Ren read it. Then read it again.
Not F.
Not None.
There was simply nothing there.
The clerk frowned at the crystal. A loose strand of hair fell across her face while she looked from the darkened pedestal to Ren’s result, then pushed it back behind her ear.
Ren caught himself wondering how anyone had made an NPC this convincing.
"Keep your hand on the crystal."
She touched the side of the pedestal and restarted the assessment. Light returned.
White.
Blue.
Ren waited for the white-gold.
It never came.
The crystal simply faded back to clear.
The same result appeared.
Talent Grade:
Talent:
For a second, I thought I actually got lucky.
A player in the next line leaned over.
"Wait."
Another player noticed.
"What’s his talent?"
"There isn’t one."
"F-rank?"
"No. Look."
Someone farther back frowned at the crystal.
"Didn’t that flash the same color as the S-rank?"
"For like a second."
"Then why’s it blank?"
"Maybe it broke."
Someone laughed.
"Bro got rejected by the character creator."
"Maybe it’s invisibility."
"We’d still see the grade."
"His talent is unemployment."
That one spread quickly.
Ren kept looking at the empty lines.
He’d been told he didn’t qualify for things often enough to think he was used to it.
Apparently there were limits.
The clerk called over another staff member, who checked the crystal, then Ren’s result.
"There should be an error message."
"There isn’t," the clerk said.
The man checked the pedestal again.
A player nearby opened a recording window.
"Do it again. My stream missed the first one."
Ren looked at him.
"That sounds devastating."
The recording window lowered slightly. "Oh. Uh... sorry, dude."
The staff member finished checking the pedestal.
"The crystal is working. The second assessment completed normally."
Ren glanced at it. "And the first one?"
The man hesitated.
"I don’t know."
That was encouraging.
"But no talent was recorded."
Ren looked at the empty result.
"I noticed."
"And no grade."
"That was harder to miss. I guess your definition of normal is pretty generous."
The woman continued. "Without a valid talent assessment, there is no recommended class path to give you."
Ren looked toward the training areas around the square. Players were leaving them with swords, bows, staffs and shields.
"Can I choose one manually?"
"Yes," the clerk said. "If you meet the requirements for that class."
Better.
Then she continued.
"But you will not receive the introductory class package."
Less better.
A system window opened in front of him.
No Talent detected.
Class Recommendation unavailable.
Starter Class Package unavailable.
Class Tutorial unavailable.
You may continue as Classless or manually qualify for a base class.
Ren read the whole thing once.
Behind him, someone whispered, "He’s cooked."
"Can he reroll?"
"Talents? No."
"Delete the account."
Ren stepped down from the platform.
The next player took his place almost immediately.
A crystal flashed.
Talent: Strong Lungs
Talent Grade: E
The crowd moved on. Apparently, public humiliation didn’t hold people’s attention for long on launch day.
Ren opened his character menu and a row of tabs appeared beside the main panel.
Character. Skills. Inventory. Quests. Map.
He selected Character first.
Vagrant
Level: 1
Tier: F
Class: Classless
Talent:
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
XP: 0/100
Strength: 11
Agility: 10
Vitality: 8
Intellect: 10
Perception: 11
Unassigned Stat Points: 0
The empty Talent line looked worse when surrounded by things that actually had numbers.
Every new player started with the same number of stat points. Pantheon simply placed them differently depending on the player’s real body. Ten was roughly average for a healthy adult. Training, physical condition and natural strengths shifted the numbers around.
Ren looked at Vitality: 8.
"Rude."
Not inaccurate, unfortunately.
Years of cheap food, irregular sleep and whatever work paid that week had apparently made an impression.
He tapped Strength.
A short description appeared explaining that it affected physical power and some weapon requirements.
Agility covered movement, coordination and speed. Vitality affected health and physical resilience. Intellect increased mana and magical performance. Perception helped with awareness, accuracy and detecting things that were easier to miss.
Simple enough.
What caught his attention was the XP line.
0/100 XP.
So Pantheon was not hiding progression behind vague percentages. He could see exactly how far he was from the next level.
Ren switched tabs.
Skills was empty.
Naturally.
Inventory opened into a grid with several pages of space and absolutely nothing inside it.
Also naturally.
The Quests tab was just as helpful.
Active Quests: None
Ren closed the menu.
A player walking past glanced at him.
"Wait. You’re the blank guy."
Ren looked over.
"I was hoping for something more dignified."
"Blank Guy’s pretty good."
"That’s what worries me."
The player laughed and kept walking.
Ren looked toward the training grounds.
Almost everyone leaving assessment had received some kind of class direction. Swordsmen carried basic iron swords. Archers had plain bows. Mages had starter staffs.
Ren had trousers. He supposed the boots counted too.
He approached one of the weapon stations anyway.
A young attendant stood behind racks of beginner equipment while players collected their class packages.
"Name?"
"Vagrant."
The attendant checked his records. Then checked them again.
"No package."
"I figured."
"No recommended class either."
"That too."
The attendant looked at him properly now.
"That’s unusual."
"So I’ve been told."
"Basic weapons are sold on Market Street."
"With the money I received from my starter package?"
The attendant looked at Ren’s empty hands. Then at his clothes.
"Ah."
"Exactly."
Ren left him to solve that philosophical problem.
He could probably find work inside town until he had enough copper for a weapon. The problem was that several thousand other new players had arrived with exactly the same idea and considerably better equipment.
Near the western gate, a woman was shouting loud enough to compete with the recruiters.
"Twenty horned rabbit ears from each of you! If you bring me tails, feet or excuses, you are wasting both our time!"
Players crowded around a handcart beside her.
Ren stopped.
The woman wore a faded green coat over farm clothes and had the expression of someone whose opinion of adventurers had declined sharply since launch.
A quest window appeared.
────────
Quest Available: Rabbit Cull
Rank: Common
Horned rabbits are damaging the farms outside Aldern.
Objective: Slay 10 Horned Rabbits and return their ears.
Requirement: None
Reward:
10 Copper
20 XP
────────
Ren looked at one line.
Requirement: None
Interesting.
A player beside the cart accepted the quest.
The farmer reached down and handed him a short spear from a pile beside the wheel.
Most were old. Several had repaired shafts. One had a blade that looked as if somebody had sharpened it with personal hatred.
Ren stepped closer.
The farmer looked him over.
"No weapon?"
"No class."
She waited.
Ren waited with her.
"That’s new."
"Popular opinion."
She snorted and pointed at the quest board.
"You can still kill rabbits."
"That’s the current ambition."
"Then take the quest."
Ren accepted it.
Quest Accepted: Rabbit Cull.
The farmer pulled a spear from the cart and held it out butt-first.
Ren took it.
The shaft was rough beneath his palm and the iron head had been sharpened enough times to lose most of its original shape.
A notification appeared.
────────
Temporary Item Received: Culling Spear
Grey Weapon
Base Damage: 6-10
A simple wooden spear with a basic metal point. Suitable for culling small pests and little else.
Property of Aldern Farming Cooperative
Return required upon quest completion or abandonment.
────────
Ren turned the spear once in his hands. It was badly balanced. It was old. It was also significantly better than punching a rabbit.
"Break it and you pay for it," the farmer said.
"With the money I don’t have?"
"Then don’t break it."
Reasonable.
Ren carried the spear through the western gate. Grass brushed against his boots when he stepped off the road, and the smell of damp soil and fresh greenery reached him as clearly as anything outside the headset.
Nobody had managed to explain how convincing full-dive actually was.
Near the gate, somebody screamed.
"WHO KEEPS PULLING THE RABBITS INTO THE ROAD?"
Another voice answered.
"THEY’RE FASTER THAN THEY LOOK!"
Then more screaming.
Ren looked toward the open gate.
No talent. No class. No skill. A borrowed spear and ten rabbits between him and his first copper.
Not exactly the launch Theo had advertised.
Ren headed into the fields anyway.