Dark, foul, and humiliating—the swine's quarters is where Edward and his mother lived. Head bowed and steps heavy, he walked towards the small house that he called home. His mother would be waiting there, alone in the darkness with possibly a candle to keep her company. Ed earned enough for them to eat twice a day and have light at night, but he wished he could give her more. He knew she deserved better from him—after all her sacrifices to keep him alive. The wealth, name, and power she could have retained, all gone, because she chose to protect her son. These thoughts burned at the back of Ed's mind as he chose to keep quiet and live a peasant's life. All because he didn't want to die. He knocked on the door. It opened and a warm smile from a wrinkled face greeted him. "Extra work outside the walls?" "Yes, mother. We had to bury Denil before sunset." "Poor boy. Just well enough that Marisa passed last year. She was one of the women who welcomed me into the village and taught me how to earn a living when you were but a boy, you know. It would have broken her to see her son hanged before he even turned twenty." "Enough of the dreary talk, let's eat." "Very well Lord Von Mansfeld, let me present your dinner for tonight." His mother led him to the small wooden table in the middle of their cruck house. She curtsied like a maid would in a noble's manor as she addressed him. "I present to you: corn gruel with Roksted flatbread, specialty of yours truly." "Mother! Stop that please—and flatbread?" His mother laughed weakly. "I earned quite a bit with the baskets that I weaved with the other women of the village. We can spend a few more coins for food once in a while." Ed smiled at his mother as they sat to eat. He savoured the first spoonful of corn gruel and felt some of his fatigue wear off. His mother's cooking always had that effect on him. He took a bite from the flatbread as he noted the stains on the old brown surcoat that she wore over her woolen kirtle. It hurt him every time he saw it. Because he still remembered the elegant silks and the grand ornaments that she wore when he was young, in the place where the cruelest animals resided—the capital. His reminiscing stopped as they heard loud knocks on their door. He stopped his mother from getting up and opened the door himself. He was wondering who would visit them this late and got his answer. It was one of the baron's [Soldiers], five of them in fact, and a [Knight]. "Edward Von Mansfeld, we need to talk to your mother at the baron's behest." "What is this about, sir?" "I don't need to explain to you why we do what we do. Step aside." The [Soldier] pushed Ed away with a mighty shove that sent him sprawling on the ground. "Evretta Von Mansfeld, the baron demands that you provide him the hidden stash of your late husband tomorrow or he will show you mercy in his lands no longer." "Your lord knows that I would die first before I let his hands touch a single object from my husband's treasures." "Very well." With that last reply, the [Soldier] slapped Ed's mother and brought her down to her knees. Then he kicked her so hard that she flew across the room—breaking a chair in the process. Ed stared at his bloodied and unconscious mother in shock. Then, out of primal wrath, he jumped at the offending [Soldier] and punched the back of the man's head twice before the man turned around and kicked him through the open door. Ed rolled on the muddy ground and stared up at the [Knight] who watched with a nonchalant face. He remembered the [Knight] as one of the men who arrested his father many years ago. "Your mother will be taken for questioning in the castle's dungeon until she tells us where your father's hidden treasury is," said the[Knight], "unless of course you give us what we want before then." He stared at Ed, studied his hesitant face, and narrowed his eyes. "Ah, you do know where it is. Your mother shall die then." Ed furiously tried to get up to run to his mother and take her away somehow but a [Soldier]'s knee pressed him against the ground and stopped him from standing up. The [Knight] smirked down at Ed. "Baron Rocksted has lost his patience with your mother's incessant pleas and uncooperative behaviour. Bring your father's treasures to the keep tomorrow or your mother will hang on a tree by sundown." He had only wanted a peaceful life. He lived the life of a commoner because he thought it meant that the nobles would leave them alone—if he didn't pose them any threat. But it was apparent that he thought wrong. Edward Von Mansfeld, you have been a fool. His thoughts fell to self loathing as he watched the [Knight] vanish into the darkness. Then he looked up at the sadistic smile on the face of the [Soldier] who kept him pressed on the ground. The [Soldier] laughed at the wrath on Ed's face and let him up. "Get your ass in the house and give the baron what he wants. We might not rough you up too much if you do, you mud eater." The [Soldiers] prodded Ed towards his house using the tip of their spears. One of them even drew a bit of blood as he nicked the young man's left leg. Slowly—Ed took a few steps forward—then dashed into the house, slammed the door shut, and locked it. He went to their little kitchen and grabbed a knife. Then, after taking a deep breath, he sliced his left palm and let his blood drip into his left eye. His left eye glowed. An array of shining shapes, numbers, and letters streamed out from it and swirled in perfect circles that expanded and exploded into a fountain of lights. Ed reached into the area in front of him and—from some invisible space—took out a blue glowing crystalline marble the size of a cashew. In a rush, he swallowed the marble and a melodious voice spoke in his head. "Eternion access granted. Initiating class inheritance ... allocation successful. Eternion Champion Edward Von Mansfeld recognized ... Grade S clearance granted ... class Realm Keeper granted." A series of glowing letters floated in front of Ed's eyes. He read them. Edward Von Mansfeld (Grade S clearance) Combat Class: Realm Keeper (T5) lvl. 1

Strength: 25 - increases physical power, develops the class holder's muscle and bone density and strength proportional to the class holder's body type, also strengthens all tendons, internal organs, and all body tissues relevant to the circulatory system

Vitality: 25 - increases life span, improves health at the cellular level, increases speed of regeneration, resistance to damage, poison, disease

Psionic Affinity: 25 + 10 (class bonus increases per level) - increases control over Eternion, increases intensity and density of Eternion that can be used in skills, increases damage of Eternion based skills, increases focus, memory, and overall mental capability and resistance to Eternion induced status effects

Dexterity: 25 - increases coordination of the body's movement and control over every part of the body, increases movement speed of individual body parts

Agility: 25 - Increases movement speed of the body as a whole and increases ability to dodge and maneuver, strengthens specific muscle groups for optimal movement capabilities

Stamina: 25 - Dictates the amount of Eternion that the body can channel before it starts breaking down. Also affects the strength of Eternion link dependent constructs created or summoned by the user. Improves overall efficiency of the body's energy consumption and the corporeal body's stamina

Special Class Skill:

Hero Summoning lvl.1 - Summon an Eternion Champion of the first tier equal to or lower than the summoner's level. Maximum level of the Eternion Champion at the time of summoning is level 10. Requires a dungeon core as sacrifice.

Realm Step lvl.1 - The Realm Keeper folds a part of the realm's space and teleports a short distance.

Gravity Ball lvl.1 - create a small high density field of gravity through psionic manipulation Call of the Stars lvl.1 - call a small meteor down from space to a target location Eternion Rhapsody lvl.1 - create a song that can be sung through the ages containing an objective that can be fulfilled by all guild members, party members, or summoned units (currently limited to tier 1 and tier 2 quests, level up by repetition or skill point allocation in order to unlock higher tiers)

Basic skills:

Place Bait - skill enhances the range and intensity of attraction when you use an object as bait to attract monsters, different objects may attract different monsters and results may vary

Bond Monster lvl.1 - make a monster submit to your will and gain its loyalty through your power. Incapacitate the target monster for a higher chance of success. All wounds are healed upon successful bonding. The bonded monster gains the ability to level up together with the class holder and increase its tier upon certain threshold levels. Bonded monsters can communicate via direct thought exchange with their master. Maximum of 2 bonded monsters active at any given time. Power Strike lvl.1 - channel Eternion into a weapon or body part causing it to build up and detonate upon impact Basic weapon mastery lvl.1 (passive) - provides a basic level of proficiency in all weapons through direct system-assisted knowledge input into the user's brain and nervous system. A sudden rush of power coursed through Ed's body. His bones solidified, his muscles gained mass and grew denser, and a veil seemed to lift from his mind making it sharper and clearer. His body changed and achieved an inhuman amount of vigor within the duration of a few seconds. Then he heard the door break into pieces. But even faster than the splinters of wood could fly to the other end of the room, he took out a short spear from the invisible space that came out of his left eye and lunged at the [Soldiers]. The glowing shapes made of letters and numbers folded back into his left eye as he parried a spear thrust and plunged a glowing short spear into the neck of the first [Soldier]. The power of the small detonation of Eternion obliterated the soft flesh of the man's neck and shattered his vertebrae, throwing his head up to the roof where it bounced off and came tumbling to the ground below. The second [Soldier] froze in wide eyed shock, perhaps because of the sudden increased intensity of Eternion surrounding him or the unexpected death of his fellow bully. Ed did not break stride, however, and instinctively activated [Power Strike] again and obliterated the entire left side of the second [Soldier]'s head. The baron wants my father's hidden treasures? Okay, then I'll let him experience them first-hand. Ed picked up the first [Soldier]'s head and went out of the house—that was when he saw Klay, dumbstruck and staring at him with a spade in his right hand.

"What are you doing here?" "I ... I saw the [Soldiers] and ... and I thought I should help you but I ... what was that Ed? Are you a class holder?" Contemplating, Ed stared at his friend and let the cogs in his head turn. Should he bring Klay with him? Should he kill him and shut him ... no, that's not something he would ever do. Klay was an orphan anyway so he had no family he could babble to.It might be best if Ed just gave him a Seed of Classes and got his help with what he was planning to do. Could he trust him with his secrets? It's too dangerous. But if not Klay, then who else? This would most likely lead to their deaths though. Should he really bring his friend to a suicide mission? "Hey Klay." Klay, who was staring at the [Soldier]'s head that dangled from Ed's left hand, looked up and nodded. "I can make you a tier 5 class holder right now but we will be hunted by all the nobles and the royal family. We will most likely die. But if we live, we can go someplace far away from here and live better lives. You won't be able to take Rose with us though, I'm sorry." Klay remained slack-jawed for a moment—then he closed his eyes and sighed. "Rose and I are no longer together anyway. And I'm tired of burying my friends under trees. How do I gain that tier 5 class you're talking about?" Ed smiled. His left eye glowed and the gate made of small shining shapes appeared again in front of him. He planted his spear on the ground, took out a small red crystalline marble from within his pocket realm, and handed it to Klay. "Eat this and read the words that will come out afterwards. You can ask me questions later but I have to do something first." Klay followed his words and ate the marble. Then his body—glowed—his complexion noticeably improved, skin blemishes vanished, his visible muscles became more defined and his hair looked healthier than before. Is this what happened to my body too? Ed thought for a moment but he did not glance back as he took his spear from the ground and walked towards an elevated clearing inside the dark woodlands near the swine's quarter but still inside the walls of the village. There, he placed the decapitated head of the [Soldier] on the ground and activated his [Place Bait] skill. He walked into the cover of tall grasses and trees near the clearing and waited. Not too long afterwards—it came. As big as a mule, the bird-like monster had dark plumage, a sharp beak, black smokey eyes, wings of a large bat, and a serpent's tail with a spike at its end. A cockatrice. But smaller than what Ed knew from the books. Perhaps this one is a juvenile. Hopefully that would make it easier to bond it and acquire its help for the task that they were about to undertake. Ed crouched low. Quietly, he stalked the cockatrice from behind, then exploded into a rush. Midway, he drove his spear into the ground and used it as a pivot point to suddenly change direction and dodge a bite from the monster that almost took half of his face off. He rolled on the ground, stood up, and punched the juvenile cockatrice's head. It stumbled and let out a cluck of pain. Ed grabbed its neck and dragged it to the ground. There, he wrapped his legs around the monster's torso and activated [Bond Monster]. Man and monster glowed and struggled on the ground for a minute and a half before Ed heard the notification. [Monster and master bond established, Juvenile cockatrice obtained, please provide a name ...] A floating ethereal panel with a text box and a table of letters materialized in front of Ed. Wait, so am I supposed to choose the letters from this table and create a name? Okay, little fella, you have those smokey eyes and you can fly so how about this and this ... Ed tapped the corresponding letters and formed his chosen name for his new pet. It took him a few seconds to realize that he needed to press the button that said "Enter" in order to complete his input. [Bonded monster has been named Smoke Wing ... loading statistics sheet] Smoke Wing lvl. 1 Specie: Cockatrice Strength: 19 - increases physical power, develops the class holder's muscle and bone density and strength proportional to the class holder's body type, also strengthens all tendons, internal organs, and all body tissues relevant to the circulatory system

Vitality: 17 - increases life span, improves health at the cellular level, increases speed of regeneration, resistance to damage, poison, disease

Psionic Affinity: 17 - increases control over Eternion, increases intensity and density of Eternion that can be used in skills, increases damage of Eternion based skills, increases focus, memory, and overall mental capability and resistance to Eternion induced status effects

Dexterity: 13 - increases coordination of the body's movement and control over every part of the body, increases movement speed of individual body parts

Agility: 12 - Increases movement speed of the body as a whole and increases ability to dodge and maneuver, strengthens specific muscle groups for optimal movement capabilities

Stamina: 18 - Dictates the amount of Eternion that the body can channel before it starts breaking down. Also affects the strength of Eternion link dependent constructs created or summoned by the user. Improves overall efficiency of the body's energy consumption and the corporeal body's stamina Skills: Dash Flight lvl.2 - Use Eternion to fuel an extreme burst of speed while flying. Lasts for 20 seconds Power Strike lvl.1 - channel Eternion into a weapon or body part causing it to build up and detonate upon impact Debilitating stare lvl.1 - slows down the enemy's movement by 20 percent of their normal speed "Well, that's better than I expected. I might be able to help you turn into a mythical creature if we survive tonight." Ed touched Smoke Wing's head and turned towards Klay who was watching from the cover of a tree. The moons were up and bright in the night but the canopy of the tall trees provided a dark landscape and casted deep broad shadows. For some reason, Ed felt an odd sensation when he looked at his friend—it's like he melded with the shadows and belonged there. Now, what class was in that tier 5 crystal? Ed needed to know some of the details so he could plan their attacks and defensive formations in battle. "Did you like the show?" "That looked fun. Unfortunately I don't think my class gets to tame dark creatures of the night like yours." "Tell me what you got so I can optimize our combat capabilities." "Spouting fancy words now that we are class holders? Don't give me that look, I was just kidding. You can talk fancy all you want 'cuz man do I feel awesome after swallowing that little marble!" "You're welcome but please tell me about your stats and skills so I could figure out how to utilize them." Klay sat down on the ground and looked at something that Ed couldn't see in front of him. "So we can't see each other's glowy floating pages? Alright, alright I get it. I have 30 in strength, 20 in vitality, 20 in psionic affinity, 25 in dexterity, 30 + 10 in agility, and 25 in Stamina." "That means you have a physical combat class with a high focus on strength and agility then. What's the name of the class and what are your skills?" "Vengeful Night Monarch. I have [Blood Retaliation] lvl.1 which empowers my attacks for every ounce of blood spilt by myself and my allies within a radius of 50 meters, [Rage of the Vengeful] lvl.1 doubles all of my stats whenever myself or any of my party members receives a fatal or near fatal amount of damage that renders them incapable of fighting, the effect lasts for 5 minutes. [Shadow Walk] lvl.1 which helps me hide and move faster in any dark area or among shadows. I also have [Basic Weapon Mastery] lvl.1 which helps me fight using weapons with a sufficient amount of proficiency, [Basic Midnight Sentinel Mastery] lvl.1 which is apparently some sort of martial art discipline, and [Power Strike] Lvl.1 which is probably what I saw you use back there on the [Soldiers]." Ed was astonished at the skills that Klay had. His friend definitely acquired a more battle proficient class than he did. Although, a [Realm Keeper] does have equally powerful skills as well that may prove even more earth-shattering in the long term. "Okay, so you'll be the vanguard for now while I haven't bonded to any monster specializing in melee combat." "How about that big chicken of yours?" "He'll be our eye in the sky and a reserve fighter in case we get trapped. He's not as strong as either of us in combat yet." "Fair enough. Alright, let's go save your mother." "Not yet. We'll go to the dungeon at the foot of the mountain first. There's something I need to do there that can help us save my mother more easily." Ed noted the determined look on Klay's head as his friend nodded in acquiescence. Conflicted with the thought of possibly getting his friend killed in this madness, he conceded that he needed all the help he could get and Klay knew the dangers and accepted them. If worse comes to worst, I'll sacrifice myself to buy him time to escape with mother. Ed thought as they walked in the darkness towards the village gate.