Norman, 15 years ago.

Norellius was asleep. Not a novel thing for a cat, but this sleep held a special position in his feline heart. After all, he'd been asleep for…wait, how long had it been? Oh, never mind. What need had he of time?

Norellius settled back in his place, ready to go back to sleep, but was interrupted by a queer sound. A series of melodic sounds that travelled through the air, making his ears twerk in response. What was this now? Could a cat not sleep anymore?

Norrelius settled back in, snorting with all the fury he could muster. Not much, but it mattered. The singing continued, disturbing his sleep, but he was stubborn. The silly little thing wouldn't wake him, no, he was stronger than it!

Why was he singing though…wait. How did he know it was a he? Did the music mean something? Was it a message? Did he- Wait…the music was at it again? No, it would not wake him! Norellius settled back in, ignoring any thoughts this time. The music eventually stopped, the song fading away,, and he returned to his precious sleep once more.

The sleep was long, years passed, leaves fell and trees grew, but he slept. And then it came. The bloody blue thing that woke him up.

The System has conquered planet#13577

Please wait as the System finishes recalibrating the planet’s mana.

The Class System has been activated.

Norellius was furious, and rightfully so, the bloody thing woke him up without his permission! Did it have no notion of manners? But he didn't stay angry long. A memory emerged, reminding him of a song. . Norellius had not recognized it before, but now that the bloody thing had awakened him, he remembered.

The song was a call for aid, something Fae children sang when they needed help. A child was in need somewhere. Leaping into the air, Norellius broke his mirage, rushing in the direction of the call.

Wait, what call was that? Norellius stopped in his tracks as his memories vanished, trying to remember things. A few seconds later he remembered the tune, returning to his run. But it did make him question what was happening.

The journey did not take long, Norellius may be terrible at teleportation, but he was fast. A city loomed in the distance, smelling of Human and Elf. But the song was silent. What had happened to the child? A Fae child did not quite easily, he knew that from experience.

The little buggers had once protested by singing for an entire century. The Fae Empire had been forced to give 'youth representation', or they would start singing again. The memory of the song led him deep into the city, towards the parts that smelled more Elf.

The city was Elven, but Norellius saw only Humans walking about. The rest was not hard to deduce. A war, eh? Norellius couldn't say it was unexpected, the Humans were just next door, after all.

But this was not the time to think about all that, there was a child waiting. But he couldn't remember the song at all. In fact, he could sense his memory waning as he stood there. A power deep within him was sucking it- What? What was doing what now?

What had just happened? Why did he not remember anything? What was he? Why was he here. The cat looked at its orange paws, finding them strange. The tree it was on was even stranger. Was it supposed to be on a tree? Titling his head, it looked around, wondering what to do. A strange haired bipedal stood out.

Red hair and blue eyes, the color was almost as offensive as its own. Hmm, maybe it should-No, it should not approach it! No, wait. Why not? The thought seemed weird. Why was it weird? The cat was puzzled, it did not like that. So it stopped thinking. Hmm, were those cookies baking in that house? Well, cookies were his by right!

The cat jumped off the tree, heading towards its prey, sparing not a thought more to what had transpired.

Ray sighed as he walked down the stairs. The last few days had been…something. The feeling eventually went away, but it still left him feeling different. The news of what happened had spread like wildfire, but the exact specifics were unknown.

The rebellion had taken credit for the attack, and had revealed what the Xnarthan were doing there, causing a huge uproar. Not because the general populace suddenly cared about other Species, but because they feared they would be next. But the Xnarthan had yet to act.

Ray would like to think that it was because he'd killed the people involved and destroyed the evidence, but that wouldn't stop the nobility. No, the reason things hadn't escalated was simple, the nobles were having a civil war of their own.

The Academy Dean blaming the Duchess had been a master stroke. The Duke had moved to deny it, which caused him to clash directly with the Dean, and lose. The Academy Dean had called for an immediate investigation into the Ducal holdings, an investigation that had been denied by the local legal authority, the Duke.

As it stood, the nobles were far too busy fighting among themselves to care about Commoners. But that same could not be said for the rebellion. The Satyrs had cemented their alliance with the rebellion, establishing a portal to their lands in their base.

But that was not all, they were making portals to high Tier areas, actively helping the rebellion level up. The support they were giving was on a completely different level than before, Ray's contribution hadn't gone completely unacknowledged either. The Satyr Elder wanted to meet him, apparently to thank him for his efforts and discuss things.

Ray wasn't going to reject a Tier 27 that wanted to thank him. Not to mention, she'd offered to meet him at the bakery, an encouraging gesture. Purple mana coiled in the air as a woman appeared next to one of the many empty tables.

Ray had kept the bakery shut the last few days, but he would have to open the doors eventually. Ma had trained enough people that it wouldn't be an issue, but something would still be missing without her.

"I greet the Elder Ro." Ray said, bowing slightly as he had been told to. The Satyrs had a lot of customs surrounding their Elders.

"Come, sit." the Elder said, waving her hand towards a chair.

"Do you know why I asked you here?" the Elder asked.

"No." Ray said, taking a seat.

"What do you think of this?" she said, making a gray shawl appear on the table. Ray had no idea what she was talking about, but the shawl gave him a bad feeling. Purple mana surrounded it, clinging to it, but the nature of it was different than normal. No, it was the same type of mana, but there was something wrong about the way it worked with the shawl. A sickly feeling emerged in his stomach just from looking at it.

"Here, take it. The shawl is very soft, a precious article even in the Human continent. " The Elder said, shoving the shawl at him. Ray's hand touched it, it was indeed very soft. But it also made him feel sick. The nearer it got to him, the more he felt like puking. Ray shoved the shawl back, forgetting all decorum.

"I am sorry, I just can't-" Ray puked, a sick feeling overcoming his body. What the heck was that shawl? A magic artifact? Not one he'd seen before. Was the Elder trying to kidnap him? But why bother with shawl, she could just wave her hand and teleport him.

The Elder's expression calmed as Ray vomited his lunch on the floor. A purple hole appeared, swallowing the puke in as Ray wiped his mouth, embarrassed.

"So it is proved." she said. "A High Fae in the Empire."

Ray tried to calm his upset stomach, that was a test? A detection technique of some kind?

"The…shawl I just gave you is what remains of my son. I wasn’t supposed to be able to give birth at my age, but somehow I did…only for this to happen." the Elder said through gritted teeth. "Satyr fur becomes very soft after death, making it a prized possession among Human nobility."

Ray paused. . A shawl made of Satyr fur? Did the nobility have some conscience killing potion? Did they not feel a tiny bit of guilt wearing their victims around?

"Oh, it's not common in the Elven continent. Or in the common nobility. But such objects are often looked on as tokens of loyalty among the Emperor's inner circle. A way of publically declaring that they are loyal and agree with the Emperor's policies." the Elder said.

"Why tell me this? Why even test me?" Ray asked.

The Elder put the shawl away. "I wanted to show this to you. What Humans will do if you let them. Antasia and her kind are different perhaps, but even now, too much of this city thinks of us as little more than animals. A lack of knowledge, yes, but will they really accept us? I doubt it"

The Elder breathed out, her breath labored, "I sensed your presence during the battle, but did not have time to focus on you. A Fae child here…it was unexpected."