Half an hour had passed after I had awoken when my brother finally entered the room. Seeing me awake, he broke out into a bright smile as if he didn't feel any guilt in leaving me back in the woods the entire night. Though I had accepted and was even grateful that he had left me out there so no one would learn of my class, the fact still remained that he had left me in the woods, injured, for the entire night. Had I been in his shoes, I would've immediately gone out of my way to save him, my own class be damned.
But, I wasn't in his shoes, and I didn't want to hear his petty excuses as to why he had left me. As this thought flickered through my mind, Benedict had already rushed me and pulled me into a tight hug, squeezing me with so much strength that my back cracked and I noticed that I had lost a few ticks of health. I raised my eyebrow at that, wondering what his strength had to have been for him to be able to take away someone's health just by giving them a hug, but I quickly returned my focus to the fact that I had to pretend that I was classless.
Letting out a rough cough, I groaned as he continued to squeeze me. "Benedict! I can't breathe!" I wheezed, causing him to immediately let go of me as shock and anxiety coated his face as he began profusely apologizing while attempting to look over me to make sure he hadn't injured me.
"I'm as fine as I'll ever be, stop fussing over me." I swatted his hands away, sending him a glower that seemed to cool his jets and caused him to lower both his hands and his head.
"Eric… I'm so sorry. Little brother, I had no intention of leaving you out there, but by time-" Benedict choked out his attempt to apologize before I cut him off.
"Stop! Don't. Don't even think of trying to apologize. It's done." I laced my voice with anger, which was quite easy since my blood still boiled for the betrayal, however I knew that I could neither under sell this act, nor over sell it. As such, I decided to appear angry but resigned towards my fate. "I'm classless, and that's the life I'll have to live. There's no point in an apology. They can't even fix what's been done.
Benedict nodded as sadness marred his face, his eyes glistened with guilt but I quickly realized that I didn't care. My brother and I had always had a close bond, but now, I didn't care. It was quite shocking actually, but thinking back as to how this could've happened, I could only come up with two reasons why, both of them dealing with the issue of my class"lessness".
He let out a heavy sigh before he looked up at me, "I know that I can never undo what happened to you, nor can I remove the fate that I forced you to live, but I promise you brother. I will do whatever it takes to help you get a class. There's thousands of dungeons out there in the world, and maybe one of those dungeons has an artifact or item that can give you a second chance of awakening."
"Brother. Don't waste the rest of your life trying to find the impossible. If such an item had existed, everyone would've already known about its existence, and somebody would've already used it sometime ago." I shook my head as I calmed myself, attempting to look like a caring brother who was still willing to forgive his family for their error.
Benedict sadly looked at me, not saying anything in response, and I figured that the fool was most likely making a silent oath to himself to attempt finding this mythical item. Deciding to carry the conversation on so that we could eventually get to the point where I could decline any of his offers so that I myself could follow my own machinations, I asked, "So. Master Otto told me you were in a meeting with the guildmaster along with a noble. How'd that go?"
Benedict's eyes gleamed as a small smile tugged his lips upon thinking about his previous meeting. "It went surprisingly well. Arvgran helped me fill out all the required paperwork needed to use guild trading halls, mission boards, dungeon access, as for Neara, well she requested that we move to the barony and become her people. We can have a better life after moving there, and we won't have to worry about going hungry or feeling cold or wet when it rains or snows while in our home. It's a better life for the entire family."
"What are you saying brother?" I internally rolled my eyes, trying to get Benedict to hurry up and say what he wanted to say so I could decline it.
"Neara is willing to help our family move to the Barony, and will fund our family for a better life. I'm thinking of returning home to inform mother and father about this and help them pack everything up so we can begin moving right away." Benedict excitedly answered my question, acting as if our family's response would be a yes. I mean, our parents would most likely say yes to this since they had the entire family, especially our younger siblings, to think about; however the fact that he was assuming that I was willing to go.
The entire world would think I'm classless. If I were to follow him and move to the Barony, I would only receive contempt and mistreatment due to me being unable to contribute as much as other people.
I sat in silence as I made it appear as if I were processing what he was saying, but while this was occurring I was actually thinking about what I would be able to do after my family had moved away. I loved my younger siblings, as for my parents, they had always compared me to Benedict, and I could foresee this comparison worsening now that he had awakened a powerful class.
Looking up at Benedict's expectant gaze, I finally spoke, "I'm sorry brother, but I don't think I'll be going with you."
Shock crossed his face as looked at me. "W-why Eric? This is a chance for a better life, why would you stay here?"
I schooled my face into the appearance of a sad smile as I responded, "Because Benedict. I can't live that life. I'll be nothing more than a dead weight on the rest of the family, let alone the community. Besides, I asked Master Otto if he would be willing to teach me the basics of being a healer, and how to make herbal and medicinal brews. That way, I'll be able to at least contribute to the community even though I'm classless."
Benedict appeared to be leaning on every word I said as he tried to understand why I would choose to remain over going to a better future, and I was glad to see that he hadn't appeared to become stupid after receiving his class upon his nod in response to my answer.
"Okay. Um, then I guess this will be our goodbye." Benedict awkwardly looked at me as he tried accepting the fact that we would no longer be seeing each other again.
I gave him a sly grin, "Who said this would be our goodbye? If Master Otto accepts me as a student, I'll have to go back home and get my things as well. If he doesn't agree to teach me then, I'll have no choice but to go with you guys since I won't be able to care for home on my own." And of course, I'm a necromancer now, meaning we will probably be fighting each other again in the future, though I have no intention of killing you ever.
Letting out a soft, embarrassed chuckle, Benedict grinned as he patted me on the shoulder in response. Otto, who had been at his desk listening to us, finally got up and walked over to join us.
Giving me a long stare down his sharp nose, Otto finally spoke. "I've thought about it boy, and I'll teach you, though it's going to be a long and grueling process. I will also be prioritizing my teachings over those who have classes then you, since they must complete their training within a year. You'll be able to use one of the guild's rooms though, so you can go and bring your things here."
I let out a quiet sigh of relief upon hearing his response, now I would be able to guarantee my survival later on in the future. "Thank you teacher." I bowed respectively to Otto after I had crawled out of the bed. Now that my immediate future had been settled, it was time to return home and say goodbye to my family.
I truly wasn't looking forward to how our parents would react upon learning that I was classless, but I knew for a fact that they would be ecstatic with whatever great class Benedict had gotten. Now that I thought about it, I had yet to learn what Benedict's class was, and since he would most likely be the one fighting me in the future, under his misguided belief of responsibility and honor, it would probably be wise for me to learn of his weaknesses to guarantee my own life.