Day of judgment.

John opened his eyes and looked around in disbelief. He was lying down on a block of carved stone, above him a clear blue sky without a sun in sight. He first thought that he was naked, but there was a piece of white fabric wrapped around his waist. And the ground...

Was made of clouds!

Of an indescribable texture, it looked exactly like if he was actually on a cloud. The material under his feet, now that he was trying to get up, was the softest thing he had ever touched.

"Ha! You're finally up; we will be able to begin!" said a melodious woman's voice. John looked around and he saw that the cloud field was littered with columns and blocks of marble, as if someone had scattered the pieces of an old Greek temple. On one of these blocks facing him, a woman was looking at him. Tall, with long blond hair going even beyond her ass, she was wearing something looking like a toga, but it revealed a lot more of her body than it concealed. She was holding something looking like an electronic tablet, but made of finely carved bronze, silver and gold.

"My name is Themis, John Newman. Welcome to your judgment!" she declared.

"Oh! Not again!" muttered John. For the second time today his powers had disappeared, this time it was worse than the previous one. He had access to nothing, not even his own character sheet. All he had on him was the short skirt-like piece of fabric and his crown somehow.

"Again? Curious, I don't think we have met before," replied Themis.

"Who are you exactly? And what do you mean by judgment? Themis... Themis... Wasn't there a Greek goddess or muse named that?" he asked her.

"I was born of the one you know as Gaia, I'm the incarnation of justice. I was sent here to judge you," she explained. John was really worried now, his conscience wasn't perfectly clean after the last week, guilt and regrets were starting to overcome him, a level of stress usually countered by the cool head effects of Gamer's spirit.

"Judged for what? Am I dead?" he asked her.

"Oh, the usual question. No you are alive and well. I might have been unclear. You are not accused here, this meeting has another purpose. Tell me, why did you fail your last quest?" she asked him.

"Ohhh, this is about that. I didn't fail the quest, I chose not to complete it. Because to be honest it looked like some sort of test, rewards big enough to push people to do it, but hidden factors that made it suspicious. I don't want to kill people, even criminals, even people that I hate. The outcome was unknown no matter my choice, I chose to go with what I considered the good one and to accept the consequences," he declared.

Themis was scribbling something on her tablet with a stylus and a bunch of windows appeared in the air. Each showing images of John. Him, stealing from people, stripping the obnoxious woman in the train station or the young secretary in the tram, killing the elves in the **** room of the dark volcano, inflicting pain and humiliation upon Vanessa at school, using Arouse spells on girls at school or on Moira...

"Your views on morality are for the most part... Interesting. You wouldn't hesitate to steal things for your entertainment or from people you think deserve it, yet you didn't just go out and rob a bank or a store. You spent a lot of money buying things that you could have simply taken from the store without paying. You thought about killing criminals to complete the quest, but renounced the idea, yet you slaughtered some allies to save people to whom you did not owe anything. Very interesting view on what you will and won't do," she enumerated.

"So, I'm an evil person and need to be punished? Is that what you are saying?" replied John defensively.

"I'm not making a moral judgment of your actions, I'm judging your morality. One week ago you were granted powers, now is the time where we see what you did with them. To see if you deserve them and how you used them," she explained.

"Wait! This is what you call judgment? And if you think that I don't deserve them? What will happen to Sylvia, Cali, Vesta and everything else in my kingdom? They do not deserve to be punished for something I would have done!" he pleaded.

"You remember the mysterious lines in the quest, what we will judge is what they will become. Three things is what you will receive, which ones remains to be seen."

"What would I have got if I had killed three people? What was the reward for that? And what if I only killed one or two?"

"It would have depended on the people you would have killed. Had you killed three innocents to complete the quest, you would have received the Ghoul's touch, the ability to regain energy and sustain yourself with the life-**** of other beings. Had you killed criminals deserving of such fate, you would have received the mark of the Crusader, helping you in cleansing evil. Killing, yet not committing to finish the quest would have been penalized. The Gamer was listed as your class, but is more of a title now. Being a gamer allowed you to customize your experience according to your tastes, now you will receive a real class with some advantages and drawbacks. Let's begin drawing your fate."

A new window appeared in the air, on it a bunch of lines crossing each other in a single point.

"You did not put all of your points in a single stat, but chose a balanced approach. Let's see."

Seven of the lines now displayed a luminous red dot at a point reflecting how much he had in each stat. Thin lines were linking them with each other in a strange shape.

"You learned to fight at close quarters, but also at a distance. Weapons, magic, items, trickery and use of the environment. You win your fights not by brute strength or higher power, but through cunning and wits. You don't hesitate to put yourself in danger to win when you think it is worth it, yet can also flee and hide in other situations," as she described this, points of other colors appeared between Strength and Agility, others near the Intellect bar.

"You mastered some elements, created new skills, combined old ones and always sought unconventional uses for what you had. You made use of your various crafting skills, both for your equipment and to gain wealth. You showed diplomacy and drove hard bargains. Made allies of enemies, survived huge threats and managed to negotiate advantageously with people and organizations far beyond your own level."

John looked at the strange picture being drawn, not able to know what the outcome of all of this would be. The comments she was making were very positive, he hoped it meant he wouldn't lose his powers. He couldn't bear the idea of having had all of this and losing it just like that.

"You met many people, discovered secrets, researched and found answers about some of those. Of course you founded a kingdom and even managed to become King, more exceptional is that you have only willing subjects, most would have slaves, summons or creatures bound by a pact, yours just chose to follow you. You showed business acumen and made your kingdom flourish in record time. I think that the pattern is becoming more clear now."

"Really? Because I still don't know on what criteria I am being judged. I'm a bit lost I'm afraid," interjected John.

"Don't worry, only one part left," the picture was pretty much filled, the emptiest spot was between Charisma and Libido. "Despite a really bad start you managed to change opinions on yourself. And of course there is the sex. Your mother? Naughty boy! Your teacher! Hey, why not? You love in a certain way each of the women in your life. Yet there are two... The dryad, not human, not even an animal, a totally different thought process, yet you would risk your life for her, continue despite pain and injuries, all for someone who tried to kill you once. Such is your love for her. Your queen, very interesting. You could have pretty much anyone at your school, yet you chose her. A sweet, innocent girl, you thought, the only one who thought fondly of you before all of this. And now that you gave her your heart she shines with a new light; just like you she is finished with life in the shadows, she is embracing who she is meant to be and learning to forget what she thought of herself."

"So? How do I fare?" asked John, curious about her verdict.

"Yes I see it now, only one class is matching this. Some of your choices are precluding some of them anyway. You are an Arcane Trickster. You do immoral things but you are not evil. You use your brain as your main weapon. You let yourself go at pulling pranks and playing bad tricks, either as vengeance or for your enjoyment. A mercurial mix of a rogue and a mage, not as powerful in each skillset as one of those, but a lot more polyvalent."

To his surprise, John suddenly saw a pop-up open in front of him. He checked, but still couldn't access his powers.

Achievement Unlocked: Now that's some class!
Congrats! You survived long enough to receive a real class.
Arcane Trickster skills unlocked
New upgraded interface
+1 lvl (no extra xp will be kept)

Ding!
You are now lvl 10
+40 hp
+40 mp
+10 inventory space
+10 stat points.