“Now, I, Holy Lord Meruria, call upon the crystals of our destiny! Come forth! Allow these souls to take shape, becoming power to deliver death in the hearts of our enemies!” At her command, a series of lights enveloped our bodies. It grew and morphed, twisting and turning like it was trying to escape with something in tow.  

After a few seconds, we all stared at our respective colorless basketball-sized crystals. Each one was the exact same in terms of appearance. Damon was hasty in trying to touch his, but Meruria glared at him, coldly stating that he had to wait his turn. Her intense tone was enough for him to freeze in place, and a moment later, his arms were down by his side. 

Did she do something else? Or is he just afraid of her? 

“When you open it, you will be given skills that most accordingly match your soul’s reflection. That may be foreign, but I will explain it all in due time. Please give an introduction before you open your crystal so that I may get to know my warriors a little bit more.  

Tokko was up first. After explaining that he was a champion in boxing and fencing, two sports that existed in this world, he touched his crystal and watched as rainbow energy filled the room. Then it all condensed into stars...but there were six of them. They collected above Tokko, slammed into each other, and sprinkled dust upon his body.  

“Tokko!! Do you know what this means? You… A 6-Star Soul hasn’t been seen in hundreds—no, thousands of years!!! I... I thought they were a myth… I… I cannot even begin to describe my happiness!!!” Meruria looked like a fan girl who had met her favorite singer. She felt way more relaxed and approachable in this casual state. 

Mia whispered sweet words meant to induce jealousy within the Holy Lord, but it didn’t seem to work. Damon and Shiku walked over, slapping their king on the shoulder. “You’re the man, man! Hey, Mia, if I have a 6-Star Soul, let me hug your tits.” Mia scowled and flipped the perverted Damon the bird. His harem gave him the stink eye and frowned. 

“Good work, Tokko. You’re always the best, aren’t you?” Shiku wasn’t alone in complimenting Tokko. Since he had apparently broken yet another limit, it made sense for everyone to clamor around him. Well, all except Quella, Ms. Mary, and myself. Will, Greggie, and Keeth were torn, I think. The way Tokko waved off Damon’s violent assault against me probably soured any excitement they might have had. Maybe they thought making any sort of exclamation of support was like cheering for the enemy? But they didn’t have that wariness when they listened to his speech. 

Whatever... I guess if it makes them feel better, then they should go ahead and praise Tokko. Sticking with him might be the best way of getting back to our world... I wouldn’t blame them... 

After a quick cough from Meruria, the rowdy students quickly lined back up. 

“You, the girl with her body on full display like some sort of tramp of the night. Get on with it.” 

Mia scowled at the unflattering description and introduced herself. Her accomplishments included having an offer of employment at NASA and a letter inviting her to train with our country’s Olympic squad because she was a master archer. Meruria found much excitement after realizing that NASA’s goal was space exploration. She couldn’t believe human technology had advanced so far in the world we came from.  

When she touched her crystal, six stars came out. 

“Mia, do you know what this means?!?!! This… This is a joyous day!!! I take back my previous words of calling you a tramp! You’re amazing! You’re incredible!!!!” Meruria threw her hands up and hopped around like an excited puppy, her breasts bouncing all over the place. 

That got me thinking… Just what kind of person was Meruria? She claimed to be a Holy Lord, yet she didn’t seem to care that we saw half of her chest. I didn’t think she was an exhibitionist. I also couldn’t tell if she was friendly or not because she tended to drastically change the tone of her voice at the drop of a hat. She wasn’t a fan of Mia’s outfit, yet she apologized after realizing she was a 6-Star. Would Meruria have similar things to say about Lori’s and Elly’s risqué outfits? 

But didn’t that make her a hypocrite? Judging from her own words, Meruria was dressed like a streetwalker with the amount of skin on display. It was like her dress was made with the sole intention of enhancing her body’s natural beauty. The white veil supported her curves rather than hiding them behind a wall. What reason would she do that if not to persuade ogling pairs of eyes to stare at her 'rich' body? She couldn’t have been trying to steal Tokko from Mia, right? Would a Holy Lord feel jealously towards her summoned subjects? 

Natural beauty? Rich body? Stop... Stop putting thoughts inside my head! 

After calming herself, Meruria told Shiku to go ahead. He was a 4-Star. After explaining that he knew karate and aikido, Meruria wanted him to spar with a guard, and the armored man found himself being flipped over upside down in the first few seconds. 

Damon was next. He practiced wrestling, and he was also a 4-Star. After him, it was a steady stream of 3-Stars and 2-Stars until it came to Lori and Ann. Those two went at the same time to reveal a pair of 5-Stars. Meruria was all smiles when she learned that Lori and Ann were unmatched in the spear and katana. She was so happy she summoned a spear and sword and promptly handed them to the twins. Both were wooden, but that didn’t matter.  

“Sister, this weapon is wonderful,” Lori said when thrusting her spear. She pulled it back in and flourished it around her body before performing a vertical slice.  

“Agreed, sister.” Ann examined the blade and cut the air three times in rapid succession. The sharpness of her swordplay amazed Meruria, whose smile had grown even larger. Her eyes became wide, filled with affection at her third and fourth strongest warriors. “Sister, I think I love this weapon. Am I correct in my thinking?” Ann asked. 

“Yes, sister. I feel the same,” Lori replied. She returned the spear to her side, allowing its butt to rest on the floor. Ann did something similar, except she just held her katana by her side since she didn’t have a sheath. 

Elly, a 3-Star, was next. After explaining she was an idol, she sang a little upbeat song that originated from a cartoon. Meruria listened to the rapid lyrics intertwined with a soft voice, but she didn’t smile. 

When it came to Elly’s cousin, Ami was still perpetually smiling as three stars birthed from her crystal. She was a luchadora in Mexico before leaving to meet with Elly. She smiled so brightly at Meruria that even her icy heart had to feel it. She just stared at the bronzed-skinned girl, never allowing whatever she felt to show up on her face. 

Quella was next. She listed her notable academic accomplishments, like managing to edge out Tokko to take the top spot in the national exams, before being rained down with five rainbow stars. Interestingly enough, Meruria explained that Quella had the innate capabilities to be a strikingly powerful mage.  

Ms. Mary followed. Meruria didn’t have any words for her, and after seeing the three stars, just went on to Will. He was a researcher of mathematics and explained how physics and math were closely related in sending rocket ships to space. He was well known in his field since his discoveries had advanced the world of math by at least a decade. Meruria found that acceptable, I suppose, even overlooking the two stars that came out from his Soul Crystal. 

Greggie spoke with a proud tone when he exclaimed that he loved to cook. Meruria gave her approval when he said he was good enough to prepare meals for the presidents that presided over countries in our old world. Four stars popped out of his crystal, and Meruria curled her palm and rubbed Greggie’s cheek. “When the time is right, I shall see if you can back up your claims. Do not disappoint me, my warrior.” 

Keeth was next. His effort to remove himself from existence didn’t work. Meruria’s yellow eyes pierced through his very soul until the discomfort was too much. “Keeth...is my name,” he whispered in a scratchy voice. It took him a while to explain the idea of using models to formulate a visual representation of what you wanted to build. Meruria didn’t buy it at all, and she scoffed at his 3-Star Soul.   

And then, I guess, it was my turn. Without even knowing it, a small smile formed on my face. These hazel eyes of mine were awaiting Meruria’s order to touch the crystal. She stopped and stared at my face, then offered her apologies for how long I had to wait. To my surprise, however, she didn’t even ask me my name. 

“I command you to open your crystal and grasp the power within!” Meruria spoke with a powerful tone, one that was full of force and determination. The entire class fell victim to it, causing all of them to stare at her and the person she stood in front of. It was uncomfortable to be the center of attention for a second time that day, but I shrugged it off. 

Is it fine…if I’m looking forward to it? 

I placed my right palm on the floating crystal in front of me...and it simply fizzled like a balloon after very vaguely altering itself into a gun-shaped object. There were no stars. There was no smoke. There was no pomp and circumstance. 

In every other crystal, there had been at least one star. 

Nope. Not for me.  

New Skill: [Soul Armatization] 

New Title: [Soul Warrior] 

Some mysterious words detailing a new skill and title, whatever that meant, appeared in the bottom left of my vision. I saw my name, level, and a green and blue bar on the top left.  

Meruria clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention and said we had to discuss what happened to me. In essence, I had a 0-Star Soul. The consequences of that? I would never grow even the tiniest fraction stronger, and I would always remain as I was. According to her, I was unable to acquire SP from leveling up, and I couldn’t learn any skill, technique, spell, or ability. 

For a fraction of a second, there was an object shaped like a gun in my crystal. Soul Warriors were given a skill called [Soul Armatization].  Leveling this would eventually grant you a Soul Weapon, a weapon that best reflected your inner desires. This weapon would grow with you, changing forms and forever evolving. The weapon was foreshadowed in your crystal, but it was often hidden because of the smoke and stars.   

 I supposed it was somewhat ironic that I was being shown something I could never obtain... 

Then again, even if the opposite was true, Meruria claimed that firearms were rarely used since bows were quieter, had easier-to-craft ammo, and did not require as many working parts. And bows didn’t require firesalts to make bullets, which, while not exactly rare, often had a strong smell, which was something you wanted to avoid.  

“Bwhahahah!!!!” Damon laughed. Meruria joined in, covering her hand with her mouth while glaring at me like I was trash... What could I have done? Fought back? Shout at them? Doing any of those things would just make it worse...but I still wasn’t angry. Unhappy? Sure, anyone would have, but the desire to retaliate was simply foreign to me. 

I’ll be alright. I know I can take it. I’ve been doing that all my life, but with Keeth, Will, and Greggie...  I could make something worthwhile of my time here, right? Even someone like me has had thoughts about doing it all over again, correcting mistakes as I lived my life a second time. I have the chance now, right? To be a better me... 

After a few seconds, Meruria started explaining the user interface. I saw my name and other stuff in the top left of my vision. The green bar was for my health. When it became empty, I’d die. The blue represented my mana pool, so using spells would subtract from it. Running out wouldn’t kill you, but you’d feel sluggish. If I had any party members or slaves, their info would be below mine. Then we were all ordered to focus on our name, which opened the Status Menu. 

Shuuta Fenton 

Human 

Lv. 1 

SP: 0 

Title: Soul Warrior 

Sub-Title: N/A 

Skill Menu [+] 

Meruria explained that this world had something called a leveling system. The cap was 99, but upon breaking through your limits, it increased to 199. SP was used to purchase or upgrade skills, which included weapon skills like [One-Handed Sword] or a general crafting skill like [Blacksmith]. But it was possible to manually obtain a skill through hard work and determination, which allowed people to grow after reaching either of the level caps. Skill Orbs existed as rare items. Using one would grant the user the skill contained at no cost. 

“But wait... Where are the stats?” asked Shiku. 

“Stats?” Meruria questionably replied. 

“Yeah, if we have levels, we gotta have stats. Stuff like our strength, endurance, intelligence? You know, stats.” 

“Hmm... Around 150 years ago, a group of warriors I summoned introduced me to something called ‘tabletop RPGs.’ If I recall, there were these... ‘attributes’ you could give your player character. It was fun watching the number grow until you were powerful enough to defeat the evil dragons. But that only applies to the imagination. In this world, you just have your level, SP, title, sub-title, and skills.” 

‘Then how do we get stronger?” asked Tokko. 

“Skills are distinctively divided into three categories. Physical, magical, and dexterous. [Leap Smash] is a physical skill. Learning and leveling it will allow you to hit harder and take more damage while increasing your health. [Fire Magic] is magical. Increasing that will cause your spells to strike harder, you'll take less damage from spells, and your mana pool will increase.  [Deadeye] is a dexterous skill that makes it easier to aim ranged weaponry, so this will increase your damage with those while also helping you run just a bit faster and jump a bit farther.” But growing stronger didn’t involve just learning and leveling skills. Killing monsters with magic would improve your magical abilities, and leveling up didn’t just give you SP. Basically, everything you did made you stronger. It was just that some things helped more than others.  

As an aside to that, the amount of SP given with each level up varies, but Soul Warriors worked around that because their souls added a certain amount. A 6-Star Soul, for example, would guarantee at least 7 SP per level up as a minimum, and a max of 16, since you gained anywhere from 1 to 10 SP with a level up. 

My 0-Star curse meant I was at the very bottom, and I wouldn’t improve in any way. Fighting would do nothing, I couldn’t get SP to even learn skills, and while it was possible to learn and level skills without SP through hard work to manually acquire them, that was also impossible for me.  

As for the skills? I only had [Soul Armatization], while everyone else had more. I remained alone and stared at proof of my failure until Meruria mentioned she would speak about the title system later, only briefly mentioning that we unlocked the sub-title system by default.  

“Now, I need you to listen to me! I thank you for being patient as I explained everything, but now it is time to start your training! I want you to all follow me as we go to our next location!” Meruria clapped her hands three times and walked towards a pair of silver doors that I had failed to notice. It was on the wall opposite of the mural. As always, I waited a few seconds to take my rightful place at the back of the pack so I could be alone with my thoughts. Tokko and Mia, though, were standing right beside Meruria. 

“Shuuta?” A caring voice broke my concentration, and I looked up to see Quella staring at me with a pitying smile. I wanted to say something, but Meruria suddenly appeared in front of me even though she was supposed to be at the front of the group. She did not hold back her words as she berated me for ‘disturbing the peace.’ As quickly as Meruria appeared, she vanished in another flash of white light. The only thing I could think of was that she teleported from the front just to talk down to me. Quella was the one who spoke, but I was punished for it. She seemed sad and tried to convey something with a facial expression, but I just shook my head and sighed.  

I’ve endured such treatment all my life, so why should it be any different now?