Path to Ascension

'Huh? How am I still alive?'

The boy opened his eyes, only to find himself laying on the bed.

'Where am I?'

He was in a bedroom that he was unfamiliar with.

'What is this?'

There were a lot of questions that welled up within him, but what caught his attention the most was the sight before him.

—---------------------------

[Name: Brandon Locke]

[Level: 1]

[EXP: 0/100]

[Class: Anomaly]

 ∟ You are an entity that does not belong to this world, an anomaly.

[Passive]

∟ Skill Weaver:

 ∟ Create any skill possible within the user's capabilities.

 ∟ Increase your total capacity by +1 per level.

 ∟ Total Skills: 0/1

[Skills]

∟ None

[Stats]

∟ STR: F [●○○○○]

∟ MP: F [●○○○○]

∟ DEF: F [●○○○○]

∟ AGI: F [●○○○○]

∟ INT: F [●○○○○]

∟ CHARM: F [●○○○○]

[System Shop]

[System Inventory]

[System Coins: 0]

[Quests Available: 0]

—---------------------------

'Is this… an interface?'

Despite having no knowledge of where he was, he was familiar with the system interface.

After all, it was oddly similar to the novel he closely followed.

But…

'This doesn't make any sense, I should have died already.'

Yet, for some reason he was still alive.

His first instinct was to reach out for his pocket–his phone rather.

Reaching inside his pocket, he felt the familiar sensation of a rectangular device.

Grabbing it, he tapped the screen.

[5:00 AM]

[Monday]

[June 1, 2148]

[Notifications: 1]

[From: Astrea Academy]

Congratulations, Mr. Brandon Locke!

We are thrilled to inform you that your application to Astrea Academy has been successful. You have been accepted for the upcoming academic year, and we look forward to welcoming you into our school community.

We hope to see you on our campus on Monday, June 1, 2148.

'Astrea Academy? Isn't this…'

The boy finally realized what had just happened.

Astrea Academy was none other than the crème de la crème of all academies in the Path to Ascension novel.

With the familiar system interface, and the name of the academy, there was only one answer to the strange events.

'But… this doesn't make any sense.'

He'd finally realized that he was inside the novel, Path to Ascension.

But as a teenager who had no aspirations in life, this was too good to be true.

The boy read the message again, and what caught his attention was the name of the recipient.

'Brandon Locke?'

He had already deduced that he had transmigrated inside the Path to Ascension novel.

But…

'Doesn't ring any bell.'

This was a character he was unfamiliar with–or rather–Brandon Locke had never shown up in any scenes of the novel, as far as he could remember.

No, he could definitely remember the characters. 

After all, he had only forgotten how the plot goes.

But if he were to reread them again, he would definitely remember the conclusion.

So if this was an unfamiliar character…

'Then doesn't that mean I'm… an extra?'

"Haa…"

He could only let out an exasperated sigh, as this was all too much for him at the moment.

Gazing back on to the system, he took a close good look.

"So the name's match…"

It was then when something caught his attention.

"Skill Weaver?"

After reading its description, his eyes shot wide open in surprise.

"Create any skills within my capabilities?! Isn't this way too broken for an extra character?!"

As far as he knew, the protagonist also had a system, but his initial skill wasn't this powerful.

"He was supposed to be the only one with a system."

But not anymore.

Whoever Brandon Locke was, must've been hiding his abilities for some reason.

And this Brandon Locke was now him.

"I guess I'm Brandon Locke now."

He decided to put the Skill Weaver skill on hold for now. Since, he could only create one skill for his level.

After checking the system, Brandon muttered to himself,

"How do you close this again?"

It was never really explained how the protagonist did it in the novel.

"System Close? System Exit? Close?"

Frustrated, the boy scratched his head.

"Hmm… what about, Clear."

After muttering those words, the system closed itself.

"But wait, how do I open it again?"

Brandon realized it was a mistake, he should've checked the settings first.

But then he realized there wasn't a setting in the first place.

"Hopefully this works… system."

The system interface once again opened.

"Haha, I'm a genius."

After finally getting the hang of using the system, Brandon stood up from his bed.

Scanning his room, his gaze landed on the mirror, just beside the bookshelf.

He then approached the mirror to take a look at what Brandon Locke looked like.

What met his sight was a man with pale-white hair, ice-blue eyes, and a physique that was decent enough for him.

Since in his old life, Brandon was a skinny teenager, any physique that had a bit of muscle would easily satisfy him.

Plus…

"Am I a six-footer?!"

This indeed shocked Brandon, as he could be considered a bit too short for average height in his old life.

But then, he suddenly remembered something.

In his final moments before he died, he never got to send his mother a message.

Realizing this, his eyes started to strain, and tear beads started forming.

"Mom… I'm sorry for leaving you behind…"

After all, it was only the two of them in their family.

Now, because he died, she was left all alone.

Brandon crouched down, covering his face, as he continued to sob.

Despite living a humble life in the rural parts of the city, Brandon's mother had never failed to raise him.

For Brandon, she was the perfect mother.

They didn't have a lot of things, but the love he'd receive from his mother was enough for him.

Brandon continued to break down into tears.

"I want to go back…"

A mother's love is special, and now that Brandon was in an unfamiliar place, with having no way to go back, he was undoubtedly homesick.

.

.

After crying for what seemed to be hours, Brandon decided to get up, wiping his tears away.

Sobbing, Brandon muttered to himself,

"If I'm stuck here, I have to make the most of this second life given to me."

After deciding, Brandon retrieved his phone from his pocket.

Tap-

[6:47 AM]

[MONDAY]

[JUNE 1, 2148]

"Wait, wasn't the Academy supposed to start today?"

After realizing he was about to be late if he didn't start moving, Brandon immediately headed towards a door that seemed to be the bathroom.

.

.

.

After taking a shower, Brandon got dressed with whatever outfit he had inside the closet.

Creak-

He left his room after realizing it was already 7:43 AM.

When he got out of his room, he was met with an unfamiliar hallway.

"So Brandon Locke lives in an apartment complex?"

Gazing up, he could see the exit sign with an arrow, pointing towards the right direction.

Nodding, Brandon followed the sign.

When he finally made his way outside the complex, the breathtaking sight left him in awe.

It was a city, with towering buildings and skyscrapers.

Pedestrians loitered about, filling the city. As their chatter could be heard from a few distance away.

Cars filled the streets, moving and stopping just in front of a traffic light.

It was then when Brandon realized something…

'Where the hell is Astrea Academy?!'

After all, he had only read the novel. It's not like the novel went in depth with where the Academy was located.

Frustrated, Brandon scratched his head.

Then… he suddenly had an idea.

When he switched his gaze to the right, he could see a familiar yellow car heading towards him.

"A taxi, how convenient."

He then gestured for the taxi, as it stopped in his direction.

Heading towards it, Brandon opened the door and immediately sat in the backseat.

"Where t–"

Brandon immediately cut off the driver in an urgent tone.

"Astrea Academy, please step on the gas!"

"That's my specialty, kid."