The library flickered and rippled, the books on the ground floor being replaced by an entirely different set. If I wanted to, I could grab any one of the nearly-infinite choices, from [The Mother of Modern Medicine], all the way to a pink or white class.

    It wasn’t surprising that Librarian stayed exactly the same. She was a reflection of my soul, who I was inside. I hadn’t changed too much in the time it had taken to select my last class, no matter how much introspection I’d just done. Perhaps when I was younger, when a long introspection session could possibly change who I was, there would be a change, but... I was older, and I had reaffirmed the path I was already on.

    “Shall we?” I asked as I offered Librarian my arm, taking the chance to lead for once.

    “Let’s!” She said.@@@@

    I decided I wanted to tour the near-infinite halls of the library. Arm-in-arm with Librarian, we toured the halls, looking at the endless classes being offered to me. From Water to Miasma, Mirror to Void, from Light to Dark, Storm to Brilliance, every element was on display by the thousands.

    “Remember when I wanted to come here just to read for days?” I sighed wistfully as I trailed a finger over the endless spines, enjoying the feel of the ridges.

    “You still can.” Librarian pointed out. “There’s nothing stopping you, and it’s been a few years since we’ve last gotten a really good book.”

    I looked around and debated if I could afford the time. I could, there was no crisis, no pressing need to be elsewhere, and the Cataclysm had been hell on [Authors]...

    I hope I didn’t just jinx it.

    I grabbed a book at random and sat down, disentangling myself from Librarian at the same time.

    “Sure! Let’s do it! Want to get me a few thrillers?” I asked, glancing at the book I’d grabbed.

    [Tanner - Acid]

    I lifted an eyebrow, shrugged, and got to it. It was a red class, but it was a story, and I was always looking to learn more.

    It wasn’t particularly exciting or thrilling. Vat after vat of chemicals, a nice skill to selectively smell - it would help me, but the gods have mercy on my neighbors - and a small, satisfying career.

    A book was a book, but it was disappointing that it didn’t light a spark in me, didn’t get the inferno of blazing passion worked up. Not all the books would be a hit, and I counted that one up to a miss, no matter my current mood for reading.

    “Here!” Librarian dropped a significant stack on me, and I trusted that she’d curated the heck out of it to give me only the best.

    “Thank you.” I told her with beaming eyes, then got down to it. Book after book, tale after tale sped by under my eyes as I greedily soaked in all the stories, my soul gently watered by narration. I made a mental note as I dropped the epic of [Princess-Knight] Elaine, an orange tale. I should absolutely save the stories for the next time I was classing up in a time when there were fewer books.

    A balance, a carefully stocked reserve for when I needed it.

    Just one more book couldn’t hurt though, I had so many...

    Seven books later, and Librarian was wagging a finger under my nose.

    “Elaine, I’m cutting you off here. You do need to pick a class, and those stories are just as good.” She tried to be stern, but her voice crackled with mischief.

    “Okay! Let’s goooo!” I bounded out of the chair and up the stairs, the world of my soul letting me always feel fresh and energized.

    The setting was ever-changing, and I couldn’t wait to see what the library would look like for this one. I burst through the doors with all the energy of an over-sugared toddler, greedily drinking in the sights.

    The room was small, and basically all crystal. A staircase was carved into the back wall, I could see my legs on the floor, and the place was lit by a dozen lanterns topping small crystal pillars. The center of the room had a crystal book open in front of a chair, and I lifted my eyebrow in surprise.

    “Only one class?” I asked. She gestured with a smile.

    “Go on, take a look!”

    I banished my concern, having complete faith in myself.

    “We should totally get a cave like this.” I joked to Librarian as I walked over, who naturally got it and snorted.

    I sat down at the crystal book, only for a modest list of options to spring up in front of me, like an illusion. I instantly recognized the written list for what it was - all my classing up options, in one neat display.

    “Cool.”

    [Librarian of the Lost]

    [Hoarder of Dragons]

    [Sage of Eternity]

    [Dragonbone Witch]

    [Archmage of Runes]

    Clean sweep, five dark purple classes. Nothing black, nothing light purple. I supposed the range of dark purple was massive in the first place.

    “No [Loremaster] classes?” I asked Librarian. She shrugged.

    All of my preparation work would be unneeded, and something like that was fantastic for illusions, both visual and auditory, communications and the myriad of other ‘small mana, huge effect’ skills. At the same time, it was all minor utility, and rare was the ability that a smart [Runesmith] hadn’t made at one point, nor had clever [Wizards] not put together. Often, the issue was one of power... but then again, that was the mindset I was in. I held so much System-granted power in my mind, rare was the obstacle that I couldn’t simply go through, and when presented with a challenge, my usual method was generally to ask how I could hit it harder. I wasn’t a clever trickster, a cunning youth tumbling my way through a fort with nothing but a skeleton key, a flask of bad wine, and my wits.

    Not needing to spend endless hours writing down spells sounded quite pleasant though, at the trade-off of losing a few of my power-required spells. The first ones that jumped to mind were my spellbreakers and cancelation effects - I wouldn’t be able to use them anymore, but in exchange I could conjure up interesting materials that were tricky to write out in the various wizarding languages, like some of Auri’s more interesting flames, or the divine thunderbolt I’d seen in the School’s Museum of All Things. Of course, those came with the same power caveat. I’d only be able to cast it at a fraction of what ‘normal’ sorcery would cost, let alone sorcery boosted by skills. I didn’t know what [Sunrise Halo] was going to turn into, but anything that needed blasting would be better served by my Radiance.

    It was a strong offering.

    Archmage of Runes: The Archmage of Runes is the master of ancient symbols and arcane inscriptions, wielding magic with precision and power. The Archmage is familiar with over two dozen schools of magic, thoughts, and runes, and etches their spells not just onto paper, but onto the very fabric of reality around them. Mandalas are folded into pocket dimensions, always available and never burning out. Endless enchantments are available. Preparation is the name of the game for wizards, and with Archmage of Runes, every preparation is rewarded for the rest of your life. Unwavering discipline and deep knowledge will make you a force to be reckoned with. From scribing runes of description to weaving protective wards, the Archmage of Runes stands as a testament to the enduring power of magic. +2048 Magic Power, +2048 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration per level.

    This was the wizardry-focused class. The loss of leveling from reading was almost enough to make me immediately ditch it, but it did have a neat skill. I could engrave runes in a pocket dimension attached to myself, and cast directly from them. It was like [Dragonbone Witch] in that I could seem to do nearly anything without casting, but I would have to trace out the runes myself. Only once though!

    I’d already done something similar when I’d engraved runes into all of my bones. From my often-used invisibility rune on my sternum, to the tiny, never-used fireball sigil sitting on my chin, I’d already found great value in having spells permanently with me, always a thought away. This took that all the way up. I could have all the spells, and I wouldn’t even need to remake them every time I used them! They came ‘full powered’, unlike [Dragonbone Witch’s], and it was nearly enough to make up for the missing reading aspects.

    I had some serious thinking to do.

    [Hoarder of Dragons] was immediately a top contender. The poor experience or not, logistics on that scale was mind-boggling. I lost a little in the combat department, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Being able to perfectly protect my friends and family mattered quite a bit to me. I didn’t think for a second that Iona would stay in during any sort of danger, and the same was true of most everyone else I knew - but quite a few people could benefit from it. A perfect bunker, infinite moving around, what was there not to like? The leveling would be slow, but as [Sage of Eternity] pointed out, I’d been around a while. Survived a lot. I had a companion bond to help with the experience, and I was pretty much at the point where I could brush off most meetings I didn’t want to be in. What were they going to do to me?

    [Librarian of the Lost] had me leery. The skill was so good, but almost every single mental skill came with built-in protections, to stop people accidentallying their brain. Given how my mind was the seat of my soul and the center of my being, I was cautious of the downsides. I had plenty of other excellent offerings without risking madness.

    The greatest threat to me was my own bad choices. Why not make a good choice here?

    [Sage of Eternity]was the easy choice, the affirmation of the prior choices I’d just made. Part of me wanted to rebel at taking the same choice again, but there was no shame in continuing to walk the path. There was shame in not choosing, analyzing, and thinking through all the options.

    [Dragonbone Witch] was far weaker than [Archmage of Runes]... but I simply adored the aesthetic. I’d been threatening to try out every job that existed throughout my many years of Immortality, why didn’t I start now? I already lived in a cabin high up on a mountain, deep in the woods, it didn’t take too much more to throw on my school robes, dust off my broom, and start cackling when people came by. Could be fun! I needed a cauldron, first and foremost. Get some nice stew recipes... I was supposed to be classing up, not getting this distracted over dinner!

    Focus.

    [Archmage of Runes] was solid, but it wasn’t like I ran out of spells. Proper prior planning prevented piss-poor performance, and as distractible as I was, that maxim had been drilled into the core of my being. I’d run out of spells now and then, I occasionally didn’t have exactly the right tool for the job, but that was a lack of imagination and properly making the right spells on my part, not because I’d failed to prepare enough copies of a spell. On the other hand, my spellbook was a big weakness. If I was in an inferno, or otherwise in some sort of area of effect skills that prevented me from bringing out my spellbook or instantly destroying it, I was locked out of my spells. This mitigated that weakness. The skill was super cool, I’d love to have it... but I liked the rest of my skills more.

    [Sage of Eternity] and [Hoarder of Dragons] were my two finalists, and I loved how both of them could help keep the people I loved safer.

    When it came to leveling speed and stats, [Sage of Eternity] won out both times.

    My [Tower] could already store quite a lot. The question was boiling down to: Did I want to store a small town’s worth of people and equipment? The moving around the world quickly aspect was almost moot - I could fly and travel fast enough on my own that portals weren’t significantly changing anything. I could step from one half of the world to another in thirty minutes, or in four hours.

    Then there came the number of people I could have inside. Did I really want more than a small, cozy household worth? Although, honestly, the [Tower’s] storage space was vast. It was more than a cozy number of people, it rivaled the bunker we’d crammed hundreds of people into! Sure, that had been incredibly cramped, uncomfortable, and not terribly sustainable, plus I might not be properly calculating how deep the grain storage was, and it had been laid out to be a bunker, versus the more vertical behavior of the [Tower], but it wasn’t like I was lacking for volume. At 104 levels, I could cram in over 200 families and still have enough space to feed them for a few months. That assumed I was packing everything and everyone in like sardines.

    How many people would honestly want to live like that? How many people would want to live in the [Castle], should I take it? It didn’t exactly have sunlight, and I didn’t want to be the face of a great organization, nor did I want to be the [Doormaker], endlessly called back and forth to open portals around for people. It just wasn’t who I was.

    Huh. I wondered if that was part of why the skill was so damn rare and hard to purchase - the people that had it didn’t want to do it. Kinda made sense, my Immortality skill was like that as well.

    If I went full community with the skill, I’d become an eternal servant to them, constantly opening portals around the world for them to trade with and obtain food. It’d be a hecking interesting life, to be sure, but I wasn’t sold that I wanted to uproot everything and do that. A small community at best.

    I also recoiled hard at the idea of moving armies around. It might be pedantic, I might be slicing hairs, but I believed there was a world of difference between following around armies and providing aid and succor to them, and all they encountered, and actively enabling armies to blitz undefended positions. It crossed a line I wasn’t able to define well.

    More than that, it would paint a target on my back. I already had one, but there was a difference between ‘can turn any battlefield, can quickly travel between them’ and ‘is a global tactical threat to everyone at all times. Can drop an army into anyone’s palace.’ It wasn’t going to stop me taking the class or the skill... but I wasn’t going to advertise the full extent of my abilities, nor let anyone, new Exterreri or not, dictate my use.

    I’d probably let Night through if he asked me nicely, but at that point there was no true difference between the two classes. Either way he needed to come in, then I needed to let him out again.

    Both [Castle] and [Tower] would work to keep everyone I wanted safe and sound. When the next war rolled around - for there was always another war, another conflict, greedy assholes couldn’t be content - I could open the door to all my friends and family, along with some communities, and let them in. [Hoarder of Dragons] got me to the first person faster, but some quick math suggested that simply flying all over the world to pick everyone up would be quicker in the end. I shied away from the ‘portal plus flying’ math and attempting to think of locus points that would let me pick up multiple people clustered nearby, and...

    Yeah, the math there was crazy.

    Both classes let me build a home that was nearly impervious to Immortal Wars, and secure my friends and family.

    Rather, was that much extra storage worth giving up the entire field of wizardry? I’d worked my pretty ass off for that designation, and spent decades improving it. I went to the Monastery to study under one of the great masters, just to get a good Spatial wizardry class! No, the ability to store so much extra wasn’t worth giving all that up. It might be a sunk cost fallacy, but by all the gods and goddesses, I’d worked too hard and too long at it to give it up.

    I could still reacquire it in [Dawnbringer]... I should get offered the chance to move it over on classing up, given how it was still an exploration and discovery class, with the ability to pick up all sorts of magic-related skills, so it wasn’t a total bust there.

    The two classes were tying pretty hard, which was making me loop back to the stats and leveling as a tiebreaker. [Sage] was winning out there. Plus, the ability to access everything inside the tower immediately.

    That, and like... [Sage] was just more exciting to me. It spoke to me. A castle, all to myself, with all my friends and family was super exciting, and the fact that it had the grandest library ever was nearly enough to cause a heart attack from all the excitement, but that was all a side-effect of being the [Hoarder of Dragons], not the actual raw, beating heart of the class itself. I’d turned down power for the right path before, and being a [Quartermaster]/[Doorwoman] was like... sure, I’ll try it out at some point in my journey, but I didn’t want it to be an entire class. No matter how epic and literally the stuff of legends the [Castle] was.

    Maybe I could evolve the [Tower] down the line to be closer to it. It would take time, and it wouldn’t be as kick-ass as a fully evolved [Castle] would be, but it was a fun direction to start pushing things. [Sage] was a sorcerous class in the end, and it wasn’t like [The Dawn Sentinel] where I was capped on the skills I could get. I had a starting point, I had an ending point, I had a vision. The System allowed all things. If I worked my ass off, if I used my skills in the right way, trained them into the configuration I wanted, I’d be rewarded.

    I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, and with hard work, mana, and the power of love and friendship, by Ciriel, I was going to do it!

    Okay! Excellent!

    “[Sage of Eternity] please!” I asked Librarian, then scrunched up my eyebrows as I tried and failed to pick the book up.

    “Wait, hang on, how do I check this out?”