"Next!" a voice called out. Tracing the voice to the source revealed a stout old man with a book and quill standing by a statue of the Goddess. A young man prayed in front of it before a paper materialized from thin air and flitted down. It was quickly snatched by the old man who scribbled down the contents and declared, "Warrior! Next!"

Praying to the Goddess was something all people did when they came up to the age of fifteen. She bestowed a class that would usually dictate how they would spend the rest of their lives, although there were exceptions.

"Merchant! Next!" The boy declared a merchant pumped his fist and left looking excited for his new prospects.

Classes provided perks pertaining to itself such as increased strength and fortitude for a warrior, more mana and learning ability for a mage, and greater profit intuition for merchants. Those perks were shown by the paper provided by the Goddess and recorded by the Scribe. Along with the perks were physical traits that were directly correlated with said perks: Strength, stamina, intelligence, mana, dexterity, and intuition. Although vague, the church had taken to calling them Growth Rates after many years of observation. Going back to the example of the warrior, the perks of increases strength and fortitude would mean the person in question would have a higher growth rate for strength and stamina. It was still unknown whether those perks were the result of growth rates or the growth rates were how they were because of the perks.

"Farmer! Next!" The girl declared a farmer looked devastated as she left, probably wondering what she wanted to do with her life.

If you didn't get a class that matched your dream that was that. You could either play to your newfound strengths or take the risk and try to pursue another path, but it was often looked down upon to do so. I know I said the class the Goddess gave you would dictate your life, but it wasn't due to any fault of the goddess herself. Moreso it was the circumstances of other people. After all, why would anyone want to rely on someone who didn't have the skills suited to their job after all?

I found that notion absurb. After all, who cares if you weren't blessed with the right class, I believe it all comes down to Experience. It wasn't like not being a warrior prevented you from building muscle. Sure someone with high strength growth rates could build muscle easier, but train hard enough and the results will show. Likewise, a merchant with high intuition growth rates could predict whether a deal was good or not, but get swindled enough times and someone without that growth rate would be bound to learn how to carry themselves better anyways.

"Archmage! Now that's something to get excited about. Next!" The boy declared an archmage looked up with sparkling eyes and left with some pep in his step.

In the end, it all came down to getting enough Experience. That's what I believed.

After a series of people going out looking ecstatic or disappointed, it was my turn. I walked up with confidence and prayed my very hardest for a class that would give me any form of combat ability. It was my dream to become an adventurer and travel the world. I couldn't help but fantasize about all the options having a class would open up to me.

I've been practicing with a sword the most so I was hoping to be a warrior or knight, but I knew it wasn't a guaranteed thing even if I worked towards it.

Being a hunter wouldn't be too bad either. Hunters were special in that they could have split specializations between daggers, but having too high of hopes would always bite you in the back with disappointment so I was fine with an archer or thief also.

Becoming a mage... wouldn't be ideal for me so it would be my last resort. While mages had the most freedom in what they could do, it also came with the caveat that they had to learn magic formulas. I wasn't exactly the most studious person so it would be difficult for me, but it would be cool to supplement my sword skills with magic. A magic knight was also a class, but like I said before, better to work with what you got instead of setting expectations too high and ending up disappointed... That didn't save me from my fantasies though.

At long last, I made it to the statue of the Goddess. This was it. There was an invisible pressure on me now that I was there. It felt like time slowed to a crawl as the statue lit up and a paper came fluttering down. The suspense was almost too much as I struggled to keep my head down praying.

With a quick whip and the sound of a crinkle, the old man snatched the paper out of the air and began writing. He then raised his head and gave me an intense look. I couldn't help but let out an audible gulp, but that didn't stop me from facing him head on, trying to latch on to the next few words he said.

"...."

"...."

"...Scribe! Looks like I'll be getting a colleague pretty soon." The old man flashed a smile at me before going back to his work. "Next!"

I smiled back, but let out a sigh as soon as I left the church. A scribe? Really? Me? I could hardly even read or write! Well, I had already decided from the start though. Sorry old man. You won't be getting a new colleague anytime soon. At least not from me. Looks like I would be risking it all and pursuing the path of an adventurer.