Hexmancer

The day had finally arrived. In-game, of course—otherwise, it had just been 24 hours since yesterday afternoon. In that time, Kai had logged off for a few hours at night for dinner and again in the early morning till around 8-9 AM, to get some real rest. The headgear company, NOAH, boasted that their device provided all the necessary brain functions with rest while playing a VR game, but Kai—and most others—knew it was just a marketing gimmick with flimsy numbers to back it up, real rest was still necessary.

After eating lunch on Sunday, he was ready to tackle the event head-on. He had been grinding levels relentlessly and had already reached level 12—two more than his initial goal. Those last two, however, had all been gained while practicing with his new bow.

He could finally wield Maeka's Bow. The infinite arrow feature was indeed quite useful. The power it packed was also impressive, along with the increased weight in his hands and the strength required to pull its string each time. The bow he had taken from the hut only dealt 70 damage with a powerful headshot. With Maeka's Bow, he could even reach 120 if the target was defenseless. He could kill any player with a single shot—provided he landed a headshot.

No one should have more than 110 or 120 health at this stage of the game. Even a body shot should deal 50 to 60 damage without armor, which was far better than his knife's measly 10–35 damage range, depending on how and where he used it.

"Do you have everything? Right? Don't forget your knife and other things.." His NPC aunt reminded him for the ninth time.

Kai was getting an increasingly familiar motherly feeling from her, similar to his real mom, and it was getting scarily realistic. These NPCs needed to dial that setting down a bit. His uncle, meanwhile, checked his bow and quiver once again, adjusting them so he could carry them more comfortably on his back. He nodded in satisfaction. 

Whoever this nephew of theirs was supposed to be in the real Stonebinder world was certainly blessed with a loving family.

Alongside his aunt and uncle, Kai walked downhill toward the village, taking his time to enjoy the distant mountains and the lush forest. There were still two hours left before the event began, but the story had already picked up pace, and he was going along with it. Nearly all the villagers had closed their shops and taken the day off from their usual activities, gathering in the middle of the village.

A massive tree stood at the center, and around it, they had built a mud-and-stone platform where people could normally sit. Today, however, it was being used as a stage, with the villagers crowding in front, chatting in groups. Kai caught snippets of conversation—words like "Blessed," "Strongest," and "Bloodline Abilities" drifting through the air. He still didn't have a clear idea of what the event, Slenshalan, was supposed to be.

One thing he had noticed before—and confirmed again today—was that all the villagers had alien features. Meanwhile, the players all still looked human, with only skin color changes. Most players, including Kai, were in fully human bodies.

He had assumed this was just some village coming-of-age event, followed by a competition of sorts to determine player rankings, with the winner receiving rewards. But it seemed there was more to it than that.

Separating from his family after receiving many well-wishes, Kai walked up the stage, joining over sixty players just like him. They were all teenagers. Across the stage, he spotted Deimos, their eyes meeting for a brief second. It was clear what they thought of each other for today's competition.

After a bit more waiting for the challengers and their families to gather, a plump-looking human with a large belly and gorilla-like, white-furred muscular arms cleared his throat twice, instantly capturing everyone's attention.

"Children of Nexus blood, today, once again, we have been blessed with another Slenshalan. Rejoice! Not just for yourselves, but for our village, for our people, and for the very land that has shaped us. This is no mere festival, nor a simple test of strength. It is a reckoning—of your spirit, your blood, and the will of the blessed nature itself.

Each of you stands here not just as individuals but as the culmination of your ancestors' struggles, their wisdom, and their power. You have trained, you have honed your skills, and you have prepared to prove yourselves. But strength alone does not carve one's name into the annals of our history. It is resolve. It is the fire that burns within, the will to endure when faced with adversity, and the courage to grasp the unknown with hands of determination.

Look around you. These are not merely fellow competitors. They are your kin, your rivals, and perhaps, in time, your allies. You will walk separate paths, but today, those paths converge—under the sacred branches of our great tree, beneath the watchful eyes of those who came before us. Honor them. Honor yourselves.

Slenshalan is more than a rite of passage. It is the whisper of fate calling to those worthy. And today, we shall see who among you dares to answer it."

The entire crowd erupted in loud applause and cheers of encouragement. The village chief was clearly beloved by all.

Once the noise died down, he gestured toward the corner. Two women stepped forward, carrying a glowing ember the size of a baseball. At the same time, two men approached from the other side, bringing a table covered in a luxurious, silky red cloth. The ember was carefully placed on top.

Now, only the chief and the challengers remained on the stage.

"Come, children of nature! Come claim your place among us!" the chief declared, smiling as he gestured toward the ember with one muscled hairy arm.

Kai was the first person standing at the corner, and whether by luck or misfortune, the chief—along with all the villagers—turned their hopeful gazes toward him, as if expecting him to instinctively know what to do.

Hesitantly, he stepped forward, stopping just before the ember. For a painfully awkward moment, everyone watched with bated breath, while he simply stood there, staring back at them like an idiot.

Then, without warning, a prompt appeared near the ember. From the looks of it, no one else could see it—not even the other players, who were still watching him curiously.

Ignoring the stares, Kai focused on the display. It was a class selection.

[1.Class: Warpblade

Description: Warpblade is a melee fighter who wields weapons infused with either Stonebinder spirit energy, Exodian bloodline tech, or a fusion of both. Their combat style is aggressive and adaptable, with spirit-forged blades that resonate with their will, Exodian plasma weapons that shift frequencies for optimized strikes, or unpredictably alter between physical and energy-based attacks. They thrive on fluid movement, precision strikes, and momentary phasing to bypass defenses.

2.Class: Hexmancer

Description: Hexmancer is a hybrid warrior-craftsman who blends Stonebinder spirit energy and Exodian technology to create adaptive weapons and tools. Their combat revolves around forging and modifying battlefield equipment in real-time, embedding their weapons with shifting properties, deploying spirit-powered constructs, or integrating Exodian augmentations for enhanced strikes. With the ability to alter their gear mid-fight, they remain highly unpredictable, capable of everything offense, defense and utility.

3.Choose nothing, Reject Slenshalan. (4 more options from the life stones of other two species. The class permanently changes the species.)]

Four more classes were available if they moved to another species' civilization. Kai could guess what Stonebinders would receive. Exodians, on the other hand, remained a mystery to him, but he wasn't particularly drawn to them. Starting from scratch sounds exhausting.

He already had some knowledge of Stonebinder spirit energy and was familiar with some of the spirit emblems and tools they could create due to his avid interest in crafting classes. Hexmancer class seemed tailor-made for him.

Still, a class was just a framework—the real game-changer was skills. Anyone could choose these classes, but a true player's strength stemmed from the skills they had accumulated throughout their playthrough, adapting and rotating them for different types of combat.

Without hesitation, Kai selected Hexmancer.

He was immediately taken to the next page, where he could adjust the percentage of his character's affinity. He had 100 points to distribute between Stonebinder spirit energy and Exodian bloodline—he could go 70/30, 50/50, or any combination he preferred.

After some thought, Kai assigned 55 points to the Exodian bloodline and 45 to the Stonebinder spirit. He had considered a balanced 50-50 split, but since he was already familiar with Stonebinder energy, he didn't want to miss out on Exodian abilities due to a lower allocation.

Once again, he was taken to a new selection screen. This time, he had to choose at least one alien feature for his body as part of being a Nexus Kin. That made sense—they had to look somewhat otherworldly. Players could customize their appearances however they wanted.

That's Nyxfall for you—highly customizable.

The options were endless—extra arms, tails, fins, antennae, and even wings. Whether the wings were just cosmetic or actually usable wasn't specified.

At the very bottom of the list, he noticed something different:

[Blessing of the Forest]

Unlike the blue sections above, this one was golden. The only available customization under it was an eye color change.

Kai figured eyes would be the easiest feature to hide if he ever needed to infiltrate other cities. He changed his eye color to orange with a green center, then clicked Confirm.