Hyro and Nail returned to their room after finishing with Buck. Hyro was exhausted, even with getting spurts of energy from his bond with Nail he felt like he could pass out at any moment. There was one thing he needed to do before sleeping however, it was finally time to catch up on all of his notifications.

  After seeing all of the notifications Hyro was getting excited at his growing power and could not wait to look at his character sheet, Nail was already asleep on the foot of the bed but Hyro needed to force himself to stay up just a little longer.

  Character Sheet: Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up! Class Selection available!

  What in the Abyss! I am level ten! Hyros' thoughts were in such a frenzy that Nail woke up from the excitement. ‘What is going on?’ Nail thought his question towards Hyro, Hyro responded apologetically, Sorry Nail, I just leveled up five levels, and we have a cool sounding new skill as well. Nail rolled over and replied to Hyro again before falling back asleep, ‘Oh yeah, I felt those changes, it should be interesting.’ Hyro was left alone with his thoughts again and tried to stop from broadcasting them further to let Nail sleep, but Hyro could help thinking one last thing before he looked at Nail’s character sheet. How did he feel the changes?

  Character Sheet

  Hyro was still in shock with everything he was seeing. Still wanting to keep his abilities even Hyro decided to put five points into both Strength and Vitality, Four into Wisdom and one into Dexterity. Hyro finally evened out his abilities, everything was at twenty two. Suddenly, Hyro got a headache and his bones ached. The tiredness was overtaking his excitement, that mixed with how many ability points he just spent, Hyro fell on his bed and entered the world of the dreamers.

  Nail was the one to wake up Hyro, the knocks on the door surely did not do it. ‘Hey! HYRO! There is someone here to see us!’ Hyro rolled over and opened his eyes, opting to speak out loud instead of thinking to Nail. “Ugh, What is it Nail?” Then Hyro heard the knock on the door. Hyro stumbled out of bed and groggily made his way to the door. As he opened his door Cynthia and Enris both rushed in, Cynthia giving him a hug. “Enris told me you almost died out there! What were you thinking?” Hyro was kind of in shock, that was the loudest he has ever heard Cynthia speak. All Hyro could think to say in front of his friends was, “I made it to level ten.” The three of them talked about Hyro and Enris’s adventure, Hyro made sure to introduce Cynthia to Nail, Nail spent most of the time trying to push Cynthia and Hyro closer together as they all say on the floor in Hyro’s room. Enris apparently leveled up two times from their outing, it was his first lair closing as well. Most students do not even attempt to take one on until third year at least, they are generally not even allowed to try until then. Hyro told the others that he was done keeping things from the staff here though and that if Buck asked he would tell him that they closed a rift and everything that happened for the most part.

  “The only two things I might keep to us for now is the Message screen, oh yeah.” Hyro paused speaking to give Enris a pat on the back, giving him access to the message screen. “Make sure to add Cynthia as a friend, I should already be there since I gave it to you. The other thing I may not tell them is the one skill I have not tried out myself yet.” Hyro then told them about the full merge skill that he got from his chaotic bonding. After hearing everything that Hyro has gained Cynthia and Enris were left with their Jaws on the floor. Enris spoke up, “You know, for supposedly being powerless I think you might have the potential to be the strongest person I have ever met.” Cynthia nodded in agreement. The three continued to talk about what has been going on at the academy and what Cynthia has been up to. She was still just level five and was not told anything more than what Hyro and Enris were told about what was going on. Hyro ended their conversation by telling them how Buck thinks that the Order has something to do with what is happening in Ryse. The three have been talking for about an hour now and decided it was time to get something to eat, there were no formal classes with everything going on. Hyro really needed to talk to Buck or Hurly but decided to go eat something first.

  It was around lunch time as they got to the cafeteria, Hyro must have slept right through most of the morning without realizing it. The cooking staff must have already been told about Nail as they had a special plate just for him. As they were eating Hyro realized he had someone here that he could ask his main question. “Enris, how was Class selection? Is there anything I should know before doing it?” Enris finished chewing his food before talking, “It is a pretty simple process. There are five levels of rarity, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Legendary, there are rumors of some others, but nothing that has been confirmed as far as I know. You will be given anywhere from one to five options, usually Common and Uncommon. At levels thirty, sixty and one hundred, you get the option to change or upgrade your class as well.” Hyro thought over Enris’s words for a bit before speaking, “Do you know, does luck play a role in the class options of achievements or abilities?” Enris shrugged, “I was only given common options, it did seem to be based on my abilities at least, as I focus on dexterity and I received a rogue class. When you get a class you usually get a skill or two to start with the new class as well as your ability increases usually change. I for instance get two dexterity and two free points every level.” Cynthia and Hyro were both hearing most of this information for the first time so they were soaking it up like a sponge. Cynthia was not there yet but hoped that it would not be too much longer until she reached level ten.

  The rest of lunch was uneventful, they finished eating and then all had different studies or training to work on, Cynthia had some healing duties with Helina, Enris had a meeting with Valda and Hyro decided to still ask Hurly a few questions before diving into the class selection. Hyro arrived at Hurly’s office, and to his surprise Tracey was there. Hyro could hear her voice before he got to the hall and could hear, “Buck is not happy, you knew something was happening, you should have returned those two, especially the trouble one.” Right after hearing that Hyro turned the corner and knocked on the door. “Speaking of, I need to return to Buck, Hurly, do not forget the meeting at five.” With that Tracey left, leaving Hyro and Hurly alone in the room. “What can I help ye with lad?” Hurley asked. Hyro got right to the point, “I have some questions about class selection, already talked to Enris about it and he answered most of my questions but there was one area he did not know much about.” Hurley nodded for a moment before his eyes widened, “Why do ye be needing to know about that already? Ye should have plenty of time to learn about that before reaching level ten.” Hyro was hesitant to reply but already decided what to do when it came to this, “I reached level ten while Enris and I were out.” Hurly’s eyes opened even wider that Hyro thought they were going to pop out of his head. Hurly looked between Nail and Hyro, “What have ye been up to in the last day or so lad, that is not normal.”

  Hyro and Hurly talked for a bit, Hyro let Hurly know most of the important information, leaving out the message screen and his full merge for now, Hurly seemed impressed, mentioning that he had never seen or even heard of someone progressing this fast. “What be yer question about class selection though lad?” Hurly steered the conversation back to the reason Hyro came. Hyro finally asked his question, “How should I prepare for class selection? All of my abilities are even, except luck, I finished a quest, and have a few achievements. Is it partially random or is there something I should do before entering selection?” Hurly wasted no time in responding. “Aye lad, ye seem to have a handle on things already with what to expect. Usually I would recommend making sure your primary ability is well above the others or to train in a certain area, but I have no idea what ye should expect. With yer bond in place and everything even in yer abilities, I think ye are as ready as ye can get fer yer first class.” Hyro nodded and thanks Hurly as he left. Hyro noticed that Hurly’s accent seemed to be thicker than before, but Hyro was not sure why. Maybe just the stress of everything going on. Hyro thought before Nail thought back to him, ‘Nah it is the stress from that short lady, she did not smell right.’ Nail seemed so sure that Hyro decided to be wary of Tracey for the time being.

  Hyro and Nail made their way back to their room, and Hyro sat on the bed, Nail jumping up next to him. As Hyro felt Nail start to cuddle next to him he had an idea, “Hey Nail, want to try our new skill?” Nail looked up and gave a weird looking smile to Hyro before nodding. Hyro put his hand onto Nail and Spoke “Full Merge.” Suddenly Hyro and Nail both became semi-incorporeal as they fell into each other. Hyro grew taller and his mouth grew into a slight snout. His hands turned into claws, still leaving the ability to grasp things but adding miniature weapons to each of his fingers. Lastly brown fur grew over most of his body finishing the transformation. Hyro looked at his character sheet again before doing anything else.

  Character Sheet: FULL MERGE, Class Selection available!

  Hyro never felt this kind of power. He could hear better, see better, smell better, all of his senses were enhanced. He just knew he could cause some serious damage with his hands and teeth as well. It was a shame he could only do this one time a day for only up to ten minutes but it was an amazing skill. Even though his dexterity was a little higher than his other abilities in this form he still decided to go with his makeshift plan. Hyro looked at the top of his sheet and selected Class Selection Available. As Hyro did that a new screen appeared.

  Hyro was disappointed there was not anything that seemed fantastical, but he was happy to see at least one rare. Hyro tried to think of the word Duad to get an idea of what it could be. Duad I think is two items of the same kind, which makes sense given that I am in Full Merge. While Hyro was in thought he could hear Nail still thinking as well, ‘Yes, we are two of the same kind, now in one form, that is us, pick that.’ Hyro chuckled but he was leaning towards Alchemist as he had the most experience with that. Before Hyro had a chance to make his decision however, Nail thought really hard ‘DUAD, DUAD, DUAD! YES, YES, YES!’

  Full Merge Hyro and Nail looked over their sheet, their class and all the changes and smiled as they cancelled the full merge and each returned to their respective bodies. “Nail,” Hyro spoke as they laid in bed, “We are on a whole new level.”