The classes

The men who had the same face had auburn hair and azure eyes. To Stephan, it seemed like the face could attract some Ladies. He examined them closer with his hand rubbing his chin and his mouth twisting to the side. He thought that kind of face would be good for display. Then he remembered that mostly in role-playing games, there was one character and when you browsed through the classes, the clothes and fighting stance changed, which means the face in front of him belonged to him.

"To think I am such a handsome guy!" he nodded and winked at the figure in front of him. "I bet all Ladies would come running after me," he laughed.

Pondering over the current world he was in if it resembled the Legend of the Past he played then the classes at the beginning played a vital role in making the future events land smoothly. Character classes aggregate several abilities and aptitudes and may also influence certain parts of the game and impose some restrictions. For example, if he chose a magic user then he has to build his muscles the natural way but if he chose a fighter, the class was equipped with a training enhancement in the according to fighting genre. Stephan was a man that wanted to have it all; magic abilities and strength.

There were five types of classes: A warrior, a magic-user, a cleric, a thief and a ranger. When playing Legend of the Past, Stephan realized he could evolve his classes into better ones by advancing in the game and getting more experience to level up. The classes gave initial stats and attributes that would become important as the game advanced. He walked to one of them, the one he was used to the most: the magic-user. He was used to being a mage and training his body later to get more stats on strength and endurance.

He looked at his attributes and smiled. To explain more about the attributes, Stephan still remembered what each one symbolized. Strength determined the overall attack power and the equipment load since an armour could be heavy sometimes and influenced the attack speed and walking speed. Endurance, a direct stat that has a clear influence on the Strength attribute, determined the stamina level and resistance against all types of attacks and also Immunity, it also helped in the equipment load since wearing heavy armours could make the stamina deplete faster.

Health was a popular attribute in all games; it showed the Health Points (HP) and increasing it was one of the first things one must do in a game for a magic user. If the Health bar was low, it usually meant relying on dodging and blocking. Stephen was a legend in the games; he didn't have to worry about dodging since he could do it easily when he was behind his monitor.

"Wait, why? I completely forgot that I am moving using a body. I completely forgot. Why? All the muscles I had in my body moved to my fingers before. I trained my fingers and eyes not the rest. I need to train hard now. It seems like a drag!"

His eyes moved to the rest of the attributes then he sighed. At least, his intelligence points were high. Intelligence was an attribute that was a requirement for successful learning and getting the best out of a weapon when using it. The higher it was, the higher the character was able to crack the challenges ahead. On the other side, there was Faith; the ability to believe in a deity or a god. It usually influenced the blessings given by temples and helped in earning one if the character asked for one. Since Stephan wasn't an intense believer, he didn't care about it.

Then there was the Dexterity attribute, it usually meant luck; the chance to come across fortunes or to avoid death, maybe to get more stat points to distribute… Then the last attribute, which was Mana: the mana pool existing inside the body and allowed to use higher grade spells.

<Name: Maddock Prowell.>

<Level: 0 [Tutorial stage]>

<Vigor: 100>

<Endurance: 10 [Stamina: 50; Speed: 10; Equipment Load: 0; Resistance: Elemental 2, Poison 3, Mental 4, Soul 3, Physical attacks 0]>

<Strength: 200 [ATK 24, DEF 51, Crit Rate 20%, Crit DMG 50%]>

<Dexterity: 20 [Agility 10, Luck 20]>

<Mana: 20 [Elemental Mastery: 83]>

Stephan eyed his attributes intently. They were the lowest attribute points one could have in Legend of the Past and the same. Looking at the floating window, he was confident he was replaying the game again and it was designed by the devil in disguise looking like an angel. So knowing the game, he would have quite a hard time in it. Even with all the skills and attributes, it was hard reaching the endgame. Remembering the skills, his eyes moved to the area left for them. He was disappointed at the lack of them. It was expected; the game didn't offer skills at the beginning, you had to travel in the plaguelands and look for books to learn them.

He then stared at the Equipment Load and was curious about it. The number zero meant only one thing…. He was naked. His head immediately jolted to his naked body and his eyes opened wide. His hands moved to his private area to hide it and he remembered he was alone. The anxiety he felt a moment ago was replaced by relief.

[Don't worry! There isn't much to see.] Aurora's voice resounded in his head.

"Oh, my pride! Ouch! You are a pervert."

[I wasn't intending to. In fact, I need to bleach my mind. I just wanted to check on you since you are still in your tutorial stage. Remember once the tutorial stage ends and the number zero in the level turns into one, the real danger will start.]

He tried to speak again to the voice but she was nowhere. She just came to warn him and go away. He clicked his tongue in response.

Stephan looked at his name in wonder; it was as if he had never seen it yet at the same time it was familiar, but not to the point to own it. There was no need to utter anything out at all. He thought he finally gained a name or more likely he finally knew the name of the body he possessed until he remembered that it was mentioned before. He sighed.

<You were chosen to be the Exile Maddock Prowell. You have a chance to reconsider the choice, would you like to return to the darkness of oblivion?>

<Yes/No>

"Okay, this is clearly a prank from her. I bet she is already smirking. If she was a guy, I would have punched her. Unfortunately, she is a Lady. How can she call my previous life darkness of oblivion? I mean I was living, right? I wasn't dead."

Who would want to return to death? However, as he swooped the area with his naked eyes, he was forced to reconsider it. Then he realized he was back in the dark woods and he had the clothes of a magic-user; a long robe with a pointy hood that was over his head, armour wasn't worn as mages believed they were stronger enough they didn't need it, the clothes under the robe were simple shirt and shorts with long white socks reaching the knees and brown shoes. The forest brought out his darkest fears; fears he never knew existed. A shiver ran down his spine and his finger almost clicked on the "yes" button but he changed his mind. There was no way he would return to his old life.

"Wait… Did I doubt it? I bet it's a prank. Oh yeah! You devil in disguise! I know you can hear me," he shouted. "Yeah, go ahead and throw all your pranks I will not fall into them. There is no way you will let me return after all the trouble you went in and pulled me here," he tapped his forehead. "I thought I had a chance to come back. Shame!"

<Congratulations on being a player in this new system.>

He looked at the floating window, totally uninterested.

<You have been given a second chance in life as you died for quite some time. The darkness of death engulfed you but you prayed for a second chance to change your destiny and do what you desire. You have been given a body and a new life. Use it well, Exile!>

"Okay, this is another pra…" he stopped midway remembering how Legend of the Past started. It was the background of the player, the way everything started. "I see…" he grinned. "I see… She is the boss of it. I hope she is the last boss I defeated back then so I can slap her freely."

He indulged in his reverie forgetting he needed to find a shelter quickly.