Mr. Samuel once asked what [Class] i wanted to have. I had no idea what I wanted at the time so he suggested that i go on the route of an [Assassin]. Mr. William also asked me and i replied the same, with him recommending that i take the path of a [Knight].

His reasoning had something to do with the emperor or something. I didn't pay attention that much after he said that I should use my class to serve the emperor. No thanks.

What i am interested in is having my own [Class]. The problem is that there are so many I'm interested in but restricted to only one. It was something about being able to only take one [Class] for the rest of my life. It was a shame that that iron-clad rule existed.

Argh. But the options, the variety, it’s so much. I want it all. Stupid dumb rule. Tsk.

“Child focus.”

Suddenly i felt a searing pain at the back of my head like a stick hit me or something. Slapping me out of my thoughts, i saw that Mr. Lucius really had a stick in his hand. That wasn't nice.

“That hurt you know,” I pouted.

“Either Focus or die.”

Alarmed, i began to fixate all my attention at the book in front of me. This was the [Lexicon] he prepared for me, not even telling me what class it was. I don't even know what class i want...

Heck, he didn't even tell me if it was from an Ordo or Chaos Systema. All he told me was 'You will see'. But i wasn’t satisfied with his explanation, leading me to keep asking him what [Class] it was. That was until he threw me back into the ocean, forcing me to swim back.

At first, i thrashed around in the water for a while, figuring out how to float. Eventually, i learned how to swim for some reason. My guess was that it was due to my will to live.

Currently, we were on some far-flung small island in the middle of the vast oceans. No people or even the sounds of birds squawking were heard. The situation was somehow familiar but i still had no idea how that was. I asked about where we were but Mr. Lucius told me that we couldn't leave until i absorbed the [Lexicon].

I eyed the [Lexicon], seeing that it was in a typical form of a book. It was Bound in material i didn't know of, with the cover of it being blank. Pitch black in appearance and its pages felt fragile like a turn of a page would rip it out of its binding.

The strange part was that when I tried opening it, it didn’t budge. So much for being fragile. I desperately tried pulling open the covers but it didn’t open.

So it left me with only being able to observe. I still haven’t absorbed it yet for the simple reason of not knowing what i was getting myself into. I darted my eyes to a certain someone and felt a little reluctant. Not knowing if i can swim back another time.

I disregarded my worries and asked another time for more information about the book. Like what [Systema] it was from.

Mr. Lucius sat inclined in his folding chair, sitting under the shade of a coconut tree while drinking from a coconut. He was so relaxed in this situation that he didn't seem to have any care whether I lived or died.

He side-eyed me as he took a sip from his coconut and replied with one word.

“[Caesar].”

[Caesar]? What branch is that? Ms. flying tiger didn’t tell me this in class.

“Come on, Mr. Lucius be serious, there isn’t a branch of [Systema] like that as far as I know.”

“Kids Nowadays, not respecting their elders.”

He gave a sigh before standing up, walking towards me in a relaxed manner. His raven black hair gently swayed as he fixated his crimson eyes on me.

He took the [Lexicon] from me, flipping it open with ease, and started browsing. In my stupor, it shocked me that it was even able to open. I was about to ask how he did that when he said.

"This branch of [Systema] once thrived in my time. Able to walk anywhere unimpeded until... Until an event so disastrous that it warranted their extinction."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He gazed at the book with unknown yet complicated emotions. I rubbed my eyes to make sure but i think i saw that there was a tinge of sadness in those indifferent eyes. Rubbing my eyes again, i saw that he was suddenly back in his chair with closed eyes.

I picked up the [Lexicon] and wanted to dust off the expected sand but there was none. Huh, strange. Pretty sure it dropped off to the ground but okay.

“The class is called [Null].”

Intrigued, i glazed at the [Lexicon] with a growing interest. Normally the starting [Classes] are [Swordsman] or [Knight], but this one had nothing to signify what path I will take. Now this was both strange and interesting. A fun combination.

"Start now. I want to go back and drink beer for a change," he said languidly.

I nodded and stared at the [Lexicon] and steeled my resolve. Since Mr. Lucius gifted it to me it's rude for me not to accept, heck it maybe even a good [Class].

The method of absorption popped into my head and thought that the ritual was really simple. I just have to say one word.

“Satus.”

For a moment, nothing happened. The [Lexicon] didn't seem to react or transform into a whirlpool of energy or something. I shook it a few times to make sure and still, nothing happened. I quizzically stared at Mr. Lucius and asked if this [Lexicon] was broken.

“And so it begins.”

Not understanding what he meant by it, I was about to ask again when my bemusement didn't last long. I felt my whole body freeze. I tried moving my fingers and even that didn't work.

In my panic, i looked over at Mr. Lucius and saw that he went back into wearing a suit. He looked at my feet and i did the same, realizing that my feet were off the ground.

The [Lexicon] appeared in front of me and flipped open. Its pages turned at a rapid rate until it stopped at a particular page. With only one word of it highlighted in radiant blue.

“Novus.”

I unconsciously said the word and it began glowing in reaction, seemingly pulsing in my eyes. Silent whispers were all i heard, muttering the word Novus over and over again on repeat. The sheer repetitiveness of it made my head hurt and felt that if this went on, i would go insane.

Jolts of electrifying pain suddenly made their way through my entire body, making me feel as if my entire body felt like a million ants devouring every part of me. The massive amount of pain made me drift between conscious and unconsciousness, but i gritted my teeth and forced myself to remain conscious. Feeling as if something disastrous would happen if i didn’t.

A Ball of energy started accumulating as it hovered around me, the color of it blue the same as the word in the book. Over time it was gradually forming into a big spherical shape and yet throughout the process, the pain never stopped.

The pain amplified with every second, continuing to burrow itself into every single part of my body. The thought of committing suicide popped into my head, yet I resisted the urge and persevered.

My desire for it to end grew, feeling my mind becoming blank and fuzzy. My vision slowly became blurred as it seemed that the ball of energy was accumulating at a snail's pace. My reasoning dwindled with every second passing.

I was about to give up and let my consciousness slip when i heard a voice.

“You can’t die yet Cosmo, we had a deal.”

Mr. Lucius appeared beside me but i couldn't bother to look. I wanted to shout to him to please let it end but i could not. And so i endured the mind-numbing pain. The only feeling i had was that of regret, questioning why i had to go through this.

“You’ll thank me later child, for now, you must persevere.”

He gave me an encouraging glance and went back to his chair, observing me from a distance.

Accumulating my last bit of will, i continued to endure for an unknown amount of time, until the pulsating ball of energy stopped growing with the pain disappearing with it

“Good.”

The ball of energy started wrapping around my body, feeling as if it submerged me deep underwater. The feeling of power started penetrating every single part of me as well as a sense of peace and tranquility returned to me.

The power i felt resting deep within me elevated my mood. Minutes ticked by as i felt chunks of knowledge, some understandable while some made no sense no matter how much I thought of it.

With the last drop of energy entering me, i felt an overwhelming sense of euphoria. I gave the long-awaited sigh of relief, assured that i don't have to go through that again. Right?

I no longer thought of it as i let myself go and sprawled out on the ground. I began admiring how beautiful the sky was as i appreciated the tiny pleasures in life.

Something overshadowed my body and saw that it was Mr Lucius looking at me with a cup of tea in hand.

“You did it. Congrats child, you semi succeeded”

Weakly, i responded. “Yes, yes i did.”

A feeling of exhilaration when through me as i realized, i finally have a [Class]. Something that will hopefully, help me realize my own goal.

Still, there was still a question that sat on my mind, and its that what did he mean why semi-succeeded? I gave a confused look to him and he seemed to have understood. He clarified.

“Yup, you semi-succeeded.”

“Uh, What do you mean?”

He didn’t answer and began swirling the cup of tea in his hand as you would do with a glass of whisky. He looked into the horizon and said.

“Gaining a class isn’t that simple.”

I was about to ask him what did that mean when suddenly, my surroundings turned dark.