Alaster opened his eyes and found himself looking up at a strange ceiling. It appeared to be made of hard mahogany. Yet every inch of it was covered in beautiful carvings, creating a masterpiece out of the ceiling. From what Alaster could see, it depicted an ancient battle between what looked to be Angels and Demons. The Angels were all beautiful and smooth, men and women in armor, that despite being carved into wood, seemed to glow. While the Demons were hideous with sharp jagged edges and mouths full of fangs and tusks.

Sitting up, the rest of the room was normal. Rich, but normal. There was a stone fireplace on the wall in front of him, seemingly made out of a single stone. The fire within was small, providing a comfortable warmth through the small room. The walls on either side were filled, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with books. Alaster had never seen so many.

Standing up, Alaster turned around. There was a small and low table between two sofas. On the table, there was a small teapot with steam coming out of it. The floor was a beautiful wooden floor, polished to a shine. However, what Alaster couldn’t find, was a door. He had almost missed that. He also almost missed that despite such a small fire, and no other source of light, he could see everything clearly.

Alaster sat back down on the floor, cradling his head, where a dull headache had formed. He felt sore and slow, like his mind was wading through water. However, his mind wasn’t so slow to not notice when he suddenly wasn’t alone in the room anymore. Even as his head complained, Alaster spun around, raising his hand and cast [Necrotic Bolt]. But instead of the usual sickly green bolt of oozing mana that he had grown so used to, nothing happened.

“Nice try lad.”

In front of Alaster, warming his pale hands in front of the fire, was a thin man in fancy clothing. Alaster wasn’t sure what sort of clothing it was. Smooth black pants and a thin coat of the same material, over a white shirt with buttons lining up the front and a black tie around his neck. He had never seen it.

The Man turned around with a cold smile. The smile itself wasn’t cold, the man actually seemed glad to see Alaster, but the feeling that emanated from that smile chilled Alaster to his soul. He motioned towards the two sofas.

“Shall we?” He asked, calmly walking past Alaster and sitting down.

Alaster himself was more cautious. He didn’t know where he was or who this man was. The man made no obvious threatening movements, but Alaster could feel the power behind the man. Or at least a small fraction of it, and it scared him. Even if his Spell had worked, he doubted it would have done anything. But what really worried him, was that he couldn’t feel access to any of his Abilities. Not his Undead or Bonuses, Alaster couldn’t even feel the parasite that had dug its way into his spine. It was like he was a child again.

Nonetheless, the man had asked him to sit, without his Abilities, and with the apparent strength of the man before him, it was best to keep him happy. Alaster sat down, still feeling wrong. Like something was missing. As the man calmly poured two cups of the tea, Alaster realized what was missing, and his skin turned paler than the man before him.

He couldn't feel the System, at all. He couldn’t bring up his Status. Alaster had never felt something like that. The young man couldn’t even describe it. It just felt wrong. Like something crucial to his very being was gone.

“Ah, you noticed. Faster than most, but slower than many.” The man commented, sliding over a cup of tea to Alaster before taking a sip of his own.

“What is it?”

“The System, as you mortals call it, doesn't work here. Don’t worry, however. It will work perfectly fine when you return to the Mortal Realm. Like you never left. Technically, you never did.” The man grinned, like he had just made a pun.

“What?”

“Please, drink. It's amazing. Like nothing, you’ve ever had,” The man nodded towards the cup of tea still on the table, “You see, the you that is here, right now, is just your Soul. Your body is still in the Mortal Realm, laying in the snow.”

Alaster picked up the cup with shaky hands, “Am I dead?”

“No no no. I just called you here for a little chat. When we finish, you’ll go back, and it will be just like it never happened.”

“I won’t remember this?”

“You will, but the details will seem fuzzy and hard to grasp, but reachable. You see, the Mortal Soul was never meant to come to the Divine Realm, especially one as weak as yours. On the rare occasion that we call a Mortal Soul here, it is almost always an Expert’s Soul, or a very powerful Adept. Meanwhile, you could barely be called an Adept at all. Now drink, the Tea will help with the headache. It very slightly strengthens the Soul. A little bonus for you when you return to the Mortal Realm.”

“Permanently?” Alaster had heard of plenty of potions that would temporarily make someone stronger, but he had never heard of one that could do so permanently.

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“Yes, but like I said, its a very slight increase. Noticeable for someone as weak as you, but even an Expert would struggle to care about such a small increase. I drink it because the taste is to die for, and you don’t have to die!” This time he chuckled to himself like he had just made the funniest joke.

Alaster took a small sip. As the liquid passed his tongue, he could feel his headache lessening slightly. The taste was good, but nothing like Alaster knew. Then again, he had never had tea before. It was too expensive. Even when he worked for the Siphas family in Onigas, they rarely had tea. Lord Siphas didn’t care for the taste, but Lady Siphas loved tea.

“Are you a God?” Alaster asked the man.

“That I am,” He said, leaning back with a comfortable sigh. “Ebris, God of the Dead. At your service.”

It would have seemed amazing. It should have felt majestic and wondrous, but he said it like it was more of a chore. Alaster had a thousand questions, but two stood out among all the others.

“Did you see my parents when the died?”

Ebris placed his cup on the table and leaned back, “As the God of the Dead, it is my duty to ensure the dead are able to peacefully pass on to the next life. As well as ensure that nothing tries to corrupt them. That's what I am supposed to do. But I, just like all the other Gods, have had to force that duty onto our servants.”

“Why?”

“Later. I sense you have another question that matters to you.”

“You can read minds?”

“No, otherwise I would have answered yours already. But you live as long as I have, and you start to decipher the smallest things of a person.”

“Do you know where my Sister is, and is she safe.”

“I don’t know. Like I said, we Gods have had to turn a blind eye to the Mortal Realm for a while now. The only reason I am speaking to you now is because of the Class you took. I would have sensed that regardless of where or what state I was in.”

“Why?”

“Each God once started out just like a Mortal. We chose Classes when the System was still a brand new thing. Those Classes soon formed the basis of what we are right now. I, as the God of Death, started out just as a Death Mage, like you. Why did you choose Death Knight?”

“I don’t know. It felt like it was calling to me.”

Ebris smiled wide, “Good! That means it was a perfect fit!”

“What?”

“Occasionally a Class with just match with a person, their personality, their thoughts, their aptitudes, etc. Basically, the best Class for that person. It is rare for a person to have one, let alone be able to choose it. Like you thought, the Death Knight Class is the Pure Class of Death Mage. By the way, a Pure Class, is pretty much just the Class that a God chose when they were that weak.”

“So you were a Death Mage just like me, and you chose Death Knight as well?”

“Well, back then, the System was still in its earliest stages. There wasn’t really a structure. But yes. However, not even I as the future God of Death, had a Class that was the perfect fit for me. Some of the other Gods did. But I didn’t.”

Alaster finished his cup and placed it down while he asked, “Why is a perfect fit so important, then?”

“Because it means that the way you will progress through the Class will match the natural progression of the Class. Even a Water Mage can learn Fire Magic and combine the two to make steam or whatever. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not the way the Class was meant to go towards. As you know, the progression of Classes are slightly effected by the thoughts and desires of the person, so if the two match, the progression is more effective. The Abilities you unlock will just be a bit more powerful.”

“What about Bonuses?”

“Those are unique to the person, purely independent of the Class itself. However, it takes the person's thoughts and desires into account to a higher degree, so they are individualized. Two people of the same Class and Level will have drastically different Bonuses. And might I say, your Bonuses are really cool.”

“What were yours like?”

“Let's just say my Level one hundred bonus was that I could raise one more Undead, and I considered that extremely powerful. However, as the System developed and embedded itself into life, the Abilities became stronger.” Ebris finished by pouring Alaster another cup.

Alaster picked up his refilled cup and began to sip it as he asked his next question, “Why am I here?”

“Death Knight is the Pure Class of Death Mage, but ever since I became a Death Knight, you are the only one to have it show up on their Class Change, and you chose it. Millennia has passed, but you are the only one.”

“Have any tips for me?”

“Countless, but I want to see you develop the Class on your own. I want to see how you will form it. If you think of learning a certain Ability or type of Magic, do it. I will however tell you this. The Dead are loyal to those who are loyal to them.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

Ebris chuckled, “Just remember that, and you’ll do fine.”

“So you dragged me from the Mortal Realm just to sate your curiosity?”

“Partly. However, in truth, we are desperate. You’ve seen the ceiling?”

Alaster glanced at it before responding, “Yeah, when I first woke up here.”

“That is real. And is constantly happening. I can't tell you the details of the situation, literally, but what I can tell you is that Gods have had to ignore the Mortal Realm in order to fight off an Invasion. We have been fighting it for centuries, trying to protect both our Realms. But we are slowly losing. More and more of them are slipping through our defenses, attacking both our Realms.

Go and find your Sister, but keep in mind, that there are bigger issues. By selecting Death Knight, you have practically become my heir, in a sense. I’m certainly not expecting you to handle any of my duties, but as more and more hole form in the defenses over the Mortal Realm, more Demons will attack.

Your Realm will need powerful people who can defend it. So become stronger, protect those you care about, and defend your home.

I have to return now, as do you. Keep in mind what I have told you. Things are getting desperate, but it is not hopeless. At least not yet.”

As Ebris finished speaking, Alaster’s vision blackened once more.