AnnouncementThis story will have NSFW content. It is LGBTQ+ in case you missed that. It will have sapphic content. No male love interest, no futa, no male gaze BS. If any of that is a problem, don’t read this…it’s obviously not for you. Please leave comments and support, they keep me going. If you comment negative things about the elements I've highlighted here or are in any way homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, etc. I will delete your comment. You have been warned.Elodie nervously knelt in the cathedral. She was surrounded by several other supplicants. They all knelt in front of the altar of The Many, waiting silently until the stroke of midnight. The high priestess had already performed her rights over those gathered. She’d finished and departed the space several minutes ago.

  They were at the point in the ritual where the supplicants were alone before the gods. Where none could interfere. Of the eleven supplicants today, most came from Havensfeld, the small city that housed the cathedral. Elodie was one of only a few that had had to travel here from their own vilges and towns, cking a high priest or priestess in their own churches that could perform the necessary rituals.

  Elodie and her family had traveled for two days on foot to reach Havensfeld in time. There were no trains that ran out to the tiny community of Crimson Valley. But, they made it into the city yesterday with no problems. Her parents were currently outside the cathedral, waiting for Elodie to emerge so they could all celebrate her.

  Several of her family’s friends and neighbors had accompanied them on the trip. They were all camped outside the gates of the city. Affording enough rooms for everyone was above the ability of her parents. Not that anyone minded. It hadn’t been but a month before that she and her family had made the same trip for her best friend, Lex.

  It wasn’t every day that a person Awakened after all. It only happened once in a person’s lifetime, at midnight of their nineteenth birthday. Then and only then would a person interact with The System and chose their css. It was a monumental day. It set the path for a person’s life. It dictated what they would become and where they would go. And now it was Elodie’s turn.

  A heavy chime sounded throughout the grey stone cathedral signaling the hour. As each chime echoed through the space, the air began to shake and shimmer. Each chime seeming to rebound and enhance the effect. The stained gss depicting the upper pantheon of The Many seemed to waver and buckle beneath the weight of the chimes. Finally, as the final chime sounded, the stained gss window shattered.

  Elodie and the others should have been torn to pieces by the falling gss, but nothing seemed to fall. Instead Elodie found herself being sucked into the scene herself. She felt her body stretch and twist as it wove between the cracks. It verged just on the edge of painful without crossing that threshold. When her body seemed to be finally sucked into the stained gss, Elodie’s vision went bck. All she could hear was her panicked breathing.

  “Open your eyes, child.” A deep but androgynous voice intoned.

  Elodie only then realized that she had her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She opened them and was greeted by a harsh light that left her blinking as she tried to adjust.

  “That’s better,” the voice said.

  Elodie looked around as her eyes finally adjusted. Directly in front of her was the Architect. The creator and caretaker of The System. They were perhaps the most removed and clinical of The Many. Neither leaning toward good nor evil, light nor dark. They were always depicted as a golden automaton, tinkering away at The System. But, Elodie realized that the artists’ depictions didn’t do the Architect justice. They gleamed in the bright light of the open space Elodie found herself in. There were subtle hints of ptinum running along the edges of much of the Architect’s various parts. Their eyes were like gleaming rubies, shining out at her as they waited patiently for Elodie. And she could feel a boundless intellect behind those eyes.

  She stood upon a glossy, bck surface. It rippled like water as she shifted her weight, but she never broke the surface. It was as firm as the stone she’d just been kneeling on in the cathedral. The surface ran off toward the horizon, but dropped off maybe a twenty meters away. The sky was dark with a scattering of stars. A bright glow surrounded her, but she couldn’t find its source.

  Elodie took a deep breath and met the gaze of the Architect. “I’m ready.”

  “Very good. Now for you I have some excellent choices for your css. You have been working very hard towards today and your choices reflect that.” The Architect began in its monotone voice.

  Csses weren’t just randomly selected. They were based off of a person’s attributes. So, someone who worked side by side with an artisan or crafter, learning their trade was very likely to end up with a css reflecting that time and effort. There were mundane csses like farmer or baker. Crafting csses like alchemist and herbalist. Then there were the delving csses like rogue and mage. There were an almost infinite number of csses basically built around a person’s talent, hard work, and their basic character.

  Elodie had spent most of her life being trained by her father as a fighter. Her father had been a mid-level delver when he’d lost his arm and most of his party from a dungeon surge. Dungeon surges were rare events where the dungeon’s lower levels become overburdened and monsters moved up levels in the dungeon, potentially breaking free from the dungeon and becoming a dungeon break.

  He’d moved with her and her mom to Crimson Valley, a small farming community. He’d bought a farm and hadn’t done too bad for himself considering it wasn’t his css. But, he had taught Elodie from a young age to defend herself. Those simple lessons in self-defense had escated into sparring and true fighter training when he noticed how naturally adept she was.

  Now, Elodie hoped to follow in his footsteps. She hoped to unlock a fighter css of some kind and earn her way into a dungeon academy. She’d done everything she could to tip the scales in her favor, but now it was up to fate and the Architect.

  “First, a berserker.” A column of stone rose out of the ground, sending ripples across its shiny surface. Upon the column was a carving of Elodie in light armor, screaming her rage while rushing toward an unseen enemy. In her hands was a rge battleaxe, sweeping down from over her shoulder in a powerful swing.

  “Second, a brawler.” A new column rose into the air. Atop this one Elodie was depicted with no armor, just pants and a tunic. She had no weapons in her hands and instead was focused on hand-to-hand combat as she blocked a strike from above while sweeping her foot underneath for a takedown.

  “Third, a ronin.” A final column rose up. This depiction of Elodie was in medium armor with what looked like a thin, curved, single edge sword gripped in two hands. Her face was calm and she seemed centered, like nothing could shake her foundation or sway her from her path.

  They were all good choices. Some fairly unique ones even. But she still found herself a little disappointed in what was avaible to her. She didn’t know why. She didn’t know what she had expected to be offered that she wasn’t being given. She just felt let down.

  The Architect seemed to sense her dissatisfaction. They leaned toward her like they were going to share a secret. “If none of these meet your approval, I have a final offer, though I am unable to tell you what it is.”

  “A fourth option?” Elodie was dumbfounded. It was well established that there were only ever three choices. No more. No less. She had never in her life heard anything about a secret fourth option. If someone had cimed such, they would have been cast as a bsphemer and possibly run out of whatever town they found themselves in by the church.

  “What can you tell me about it?” She asked.

  The Architect seemed to deliberate. After a few moments they looked back at Elodie. “One of my compatriots,” they winked at her. Or rather, one of their eyes dimmed noticeably, so she assumed it was a wink. “They are willing to offer you an opportunity that most are not afforded. This path has the potential to be quite powerful.” They stood back up, eyes locked on Elodie.

  “Wait, so all you can tell me is that I might be powerful, and that I’ll be a champion for one of the gods or something?”

  “Essentially, yes.”

  Elodie for once didn’t rush her decision. It went against her very nature, but she made herself actually contempte what she should do. All of the ‘regur’ choices she’d been offered had been solid choices. She could make an excellent career as a delver with any of them. They were comfortable. They were in a sense, safe choices.

  On the other hand, there was the odd sense of restlessness that the choices she’d been offered engendered in her. Yes, they were solid choices. But, something about them didn’t feel quite right. That could be the doing of whichever god had made her this offer. He or she could be tipping the scales so to speak.

  But, how many people got to say they were offered a special css by a god? Well, technically everyone. The Architect was a god. But, a different, unknown god? That was unique. That made her special. And there was potential she could become more than just mediocre. She could become great, a legend even.

  She knew what she was going to pick, but she continued to dey the inevitable. The Architect didn’t seem to care. And no matter how much time seemed to pass here, she knew that almost no time was passing with her actual body. She had the time to spare. So, she hemmed and hawed. She debated and argued. And the entire time she already knew what she was going to choose.

  With a deep sigh, Elodie answered the Architect. “I will take the fourth option.”

  Despite not having a mouth with which to do it, Elodie got the distinct impression that the Architect was smirking at her. “Very well.” They waved a hand over Elodie’s body and the columns with her other choices disappeared. “Goodbye.” Her vision went bck.