The World Which Is

Chapter 07

I startle awake to the appearing message.

You have reached the age of 16.

It is now time for you to select your class. You have 13 hours to do so.

I rub the crud out of my eyes as its meaning sinks in.

That's it. My life is over.

It's not over, dumbass. I have half the day to make it back, and Court is only two or so hours from here.

In what direction?

Not in the direction of sitting here.

I swipe the message away. I might as well look at the abyss right now.

"List my available classes."

There are no classes available for your selection currently.

Make your way within range of a settlement node to gain access to its list of available classes

It's been that way since the system appeared. You have to be around other people to have a list of class you can select from. The more people, the more options to pick from. Nodes have access to every class in the world, as far as I know. If someone doesn't have my dad to limit their choices, they can become anything they want from a node.

It's why the farmers make pilgrimages to Base when their kid's about to turn sixteen and isn't interested in taking up their parent's class.

And it's why I have to get back, so get up and get moving.

What's the point?

"The point is that I'm not just going to give up," I grumble, pushing myself to my feet. I have no idea what Rich is playing at. Why he pushed me in here and abandoned me, but I am not going to sit around, feeling sorry for myself until the timer runs out and I end up with the class of the next person I encounter.

Of course, getting out of here without a light is going to be... interesting. I have the chemical light in my hand, so... I send it to my inventory. My stamina maxes out almost at three quarters. That means I didn't get a full night of sleep, but it had been night for a while by the time I slept. It's got to be light outside by now.

I place a hand against the wall on my right and, shuffling my feet so I won't trip or fall in a hole and break my neck, I walk.

* * * * *

Time remaining to make selection: 11h34m21s

The system's adamant about us knowing how much time I have left, so I can't dismiss this icon, and unlike buffs and debuffs, just glancing at it brings up the clock. Like having it go from green to red isn't enough to stress me out.

It's still basically green. But I can tell the shift toward yellow now.

I nearly fell in a hole twice already, put my hand in something icky I am happy I can't see, and tripped twice, the second time banging my head on the hard floor and getting nose bleed and losing a few hit points.

And still no light.

* * * * *

I see stars because I've been an idiot and ran the instant I noticed the brightness in the distance.

Time remaining to make selection: 09h14m58s

"I don't want to know!"

It could have been worse.

There are so many ways this could have been worse. So I get up, feel around with my foot until I find what tripped me and kick it.

Fuck! That hurts.