Awakening II

Alden's heart sank as he stared at the stats on the holographic screen before him. What his eyes took in didn't seem to be great.

On the big holographic screen, letters in bright blue writing read:

LEVEL: 1

AGILITY: 5

STRENGTH:5

DURABILITY: 5

ENERGY: 7

STAMINA: 3

POINTS: 0

USER CLASS: PUPPETEER

ABILITIES: PUPPETRY

SKILLS: PUPPET MASTERY [lv 1]; PUPPET CREATION [lv 1]

TITLES: NIL

EXP: 0/15 TO LEVEL UP.

HP: 100%

EP: 100%

ASSESSMENT OF ABILITIES:

ATTACK: POOR

DEFENCE: POOR

MOVEMENT: POOR

HEALING: POOR

USER GRADE: F

ARTIFACTS EQUIPPED: NIL

"Damn," Alden breathed out in frustration.

The officials were surprised and began whispering to one another, and he knew exactly why. Getting an F class was extremely rare and the number of those who got it was extremely low. It must have been the officials' first time getting someone with an F class.

Alden could feel the familiarity of the situation he was in. The pitiful stares of the officials or the arrogant mocking looks of the other spectators, all felt familiar to him. He knew he had experienced it all before, in Primary and high school, and University. He could feel the slow buildup of inferiority and hopelessness, the feelings he resented with all his heart.

Alden bit his lip to stop himself from screaming out in anger, frustration, and pain. This had been his last chance at life, his last chance at becoming strong but...even after awakening, he was still amongst the weakest.

After testing, Alden had to fill in paperwork and he was told that he would get his Rangers License after going on three missions. The missions would be just to educate newbie Rangers on dungeons. Also, he was informed that after those missions, he would be given permission not to attend further missions, this was because of his low rank, which meant he had an extremely low chance of surviving missions.

Besides that little information, Alden barely heard what was being said, he barely focused on a word they were saying. His mind was elsewhere. After he finally completed all of his paperwork. Alden walked out of the Association office, his steps slow and sad. His shoulders were drooping and his head hung low, he could feel so many cacophonic emotions engulf his entire being like a python swallowing a lamb.

He never bothered to check for his mother when he got outside, he just mindlessly walked through the streets of Durban, going where his legs carried him.

Very soon, he found himself on the roof of a high building.

This place was familiar. He had been here in primary after he had been severely teased, again in high school when he had been badly beaten up, and finally in university when his girlfriend brutally dumped him after the video had been released. He had loved her, and she had once been like an angel to him but now she was among the many demons of the past that ensured he had no peace in the present.

Alden covered his face with his hands before releasing all of the bottled misery he had inside of him. His frustration at his pathetic, weak self. His hate and his anger at his parents and everyone else. Tears rolled down his cheek and he wept pitifully at his plight of being such a weakling.

Alden walked over to the edge of the building, he stepped on the parapet of the wall. He'd stood in this spot many a time. He would simply wonder, how would it feel to jump down? But now he felt like he was ready to try.

Alden felt dizzy as he looked at the street below him. What worth is there in life if one has to live as an ant in a world full of giants? None!

Alden took the step forward, the deciding step. The step away from hope, the step away from reversibility, he took the cursed step. But this step to him was a step toward freedom and his only hope. It was a way of reversing the irreversibility and a magic potion to cure the wretched curse. This, was his step forward.

But as he began to feel himself falling faster, and faster toward the ground, he began to truly understand what irreversible meant. Experience is the best teacher, they say and experience was showing him that after his step forward, the was no way of stepping back. There were no second chances, there was no reversing.

He was going to die.

Despite human beings' myriad achievements, despite learning and understanding so much about life, they knew nothing about death. Humans fear what they do not understand and thus, nothing scared them more than death. Death seemed to them like a step into the darkness, a step of pure ignorance, a step of blindness.

Alden had taken that step.

Regret began to flood him like a giant wave of a tsunami and he began to have second thoughts. Did he try to improve his life? Did he try enough? No, he didn't. He gave up much too early and now he had lost that chance, he had lost the opportunity of trying and working harder to change his life, to change himself.

Just another chance! One more chance!

Alden begged and begged with all his heart, but at this point, what could defy gravity and save him from the throes of death?

As the wind stung Alden's eyes, he realized.

Nothing.

Alden closed his eyes and embraced his destiny, his fear, his death.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

[SECOND CLASS AWAKENED!]