Hanna hated the skeleton she was sent to.

  Despite being a Travelling Spirit, he acted almost nothing like one. Lady Endvil had told her that they were strong, eloquent, funny, and most of all interesting. Hanna had been so excited to meet a travelling Spirit before, but now was frustrated beyond belief.

  Hanna had to struggle to keep up the conversation. 'Ugh, he barely speaks at all', Hanna mentally grumbled, 'And I have to put up with three days of this?'

  The only time she got a reaction out of him was when she told him that the Lady had taken an interest in him. It was a blatant lie, of course, one meant to spice up the conversation.

  The skeleton took the bait beautifully. Despite having no facial expression to read, Hanna could tell by how his eyes flickered that he was affected by her announcement.

  'Oh? Maybe he's got a little crush?', Hanna estimated.

  After another moment had passed, she dismissed the idea. That look wasn't one of embarassment or fond thought.

  It was of fear.

  'I wonder what the good Lady did to him. Maybe take his soul? That would explain his lack of a personality', she quiped, giggling a bit at her own joke.

  The skeleton look up and locked eyes with Hanna, staring her down for a moment with his charcoal gray eyes.

  "Where do we start?", he asked.

  Ugh, whenever he spoke the air vibrated around Hanna's wings uncomfortably. That wasn't unique him, however. All skeletons' voices had the annoying effect on pixies.

  "Well", Hanna began, attempting to be pleasant, "First, we have a questionnaire to fill out! How you answer will determine your stat point allocation, so try to be honest, okay?

  "...Oh! does Mr. Gray need an explaination for what stat points are?", she finished, trying to appear forgetful.

  "No, I'm fine", Gray said simply.

  Of course, what kind of idiot would need an explanation for that? Even for Travelling Spirits, that was probably basic information.

  "Alrighty then! First question: A man stops you on the road and asks for some spare coin, but you're in a rush, what do you do?", Hanna asked.

  "Walk past him but be prepared to retaliate in case he attacks me", Gray answered without pause.

  "Second: You're tasked with killing 10 wolves but killing more more may garner you a bigger reward, but maybe not. How many do you kill?", Hanna continued.

  Keeping pace, Gray answered, "As many as I am able to, taking care to pelt their fur, defang their mouths, and preserve their meat, selling my stock when I return for my reward."

  Nodding, Hanna then proposed another question, "Three: You are invited into an adventuring party that is famous for the sheer amount of gold they rake in, but infamous for their practice of killing civilians. What do you do?"

  "Deny them", Gray said flatly, "Killing their entire party for the bounty they no doubt accrued."

  "Four: How would you go about doing that?", she asked.

  "If they are weaker than me, by straight combat. If they are on the same level, through ambushes and other guerilla tactics. If they are stronger, slowly, by poisoning their drinks and empowering their enemies", Gray replied.

  'I can respect that', Hanna thought approvingly, 'They are killers after all, why would they deserve mercy themselves?'

  "Alright. So, five: what is your priority in spending money?", the pixie asked, starting to genuinely become interested in the skeleton's answers.

  "In weapons, building materials, and books", Gray said evenly.

  "Oh? What kind of books?", Hanna enthusiastically inquired.

  "... History and architecture. If information regarding magic and its various applications are available to purchase in this world, then I will readily buy them. Also, if skill books exist, then I would also prioritize them", he said after a moment.

  "That's smart", she complimented, "So, next...

  "... and that concludes the questionnaire!", Hanna congratulated.

  "Was.. was all of that necessary?", Gray asked, an tinge of weariness showing through.

  "Nope!", she cheerfully replied, "Your Statistic Scan was completed by question two. I just made up a few questions to have a little fun."

  'A few' had turned out to be sixty-three.

  The skeleton sat, unmoving and silent for an uncomfortably long time, staring in disbelief at the pixie.

  "Oh, come on! It was just a joke!", Hanna desperately tried to appease Gray, "Besides, I got to know you much better! That'll help us make more progress on your tutorial!"

  If anything, his eyes grew sharper. Apparently, the skeleton didn't take being manipulated well.

  "...Fine! I'll give you some extra stat points!", Hanna said desperately, "Just calm down!"

  Immediately, Gray's glare softened from steel down to his usual stone. Hanna could swear she detected a hint of mirth as well. Had she been the one who was manipulated?

  'Oh, I was definitely wrong about you. These three days will be much more fun than I expected', the pixie thought.

  "Okay, here's your Level 1 status screen. The question marks are areas you need to fill out yourself", she explained with pride.

  A two-dimensional rectangle materialized in front of Gray, very similarly to the game's notification boxes, but colored black.

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  Grey shot Hanna a look after he saw his charisma stat. The pixie busied herself with her nails, whistling innocently.

  "Why are the stats subdivided into mental and physical?", Gray asked, surprising Hanna.

  "Well, several items and skills just add a specific bonus, like Boots of Agility, but others just amplify one general side, like Crown of Mental Strength", the pixie answered.

  Gray nodded. Obviously the items and skills that amplified a whole side would be much rarer.

  After reading the initial screen, Gray examined his options, carefully deciding which to choose. All choices were final and he, no doubt, was a careful planner.

  After some thought, Gray chose Neutral's second option. He wanted an avatar that could utilize all of the stats in tandem; become a warrior of perfect balance. Such a person would have no weaknesses.

  Getting Charisma up to par may be a bit of a challenge, though...

  Next, he began to pore over his PVP options.

  Immediately, Gray chose Enabled. PVP, in his experience with MMORPGs, was an excellent source of experience. Choosing Disabled would be like willingly stunting your growth for the sake of 'safety'.

  ".. the only true way to be safe is by your own strength..", Gray mumbled inaudibly.

  The next decision was his class, and, after discussing with Hanna, Gray realized that this was perhaps his most important decision.

  "Yup! Your class will determine what stats are increased after level up. Of course, you'll have some unassigned points as well, but classes determine what is manditoraly risen.

  Everybody has access to five classes: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Artisan, and Bard, but every now and then, the World Tree sees fit to give a Unique class. These are often similar to a regular class except that they offer a very powerful ability. No two are like", Hanna spoke in reverence.

  "In fact", she boasted, "Yours truly is a Wayfarer, a way awesome unique class!"

  The pixie fluttered her wings pridefully, soaking in all her glory before continuing.

  "Also, Classes often upgrade themselves into more powerful versions. The triggers for an upgrade vary, but some are stronger than others. For example the Mage can upgrade to a Warlock when you reach 50 Intelligence."

  Nodding seriously, Gray began to examine his options.

  "One of these things is not like the others..", Gray said.

  "Hmm?", Hanna hummed inquisitvely, still focusing on her own class.

  "I got a unique class, the Dread Scryer", Gray continued.

  ...

  ...

  "WHAT?!", Hanna screamed.

  "Whuh, how, you.. you're..", the pixie was at a loss for words.

  It took a moment for her to collect herself.

  "That's incredibly lucky! According to the Lady, you are the first Travelling Spirit to be granted a unique class!", Hanna said.

  Gray noted that Hanna could communicate with the Central AI instantaneously before listening on.

  "Also, that's kind of strange. The Scryer is a sub-class, only unlockable by someone who chose Mage as their main class. They're the only ones who can show you your status screen after the tutorial ends. Why the World Tree gave a stronger version to you as a main class is a good question... Anyways, hurry up and pick it", Hanna exclaimed, brushing aside her worries.

  Gray did so, after only a moment's consideration. The classes' bonuses and ability coincided with his intended playstyle perfectly.

  Now he didn't have to rely on Scryers to view his status screen and assign his earned points. That excited Gray to no end, though his skeletal visage showed none of it.

  Immediately after he chose it, another popup appeared, this time white.

  If he could wrinkle his nose in distaste, Gray would. He immediately closed the box. Even if they gave him twenty free levels, he wouldn't take the award. That would be completely contrary to his goal of anonymity.

  "Okay, now that character creation is over, how about we get started?", Hanna asked excitedly.

  Gray nodded.

  One second he was sitting on a couch in the white room, the other, he was sprawled out on the floor of a cavern. The rough limestone beneath him felt so... real. The texture was incredibly lifelike, completely suspending Gray's disbelief.

  Surveying his surroundings, Gray sat up as quietly as he could, not knowing whether there were enemies nearby.

  Gray felt that the cavern should've been much darker, but attributed it to a Skeleton's natural darkvision.

  The cavern, while very massive, held nothing but a large amount of stalagtites and stalagemites, with a medium exit a few hundred yards away. The stalagtites slowly dripped water down, creating the only noise discernible.

  "This", Hanna said, completely out of sight, "Is your tutorial. The goal is simple: get to the surface. There will be monsters and other obstacles along the way, but I will be here to give advice."

  "What if I don't finish in three days?", Gray asked.

  Hanna paused, her voice hesitant, "You lose your class and have to reset to the bottom. You'd have to go classless forever."

  Well... no pressure.