Happy Birthday
Xavier's black eyes sparkled with a cold and murderous light as he stared down at the body sprawled on the bed. His lips were drawn into a light smile as a beautiful black blade traced down the side of Zane's neck to the cervical spine.
"So fragile." He uttered softly as he focused intently on the small beads of blood.
Thinking of the guards that centred around the room, protecting Zane on this very important day and thinking of their faces when they find their charge dead, he chuckled. It would be so much fun.
With that in mind, his smile grew even wider as he hummed softly.
He started to cut again, this time moving from the shoulders. His blade seemed to come alive as it moved adeptly on Zane's shoulder.
"Your brother, I don't ask for much, just tolerate him and if you will, take care of him." A slightly tired voice sounded unbridled in his mind and Xavier's blade came to a stop.
His face twisted into a struggling expression. He sighed, his fingers hesitating when to close the switchblade or not.
Deciding finally, he furrowed his eyebrows and closed the switchblade, "You are so troublesome." He slumped heavily on the bed as he played with the blade, throwing it up and catching it.
Lazy and bored black eyes slightly lifted up as the mana in the room gained momentum, it increased with time flowing into Zane's body.
It began to contrast and condense into a core. Didn't his brother say that he wants to choose a sniper class, If so why didn't the mana circulate around his body to strengthen it but rather started to form a core?
An amused tint could be seen in Xavier's pupils. "Little liar." He murmured almost affectionately as he played with his blade.
Another struggling expression appeared on his face and he sighed. He sat up and closed his eyes in concentration.
The mana vortex in the room spun even faster upon Xavier's control. It gained a larger momentum as it entered Zane's body, the mana core continued to increase in size as it solidified.
Beads of sweat appeared on Xavier's face as he slowly got and moved to the door, with a large grin he said, "Happy Birthday, big brother" and left like a ghost with no sign of his presence.
____
The staircase had no rails and was surrounded by endless fog. Zane looked down, he couldn't see the end. He glanced up and it was still the same, no end in sight.
The fable staircase everybody saw once they reached eighteen years old.
So many articles have been written about it and so many books have been published.
What is the essence? What is at the end of the staircase? Is it the OmniSystem that declared that Earth had joined the Interstellar Battle or Is it something else entirely? Maybe the being that controls the OmniSystem.
"System." He called out and he got no response. Sure enough, the tiger cub runs away when it meets the tiger.
He began to walk up the stairs slowly admiring the beautiful cut of stone as clear as a mirror beneath his feet.
As he started to climb the next flight of stairs, he saw her, a woman in a beautiful white dress with ribbons fluttering gently around her.
The woman's aura was that of a regal queen. Her sapphire hair flowed down like the clearest river. She was beauty incarnate.
Seeing Zane, she smiled warmly at him, "Happy Birthday, Wishing you a fruitful year."
"Thank you." Zane replied with a warm smile of his own.
"You must be very happy to be able to join the Interstellar Battle and fight for your planet."
"I am ecstatic." Zane replied immediately.
The woman smiled at him, "I would do my best to help. Choosing a main class is the first step, here are the classes I believe would be a good fit for you."
Zane looked at the panel that opened up before him.
Ice mage was on the Class on top of the list. There was no surprise there. This was the class his other self had chosen. However, that did not turn out well. His MP was not so high so he did not level up fast enough.
He glanced over to the options, Earth Mage, Wind Mage, Fiend Summoner, Sacred Servant, Fallen Shaman, Bald Warlock, Ghost Walker.
At this point, Zane could feel extreme chills running down his spine. What on earth are these classes? Most of them were all specialized mage pathways and he knew next to nothing about them. What price would be paid for such a class?
Bald Warlock, does the class function on a lack of hair on something? Maybe you can only use a skill if you are bald. Sacred Servant? Ghost Walker, how on earth did he fulfil the prerequisites for such a class? What would be required for such a class with an ominous name?
Another chill ran down his body and he swallowed involuntarily.
He removed his eyes not daring to look longer while he silently cursed the OmniSystem.
"What if the class I desire is not here?" He asked, looking at the woman.
Her brows furrowed before straightening and she replied with a smile, "You can use the Search button. However, if the aforementioned class did not appear on the panel, I would randomly choose a class for you as you have used up your choice."
Many ignorant and arrogant people have tried their luck leaving behind lessons for the rest. He moved, his fingers shaking slightly as he typed Arcane Scribe into the Search Page.
After a long second that felt like forever. The words, Arcane Scribe in beautiful italics appeared on the panel as a smile lit Zane's face up. He clicked it and the beautiful blue eyes of the woman turned oddly white.
"I have confirmed the class choice." She lifted her left hand and Zane rose to the air.
Zane could feel a cool energy entering his body, entering his organs and cells and transforming it.
As the energy popularly known as mana continued to be absorbed into his body, Zane could feel every single artery and cell in his body become stronger.
It made his body feel alive as the pleasurable sensation continued to invade him. Zane wanted more and more but the energy suddenly flowed around his body and started gathering at his lower stomach.
It was forming a mana core, Zane knew but reading it was different from experiencing it.
The energy continued to increase and Zane felt a slight fear that he might burst. The circulation in his stomach began faster and he grunted in pain. The mana gathered as it started to solidify, condense and form a core.
It was like he had taken off the ropes binding him. He felt light and refreshed.
An iron ore needed numerous revisions and tempering in order for it to take shape, so how could it be any different from the human body?
Zane's journey at this moment could be truly said to have begun.
A good while later, Zane slowly opened his eyes, he felt his strength had increased and his mental strength had grown by leaps and bounds.
"Congratulations! You have received a skill, ten attribute points, five skill points and a piece of armour as your birthday present. Use it well." The woman's eyes were filled with warmth as she smiled at him.
"Thank you." He said, his voice choking a little. It might be the same birthday present that everybody in the universe received but it was still his first birthday gift he has ever recieved.
"Thanks." He said again as he watched the woman fade away. He rubbed his hands in anticipation. He could finally say it.
"Status."
A status panel appeared before him.
Name: Zane Black Valois
Race: Human
Title: None
EXP: (0/100)
HP: 110/110
MP: 330/330
Bloodline: None
Class: Level 1 Arcane Scribe
Subclass: None
Attributes
Strength: 6
Constitution: 10
Agility: 7
Intelligence: 18
Skills
Skill: Influence Lv1
Skill description: The more you learn about a domain of knowledge, the less effect it would have on you.
Skill Cooldown: None
Class limitation: Arcane Scribe, School Savant, Twilight Sage
Skill: Precise memory Lv1
Skill description: Details of memorized information can be recalled with precision.
Skill Cooldown: None
Skill: Cooking (Intermediate)
Skill description: Handles ingredients with ease. Every meal is a delight.
Skill Cooldown: None
Zane continued to scroll as his entire life and abilities expressed in numbers and alphabets. Everything was a skill, even his ability to wash clothes and plates were neatly placed under 'Housekeeping'.
But that aside, Zane started to digest the entire status. His name was correct as he had been legitimized by his father. He had not gotten any title yet, Nobody even knew him.
The Health points were not surprising, the average was 100. those walking the Warrior path had more, mages had less. 110 was slightly higher than average, that was a good thing.
The Mana Points almost made him double. He did not understand at all, the number was far above his imagination.
His other self was a level 28 Ice mage when he sent the diary so he had always had the misconception that his mana points were low. The average mana point was 100, Mages had a lot more than warriors so Zane had been hoping for 180 or thereabout.
330 MP was just...Did he reach some kind of Zen state while awakening? No matter what or how it happened this was great, the only regret was that he could have chosen the Rune Scribe as his class if he had the smallest inkling that it would turn out this way. He sighed, the pot had already been emptied and the food eaten, there was nothing he could do about the ingredients.
His attributes did not strain from his expectations, his constitution was worth all the exercises he did and they were all higher than the average 5 points.
He rubbed his chin in deep thought. How to distribute the attribute point? He would be disguised as a sniper so he needs his agility higher. He hesitated a bit before he firmed his mind and distributed 6 points to agility, 1 point to strength and 3 points to Intelligence.
Looking at the list of skills, Zane felt like this day could not get any better. He had expected the Influence skill but he had struck the jackpot with the Precise Memory as his gift.
True, some people received heaven-defying skills that helped them stand firmly on top and some people also received negligible skills they couldn't wait to throw off their skill slot.
It was just right and he liked it. With that thought, he added 2 skill points to it, 2 skill points to Firearms Proficiency and 1 point to Language Mastery.
That is it. Zane nodded, yawning a bit. Time to call it a day.