The amount of information was overwhelming, giving Alari a significant headache. However, a grin was plastered on his face as an interface overlaid itself on his mind's eye, like an augmented-reality layer.

  Choose a Class:

  Alchemist

  Artificer

  Enchanter

  Engineer

  Farmer

  Inventor

  Laborer

  Mathematician

  Merchant

  Mind-Blade

  Philosopher

  Planar-Traveler

  Project-Lead

  Scientist

  Alari let out a deep breath, feeling a wave of relief so profound he started laughing. It had been entirely rational for him to worry about his choices just a moment ago. In hindsight, it felt rather absurd; he likely had more options than anyone. Clearly, his previous life had been taken into account when the system calculated his options. Now, he had the opposite problem from what he had expected: he needed to eliminate the selections he wouldn’t take.

  With tremendous satisfaction, he crossed Farmer and Laborer off the list. To his amazement, the system responded to his thoughts, those options disappearing from his interface. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were the classes that had served him well in his past life, but likely wouldn’t suit him well in this one. The obvious example was the Project-Lead, but it also included the Mathematician and Philosopher options. The latter few could have some uses, but starting from nothing in such a harsh world, he needed to be somewhat pragmatic. Engineer, Inventor, Merchant, and Scientist were similarly eliminated after a bit of hesitation. Those, he could do quite well with, but would be a bit impractical without a backer.

  With a more manageable list, he decided to focus on each choice individually. Since the system seemed to respond to his thoughts, he mentally queried for summaries of the remaining classes.

  Alchemist: A Class that uses magic and chemistry to create wondrous solutions, including elixirs, poisons, potions, and oils. Gains Class levels based on the value of crafted solutions.

  Starting Talents:

  Attributes: Perception 1, Focus 2, Memory 1, Capacity 2, Recharge 2

  Skills: Arcana 1, Concoct Magical Solution 2

  Feats: Alter (Permeability, Viscosity), Identify, Infuse Mana

  Specializations: An Alchemist may specialize in a specific type of solution, replacing the Concoct Magical Solution Skill with its more specific variant, such as Concoct Magical Potion.

  Artificer: A Class that uses magic and engineering to create wondrous artifacts, including armaments, automations, golems, and vehicles. Gains additional experience based on the value of crafted artifacts.

  Starting Talents:

  Attributes: Focus 2, Memory 2, Capacity 2, Recharge 2

  Skills: Arcana 1, Enchanting 1, Engineering 1

  Feats: Alter (Hardness, Shape), Identify, Infuse Mana

  Specializations: An Artificer may specialize in a specific type of artifact, replacing the engineering and enchanting skills with more specific variants, such as Enchant Golem and Engineer Golem.

  Enchanter: A Class that augments items through enchanting. Gains additional experience based on the increase in value of the item.

  Starting Talents:

  Attributes: Memory 1, Capacity 3, Recharge 2

  Skills: Arcana 2, Enchanting 2

  Feats: Identify, Imbue (Sentience), Infuse Mana

  Mind-Blade: A psionic Class that has the potential to fathom the inner workings of consciousness and manifest it as a force. Gains additional experience for insights into consciousness.

  Starting Talents:

  Attributes: Focus 2, Memory 1, Cognition 1, Determination 2, Capacity 1

  Skills: Meditation 2, Philosophy 1

  Feats: Telekinesis

  Planar-Traveler: A Class based on traveling between the fabric of reality to different planes. Gains additional experience from traveling to new planes.

  Starting Talents:

  Attributes: Focus 1, Memory 2, Capacity 3, Throughput 1

  Feats: Planeshift

  Warning: Insufficient mana to activate the ability ‘Planeshift’ without assistance.

  It took Alari a moment to parse through all the information. The first thing he noticed was the similarities between the first three classes: Alchemist, Artificer, and Enchanter. All were essentially magic craftsmen, which took some of his skills from his previous life and melded them with the more magical nature of his new reality. For the moment, he lumped those together as such and set them to the side while considering his final two options.

  They were definitely the strangest and seemed less a reward for his previous experiences and more a consequence of his unique circumstances. Both were straightforward: Mind-Blade let him create force with his mind, and Planar-Traveler let him travel planes. While they lacked any utility, they made up for that with a single powerful ability.

  The first one to eliminate was easy. While his experiences on Ouras hadn’t been pleasant so far, he was just getting started. The last thing he wanted to do was travel to some other plane, where he might need to acclimate himself to entirely new realities. That he couldn’t activate the ability was the final nail in the coffin.

  The next decision was more difficult; should he take Mind-Blade and the offensive power it provided, or select a crafting Class that utilized his existing proficiencies? His primary concern with Mind-Blade was that he didn’t know how powerful the Telekinesis ability was, both in absolute and relative terms. Could it utterly obliterate a monster, or was it just a small force that could barely lift a rock? The system interpreted his musings as a request for clarification, because it helpfully provided additional details.

  Telekinesis (5 TP)

  Type: Innate, Psionic

  Effect: creates a force upon an object.

  Mana Cost Factors: range, force generated, and concentration of force.

  Psionics: The manifestation of consciousness upon the world to create various spell-like effects. The mana efficiency of psionic abilities is determined by Determination, and the precision is determined by Focus.

  So, if he had Telekinesis, he would gain a versatile ability to manipulate objects. If he had enough mana and focus, he could impart that force upon a smaller area, which would essentially cut through things. Hence, the ‘blade’ in Mind-Blade. He was also certain this violated several laws of physics, but he couldn’t assume those laws still held in his new reality. The other benefit was the clear direction for improvement: mana-related attributes, as well as Determination and Focus, would all directly improve his psionic potential. His primary concern was the uncertainty around acquiring additional psionic abilities. A quick inspection showed that Planeshift was also a psionic ability, though it was a ten-talent-point investment.

  The next difference between the classes became apparent when he reviewed one of the crafting classes’ feats.

  Identify (3 TP)

  Type: Arcane, Divination

  Effect: Allows the caster to intuit a property of an object with perfect accuracy.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Mana Cost Factors: desired precision, property obtuseness, range, and mana resistance.

  Arcane Spells: The shaping of mana to produce a desired spell. Mana efficiency varies with the caster's understanding of the effect's underlying principles. Precision is based on the caster's visualization.

  Alari practically salivated when he read Identify. Measuring something with perfect accuracy was something many instruments had strived for but failed to achieve. Sure, the inaccuracy was usually negligible, but that was due to tolerance ranges. Also, the fact that it could measure any property simply by casting a spell was an experimental scientist's wet dream. He figured the limiting factor would be the mana cost varying with obtuseness. He interpreted this as meaning that the more difficult something was to measure or quantify, the harder it would be to identify. He would also need to use enough mana to have practical precision, though what that was would entirely depend on what he was measuring and what he was trying to accomplish with said measurement. While Identify lacked immediate impact, particularly in addressing imminent physical threats from monsters or criminals, it made up for it with versatility and boundless potential in both academic and manufacturing capacities.

  Despite his newfound appreciation of the spell, the decision ultimately came down to psionic versus arcane spellcasting. One was an exertion of will through consciousness, while the other was a manipulation through comprehension of underlying concepts. While both held some appeal, the more scientific-seeming approach of arcane casting resonated with him. With only a small amount of reservation, he eliminated the Mind-Blade Class.

  With only the three arcane crafting classes remaining, he began comparing them. In most respects, the classes were balanced against one another. All of them had the same number of attributes, with only slight differences. They also had the same number of skills, with only slight variations among them. All three had the feats Identify and Infuse Mana, leaving one Feat each separating them. So, he carefully reviewed them.

  Alter (2 TP per property)

  Type: Arcane, Transmutation

  Effect: Permanently alters a property of an object. Each property must be unlocked separately.

  Mana Cost Factors: mass, amplitude of property change, resistance to change, mana resistance, and range.

  Imbue (4 TP per property)

  Type: Arcane, Transmutation

  Effect: Permanently imbue an object with a new property. Each property must be unlocked separately.

  Mana Cost Factors: imbued property, amplitude of the imbue, mana resistance, and range.

  Alari quickly eliminated the Enchanter. While Imbuement seemed like a potent Feat, essentially allowing him to create a sentient object, it wasn’t immediately useful. It would definitely be a superior interface to anything he had made in his previous life, so he mentally flagged it for later.

  The final choice was also easy. While Alchemy seemed important and likely had a wide variety of uses, including components that would be used in artificing, he wasn’t thrilled by the lack of permanence that came from imbibing liquids. He had his heart set on creating something that could be his legacy within this world. Perhaps, he might even get to finish the mech he had been working on a lifetime ago.

  Without reservation, he selected the Artificer Class. The system responded to Alari’s mental confirmation, and a flood of new sensations rushed into him. It was as if he had taken a potent dose of Adderall; everything just seemed to come into focus. He could also recall details of his past life with more clarity. However, the oddest experience was the comprehension of things he hadn’t known or even studied, as if a packet of information had just been uploaded to his brain.

  Before he could delve deep into the implications of his new knowledge, a new screen appeared in his mind's eye.

  Congratulations, based on your achievements prior to awakening, you have been awarded Prodigy experience.

  Prodigy level 0 to 10: +10 TP

  A manic grin spread across Alari’s face. Not only had his past-life experiences counted toward earning classes, but they had also counted toward giving him Talent Points. With ten points to spend, he could significantly improve his capabilities. However, before he purchased anything, he would take the time to better understand his options. To do that, he needed to delve into the distinctions between the broad categories: attributes, skills, and feats.

  Attributes: The broadest measurement of a person’s capability. Attributes are further subdivided into the categories: physical, mental, and mana. Each point increases the user's baseline by an additive 5%.

  Physical Attributes: Strength (2 TP), Agility (2 TP), Constitution (2 TP), Perception (1 TP)

  Mental Attributes: Focus (1 TP), Memory (1 TP), Cognition (2 TP), Determination (2 TP)

  Magical Attributes: Capacity (2 TP), Recharge (1 TP), Throughput (1 TP)

  Skills: A measurement of a person’s capability to do a specific task. Skills are classified as either physical, mental, or mana and provide an effective bonus to all attributes of that type when performing that task. Additionally, it grants a slight increase in base proficiency when acquired. The improvements to attributes per Skill rank vary depending on how broadly applicable the Skill is, with narrower skills gaining more effective attributes per rank. If multiple skills apply to a single task, then their bonuses are cumulative.

  Feats: A broad set of unique abilities that can be acquired. Many feats can be further improved by spending additional TP.

  Alari considered the information. Most of it was self-explanatory, but he didn’t entirely understand the mana attributes. So, he had the system pull up a more detailed explanation, and also included his only non-spell Feat.

  Capacity: Each point in this Attribute improves the maximum amount of mana that can be stored within a person's body by 5%.

  Recharge: Each point in this Attribute improves the rate at which mana is naturally generated by 5%. Mana recharge is a percentage of total mana capacity per hour, with an average person regaining roughly 5% of their max mana per hour under normal conditions. Strenuous physical, mental, or magical expenditures reduce mana regeneration. Meditative and restful states improve mana regeneration.

  Throughput: Each point in this Attribute improves the rate at which mana can be passed out of the body by 5%. Mana throughput is based on a percentage of total mana capacity, with an average person able to expend approximately 1% of their maximum mana each second.

  Infuse Mana (3 TP): Reduces the amount of mana lost as ambient mana when infusing mana into an object. The mana loss percentage varies depending on the medium being channeled into and the person's channeling skill. This Feat reduces the final lost percentage by 50%.

  While he now had a better grasp on the system, there were still an almost infinite number of possibilities, so once again, he needed to narrow down what he wanted in broad strokes. With skills and attributes costing relatively few TP, he checked for feats worth investing in. A new interface appeared, and he was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices. Instead of going through each option, he had the system filter to arcane spells.

  Age

  Animate

  Augment

  Blink

  Charm

  Conjure

  Control

  Comprehend

  Enhance

  Evoke

  Fortify

  Illusion

  Imbue

  Locate Object

  Negation

  Precognition

  Transmute

  Even that list was too much to dive into. However, one thing he noticed was that his choices seemed skewed towards spells similar to what he had. A quick query to the system, and he had confirmed his suspicion. Many spells had prerequisite spells of a more basic variant from the same branch of magic. With his Identify and Alter spells, he had started down the divination and transmutation branches. For the time being, he didn’t want to diversify further, so he struck the other options from the list. A quick look at the remaining spells, and he decided transmutation was better for now. That left him with a manageable list, and he requested more information.

  Age (3 TP)

  Type: Arcane, Necromancy, Transmutation

  Effect: permanently alters the properties of an object by simulating the effects of aging in a typical environment.

  Mana Cost Factors: time simulated, mana resistance, mass, and range.

  Augment (5 TP)

  Type: Arcane, Transmutation

  Effect: permanently increases the caster’s attributes by one. An augmented Attribute can be either mental or physical.

  Mana Cost Factors: point value of subsequent augmentations, point value of the Attribute chosen, number of times the chosen Attribute has been augmented

  Enhance (4 TP)

  Type: Arcane, Transmutation

  Effect: temporarily increases all physical or mental attributes of a target entity.

  Mana Cost Factors: amplitude of the Attribute increase, range.

  Fortify (3 TP)

  Type: Arcane, Transmutation, Healing

  Effect: temporarily allows an entity to subsist on mana instead of some other substance.

  Mana Cost Factors: properties of the replacement, mass of the replacement, and range.

  Transmute (5 TP)

  Type: Arcane, Transmutation

  Effect: permanently alters one substance into another of the same shape. The caster must be familiar with the substance the object is transmuted to.

  Mana Cost Factors: difference in properties, mana resistance of the original object, the mass of the original object, and range.

  Alari quickly narrowed down the list. Aging felt too narrow, Enhance and Fortify felt too conventional, and Augment was likely ineffective before investing in his mana. He took longer, considering Imbue, and asked for a list of possible imbuements. Instead of answering directly, the system left an impression in his mind: it wasn’t possible for it to complete his request, as the set of all possible imbuements was infinite. That meant any possible property could be imbued, though that didn’t mean the mana cost would be practical if he came up with something truly outlandish. However, the one from the Enchanter Class, Imbue Sentience, was certainly intriguing and gave him something to consider.

  Ultimately, the final option made everything else superfluous. The main benefit was that it allowed him to stockpile materials using the renewable resource of his mana. He was confident that he could produce the alloys and exotic materials he had grown accustomed to in his previous life, albeit likely in small quantities and significant mana. While, in theory, the spell didn’t do anything his alteration spell couldn’t do, he doubted he could ever get all the properties that differentiated two objects. That was especially true if he added more properties with Imbue.

  The system took his reverence for the spell as his confirmation, reducing his TP by half. He was also tempted to buy an imbue, but he decided against investing the vast majority of his points in spells. Instead, he decided to allocate the remainder of his points in attributes and skills. The obvious distribution was to invest heavily in his mana attributes, especially Recharge. He considered whether there was any case for diversifying. He certainly didn’t want to become the archetypal physically impotent mage, but it seemed premature to worry about that when he hadn’t put anything into his mana yet. Mental attributes were enticing for a different reason: he considered them a strength and the primary reason for his success in his previous life. Considering the bonus from attributes was multiplicative with his base, that made the reasoning somewhat compelling.

  Ultimately, he decided to stick with increasing his mana attributes, since it improved the feats that he had sunk so many points into. He increased Capacity by one and Recharge by two. With his last point, he improved his Arcana Skill. With that, his choices were finalized, and he was now ready to face the harsh realities of Ouras.