The dark mana that was floating around the room stilled, hearing my call to gather. For a moment, the specks of dark mana resembled the stars that were visible at night, my [Dark sight] passive skill making them visible to me. A moment later, the little orbs flew at me and entered my body by piercing my skin painlessly. They followed my veins and entered the small thin mana streams that my [Dark Form] had created, only this time the streams of mana all gathered near the centre of my chest. They were about to fill the empty void that my destroyed core had left behind.

The mana spiralled in from all directions and gathered into small rings, which attached to one another to form a chain of black circles. Once the chain was finished, the circles became bigger and bigger until they melded into one another. It reminded me a little of the woven baskets that I would see in the market stalls, sometimes.

Once one large ring had been formed, it expanded horizontally, forming a small bland marble, that looked almost exactly the same as my tier 1 [Simple dark core]. I was about to be disappointed when a second wave of mana appeared in my surroundings. Only this time, I couldn't actually see the mana with my [Dark sight]. The only reason that I was noticing a difference, was because my unfinished core was drawing in something and creating dark mana from it. I supposed this was because of its ability to absorb outside mana and turn it into dark mana. Not much mana was created, yet it still made up about 10% of my total mana input at the moment. A single thousandth of all the ambient mana made up for 10%? That meant that there were many different mana types that were hidden from me until now. It made sense though. Even in this small, dark room, earth mana would be prevalent, not to mention any more specialised mana types.

The second wave didn't create any drastic changes, but covered my small ebony core. As the core was nearing completion, it started spinning. All of the mana in my surroundings and my body gathered one final time into the centre of my body, spinning rapidly as the core compressed itself further and further.

 

A few seconds later, it was over. I could feel mana coursing through my body again, originating from my core. My [Dark Form] was greedily appropriating any mana introduced into my body and recreating its small streams, which quickly became bigger and bigger.

My core was now no longer a pure black colour. It looked like a gemstone that was shining in many colours, instead, though black was still the encompassing theme. Despite its mana absorption being ridiculously high, the core itself was actually very small, as big as a dress-shirt button.

I sat still for about half an hour, waiting patiently as my dark form passive charged itself up. It would prevent mana inside of my body from dissipating or being expelled through skill usage, so as long as I charged it up once, it would become permanent, unless my mana was poisoned again.

In the end, the small streams had become raging rivers, forming a connecting loop throughout my entire body. My augment was returned to full power, and I felt as strong as I had ever felt without overloading.

Speaking of overloading, was that still possible? I imagined so, a smaller core and no augment to slowly charge up would simply mean that I could start overloading more quickly! Perhaps the most overpowered trait of my unique skill was the fact that it became immune to overloading damage, which eliminated a large part of the risk of overloading in the first place. Now, if I could just get a skill that made my body immune to it too.

Humming in satisfaction, I opened my stat screen to take a final look.

 

 

I still had some free stat points left and decided to invest into my wisdom before tiering up, raising it 58. My hope was that it would slightly increase my chances of not getting a mental skill. I could use all the extra protection I could get.

 

With some of the skills gone, my stat screen looked a little tidier. I doubted that would be the case for long, however, since I was about to tier up.

I decided to think about everything that I had done that would play a role in my class evolution. I had a tier 5 skill and two tier 3 skills. The rest of my skills were all tier 2, including my milestone skills. I had reached 100 in all of my physical stats and 58 and 25 in wisdom and intelligence respectively. That should prevent my class from becoming a caster-class. I had overloaded numerous times to overpower strong enemies and defeated multiple enemies above my tier in the process. On top of that, I had a unique skill, which was probably not common.

 

For a moment, I wondered why the guild master had even given me such a valuable item? Did he want something from me in return? Was I about to become a political chess piece? I dismissed that thought. The guild had done a lot for me, including saving my core. I wouldn't just turn my back on them in the future. Unless they asked me to do something outside of my morals, I would do it without question.

For now, though, I had to focus on my class evolution. Apparently, these things could take several hours. Did the system just take several hours to calibrate your new class? Weird.

Still, there was no point in hesitating further. I opened a previous system notification.

 

 

I focussed on the notification and mentally confirmed my decision. As always, the system noticed my affirmation and commenced the class evolution.

Ding! Class evolution initiated....confirming background....noting behaviour....noting status....calibrating....

Ding! Commencing evolution!

Before I could read another message, I blacked out. I could just barely feel the back of my head hit the cold, hard floor of the room.

 

---

 

I was running through an empty forest, along a familiar trail. My little legs failed me sometimes, making me trip over a tree root. In the future, I would get better at that. Just a little more, and I would be home.

"Art! Get inside! A storm is brewing!"

That was mom! She always called me inside when it was going to rain, it didn't even have to be a storm. Still, there was no reason to refuse, since dinner would be ready soon.

As I hurried inside, my mother picked me up and gave me a firm hug, twirling me around in the process. My parents were awesome. They gave the best hugs out of anyone I knew!

A little while later my dad came home. He gave me a hug too and asked if I'd been good. My mother replied from the kitchen.

"Oh, he's definitely been good, haven't you Arthur?"

"Yes, I have. I trained the entire day! I only stopped to play a few times with the other kids! Mart and Ben always catch me in tag though. I don't think I'm very good at it."

My dad smiled at that.

"Well, that's great, son. Training is good for your future. Don't stop yourself from playing though. Playing is its own form of training after all!"

I nodded enthusiastically. Training wasn't really fun, but my uncle trusted me to do well! Still, it could wait a bit, since playing was also important, like dad said. Who would Mart and Ben play with if all I did was train?

 

---

 

I was running through an empty forest, along a familiar trail. These days, I had grown big enough to hike along this path comfortably. The big stone I was carrying on my back kept me a little bit off-balance, but it was a good way to keep my day-to-day training interesting. Just a little more and I would be done for the day. As I approached the village, a small girl with pigtails approached me. She was a little bit bigger than me, but that made sense, since Martha was nearly a year older than me as well. She came up to me and spoke.

"Hey, Art! Do you want to play tag? The peddler's son is in town, and we're doing a big game to welcome him."

I hummed for a moment. Tag was fun and all, but I didn't really have time. I still had to finish this repetition before I could even get started on my daily rock climbing.

"Sorry, Martha. I just don't have time today. Maybe next time?"

"Ugh, Art. You always say that these days. It's been weeks since you've played and I ask you every day."

I grimaced a little. Had it been that long?

"Sorry again, Martha. You know how busy I get."

She sighed and looked away.

"Forget it. Just talk to me when you have time to play, alright?"

I smiled widely.

"I will!"

 

A few hours later, I was passing by the house dragging a large log behind me, when I heard my mother's voice.

"Art! Get inside! A storm is brewing!"

It was just going to rain, but I didn't want to upset her, so I accepted. When I entered our little cottage, my mom picked me up with a heave and gave me a firm hug. Her warmth woke me up a little. I hugged her back, before sitting down to eat. A bit later, my dad arrived.

"How did your day go, Arthur? Those friends of yours doing okay?"

"It went well. I think I'll be increasing the intensity of my training again soon."

My father hummed noncommittedly.

"And those friends of yours? Martha and Ben?"

Because I was eating quickly, I took a small pause to reply.

"Oh they're doing fine, I guess."

He looked back at me with a frown.

"You guess?"

I supposed he wasn't happy with my reply for some reason.

"Yeah, they looked fine."

My father looked like he was about to reply, but decided against it. Mother changed the subject and we continued our meal.

 

---

 

I was running through an empty forest, along a familiar trail. As I approached the village, I saw a young girl with pigtails standing at the entrance. Martha. I didn't want to stop my training to talk to her. These days, I needed to be as efficient as possible if I wanted to reach my goal. My body was starting to grow a lot bigger, which meant that the right training had to be completed for optimal results. Just a little more training. I just went back the way I came. I could always do my log pulling training after my rock climbing.

 

A few hours later, I had finished my exercise on schedule.

"Art! Get inside! A storm is brewing!"

Ah, my mother was calling me again. She did this regularly. It threw my schedule off, but dealing with her nagging afterward would slow me down even more. Sometimes you had to make small sacrifices to save time overall.

I entered our small cot and endured another one of her stifling hugs. She couldn't pick me up anymore, because I had grown too big. Reluctantly, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back. I had better things to be doing, but whatever. As long as she was happy, I was happy.

A little while later, my dad came home.

"Hi, wifey, hi Art. How did your day go?"

My mother replied.

"Oh, the usual. Art goes out to train and I do the household."

"Training going well, Art?"

"Oh yeah, dad. I think I might actually make 20 stat points in all of my physical stats by 18! I have another 6 years, so I should reach it if I work hard."

My dad smiled proudly.

"Good job, kid. I'm in awe of your determination. Just don't forget about living life every now and then, okay?"

I smiled back in response.

"Okay, I won't!"

As long as I was on schedule, none of that really mattered. I could catch up on all of that when I got my class!

 

---

 

I was running through an empty forest, along a familiar trail. This would be one of the last times. In a few weeks, we were moving to a nearby town. Mother and father wanted to open a bakery.

As I neared the village on my daily run, a young woman with pigtails approached me.

I didn't know her name. Was she new around here?

"Art, did you know about the summer dance next week? Want to be my partner for the dance? I'm warning you, many other boys have asked me out already..."

Now that I took a closer look at her face, she seemed oddly familiar. Still, I couldn't put my finger on it. Replying would waste time, so I just shook my head and kept running. She shouted something at me as I ran, but I couldn't make out what she had said. I had to focus on my running form, after all.

 

A few hours later, I passed by my home.

"Art! Get inside! A storm is brewing!"

There was no point going inside yet, it was just going to rain, so I continued my exercises. Just a little more training. I could eat afterwards. A few hours later still, I returned home to quickly eat my dinner. Afterward I could get back to my training.

When I entered, my mother tried to hug me. I ducked under her arms. What was the point in wasting time like that? I had never really understood why people did that.

I sat down and scarfed down my cold meal when my father sat down next to me and asked me something. I didn't bother engaging in conversation. It just wasn't the optimal decision. Surely he knew that? He grimaced and looked down at the table. He left me alone for the rest of the meal.

 

---

 

I was running through an empty forest, along an unfamiliar trail. The logs I was carrying behind me were digging into the dirt as I went. My exercises were going well. Just a little more.

I heard a call in the distance.

"Art! Get inside! A storm is brewing!"

My exercises were going well. Just a little more.

After my meal, someone asked me something. My dad, I think. I didn't have time to reply and left.

My exercises were going well. Just a little more.

 

---

 

I was running along a trail. There were logs behind me.

I heard a noise.

My exercises were going well. Just a little more.

 

---

 

I was running.

...

Just a little more.

 

---

 

The next day, I woke up. It was cold. I could feel the wind rushing past my ears. I opened my eyes and found myself lying on a familiar trail. Sleeping here was a great way to save time.

I looked around at the empty, white wasteland, not a single thing in sight.

The perfect place to train. Just a little more and I would be done.

...

Just a little more.

...

Just a little more.

...

Just a little more.

...

Just a little...

...

Just...

 

Wait a minute. This wasn't my home.

Where was everybody?

 

---

 

I woke up with a gasp on the stone floor of a dark room. I could feel cold sweat running down my back as I sat up. I could feel wetness on my cheeks. Tears?

What had that been? A dream? It hadn't been real. None of it was even remotely accurate. I was sure it wasn't.

Right?

My thoughts were interrupted by a system notification.

 

Ding! Class evolution complete!

Assigning class....[Overloading Death Knight]