There is a brief enough pause for me to look around and see Mom and Dad staring back at me with looks of concern. Dad has his hand on mom’s shoulder, holding her from rushing to me. They both know I’m not in any danger at the moment. I flash an uneasy smile their way, and have to wonder how much Neia knew ahead of time if she truly saw my fragmented memories. I thought I knew everything about my past life, but I guess you can’t remember what you’ve forgotten.

  A list of classes then begins scrolling past my vision. I’d already decided long ago what my second class would be. I need to boost my intelligence and increase my mana pool while also taking some key early skills. The class Andras Gregori missed out on.

  The second choice is less assured than the first. I’m not sure what I should even take, and I begin scrolling through the list just to check all of my options. The crowd is already dispersing in my periphery, and I can only focus on the task at hand.

  There are a few classes I fully expected to see, but the list is incredibly long.

  “Query. Filter out non mana based classes as well as all classes without appropriate elemental affinity” I probe the system mentally, and for the first time in nearly twenty years, it works. The new list is much shorter and manageable. Though admittedly the variant classes available are a bit overwhelming.

  Once I read through the entire list however, only one class stands above the others.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  That sounds, in a word, amazing. If I take it now for my level 25 class it will no doubt help compensate for my concerns, and the skills it grants will undoubtedly help me grow. The biggest drawback would be potentially limiting the stat growth. Tier 1 classes don’t give many stats, and level 25 is the start of Tier 2 so I'm guaranteed some growth in my key areas. If I wait until level 75 and the start of Tier 3, the same class would grant higher stats in the same fields.

  Is there a guarantee that whatever classes I take at level 25 and 50 target the same stats? No, not really, but if I focus on anything with mage in the name I’m more likely to hit the same stats.

  Then I also have to consider the danger of having too many classes focused on necromancy and dark magic. Minions are a risk, and I already have two to hide.

  The sun is dead above me, marking high noon, by the time I finally come to a decision. [Void Mage] for level 25 class, and then depending on level speed, we take [Nethermancer] for level 50 if the class up comes quickly enough. If my theory of mana density is correct, that will be the case, but if I level up too slowly I will take [Father of (un)Death] at level 50 instead.

  The charisma hit is expected, but with the benefit of being a Half-Elf this time, I hope it won’t be too massive. As the stats flood into my body, a feeling of euphoria accompanies them, my body adapting to the new found power is similar to a rush of mana coursing directly through every fiber of my being. Blissfully enrapturing.

  I give a quick glance over my stats and try my best to consider the best ways to distribute my free stats. While I definitely want to specialize, I don’t want to do so at the expense of neglecting my other stats too far behind. That kind of imbalance can make certain tasks difficult.

  My massively increased vitality from being a Half-Elf is fine where it is, wonderful even. I decide to put three points each into Strength and Agility, lowering my two lowest stats to a somewhat acceptable point. Twenty-four points for intelligence and seven for willpower bring my mental stats to nice round numbers for on the fly mana estimation, and also brings them both to the same point.

  At this point I only have two free points left, and decide to spend them on charisma to offset any further penalties.

  I briefly consider my status, and scoff slightly at my now immensely inflated stats. Matching my mental stats isn’t exactly a common strategy, as many mages prefer power over precision and as a result front load their intelligence. However, with the numbers matched together I can now regenerate my entire mana pool in a single minute, nearly five points a second. The added control from having my willpower that high allows me to cast more spells in the same amount of time, and to do so with greater precision.

  Who cares if a single spell is half as powerful if I can cast four times as many?

  Truthfully, the necessity of the willpower stat is unique to me as a minion based class. The curse of [Necromancers] and [Summoners] is the need to supply minions with mana from our regeneration. With Cain, Sigil, and Kite all pulling mp from me, I get less than half of my full regeneration, so it will take me nearly twice as long to fill up my pool. A fact I have to compensate for if I want to cast spells while maintaining my minions.

  A pang of pain echoes behind my eyes, and briefly I consider if that headache is Andras. If it’s me trying to remind myself of something. I need to pick skills, stop dawdling.

  Before I can pick my skills though however, I need to view my [Status]