After looking over his options, he thought hard about it.
"For your information, you have 10 minutes left until you are forced to leave and join the others."
...he thought hard and fast about it.
Warrior and rogue were out of the picture, he didn't want to be up close and personal. Ranger he didn't mind but he thought it would be a lot of training for something so mundane like shooting and trapping. So the real options were Magician and Cleric.
The Cleric had great potential in his eyes. Healing, protection, support. Those were valuable assets. If the world was about to explode into a bloody mess, then every Cleric alive would be in high demand. It's supply and demand - simple economics. If Olek chose Cleric, he could name his price. It's also not a very flashy or glorified class like the others, who threw fireballs, and chopped heads off. Scarcity means leverage, and he liked it a lot more when he looked at it like that.
But as he tapped his arm and looked at Magician, the more it seemed like the obvious choice.
First, it was new. Magic didn't even exist on Earth until today. Nobody has the upper hand, no nepo babies bouncing off of Daddy's money, it's an even playing ground. Not to mention his natural stats aligned with it.
Secondly, it was scalable. Punching, slashing, and piercing things was something anyone could do. Now, maybe because he wasn't knowledgeable in the subject, but there wasn't much diversity in these areas. But magic? It had breadth. He reckoned there were fields and fields of study that could completely revolutionize Earth. Who ever mastered one field wouldn't just be valuable, they'd be indispensable, not to mention holding a monopoly.
And finally, magic was just fucking cool. Fireballs, teleportation, lightning strikes - this shit didn't exist before. Now that it did? He didn't want to just watch others reign arcane terror upon enemies, he wanted to do it himself.
Cleric may have merit. But Magician was profitable, scalable, and fun. Now that's a concoction for successful business.
Olek nods assuredly, "I choose Magician."
The Envoy's faceless voice responded immediately.
"Class chosen: Magician. Core attribute: Intelligence"
He was expecting that to be all, but it was not done just yet.
A small pillar of black glass rose in front of him up to his chest, a square segment unboxed itself, revealing a plain see-through orb.
"And this is?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Affinity Analyser. This will test which element you have the most affinity with, and also the grade of affinity."
Grade of affinity? He didn't like the sound of that. Seemed like his idea of an even playing ground wasn't as true as he'd thought.
"How does an affinity affect the caster?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"Affinity is extremely important for the future of magicians. The type of affinity is usually limited to races, whereas the grade of affinity determines ones prowess in this field. If ones grade is low, there is still ways to improve it. Naturally however, higher grades had greater potential."
"This seems a bit of a gamble, can I reconsider my class?" His eyes narrowed at the orb.
"..."
"User Olek, if there is one thing I can impart to you it is this. This new reality is not a level playing ground, there are those born to dominate, and those born to submit. It is the law of the universe. Every class has something similar to this affinity test."
Olek frowned in thought. If that was the case, that all classes had something similar to affinity, then it would be best to proceed with the class most aligned with his highest stat.
He placed his hand on the orb.
"Analysis started... Please keep your hand on the orb..."
The glassy floor beneath him rippled outward in circles, the stars and systems above him pulsed like a loading screen icon.
His hand tingled like a small current of electricity was shooting through his palm.
The sensation faded, and the plane around him stilled.
"Hm."
The Envoy didn't reply immediately like he usually does, it sounded like it smacked it's lips in thought.
"This is unusual."
Olek was starting to worry. "Uhhhh. What's unusual? Is this unusual a bad thing?"
"Please check your Class on your status."
System
Name: Olek Bjorn
Level: 0
Race: Human (E)
Class: Magician | Affinity: Space (EX)
Space element? That sounded awesome! But the envoy...
"What's so unusual about this? What does EX stand for?" He inquired.
"Well, previously I told you that affinities are limited by your race. Simply put, Humans especially at your rank should not possess the space element. And the affinity is even more peculiar."
He felt a smile try to creep onto his face the more the Envoy talked, "How so?"
"Your affinity grade EX means you practically breath the space element. Your affinity for the element is higher even than-"
The Envoy stopped suddenly, no, it was more like he was cut off.
"Apologies. I am divulging far more than I should've, I am here simply to guide you to the tutorial. You should see your basic skills arrive about now."
There was a sound like the snap of fingers, and right he was, in front of him were more screens to read over.
"You have two minutes."
[ Skill Acquired ]: Mana Manipulation (Novice) -A magicians nature is to manipulate mana, it is how they cast spells, create formations, and imbue mana into objects. Increases mana recovery by 5%. Enables shaping of mana for basic spellcasting.
[ Skill Acquired ]: Mana Sense (Novice | Passive) -The senses of a magician are attuned to the feeling of mana in the air. Grants the ability to sense the presence and distinction of external mana within a certain distance.Range: 15m
[ Skill Acquired ]: Mana Bolt (Novice)-A basic and crude but effective use of mana to create a magic projectile formed of raw magic power. Costs little mana, require little control, and is a spell the most novice of mages can understand. Cost: 10 MP | Range: 15m | Damage: Low
[ Skill Acquired ] Spatial Pocket (Novice) - Born from an exceptional affinity for spatial magic, this skill allows you to produce a separate space where you can store inanimate objects. Cost: 20MP | Size: 1 m² | Max Weight: 50kg
With this, he started to understand the game-like essence of the system. It wasn't like learning a new skill from scratch where you have no concept, it was like having his brain reprogrammed in already understanding the skill as if he'd always had it. Immediately, Mana Sense started to take affect, no, it's better to say it was triggered by the ambient mana.
His whole world changed.
There was this hum at first, kind of like the static of a TV, but the hum grew into color. Waves of translucent pigments appeared out of thin air, swirling through the air around him like the nebulas overhead. Each cloud had a different quality, some warm and red, others cool in hue, but most was this strange warped grey.
He kind of just knew in his mind what element that represented, a gut feeling. 'Space element'
It made sense, this place is a whole different space, he couldn't imagine how it even started to be formed.
Oleks mouth was slightly open as he did a 360 of his surroundings.
'So this is mana. Incredible. It's like I've been color blind my whole life.'
"Are you done gawking? You have 2 minutes. Please hurry and receive the rest of your endowment."
"The system allows you to naturally probe and identify objects and people, try it now."
As the Envoy said that, a white staff warped into existence, he scrambled to catch it.
He focused his eyes on the object, and like the Envoy said, a system screen appeared.
[ Staff (Novice) ] -This staff is given to new initiates of the universe walking the path of magic. This staff better allows novices to grasp the concept of magic, their affinity, and is more efficient at casting spells.
"This is a nice staff. From what little I can gather." He nodded.
The staff wasn't much to talk about, it was completely plain, like a long white stick, but it felt like he more knowledgeable about magic just holding the stick, even if nothing really came to mind, he was sure if he tried Mana Manipulation holding this staff it would be much more effective than without.
"Indeed, without masters to guide novices in magic, most who choose the class perish. To offset this conclusion, the Mana Accord grants mages a newbie's dream beginners staff, let's say."
At the mention of most magicians dying he looked up in panic at the sky, "Wait what... ah shit I've completely forgot to ask, what are you even sending me to?!"
"Looks like that's time human. You will now be transported to the Tutorial zone. Good luck."
"Wait!-" He tried to shout, but alas, he was sent away.
Space distorted around his body and dragged him into it.
The Envoy let's out a relieved sigh.
"What a peculiar existence. To have a space element as a human should be impossible. He is going to be such a bother..."