(WORM APOCALYPSE) CHAPTER TWO

For several seconds after the choices were made, the foreboding feelings suffocating them seemed to ease a little.

The translucent windows remained in front of their respective owners, although their contents had changed from the lists of Classes they had been forced to choose between. Taylor stared at her own display, trying to make sense of the word sitting at the top of it.

Mage.

She had spent the last ten minutes wondering whether Mage was worth choosing when Warrior seemed like the safer option, and now she had apparently decided that it was. Or, more accurately, the System had decided that she was suited for one and she had accepted it.

Taylor wasn’t sure how much difference there was.

Around her, the others were beginning to react as well, although their responses varied considerably. A few people looked relieved, while others seemed even more frightened now that the choice was permanent. Someone near the back asked what happened after selecting a Class, and another student admitted that their screen had changed without giving them any useful explanation.

Then Greg spoke.

“Scribe.”

Taylor looked towards him.

He was staring at his own window, and there was a strange mixture of disappointment and fascination on his face.

“Scribe?” Sparky repeated.

Greg nodded. “That’s what I picked.”

“You actually picked Scribe?” Emma chimed in. 

“I did.”

She looked at him as though she couldn’t decide whether he was joking. “Why?”

Greg shrugged, although Taylor noticed that he didn’t seem particularly confident about the answer himself.

“Warrior looked useful, but so did Mage and Rogue, and I had no idea what Scribe actually did. Figured I might as well take the one nobody else seemed interested in.”

“That’s your reasoning?” someone else asked.

“Partly.” Greg looked back at his screen. “I mean, if this really works like a game, picking the obvious option without knowing anything about the others seems like a bad idea.”

Taylor couldn’t argue with that.

She had chosen Mage for much the same reason, although she hadn’t been thinking about it in terms of game mechanics. The idea of fighting something with a sword had appealed to her about as much as volunteering to fight a cape with a kitchen knife. Mage at least suggested distance, which seemed considerably safer if the System eventually expected them to fight whatever had been waiting for them.

Greg glanced around the group. “Did anyone else get Scribe?”

Nobody answered.

“Thought so.”

He sounded disappointed, although Taylor couldn’t tell whether he regretted his choice.

“Mine’s Warrior,” someone announced.

“Mine too.”

“Mage.”

“Rogue.”

“Crafters?”

A hand went up. “Crafter.”

Another followed. “I picked Crafter too.”

The answers continued, and Taylor listened carefully as more people began announcing their Classes. Warrior seemed to be the most common, while Mage and Rogue followed close behind. Crafter appeared less frequently, and Scribe remained unique.

At least, as far as anyone was willing to admit.

Taylor found herself glancing towards Sophia.

The other girl still hadn’t said anything. Instead, she stood with her arms crossed, studying the information in front of her with the same expression she had worn throughout the entire selection process. Taylor wondered whether Sophia had chosen Warrior or Rogue, although both seemed like obvious possibilities given what little Taylor knew about her.

Then again, guessing someone’s Class based on their personality seemed like exactly the sort of assumption that could be catastrophically wrong.

Taylor looked back at her own window.

Class: Mage

Beneath it were several lines of text, and she read through them twice, hoping the description would tell her more than the Class name had. However, it was hardly generous with details.

Mage

A Class specialising in the manipulation and application of magical energy.

That was all.

She read the description again before the words slipped out: “That’s it?”

“What?”

“Mine doesn’t explain much.”

Several people looked towards her.

“What did you get?” one asked. 

“Mage.”

A few students nodded, while one of the Warriors gave an approving grunt.

“That’s probably one of the better ones.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s magic.”

Taylor looked at him. “That doesn’t actually explain anything.”

“Still better than Scribe.”

Greg raised his head. “Hey.”

The student shrugged. “You know what I mean.”

Greg looked as though he wanted to argue, although after a moment he returned his attention to his display.

Taylor couldn’t blame him. Scribe certainly sounded less useful than Warrior or Mage, although she had already learned that a Class’s name told her very little about what it could actually do.

“Does anyone have more information?” Madison asked.

“My screen has a description.”

“So does mine.”

“Mine doesn’t say anything useful.”

“What about abilities?”

That sent another murmur through the group, and Taylor looked down at her own window again. A section beneath the Class description had appeared without her noticing.

Abilities

She selected it, and the display expanded.

Mana Manipulation

Basic understanding of magical energy has been granted.

Taylor focused on the words, wondering what exactly the translucent box meant by magical energy, and as she concentrated, she became aware of something inside herself that she had no name for. It seemed to shift in response to her attention, although the sensation slipped away whenever she tried to examine it directly.

She pulled her attention away and left it alone for the moment. Whatever this was, she had no idea what it could do, and experimenting with it in front of everyone seemed like a poor idea.

“I’ve got something called Record,” Greg announced.

“What does it do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Try it.”

Greg looked down at his screen. “I don’t think it works like that.”

“Why?”

“Because it says Record, but it doesn’t give me any instructions.”

Someone laughed. “Great Class.”

Greg frowned. “Yeah, well, maybe it does something useful.”

Taylor watched him for a moment.

He looked uncomfortable.

She could understand why.

Everyone else could point at their Classes and make some immediate guess about what they were supposed to do. A Warrior would fight. A Mage would use magic. A Rogue probably relied on speed or stealth, while a Crafter presumably made things.

His entire ability description came down to a single word: Record, and Taylor wondered whether he regretted choosing it.

“Why did you really pick it?” she couldn't help but ask.

Greg looked up. “Because I already knew what the rest of them did.”

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Everyone else was looking at Warrior and Mage and going, ‘Oh, that’s obviously useful,’ but we don’t know what this System considers useful. For all we know, Scribe could be completely broken once we figure it out.”

A few people laughed.

Greg smiled weakly. “I’m serious.”

Taylor believed him, although she suspected Greg was trying to convince himself as much as everyone else.

She looked around the group again.

Some students were discussing their Classes enthusiastically, while others had begun comparing the abilities they had received. The mood had changed since Gladly’s death, although the fear remained beneath everything they said.

There was no adult standing at the centre of the group anymore, telling them to stay calm, deciding when they should move, or assuring them that the PRT would come for them.

Taylor’s eyes drifted towards the place where he had died. The… System, as Greg had called it, had already moved on, killing Gladly, giving them another ten minutes, and then continuing as though removing a person from existence were simply another part of the tutorial. Taylor hated that, and the fact that everyone had already started discussing Classes and abilities while their teacher’s blood was still cooling on the floor made it worse.

“What happens now?” Emma asked.

The question hung over them while people continued examining their windows.

Greg eventually looked towards the centre of the group. “We should probably figure out what everyone can do.”

A few people nodded.

“How?”

“We compare.” Greg gestured towards the various displays. “If everyone tells everyone else what their Class and abilities are, then at least we know what we’re working with.”

Taylor considered that for a moment, and it made sense.

They had already learned that the System’s descriptions were limited, and if each person had different information, sharing it could give them a clearer picture of the whole.

“That sounds reasonable,” Madison said.

Several others agreed.

One boy announced that he was a Warrior and had received an ability that increased his physical strength, which immediately drew a few interested responses. A girl with Rogue described an ability that seemed to improve her movement, although she admitted that she hadn’t tested it at all.

Taylor listened as another student described an ability that sounded similar to hers, although the wording differed slightly, and she decided to keep her own description to herself until she understood it better.

Greg, meanwhile, had gone back to studying his own translucent box, and Taylor wondered whether he was thinking about Gladly.

A chime sounded.

Every conversation stopped as the translucent windows changed at once.

Taylor felt a knot form in her stomach.

Tutorial Phase II

Class Selection has concluded.

All surviving participants have received their assigned Classes.

Commencing Status Assessment.

Individual Status Screens will now be generated.

Taylor stared at the words.

Status Assessment.

She had no idea what that meant, although she assumed it had something to do with the next window appearing in front of her.

The countdown appeared beneath the message.

Tutorial Phase II begins in:

00:59

The number began counting down.

00:58

00:57

00:56

Around her, everyone began talking at once.

“What happens when it reaches zero?”

“I don’t know.”

“Does anyone have anything about Phase II?”

“No.”

“Greg?”

He looked up. “Why are you asking me?”

“You’re the gamer.”

“I’m a gamer, not the fucking System.”

Despite everything, a few people laughed, and Taylor found herself smiling for half a second before remembering where they were.

00:43

00:42

00:41

As the numbers fell, Taylor tried to concentrate on the strange sensation she had felt when she opened Mana Manipulation. If Mage really gave her access to something resembling magic, she needed to understand how to use it before whatever came next.

She had no idea whether she had chosen the right Class, and she had even less idea whether any of the others had made better choices. All she knew was that waiting had already cost them a life.

When the timer reached ten seconds, the conversations finally died away.

00:09

Taylor drew a slow breath.

00:08

Around her, students moved closer together.

00:07

Someone whispered a prayer.

00:06

Taylor felt that strange energy stir inside her again.

00:05

She focused on it, trying to hold onto the sensation.

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Taylor braced herself.

00:00

For a moment, nothing happened.

She waited, watching the timer where the final number had been while everyone around her seemed to do the same. Then every translucent window disappeared, and a new one appeared in front of them.

Status

Name: Taylor Hebert
Race: Human
Level: 1
Class: Mage

Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Vitality: 8
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 12
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 8
Luck: 7

Health: 80/80
Mana: 140/140
Stamina: 80/80

Taylor read through the display twice, trying to work out what the numbers meant and whether any of them were supposed to be good, although Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Mana were concepts she understood far better than the numbers attached to them.

Around her, the other students were beginning to react to their own displays, and someone nearby asked what their scores meant. 

Taylor barely heard them as she studied her own.