A day had passed since the announcement. Both Elena and Alya were asleep or unconscious inside the house as they were too tired after crossing the river.
They woke up around noon but couldn't tell the time as telecommunications were down, and their mobile phones were dead with no electricity.
The outside was still cloudy, barely having light; it looked like the end of the world.
The first to wake was Elena, and she soon woke up Alya to ask her what had happened since the last thing she remembered was reaching the shore after swimming.
Alya couldn't remember much; it was all a nightmare for her. Slowly, she opened her mouth, "I'm sorry." Elena didn't expect that.
Alya continued, "I'm truly sorry, Elena. I was so scared I didn't know what I was saying," she started crying soon after.
Elena was more understanding here, and she hugged her. "I'm sorry too. I also lost my cool and said harsh things to you, but I didn't mean any of that. You know you are my best friend, and I treat you no less than my fami..." she paused as she remembered her family.
Alya understood where they were going; they were not ready to face it yet. She tried to change the topic, "So where is he?" she asked.
"I don't know," then she blushed and said, "he probably carried us here to this cabin house."
Alya looked around and asked, "Was he outside this cabin house the whole time we were asleep?" They both stepped out of the cabin and caught a whiff of something delicious.
They discovered Connor seated on a bench, enjoying ramen noodles, with a nearby campfire cooking a pot of something delicious.
Their stomachs growled, and they gazed at him with a mixture of hunger and slight embarrassment.
Connor felt their gazes and turned around. "Oh, you're both awake. Take a seat," he invited. He opened a container, grabbed two more cup noodles, and poured hot water from the pot to cook them.
They both got near him and patiently waited for the food, their mouths drooling.
Finally, he gave them the go ahead to eat, and they started quickly. Alya even burned her lips, to which Connor laughed while he dropped to the floor.
Alya became so embarrassed that she forgot all basic manners and etiquettes of eating. She felt ashamed. Elena wasn't faring any better. Only after Alya burned her tongue did she realize how she was behaving in front of a boy.
After finishing their meal, they gathered around the firepit, and Elena started the conversation.
"Thank you very much, Connor, for saving us and providing us food. I'm really sorry for everything that happened. I was not in the right state of mind."
"It's fine. Women are all crazy. I know how their moods swing all the time, but color me surprised. I never expected you to apologize," said Connor.
Both Elena and Alya wanted to refute his statement but couldn't because they felt too indebted to him.
"So, what's your plan?" Elena asked, to which Connor replied, "First, ask the system to show 'reformation of the world' "
They were confused, so Connor had to clarify and tell them to speak in their minds or orally to the system to show them the reformation of the world.
After they did that, dozens of screens came into their view, they saw how the world was faring in various places.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris had fallen, and many other places were faring worse with lava eruptions and meteors falling from the sky, satellite crashes, and other disasters.
India had the worst death rates with a 38.60% mortality rate.
Connor explained, "There was a global announcement about this function to view some of the highlighting events around the world in case they want to witness the said 'HISTORIC MOMENT.'" They both sneered and thought Uriel was toying with them.
Alya said with rage, "I will destroy this Uriel if anything happens to my family."
Connor looked at Alya, feeling amused. "So you like your family, huh? Of course, why wouldn't you? They treat you well with respect and spoil you a bunch."
Elena asked, "Do you not care about your family, Connor?"
Connor replied, "Little Helena, I don't care about my family, The only people I care about are my two sisters. I am not some affection-hungry man."
Alya said, "Her name is Elena, not Helena, and she is not little. We are all the same age."
"It doesn't matter to me. You all are little chicks I can call with whatever I feel like," said Connor and got up, saying, "Leave me alone for a while. I need to rest."
Elena was thinking about what the man named Connor Lennox had been through to act like he did now. She didn't even hear Alya calling for her. She only snapped out after she felt her shoulder being tapped.
She looked at Alya, who met her gaze with concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked Alya.
"Yeah, I'm just thinking about what kind of man he is. Is he kind, or is he cruel?" Alya grunted.
"I was thinking the same thing. Just who does he think he is? Just because he saved us, he's acting all high and mighty. 'I am not affection-hungry.' What even is that? I thought he was a spoiled rich kid, but looking at him now, I think his parents ignored him, which led to his rude attitude towards everyone," Elena reasoned.
"See how he calls you Helena? He does it on purpose to get attention from you," Alya added.
"Oh yeah, but why would he want my attention?" Elena asked. Alya replied, "Maybe he has a crush on you."
"No way, maybe he is just an attention seeker", Elena said, though she couldn't help but consider the possibility, especially since she was known as the number one beauty of her university.
******************
Meanwhile, Connor was planning for the future with the system. He had limited time to ask questions. He knew how valuable this information was now that he realized their worth.
'So tell me, system, why is my soul-body synchronization weak?'
[You probably don't know about this, but when you were born, the doctors declared you dead since you weren't breathing and you had no heartbeat. Then you were kept in an incubator to observe for the next 24 hours after your mother had threatened to destroy their hospital if you weren't saved.]
This news was shocking to him as he never considered his always busy and cold mother would do that for him. 'So what happened?' he asked, although he knew the answer since he was alive now.
[You were saved because your soul was fulfilled albeit with some damage. Unfortunately, this system is not advanced enough to treat damage to the soul. That is why, even though you have a good physique among your race, you are dead last in your spiritual embodiment.]
He couldn't understand well about the whole soul and embodiment part and how that makes him weak since he is perfectly fine in body aspects, so he asked the system to elaborate.
[The soul is your permanent aspect. Your physical aspect may change when you evolve, but your soul doesn't directly affect your physique as they are in different places or dimensions. They sync together since your astral core is connected to the soul. ]
[ The astral core is also a permanent form of an individual that would never change shape but can grow. Let me describe it like this:
Your body grows stronger because the astral core existing in the astral plane is the bridge that connects your soul. Your body can't grow stronger or evolve if either the core or the soul is damaged. Currently, your soul is damaged by 8%, and your astral core is going through disintegration. ]
Connor realized the situation was a lot worse than he thought. 'Does that mean I will die since my astral core is disintegrating?'
[No, if your core vanishes, your soul will still exist but won't be able to reincarnate, and your body will become a Fallen.]
'Isn't that the same as dead? How do I stop the disintegration?'
[You don't die. You turn into what your people call a 'ghost.' As for your second question, let me first tell you why your core is disintegrating. Your soul was attacked by a rogue reaper that caused it severe damage, meaning you would have permanently died, erased from existence. But your soul was healed rapidly with the help of your astral core, which was brimming with life energy at that time. Now your core doesn't have enough life force to sustain itself and is disintegrating.]
[To avoid disintegration, you must reach level 50 and break through your second-class advancement to Warlock of Souls within the next 2 years. To do this option, you have to walk the evolution path of a warlock. Also, your level will decrease by one every 100 hours.]
Connor felt like he had been slapped in the face. Two years, minus one level every four days and four hours. He felt he would rather enjoy his last two years of life. 'What are the chances of succeeding in the said method?' he asked for hope since he didn't know how long it takes to reach that level.
[2.8% chances to achieve it.]
He felt like was hearing his death sentence.
'So I only have 2 years to live, huh?'
[ No, you have 3 months to live if you stay at the same level. With the reformation, your disintegration is directly affected.
The gravity of Earth will be increased from 9.8 to 14.3, and there are lots of other factors that determine you will turn into Fallen within 3 months. Luckily, you will not immediately turn into a Fallen as your mental state and will power is high enough to fight the chaos that occurs in the integration stage.
But if you go down depressing and losing hope like that now, you may even turn into a Fallen in the next 48 hours.]
Things got much worse now as he reconsidered all the options. 'Am I just gonna wait for my death? Should I be depressed
'Isn't this too absurd, right now? Me, after everything life threw at me, I am still living.'
As he was thinking, he realized he had been fighting for his life since he was born suddenly. 'Yeah, I'm a fighter, no, I'm a born warrior.'
He screamed at the open sky, "Come at me, Fate, Destiny, or whatever! I will overcome you all and rise to the top!!!"
Immediately after he said that, it thundered. Connor felt as if destiny had accepted his challenge and got scared this time.
He joked, "I was only teasing you, girl. No need to take me seriously. You know I am your favorite, right? That's why you toy with me. Please don't put me on death road!" he begged to the sky. All his attitude changed with just a single thunderclap.
Elena, who was looking at him from afar, thought, 'Did he lose his mind? He must have with all the stress. Even he is human, no? Should I go cheer him?' As she was contemplating, Alya called for her to set up a bed for Connor to sleep.
Elena thought, 'Yeah, I can help him with small things to cheer him. I don't have to act like I care about him, not that I do anyway.'
On the other hand, Connor was getting all the information from the system to increase his chances.
He didn't stop asking questions from what evolution path to take, what classes would be beneficial, how to level up—basically all essential things that would help him survive his doom.
'Wait, so these skills can help me complete those class requirements to advance to a Class One Warlock? Where can I find them?'
[ There are 7 warlock classes is possible to achieve for you as a beginner for your class one :
1. Undead Warlock: Wielders of dark magic who can summon and control the dead, drain life energy, and cast curses upon their enemies.
2. Shadow Warlock: Experts in manipulating shadows and darkness, capable of stealth, creating illusions, and attacking from the shadows.
3. Demonic Warlock: Warlocks who summon and bind demons to their will, using demonic mana and infernal magic to dominate the battlefield.
4. Blood Warlock: Practitioners of blood magic, who use their own life force or the blood of others to cast powerful spells and enhance their abilities.
5. Enchantment Warlock: Specialists in enchantments and charms, able to imbue objects with magical properties, control minds, and manipulate magical energies.
6. Void Warlock: Masters of the void, harnessing the power of the emptiness between the physical dimension and the void dimension to cast destructive spells and warp reality itself.
7. Natureward Warlock: specializes in harnessing the primal forces of nature, forging a mystical bond with the elements and wildlife.
The recommended path for you here is either Undead Warlock or Blood Warlock. Both related to the Laws of life will lead you to the path of Soul Warlock.
But Blood Warlock requires you to spend your own life force to fight, which you lack severely. So I would say to walk the path of Undead Warlock. ]
[To become an Undead Warlock you have four requirements:
--> Have the subclass: Necromancer
--> Have a temporary skill in the dark magic of 3rd order rank
--> Defeat 100 class one evolver or monster with undead-related or darkness type of skills
--> Clear a Dungeon (solo)
]
[ You will be shown the option to advance to this class if you complete any one of the conditions before selecting your class when you reach level 25 ]
[Skills can be learned by absorbing the skill rune from killing a monster found in dungeons or gained upon class evolution.]
'Wait, I get the class evolution part, but are there going to be dungeons in the new era?'
[Yes, they are also divided by the same class ranking system you will have when evolving.]
'Can you tell me about all the classes?'
[
I can tell you about the class levels up to level 500:
- Level 0-20: Classless
- Level 21-50: Class 1
- Level 51-100: Class 2
- Level 101-150: Class 3
- Level 151-250: Class 4
- Level 251-500: Ascension Class (1, 2, 3, 4), which are the advancements of the same classes you had taken for the four classes to elite class.
Beyond this, the evolution happens after fusing all four elite classes to reach a Transcendental class, beyond which you will need authority level 4, i.e., level 400+, to know about them.
All Classes that you pick after Class 1 are interrelated paths like fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal relates to lightning, and so on,
For example, a Class 1: Fire Mage can become a Class 2: Earth Mage and vice versa
Upon each Class evolution, you will be rewarded 2 Skills which will be engraved in your core permanently by Uriel from the records of the same class
Each Class has a rarity that can be seen only when selecting the evolution path that tells how many people have walked this path, the hierarchy goes the same as the rarity of Weapons: Common -> Uncommon -> Rare -> Epic -> Legendary -> Mythic -> Divine -> Unique.
A unique path is an unexplored path meaning no one has a record of that class, not even Uriel as only after a test can the result be determined. It is almost impossible to get a unique path in this era as most paths have already been explored. but the possibility still exist. ]
Connor thought for a while before speaking in his mind ' Tell me more about the SP you mentioned that is needed for me to level up'
[ SP is the essence stored in your astral core, when you kill a being your core absorbs the SP of that being to refine both the soul and the body to the next level, the core is very essential for growth and could be said the balancer and equilibrium of life]
[ when a body dies, your soul takes another vessel which is called reincarnation, when a Soul perishes, the body becomes "Fallen" but would still live on
With the synchronization of soul and body through both the host and vessel can grow this synchronization is called " In-carnation " , A soul can also have multiple incarnations or to say a soul can have multiple bodies to act from the same core if the core has an excess of life force and the proper technique to create another vessel ]
[ To level up, you need to either slay the fallen ones, the evolvers, or the monsters in the dungeon to absorb the remaining SP in their core, the process is automated with the help of Uriel, you only need to kill the incarnate to get the reward ]
Connor was beginning to grasp the loopholes and intention of the Uriel system—it meant growing stronger and evolving from now on was only possible by killing others, it was going to be a free-for-all deathmatch.