Ch. 1 - My System Gave Me Infinite Classes

"You have one year to become an Elementary Apprentice. Of course, that's the deadline, the sooner you achieve it, the higher your magic aptitude, and the better treatment you'll receive once admitted to the Black Mist Order."

Robb felt as if his memories had been tossed into a tumble dryer, churning and spinning ceaselessly. Fragmented recollections were stitching themselves back together.

This chaos had persisted for several days, and only now had the fusion of souls finally completed.

On one side, an ordinary college student from Earth who had died of cardiac arrest from gaming through the night.

On the other, the fifth son of Count Stark.

With no claim to inheritance, he had spent his days in the castle indulging in wine, women, and every pleasure at his disposal, concerned only with chasing the beautiful maids around.

Of course, this blissful life of debauchery lasted only until the day after his fifteenth birthday.

Robb rubbed his temples. Memories unfurled in his mind like a scroll soaked in ink.

In the great hall, candlelight trembled in unnatural silence.

Black candles formed a circle, their flames dancing, casting twisted shadows across the white-robed figure's mask.

The white-robed sorceress spoke, her voice like scraping metal, utterly devoid of warmth.

"Magic aptitude, barely meeting the minimum threshold."

Her slender fingers traced across the crystal ball. The churning dark-red mist inside slowly coalesced into a symbol, its color exceedingly dim.

The moment the verdict was announced, his father's expression froze. The spine that had always been held ramrod-straight now curved slightly, as though he'd aged ten years in an instant.

Having magic aptitude was certainly cause for celebration, but only if it was exceptional enough. Otherwise, the person was little more than experimental material to be regularly shipped off to the mages.

"According to the pact, your kingdom's 'seed' quota for the Black Mist Forest is a few short. So I'll be taking this one as well."

The white-robed sorceress was not asking, simply informing those present. She then turned to Robb and waved her staff.

From there, the memories became monotonously similar. The sorceress had brought him, along with other "seeds" from various kingdoms, to the Black Mist Forest. The only free arcane knowledge provided was a single copy of [Fundamentals of Meditation].

And despite meditating day after day, his progress had been negligible.

Robb looked at the worn copy of Fundamentals of Meditation in front of him. Beside it sat dog-eared copies of [Travels In The Abyss] and [Stargate Chronicles].

Apart from one book titled [Introduction To Potioneering], everything else was worthless used reading material.

The rules of the Black Mist Forest were simple. the Black Mist Order would provide free lodging, food, and basic public facilities, along with various paid courses, but there was a one-year evaluation period.

If you couldn't become an Elementary Apprentice within one year, you'd either become experimental material or be cast into the perilous wilds to fend for yourself.

And only three months remained before the deadline.

"Meditate. Condense the will-rune." Robb closed his eyes and attempted to guide his spirit power as the book described.

Ever since fully merging with the soul from the other world, he felt his mind had become noticeably sharper.

Suddenly, an unusual sensation welled up. A semi-transparent information panel unfolded before his eyes.

[Robb Stark]

[Age: 15]

[Current Class: None]

[Attributes: Constitution 0.4 | Spirit 1.1 | Mana 0.1]

[Skills: Basic Meditation (Beginner) | Slime Splash (Beginner) | Basic Potioneering (Beginner)]

[Special Talent: Dual Soul (Increased comprehension; when spirit power reaches a certain threshold, enables dual-casting)]

[Power Tier: Ordinary Human]

"Is this... my cheat?"

Robb was overjoyed, though not entirely shocked.

If something as absurd as transmigrating to another world had already happened, then having a game-panel-style cheat didn't seem all that surprising, did it?

"It's like the character panel from the game I was playing before I crossed over. I just don't know if it works the way I think it does."

Looking at the various character stats, he quickly felt a strong sense of familiarity.

He began trying to operate it with his thoughts, opening the skill sub-page of the character panel.

[Skills Acquired: Basic Meditation (Beginner 22/100) | Slime Splash (Beginner 19/50) | Basic Potioneering (Beginner 5/50)]

Since there were experience point indicators, the panel should function the way he imagined. He decided to test it with a round of meditation.

Following the meditation routine he'd performed hundreds, no, thousands, of times from memory, Robb adjusted his breathing and entered a meditative state.

In the pitch-black space of his consciousness, the method for training spirit power was to inscribe the most fundamental rune, a simple symbol formed from three arcs, looking like three crescent moons layered on top of one another.

According to the book, this rune symbolized the condensation of scattered spirit power into form.

"Deep breath, clear your mind, visualize the shape of the rune..."

Robb's consciousness became an invisible pen, carefully tracing in the darkness.

The first arc had barely taken shape before it twisted and dissipated. He had to start over.

After more than a dozen attempts, the three arcs finally held their shape in his consciousness, though they trembled like a candle flame in the wind.

At that moment, Robb felt a faint thread of spirit power begin to respond to the rune's call, slowly gathering toward his sea of consciousness.

The feeling was like finding a tiny flame on a bitterly cold night, something you couldn't help but draw closer to.

"So this is what mana growth feels like..."

As time passed, beads of sweat gradually formed on his forehead. Maintaining the rune's shape demanded extreme focus; the slightest distraction would undo everything.

Finally, when he truly could no longer sustain his concentration, the panel popped up a notification.

[Basic Meditation EXP +1]

[Current Progress: Basic Meditation (Beginner 23/100)]

[Daily training limit reached. Rest recommended.]

Robb let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Although it was only a single point of experience, he could clearly feel that his control over spirit power had improved from before.

"That's the beauty of the panel, you can see your progress clearly and consolidate it."

But given his current situation, this kind of ability was nowhere near the lifesaving miracle he'd hoped for.

Robb studied the data on the panel and furrowed his brow.

"At this rate, I don't know if I can reach the next stage before the deadline. Meditation can only be done once a day, that's a real problem..."

Time was extremely tight. Three months until the deadline, and his Basic Meditation experience had only just passed the one-fifth mark.

If he couldn't advance before the deadline, only two fates awaited him.

Either become a slab of meat on someone else's chopping block, or be tossed into the wilderness teeming with mutated creatures.

Robb took a deep breath and refocused his attention on the copy of Introduction to Potioneering.

Apart from Fundamentals of Meditation, this book was the most valuable thing he had. It had cost him a fair amount of Mana Crystal Fragments.

[Basic Potioneering (Beginner 5/50)]

[Lifestyle Class: Potion Apprentice (One-Star)

Upon class change:

1. Attribute Growth. Mana Growth (One-Star) Constitution Growth (Half-Star) Spirit Growth (One-and-a-Half Stars)

2. Unlocks Class Base Skills, Potion Crafting, Herb Identification

3. Special Bonuses: Increased EXP gain rate for Potioneering-related skills, Increased spirit power accumulation rate, Increased mana affinity]

[Class Change Requirements.

1. Basic Potioneering (Proficient)

2. Complete one successful brew]

Only then did Robb finally breathe a sigh of relief. The class panel was the most distinctive system in the game.

He recalled that when he'd played, there had been hundreds, even thousands, of supernatural classes from low to high tiers. The advancement paths were extraordinarily complex, branching like a Digimon evolution tree.

And if his memory served him right, he'd also hacked a backdoor into his player panel using a cheat system...

A mix of nerves and excitement, Robb used his consciousness to lightly swipe across the class column.

"System, activate!"

The next moment.

[Current Class Slots. 0/∞]

"Hell yeah! I thought modifications like this couldn't carry over along with the class panel... I've hit the jackpot!!!"

Robb was certain the grin on his face right now was physically impossible to suppress.

In the game, players could equip a maximum of three classes, and once chosen, they couldn't be changed, only advanced along their existing path.

But his available class slots were... infinite!

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