Dimension Beta

Tom stood before the giant, alone. He could feel the man sizing him up, examining him from head to toe. Did he figure out I'm the one who started the fight? What's he gonna do to me? Thoughts raced through Tom's head.

"Not bad, kid," the man suddenly said, giving him a solid pat on the shoulder.

Tom froze, unsure if he'd heard right.

The man walked behind the bar, poured himself a beer, then pulled out another glass and filled it with a green liquid. "Don't just stand there. Come over here."

Tom moved to the bar and sat down in front of him. He hesitated at the glass, unsure what was in it, but under the man's intense gaze, he quickly picked it up and drank. A sweet, fruity flavor slid down his throat, tasting better with each sip.

"Ahhh," Tom sighed, setting the empty glass down.

Satisfied with Tom's reaction, the big man took a drink from his own mug. "So, kid. Who are you?" he asked.

Deciding to be honest, Tom got off his stool and gave a slight bow. "My name is Tom Jackson, and I owe you an apology! I was the one who convinced Dicksen to start the fight."

Tom braced himself for a scolding, but it never came. Instead, the giant just smiled. "I'm Pablo Rent, but you can just call me Pab."

He paused to take another drink and continued, "Don't worry about the fight, kid. Happens here at least once a month. Trust me, if Dicksen wasn't itching to start something, he wouldn't have gotten into it so fast."

Pab gave Tom a thoughtful look. "I watched you during the brawl. At first, I thought you were a scared little kitten, but when your friends were in trouble, you jumped right in without a second thought. Not bad, kid!" he said, clapping Tom on the shoulder.

"So, tell me, kid, what class did you pick?"

"Class?" Tom asked, surprised. "I'm only level two…I haven't unlocked any class requirements yet."

Pab's grin widened. "Then, kid, how'd you like to learn under me?"

Just then, a window popped up in front of Tom.

[Pablo offers to train you. Uncommon Class Quest detected.]

Tom's eyes went wide with excitement. Class ranks were: Normal, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary. Even though Uncommon was only the second rank, it was a huge step up from the Normal classes that 90% of the population ended up with. In his class at school, only two kids had managed to secure Uncommon classes, thanks to family connections.

Plus, at the next class upgrade, he could switch to another class as long as it had enough overlap with his starting one.

Tom hesitated. He'd already made a lot of impulsive choices. But this might be his one chance to turn his luck around. Finally, he couldn't hold back and shouted, "Please train me, Master!"

"Haha, I'm no master. Just call me Big Brother," Pab laughed, clapping Tom on the back so hard that Tom could swear he lost a few health points.

"Come back here tomorrow, and we'll start your training. The bar's closed for a few days anyway."

After a few more words of encouragement, Tom left the bar. He noticed his quest log glowing as he stepped out.

[Mr. Pech's Subsidiary Quest (Completed)]

New Quest: [Pablo's Training]

Return to Pablo's bar tomorrow and seek him out.

Quest Reward – Chance to unlock an Uncommon Class

Tom logged out right after checking his quest log. Exhausted, he collapsed into bed. The only thought running through his mind as he drifted off was, What just happened today?

The next day started just as fast as the last had ended. Tom was still half-asleep as he stumbled into the bathroom to freshen up. Midway through brushing his teeth, he glanced at the clock on the wall and realized he was already running late. He quickly got dressed, grabbed his school bag from where he'd left it the afternoon before, and headed out.

This time, though, he was prepared. Instead of trying to catch the bus, he took his mom's bike from the basement and rode casually to school. He even managed to get there five minutes early. When Felix saw him, he walked over with a big grin.

"Yo, Tom! You good?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Good? Nah, I'm awesome, dude. You're not gonna believe this!"

"What's up?" Tom asked, curious.

"My dad took me power-leveling yesterday, man. I hit level 10, and now I'm set to pick my class!"

Tom wasn't shocked since he already knew Felix's parents were Banner Knights, and all they did was help people level up. But he grinned for his friend's sake. They'd been buddies since forever, after all.

Felix suddenly got a mischievous look. "And guess what else?"

"What? Spit it out!" Tom demanded.

"My dad's gonna help you hit level 10, too! Come on, tell me I'm the best friend ever!" Felix struck a goofy pose, flipping his hair back with his hand and staring off dramatically.

"Heh, yeah, you're a legend, alright. I bow before the mighty Felix, future Legendary Banner Knight!"

They both burst out laughing, but Tom couldn't help feeling a little touched that his friend wanted to help him out. He wondered how Felix would react if he knew he had a shot at an Uncommon class. Still, Tom kept quiet. He didn't want to jinx it or get laughed at if it all went south.

The school day went by fast, and they got out early. Felix invited Tom over, and after a quick call to his mom to let her know he'd be home late, they headed to Felix's place.

Felix's house was way bigger than Tom's, but that wasn't a shock since his parents made good money in Beta. Both of Felix's parents were still logged in, so after a few taps on his phone, Felix turned to Tom. "Alright, my father sayed to log in and meet him outside the city gates. You can use the guest capsule in the spare room."

om did exactly that, and a few minutes later, he was standing outside the city gates.

While he waited, something cold and hard pressed into his back. "Hand over all your gold, or I'll gut you," a voice growled.

"Oh, bite me," Tom snickered, turning around. Behind him stood Felix, holding a giant one-meter banner.

"Check it out! Once I pick my class, this bad boy'll actually do something."

Tom grinned and nodded. He'd watched videos of Felix's parents in action and knew exactly how their class worked. Today, he'd finally get to see it up close.

The two of them joked around for a bit until a party invite popped up. It was from Felix's dad, saying he'd be there in a few seconds.

Before they knew it, a man came crashing out of the sky, making a small crater where he landed. In a blink, he grabbed both of them by the wrists and launched back into the air. It happened so fast that if it weren't totally normal in Beta, they might've thought they were getting kidnapped.

Wind whipped at Tom's face as he looked down, seeing the ground rush by. He was a little freaked out, but he trusted they'd be fine. Felix's dad bounced along like it was nothing, bringing them along for the ride. After a couple of minutes, he finally stopped in the middle of a forest.

He let go of their hands, stretching his back. "So, how was school, boys?"

Tom was still a bit dizzy, but he answered, "All good, Mr. Hogen. Thanks for asking."

Felix, who was used to his dad's antics, shrugged it off. "Yeah, same old same old."

Mr. Hogen nodded at them. "Alright, let's get going. I've only got an hour for lunch, and I already burned 15 minutes picking you two up."

In the next second, he was gone, leaving them in silence.

A few minutes later, they heard him shout, "You can come over. I've lured the monsters!"

When they found him, Tom finally got to see in person what he'd only seen in videos before. A massive banner stretched up over the forest, over 10 meters tall and towering above the trees. Around it, about 200 wolves were snapping and scratching at the banner, but it had so many health points that it just kept regenerating whatever damage they did.

Mr. Hogen left the party and said, "Alright, knock yourselves out."

Tom hesitated for a second, but when he saw Felix wailing on a wolf from behind and the wolf just ignoring him, he got up the nerve to join in.

He didn't have a weapon since he'd blown all his cash on the legendary quest, but he'd always been decent with his fists. He started pounding on the nearest wolf, which barely noticed him. With each punch, he watched the wolf's health points tick down.

-2

-4

-3

-2

Finally, the wolf dropped. Tom's experience bar filled up, and he leveled up. Since these wolves were level 9-11, about ten levels above him, he was raking in the experience.

With every wolf they took down, their experience points shot up. After about half an hour, all the wolves were dead. Tom hit level 10, and Felix hit level 13.

Mr. Hogen channeled the banner, shrinking it back into his hand. "Alright, boys, gotta run. Get yourselves back to town."

With that, he leapt into the sky and disappeared.

Tom and Felix were left standing there, surrounded by about 200 wolf corpses.

"I'm heading to town to pick my class, you wanna come?" Felix asked.

Tom thought about it but had a different idea. "Hey, got a skinning knife?"

Felix grinned, figuring out what Tom was planning, and tossed him a knife along with a big sack. "Go nuts," he said, pulling out a scroll.

He ripped it in half and vanished on the spot. Tom knew it was a return scroll, which would teleport him back to the last city. They only worked within a 500-km radius.

Tom knew a bit about skinning from class. He had paid attention when they talked about monster parts and recycling. He started on the first wolf, cutting down the chest to the back. The knife didn't slide as smoothly as he wanted, so he had to keep jabbing, and when he tried to pull the pelt off, it tore in half, sending him tumbling backward.

With a ruined pelt, he moved on to the next wolf. He'd noticed a soft spot above the ribs where the knife slid in more easily, though the pelt still got snagged on the head and tore a bit. He kept at it, and after many tries, he finally ended up with about 35 usable pelts.

Holding the bag in one hand, he bit down on a teleport scroll. The next moment, he reappeared with his sack of pelts right in front of the city gates.