5 years later...
Seth was in a workshop, as he had been nearly every day since he started this dreaded apprenticeship. Day in and day out it was sand this, or saw that, when his mind was already set on being a Thief.
Yep, over the years he had accepted the undeniable truth and with this truth came some much-needed answers.
Firstly, the experience he had was called a prelude: which was a special kind of enlightenment for those with incredible talent for a certain class. The rumour is that they are almost born to be the class and even showed signs of it early in life.
That didn’t match with Seth though, he was never particularly mischievous, and he knew the law, so he did not feel any impulse to steal. This baffled a young Seth but over the years of self-discovery, he noticed that he felt unfathomable joy over the process of stealing.
Even then, he still felt in control. He never felt like he had to steal. Just that he could and would feel good about it. This reminded Seth of addiction though, and he felt like if he did not control this nature he would fall into a dark pit of endless thievery. So with that in mind he started small, taking little things, like a cup or spoon and then he worked his way up.
He made sure that in every step of the journey he had control, and if he felt anything even remotely close to an impulse then he had a lengthy break. One thing he noticed during this period was his skill, his mind was ablaze with intuitive thoughts on the preparation and the execution of the process.
Things like a clean crime scene and escape routes were carefully planned out and he felt like a king of thievery. That was until he got caught, yep, his dad noticed he stole a plank of wood and luckily, Seth managed to convince him he was using it for extra practice. However, it was a great lesson on arrogance and its effect, no wonder it was part of the 7 deadly sins in his previous life.
Now it was 2 days until awakening days and Seth was ready, he planned like never before and even felt excitement for when he would get to realise his plan. Preparation was king, this was the motto he made after the years that had gone past and it was extremely true for a thief.
For now, he was still sawing away at his apprenticeship. The sawdust sparkled in the air like glitter, sticking to Seth's throat, but by now he was more than used to it.
By this point, he could regularly make rank 1 furniture which was the equivalent of level 10-19 carpenters work, and his father was proud, to say the least. They would sell for like 2 or 3 silver for about 4 hours work though this varied heavily on the job and that was not including the price of the wood so really the profit would be around a silver, but that was the absolute minimum a carpenter could make.
For reference, a family of 3 could expect to spend around a silver a week on food and shelter if they lived with few luxuries.*
Sadly, for Seth, this breezy life was about to be turned upside down and yet Seth was all for it.
He now found woodworking not boring but incredibly soulless, like he was breathing underwater: it felt so unnatural and forced, he could not wait to be free.
Breaking him out of his long thought process was his father who was sharing his workshop, he sighed...
“Son, in 2 days you shall leave, becoming a man, and entering society. Just know that I will always be here. I know that woodworking may not be for you. Don’t think I can’t see your displeasure when I see you work, not like you even hide it. I mean you could at least try.” *Cough* “Anyway, unlike me you don’t grin at even the thought of woodworking and that’s fine, I want you to be happy, and I will support you through anything.”
For a few moments, the workshop was silent as both individuals processed what was just said. Oak was rarely talkative, yet alone emotional, but as he said these words teardrops fell down his eyes. He had given up on his thoughts of his son becoming like him, he knew his son was not cut out for it and so he decided to lay his emotions out in front of the child, no, the young adult.
“Okay, dad...” Seth gave a weary smile.
“Now be quiet as I finish this table, you’re distracting me.”
Outwardly he went back to normal but inwardly Seth was shaken, his plans dictated he must leave and not negatively affect his family but as he sneaked a glance at his father's grinning face, his heart pained.
“Okay, son. But,” he thought about saying something else, but, after some thought, he held his words. He was not ready to be that emotional, not yet anyway.
The day fell and night came, before anyone even knew it, Seth's awakening day had come.
Sat in a handcrafted wooden carriage, Seth was on one side whilst his parents were on the opposite side. Usually, the village would fund a single one, with cities getting them funded by a council, but since Seth's family was particularly rich Oak decided to make one and take his son there and go with him. This was very much Seth's mother's idea though.
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Seth's mother was dressed beautifully with flowing white hair and a temperament that screamed of freedom and excitement, yet this was restrained heavily by the rules of society, so she married the most talented youth and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.
Seth by this point was 6ft 4 and his black hair drooped down to his neck, some would call him an eligible bachelor and his results from previous basic education (went from when he was 4 to when he turned 12) proved that he was a smart child.
Now though he was at the mercy of his parent's ruthless words, “Don’t worry son we will support you through anything.” “Yes, son no matter the result we will be here for you.”
These words cut his heart like a diamond drill, atom by atom his heart felt pain after pain of guilt and regret.
But the plan must go on. He was going to get an evil class and no chance in hell he was going to give it up, his parents thought he might get a bad job like Cleaner, (though looking at his room that was doubtful), or something like that, never would they imagine that he would get an evil class.
Steeling his heart that felt like it was deep in the Mariana trench, Seth finally arrived at the local awakening hall.
This was a massive building used by all the local villages and even the closest towns and cities, here in this remote area was a massive stone structure. Looking like an asylum, carriages arrived in droves as they dropped off kids and left. Added to that business, rich parents stood outside praying for their sons'/daughters' class, not to mention the carriages waiting for those to finish so they could return.
Standing guard here were many sentries, clad in heavy metal they were here for the evil classes' eventual appearance and the removal of them. This world did not have much crime, and this was why, though it did still exist many people renounced their good classes and, under the protection of the already existing evil members, gained an evil class. This allowed their scourge to grow.
It was known in history that the complete removal of evil classes was impossible: disease and other heavenly punishments blasted that thought out of the monarchies and dictatorships. Heaven was fair and so it balanced both sides just as if the evil classes tried to kill all the good classes it would face equal punishment.
That was why some evil was allowed, but that was only some lucky classes like Thug or Lowlife, others like Crime Lord or Drug Dealer were heavily suppressed. This did cause minor misfortune for the kingdom and was why Seth’s local Kingdom of Historia was only a lower-level kingdom.
Before Seth went in he was feeling a little parched, so he asked his father for his water skin. His father would always carry one and since it was passed down in the family Seth thought that now was the best time to grab it. The skin itself was nothing expensive, it was just a plain waterskin used for water storage, but it held more than just simple H2O*. It carried a legacy, and Seth planned to bring that legacy into legend.
For now, Seth was walking into the asylum-like building. Dark cobbled hallways with torches illuminating the way opened into a wide room with pillars holding up the tall ceiling. People stood in an orderly queue that winded through this massive hall.
Raised above the main floor was a stage-like structure and on that stage was a small podium holding a wide ball of amethyst. It was a legendary awakening stone.
Don’t think Seth did not have any ideas of just not showing up, sadly this was ruined by this exact object. How else was he supposed to awaken, The rumour was that some high-level crime groups had one but that was a hollow rumour with no evidence to suggest such an absurd thing.
This was such an important object: it was something that was used to determine a country's strength and for a country to lose such an important thing to an evil society, `Yeah absurd` was Seth's conclusion.
As youths waited on the wide main floor, people watched as one by one people went up to awaken. They held their hand on the stone, on an oversized handprint, and above the stone a light appeared. In this light was a word, it was their class. The amount of light given usually coincided with the quality of the class.
A Recorder would write it down and stamp the person's finger and then give them a fitting identification necklace. After this was done, they would move on, and recruitment officers would either recruit them or let them walk out. Privacy was only afforded by the elite and Seth was far too poor to afford that.
Hours passed and many people were either having their dreams or nightmares realised. Happy or unhappy they would still be able to grow. Cleaner class was widely mocked but high-level cleaners were nothing to laugh at. Plus, it helped that the class was drawn to the character of the individual so most ended up happy.
A few evil classes popped up, where the stone lit up red and people immediately surrounded the candidate before the people looked at the class and judged if they would be let go or not.
Those people were carried out in tears, or in some cases, with maniacal smiles. They were the future of evil and they were mocked repeatably by the queue waiting for their turn. Funny how some were mocking evil classes when they might be about to become one themselves.
A wise man once said that it was wrong just to judge people based on their class and society's predetermined idea of those people. Seth was a believer in such philosophy and hoped to prove such people wrong.
`Not like I won’t be stealing a lot though`, that thought, Seth smiled to himself about.
Shuffling in the orderly queue, finally after hours of waiting, it was Seth's turn.
Up on stage and all by himself, countless eyes stared at him as he hesitated, thoughts like `Should I run off` or `I can’t do it` flew by his mind like a swarm of bees. In this swarm though a bright light of hope spread like a disease.
It was an undeniable happiness, finally, he was free. Seth smiled like a madman as he put his hand on that mere stone. Not heaven, not some shit societal beliefs and not some bullshit judgy audience was going to determine if he was good or bad. That was his decision, and he could determine that by himself.
As the stone shined, a deep, menacing black aura spread out around the hall.
This black aura was free, unrestrained, and by god was it suppressing. Everyone, except Seth, was smashed into the floor as they felt the heavenly might.
The poor recorder's eyes looked up in shock as he muttered about something so incredibly rare it was seen maybe once a century, “Demon!”
Seth during this was as calm as the seas and sky as he felt a lock being released on his soul and this unlocking allowed his consciousness to spread into something all those who unlocked their class could feel.
The Inner Soul Area was the most important place for a class. It was the centralisation of their power and was a place where they could see their progress. Here, information entered Seth's mind:
Name: Seth
Class: Thief/ lvl 1
Skills:
=Deft Hands, (Mastery/ Rookie 0/100)
=Slot 2, (Empty)