Sora walked through the streets of Córdoba, his mind already calculating the next phase of his journey. Two days of clearing out HR offices had been more lucrative than he'd expected, raking in 185,000 gold. Between that, his loot, and the auctions, he was sitting on over 465,000 gold.
'It's a small fortune,' he thought. 'Enough to buy a house and retire, or even leave Europe.'
But gold was just a resource. His real goal was power—the kind that wasn't dictated by level caps or system-enforced restrictions. With that thought pushing him, he headed straight for the Combat Training Center.
The center was a massive, fortress-like structure vibrating with the sounds of clashing steel and magic spells. To most players, this was where they chose their life's path. To Sora, it was just a buffet where he could pick which secrets to steal.
He stepped inside, scanning the various stations. The Swordsman station was overcrowded as usual, filled with players trying to refine their mana into sword energy.
'Already been there, done that,' he mused, his eyes moving on.
To his right, the Mages were busy converting mana into elemental power. It was very powerful, but it was slow and rigid. Nearby, the Brawlers channeled mana into their body for extreme physical strength.
'Now that I think of it, each of these classes is a cage,' Sora thought. 'Once you pick one, you're locked into the system's rules for how to move your energy.'
But he had [Prestige]. He could pick a class, master its fundamental mana manipulation, and then carry that knowledge into the next life as a classless skill. He just needed to choose the right starting point—something that wouldn't just give him a new power, but multiply his own.
When considering his options, he quickly eliminated the Brawler class, and several other warrior-type classes.
'It's not what I need right now.' He thought.
Mage and Wizard were other options, but he was already familiar with those thanks to Enzo.
'I might try those in the future, but most magic classes limit movement and require long casting. It would not allow me to use my swordsmanship.'
He paused in front of the Battlemage station. The idea of blending physical strikes with spells was tempting. It offered the versatility the other classes lacked.
'This looks like what I want to become… This could work. However, I don't know anyone successful with this class.'
Sora approached the station, watching the trainees in action. He watched a Battlemage freezing the floor before dashing on his opponent, while another used magic to throw an opponent off-balance. It offered exactly the kind of adaptability he'd been aiming for.
'The utility is great,' Sora thought.
However, when he started paying more attention to the details, he noticed something off, 'Why is the damage output so low? And the crowd control skills seem to run out so fast. Is it the player, or the class itself that is lacking?'
He focused on an instructor and saw the problem was the same.
'I don't need a shortcut,' he realized, turning away. 'I'm not here to learn something flawed. I need something complete. Something I can push to the next step and combine with my own perfect skills later.'
Sora chose to continue looking for a new class. When he saw the tank classes, he paused.
'That wouldn't be bad. With a stronger body, and stronger defense, I'll survive much longer.' Sora thought, 'However, the focus would be on defence, and my attacks wouldn't become any stronger.'
His gaze drifted further, eventually landing on a section that most solo players ignored: the Buffer station. As he browsed through dozens of classes his heart pulse quickened. All of them could be beneficial to him.
'Players rarely pick these classes because the role of a buffer is too selfless.' Usually, these classes were the "batteries" for a party, stuck behind their teammates. But where others saw a support role, Sora saw synergy.
'If I can already hit like a truck, what happens when I layer on buffs that boost my speed, strength, and mana reserves? Wouldn't I become invincible as long as I have mana?'
The idea of becoming a walking fortress—a swordsman who could increase his defense and supercharge his strikes—was too perfect to pass up. Sora headed for the station, where the instructor looked him over with a smirk.
"Level 29 and you still haven't picked a class?" the man asked, his tone mocking.
Sora brushed off the jab. "I'm looking for something that lets me amplify my own output. Attack, defense, speed, skills. I want to boost all of that, for myself and anyone I'm with."
The instructor handed him a small tablet. "Then you want the [Mana Amplifier] class. As long as you have the mana to burn, you can augment your own abilities or those of your allies."
Sora got curious, and started reading the description of the basic skills.
'Mana Amplifier... I've seen some players with this class.'
[Amplify], [Echo Strike], [Mana Shield], and [Speed Surge] were the first skills he read about. And they were exactly what he had in mind. The class focused on the specific intersection he was obsessed with: how mana resonated with the physical body.
"I'll take this class," Sora said, a smile playing on his lips as he accepted the class. 'And once I've mastered the logic behind these skills, I'll make them my own.'