All it takes is a single gamble to turn your life around.
Those who live a life of mediocrity can wish for greatness all they want, but the fact won't change that they live a life of the mediocre. As long as they aren't willing to take that first and most significant step, those dreams will forever remain self-fabricated illusions on the canvas that is reality.
Change occurs only when you are willing to take on the challenge and actively pursue what you desire. Only then do you stop merely dreaming of your goals and begin to truly realise them.
"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been an adventurer for?"
Looking at the person walking beside him through the streets, Alaric asked with a slight smile on his face. The person he spoke to looked to be a young man, only a few years older than himself, with slightly messy black hair.
As for his clothing, Alaric hated it.
The uniform worn by the older male was the standard-issued uniform for members of the Adventurer's Guild here in Teyvat, consisting of green, white, and red. While not strictly necessary, it was of high enough quality to be used regularly in the field and also served as a symbol of that person's status.
While Alaric could understand the pros to wearing the uniform, being made to resist rough environments, and also as a way for civilians to identify them if they need help out in the wilderness, he really couldn't get himself to like it.
Santa's little leprechaun-looking ass uniforms.
In any case, this adventurer was named Xie Heng, someone Alaric had recently rescued while on his way back here to Liyue Harbor. The guy was being chased helplessly by a group of hilichurls, and while Alaric was no selfless hero, he wasn't just going to leave the guy to die.
"How long...?" Xie Heng, taken aback by the unexpected question, fell silent for a moment as he rubbed the back of his head while giving a tired sigh. "I think it's been over a year now. Heh, yet I've made practically no progress."
Xie Heng chuckled as he spoke the last part, but his true feelings were anything but humorous.
He was, like many young men and women, someone who dreamed of accomplishing great things similar to those in storybooks. Be it defeating a powerful monster or something of a similar nature.
Yet, after an entire year, he had accomplished close to nothing.
"A year, huh?" Alaric had no hint of mockery or contempt after hearing this, in fact, his voice carried a bit of praise. "That's actually rather impressive, if anything, you should be rather proud."
"Proud?" Xie Heng blinked as a wry smile formed on his face. "What is there to be proud about? I've made no accomplishments, and I don't have anything special like a vision. I'm not strong, n-not like you..."
"Perhaps not, but what makes you impressive is your perseverance." Alaric waited for Xie Heng to finish his words before responding with this. These words also made the latter look at him. "You've kept standing back up after every failure, for over a year, no less."
"I-I guess..." Xie Heng felt a bit flustered after hearing this, but that look he had before returned. "Even so, what does it matter? No matter how hard I try, it's not like failing continuously is going to get food on the table or make my parents proud."
"But it separates you from the masses."
"Huh...?"
"There are very few who can persevere after failure, the weight of it takes a massive toll over time," Alaric explained in his usual calm tone as he arrived at his store/home. Xie Heng was unconsciously looking up at it curiously. "Most give up after only beginning, succumbing to their failures. However, you... are different."
Unlocking the door to the store, Alaric paused as he looked back over his shoulder to look directly at Xie Heng. Hearing his words, the latter wasn't entirely sure how to respond as he waited for the former to continue.
"You kept picking yourself up, and that's where your strength lies. Never giving up."
"That..." Xie Heng hesitated before continuing, his eyes looking down at the ground, his fists clenched visibly. "W-Well, I was actually considering resigning after coming back."
"Oh? I find that hard to believe."
"H-Huh?"
"You followed me all the way here, no?" Alaric formed a small smile as he fully turned around to face Xie Heng, then stepped forward closer to the latter as he stared directly into his eyes. "You were free to leave after I escorted you back, yet here you are. That tells me you haven't quite given up yet. You trusted my words, and while reckless, it shows that you still crave success."
While it was true that Alaric had saved Xie Heng, that alone wouldn't have been enough to make him fully trust Alaric. Not to mention that Alaric's way of promising him a way to change his future was a little more than suspicious.
Yet, just as Alaric stated, Xie Heng decided to follow the former.
Xie Heng found himself frozen under Alaric's gaze, an unwavering gaze and a tone full of confidence, the latter no doubt fully believed his own words. Even Xie Heng found himself slowly being convinced by the other party's confidence alone.
"... I-I want to become stronger."
"Then you've come to the right place."
____________
Staring at the familiar pillar of light, Alaric waited patiently and with hidden anticipation as Xie Heng went through the same process he did to obtain his Class. Not saying anything, Alaric watched with crossed arms.
He naturally wasn't expecting Xie Heng to unlock any over-the-top Class like his Moon Sovereign, after all, the crystal was only capable of granting Common and Rare Classes. Even so, a Class was a Class.
As the pillar of light slowly dispersed, Xie Heng's figure soon came into view, and, as with Alaric, he was no longer wearing that god-awful uniform but was now donning new equipment.
Once Xie Heng's new form was revealed, Alaric was pretty sure he could determine the Class that the former received, or at least a very similar variant. A pretty much staple Class used in RPG games, and perhaps the most basic of all Classes.
Replacing his previous uniform was a sleek, straightforward set of steel or iron armour, the different sections connected using sturdy leather straps over what Alaric could only assume was either a leather or chainmail undersuit.
The armour covered Xie Heng's entire upper body down to his toes, and although he didn't seem to possess any form of headgear, he did have a sturdy western-style sword sheathed around his waist, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
However, what was rather strange was that, aside from the sword, Xie Heng also seemed to have a metal flagpole attached to his back, with a pure white flag at the end bearing the image of a shield and sword.
'If that Class isn't a Knight or similar, I don't know what would be.' Alaric mused to himself as he observed Xie Heng's new form. 'Looks pretty bland though, even by medieval standards. What's with that flag, though?'
"Th-This is...!" Xie Heng, having noticed his metamorphosis, could only look at his now-armoured hands, his eyes clearly showing his disbelief. "What is this feeling? What am I wearing...?"
"What you're feeling is exactly what you wanted," Alaric spoke up, causing Xie Heng to turn his gaze towards the former, who was now walking over. "Just by awakening to a Class, you're already quite a bit stronger than the average human."
"I see..." Xie Heng responded in a low but awed tone. "D-Does that mean if I have more than one Class, I'll become even stronger?"
"In terms of versatility, yes. However, Classes cannot be superimposed on top of one another." Alaric explained. "Even if you wanted to, you can only have one Class to your name at the current time. Not to mention... you're not exactly made of mora."
Hearing this, Xie Heng sweatdropped a bit. "R-Right..."
Xie Heng, having not found much success in the Adventurer's Guild, naturally didn't have that much of a flow of income from commissions. Just paying the 100,000 Mora was a massive gamble for him, especially since he wasn't from a wealthy family.
"So, this is what it feels like to be strong." Changing the subject, Xie Heng once again focused on his new state. "I can tell that I've become stronger, but I can't quite tell just how much stronger I am."
"Why not try then?"
"Eh?"
Xie Heng watched as the familiar pillar of light surrounded Alaric for a few quick seconds before disappearing and revealing the latter in the form he'd first encountered him, that form that Alaric took upon after loading his Moon Sovereign Class.
"H-Hold on...!" Xie Heng immediately started panicking, taking a few steps back. "I may be stronger, but there's no way I can take someone like you on! I saw what you did to those hilichurls, there's no way!"
"Calm down, it's not an actual fight." Alaric chuckled in amusement. "Just swing that blade of yours. Only by using your power can you truly understand the improvement."
"But I don't know how to use a sword properly...!"
Xie Heng wasn't able to finish his words as Alaric rushed forward, not with speed comparable to what he had seen the young man perform before out in the wild, but fast enough for him to find it challenging to react on time.
As Alaric got closer, he soon swung his fist forward as Xie Heng gritted his teeth.
Perhaps out of pure instinct, Xie Heng quickly drew his blade as it soon collided with Alaric's fist. With the nature of Alaric's armour and the blade, their collision resulted in an explosion of metallic sparks, though it didn't end there.
Alaric was relentless as he delivered a series of quick strikes, every punch had enough force to make his arms shake, and they were so fast that he couldn't get any opening to attack himself. Xie Heng was entirely forced onto the defensive.
"Brace yourself now!"
Xie Heng wasn't able to produce a response as he had to quickly raise his sword as a much heavier straight punch struck him, forcing him to skid violently back as his feet barely managed to stay grounded against the polished white floor.
"Not bad at all. Didn't you say you didn't know how to use a sword?"
"Haa... haa...." Xie Heng took heavy breaths as Alaric's amused voice entered his ears. Looking up, he watched as Alaric returned to his normal form. "I-I don't know, I just kinda moved without thinking."
Hearing this, Alaric merely chuckled.
____________
After Xie Heng recovered from his 'fight' with Alaric, the latter proceeded to give a basic explanation on how to navigate around and understand the Class status menu. Unlike himself, based on Xie Heng's interface, they only possessed a Status screen about their Class/Classes.
They didn't have things like a Mission or Inventory menu that he had, and naturally, they didn't have a Store Details menu either. Alaric wasn't complaining, that just made explaining things much easier.
As his first customer, Alaric felt it was his obligation to at least keep an eye on Xie Heng for a bit before leaving him to his own devices. That is, he'd accompany the guy to explain a few basic points he might be confused about, even with the guidebook.
As for the shop, it had a TV signboard at the front that he could manipulate the content freely, so he just made sure it was apparent to anyone passing by that the place was currently closed.
Watching as Xie Heng was currently in combat against a group of slimes, while not a group of hilichurls that he could take revenge on, was a suitable enough target for him to test out his new Class against.
The only issue was, at least for Alaric...
"Swift yet graceful, flow as the wind and sea! Aero Arms!"
〈SKILL: Aero Arms〉
Tapping his flagpole against the ground, a circular pulse of green energy expanded outwards from where Xie Heng stood. Soon after it disappeared, Xie Heng had a faint but visible green aura surrounding his body.
As for the effect, it was soon revealed as he dashed forward with impressive speed beyond what he could usually achieve. Just like how Alaric assumed, the base increase in physical strength that Xie Heng's class gave him was nothing compared to his Moon Sovereign Class.
Just the difference between a Rare and Legendary Class.
Speaking of that, Xie Heng's Class was revealed to be called Flagriser, and based on the three skills that he had been given at the start, Alaric could conclude that the Class was most likely a support Class with combat being secondary.
As for his weapon, the flag he had turned out to be his primary weapon while the sword was actually just a secondary if the primary weapon for whatever reason was rendered unusable.
"Here we go!"
〈SKILL: Flag Piercer〉
With his flagpole, Xie Heng shot forward with the spike on the tip of the flagpole pointed forward like a lance. After the skill was activated, it released a few strands of white energy that originated from the tip of the flagpole.
"Flag... Piercer!"
With a battle cry, Xie Heng pierced through the final remaining slime as the enemy froze in the air where it was pierced and held. Soon after, the slime's form collapsed, and its liquid composition splashed onto the ground like ordinary water.
As for why slimes could be defeated by physical attacks, especially those of anemo and hydro, Alaric decided not to question this world's logic. If physical attacks work, then they work. Simple as that.
"Well done, a successful first battle." Alaric applauded casually as he walked over. "I know you said the chants are necessary for the skill to activate, but screaming out the skill's name isn't. Why are you shouting out your moves?"
"Oh, uh..." Xie Heng rubbed the back of his head as his cheeks flushed visibly red out of embarrassment. "I-I just felt cool doing it, that powerful feeling you get when shouting it out loud... You understand, right? It makes me look cooler when I use it!"
"...Sure."
Alaric honestly couldn't help but fear a bit for the future after hearing that explanation. There was no way he was going to witness the citizens of this world turn into a massive number of chunnibyous, right? Surely not.
Whatever the case may be, he had successfully integrated his first customer into the world of RPG. It was only the first step, and to complete his current mission, he still needed to grant Classes to nine other people.
Nonetheless, the ball was finally rolling.