Atlantis Book 1 Chapter 4

The three reflections had some commonalities. Hair color, facial features, and body build. The person that was reflected had little in common with my previous appearance. There were a few traces of the girl I had been, skin tone, long neck, and full lips. The woman was beautiful, otherworldly beautiful. And I knew that beauty was a gift of my Sidhe heritage.

The head remained the same across mirrors. Long platinum blond tresses tied high into a ponytail. The blond was highlighted with ice blue undertones, the faintest tint of blue found in refracted ice cubes.

The face was perfectly symmetrical, oval, with a sharply rounded chin. The eyes had pupils of deepest black, each broken by a single highlight of brilliant white. The difference between black and white existed with no defining feature or change in color to separate them. The pupil was surrounded by winter blues, ice blue hues mimicking the undertones found in the hair.

The eyes were enhanced with thick lashes, Kohl touched dark eyelids, and a drop of platinum metal was delicately placed, emphasizing the tear ducks. The brow, nose, cheeks, and lips were what one would expect to find, and they added grace and beauty to a face that encapsulated the otherworldly essence. An otherworldly beauty that managed to project strength as well as fragility.

The bodies were all lean muscle, each with long lanky legs and graceful arms and hands. The chest had been upgraded by a cup size or two. I know it was vain to care about something so trivial, but I had been bullied enough because of my figure. It was nice to have a figure I could be happy with.

There were slight differences across each image, but nothing significant enough that would have me choose my class based on. The one difference was the tentacles that sprouted from the back of each image.

They were all clothed in runic armor, a headpiece more ornamental than a helm. The armor was body-hugging, green latex serving as the background for a runic script. There were gold embellishments at the neck and shoulder, as well as pieces added to the chest, waist, and legs.

There were slight differences across each armor set, except for one feature. Each set came with the same emblem. A deformed peace sign that was recognizable. The emblem was riddled with jewels and runes, and it was apparent it was more than decoration.

My Sidhe heritage became apparent when the figures rotated, and their backs were shown. My race was part Sea Hag, and the features from that race were apparent. A set of tentacles sprouted out of each back, each cluster different as they had been adapted to the different class. 

The Psibernetic set of tentacles appeared to be mechanical in nature. When I concentrated on a single tentacle, a small cut scene formed within the mirror and showed how those tentacles could be used. The size, shape, and length were controllable, gifting the Psibernetic with amazing dexterity and flexibility.

The Psi Seelie projection made use of magic and psychic energy to use the tentacles as a frame to mold that energy. The molded energy could be used as shields useful during combat, but they could also be positioned and molded to create a set of wings. Those wings were more akin to those of a butterfly or moth than a bird or dragon. The fluctuation of magic and psi energy generated different colors and patterns, adding to the illusion of butterfly wings.

The PsiPher was gifted with gossiper tentacles that were hard to detect. Each tentacle was the size of a silk thread. Where the other classes had eight tentacles, the PsiPher tentacle was different. Those filigree-sized threads gathered by the thousands to make up a tentacle.  It wasn’t clear what the reasoning behind that type of structure was, but the separated tentacles reminded me of a jellyfish. Maybe they worked like spider webs and could be distributed for detection.

Even with only three choices left, the decision was hard to make. It would have been more helpful if there were more information about each class. I would have liked to have known what other stats might be available and if leveling or training allowed for free stats to be gained. 

I would have to make my decision based on my best guess. There was also no way to tell what abilities and skills each class offered as I progressed and how those skills could be gained or advanced.

I decided to base my decision on the Mousekin race from my last life, how it leveled, and how stats and skills were gained. The race had the normal spread of stats: Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Charisma, and Luck. Increasing each stat was done with a mix of free stats gained each time I leveled and with exercise.

My Digger class allowed me to gain experience and level up, but even the experience from those labors finally petered out after I hit level ten. I would have needed to mine a higher quality ore or gem to begin gaining levels again, and the supervisor that controlled the mine was happy enough to keep me where I was.

My years of mining had allowed my strength and agility to increase holistically until I reached level ten, and the stats were capped. That cap would remain until I broke into the next level. The major downside was the conditions I was housed in kept my vitality drained and forced me to labor under a permanent debuff. One that seemed to stack as the years of slavery flowed one after another.

I looked over the three choices a final time. If the Psibernetic offered the same stat increase per level, it would have been my choice without question. Losing two stat points at every level might not seem much of an issue, but those two points would add up. And there had been no mention of level limits.

And if this System integration was similar to the previous one, that difference in stat point distribution at higher ranks meant a great deal. The loss of those points was exponential. I didn’t know for sure, but my gut told me those points would make an even larger difference when crossing tiers. Those who had in my last life would receive bonuses to stat allocation when passing certain milestones.

Psi Psibernetic was a Hybrid class, although there might be advantages and bonuses that it earned as it leveled up. If Hybrid classes worked as they did in any game I had ever played, then it would take even more experience for them to level. The class was, in essence, a dual class, and leveling two classes at the same time always required more time and effort.

With that class removed from consideration and with that same reasoning, there was only one real class left for me to take.