“Whew, it’s cold”, I muttered to myself as I walked down the road towards my house. I was dreading getting back. My parents were undoubtedly arguing and my little sister was probably preparing for me to come home by making me a cake or something. She likes to think of herself as an. expert baker. A few minutes later, I reached my house, but something was wrong. There were police cars parked up and down the street. I ran inside. “What’s going on?” I asked my sister.
“M-mom and dad, they, they, they were killed!!” She collapsed crying onto the floor. I gasped. Killed? There’s no way that’s right. Unless…
“Is she telling the truth?” I asked the police officers standing just through the doorway.
“Yeah kid, I’m really sorry. If it makes you feel any better, we’ve already caught the criminal who did this.” He replied. I didn’t process what he was saying. Dead? There’s just no way. But mom and dad should have been home by now. And they are not here. The police began to leave, and my sister stayed crying on the floor. I slumped down and tried to comfort her.
“Hey, kiddo. It’s ok. We’re gonna be fine.” I whispered softly, although I didn’t believe what I said. But it seems my sister did. She sniffled, and sat up.
“Thank you, brother. Thank you.” She began to cry again. “I just can’t imagine a world without mom and dad. What are we gonna do-“
“Well, we will probably be put into foster care. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure we are together. I’ll protect you, whatever it takes.” Little did I know how much trouble that promise would get me into, when, years later, I stepped in front of a truck to save my little sister. It’s a long story. I’ll skip most of the boring parts. Me and my sister were sent into foster care, as predicted. I stood up for her whenever the others at the orphanage or even our foster parents were being mean to her. One time, we were put with the worst couple known to man. They let us go to school, but as soon as we got back we were locked in our rooms. We knocked out the wall so we could talk to each other, and if you ask me, that’s the least those two deserve. But one day, they left to go grocery shopping, and forgot to lock us in. This was our chance! We ran out the front door and never once looked back. We finally reached a road with a police station on the opposite side. But before we could cross, someone called our names. I turned around slowly. There, twenty feet away, stood the horrible foster mother we have been trying to get away from for the last 6 months.
“I hope you enjoyed your walk. Now, let’s go back to the house. I don’t want to make a scene.” Said the woman. I didn’t even know her name.
“No! I’ll never go back there!” My sister yelled, which drew the attention of a few bystanders.
“Yeah! You’ll never take us back to that horrible place, where you lock us up and never let us leave!” More people were starting to take an interest in the conversation.
“You lock us up and feed us nothing but bread and water. EVERY DAY FOR 6 MONTHS I HAD TO EAT BREAD AND DRINK WATER!” my sister screamed. Almost everyone that had heard the conversation up to this point was coming over.
“Uhh, ma’am, these children are claiming you locked them up and fed them nothing but bread and water. Is that true?” I laughed inwardly. Finally, we were going to be free from those evil people.
“Screw you. I only have business with them.” She dashed away from the crowd and right at us. I grabbed my sister’s hand and began to run. Before I knew it, we were standing in the middle of an intersection. A truck barreled down on us. I pushed my sister out of the way.
“Brother!!!” she screamed, as the truck crashed into my body and barely missed her. When I next opened my eyes, medics were walking around besides me. My sister was there as well. “Don’t die, brother. Please, DON’T DIE!” But before I could answer, everything faded to black. Was I dead? But then, why did I still have a conscience? My question was answered when my sister said something from beyond what I could see in the infinite blackness. “Brother... you can’t hear me right now, I bet. You are in a coma. I didn’t tell anyone this, but when I go home, I’m going to kill myself. I can’t live without you.” I tried to respond, but no words came out. She never came back to visit. A few months later, a man told me something in a voice I’d never heard before.
“I’m going to pull your plug. Goodbye. I know you can’t hear me, but I owe you the pleasure of at least telling you that you’re going to die.” But I wasn’t afraid. I knew that there was nothing left for me in this life anyway. I was ready to pass wherever I went next.
When my consciousness returned, I blinked a few times and shook my head before realizing I could do those things. I knew the only explanation was that I was dead. This must be my afterlife. Suddenly, a woman wearing blinding white clothing descends from above. “Hello there. I am Seokwa. I will be in charge of your reincarnation. I’ve chosen for you a world where dungeons have appeared and heroes known as elites are the only ones capable of clearing them. You will be reborn as an elite. I wish you good luck.” Before I could say a thing, everything began to blur and swirl, getting darker until everything was black.
“Hey, hey you! Are you ok?” A female voice asked. I opened my eyes, not comprehending the situation. Where was I?
“Who are you? Where am I?” I asked, desperate to get some sort of information. I sat up with a groan.
“My name’s Kira. What’s your name?” Suddenly, a green, opaque window appeared in front of me. At the top it said: Name: Jack Farland. The same last name as my previous life, but a different first name. Interesting. “Oh, you have a Status Board! You must be an Elite! It’s rude to ask about skills, so I won’t ask what yours is, but congratulations on becoming an Elite! I’m an Elite too, but I’m only in the C-Rank, which isn’t very good compared to most of the really powerful hunters.
“Skills?” I asked, the only important thing I gleaned from her monologue.
“Skills are special abilities given at random to every Elite. Some elites have special ‘Unique’ skills that are generally more powerful than the normal skills given to most people. Not coincidentally, the strongest Elites in the world all have incredibly powerful unique skills.”
She really likes to ramble on, I thought, but asked, “who are the strongest Elites, and what are their skills?”
“Well, before you learn about skills, you have to learn about classes. There are 4 classes. Tank, Warrior, Mage, and Healer. The 4 Ultra-Elites, as we like to call them, are each one of those classes respectively. In terms of their unique skills, the Warrior class, Kazuto, wields the unique skill ‘Rainbow Blade’. It can slice through any material, but he can only use it once per attack.” I quickly start scribbling down notes. “The Tank class title is held by none other than Rathalos. Many players call him ‘The Demon’ because of his unique skill, ‘Hell Shield’. Capable of blocking any attack as long as he doesn’t have a fatigue level of 90 or above, it can even block Kazuto’s Rainbow Blade. Our Mage Ultra-Elite is a man known as Ayroz. What he lacks in health and defense, he makes up for in mana and sheer firepower. He’s cleared an entire dungeon using the weakest skil all mages are given. His unique skill is ‘Alchemical God’. This allows him to use things like transmutation in battle, and he can turn metal into gold, stones into gemstones, and he can also live forever with the help of the Elixir Of Life. Finally, the Healer Class is occupied by an Elite named Loppol. He is a master healer and is legendary for pulling back 17 different warriors and tanks from the brink of death at the same time to conquer an S-rank dungeon. His unique skill is ‘Infinite Regeneration’. He can regen any damage taken in a matter of seconds, so if need be he can effectively tank blows if the tanks are defeated in a battle.” She took a big gasp of air. “Wow. That’s a lot. Sorry about that.” But I smiled.
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“I was writing down notes.”
She laughed. “Aw man, I’m gonna be late to sign up for Elite Royale, a massive battle royale between elites. We can each bring a team member. Wanna come?”
“Of course. Do you think I’ll learn what class I am in or whatever? And what class are you?”
“Yeah, they test you at the beginning to learn your aptitude and determine your class. As for your second question, I’m a healer. I don’t have any unique skills, though.”
“That’s fine, I’d be happy to be your teammate.” So that’s how I ended up learning all about this world and it’s “Elites”. And I have a teammate, too. I wonder what class I am.
About 5 days later, I got a message addressed to me at Kira’s residence. “It must be our acceptance to the Elite Royale tournament letters!!” She shrieked in excitement. “Let’s open them, quick!” I sat down at the table across from Kira and opened my letter. As I began to read, I noticed one thing was strange. They kept requesting me to come in to be evaluated early. I asked Kira about it and she replied, “It’s probably because you haven’t ever been given a rank. You said you’ve never taken the test, right?”
“Yeah,” I responded. “Anyway, I guess I’ll head over to the main city then. See you later today. I have to get some gear for the upcoming tournament.” So far, this seemed like your average RPG game, and I knew that I would need to stock up on my equipment if I was to survive the tournament’s entry rounds. On my way to the city, I spotted some equipment and item vendors trying to sell their goods to some skeptical customers. I figured I would decide my class before trying to buy anything. Finally, after what seemed like hours because it probably was, I reached the city. Standing at one of the massive entrances, a man stood, holding out small pamphlets of paper to anyone who would take one. I walked up to him.
“Hello, young sir! Welcome to Avarise City! Would you like a map?” I gladly took the map, then asked,
“Do you know where I can go to get myself tested for the Elite Royale tournament that’s coming up?”
“Of course!” He replied, then pointed eastward. “The Elite Association's main location is down there, they test people every day.” I thanked him for his time and went on my way. Soon, I reached a massive, domed building. This must be the association, I thought to myself. I stepped through the entrance and was greeted by a cacophony of sounds and sights. A woman appeared to be floating, while multiple workers tried to pull her down from the ceiling. A unique skill. I opened my status window the way Kira showed me, by clicking my fingers in the air 2 times. As always, it said:
Attributes:
Name: Jack Farland
Class: ???
Unique Ability: ???
Money: 100,000 Rez (gifted from Kira [Healer, C Rank])
Stats:
Strength: ???
Agility: ???
Intelligence: ???
Skills:
(Passive Skills)
???
Description: ???
(Active Skills)
??? (Level 1)
Description: ???
I sighed and closed my window. I’m sure some of those question marks will be filled after I get a class and I learn what abilities I have. I continued to the front desk. At least I think it was a front desk. “Hello, my name is Jack, and I received a request from the Association to receive a screening about my abilities and class?”
“Of course, right this way, sir.” She walked me through a door that seemed pretty well fortified. Inside the room, there was a massive green gemstone. Even from here, I could feel the pure energy pulsing off of the crystal. Mana. The energy used by the Elites to perform skills and spells.
“What do I have to do in order to complete this test?” I questioned her.
She replied, “just destroy the mana crystal. After 5 minutes, we’ll measure your class and attributes by how much damage you did to the crystal, and more importantly, how you did the damage. Don’t worry about going full force, the crystal can be easily repaired with some smaller soul stones or mana crystals.”
I nodded like I understood what she meant. “I don't’ have any weapons though-“
“That’s how it’s meant to be, we want to see your primary way of dealing damage. I nodded again, but this time I actually understood. “I’ll be watching from inside that blastproof box over there. Pretend I’m not there, and give it your all. Good luck.”
I clenched my teeth. As I stalked up to the mana crystal, something appeared in front of my vision. A window like my status screen, but this time, it was an odd red color. The only words that appeared on it were:
“Skill: Reaper Zone is now active and ready for use.”
I pulled up my status window. Sure enough, right there in front of my eyes, was an active skill called “Reaper Zone (Level 1).” “Let’s put this baby to the test, shall we?” I somehow knew that I was supposed to say the name of the skill to activate it. “REAPER ZONE!!” I screamed, and suddenly, the ground around me, for about a 50 foot radius, became blood red. My vision tinted red as I walked towards the crystal. Right when I was standing in front of it, I became a flurry of movement. My hands became deadly blades as I dashed up and down the near vertical sides of the crystal, leaving deep slashes everywhere I went. Once, I looked down and realized I was holding a crystal-like crimson red knife in each hand. Was I… stealing the blood of the crystal and making it into weapons? But I couldn't think about it too much. I had a test to finish. After 4 minutes and 32 seconds, the crystal was almost unrecognizable. “Terminate Reaper Zone'' I gasped and fell to the floor, exhausted. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital bed.
I sat up and groaned. The first thing I remembered was my test. With perfect timing, a nurse walked in. “How long have I been asleep? I demanded.
“3 days, sir.” She replied. I sighed. Luckily, I hadn’t missed the prelims for the Elite Royale tournament. Suddenly, Kira entered the room.
“Jack!! I thought you were dead! When the test administrator told me what happened, I was scared you died of exhaustion! I won’t ask you about it, because that’s personal info, but from what I heard you did absolutely amazing! You cleared the test in a world record time!” That girl really likes to ramble, I thought.
“Yeah, I’m fine. But something happened while I was out there, some kind of special skill?” I pulled up my status window. It now read:
Attributes:
Name: Jack Farland
Class: Reaper
Unique Ability: Reaper Zone
Money: 100,000 Rez (gifted from Kira [Healer, C Rank])
Stats:
Strength: 165
Agility: 823
Intelligence: 423
Skills:
(Passive Skills)
Reaper Zone (Level 1)
Description: A unique skill wielded by the reaper. Within a 50 foot radius, anything that is living can be targeted and killed. While inside your reaper zone, your melee attacks with daggers become 250% stronger. You can see the vital points of your opponent while they are inside the reaper zone. The reaper zone follows you at a speed equal to your base agility stat.
(Active Skills)
Reaper’s Blade (Level 1)
Description: while inside your reaper zone, you may collect and harden the blood of your enemies to form weapons with attack power equal to the opponent’s base strength stat. While wielding reaper’s blades your dagger attacks become 100% more powerful. After this skill reaches level 3, your reaper blades can slice through anything on the planet without resistance. While using reaper’s blades inside reaper zone, you gain the use of the skill “Reap”
Reap (Level 1)
Once the conditions to use this skill are met, you can perform a killing combo of 5 hits to each of your opponent’s vital points. This skill becomes increasingly deadly and effective as it levels up.
I glanced up from my window. Kira was looking at me with a puzzled look on her face. “Jack, what’s on that status window? Why are you looking at me like that?” I laughed. There’s no way. I’m the first person to ever have this class? I looked up at Kira.
“I… have a unique skill. And apparently I also have a unique class, because you didn’t mention anything about the ‘Reaper’ class.”
“A UNIQUE CLASS?? THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED!!! WITH YOU ON MY TEAM WE’LL CRUSH EVERYONE IN THE ROYALE!” I sighed.
“Kira, I still have absolutely no idea how to use any of my skills. I’m not sure I’ll be much help to the team if I don’t know how to use my special class-specific abilities.” I glanced up. Kira was nearly crying with excitement and happiness. I smiled. There’s no convincing her otherwise now, I thought. Then something struck me that I had never considered. My sister! Is it possible that she got reborn into this world? I don’t know. But I have to look. Maybe I’ll meet her in the Elite Royale, if she was reborn with the same abilities as me. As I thought about these things and more, my eyes slowly closed, until everything was black.