Class Evaluation Trials (as Told by Ash)

It had been four weeks since Keiji vanished behind that blue door.

Spoiler — he didn’t die. Though from the way he told me, there were a few moments where death was practically shaking hands with him.

I wasn’t there for what happened inside, but I’ve heard enough to know this — the System’s trials aren’t “tests.” They’re crucibles. You step in as one person and walk out… someone else. Or you don’t walk out at all.

<The Warrior Class Trial>

Keiji stepped through the doorway and straight into an oven that wanted him dead.
The ground was black stone veined with molten orange light, each fissure exhaling heat like a forge.

And there, waiting for him, was twelve feet of “nope.”

A Minotaur. Its skin smoking as if its veins carried lava instead of blood. Its axe glowed a searing white at the edges. Keiji swore the ground shuddered under its steps.

[SYSTEM NOTICE: Warrior Protocol Active]
Base Buffs: +40% Strength, +25% Vitality (Temporary)
Weapon Granted: Greatblade of the Forge-Bound
Objective: Defeat the Minotaur (Lv5)
Bonus: +3 Strength, +2 Vitality upon completion.

The greatblade appeared in his hands; the weight was similar to his sword, perfectly balanced.

No warm-up. The Minotaur charged.
Keiji braced himself, gripping the greatblade in both hands, and the moment axe met steel the whole floor cracked.

The beast slammed him backward, boots grinding against the molten cracks. He barely caught himself before crossing the boundary.

That’s when the first penalty warning flashed in front of him, just in case things weren’t tense enough.

[WARNING: Arena Edge Breach – Stat Penalty on Fall]

Keiji dug his heels in. “So, if I fall, I lose stats? Yeah… that’s not happening.”

The Minotaur wasn’t just brawn — when it stomped, shockwaves rattled the arena. The second one almost threw him off the arena. He shifted tactics, using its momentum against it, pivoting, slamming a shoulder-check that sent it stumbling into a wall.

That’s when it happened — the first rune.

A fire-shaped rune burned into his palm. One swing from the greatblade — and fire roared along its edge.

[Rune Acquired: Fire]

It didn’t stop there.

Lightning joined the party a moment later, a quicksilver curling up his arm into the blade.

[Rune Acquired: Lightning]

His swings now struck twice — once with steel, once with crackling arcs that bit into molten flesh. At this point, Keiji was spamming, lightning and fire every chance he got but it damaged the beast slightly.

The Minotaur went for the kill, its horns down. Keiji didn’t dodge — he leapt, spinning in midair, his blade a streak of fire and lightning that pierced its neck. The beast dropped, molten blood hissing into the cracks below.

[Warrior Trial Complete]

Reward: +3 Strength, +2 Vitality (Permanent when Final trial is completed). Access to Forge-Bound Weaponry if class chosen.

<The Rogue Class Trial>

Then — blink — molten arena gone. Now he stood in darkness.

Walls of stone shifted, grinding past each other like the inside of a giant puzzle box. Razor pendulums swung through corridors in every direction.

[SYSTEM NOTICE: Rogue Protocol Active]
Base Buffs: +45% Agility, +35% Dexterity (Temporary)
Weapon Granted: Twin Fangblades
Objective: Defeat the Shadowfang Assassin Beast. (Lv8)
Bonus: +3 Agility, +2 Dexterity upon completion.

The Fangblades fit into his hands like they were carved for him — curved edges, knuckle guards, and a finger groove near the hilt for spins and flips.

Then came the sound — a single scratch.

He barely caught the scratch on his cheek before the thing disappeared again — faster than sight, than the Minotaur by far.

It was the Shadowfang. A beast so fast and nimble with sharp talons and teeth, if you could even call them that. They were more like huge tusks.

[Runes Acquired: Shadow + Air]

The air rune formed first — a swirling spiral on the back of his left hand, sharpening his reflexes until the world seemed to slow in bursts. If it hadn't been for this rune, Keiji would have probably lost his head in that attack.

The shadow rune appeared next, etched deep across his chest, and with it came the ability to see shimmering Magna trails. The Shadowfang’s Magna left a faint shimmer when it moved — invisible to the naked eye. But now visible to him.

“There you are.”

What followed was chaos turned parkour course— Keiji vaulting over pendulums, running along shifting walls, baiting the beast into narrow corridors. The air rune gave him bursts of speed to evade slashes, while the shadow rune let him melt briefly into the moving shadows, slipping behind the predator for counterstrikes.

The Fangblades flashed in arcs, each strike leaving faint afterimages. With each hit, the beast bled shadows instead of blood.

But speed came at the cost of resilience. One tail swipe caught him, spinning him into a wall hard enough to rattle his teeth. Any slower reflex and that would’ve been a kill shot.

Immediately, the beast lunged at his throat — but before fangs met flesh, he thought move and reality just… skipped.

[Shadow Rune Activated: Instant teleportation]

He reappeared behind it, driving both Fangblades down into it’s spine. The Shadowfang dissolved into drifting black smoke.

The teleportation was too convenient but hey, we all need help sometimes.

Keiji said it was more of him thinking about teleporting that did it but I don’t know, it seemed like the system had a mind of its own.

After the beast fell, he got another notification, as he called it.

[Rogue Trial Complete]
Reward: Permanent +3 Agility, +2 Dexterity. Access to Assassin’s jump if class chosen.

<The Mage Class Trial>

After the Shadowfang dissolved, Keiji said the darkness peeled away like smoke, revealing a circular chamber with no walls—just an endless horizon of storm-wracked sky.

Platforms of crystal drifted in slow orbits around him, some high above, others yawning below, their heights constantly shifting like pieces in a celestial puzzle. The air itself felt heavy with energy, buzzing in his lungs.

[SYSTEM NOTICE: Mage Protocol Active]
Base Buffs: +40% Intelligence, +35% Magna Control (Temporary)
Weapon Granted: Runebound Catalyst Staff
Objective: Defeat the Arcwing Wyrm (Lv15)
Bonus: +3 Intelligence, +2 Magna Control upon completion.

The staff materialized in his grip—not wood, but a length of obsidian wrapped in silver runes that shimmered like liquid mercury.

The clouds split.

A shadow fell over him as the Arcwing Wyrm descended—its translucent wings veined with lightning, its serpentine body phasing between flesh and pure wind. The sight alone made Keiji’s instincts scream move.

But this wasn’t like the Minotaur, where he could trade blows or the Shadowfang, where speed meant survival. Here, he was trapped on an isolated platform with no easy escape. Warrior muscle or Rogue teleportation would’ve been a gift—but the Mage trial offered neither.

“A spell. Think, think…” He tightened his grip. “I’ve watched all the Harry Potters and every season of Merlin. I should know a spell or two.”

He thrusted the staff forward. “Reducto!”

Nothing happened.

The Wyrm had stopped as if witnessing his idiocy and then dived.

The first rune flared into existence at the tip of the staff—a blazing fire rune. He swung instinctively and a fireball roared from the rune… only to be torn apart by the Wyrm’s slicing winds.

[Mages use verbal or mental catalysts to enhance their attacks. Use 'Ignis Lance']

[Suggestion: Define the spell’s form and effect.]

“Right… so not just yelling random stuff.” Keiji planted his feet, holding the image of a spear of fire in his mind.
“Ignis Lance!”

The rune flared brighter. The flame reshaped mid-flight into a narrow, piercing projectile. This time, it cut through the winds and grazed the Wyrm’s wing before exploding into cinders. The beast hissed, coils twisting as it circled higher.

The second rune—Lightning—curled into staff’s rear end. Unlike the Warrior trial, when passing through, it didn’t sheath the staff, instead, it drew upward channelling the bolt skyward. A heartbeat later, a spear of raw lightning plunged from the clouds, striking the Wyrm and sending it spiraling toward a lower platform.

“So…the same element reacts differently depending on the class. “ Keiji smirked. “Meaning if someone mastered multiple classes…”

He didn’t finish the thought but even I knew the implication of an individual with such power.

The Wyrm roared and unleashed a hurricane gust, shattering the platform Keiji was standing on into glittering shards. He barely leapt, landing on the edge of the one below him. it began to tilt under the wind and he almost slid right off —until the Air rune lit across the staff, lightening his weight until he could walk on the wind itself.

He sprinted upward along a spiraling current, weaving between bolts of lightning the Wyrm spat at him.

The three runes—Fire, Lightning, Air—flared at once, etching glowing trails along the staff. The weapon vibrated in his grip, almost hungry. He leapt to an upside-down platform, released the Air rune, and let gravity drag him toward the oncoming Wyrm. Just before impact, he snapped the Air rune on again, halting mid-drop, and unleashed a point-blank Ignis Lance that detonated against the Wyrm’s head.

The blast shattered the beast into whirling wind and static before it dissolved entirely.

[Mage Trial Complete]
Reward: +3 Intelligence, +2 Magna Control. Access to Element Weaving (if class chosen)