Reborn

Solaris Clan Academy, Tarot Apprentice Class

Over 30 students are crowding around the classroom eager to find out who will be teaching them today. The students are a bunch of Tarot Apprentices that haven't awaken their Arcana Decks yet. A chorus of voices flows over the whole classroom getting louder each second.

"QUIET!"

"Get into your seat troublemakers, I'm going over Tarot Masters today. So if you miss anything it will be on yourself."

The voice came from a middle-aged man. He had dark green eyes and a scar across his left one. He had bulging muscles, and made it seem like every step he took the earth would quiver right after. A scruffy beard hung over his chin and a savage look etched onto his face.

"GAH the muscle brained Dajal is here!"

"Hey, I heard Dajal recently became a Rank-3 Iron Tarot Master."

"Rank 3! Really? That's amazing, the strongest person in our clan is a Rank-4 Bronze Tarot Master, which is the clan master."

A few students were discussing softly among themselves.

"Hmph, brats everywhere."

As an Iron Tarot Master, he wouldn't normally come here to teach. He only agreed to because he was the one that was overseeing their awakening 5 days from now.

"Tarot Masters have 6 different ranks from 1-6 Wood, Coal, Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Well with you pipsqueaks it would be a dream if you could even reach Gold before you die of old age."

"Anyways a Tarot Master is a truly noble existence. We are blessed by the Arcanas and have the power to stand above all other professions in this world. Always remember being a summoner is of utmost importance. Your future is decided by your talent. As Tarot Masters, you would have the ability to capture and summon monsters from your Arcana Deck."

"Summon, Golden Blood Bull!"

Suddenly, Dajal's right hand started glowing a bright yellow. A wave a heat rushed from his the palm of his hands and spread outwards the rest of the classroom. Slowly an enormous bull covered with golden-red scales of snakeskin and eerie blood-red eyes materialized from the light.

"This is the Golden Blood Bull, an Iron rank monster known for its astounding endurance and power. The Bull was my Tarot Guardian and has been with me ever since it was only a Wood rank monster, Iron Bull. It has evolved to where it is today due to the grace of the clan feeding its materials from the clan treasury. In the future when you awaken your Tarot Guardian will be the most important because it will grow alongside you."

"Tarot Guardians are very special monsters. They would never die nor betray their master. They are the only monsters that won't die when killed but requires time to recover from the damages that it has accumulated. Normal summons, on the other hand, will die when they receive more damage than their limit allows. So remember don't be stubborn when your losing, it is better to lose a duel than to lose a trained monster."

"But Teacher Dajal isn't it more shameful losing to an enemy than to lose your monster isn't this what my dad has taught me before. We could always just replace it with a new and better monster."

A boy raised his hand and shouted at the same time. He had a smug smile on his face and an arrogant ego plastered all over his forehead.

"That is a mindset of a bad Tarot Master, if you treat your monsters with that amount of respect then in the future your other monsters won't ever listen to you. You have to remember the conduct of a Master is also determined by his monster, without your monster you are no different than a sitting duck."

Dajal shot back a response without turning to look at the troublemaker in the front. The boy had a sheepish look on his face and slowly sat down while hanging his head low.

"Anyways when you awaken and become Tarot Masters you will also awaken your Tarot Guardian, an Attribute, and an Armament. An attribute is very important for a Tarot Master's development and how fast you advance. It also determines what path you will be taking in your future. For example, my attribute is [Bright Strength]."

Dajal's deck appeared once more in front of the students and started glowing in a bright golden color.

"[Bright Strength] allows me to enhance my strength to match any of the 'XIX Sun' arcana monsters that I own in my Arcana Deck." So right now I have as much strength and endurance as the Golden Blood Bull that I own."

He then proceeds to throw a punch towards the class. A surge of heat and wind whistled from his fist and poured towards every student in the class. Everyone braced themselves from the torrent of hot wind, feeling that at any moment they would be lifted from their chairs and flying with the wind. Papers flailing through the air like autumn leaves in a roaring tornado. Then as sudden as the wind appeared it was gone, disappeared into thin air.

"That is the power of my [Bright Strength]."

"WOW!"

"Amazing!"

"Teacher Dajal is so strong!"

A clamoring of praises came from the student in the class, with each a look of excitement and desire on the tips of their eyes. Each child whispered to themselves 'one day I will be like that' or 'with that much strength no one can oppose me'.

In the back of the classroom, a kid was lying sprawled all over the ground due to not defending himself against the wind of Dajal's punch. William was in a trance as his soul floated around. His eyes suddenly shot open, only to stare at the ceiling in front of him with confusion.

"Where am I?" William quietly asked himself.

Then slowly excitement started to fill his face, he looked down and realized that his hands became smaller and his skin became a lot more tender. Finding his bearings he stood up and scanned the scene in front of him.

'This was when Dajal was showing his strength to the class. This means that this is five days before my awakening!'

A smirk appeared on his lips. He started brainstorming his next move. With all these memories and experiences, he had undeniably grasped the overall situation and upcoming opportunities. With good planning and execution, he could empower and take advantage of the situation.

'The main problem right now is that I haven't awakened my Arcana Deck yet, I'm still too weak to make any drastic movements, for now, I'm still just a villager. I need to advance quickly so I can seize the opportunities will happen in the future. For now, I still need the clan to protect and nurture myself. The clan has the best resources to nurture me from a Rank-1 Wood Tarot Master to a Rank-3 Iron Tarot Master.'

A thought suddenly struck William's mind,

'That's right that event happens in four days I can use that to advance faster. It will be a gamble, but if it works then nothing will stop me from reaching Rank-3 Iron Tarot Master. If my timing is right then my strength will receive a boost and it will benefit me in the awakening.'

"Hey, William are you ok you seem out of it."

William turned his head towards the voice to his left. A strange glint flashed across his eyes for a moment but disappeared quickly. The person who spoke to him was a young man with blond autumn hair and had a sort of hen-pecked look. His shoulders hunched together like he was trying to disappear inside himself. Even his dark eyes seemed to be attempting to retreat inside his head.

William plastered a friendly smile on his face. "Yea I'm all good Gibby, look teacher Dajal is about to explain Armaments we should pay attention."

He looked at William unsurely for a second but proceeds to turn towards the teacher in fear of missing any details for his awakening.

It seemed like a lot of time has passed in William's mind, but in reality, only 3 seconds have passed so far.

"Next onto Armaments, they are vital for every aspiring Tarot Master out there. Without a great understanding of your Armament, or a lack of control over your Armament you will never become a great Tarot Master. Armaments are weapons that manifest from your ideals and philosophy in life. if you believe that the best offense is defense than your Armament would be a shield. If you believe that you need extra reach to attack your enemies, then it becomes a spear. Just remember each Armament comes with one ability. Remember when you shape your weapon in the awakening you only have one chance, there will be no do-overs."

Dajal took a pause, rethinking to see if he forgot about anything else. He scratched at his beard and look back towards the students.

"Well, only two final advice for all of you. First advice other than the normal monster cards, there is also another type of card known as magic cards. These cards instead of containing your usual monsters have various unique and wonderous abilities. For example take a look at this magic card the clan provides."

Dajal pulled out a card from his deck and slowly moved it from left to right to show the class. The card had a unique design to it. Various golden chains appeared across the card in various angles, some came from the top to bottom others cam from the sides.

"This magic card is called [Heat chains]. It immobilizes a target of your choice in scaling chains for as long as your energy can hold. Every magic card is only as strong as its owner, without sufficient control over your magic it will just go haywire."

"My last advice for this class before you go off and get ready for the next five days is limit. Remember everyone who is a Tarot Master can only hold 10 cards in their decks at a time. Tarot Guardian does not count towards your total of 10 due to it residing within you and not your deck. Everyone is the same in this aspect, so decide carefully what you wish to put in your deck."

"Alright, the class is now over, all of you go and take a five-day break and get yourself ready for the awakening."

Clamoring sounds of chairs shifting echoed throughout the classroom. All the students stood up with different emotions on their face, some were excited, others were nervous. But every student started rushing out of the class.

"William meet me before you leave," Dajal called from the front of the class.

William slowly walked towards the front of the class as everyone else shuffled out. when he reached dajal it was only the two of them.

"Did you need something Teacher?"

"Yes I will be leaving for Five days and won't be returning to the clan until the awakening ceremony, I just wanted to let you know. Since I won't be at home remember to take care of the house for me. I know you just lost your parents in the last monster hoard, but remember that I am here to take care of you. Remember to prepare yourself for the ceremony in five days I don't want you slacking of like you were earlier you hear. No more sleeping in class."

"Yes sir" William replied after a slight pause.

"Alright take care of yourself kiddo I'm leaving now, don't cause any trouble for the clan."

With that said, Dajal turned around and started walking towards the door. He then turned and gave William one last look and proceeded to leave.

"Don't worry I will take care of your house, after all, I still need you for my plan in four days," William whispered.

If Dajal was to turn around and go back into the classroom he would see William eerie smile and a playful glint in his eyes. The door slowly closes and darkness fills the room.

"Well since you want to play with me Norman, it's time to play for higher stakes."