Chapter 43 - Weighing My Options

"You know, you really shouldn't smile like that," Hyggiandi said. "It's kind of creepy."Her voice actually started me. I still wasn't used to her presence, especially when she spoke to me out of nowhere while I was distracted. I almost yelled at her not to scare me. The only reason I didn't was because I was certain that she would definitely do it again if she knew it annoyed me. I could already tell she loved to stir up trouble.Another reason was that what she said was eerily similar to something people had said about me in my previous life. I found it quite weird that she would say that. My ex-wife, my kids, and my students had all said the exact same thing. They seemed to think that I looked like a smiling skeleton, which was kind of hurtful. One woman even said she wouldn't date me because I didn't weigh enough. Apparently weighing a lot less than your date wasn't a desirable quality in a man.I took a moment to look at my stomach. While I did have to admit, I had a little bit of a pooch now, I was sure that it would go away as soon as I grew up into an adult "male." Yes, in fact, by then, I would have a twelve-pack set of abs. Although in my last life I might have been weak and slow, in this life, I would rule.Perhaps it was cowardice. Perhaps it was empathy. I might have been afraid of confrontations in the past. I even went out of my way not to offend others. I gave everyone too many options. I accepted insults without responding. Even now, their insults still lingered in my thoughts. Even the words of my little league baseball coach still stung even fifty years later. "Boy, just lean into the ball and let it hit you. I doubt you're strong enough to hit the ball out of the infield. Bah, even if you hit a homerun, you'd still get thrown out at first as slow as you are." Whatever I was like in the past, I was determined to take a different path in this life.I still wasn't sure why people were always so rude to me. I mean, even my family said some messed up things. When I got older and pulled my head out of my books, several people in my family commented that I had developed a personality. One of them even implied that I had multiple personalities. I mean, okay, a few of them were my brothers and sisters. But why did my parents have to say the same thing?"No respect," I muttered. "Not even from my necklace. Well, no more," I kept mumbling to myself. It might be difficult. I might stumble and fall or forget my resolve. However, from now on, my will would be as firm as ... my abs when I became an adult kobold. I consoled myself with the promise that I would be powerful in this life. I will not be walked upon by anyone or anything, mortal or divine. All I had to do was level-up again and again until I reached the pinnacle of power.Of course, it wouldn't be easy picking the right path that would lead me to the top. I had to make the right choices. Unfortunately, making those choices would be difficult. I couldn't help but sigh when I realized what was about to happen. More choices. While normally I would love choices. However, making uninformed choices was just throwing dice. Maybe I would get lucky and maybe I wouldn't. I really needed a lot of information up front, especially if I wanted to achieve my dreams.That caused me to pause. I had a library of information ready to answer any of my questions now that I had the necklace. It was as if someone, somewhere, was taking pity on me and giving me a second chance. That idea put me back in a good mood. After all, I would have plenty of information to make the best choices for my next level. Finally, things were starting to go my way. With that thought, I said, "Please show me the available class options." Choose one of the following classes:

Banshee: Spellcasters who study various dangerous magicsBlackguard: Unholy magic warriors who serve only themselvesDark Cleric: Evil spellcasters who serve dark godsDraconic Sorcerer: Spellcasters with a Draconic BloodlineEldritch Mind: Spellcasters who use the power of the mindMonster Hunter: Magic scouts with monster companionsRitualist: Ritual spellcasters attuned to black magicRogue Assassin: Skillful trapmakers who sneak attackSkirmisher: Warriors skilled in light armor and weaponsUnholy Theurgist: Evil spellcasters who strive for divinityWizard: Arcane spellcasters with spellbooks

 As expected, nothing had changed this time. However, I was just as torn about which class to choose as I was last time. I had figured out enough already that I would need two levels of wizard to cast higher-level spells. While I didn't have enough for two levels, I wasn't that far away. That made the choice of wizard very alluring.Courtesy of the recent influx of memories from the Phylactery of Hyggiandi, I also knew that most classes were frontloaded with powerful features. Wizards usually obtained their most powerful features at first, second, sixth, and tenth levels with a few more later on. That meant I really needed three more levels of wizard to get the most power. Just because of this fact, I was tempted to directly level-up to the next level of wizard.As for the other classes, I had learned a little more about banshee spellcasters. They were able to cast a variety of spells, some of which were religious and others that were nature related. This would definitely add some more versatility to my arsenal.Another benefit of that class was that they powered up very quickly. They gained powerful features at almost every level from first to sixth level. I definitely wanted to add levels in this class at some point. In fact, I already knew that I would choose at least a few levels of this class, although not necessarily right now.Of course, blackguard, monster hunter, ritualist, rogue assassin, and skirmisher were still off the table. Dark clerics still sounded acceptable. Even one level of cleric could add a lot of power. The same was true for sorcerers and theurgists. All three of the classes provided enormous benefits for very little investment. Because of this fact, I was tempted to take one level in each of these classes.Unfortunately, as for eldritch mind, the necklace actually had no knowledge of that class. However, something was telling me that with as much power as I had already gained from a single level of eldritch mind, additional levels would not benefit me nearly as much. Then again, perhaps I was overthinking things. Maybe the next level of eldritch mind would be just as brokenly over-powered as the first level.Gritting my teeth, I decided to reduce my list of choices. After taking a moment to reorganize my thoughts, I reluctantly eliminated cleric and sorcerer. While both classes provided some powerful features at the first two levels, I wasn't sure it was worth it at the moment. I already had wizard, which provided a larger pool of arcane spells to choose from. Therefore, sorcerers weren't as beneficial to me.As for clerics, that could actually be one of the better options. I wouldn't have to wait ten minutes to learn the Cure Wounds spell. Also, I would have access to more divine spells. However, despite this, I just didn't want to consider myself a cleric. While not all clerics worshiped a particular god, I still felt an aversion because a cleric was usually associated with a more powerful god.That was also one reason why banshee was still a possibility. After all, a banshee spellcaster was a jack-of-all-trades spellcaster. They could cast divine, arcane, and nature-oriented spells. However, strong features were scattered across the first six levels. However, there wasn't anything particularly overpowered at the first or second levels.Of course, if I chose the banshee class, the evil gods would definitely approve. As could probably be predicted by the name, banshees concentrated on the spirits of the dead. Their power touched mostly on arcane and divine spells, but they did know a few nature spells. The sixth level feature was especially interesting.However, the sixth level of banshee was comparable to the sixth level of wizard, at least for my chosen school. Both dealt with making the spellcaster more survivable on the battlefield. Banshees added a little damage while wizards added a little more defense for their allies."Choices," I muttered, annoyed with myself for being such a fence sitter. I'm sure if someone was waiting on me to make a decision, they would be getting annoyed with my flip flopping by now. Even I was annoyed. I needed to make a decision. "Stop being a wuss," I ordered myself. "Be a man. Man up!" Of course I didn't say these things out loud.Hyggiandi might think I was going crazy because I was talking to myself. I could easily imagine her nagging me about seeing someone to work on that problem. "Dang," I muttered once again once I realized I was trying to find another way of putting off making a decision. If I continued to be so wishy-washy, I would never accomplish anything. With that, I made my choice.