"Gah! There's so many to choose from! Why are they all so good!?" ~Grace Alturia

A few days later, Shallies' students had accumulated enough experience points to invest a Level into a second Class. Now, all that was strictly needed to do before they could acquire said Class was to accomplish the requirements.

Before that, however, was the usual challenge on her patience. All three of her students, for one reason or another, still couldn't decide on which Class they each wanted to take.

Ren was struggling to choose because of Anti Magic's infamous reputation, and how it paired with Tayin's constant nagging.

The halfling herself had done her research on every other Spellcasting Class she could get her hands on, but according to her, each one was just as enticing as the other.

Grace had the same problem, for the opposite reason. The half-orc wanted something that excelled both defensively and offensively. Something that could deal with magic without becoming a Spellcaster herself. Something that could complement well when combined with her Spell Sword.

"The other parts are valid things to consider," Shallies pointed out, making a third cup of latte for herself, since she needed something to do until they came up with a decision. "But you can be sure that all Classes are compatible with each other. You just have to figure out how to make them work together."

"I just wish I could just learn all the Classes like you can, Shallies," Grace said, giving out a frustrated sigh. "I wouldn't have to struggle with choosing, if that was the case."

"Well, my struggle comes from deciding which Class I have to Level when I get the chance," Shallies pointed out. "I only get one or two per Divine War."

"It doesn't sound as bad, when compared to choosing the only other Class we will ever be able to use," Ren said.

"That's true." Shallies shrugged and took a sip of her latte. "But I don't think you should leave this decision for next time. We've all talked about this before, but again, it's pretty disheartening to have a Hero Class, while still unable to challenge actual Hero-Class-Level dungeons."

"But there are actual halfsies who have become successful Hero Class holders, right?" Tayin asked. "They might not be fit for a Divine War, but they can still perform as good as a doubler."

"Yeah, but we have conditions, remember?" Shallies pointed out. "You three will be joining me during a Divine War. Sure, I enlist halfsies, but their purpose isn't in the frontline."

"So there'll be a Divine War during our generation?" Grace asked.

Shallies simply shrugged. "Depends on what we find out with Thrush'ven Alir."

Silence filled the tavern as the three skimmed through their System Consoles to find a Class they wanted. Tayin and Grace were scrolling one way consistently, but Ren was just switching back and forth through two screens.

When Shallies finished her third cup of latte, she finally sighed.

"Alright, fine," she started. "If you can't decide now, we can just try again next time."

"No!" Grace complained, but she didn't even pry her face away from her System Console. "I want to choose now."

With that, Shallies simply shrugged and turned to the other two. Their gestures said they were in agreement with Grace. So, she ended up waiting and making her fourth cup of latte.

A few quiet moments later, Chippy entered the dining area. Apple was on his back, and they came in through the main door. There was excitement on the teacup fairy's face as she gestured behind her.

"We're home!" Phey'lan said, emerging from the foyer.

Her devil wings retracted and disappeared completely. "How's life?"

"Boring," Shallies replied before giving the female seraph a cheek-to-cheek. "My students are having choice paralysis."

With one look, Phey'lan understood.

"We do have to suffer from that," she said with a smile.

"What took you so long?"

"We met a friend," Valor'el said. He stood beside the foyer, waiting for Arun'dul to enter. "We had to come up with some excuse on the fly, and then needed to rent a fancy inn to make it look like we were having a vacation because of that."

"So we just ended up taking our time with the slimes," Phey'lan concluded.

"Fair enough," Shallies said. "Do I know this friend?"

"Captain Maxims," Valor'el replied.

"Oh, I thought it would be Lorf."

"Why would…?" Phey'lan began before having a realization. "Oh… Nah, he's not like that."

Shallies shrugged and prepared more coffee for the seraphim. One glance at her students told her that they had made no progress whatsoever. She sighed.

"What's Maxims up to?" she asked instead.

"The usual," Phey'lan replied. "Sneaking out of his own guild. Scouting the mission in disguise, looking for prospect members. He asked me to join the guild again, but I declined, of course."

"Mmm… Maybe I can just go straight to him and ask him to let my kids join the sub-raid." Shallies shook her head. "Nah… Better not."

After drinking their coffee, the seraphim retreated to their rooms to rest, but not before Valor'el retrieved about a few large Ingredient Containers. They were all large-sized, but they were currently miniaturized to allow for Class Inventory transfers.

Shallies Scanned them, finding four types of flavored, processed slimes. Sugar, salt, pepper, and spice. No honey slimes, apparently. After organizing them into a few mundane containers and placing them on her prep table, she started working on lunch. Yoshelle and her group had been visiting daily, and were expected today as well.

"Mmm…" she pondered. "If they saw Valor'el and the others, would that be a problem?"

"Would what be a problem?" Phey'lan asked, dropping into the kitchen. She had changed clothes, but by the look on her face, she had opted not to also rest.

The two of them talked about Yoshelle and the others while they worked in the kitchen. Shallies had been itching to get her Professional Party Skill. Since she hadn't asked another Chef to see when she would unlock it, she knew she had no choice but to keep grinding. She only hoped it would be sooner, when compared to the Builder equivalent.

"So my concern is, if Yoshelle's suspicion of me might grow, if she sees you guys," Shallie said finally, after providing Phey'lan with some background.

"It worked for Mayor Schooner, right?" the female seraph inquired. "We can just have Arun'dul be our excuse as usual, and lean into the raid acquaintance story."

"We're doing that, of course," Shallies replied. "We need to be consistent. But I don't think Yoshelle and her partymates will receive that in the same way."

"It won't be a problem even if they find out, right?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Maybe… Maybe not. Who knows?"

Phey'lan shrugged and smiled. "I certainly don't," she said sarcastically.

"No premonitions, or anything?"

"You know I don't like it when you ask me that, Shallies." Regardless of her words, Phey'lan simply jokingly stuck out her tongue. Her message was real, though. She had developed a certain inclination to refuse any inquiries regarding her foresight. "It's not even that important for me to try and predict."

"Well, I'll take that as the answer, then." Shallies made a face in return. "Thank you for cooperating."

"Oh, you!"

Phey'lan left the sink and the cooking utensils she was cleaning in order to give Shallies a tight hug. The Godkiller, however, slipped underneath her arms without disrupting her cooking at all. With simple mana-control, she turned off the stove while she jumped across in-between her prep islands.

The female seraph gave chase, jumping around the kitchen with enough agility and grace, that she could always almost catch up to Shallies.

"Get back here!"

"Nuh-uh!"

Shallies leapt out of the kitchen, hopped over the bar, zigzagged between tables and chairs, dodging them all as she ran away from the female seraph.

Phey'lan, with a smile, doubled her efforts, even using mana-control to create a springboard so she could change directions mid-air.

The Godkiller spared enough precious seconds to express how impressed she was with the maneuver, before swaying out of the wrap-around in the last moment left.

That split-second dodge brought Phey'lan out of balance and she slammed face first into the chair beside Grace. Or she would've, if not for Shallies saving her with mana-control.

"Nice try," she said, walking behind the bar. "Sorry, but no hugs today."

"You haven't lost your edge at all!" Phey'lan complained. "Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?"

Rather than reply, Shallies returned the glances of her three, shocked students.

"Are you guys done choosing?"

"That was amazing!" they all said at the same time.

"There's not a single thing that's damaged or moved," Grace said.

"And that move midair, Miss Phey'lan!" Ren started. "That was so cool!"

"Was that pure mana-control?" Tayin asked. "I didn't see any Skill activation at all!"

"It's just a quick game of avoiding the hugs." Shallies sighed and returned to the kitchen. "Stop getting distracted, you three."

"Ah! That's it!" Grace started, jumping out of her chair. She didn't care if she bothered anyone with her declaration. "I'm choosing my second Class!"

She turned to find Shallies with her head leaning on one hand. Six empty cups of latte in front of her. And her gaze blankly staring towards the windows outside.

"Shallies?" the half-orc asked, trying to grab the Godkiller's attention.

"What Class?" Shallies replied, her eyes not turning.

"Err… What are you looking at?"

"Nothing…" Shallies yawned and stretched out her arms. "I'm bored. I've never been so bored my entire life. I should've just chosen your Classes for you. I thought Yoshelle would visit us again today, but apparently, that's not the cause. Anyway, what Class?"

"I'm taking Mana Weaver."

"Show your reasoning."

"I still want Spell Sword to be my main focus. Since Mana Weaver specializes in mana-based augmentations and enhancements, I can use it to help improve my Spell Sword Skillset to exponential levels."

"So you're taking the Mana Augmentor route?"

Grace observed Shallies slowly return to her animated self. She looked like a statue suddenly coming to life. The half-orc felt the small need to apologize.

"Yes," she started. "Sorry for taking so long."

The Godkiller slightly raised a hand, as if to tell the half-orc not to worry about it. She then turned to the other two.

"What about you, guys?"

"I'm still taking Disciple," Ren said. "I'll go the Anti Magic route."

With a sigh, Tayin closed her System Console. "I'm taking Star Gazer, going into Astral Adept."

Grace frowned. Those two were just as confused as she had been earlier.

Right?

"You guys know what you wanted all along, don't you?" she asked them.

"We didn't want you to rush, Grace," said the halfling.

"I do," Shallies said. "Or I was tempted to, at least. I already noticed that you'd been eyeing Mana Weaver for a while now. But it's always better to leave the decision to the Class holder in the first place."

"Sorry I took so long."

"I already said don't worry about it." Shallies hopped off of her stool. She started heading for the door, wearing her Manaweave Coat with a flourish. "Anyway, let's see if we can fulfill your requirements now."

"Alright!" Shallies started, trying to pump herself up. "Gimme your requirements. Quick!"

Even with Mana Energy, staying still on the bar with nothing to do had bored her almost to death. She had never experienced that before. A novel experience, for sure, but not something that she wanted to keep happening.

Really need to get the tavern going, then…

"For Disciple," Ren started. "I need to triple my mana reserves through meditation only. Assuming I can somehow do that? Alternatively, I can imbue a weapon with mana and kill a monster with it. I don't even know if that's possible at all!"

Shallies decided not to explain, yet, as she gestured towards Tayin.

"Says here, for Star Gazer, I need to align myself with a star. And there are no other options. What?"

She turned towards Grace last.

"Mana Weaver says I need to either imbue a weapon with mana and kill a monster with it, just like Ren's. Alternatively, I can channel mana worth five times my capacity. Are these really the requirements for these Base Classes?"

"They're not," Shallies replied. "Those are the requirements for acquiring them as your second Classes. It's understood that you should have some sort of idea or resource to figure out how to accomplish these requirements. But I'll help you skip those parts, since fulfilling them is technically the hard part.

"Tayin, you need to wait for night, so you can see the stars clearly. I'll get back to you then. As for you two, the easier one is imbuing your weapons." The Godkiller gestured towards them, as if to ask them to finish her thought.

"That means we're doing the other one," Ren concluded.

"Correct. Good job."

Of course, in response, Stachie delivered his Good Job Experience Points.

"So, how do we do that?" Grace asked.

"Apple, can you call Arun'dul for me, please?" Shallies requested. Though the teacup fairy wasn't actually around, the young seraph still emerged from the tavern as instructed.

"So Grace," she started. "You're going to channel your mana to Arun'dul. The technique is to do it slow and steady. Only transfer as much mana as you can recover. If it needs to be a trickle, then so be it. Mana Weavers must learn to understand how mana works at a fundamental level."

"Do I have a say in this?" Arun'dul asked. "I can't even see my mana-core. Would that be a problem?"

"Actually," Shallies started. "You'll be able to notice Grace's mana, if you meditate as she channels it into you. That might help you look at the state of your mana-channels, and probably your core too."

"Oh. Great." Arun'dul turned to Grace and gave a slight bow. "I'm at your service, then."

"Thanks," the half-orc replied. "It might take a long while, though."

"Won't be a problem."

Next, Shallies turned to Ren.

"Yours might be the most challenging," she started. "You don't have enough Focus or Mana-Affinity to gather double your reserves. You don't even know how to keep handling mana while your core is full."

"Do I need a second core?" the Shield Knight asked, laughing to himself.

"Do you know how to have a second core?" Shallies asked, much to his and everyone's surprise.

"No? That's possible?"

"We'll settle for a vessel, then."

"Wait! It's possible to have a second core?"

"Not this early." Shallies smiled, retrieving a glass cube from her Class Inventory. "We'll talk about it when you can actually make one. For now, hold this."

"Do I fill this with mana?"

"Correct. That's a Mana Vessel. You can use it to deposit your own mana, for easy retrieval later. Keep holding it, and try to treat it as your second core. Scan it and see if that's enough to store triple your mana reserves."

With a glance, Ren Scanned the small cube. "Yeah. It's four times, actually."

"Alright. That should suffice." Shallies looked to the both of them. "Your requirements have a secret condition in them. You need to accomplish your tasks in a single session. So, no taking breaks. If you feel like you need to use the restroom or have a quick meal or do whatever else first, then do those first. This might take you around five to eight hours."

"So, I just do nothing for now?" Tayin asked.

"Oh, no. We're going somewhere else."

"What?"

"You have your instructions," Shallies said to the others while holding Tayin by the shoulder. "By the time we get back, I expect you two to have your second Classes. Apple will take care of the tavern for now."

"Wait, where are we going?" Though her voice was panicking, the halfling had the self-control to not slip away from Shallies' hold.

"Somewhere where it's night time, of course." The Godkiller smiled. "Have you been practicing your Sight Step?"

"No?"

"Well, don't look down, then."

"What?"

Despite her warnings, Tayin did look down to see she was standing on nothing but air. Her panic made her cling to Shallies side.

"I told you not to look."

"By the gods! Shallies! Don't let me fall!"

"We're already here."

"What?"

Shallies unraveled Tayin's tight embrace and settled the halfling on the stone floor. The halfling, not having the same falling experience as Grace, simply took a deep breath to gather herself before looking around.

"Where are we?"

"It's called the Lonely Tower. It's on the other side of Ysvil from the El'doron Kingdom. You can choose a star up there to align yourself with." Shallies pointed upwards, towards a constellation of clear skies. "My actual second Class was also Star Gazer, which I also ascended to Astral Adept, and eventually to Astral Lord. Now I have the alternate route, Guiding Star, which might take me a few Divine Wars to ascend to a Zodiac Sign."

"Wow…" Tayin sighed. "Look at all those stars."

"Sit here," Shallies said, taking the halfling's attention away from the glittering lights in the sky. She pointed towards the center of the tower. "Look for a star that you want, then channel your mana while trying to reach it. You'll eventually feel how you can align yourself to it."

As Tayin followed her instructions, Shallies proceeded towards the stairs leading down the tower.

"Where are you going?" the halfling asked.

"I'll just visit an old friend. Don't worry. You'll be quite safe. But if you need anything, just let Stachie know."

"Alright. I'll just stay here," Tayin said, looking back up to the stars. "Just don't forget to get back to me. I have no idea how to get back home."

"We'll only go back once you have your second Class."

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