Adam was confused.

  The system had identified that classes could be split into six different rarities, with each of the rarities having an associated color. Based on video game logic, that made sense. What didn’t make sense was that Adam’s offered classes contained an option that was outside of the stated options.

  “Um…” Everett’s voice drifted across the now silent lobby, “I have no clue, Henry. Adam, is there anything special about it? If you concentrate on your chests, system windows should pop up with descriptions of the classes.”

  Great, now everyone is watching me.

  Rather than everyone going through their own options, the group had focused their attention on Adam and his glowing pink chest.

  He turned his focus away from the others and back towards the chests. Sitting on the left was a small wooden chest. It looked to be crafted from strong oak and despite its size, felt strong. White light glowed through its seams, past smoothed iron bands that held it together. A heavy padlock in the shape of closed jaws held it shut.

  If Adam had to describe it in three words, they would be classic, strong and… clean? Something about the way this chest felt to him reminded him of the feeling you get when you enter a nice hotel room for the first time. It's nice, you can appreciate it for what it is and it’s perfect for a time. A quick glance towards Michael revealed that two of his chests were potentially identical to this one.

  This one must be one of the basic classes offered to someone on the Path of the Beast.

  With this thought, he unintentionally acknowledged the chest, prompting two different system messages to appear.

  Well, that’s very informative and not at all ominous, he thought. Adam once again looked at Michael. The older man’s pondering gaze seemed to be intensely focused on his own system messages, telling Adam that he too had received a similar message. He moved to the second window, checking out his first offered class.

  A class that’s based on a basic classification of animals? Adam had not expected to be offered something so… boring. His previous feelings about the chest made a lot of sense to him now. On an instinctual level he had sensed that this option was bland.

  What does this system mean by my ‘aggressive nature’? Adam grumbled internally. I’m not violent at all, he thought as he shoved the images of Jessica’s body and the taste of the sabercats blood in his mouth from his mind before turning to the second chest.

  This one was as far from basic as he could imagine. Being the size of a dresser, it was about three feet tall and roughly four feet across with a padlock the size of a dinner plate. The chest looked to be built out of polished ivory and was bound by a bright silver metal. To further differentiate from the first option, this one was incredibly intricate. Each of the ivory pieces were covered in intricate carvings. Some looked like they were of runic symbols while others gave the impression of large mythical creatures.

  To Adam’s eye, it looked like a combination of ancient Polynesian iconography, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Norse runic language. While he didn’t have anything more than a Google’s worth of experience with any of those cultures, he couldn’t help but compare it to them. The intricacies of the chest were highlighted by the pink glow that was seeping out from under its lid. Unlike the previous chest’s padlock, this one had no additional engravings. Instead, it was composed of a solid silver material that was so polished, Adam could see his own reflection in it.

  Just as he was about to inspect it, a flash of green light lit the space. Henry stood arm deep in a green glowing chest. He had, unsurprisingly, chosen the Uncommon class that he had been offered. As the first of their group to select a class, the others all watched as the chest that he had selected slowly disintegrated into glowing green mana before being absorbed into Henry’s body through his skin. The selection only lasted for a couple seconds before Henry was left standing as if nothing had happened.

  His face split into a massive grin. “You’re all looking at an Adept Swordsman! Take it all in as I will someday become a Swordmaster!”

  A brief silence met his declaration, before snorts of laughter broke out from Tang, Dimitri and Shawn.

  “You are such a friggin nerd.” Sylvia shook her head and turned back to the chests in front of her. As she turned away from their friend, Adam noticed the faint hint of a smile on her lips.

  Henry, flushed with embarrassment, joined with the others. His friends from the athletics programs jostled him about as they quietly made fun of him for his reaction.

  It was amazing how he seemed to affect all of the others without even knowing it. Adam could tell that with his friends' actions, he, Michael and Sylvia had all relaxed, releasing a tension that he hadn’t even been aware that he was holding.

  Sylvia quickly followed Henry and selected her class. More green light burst out of her class chest, quickly absorbing into her body. Once the light faded, Sylvia held her hands before her. She furrowed her brow as pale red light began to move under her skin, starting in her chest before moving down her arms towards her palms before an energy, that Adam could only assume was mana, poured through the skin of her palms and formed into a swirling mass. The hair on the back of Adam’s neck stood on end and a dull ache pulsed through his tusks as the mass of mana floated between Sylvia’s hands.

  With a flick of her wrist, the mana ball flew across the open space above the lobby and struck the far wall, leaving a quickly fading glowing scorch mark on its surface.

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  She turned and looked at Adam with tears in her eyes, “It’s real. I can do real MAGIC!” soft sobs mixed in with her laughter as she lost herself in the moment.

  “What did you pick? I told everyone first so you should tell us too!” said Henry from the seat he had taken alongside the others.

  Otto sat beside the swordsman with his eyes completely focused on Sylvia. Adam noticed that while she manipulated the mana, Otto’s eyes and tattoos began to emit a faint glow of their own.

  Seeing her perform real magic has got to be exciting for him. Hopefully, he levels up soon, thought Adam.

  As she continued to play with her new skills she answered Henry, “I chose Novice Arcanist. It's a class that is focused on the transferring, transforming and manipulating mana. By the sounds of it, I should be able to make my own magic in the future. At least, I think I will.”

  With that, she proceeded to ignore everyone and focused only on her mana.

  Seeing that the others had already made their choices, Adam turned to Michael and found the man staring back at him.

  “Are you ready to choose your class, Adam?”

  Adam shook his head, “No, I haven't even read the description of my second class option yet.”

  The professor smirked, “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, I got distracted by the others.”

  “Well, why don’t you look at your other option and let me know when you are ready. We can make our selections at the same time.”

  Adam smiled, “Sure thing. One sec while I look at it.”

  He looked back at the pale chest in front of him and focused, bringing up the class description.

  … huh…

  I don’t really know how to feel about this.

  Gaining a class like this was both exciting and horrifying. Adam couldn’t fathom just how rare it was for this situation to happen. Yes, the system had given a number to actually show just how rare this was but without knowing just how big the multiverse was… it felt both too rare and anticlimactic all at once.

  Seeing the rarity and what it represented made Adam want to select this class without any further thought, but the prerequisites reminded Adam of the creature… the person… that he had eaten less than an hour ago.

  Holy shit, has it only been that long? Thinking on it a little more, he realized that it had been roughly two hours since everyone exited the Integration Stasis and returned to Earth.

  With that in mind he considered his options. Carnivore or Bone Glutton.

  Carnivore was a basic class that he could easily understand. Once selected, you become a carnivore, leveling up and growing in the same way that carnivores always have. Bone Glutton, on the other hand, seemed like it gave Adam more options and was obviously stronger than the other. That said, there was a comfort that came with simplicity.

  The specialty stats had to be considered as well. When he had selected Path of the Beast as his Pursuit, he had gained the Instinct stat and it had proven to be a major boon for him and his friends, however, Adam was pretty sure that it was a double edged sword as well. Based on the way he and Michael had both lost control when they had killed the monsters before, he was pretty confident that their Instincts were to blame. This led Adam to believe that a person's stats can affect them in ways they wouldn’t normally expect.

  The Carnivore class would add the Predation Stat on top of his Instincts. Would he be able to stop himself next time if the two stats combined to make him a monstrous predator? An animal with no control or humanity left?

  The Bone Glutton class gave him the Magnitude stat which he didn’t fully understand. What would it be affecting? Does it serve as a multiplier for other stats or does it do something else entirely?

  All of these things flashed through Adam’s mind as he read both class options a second time.

  Despite my lack of knowledge, this choice is a no brainer. He looked up at Michael, who had been patiently waiting for Adam to make his decision.

  “I've made my decision,” he said.

  “Good to hear. Let's do this on three then,” Michael grabbed onto the lock that sealed his glowing blue chest.

  Looks like we both have similar thoughts. Adam grabbed the reflective lock on the ivory chest, pink light covering his arm.

  The two of them locked eyes as Michael counted down, “Three… Two… One”

  They pulled the locks open.

  Blue and pink light shone throughout the lobby, overshadowing the previous class selections with their luminosity.

  The energy trapped within the chests billowed out from its previous confinement, forcing its way into the waiting recipients.

  Pain filled Adam’s mind as the energy flooded through his body. He clenched his teeth so hard he felt a crack. Bones shifted and muscles tore as a groan built within his chest. Unable to contain it any longer, Adam threw his head back and roared. Across from him, Michael who had fallen to all fours, strained his neck forward and let out a howl that deepened as he began to transform, his body changing of its own volition.

  The energy continued to rip through Adam until he too felt his body begin to transform against his will.

  Everett sensed that something was off with their class selection right away. As soon as they selected their classes, he grabbed the others and forced them back into the auditorium. Tang and Otto held a table across the doorway protectively, while Everett himself stood mere feet from Adam and Michael as they changed. Their bodies expanded so rapidly that the balcony began to creak.

  Everett watched as cracks split along the surface, separating the two transforming bodies from the rest of them.

  “It's breaking! Get back here!” called Tang.

  Before he had even finished yelling, Everett was sprinting back towards them. Just as the balcony broke away from the rest of the structure and crumbled down to the first floor, Everett soared over the table, landing a dive roll that a day before would have been difficult for him.

  “What happened to them?” asked Shawn as he helped Sylvia stand. The two of them had been in Everett’s way when he dove so Shawn had unceremoniously jumped on her to get them both down.

  “Class selection must affect them differently than the rest of us since they are both Path of the Beast,” said Otto from the doorway. Glowing teal runes lit the dust filled air, lowering the level of visibility even more.

  Henry rushed past Everett, “They are on the ground floor now so we should check on them. The fall could have hurt them pretty bad.”

  Everett quickly followed the swordsman as he ran down the auditorium steps three at a time. He ignored the fearful looks of the people he passed, unwilling to decipher why they were afraid in the first place.

  Is it because they see me as a monster or because of the noise outside? He pushed the thought away.

  The two of them arrived at the entry doors and threw them open. Dust filled the air and new rubble was strewn across the floor, forming a massive wall, blocking the view into the courtyard.

  “Oh. Oh, wow.”

  Everett turned to Henry. The man was standing with his sword hanging limply in his hand, staring at the rubble before them, slack jawed.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Well… I didn’t expect this to happen. And honestly, I can’t decide if it's awesome or completely unfair.” Henry’s face paled.

  Confused, Everett turned back to the rubble and tried to see what he was looking at. Then the mound in front of him moved.

  Oh, Everett thought, One of them IS the mountain of rubble. A pale gold disk on the side of the pile moved, drawing Everett’s attention.

  A black rectangle filled the center of the gold disk. Then the rubble blinked, hiding the massive golden eyeball that was before them.