After the slight fiasco and display of threat..t—magic. The elderly man in the white robe and the elf lady then ushered us out of the strange sky room. The other people in robes followed behind us while the others disappeared to who knows where. As we strolled down a spacious corridor, I couldn't resist gazing around in wonder. The hallway was pristine white with magniloquent golden mouldings and greeneries plastered on the walls. The walls were lit with what seemed to be white-colored fire lamps that were reminiscent of the modern world's fluorescent light bulbs. In the corridor, there were also doors with different intricate and beautiful carvings of animals and nature that looked like they might come alive at any moment. Truly a magnificent interior design of a fantasy-based world. I could see that most of the chosen ones were equally captivated.
The long black-haired girl, who had introduced herself as a junior architect in our world, even pointed out how neat the lines were and how uncluttered they felt- which I do not get what she was talking about but it was clear she found the surroundings incredibly impressive.
We were guided to a room with a carving resembling a bird spreading its wings, reminiscent of the phoenix from our world. "It's a phoenix," remarked the blonde college student as we faced the door, and two of the robed men that were behind us stepped forward to push it open. "Phoenixes exist here, right?" I asked absentmindedly, and the blonde guy replied, "Yeah, haven't you encountered one?" He looked at me, and I shook my head to indicate that I hadn't. "I have battled Seiryu, the dragon, in the game, though," I mentioned, speaking just loud enough for him to hear. "Oh, you've progressed that far in the game? That's cool. I'm still five levels away from challenging Seiryu," he replied, his voice tinged with awe as he said it. I have to admit I felt a little proud at this because fighting the four celestial beasts means your character is already at a high level, around 80 to 90. Leveling up at this level is even harder and slower.
The two men in robes lowered their heads and motioned for us to come in. The elderly man and the elf woman entered first, and the rest of us followed. We stepped into a large room, almost like a ballroom. It is just as dazzling white as in the hallway. In the center of the room, there stood something that resembled a simple stone fountain or a bowl made of marble, perched atop a waist-high stone pillar. The Elderly man and the Elf lady motion for us to come near the fountain with them.
"As Lady Idril mentioned earlier," the elderly man began, fixing his gaze on all of us, focusing particularly on the red-haired chosen one who responded with a disapproving click of his tongue, "you've been brought here to save this world. And you won't be able to return until you fulfill that task."
One of the chosen ones, a young boy with dark, wavy hair that fell like curtains and blue fringes, raised his hand. The elderly man acknowledged him with a nod. "So, if we manage to defeat those dark creatures, we can go back to our world, right?" he inquired.
The elderly man took a moment to consider before replying, "Indeed, you can return home but this will be quite a perilous task for the chosen ones, it may take a long time."
Another chosen one raised his hand, this time a man with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. "So gramps, how do we defeat these beings? Do we need to undergo some kind of training? Just to let you know, we don't have any magic in our world," he tells straightforwardly.
"Really!?" the elderly man exclaimed, clearly surprised.
"Yeah, really," the long-haired chosen one confirmed.
"That's strange," the elderly man mused, stroking his mustache and lost in thought. "I can clearly see everyone's aura surrounding their bodies."
This revelation left us all shocked, and we began to exchange glances, attempting to see the auras the old man was talking about. However, none of us could see anything.
"Well, there's still much to discuss, but time is of the essence, Lady Idril-" the old man said, gesturing toward the silver-haired lady elf "will guide you in discovering your destinies, your very purpose, and your abilities."
"What does he mean?" I overheard the copper-haired girl dressed like Hatsune Miku whisper to the rest of us, but none of us had an answer.
"Job classes," the boy with short messy black hair, the one who fought with the red-haired chosen one, finally responded. When I looked at him clearly, I couldn't help but notice the striking green color of his eyes and his overall attractiveness. It made me wonder if he was really just a boy.
"Ah I see, They're going to help us find the Job classes that fits us?" I elaborated, still looking at the boy. He returned my stare with indifference. Although his unwavering gaze was a bit unsettling, I couldn't resist giving him a friendly smile. I wasn't about to back down from a staring contest with a punk, especially when I'm the older one.
The boy then blinked and replied, "Yes, that's what he means, it seems," before turning his attention away from me.
As our eye contact broke, my eyes unintentionally met those of the red-haired man, who was looking at me broodingly. Ugh, what's his problem? I cannot help but ask myself before staring ahead once again.
"Chosen ones," Lady Idril began, her voice echoing in the room. "The water in this basin will determine your destinies," she continued. I found myself pondering how it would work, as in the game, it usually involved leveling up and choosing a job class from the guild. Would we need to drink it or something? The question lingered in my mind.
"Please kneel in front of the pillar and state your name, and I will pour the water on your head to reveal your destinies," she further explained. As expected, everyone in the room wore expressions of bewilderment and confusion.
"So, it's like that!?" Blondie in the jersey jacket murmured. "Just like a Baptism."
Indeed, it reminded me of the Catholic baptism in our world, although I wasn't exactly sure how this would work. Lady Idril then gestured for one of us to go first.
But the man with long hair raised his hand and spoke up, "Before we proceed, can we know your name, gramps?" he looked at the elderly man in white robes. "We know her as Lady Idril now, but what about your name, and could you tell us about your occupations or something?" he asked without a beat.
We all turned our attention to the elderly man, who pondered for a moment before smiling. "Of course, we should have introduced ourselves. Please forgive us for forgetting such an important thing," he said with a slight bow. "I am Aluxio, the Master Sorcerer of the Mage Tower," he introduced himself. "And the lovely lady beside me is Idril, the Great Spirit Summoner of the Elfkind from Aertheon." he introduced Lady Idril who gave a slight bow.
Aertheon...A hidden Elven Kingdom, a legendary place in the game. To think I would hear about it or meet someone from that mythical place.
"Alright, that's great to hear!" The man with long hair claps his hands, smiling casually. He decided to go first, giving Lady Idril a playful wink that caught her off guard. He knelt in front of the stone pillar and introduced himself, saying, "My name is Lucas, um, I'm 22 years old." Oh, A year younger than me...
Lady Idril then began to cup water from the basin with her delicate hands and uttered some words in a different language "Manare an'noer vaithri, tiel vaelthor ionaela, Oh valamir Vaeri, Mael enor Naelthor niolithara."
As Lady Idril poured water over Lucas's head, a sudden change came over him.. His body stiffened, and his eyes widened, fixated on the stone pillar as if he were possessed or lost in thought.
"Uh...Mr. ponytail?" the girl with copper hair anxiously called out, worry evident in her voice as she feared something might have gone wrong.
Lucas, however, gradually stood up and turned to face us. "That was a cool experience! A pop-up window just appeared in front of me!" he exclaimed excitedly, leaving us speechless. "So, who's next?" he asked, motioning toward the pillar.
Reluctantly, the girl with long black hair, who had introduced herself as an architect, stepped forward to take Lucas's place. She appeared quite nervous as she knelt in front of the pillar and glanced at us briefly before bowing her head. "My name is... Deidre, twenty-three years old?" Lady Idril repeated the process she had done with Lucas, and Deidre reacted similarly to him.
"Oh... that's... uh, an interesting destiny or job class," she commented after her baptismal, though her worried expression suggested she might not be pleased with the outcome. I couldn't help but wonder how this whole thing worked. I was now quite curious about what Lucas had mentioned regarding a pop-up window. Perhaps only we could see it.
Next in line was blondie in the college jersey, Alexis, who was just nineteen and appeared quite content with his results. Following him was the red-haired man with facial tattoos, Shinji, who is twenty-five years old, remained sullen despite the experience. The copper-haired girl, Kanikka, surprisingly turned out to be twenty-one years old and looked younger than her age, while the boy with dark wavy hair, Jin-Ho, was seventeen.
Only three of us remained. A tall man I hadn't noticed before, Ilya, stepped up. He was the oldest at twenty-six and shared my dark brown hair color. I followed suit, knelt in front of the stone pillar with the marble basin, and simply stated my name: Kail, twenty-three years old. I couldn't help but wonder why we were mentioning our ages when our names seemed sufficient.
The moment the water touched my head, a sudden electric shock surged through my entire body, startling me. As I blinked, I heard a ping in my ears, and a glowing pop-up window, similar to those in video and online games, appeared in front of me. It displayed the word "SYSTEM" at the top and contained my full name, age, HP, MP, stats, and another tab for job class and skills. I stood there, marveling at the window's contents, itching to explore it further. A small pop-up balloon appeared containing the instructions to open and close the system window.
I just need to say open or close window.
I stepped back to allow the final chosen one, the boy with green eyes, to be baptized or whatever this process was. As I was about to click on my job class to check it, I paused upon hearing the last chosen one speak.
"Megumi...sixteen..." Oh, so I was right! I thought to myself, confirming that he was indeed sixteen like I have thought earlier but isn't his name peculiar for a boy? As he stood up and returned to our group, I couldn't help but notice his grumpy expression.
Someone's not happy with their result as well....
"Congratulations, chosen ones, for discovering your destinies," Lady Idril announced as Megumi rejoined our group.
"Now, may we learn of the destiny the Fates have bestowed upon you?" she inquired.
Confusion once again gripped everyone, and it was Megumi who spoke on our behalf once more.
"Job class."
"Oh... job class," I muttered, my anticipation building as I checked the tab for Job Class. However, as I read the result, disappointment washed over my face. Bard... I had been assigned the Bard Job Class? I had never even considered this Job Class in the game. My chosen path had always been that of a Hero.
I looked at the window screen in disbelief.