Strategic orientation module: the two paths

"Yeah I'm coming mom!"

Descending the stairs rather slowly, Maxime felt as if he were in another dimension, as if everything he'd experienced before was just a dream.

At the bottom, a young woman with long blond hair but a tired face greeted him with a broad smile.

Small wrinkles made their appearance, but anyone with a certain eye could guess that they'd been a deadly weapon in his youth.

"Good morning, Maxime," she said in a soothing voice.

"Hi Mum, did you sleep well?"

"Great as usual, especially you my darling." she replied with a hint of concern.

The world of Eternity was no joke, dying in it meant literally losing 3 years of life.

Some people died the very first time they arrived in this world, dying several times in succession.

Obviously this was extremely rare and mainly concerned individuals with particular health situations, but death on first arrival in the world of Eternity remained a common event.

This would also have been the case for Maxime if he hadn't succeeded in fending off the bandits or if he hadn't settled outside the village.

He could also have died in the battle with Jorgi and the other bandits.

The world of Eternity had all too many opportunities to offer you a variety of ways to die.

"It's okay, I didn't die and I was also able to get my first class without difficulty," Maxime reassured him with a sincere smile.

"Great stuff!" rejoiced Andréa, Maxime's mother, with a cheerful smile.

"Come and eat quickly, I've just finished preparing breakfast!"

"Super thanks Mom."

Maxime felt extremely happy to be back in reality, far from the hard life of a mercenary.

At the same time, he could share a simple meal with his mother, whom he had already missed for quite some time.

...

Leaving the house an hour later, Maxime raised his eyes to the sky as he watched the skyscrapers and flying cars passing between them.

"2 months and 5 days. I stayed 2 months and 5 days in Eternity," Maxime thought in deep reflection.

Usually students stayed about a week in Eternity before eventually being expelled.

Geniuses could last a little longer, say 2 or 3 weeks.

Only certain individuals with monstrous talents could last a month on their first connection.

This was the case of warlord Karyl from the western continent and Zhao Ru the eastern dragon rider. Some famous generals could barely last a month, and yet that was enough to prove that their talent lay at the top of the world.

But until his return, Maxime would never have believed it possible that someone could last 2 months on his first connection.

"After that, all I have to do is develop as an ordinary genius, so that I can benefit from the country's resources and opportunities, but without feeling threatened by certain organizations," sighed Maxime, who was at once shrouded in anxiety and happiness.

Soon Maxime arrived in front of his high school.

"Let's see...Monday May 26, 2132, 9am in class 202, Eternity, strategic orientation module." observed Maxime as he quickly checked his phone and then walked quietly to his classroom.

"Hey Maxime!"

Turning around with a curious look, Maxime saw an imposing young man arrive at his side.

1m90 for 90kg, he was a veritable war machine in terms of appearance.

Maxime gave him a slight smile.

"How are you Samuel?

"Super! So tell me, did you unlock your first class?" asked Samuel with an intrigued face.

"Swordsman and you?"

"Haha great! I've unlocked the berserker class!" replied Samuel with a proud look on his face.

Maxime was slightly shocked, even though this was to be expected given his initial appearance.

Berserker was an extremely powerful class, conferring statics bonuses far superior to those of a swordsman at every level!

In the end, this class even conferred a powerful talent!

The ability to temporarily increase one's strength and agility drastically at the peril of one's rationality!

Moreover, the maximum level of this class ranged between 10 and 15, far higher than that of other common classes such as archer, swordsman and spearman, which varied between 7 and 9 depending on various factors.

With the price of unlocking a class rising considerably each time, the maximum level of unlocked classes represented a person's potential.

In this world there were several types of talent, but generally the most important were the talent given on entry to Eternity, followed by the physical talent.

Physical talent is unique to each individual and has existed since the dawn of time.

But since the advent of watches and the world of Eternity, the gap has widened considerably. Indeed, the classes unlocked depended mainly on physique and slightly on personality.

As for initial talent, no one had yet discovered how to influence it. The most popular theories were that it was completely random and that it was God who gave each person a chance to become a genius.

Others said that being kind and respectful all one's life could accumulate good karma and that the talent given by Eternity was a kind of retribution.

But Maxime was more in favor of a minor theory: during reincarnation, the body and memory are completely erased, but the soul itself would not change, so it could retain certain aspects of previous lives.

The world of Eternity would merely awaken one of these aspects.

"Berserker! Incredible, bravo mon gars!" exclaimed Maxime with a sincere smile.

Samuel was his childhood friend and they'd always grown up together.

With his talent, Maxime thought that the more talented and strong Samuel became, the more time they could spend growing together.

"Thank you, Max! From your side, I know that a swordsman class could never limit your growth!"

"Yeah, I think so too," Maxime murmured, smiling but saying no more.

At the same time, they arrived at their classroom and discreetly placed themselves at the back.

The class was already almost full when they arrived, so there was a fair amount of noise, to which Maxime and Samuel also contributed by talking about their adventures in Eternity.

The older students had already been on their Eternity adventure for a few months, while the younger ones had not yet been able to enter because of their young age.

Indeed, you had to be 18 to enter Eternity, without which, even with the watch, it was totally impossible to do anything except use it as a fashion accessory.

Samuel was from the month of April, while Maxime had just had his birthday the day before, on May 26.

Samuel was also working as a bartender in a bar not far from Maxime's, as he was keen to buy his watch with his own hard work and start at the same time as Maxime.

Maxime knew very well that Samuel came from a wealthy family with many strong people, but he still wanted to start at the same time as him, even if it meant risking his future.

Maxime would never have believed such people existed if he hadn't met Samuel.

This guy was the most stubborn and unreasonable person he'd ever met.

Soon the class fell silent as a young woman entered.

She was dressed in a dark green military outfit, and at her waist was a sword as black as the abyss.

Her impulse repressed all the students in the room, even though many of them had already had to kill people in Eternity and had even died.

To have this kind of momentum, no one could identify the number of fights she must have experienced so far.

This was also the case for Maxime.

He felt that if he had to face this woman, he'd die without even knowing how.

"Hello everyone, I'm Riva from the Juggernaut mercenary group. Don't worry, despite my appearance I have a degree in teaching high school students." she introduced herself in a cold voice.

Most of the students were shocked to hear the name of this mercenary group in their classroom.

"Samuel, do you know this mercenary group?" Intrigued, Maxime discreetly asked his neighbor.

"Yeah, pretty much. In Nansoy, they're one of the top 3 mercenary groups," replied Samuel with a rarely seen air of seriousness.

"I wonder how strong they are..." thought Maxime.

Ignoring the occasional chatter, Riva continued her lecture.

"Today I've been invited to present to you in detail the two paths that will be available to you at the start of your adventure within Eternity."