With excitement, Adam popped open his status. The girls watched him as much as they watched the display, making sure he wasn't about to collapse, lose strength, or spontaneously combust. No one could be sure what would happen after everything Adam had gone through.

He hurriedly went to the [Levels] tab of his status.

You have enough XP to level your class or your body. Which will you level?

[ Class / Body / Cancel]

Adam selected "Class". A tingle went through his body, sparking his nerves. However, there was no pain, weakness, or houses dropping on him. He swapped to his status. Sure enough, his vitality had risen by 2 and his strength had gone up by one.

The girls were all shocked as Adam giggled while wringing his hands and hopping from foot to foot.

"Adam, is your brain ok?" asked Alissa wryly. "No lobotomizing side effects?"

Stopping mid hop, Adam was balanced on one foot as he tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean? Everything is going great for once."

"It's just that you're acting very unlike yourself," said Abbey diplomatically. "Even the emotions coming through your connection is kind of manic."

Adam put his raised foot on the ground and waved his hand.

"I'm just really excited. I've been a bit jealous of everyone else being able to level. There has been so much pressure, both from the outside to meet everyone's expectations, and internally from the voice, which is quiet right now. I'm just giddy. Knowing how little excitement I felt before the [System], I have no doubt this will all wear off. For now, I'm just enjoying having numbers and watching them go up."

"Ok, then," said Abbey with a soft look. "We'll just pretend you're a kid on Christmas."

Adam nodded and then went back to his menu.

You have enough XP to level your class or your body. Which will you level?

[ Class / Body / Cancel]

"Class!"

You have enough XP to level your class or your body. Which will you level?

[ Class / Body / Cancel]

"Class!"

You have enough XP to level your class or your body. Which will you level?

[ Class / Body / Cancel]

"Class."

When Adam reached level 5 in his class, he received a skill choice.

Select a skill:

[Heavy Feet]: Increases weight on feet or load bearing appendage to prevent loss of balance.

[Solid Arm]: Increases the durability of your arms, or shield bearing appendages, to prevent damage when blocking an attack.

[Shield Bash]: Slam your shield into an opponent using 10% of your strength.

A chuckle came out of Adam.

"Those selections are seriously weak. I know it's early on, but how are you supposed to get stronger with such garbage choices? [Shield Bash] is obviously the best, but since I don't use shields, it'll be pointless. [Heavy Feet]? I don't want slower feet! That leaves [Solid Arm]. Maybe it will work even without a shield, and I can boost my punches with it," shrugged Adam at the choices.

To the menu he said, "I choose [Solid Arm]."

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Skill [Solid Arm] gained.

Adam was able to get his Protector class up to level seven before running out of usable XP. He laughed out loud as he brought his status back up.

Class: Protector [0] Body: [2]

Strength: 303 Agility: 295 Vitality: 307 Intelligence: 290 Wisdom: 291

Skills: Harden Body Solid Arm Soul and Body Shaping Find Follower

Skill Points: 6

"Behold my might!" he announced with a malevolent cackle. He raised his hands into the air as if he was summoning lightning. "My numbers continue to rise! I will be unstoppable! Mwah ha ha ha ha!"

The girls looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Fido, caught up in his owner's excitement, began barking and howling while he ran in circles around Adam.

"That's right, boys," Adam said as he cheerfully dropped to his knees and hugged Fido's three heads. "We are mighty! Beware us, invaders!"

"Because two vitality per level will make all the difference," teased Brittney sarcastically.

Adam looked up at her seriously, then broke into a grin to tease her back.

"Just wait until I hit level 15 and evolve my class. I'll probably be able to pick some super duper ultra omega invincible legendarily mythical class.

Brittney laughed, opened her mouth to retort and then stopped. She thought seriously for a moment before nodding.

"That actually might happen with everything you've done by now. You've probably unlocked tons of requirements and achievements."

Adam gave her the brightest smile.

***

After a night where Adam was able to test out the effects of his increased vitality, which included a much smaller need for sleep, although he insisted on lying in bed for a few extra hours anyway, he got up early for breakfast.

His chefs were helping prepare the food for the forces waiting on the Drathan, so he pulled out a box of eggs that he hoped belonged to non-mutant chickens. Then he pulled out a loaf of bread and cut it into slices to toast.

As he was scrambling the eggs, Alissa yawned and came out of his bedroom wearing one of his t-shirts. She groggily shuffled into the kitchen and gave him a kiss before she looked at the number of eggs in the bowl.

"Not making enough for us?" she asked with another yawn.

Adam looked at the eggs he was stirring and frowned.

"This is for all of us. I'm just not feeling very hungry."

Alissa froze mid-yawn, looked at Adam, and then rushed back into the bedroom. A moment later she came out pushing a disheveled Abbey. Alissa looked wide awake, but Abbey was now yawning as she was pushed.

"Why do you think something is wrong with him?" she asked drowsily.

"He said he wasn't hungry."

"What?!" exclaimed Abbey, suddenly fully awake. She moved over to Adam and cast [Circle of Life] under him. Then she waited. He began pouring the scrambled eggs into the pre-heated pan. The eggs sizzled as they touched it.

"The heal feels good, but I don't think it's fixing anything," he said while using a spatula to move the eggs around. "Alissa, can you throw that buttered bread in the oven? It should be the right temperature."

Once the healing circle dissipated, Abbey felt Adam's forehead.

"You aren't hot, and your skin isn't clammy. Do you think you're sick?" she asked.

"I don't feel bad. I'm just not in the mood for food. Yesterday I only ate two sandwiches before I felt full."

Andrea and Brittney gasped from the bedroom doorframe after hearing his words.

"We'll have Ed use some ailment cures on you later. Just to be sure," said Abbey.

The five of them ate their eggs and toast, with Brittney also grabbing and cooking a steak from the freezer. Throughout the whole meal, Adam felt the girls' eyes checking on him to make sure nothing was wrong. Adam pointedly tried to ignore the looks, but they felt disconcerting.

***

When Adam walked into the meeting room with a spring in his step and a smile on his face, everyone turned and looked at him. They watched as he lightly approached his chair and sat.

"Uh, Adam," coughed Colonel Davian, "are you doing alright?"

"Sure," replied Adam. "Things are good. Why do you ask?"

"You, uh, left abruptly a few days ago and now you are back and, how do I say this? You seem in a good mood."

Adam nodded at him before saying cheerfully, "things were touch and go for a while, but I managed to pull it out. So, yeah, I am in a good mood."

"And you are, um, sure that you, er, haven't been mind control or replaced?" asked Davian cautiously.

"Of course," said Adam with a laugh. Then he squinted at them conspiratorially, "although if I were replaced or controlled then I probably wouldn't admit to it."

Everyone in the room sat up straighter and stared at Adam with concern. He burst out laughing before slouching in his chair.

"Boy," say General Carmichael, getting his attention. "What is above your head?"

"Oh, that?" asked Adam as his smile split his face. "That's my tag. I now have a class."

"WHAT?!" shouted everyone in the room at once.

"Are you sure you haven't been replaced?" asked Davian hesitantly.

Adam breathed in deeply and then roared using [Incapacitating Shout]. Most of his allies were used to it and were usually unaffected when he did it, but with his increased stats from the class and titles, the power of the pseudo-skill was magnified and even the strongest person in the room was stunned for 20 seconds. While everyone looked at him with shock until they could move again, Adan sat there smirking at them.

***

Once the commotion calmed down and questions were answered or avoided, Adam brought up the important issue.

"What's happening with the Drathan?"

"At first, they sent out their winged beasts one at a time to try scouting us," explained Davian. "We easily shot them down. Then they tested us by trying to fly higher. Outside of the territory, we can't shoot them. We're in a bit of a holding pattern. They can't come down and we can't go up."

"Have Garrett and Golgarn made any progress on a way up?"

"They have…something," answered Carmichael. "It turned out quite impressive, but there are significant difficulties. Plus, there is no way to make enough to get a whole force up there."

"I'll go check out what they have. An idea came to me before, but I'll need to ask the crafters if it's possible. I never expected to take days to come back," said Adam regretfully. "Has there been any movement from the Juungii?"

"It seems like they're gathering forces," answered Davian. "Our Leputi scouting them have seen them send emissaries to other bases. We've also seen chatter and requests, or rather threats, from them on the Rift communication lines. They're forcing a lot of other races to come together."

"Just like Cruxannith and the Scyrric did," muttered Adam.

"I guess they don't need to be the strongest, just strong enough to force others to fight for them," stated Carmichael.

"Well, they're of secondary concern compared to the Drathan. We need to get the Rift Menu out of siege mode so we can set up additional defenses."

"Do we stand a chance against the Juungii if they gather a large army?" an analyst asked Adam.

"With this," Adam pointed to the tag above his head, "I'm confident we'll win."

"A level 7, Tier 1 class? How is that going to solve things?" the man asked.

Adam's smile was natural, not the look of a predator for once. He chuckled at the question.

"Sure, seven levels into a beginner class aren't enough to fight an army…but rest assured, I am!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.