It’s been about two days since we sent out the message of our plan to the Kingdom, and that’s all the time we’re gonna get. No time to count the amount of support we’re gonna get, just got to hope it’s enough.

I look around me to see the familiar faces of the people I’ve met these past few weeks preparing for war.

Garut sharpening his blade, Gael meditating quietly in a corner of the cave, Delorie doing one-handed push-ups, even Hoggle is building some sort of device that only he knows what the hell it does.

The person I’ve known longest out of these people, Uncle Moren, is chatting rapidly to a clearly not paying attention Garut, something he does when he’s nervous.

I don’t blame him though, in approximately three hours, we are going to be running head first into system knows how many soldiers and guards, praying that enough reinforcements arrive from the teleporter.

Mostly likely one of them is going to die, maybe more if I’m being honest. Originally it was just me that needed to get off the planet, but now all of us need to somehow make it through that teleporter. Even Hoggle isn’t safe now that the Empire Hound is around. He’ll track us right to his front door.

‘All of this because we wanted to get me off planet and out of the Empire’s army. Am I really even worth it?’ I ask myself.

I sigh before deciding to review my status quickly.

Name

Rowan Attain

Level

10

Class

Legacy: Skill-less Swordsman

Race

Human/Janin

Attributes

Strength – 18 (+2)

Agility – 32 (+2)(+3)

Dexterity(+) – 48 (+2)(+2)(+4)

Endurance – 11 (+2)

Perception – 25 (+2)

Intelligence – 12 (+2)

Willpower – 38 (+2)

Masteries

Swords – 20

Temperance – 17

Stealth – 12

Sprinting – 9

Exercise – 7

Thievery – 3

Deception – 4

Killing – 4

Blending In – 1

Misdirection – 7

Monster Hunting – 10

Skills

Feats

Early Killer - Very slight increased progression towards your Killing Mastery.

Swords Prodigy - Slight increased progression towards your Swords Mastery. +1 to all Stats.

Temperance Prodigy - Slight increased progression towards your Temperance Mastery. +1 to all Stats.

Early Enlightenment - One trait can be chosen related to your core.

Reversal – One trait can be chosen related to your recent ambush.

Punching Up – +1 to all stats.

Starter’s Blade – +3 AP, +3 to dexterity.

Smart Spender – Save all of your SP until level 10. +1 to all stats.

Core

Sword – Your sword resonates with omnipresence.

Traits

Indomitable Swordsman – Gain 10% of your willpower in perception when in a tough situation.

Meager Swordsman - Increased progression towards your Swords Mastery while living humbly.

Sword of Silence - Harder for enemies to detect your sword coming. Very slight increased progression towards Stealth.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Dedication to the Sword – +2 to all stats when holding a sword, -2 to all stats when not. Increased progression towards Swords Mastery, decreased progression towards all other weapon and combat masteries.

Willful Gains – Permanently gain 5% of your willpower in any stat. Affect continues to scale with willpower. (+2 Dexterity)

Skill-less – All SP gained up to this point and onwards will be transferred into 2 AP each. Unable to acquire skills through any means. Bonus (2 * Tier) AP gained per level.

Sword of Will – Gain 10% of your willpower in any other stat. Can be changed once a year. (+4 Dexterity)

Items

Solace’s Soul Shard (Three uses left)

Not much has really changed since the last time I looked at it, though it does help to reaffirm my goals for the future I suppose.

My eyes are drawn to the last section of my status, the Soul Shard.

‘Maybe I should use it. I mean I could be dead in a few hours anyway, no point in wasting it. I should ask Uncle Moren first though I suppose.’

So I begin to do just that, and I walk over to where Uncle Moren is having a one-sided conversation with Garut.

“Hey Uncle Moren, I’m gonna use ‘that’ before we leave.”

“Huh? What’s ‘that’?” He asks.

“You know, the thing from my class.”

“Thing from your… oh that’s right. Go ahead kid, I’ll keep an eye out for you. Remember, it’ll be longer in there than it is out here. Depending on the creator of the soul shard, the time dilation could even be as strong as 60:1, no way to know until you leave it, I suppose.”

I nod and click on the soul shard on my status.

After a moment of hesitation, I click yes.

Immediately my vision goes dark. Not in a passing out type of way, but looking around me, literally everything around me is a dark black void.

“Hello my successor!” I hear behind me.

I look back and see the man who decimated millions of people right in front of me. His features are much the same as I remember, with four arms and golden skin that seems to sheen in the light, which is weird considering there is no light around us at all.

His face, to my surprise, sports a kind and gentle smile that makes me feel at ease around him. Whether that’s a skill or something similar is hard to tell.

“Uh, hey… Solace right?” I reply.

“Indeed that would be my name young successor, what would be yours?”

“Rowan. Rowan Attain.”

“Ha! What a strong and powerful name! Fit for the successor of my divine legacy! So, Rowan, what guidance do you seek? Information on the history of the multiverse? Training with the sword perhaps? Insights into the great mystery of cultivation?”

“Uhm, I don’t really know. Maybe a little bit of all of it? How long do we have in here?” I ask.

“Well if the real me set it up right, you should have about an hour in the real world, so I’d say about a hundred hours in here.”

“A hundred?! That’s a 100:1 ratio?! Uncle Moren said even the best soul shards only go up to 60:1!”

“Really? I don’t know much about other soul shard creators I suppose. After all, I did kind of figure all this stuff out on my own. I was a bit of a recluse if you can believe it.”

We sit in a somewhat awkward silence for a few seconds.

“So, where are you now? Are you like, still alive?” I ask.

“Well not in your realm I’m not, I’ve long reached tier 20 and entered into the ascension plane, as did everyone else who created a class with the system. Now whether I still live up there is anyone’s guess, my guess would be probably not.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, from what little we know of the ascension plane, war is constant, and from what we understand, people of the third realm are often at the forefront of the conflict, until they can rise above their station to become something greater. That being fourth or even fifth realm practitioners.”

He stops briefly before continuing,

“But you don’t need to worry about that for a very, very long time. From the looks of it, your barely tier 2, meaning you’ve got another few hundred, or even thousands of years ahead of you before you can start to worry about that, if you even make it that far.”

I nod before changing the topic.

“So who are you? What has your life been like?” I ask curiously.

Solace shakes his head.

“I’ll tell you that and a lot of other things on your last visit to me, which by the way I expect to be at tier 10 or higher. I don’t want my soul shard to be wasted while your at such a low tier. Also your next visit should be when or after you reach tier 5. If you decide to go earlier I wont teach you anything, understood?”

‘There goes that plan to shoot myself through the lower tiers quickly.’ I think to myself before nodding seriously.

He nods in satisfaction.

“Now with this Q&A complete, I want to leave you with this piece of advice. The Multiverse hates you. It hates life, it hates planets, it hates everyone you know and love. The multiverse hates, and don’t ever believe that it’s your friend.”

I tilt my head in confusion.

He sighs before saying,

“It’s okay if you don’t understand now, but you will, and when you do you’ll thank me for that advice.”

I nod skeptically.

“Anyway, lets get to some fun stuff eh?”