Tower of Souls

While Cameron’s screams rang out across the square, and the unexpected change took hold of his body, a chime sounded in his mind- blinded by the pain coursing through his body, the sound barely registered. After what felt like an eternity, but was really just seconds,the pain disappeared in an instant... and he slumped forward, gasping for breath.

Hanging limply from the plinth, Cameron opened his eyes to see his first System Prompt.

Class Unlocked: Binder(Mythic)

Binder Class Benefits:

+13 Free Stat Points per level

Ability: Soul Harvest

*You have 13 Free Stat Points available to distribute.

Cameron stared blankly at the prompt as he slowly gathered his thoughts after the searing pain... and the first thing that popped into his mind was the fact that he didn’t feel any pain; his injured shoulder and chest both felt fine. Better than fine, really. It was almost like he hadn’t been hurt at all...

His heart trembled as his eyes locked once more onto the prompt.

’Thirteen Stat points? Mythic rarity!?’ He gaped as the thoughts raced through his mind. ’Mythic...is just a rumor, a story told to kids, right?’

He had heard the stories, same as anyone else... he just never believed them. There were thousands of people going through the Awakening Ceremony every year, and less than a handful of Legendary Classes each time- and not all of them survived in the Tower... Yet, for all of their recorded history, Mythic was simply a rumor...

And thirteen free Stat points... that meant he could put them in any Stat he chose- which was another anomaly. From what he had learned in school, each level of a class granted two different types of Stats: Dedicated and Free. Dedicated Stat points were automatically assigned to the primary Stats for the class, where Free Stats were ones that could be places anywhere the Classer chose...

And, usually, most Stat points were dedicated...

Using the example he had been shown in school, that of a Rare rarity defender class, Bulwark... As a Rare Class, the Bulwark received 5 Stat points per level: +1 Strength, +3 Vitality, and +1 Free... And every Class he had ever heard of followed similar lines, though they received different amounts of Stat points based on their Rarity.

Common got +2 Stat points.

Uncommon +3

Rare +5

Epic +7

Legendary +9

And now, as he learned, Mythic received +13 Stat points...

But for his Class, all of them were Free Stats.

Staring at the screen, he finally caught up with his racing thoughts enough to begin to process things. Clearly his Class was unusual, more so than just being Mythic... Unless all Mythic Classes were granted more freedom in how to assign their Stats? But that didn’t feel quite right to him- though, without another Mythic Class to compare it to, he had no way of knowing...

Stolen from NovelFire, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

And his Class... While the name, Binder, didn’t sound bad- if anything, it sounded like a Control Class, designed to restrict enemies in a fight... But the Ability it granted sounded... evil. Soul Harvest?

It kinda reminded him of what he had heard about Necromancer Classes, though details about those were hard to find due to their high Rarity and secretive nature- which was unsurprising, given the public distrust of Classes that involved the undead, especially with the stories of a single Necromancer wiping out almost an entire district once in the past...

But Necromancers were a caster Class... so why wouldn’t at least some of his Stat points be dedicated to the Mental Stats...

Cameron shook his head, knowing that his mind was just going in circles to distract himself from the shock and disbelief the situation had caused in him. He had never actually expected to Awaken, and, now that he had, everything had change... starting with a few simple questions: Was he going to climb the Tower? Or would he be even more of a social pariah by refusing?

And how was he going to handle the frenzy that possessing a Mythic Class would cause? Because one thing was sure: every Family and Guild would happily go to the extreme to recruit even a Legendary Classer, let alone a Mythic.

And the first step of figuring that out was to understand what his Class could do... Technically, the first step was deciding to climb or not, but the moment he Awakened, he already knew...

Awakening had completely changed his life, and he wasn’t going to throw that away to hide in the Outer Ring. And, while he never expected it... even he had once dreamed of climbing the Tower- the fact that it was his key to a better life only partially factored into the decision...

Pushing himself up off the plinth a bit unsteadily, Cameron took in the silent crowd, all staring wide-eyed at him as the red light faded from the square. His gaze slid past the stunned faces of the crowd and, ignoring the look of shocked dismay Markum bore, locked on to one of the few people to truly support him since his parents’ death- Mrs. Elsbeth. She smiled brightly at him, proud and excited... though a hint of fear lingered in her eyes.

Not fear of him, but fear for him; everyone knew how dangerous the Tower could be.

As the silence stretched on, and the expected statement never came, Cameron turned to look at the Council Representative in anticipation. As if finally realizing his gaffe, Owen shook himself and stepped forward, clearing his throat.

”Blessed by the Tower, we welcome a new Classer this day. A... Mythic... Classer has Awakened. We offer thanks to the Tower, and congratulate you. May your climb be long and successful!”

With the moment broken, people erupted into cheers and Cameron stepped down from the stage. Taking a step forward, the crowd parted before him... But, looking closer, he could see the mixture of emotions throughout. Some were in awe of him and his Class, but others... Jealousy, anger, fear, disbelief... and more, all in a complex tangle that he couldn’t decipher.

Striding through the parting crowd with all the confidence he could muster, he was momentarily surprised that none of the Guild Recruiters approached him- but it also made sense. They were the lowest and weakest Guilds, and none of them were willing to risk the wrath of the stronger organizations that would undoubtedly wish to recruit a Mythic Class.

”Celebrate this day,as your children have become adults... and two have joined the ranks of those chosen by the Tower!” Owen’s voice rang out behind him, though Cameron ignored it.

He had more important things to worry about now.

”You won’t be needing that library position, will you?” Mrs. Elsbeth asked softly when he reached her, tears glimmering in her eyes.

Shaking his head slowly, he smiled warmly at her. ”Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me... And I promise, I won’t forget it. Or you.”

”If you need anything in the future, just let me know.”

”Oh, none of that! Don’t you worry about this little old lady. I’ll be fine here, teaching as I always have.” She clucked, waving him off. ”You’ve got more important things to focus on now. You go on and do what you need to do. I imagine a lot of folks will be coming around to talk to you soon.”

Cameron nodded and, taking one more look around the square at all the people watching him, turned and walked away.

By his estimate, he only had as long as it took for Owen to report in before the big Families and Guilds would be coming to try to recruit him- and he still had no idea how to handle it, or what to even say to them.

Or even what his Class could do...