"ARGH!" I screamed, as I opened my eyes to find myself in a familiar room.
I sat up on the bed, and my body was covered in cold sweat.
Wait.
Why did my voice sound softer?
I got up and went to the bathroom.
I was in my room at Blake's mansion. Was it all a dream?
As I looked in the mirror, I was startled by my own reflection.
I looked...
I looked sixteen!
But before I could retain that information, the door to my room busted open, and I flinched.
"what's wrong, master Kurt?" The butler asked, looking worried. "I heard the scream, so I thought someone had broke in."
Was it all a dream?
"No, thank you... Alphonse. It was just a nightmare, thank you." I said, as I dismissed him.
I needed to catch my breath.
It was one hell of a nightmare...
"Forgive me, younger master, but you're probably worried about your awakening. It's not everyday a young man like you comes of age."
I was still a bit off, so I just asked Alphonse to leave, and when he closed the door, I went straight to the bathroom again, and looked in the mirror.
I really looked sixteen...
But what Alphonse just told me... And the dream.
Nothing of it made sense.
"And what was that shit about a system?" I asked my reflection.
And to my surprise, when I asked it, an information window appeared right in front of me.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?"
The window displayed just a few simple words.
[WELCOME, PLAYER]
[YOU HAVE 04 MESSAGES]
The window displayed.
"It wasn't... A dream?"
I checked my holowatch, it was still 08h30min in the morning, so I had some time before Alphonse announced breakfast, if I remember it correctly.
So I sat on the bed, and kept staring at the window that appeared in front of me for a minute.
Player, messages, system...
It didn't make sense at all, but if yesterday wasn't a dream...
Then my Quintus really betrayed me.
And my father really killed me.
But... How am I back in my room?
How am I sixteen again?
No, wait.
If what Alphonse said was right, I just turned sixteen, and it's the day of my awakening.
The day when father found out that I was only a regular...
But I wasn't gonna let that happen again.
No matter what.
So I put these thoughts aside, and focused on the window in front of me.
"Open system!"
Nothing happened.
"Show messages!"
Nothing, either.
'Shit, how the hell am I supposed to read these messages?'
*Beep
[MESSAGES: INSTRUCTIONS
QUEST
DAILY QUEST
UNIQUE QUEST]
What? Just by thinking of it, the system does what I need?
I proceeded to open the first message.
[INSTRUCTIONS: DAILY QUESTS WILL APPEAR TO HELP THE PLAYER GROW STRONGER.
ACCOMPLISHING QUESTS WILL AWARD THE PLAYER WITH DIFFERENT REWARDS, DEPENDING ON THE QUEST'S DIFFICULTY LEVEL
FAILING TO ACCOMPLISH SOME QUESTS WILL RESULT IN PENALTY]
I vaguely understood what it was.
This system resembled that of a video game, but it didn't show a status window or anything like that.
But as soon as the thought popped up on my head, the status window appeared in front of me, covering the message window.
NAME: KURT BLAKE
LVL: 01 STAMINA: 130/130
AGE: 16 HP: 100/100
CLASS: ??? MP: 50/50
BASIC STATS
Strength: 15 Perception: 15
Dexterity: 20 Intelligence: 10
Agility: 20 Vigor: 25
So it was like a game, after all, and if I was at level one on it...
Then I could really grow stronger.
"Little brother? Did something happened?" Quintus asked, opening the door.
"Oh, well... Don't we know the meaning of privacy in this house?"
I was clearly pissed, first Alphone, and now Quintus? Fur fuck's sake!
"Sorry, little brother. I just heard you scream. Thought something was wrong. But..."
Then he approached me, squinting his eyes.
"What the hell?"
"Did nothing happen? Really?" He asked.
"Nothing at all, why?"
"I don't know. You look... Different."
"Different?" I raised a brow. "How?"
"Don't know." Quintus shrugged. "And why are you looking at me like that? Wanna fight or something?"
I only noticed it when I felt the taste of blood in my tongue.
I had bitten my lower lip so hard it bled.
And I was looking at him with an angry frown that shouldn't be there, but it probably was because I remembered what he did to my in my...
Past life.
But he didn't.
"Anyway, if you wanna fight, just schedule it. You know I'm busy." He retorted my silence. "Big day, today, huh?" He punched my shoulder a little hard.
Frowning at the resistance he felt.
"You've awakened, right? I don't remember you being that sturdy for a kid... By the way, breakfast is ready, better eat something, today's a big day for you."
And he finally left.
He was right.
I had awakened.
I don't remember a single time in my past life, when I didn't almost suffocate when he was near me.
His mere presence was enough to make me feel oppressed.
But now...
He didn't feel normal, but also didn't feel overwhelmingly scary like before.
And this thought almost drove my attention away from the system.
But I still had two messages to read, and I already had a few things figured out.
So I summoned the message window again, and started reading the three messages left.
[QUEST: CHANGING THE TIDE]
[CONTENTS: 1/2 AS A REGRESSOR, WHO IS RELIEVING LIFE BACK FROM A CERTAIN POINT IN TIME, THE PLAYER MUST FULFILL HIS DYING WISH.
CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE PLAYER'S PAST CAN BE CHANGED, WHILE OTHERS CANNOT.
THE PLAYER MUST GROW STRONGER TO FULFILL HIS WISH.
2/2 PLAYER DOES NOT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS TO ACCESS INFORMATION!]
[REWARD: CHANGE YOUR FUTURE]
That was interesting, but not being able to read the second part made me feel a bit bad, so I went to the third and fourth messages.
[DAILY QUEST: THE STRONGER SELF]
[REQUIREMENTS: RUNNING WITH WEIGHTS 0/10KM
SIT-UPS 0/50
PUSH-UPS 0/50
SPARRING 0/10MIN]
[REWARD: ???]
[PENALTY: ???]
I thought that this system was supposed to help me, but it was trying to kill me!
Come on!
A ten kilometer race? With weights?
Ten minutes sparring?
Sit-ups and push-ups?
And what the hell was with the question marks in the reward and penalty sections?
I felt goosebumps after seeing the question marks in the penalty section.
If the system is able to make me regress to a certain point in my life, and also give life back to me...
What the hell can't this thing do, if I don't accomplish the daily quest?
But that was a thought for another time in the day, because I still had one last message to read.
"We're waiting, little brother!" Quintus called me, now with the decency to not barge into my room.
"TWO MINUTES!"
And when I couldn't hear his steps anymore, I opened the final message.
[UNIQUE QUEST: FINDERS, KEEPERS]
[REQUIREMENTS: STEAL QUINTUS BLAKE'S GUILD BADGE]
[REWARD: UNIQUE SKILL; CLASS UPGRADE]
I felt a grin over my lips, as the surprise quest made ideas sprout in my mind.
It was a big day, yes.
But it was even better, because I would get to know if Quintus is really a member of the Shadow guild or what...