Chapter 189: On the Day of Kasia’s Eighteenth Birthday

I shielded my eyes from the sudden, blinding light erupting from Kasia’s eyes. I wanted to grab her to make sure she was safe, but I couldn’t. The moment my hand came close to her, it received a painful shock and I pulled it back reflexively. There was an invisible barrier around her.

“Aw, man,” Kuba said. “I didn’t even get to give her my gift yet!”

“This… is normal?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, it’s time. She has to choose her Class now.”

“Oooooh,” Kasia said.

I waved my hand in front of her eyes. “Kasia, can you see me? I’m still here!”

She laughed. “Yes, Hecate, I can still see you. It’s just… the System, it’s beautiful.”

“Well, I was just making sure. With the whole eye thing you got going on I wasn’t certain if you could still see. So, uh, what does it say?”

“It says ‘You must choose your class before you can continue.’”

“It also said that for me!”

“I’m pretty sure it says that for everyone,” Kuba said.

“I know that,” I scoffed. “I was just trying to be supportive.”

Kuba frowned at me, but didn’t say anything. Maybe stating the obvious was not as supportive as I thought it was.

“You’re doing great!” I held my thumb up at Kasia.

“She hasn’t even done anything yet.”

Maybe that also wasn’t as supportive as I thought it was.

Kasia put her fingers on her temples. “I see it now! I can see the classes!”

I got excited. “What did you get? Please say you got spared—”

“[Carpenter],” she said.

“Nooooo! Stvora, why have you forsaken her?” I cried, dropping to my knees. “Has she not suffered enough?”

The poor girl just couldn’t catch a break. Eighteen years old and her life was over before it even began. It’s alright, I told myself. We can work around it somehow. Maybe there’s even a way to change your Class. I hadn’t heard of one, but there just had to be. It couldn’t end like this for Kasia, it just couldn’t.

“[Seamstress].”

“Oh. Never mind. Pretend I didn’t say anything.” I quickly stood back up and dusted off my dress. For some reason everyone was staring at me instead of Kasia now.

Kasia chuckled. “[Empath].”

That suited her better than [Carpenter] and [Seamstress]. There was hope for Kasia yet. [Empath] was a very useful Class.

“[Healer].”

Also super convenient—that way, if she ever got hurt she could just heal herself! Though it wasn’t as good as [Empath] in my opinion, I would understand if she chose [Healer] instead.

Kasia paused, and she raised a single eyebrow. “Huh.”

“Huh?”

“One of these is not like the others. It says: here lies the path of thread, needle, and fate. Class available: [Raptomaga].”

My heart skipped a beat. A witch Class! Mēnē had heard me and granted Kasia something super cool and useful. Screw [Empath] and [Healer], who cares about those dumb useless classes? Who needs ‘em? Not Kasia, because she could now choose [Raptomaga] and be cool like me! Not that she wasn’t cool already, of course. Kasia was super cool. It’s just that now she could be cool and have a cool Class to go along with her coolness.

I poked Kuba and whispered, “Hey, uh, are we allowed to give her advice? Like recommend her what to take?”

He looked at me as if I’d grown a second head. ”Why are you whispering? We’re all right here. Of course you can talk about your choices, that’s why the family gets together on your eighteenth birthday. So you can make sure you make the right decision. Your Class decides your entire life.”

“Well, I did not know that. Back home you get thrown into a room with a bunch of creepy ladies who tell you to breathe smoke. They don’t really talk to you. You’re basically alone.”

“You what? So how do you know what Class to take?”

“You kind of guess, I guess? I mean my mother told me to take [Katarologa], I suppose, so she did tell me what to do. But that was before I got to my Class selection, and there’s no guarantee I’d even get that Class.”

“That’s stupid.”

I didn’t even argue. It was stupid. Why would they do it like that? And why did we have to ingest some mind-altering substance while making the decision that would affect your future. What the hell was up with that? It’s like they did everything they could to set you up to fail.

“Yeah,” I conceded. “Doesn’t make much sense when you think about it.”

“Guys?” Kasia asked.

I leaned in. “Yes?”

“What should I take?”

Kuba said, “[Healer].”

Vasil finally opened his mouth. “I believe you would enjoy [Empath] the most. It would allow you an even greater understanding of people. You are already quite a talented empath without the Class, so I can only imagine the heights it would take you when it boosts your natural abilities.”

“What?” I said. “Are you kidding me? How is this even a discussion?”

Kuba tilted his head. “You think she should take [Empath] over [Healer]? I thought you’d appreciate having a [Healer] in your party. Everyone does.”

“By Her Pale Grace! I’m not talking about those terrible, boring classes. She shouldn’t take either of those. If she does that she might as well become a stupid [Carpenter] and spend the rest of her life counting wood!”

Kuba looked like he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “Is that… is that what you think we do?”

“How would I know what you degenerates do? I don’t even want to know!”

“This is all very confusing to me.”

“It would be! To you!” I tried grabbing Kasia to shake some sense into her, but got shocked again. “Ow! Why?! Take [Raptomaga]! It’s the only good Class you were offered! Don’t let them poison your mind into choosing a life of mediocrity. Choose excitement! Choose [Raptomaga]! Is it even a choice? Why are we still talking about this?”

“You really think I should go with [Raptomaga]? What if it won’t suit me?”

“Take a look at what the Class information says.”

I did the same.

[Class Information: Raptomaga]

Looking to pull the strings of fate or just stitch your foes together? The Raptomaga holds the needle.

Raptomagas are able to manipulate fate using their spirit needle. They can weave threads of mana in order to mend, ruin, or protect. Requires a dexterous hand.

Type: ???

Primary Attributes: Dexterity, Attunement

“Um,” I said. “Does it tell you what type it is?”

“No, it has three question marks.”

“Vasil?”

“Perhaps it has no archetype. Perhaps the user decides the way they utilize their Class, and the System does not wish to assign a type, or is simply not capable of doing so. It appears to be quite versatile. Perhaps Hecate was right in suggesting this.”

Kasia looked unsure. “Should I just go for it? Kuba?”

“What does your heart tell you?” Kuba said with a smile.

“Hecate?” Kasia asked.

I took a moment. What Kuba said made sense. I couldn’t—no, I shouldn’t make this choice for her. It was her Class, not mine. “I… I’m with Kuba. Follow your heart and choose whatever you feel is best. I will support whatever you pick. I will be proud of you regardless. Whatever you choose, Kasia, I will be there for you. I will always be there for you. I—I won’t even be upset if you choose [Carpenter] for some inexplicable reason.”

“Hey!” Kuba said.

Bogumir and Vitek both laughed.

Kasia clasped her hands together and took a deep breath. “I think… I think I should just go with [Raptomaga].”

Kuba nodded. “Then go for it and never look back. Embrace it completely, since you won’t be able to change it anyway. Besides, a Class doesn’t make the person—a person makes the Class. At the end of the day, it’s just a tool, what matters is how you wield it.”

I stared at Kuba in awe. Had he always been like this and had I just missed it? I always thought he was… not all there, but this sounded kind of wise. And kind. It was good advice.

“Hey, I agree with Kuba,” I said. “Once you choose, that will be you, and all will be right. It will all work out, no matter what happens. You’ll be fine.”

Kasia took in another deep breath, then slowly exhaled. The light in her eyes dimmed until there was nothing left, and the circle below her feet vanished.

I looked at her with a big grin. A smile appeared on her face.

“I did it,” she said. “I really did it.”

“Yeah!” I threw my hands in the air. “Congratulations. [Raptomaga] sounds like a super cool Class. I’m sure it can do a million amazing things!”

Her smile evaporated, replaced by a frown. “No, Hecate.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I didn’t choose [Raptomaga].”

Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. I put my fingers in my ears, but I could still hear her words.

“I chose [Carpenter].”

I never expected this would be how my life would end. Not by an inquisitor, not by Menekrates, but by carpentry.

And so it happened. On the day of Kasia’s eighteenth birthday, I died.