uses power in illusions and trickery.

  (*The names in the parentheses are the original Sanskrit translations.)

  She went over them several times to make sure she understood what each class does. “That is a small pool to choose from,” she said.

  “Affirmative. These are the primary Classes available to you based on your past experiences and personality. Gain more talents, blessings, and boons to pick a secondary Class.”

  “When do I get to do that?” she asked.

  “At Level 45.”

  “That is quite a while away…” But she ultimately concluded it was a good thing. Too many choices could spoil the mind. “Very well. I am going to pick the Warrior Class.”

  “Affirmative. The Warrior Class is a very good choice. Shall I assign this class to you?” asked the Robot.

  She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. “Yes!”

  “Completed. You have been assigned the Warrior Class. Bonus obtained – Base HP increased by 50 points. Base Attack increased by 10 points. Strength increased by 2 points. Toughness increased by 2 points. New Skill – Charge, acquired. New Spell – Domino, acquired. Congratulations on obtaining a class.”

  “Whoa, that is a whole lot of new stuff!” she said, bouncing in her chair with excitement.

  She clicked on the Attributes and saw the two Attributes – Strength and Toughness, raised by 2. She also noticed the 10 unused attribute points mentioned at the top. ‘I will get back to you.’ She tapped on ‘Skills and Spells’ next and was greeted by a web of tiny icons. The sheer number of them was overwhelming.

  “So many of them!” she said out loud as she scrolled through them. The page was divided into two. Skills were on the top, and Spells were at the bottom.

  The skills section had three sub-sections: Body, Mind, and Spirit. In each, there was a web of icons, neatly arranged, and each web formed a unique shape. The first icon in each was drawn in white line, while the rest were greyed out. Each skill icon had dots beneath it, along with the icon of a chakra and a number attached to it. The layout of spells was similar, except that instead of a web, it was a simple layout of tiles. Here as well, each icon had dots, the symbols of chakras, and a number associated with the chakra.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  At the top of the page, she could see that she had two Skill points and two Spell points.

  “That is a lot of Skills…and Spells… Where do I even begin?”

  “The available Skills and Spells are highlighted in white, the rest are gray. Activated ones have a blue glow to them. To unlock new Skills, you must unlock the previous Skill and meet the Chakra requirements. Spells do not have a sequence and can be unlocked anytime.”

  “I see…” She noticed two Skills in the chart, Charge and Last Man Standing, were already unlocked. She had the option to add another point to them or to unlock the next item in Body – Reinforce. She also could have picked the first Skill from Mind – Calm Mind, or Spirit – Empower. After a good few seconds of thinking, she picked Reinforce and Calm Mind.

  Picking a Spell proved to be a far more difficult choice. There were twenty-seven choices, of which one had been activated. ‘Spoiled for choices once again…’

  “Hey Robot. You seem to be wise. What would be two good spells to pick?” she asked.

  “Affirmative. The best Spells should focus on your chakras and combat style. Your best choice would be Rejuvenate and Taunt. One heals you in dire need, while the other can reduce your enemy's defense.”

  She read the fine print for both, and Taunt worried her. “Yeah, right. But increases its attack!”

  “In battle, there is always a give and take. An enraged opponent cannot think straight, leading to exposed weakness.”

  She grunted and said, “Fine. I will heed your words this time.” She tapped on them, and they began to glow white. She switched over to the Attributes page. ‘The robot said my best Chakras would be Root and Navel. Now then… Which Attributes do I invest in?’

  After much deliberation, she decided to give Strength and Toughness 1 point each and split the remaining 8 points evenly between Valor, Dynamism, Renewal, and Serenity. All the attributes seemed to match the Skills and Spells she had picked. ‘Now that I think about it… I should have done this in reverse.’

  “Right then. I am done with my choice,” she said.

  “Affirmative. Shall I save these changes?”

  “Affirmative, my trusted robot.”

  The icons and numbers froze while she was submerged in bright white light. She felt a surge of new energy, and her body felt strange, but in a good way. She looked down at her hands but could not notice any changes.

  “I feel…different…” she said.

  “Affirmative. Your body has undergone metamorphosis thanks to the attributes you have picked.”

  There was a bright smile on her face, which curled into a smirk. “Now then, let’s go test this new body out!”

  She hopped off the chair and swiped the helmet off the table. She felt a little giddy from all the excitement as she rushed up the flight of stairs, reaching the first floor in a jiffy. The speed was unprecedented. She was always known as the quick one but she wasn’t really that quick. Boys could outrun all the girls, and some of them would run backwards just to tease them. But this was different; this was pure speed. She felt like she could run a marathon at the speed of a cheetah.

  She came to a stop before the door and peered through the window. More office floor space with more cubicles. Only this time, the white, fluorescent light was replaced by the natural sunlight. Her focus shifted to the monsters on the floor, more Pisacha, only these looked bulkier. Their scrawny limbs were now close to the size of a young adult man. The torso was larger; some looked like they had a belly, while others appeared fitter. The heads were larger, so were their mouths. Sharp protrusions covered the circumference of the mouth, which now housed two more tongue-like limbs.

  “Nasty creatures,” she whispered. They had the number 2 on their heads and counted a total of six monsters. ‘Keep your head calm and aim for their head instead.’

  She pulled the lever down and unlocked the door. ‘Just like last time…’ She pushed the door open and rushed in, sprinting towards the first Pisacha her eyes fell on. A golden hue appeared around her as she reached the monster, which seemed to have just noticed her presence. However, before it could even turn to face her, the monster’s head was smashed through by the hockey stick, sending pieces of it flying about as it collapsed onto the floor.

  Skill – Charge. Increase speed and attack temporarily, reaching a maximum of 20 percent. This increase is reset with the first hit. Cooldown – 10 seconds.

  ‘One shot! Come on!’

  Her excitement came to an abrupt stop when a flash from outside the building caught her eye. She walked up to the edge of the building and peered out through the glass pane at the carnage that lay on the street before her building.

  Vehicles of all shapes and sizes littered the street—toppled, broken, and some were even burning. It looked like a riot had passed through the place. There was no sign of humans there either, just shadowy creatures, roaming about looking for their next prey. The buildings across were in no better condition. Busted doors, broken windows, fire, and smoke covered several others.

  She could sense the monsters converging upon her. She quietly exhaled before turning around to face the Pisacha.