Introduction of the Classes

The hour passed in the blink of an eye and soon everyone was lining up in pairs obediently.

Yue Qin fell in line silently, her mind working on overdrive. Her stomach churned in anxiety. Although Ms Ana had already provided a short summary of what was going to happen, how could she make a decision that everyone spent their whole life training for with just a 1-hour briefing?

Earlier, when she had tried to escape the whole event by faking a stomach ache, Ms Ana had volunteered to have the school nurse summoned to take a look at her. Moreover, even if she left the school, there was nowhere she could go. At least she had an identity in the school. Once she left, even that safety net would be gone.

From what she could understand, Core Formation was just about the biggest event that every person would undergo in their lifetime. It would determine which Class they would belong to in the future; Warrior, Mage or Priest. Warriors formed Qi Cores, Mages formed Magic Cores and Priests formed Holy Cores. The process once done was irreversible.

For some strange reason, studies had shown that the optimal age for people to form their Cores was the age of 14. Any younger and they would fail, while any older and their potential would be stunted. As such, all the schools across the Kingdom would have their children form their Cores under professional supervision.

If she had to choose a Class at this moment, the first one she would eliminate was the Warrior Class. Although being a Warrior sounded great, she wasn't really interested in fighting on the front lines. Moreover, it wasn't like she had never learnt any of those skills in her past life either. MMA, fencing, boxing, archery - which of those martial arts didn't exist in her world? She had gone for countless similar trial classes and had paid to play with those weapons many times.

Although there were certain to be differences between the martial arts of her world and the ones in this world, the thought of becoming a Warrior still left a bland aftertaste on her mouth.

The mere thought of becoming a Mage, on the other hand, left her squirming in excitement. She could already imagine herself spitting massive fireballs from her mouth, causing lightning to shatter the ground with a wave of her hand and summoning armies of the undead with a ritualistic chant. Was there anything better than that?

She couldn't understand the thought process of those that wanted to become Warriors. Then again, she was sure that there was more to the Class than she knew about.

As to becoming a Priest, it sounded really cool too. Priests were always the Class with the highest survivability and utility, with their ability to heal and buff allies. It was a role that she often played in games in the past.

Nonetheless, in a world of magic, Yue Qin wanted to be a DPS more than a support. Moreover, from what she had heard, to form a Holy Core, one needed to have an affinity in the light element. This meant that she might not be able to become one even if she wanted to.

Hence, becoming a Mage was probably the best choice for her. Of course, that did not change the fact that she was not prepared at all to form a Core. She knew nuts about the whole procedure.

The other children had spent their whole life practising for this very moment, with some even going through countless stimulation runs. She didn't even know if she would be able to sense her Dantian – the place where she was supposed to form her core or the energy in the air. Now, she could only hope that her body's muscle memories would save her.

Soon, they reached the grand auditorium, and Ms Ana led them to sit down on the soft plush cushions on the ground. Around them were the students from the other classes. As more students poured into the hall, the cushions were quickly filled up.

A chubby looking man clad in a brown suit tapped the microphone on stage. "Uh-hum." He cleared his throat. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to the Core Formation Ceremony! Today, each of you will take a step forward in becoming a Hero."

Waving his hands, he showed a 3-Dimensional scene in colour of a man parting the sea with a single slash of his sword, a woman crumbling a mountain to dust with a light punch of her fist, an archer destroying a city with a single arrow, a man, releasing a bright golden shield protecting against the impact of a huge tentacled monster that slammed its body. "WARRIORS!" The man proclaimed.

Yue Qin's eyes were glued to the projection in amazement, at the power of the Warriors.

Then the scene changed.

"MAGES!" A single woman stood on the peak of a mountain, alone in a sea of monsters. She raised her hands and from the heavens fell countless bolts of lighting that decimated the abominations below her. A man banged his staff against the floor and the earth shook, large cracks forming on its surface. Countless skeletons and zombies started crawling their way out from the ground, an army of undead assembled under his orders. A woman swayed her body enchantingly and the vanguard of the army of monsters charging against her turned around to fight their comrades behind.

Yue Qin's heart somersaulted in excitement. One day she would be able to wield such power too. Then, the scene changed once again.

"PRIESTS!" A man floating in the air, above 2 clashing armies, played his guqin. A red aura spread from him to the army below and they suddenly started glowing red. The equal battlefield tilted in the favour of the red army who now seemed like they were on drugs, their speed, ferocity and strength multiplying atrociously. A woman stood alone chanting from her book. As she chanted, the limbs of the disabled regrew before them, and their flesh wounds healed within seconds. The corpses of the fallen warriors woke up gasping for air and picked up their weapons to fight again. A man closed his eyes with his hands stretched out in a room littered with weapons that started releasing increasingly bright light. As the light grew brighter, the silhouettes of the weapons changed and became human-like.

Everyone stared captivated as the immersion projection came to an end. This was a reminder of what they could all work towards achieving. The reason why they worked so hard. To protect mankind against the invasion of monsters and demons, and to protect their home against invaders.

"As you can see, each Class has various Professions. For the Warrior Class, there are Weaponrymen, Brawlers, Archers, Tanks, and Assassins. For the Mage Class, there are Elemental Mages, Summoner Mages, and Mind Mages. For the Priest Class, there are Holy Priests, Musical Priests and Enchanter Priests. For now, choose your Class wisely and then you can slowly work towards your chosen Profession. Does anyone have any questions?"

No one spoke up.

"If not, we will begin the process shortly. Please settle down and calm your minds. We have set up isolation wards on every chair to ensure you will not be disturbed by anyone else. The formation in the hall will also ensure a continuous supply of energy. Once you are done, or if you need any help, raise your hand and someone will attend to you. Remember, there is no rush, and do not feel nervous. Some people may take only a single day while others might require a few. Teachers, please spread yourselves out to help the students in the process."

Oh no. Looking left and right, Yue Qin saw everyone getting into meditative positions and slowing their breaths. Would she be able to continue this facade? Although the man on stage had announced that people could take their time, she was in no way at all familiar with the process of forming her Core. Even if they gave her an eternity, it was doubtful that she would be able to do anything besides meditate.

All she understood was that she had to take in the energy of the world and guide it to her chest area where her middle dantian lied to form the Core. She had no idea what the difference in the process of forming the three Cores was.

Feeling her heart sink, Yue Qin closed her eyes too and started to pretend as well. It was not like she had much of a choice. Since she was already seated here, she could only bite the bullet and continue to act.

Breath in. Breath out. She chanted silently in her head to calm her racing heart. She could not afford to be distracted. Then she tried to reach out to the energy in the air. It couldn't be that hard right?

Unfortunately, paired with her churning stomach and her mind that would not stop reminding her of all the worst-case scenarios, she couldn't calm herself down enough to actually focus on meditation.

Breath in. Breath out. She reminded herself. She could do this.

Yue Qin tried to cast her senses out around her to sense the so-called energy in the air. Although she herself had never accomplished such a feat, she believed that sensing the energy around her was like using a muscle. This body of hers should have successfully accomplished it many times. As such, according to the laws of science, all she had to do was trigger that same muscle memory to sense the energy around her.

Please, please, please work. She pleaded silently to whoever was up there.

Then she felt it. The waves of power around her everywhere. Sparks of various colours filled the air and she could see it all with her mind. The red currents of energy felt warm, while the blue ones felt cold. The green ones felt stable while the white ones felt rapid.

Hesitantly, Yue Qin reached out to the golden currents filled with warmth that reminded her of home and attempted to bring it closer to herself. Then, she suddenly heard a loud ding in her mind.

"Conditions have been met and the system has been activated! Congratulations Host for activating the Ultimate Priest System! Do you wish to open the novice gift pack?"