RECORDS OF AKASHA (I).

Cain woke up in a classroom with barely any illumination streaking in from the slightly open windows.

With a grunt, he stood up and proceeded to stand in front of the open windows whilst resting his hands against the window sill.

Looking up, he saw the skies covered in a thick grey blanket, indicating the coming of a shower.

He sucked in a deep breath, relishing the light scent of ozone in the air.

He immediately felt his spirits rise and the little bit of drowsiness that came with waking up in the morning fade away as he took in another big gulp of air into his lungs.

As he stretched, his bones made creaking noises as they were forcibly pushed back into their original positions.

He began recalling the dream he had last night. He had talked to a dragon in his dream.

Cain didn't know if he was going mad, or if the events of the previous day were messing with his mind. Either way, he was about to pass it off as just a dream until he instinctively open his status screen.

***

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 10.

Strength: 78(10).

Agility: 89(15).

Stamina: 21/52.

Vitality: 37.

Defense: 25.

Control: 4.0.

Perception: 1.2.

HP: 900/3,700.

MP: 500/1,250.

Magic: 25.

Skills: Golden blood, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, Blade Mastery Lvl. 1, Burst Step, Metal Creation Lvl.1

Titles: Champion of Ashur(locked).

Free attribute points: 5.

System points: 330.

{Inventory}. {Shop}

***

He instantly noticed something different. He had something occupying the previously blank space that had the {Title} menu.

"So it most likely wasn't just a dream?"

"The golden dragon Ashur, huh..."

From the name of the title, he concluded that it was the work of the individual he met in his dream.

{Champion of Ashur}: Inheritor of the legacy of the golden dragon, Ashur. Temporarily disabled.

Requirements: Level 100, Tier 2.

'Tch. What's the point if I can't even use it!'

Cain was annoyed that after everything, he couldn't even use the title. It was useless for now.

He was intrigued by the last part, however. Curious, he decided to ask the system.

'Please don't ask for system points!' Cain prayed a silent prayer in his heart.

It was really hard to grind for the system points, and to Cain, he wasn't gaining much from them, as besides purchasing information, they didn't have much of a use to him. He had scrolled through the system shop before, and most of the things sold there were either useless to the present him, common miscellaneous items like HP and MP Regen potions, or weapons with very terrible stats.

So the fact that he had to grind for those points, only for the system to give him information that it could provide to him for free irked him. Cain was someone that had developed the habit of getting the most benefits out of everything he did. It was all or nothing. Maximizing his effort-to-effect ratio. That was his go-to motto...

'System, what is this tier thing?'

{Replying to host: Tiers will only be available to the host when you have reached level 100. You will be required to meet certain conditions before you will be able to advance. If you aren't able to advance, you will be able to advance as normal, but you will remain at the same tier until you can fulfill said conditions. By moving up a tier, the host will become even more powerful on a foundational level}.

'What are the conditions to advance?' Cain asked out of curiosity.

{Replying to host: Further information can only be purchased in the system shop}.

'Nevermind!' Cain rolled his mind, this head filled with thoughts about how greedy the system was.

Since he couldn't use the title he had just gained for now, he decided to just shelve it at the back of his mind.

Remembering the time from his dream, he decided to check his inventory for it. He was excited when he found it laying there alongside all the materials he had harvested from the creatures the previous day.

Retrieving it with a mental command, he found the time laying in his hands. Written on the front cover made from unidentifiable leather material, were the words, RECORDS OF AKASHA (I)...

Opening the book, he noticed that although the tome was old, as indicated by its yellowing pages, it had signs of being well taken care of, and had no creases at the edges of each page.

He decided to glance through the tome.

On the first page, written in bold print, with a substance that resembled dried-up blood;

"THAT WHICH YOU SEEK, LAYS WITHIN..."

He was intrigued already...

The table of content indicated that the tome contained an introduction to the power systems in the universe, spell crafting, and runecraft, as well as the creation of arcane treasures such as all sorts of weapons and armor that were used to fight in battles.

It also contained information on basic lifeforms, biological, mechanical, or even spiritual, that existed within the confines of the universe.

Intrigued, he became engrossed in the content of its pages. It turned out that in the universe there were different sources to obtain power apart from the one Cain already knew of from the system.

One of them was gaining power the regular way by leveling up. After one reaches level 100, a quest will be given by the system for the individual in question to become of a higher tier.

Originally, everyone starts at Tier 0, but by carrying out specific conditions, it is possible to move up a Tier and become increasingly more powerful.

The highest Tier that a mortal being had ever attained was Tier 5. Anything above that was considered the domain of the Celestials which mortals couldn't even dream of reaching.

There were various types of skills and spells. Some spells could summon powerful creatures to provide aid in battle, as well as a corresponding skill that could allow the summoner to borrow the power of a summoned creature to bolster their power, greatly boosting their physical aspects.

There also existed spells capable of summoning various elements that could change the topography of the very land.

These spells could summon great lightning from the sky, remove large boulders from the earth, cause terrifying flora to sprout out from the ground, and create large clouds of flames that could destroy everything in their path.

Some skills granted terrifying transformations to the body of their user, unlocking the potential of their bodies, and granting them power beyond imagination.

Some spells could summon the corpses of the dead allowing the to turn into flesh-eating ghouls, as well as skills that could grant incredible mastery over a weapon of choice, enabling its user to cut down mountains and create ravines of great depth with but a wave of their weapon.

The list went on and on, and Cain couldn't help but be fascinated by the descriptions of such levels of power.

The book also introduced the basics of spellcraft and runecraft. To create spells, what was needed was just a deep understanding of the elements involved in the creation of the spell, as well as a healthy stroke of luck, as it was not easy to create spells, especially powerful ones.

For example, a summoner would need to connect with the creature he wants to summon and have its approval before he could make a summoning contract with it.

For exceptionally powerful beasts, as they would also have a fair amount of intelligence, they would not want to be bound as a subordinate to someone less powerful than them, hence apart from a few talented and lucky ones, most summoners would most likely end up with weaker summons.

Fusion with the contracted summon was an entirely new story on its own, as it required not only trust between the master and the summon, but also required the master's body to be able to bear the strain caused by the fusion.

If the fusion was attempted before the master possessed a strong enough body, there was a chance for the individual to become permanently crippled, or even worse, killed.

Spells that involved invocation of the elements like fire, water, metal, wind, lightning, and so on, required even stricter requirements.

To possess the ability to master really powerful skills and spells, elemental affinity as well as an in-depth understanding of the nature of the element was required.

Special skills such as the {Golden Blood} skill that Cain possessed, required more than just elemental affinity. They were skills that were so rare and special but didn't have any fixed origins. They could just be skills that an individual just happened to be lucky to have, or something more profound...

They put great strain on the user's body in exchange for great power for a brief period which would likely leave the user weak and vulnerable afterward.

Most transformation skills involved a momentary change in a certain stat of the user.

The majority of these unique types of skills were legacy skills that are inherited by the champions of fallen Celestials.

These skills were one of the most powerful skills, as they were based on the eon's worth of knowledge accumulated by the Celestials, which would be inherited by chosen individuals in the form of different skills or spells.

As for runes, runes are a powerful language that directly inscribes a certain aspect of power onto a person or thing.

They can either be engraved onto arcane devices, or directly onto the body. A collection of the same type of rune leads to the formation of an array. An array is many times more powerful than regular runes, as the collection of these runes creates an amplifier effect, directly multiplying the effectiveness.

There are different types of runes, but the most common types are the ones that directly increase a certain attribute, while the rarest are the ones that grant skills to the user.

Runecraft is the study of how to understand the language involved in drawing runes and its application in the creation of runes.

Runes are also essential in the creation of arcane devices, as they can also serve as conduits for the transfer of power from the user to the weapon, or vice versa.

Before he knew it, Cain found himself lost in the book as he read on, clearly captivated by its content, he kept reading until he felt a slight headache. Puzzled, he stopped reading wondering what was going on. It wasn't until he pulled up the status screen that he understood.

***

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 10.

Strength: 78(10).

Agility: 89(15).

Stamina: 21/52.

Vitality: 37.

Defense: 25.

Control: 4.0.

Perception: 1.2.

HP: 900/3,700.

MP: 300/1,250.

Magic: 25.

Skills: Golden blood, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, Blade Mastery Lvl. 1, Burst Step, Metal Creation Lvl.1

Titles: Champion of Ashur(locked).

Free attribute points: 5.

System points: 330.

{Inventory}. {Shop}

***

Reading the tome resulted in his mana getting drained rapidly. It was not without a plus, however, as he noticed that his magic stat had increased by a point and he had gained seven extra free attribute points.

'So reading can also increase stats? I wonder if exercise can do the same?'

He thought to himself, since reading was just mental exercise, then maybe physical exercise would have the same effect as reading. In reality, that wasn't the case. It was a bit more complicated than that...

Glancing at the wall clock, which surprisingly wasn't destroyed when the {Bladed Devil} had attacked, and realized that it was almost 8 am. Without realizing it, he had been reading for more than two hours.

Standing in front of the open window, he took in a gulp of fresh air once again.

While wondering to himself why he loved rainy days so much, he decided that he had to clean up. His clothes had been soiled with blood the previous day, and he hadn't had a bath for a day. He was starting to become uncomfortable.

Since there was a restroom on the floor his class was on, he decided to see what he could do with some soap and running water. Hopefully, their water was still running...

***

After using a bit of soap and water to wash his bloodstained clothes, he rinsed his face and mouth with some running water. Although there was no electricity in the building, they still had access to running water.

Once he was done, he picked up his sword that was resting at his side, and just stared at it for a few seconds.

With a sigh, he gradually came to terms with the fact that this was his life now, and he exited the classroom. No matter what the world had become, he was still going to enjoy it regardless, especially now that he had enough space to finally spread his clipped wings.

Since the classroom was located a floor above the ground floor, he used the stairs to get down.

Upon getting downstairs, he was able to notice a few things. One, there were a lot of people in the hallways.

The people in the hallways all had a few things in common.

One, their eyes lacked any pigments of color, only the whites of their eyes were showing. Two, they all let out weird guttural groans, and their mouths were covered in blood.

And three, as soon as Cain got down the stairs, they all spun their necks in his direction at humanly impossible speeds.

"Well, fuck me..."