The ceremony was quite unexpected. He had thought it would have been something along the line of what he experienced when he first was sent to this world. The priest standing on the podium would check their statuses or something akin to what had been done to him. Although, now that he thought about it, that would be an awful lot of blood they’d have to consume… He looked back to see how many kids looked old enough to go up and counted more than 40. Definitely way too much…

No, instead, the old priest would simply put a hand on the child’s head, and smile. The wall behind him would suddenly glow yellow, and then as if by magi- …Through magic, a list of names would appear. Warrior, swordsman, fisherman or hunter, many of these types of names appeared on the board, along with a number of stars alongside each one. He understood by how the people clapped, that the more stars behind a class implied it’s quality.

There would be murmurs of approval when a 2-star class showed up, such as swordsman or longbow archer, and people would clap when a 3-star class showed up. He’d only seen ten 3 star classes from the dozen or so people who showed up. Four had been magic-type classes, while the other six had been some kind of weapon specialist. They all had the people up in arms, making a raucous while others tried calming them down.

Only two kids had become four stars. A girl and a boy. They each had an air of power to them that he couldn’t help but notice even before they had come up to the front of the church. The boy had gained quite a powerful sounding class, something called a “Red mage.” The girl had gotten something that seemed rather dull in comparison, a simple “Knight.” It didn’t stop her from getting just as equal praise from the people, all going insane at the thought of having two four stars.

Those kids had probably felt so proud, their faces beaming as their eyes started to water. He couldn’t help but also get emotional as they ran to their parents, embracing them in a hug. To see a family come together to celebrate… He hoped he could do the same for his sister. …She had to get a good class, right? Hopefully a two star. If the sister who had been so easily able to beat him suddenly obtained a one star then he’d give up on this world. He didn’t actually know just how talent affected your class options, but he didn't want to find out through Keyla.

Suddenly, her name was called. She was next in line. Elliot turned to her with worry in his eyes, only to see the calm in her face. Did… she know something he didn’t? It didn’t matter if she was confident, though. He still wanted to support her. Just as she stood up, he took her hand, catching her by surprise. “Good luck, sister. I’ll always cheer you on.” She looked around, embarrassed to have others watch this unfold. The people around him all exclaimed in adoration, which only fueled to embarrass her further.

She didn’t exactly seem angry, however. Guess today was a good day for her. Her shame was barely outshined by the shaky smile on her face. And with a determined look in her eye, she let go of Elliot’s hand. “I’ll be back, Elliot.” Another round of aww’s filled their vicinity, which caused her to be once again aware of her surroundings. With her head low, she hurried onto the front of the church, leaving Elliot to deal with the whispers.

“Was that really the new sword princess? I heard that she’d be a lot more… violent.” Violent? His sister? What an understatement. “Who wouldn’t break apart from such an earnest action? I would have died right then and there if that had been my daughter.” “Ah, you’re just too obsessed with your family…” The whispers eventually peaked, and then died down as his sister stood in front of the priest. He gave her a warm, trusting smile before placing his hand on her head. And then, nothing happened for a moment.

The priest, who’s face had been full of kindness, suddenly had a hint of worry in it. He didn’t realize why until the wall behind him showed only three classes, slowly materializing on the wall. The other kids had over twenty on average, and seeing this, Elliot’s heart seized up. Was God really so cruel as to deny his sister what she so deserved? Oh god, had he been a part of her misfortune? He recalled the luck stat, how this had been the only time ‘talent of the insane had raised it.

It was a paltry 3 points, less than even half the luck a normal human had. But could his luck truly be so bad as to affect the people around him? The hall grew silent as Elliot contemplated his involvement in the situation. He could barely force himself to look up. He was surprised to have her staring right back at him, all the clarity in the word. On the wall were three classes. The Sellsword: a 2 star class, the Blade dancer: a 3 star class.

Finally… the last class, standing above the rest as the superior one. Elliot's eyes started stinging with tears of relief. Immediately, he got up from his seat and applauded as loud as he could, the only one in a group of hundreds. As if infectious, the shocked crowd got up in small groups, some clapping, some cheering. Slowly but surely the whole crowd joined in, and soon the roar was deafening. Keyla, his dear sister, reached out towards her new class with no hesitation on her face. “Champion, I pick the champion class.”

The old priest, a look of pristine happiness on his face, nodded dearly and put his hand over her head once again, a small trickle of golden light falling from his hand. That hadn’t been done to anyone else, as far as he knew. It fell in line, though. There hadn’t been a single person in the crowd of people that had ever seen a person with a 5-star class before. All the while, Elliot clapped, his smile widening to the point where it hurt. He was trying his best not to cry for his sister, knowing that it would only embarrass her further.

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His mother, however, was looking at the two, a conflicted look on her face. She knew better than anyone how talent worked in this world. She gave her daughter one last look before turning to her son, Elliot. The boy seemed so happy for his sister, completely unaware of his sister's envy for him. The boy was a genius, more than Keyla and maybe even herself… She just hoped he kept his new, honorable side. Keyla had more than her fair share of demons, some that even Maribelle realized she had no idea about.

The boy would have to be strong if he wanted to keep his family together.

_____________________________________

“Sister! Lets spar! I want to see how much you’ve changed!” Elliot was almost hopping with excitement as they entered their house, trying to keep himself from flying in the air. His swordlust had activated when he saw the knight earlier. Seeing Keyla’s new class had only made him feel an even stronger high. He tried to hide it, but he could tell both Maribelle and Keyla knew he was not stable. It didn’t matter, he wanted to fight, and he’d even ask mother to spar if Keyla was unresponsive. Keyla didn’t disappoint, however. She turned to him with a cocky venom in her eyes and a smirk on her face, exciting him to no end. “Let us.”

He nodded enthusiastically, not minding how grim his sister looked. He remembered acting that way when he was her age, angry at the world for every little thing. He booked it to the sparring hall first, arms spread as he tested out his new agility. He was technically a 12 year old, so he still wanted to enjoy his youth. Besides, in his past life, he could never experience this type of speed or precision. He shifted on one leg and fell forward, putting a hand to the floor and using it to push himself away from the ground.

It was magic, how well he could leave the ground. Any more and he wondered if he’d ever come down. Reaching the ceiling, he took a few quick steps on it, running upside down before he fell again, the high he felt from the swordlust making him feel even higher amounts of euphoria. Shit, he’d never felt this good before, he might even hit the ground wrong… His body turned in an almost ethereal way, hitting the ground in a perfect roll before jumping again and continuing his sprint. He lost almost no speed doing so, which was surprising.

…He didn’t recall being able to do that. Still running, he noticed the status screen had opened up.

Enlightenment! Due to your skills, “Talent of the insane” and Swordlust” You’ve gained a new skill!

Aerial maneuvering: You love the skies. You feel free as your wingless body leaves the ground, but the world denies you flight. You fight on, however, in order to kiss the sky once more.

His eyes shined with excitement at the new skill, another one to add to the group. He quickly changed to see if there were any changes in his stats from the skill but didn’t find any. He didn’t let that bum him out though. Another flip and he was in the air again, no longer feeling the empty feeling in his stomach. He was grounded, he was heavy. But… he could fly. He bounded across the floor and walls like a demon until he finally made it to the sparring hall quickly, reaching for the largest sword in the basket.

The thing was bigger than him and wider than his head, even with the amount he’d grown in the past two years. For the past few months it had been the only sword he had ever used, his swordlust making him think every other sword disappointing in comparison. He swung it, barely keeping his grounding. It was almost too heavy to use properly. Almost. It took a while before his sister showed up, her gaze calm and composed. By that point, he’d already hyped himself up to the point where he felt a fever coming on.

He didn’t say a word, not wanting to ruin his sister’s fighting mood. They’d fought less and less lately, and it had left him wanting for more. She didn’t say a word, only grabbing a longsword from the pile. That was… strange. She usually grabbed a shortsword when they fought… Did the champion class affect her choice? He couldn’t think about it any longer, since the two had made eye contact. It was time to fight.

He ducked, seeing her thrust her sword at his throat. She still didn’t know how to properly hide her attacks, but she’d gotten better- A fist almost hit him, barely brushing his cheek as he moved to the side. Ah, what? When did she use something other than the sword in combat? The sword came at him again, mixing with hand-to-hand combat and giving him no leeway to attack. He grinned, watching his sister almost seamlessly chain the sword with her body.

One with the body, one with the sword. He could feel his head heat up even more as it processed the information. In every case, using a fist rather than a sword always meant worse efficiency. That probably wasn’t the case in this world, where a child could carry something twice his weight. He felt dizzy as the fever got stronger, a drunk grin on his face as he dodged his sister’s attack. She grabbed his wrist and he twisted away, turning forward and finally swinging his sword at her right side. The weight of his sword took him off the ground for a split second.

And then his aerial maneuvering skill kicked in. She dodged the attack, but didn’t notice the force he’d used behind the swing. It turned him right around with the force, sending the weight backward into his legs as he sent a flying kick. The foot landed on her shoulder, sending her flying backward against a wall. He landed with a soft thud, with a flushed expression and unsteady on his feet. His vision blurred as the fever took an even stronger hold. Even through his poor vision, he could still see the look on his sister’s face.

She was grinning. Well, more like she had the same face he made when he fought before. In his dazed thoughts, he still felt happy to see her like that. She was finally enjoying how to fight. He noticed the blue screen pop up again but it didn’t matter. His sister was happy for now, and he was glad to put on a show.