Recapping, I have an adoptive father that’s an alchemist. He created some special ‘elixir’ for me to drink and it apparently gives a class that might be good or at least unique. The elixir had some side effects that made me lose all my memories because of a coma lasting who knows how long. 

Am I some old granny now? Looking down, I viewed my pale hands. Remarkably smooth and without a single wrinkle. Not a granny, but a yarking ghost instead. A human ghost that’s about to have their heart explode from shock. 

I kinda want to scream out, but that’ll only make my throat worse. How do I understand the situation? I’ve lost a part of myself, but I’m still here. I can’t recall anything, but yet I know how to talk and read. The words written in the book explained it, but it’s all… ridiculous. 

This is too complicated! I flung out my arms in frustration. Nothing will get done if I keep dwelling over this. I need to understand and act if I want to live.

Hollow, my father seemed to be a good person considering everything in the book, but can I trust his words? Why did he do this, especially with him never seeing the fruition of his work? What would he gain by never seeing the fruition of his work? And what was the [Knowing Heart] thing he used? 

These are too difficult to answer for the moment, but let’s keep them in mind. 

I turned to the book and saw the many unread pages, showing just how much I have yet to understand. The weight piled up again, and I looked away at anything but the book. The wooden walls that contain me don’t help, but at least nobody else can see me. I can be all the crazy old lady locked in a box for, well, for two weeks. I’m not ready to feed more into my brain, but I can at least explore the room. 

After a moment, I stood up and looked at the dresser. It almost blended into the surroundings with so much dust. I walked towards it and brushed off the top, probably faster than I should have, as it made a cloud of particles. I Leaned away, but not quick enough as it cakes my face. My eyes were shut before it made contact, but I kinda stood there frozen. My arms were awkwardly sticking out as I’m unsure what to do. 

A delay later, I took the back of my hands and wiped my closed eyes. It sorta works as I’m able to open them, but I still felt some residue on the side of my eyes. The day just keeps on getting better. “Haaaaaa” A sigh escaped my lips. 

Moving on, I looked back at the dresser’s top, now somewhat cleared of dust. An etched symbol on the dresser’s top presents itself. A simple side-to-side pattern, like a snake slithering, carried a dull glow previously hidden beneath the dust. I know nothing about this, but something tells me the ‘longevity enchantment’ he mentioned had something to do with it. 

I brushed my hand along the engraved line and felt nothing but the inset into the wood. It’s supposed to be magical, but it seemed quite ordinary except for the subtle glow. 

Moving on, I grabbed the top handle and pulled it towards me. The drawer stopped with a clunk as it got about a finger’s width open. The confusion inside of me disappeared immediately, replaced by an inconvenienced anger, the worst kind. 

My face scrunched up as I scowled at the drawer. “This is exactly what I needed, a goddamn drawer in my goddamn way.” I whispered. With flared nostrils, I let out an angered puff of air. 

“Calm down, me. Me….. Me?” A questioning whisper led to a realization. 

That’s just awesome. I don’t even know my name! What idiot doesn’t even remember their own name? The anger seethed out, but I held back and moved my head to the side. Looking towards the book on the table. 

I recalled the name written in the book. Ayla? Was that my name? I flung my hands up. Whatever, just go with it, Ayla. All this made little sense, anyway.

I put my hand back on the drawer’s handle and tried to slam it open a few times. I heard the things inside shake a little, knowing full well that violence wouldn’t work. 

“Sorry drawer, I just couldn’t help it. I don’t want to deal with more than I have to at this moment.” I whispered.

Giving up, I reached inside and fiddled with whatever was stopping it. I pulled it down with one hand and opened the drawer with the other. 

Inside, a stack of books and a picture frame, the culprit blocking the drawer. Turning it over, the drawing of an old man reveals itself. Ignoring the books, I pulled the picture closer. The faded lines of an old-looking man stared back. He’s bald with some marking along his face, but the faded lines made it hard to determine anything beyond that. 

I assumed this was my adoptive father. It’s so difficult to see. At least I can see some features, albeit generally. It also feels weird to call him father, so for the time being I’ll call him by his name, Hollow. Still can’t get over this whole thing. Sorry.

Opening the other drawers, they contained simple clothing, a carrying bag, a hooded cloak, and a ring. Reaching towards the cloak, I lifted it up and brushed off the dust. I immediately regret this decision as I breathe in a cloud of oh so nutritious dust. 

“Cough Achy.” My throat burned as I coughed up the particles. I expelled most of them, but the taste remained in my mouth as I continued to spit the rest of the dust out. But I’m ultimately unsuccessful. This day just keeps on getting better.

Despite the dust covering my face, I felt the fabric between my fingers, strong and sturdy. The fabric remained unstretched as I pulled between my fingers. “Wonder what it’s made of?” I Looked around for any markings, but all I saw was the plain black cloth.   

Saving that mystery for later, I reached for the nearest book. “An Overview of the World: by Hollow.” Fantastic. More stuff to shove into my brain. But with my missing memories, I don’t really have a choice. I stared at the book, trying to think, but I just couldn’t do it.

My mind was a mess, and I couldn’t concentrate. Figuring out your probably some old granny with no memories and being trapped in an underground box was a lot to take in.

Leaving the book on the dresser, I approached the bed and laid down again, immersing myself into the softness. The contents of the letter were still rumbling inside my head, making a mess of any thoughts I could have, so I just sorta laid there, soaking it all in. 

Wasn’t trying to think, but just let time pass as I absorbed everything. 

I felt the air travel outwards from my lungs and past my nostrils. By now, the smell didn’t really bother me as the more pressing concerns took over. I don’t know how long I laid in the softness, but being a log until I was ready to deal with… you know, everything else was a fine solution, in my opinion. 

A nap or naps later, and I finally got back up, shuffling myself back to the table and slouched into the chair. Already, sorta, kinda accepting my fate. 

Still perplexed by the situation, I looked back at the book and the many pages yet to be read. “Well, all the answers should be here, so at least I have that going for me.” I wanted to complain more about the quantity of pages before me, but it’s too important not to. Sighing, I gave up my internal struggle and dived in.

---

 

Some time later, the loud snap of a book echoed as I clasped it between my open palms. The past few hours have been a ride of emotions as everything settled in, but I’m managing without having another panic attack. So, I’d consider it a success so far, but I only made it halfway through the book, but so far, it contained some necessities with classes, and how to leave the bunker. 

The most important thing was the ‘all important’ class selection, with it being a paramount part of my life. Able to take my life in a multitude of directions. Hollow essentially said to not pick the most powerful sounding class, but one with versatility. And I agreed completely. 

Considering that I’m going to be by myself for a while, I need to handle whatever comes my way. If I picked a class that gave abilities related to being a cook, I could probably make some food in the wilderness, but I’d be dead the instant a monster shows up. And they weren’t something I could take lightly. 

The threat of monsters was so high, at least in Hollow’s time, that I needed to prepare to encounter a beast the moment I left, and maybe even fight for my life. But I had another problem adding to that. I had no weapons at my disposal. Hollow would've left some, but they ‘apparently’ wouldn’t be better than scrap if left for too long, since longevity enchantments only worked on softer materials, like the supplies and furniture left behind. He wrote more on it, but it was getting too difficult to understand everything, hence, why I stopped. 

Regardless, the main point was whatever class I chose will need some offensive capability, but not purely offensive, as it may limit my ability to survive other situations. 

Now, all this made some sense, but what doesn’t is the class itself. What I’m learning is that it somehow magically gave you power, powers that may or may not rely on mana depending on the class and what abilities it gave. And that’s it. No magical person giving his power to aid us or some evil mastermind controlling things behind the scene. It just happens, and this is how life works. No different from walking or running for the regular person. 

All quite ridiculous that everyone just accepts this. It doesn’t seem natural, but it’s apparently the way of the world and I ain’t having it. Regardless, I’ll make sense of this later. If I question everything, I’ll get nowhere and die due to hunger or some lucky monster gets a free piece of meat named Ayla. 

With the crazy thoughts floating in my head, I focused on my class selection. It wasn’t something visually obvious, but one all within the mind. Apparently, I just think about it…. A message popped into my head, cutting off any other thoughts one could have. 

Shall mana bestow a class? 

The words took over my thoughts, aggressive enough to cause confusion. Regaining my thoughts, I said. “No, no, no and no! I am not ready for this. You can’t just take over my thoughts!” My throat burned, but I didn’t care. Unfortunately, the only effect was seeing an off-kilter girl glaring in the empty room. 

Realizing my thoughts fell on daft ears, I attempted to compose myself. Let’s think about this calmly. The words just transferred right into my head, like someone placed them. How is this even possible? The thoughts passed for a second before I came to a solution. 

Whatever, I’m crazy and everyone else is crazy, so effectively everything is normal.

Using my unflawed deduction prowess and coming to terms with the magical words in my head, I prepared myself for the stack of books on the dresser. 

Every piece of information is valuable, especially with the world above probably being different in ‘who knows what ways’ after a few years.

I took a second to soak it in again. Man, this is going to be a habit if I can’t get with it. Why fight it if I can just go with it? Less stress, less thinking, and fewer problems for me to deal with. A win-win-win as I consider it. 

Before hunkering down and finishing the rest of the books, I made my way over to the dust covered box next to the dresser. Learning from my mistakes, I slowly brushed off the dust, watching it drop to the ground. The same inscribed shape of a slithering snake lies on the top. I grabbed either side of the lid and slowly lifted it. Looking inside, there were around thirty packet-like things and what looked to be my savior, a water hide.

I almost strangled the water hide as my fingers flexed. Chugging down the whole thing in one go. 

Water drips from my lip as my desperation shows. “Ahhhhhh, so much better. YES!” The burning sensation almost disappeared in one go. “Just so good! Water just feels so good! Yes!” I basked in my excitement for a little longer than I should have.

Lifting one up one of the packets revealed a mushy inside felt through a paper like texture. Turning around the packet reveals a word, ‘Rations.’ “Pretty straightforward.” I placed it back into the box and prepared myself. 

Only one way this is going to get done.

---

 

I sharply closed the last book. It’s now been a week since I woke up, feeding off the rations from the crate, doing some light movements to ease the soreness of my long slumber, and reading all the prepared books from the dresser. 

Of all the books, only the first one from the table had any mention of the situation I found myself in. Might want to destroy the book to protect my secret, But I kinda want to keep it. It’s the only thing that tells me who I am and, to an extent, the only memories of Hollow I have. The book also had some weird things going on with it. 

No enchantments engraved into the top like the dresser and box, yet it still stands without fading like the picture frame of Hollow. The last page from the book doesn’t contain any words, but a picture of the double crescent moon, identical to the one on the cover. He said nothing about it, but there’s definitely something to it. But that’s beyond me for now. 

The first ‘generic’ book was ‘An Overview of the World.’ Going over the structure of the 3 kingdoms of his time and what laid beyond their borders, or rather, what little they knew. Mostly being bits and bobs from the few exploring parties that dared to venture beyond the known borders. 

As for why venturing beyond the borders was dangerous, well, that's because of the monsters, beasts, extremely large animals, and a multitude of other things that could kill you. They roamed in the forests, mountain ranges, and vast seas surrounding the kingdoms.

Their power was beyond anything anyone could muster, and essentially blocked our understanding of what was beyond the borders. The kingdoms went through a difficult time, losing thousands of soldiers at every attempt, and eventually, the kingdoms stopped trying to explore. 

They could gain more by pointing their blades at each other.

The main reason to talk about this was my particular location underground. On the eastern edge of the kingdom's land, right next to the monster infested area. 

I should still be near the Gyor Kingdom, but time may have changed that, depending on how long my ‘coma’ was. And the reason for being here in the first place? The mana density. 

Mana was the lifeblood of the word, pulled from beyond the physical plane of existence. It all sounded like ‘mumbo-jumbo’ to me, but here I am, in a box, who knows how far underground. 

But one point in all this madness actually made sense, Hollow said to keep out of the spotlight until I could defend myself, especially from anyone with official or unofficial power inside a Kingdom. 

The main book on the table finished up by covering lots of examples of how the ‘Time’ factor represented itself when mana and the world offered a class. In his observations, classes that included this mentioned things like; Ancient, archaic, matured, decrepit, etc. 

He also mentioned types of classes that were not accepted in the public eye, ones that could become problematic, or things that were too flashy or eye-catching. Regardless of those downsides, he didn’t want a decision to be restricted by such factors. 

So he prepared a ring and cloak. They didn’t have official names to hide their power, but it solved the problem, able to disguise myself from scrying attacks. 

Once one was graced by mana and offered a class, it fused with the soul, and became something that others could identify. But the ring and cloak blocked such attempts or gave false information of one's choosing, something I somehow thought to be more crazy than everything else happening. 

It was just… so foreign, everything being unfamiliar, but I didn’t have a choice, well… I DID have a choice, but that was before.. You know, being locked in a box… Far underground. 

Regardless, both did the same thing, just in case something went wrong or one could act as a distraction for the other. He didn’t say how rare these things were, but from how he said it, I doubted it was ‘safe’ to show off. Regardless, I’m thankful.

The black ring also had a single engraving that of the two crescent moons. “And this just about confirms it. Something was definitely up with that symbol.” Touching it, I felt the warmth sucked from my fingers. “Ehhh, not sure what it’s made of, but it’s kinda creepy. Definitely metal of some sort.”

Reaching for it again, I inserted it onto my right hand, middle finger. The icy feeling of the metal ring returned as the temperature equalizes to that of my finger. “I was kinda expecting something to happen.”

This was still pretty crazy when I thought about it. I’ve been sleeping in a box underground for a long while in order to gain a unique class. And I remembered nothing, so I only have myself to understand, so I’m bound to misunderstand something and go through a lot of unnecessary troubles. 

“But you know what, if the world has a screw loose, I’ll just need to loosen some of my own.” With that, my commitment to the crazy world formed in my mind. Albeit held together a bit more loosely than I otherwise would’ve liked.

Besides the ring and cloak, the crates also included some cleaning scrolls, simply ripping them activated an embedded ability. It’s apparently used by professional cleaners to rid a room of dirt and dust. Not sure how embedding an ability into the scroll works, but thank mana. 

The room was SO MUCH better now, the mold, GONE! FOREVER! And I can actually see the vibrant wood grain with the smell of a freshly cut piece of wood. Didn’t know how that was possible, but I’m all for a crazy world if this is what it offers. The crate also came with a teleportation scroll to leave this bunker, leaving the same way I arrived. 

“Ahhhhhh.” Don’t have a choice now, but I’m going with it. I could even die the second I leave, as Hollow constantly reminded me. 

The clouded thoughts aside, let’s get this over with, I’ve already prepared as much as I can. The instructions were simple: lay down and ‘wish’ it to happen, just like I did before. That was it. Seemed too simple, but I went with it. With the soft dust-free sheets beneath me, I focused. 

Shall mana bestow a class? 

I wish to select a class, one to bond with. 

My senses and body awareness vanished as if they had never existed. Not anywhere or anyplace, just my own thoughts to the nothingness. The lack of anything should leave one quite concerned, but it felt... oddly comforting, like a warm blanket. Everything disappeared and just basked in nothingness. 

After a second of comfort, a realization dawned on me, a purpose behind my visit, as my mind returned to the forefront. I’m reminded of my purpose, to select a class. And the words flowed in not a second later.