Episode 1
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The magic of the 10 suns.
A magic after the Fifteen Rules of Magic, created by Arhat, the Lord of Magic.
It was this that reduced humanity and the entire dimension of Earth to dust.
From the beginning, this outcome was expected.
"Freddy, only you can fight Arhat."
"Even if we're already dead when you fight him, at least.... Leave him a scratch!"
Humanity's last hope.
Actually, the so-called "Resistance" was created to wipe out the nine factions of "traitorous" humans in the abyss.
However, Freddy was after Arhat.
The strongest monarch of the nine monarchs, the creator of all magics.
A supreme being that humans could never hope to match, and, in the end, before his death, Arhat truly proved it.
For try as they might, humans would never surpass level 99.
A world no human could ever reach. And Arhat made it clear.
"Humanity's last stand."
So they were called.
Defeat was to be expected.
There was no chance against the nine races or the monarchs of the abyss.
Despite this, humanity felt no pity for itself.
They knew that sooner or later the monarchs would destroy the Earth dimension because of the humans' low performance and their power limit.
Even if they managed to reach level 100, breaking the level 99 barrier, they would still be considered the weakest dimension connected to the abyss.
In the past, monsters, the abyss and the system did not exist.
"Wow, dude, even if you fight Monarch Arhat, I guess he'll wipe you out just by looking at you."
"You think so, asshole? We are the last resistance. Even after I die, regretting living peacefully won't be important."
Because who would remember humanity anyway?
It doesn't matter if we are erased from all existence.
Arhat barely played and was amused by a human.
Even Gustang was not entertaining to him.
Although he kept Gustang by his side, it was for unknown reasons, though they seemed to be related to his awakened "Class", that Arhat found interesting.
"Incredible human, you exceed the magical power of any being from the abyss."
It could be said that he exceeded 100,000 stat units in magical power.
If he wasn't an awakened, such a high level of magical power would be impossible.
Even though Freddy was an "unawakened," he somehow managed to break the limit of magical power that unawakened humans had.
Unless you were an awakened and managed to increase the "Magic Power" statistic, it would be impossible to possess such strength.
But Freddy was different, even among the awakened.
"Breaking the magic power limit? Brother, that's really impossible, but you did it."
The resistance members praised Freddy.
"See, you're the only one who can fight Arhat."
"Even so, my magic power is limited at the moment."
Arhat's magic power seemed infinite.
It could be seen in the sky of the abyss: ripples of magic power ran all over the place like snakes.
The moment of facing Arhat was also the moment when it was all over.
As he already knew, everything had been decided from the beginning.
"Humans will always be weak."
"Tsk."
It was really unfair.
Because weakness was the only characteristic of humans.
The nine races were among the three strongest beings in the entire abyss.
Of course, there were more races and beings in the abyss that surpassed in strength.
Still, humans were the weakest among the thousands of dimensions connected to the abyss.
The dimensions were different worlds, like the Earth dimension.
Different civilizations and races inhabited these dimensions, and they were stronger than humans.
Therefore, Arhat's words, "Humans will always be weak," resonated as a collective trauma.
***
Five years ago, Freddy was expelled from the Verdance Family for failing to awaken.
Awakening is, in essence, when you get the system and all that goes with it.
Even after fighting Arhat, the Lord of Magic, Gustang, who was present and saw Freddy, showed no interest.
"Could it be because Arhat is on his side? Now even I, the strongest human, am looked down upon?"
It was ridiculous on an absurd level.
The room was tidy and clean, as much as possible.
On the bed lay a man with purple hair, blue eyes and clear glasses.
"Ah..."
Freddy's eyes looked around.
Everything was strange.
He felt alive, and that was one of the strangest sensations he had ever experienced, especially after having lived so long before he died.
Even now, claiming to be "alive" seemed impossible.
The desperate cries of humanity and his body crumbling into dust particles were still etched in his mind.
Even the message before he died was endlessly replaying in his head.
It was because that message, in every sense, was literally real.
Freddy's face, covered in sweat and scarred by trauma, reflected his mental state.
However, something strange appeared before his eyes:
It was a translucent black screen with lettering that read:
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⟨⟨==Congratulations, you've just woken up your class==⟩⟩
⟨⟨⟨==Now you can see the system==⟩⟩⟩
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No matter how dead he was, that was real.
"I'm alive."
It was impossible.
But he really was alive.
In the year 2024, Freddy had gone back in time, five years before humanity's last stand, just before he died at Arhat's hands.
Regardless of how it had happened, he had an answer.
"God of Sacrifice... Why did I receive that when I closed my eyes?"
The question was still there.
Although thinking clearly was difficult, Freddy's conscience remained calm.
Even in front of Arhat he never lost control or freaked out.
If he hadn't, how would he have managed to fight the creator of all magics, a being capable of erasing the existence of the abyss and all dimensions with such ease?
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—Name: Freddy Verdance.
—Level: 1
—Age: 25
—Gender: Male
—Height/Weight: 185 cm / 75,5 kg
—Class: Lord of Calamity.
—Statistics—
• Strength: 1
• Stamina: 1
• Agility: 1
• Intelligence: 1
• Magical power 1
—Skills—
-[Sword of Eternity]
-[Great Transcendental Magic]
-[Magic of the 10 Suns]
-[???]
-[???]
-[???]
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"....."
It was really crazy, wasn't it?
Even after going over and over the system before his eyes, it was impossible for him to articulate a single word.
"Ha... even after I died you left me in some illusion, making me believe that I went back to the past."
Fuck you.
Freddy looked at the system.
There really was something like that before he fought Arhat.
The answer was no.
"Can an awakened person see something like a transparent screen with detailed information about their class, skills, stats, name, and so on?"
"I really don't understand what that's like, do you guys see something like that, like it's a game?"
Even with that explanation, it was difficult to articulate a word about it.
This was because I had never seen anything like it before. It was as fictitious as something out of a game.
Ever since the Earth dimension connected with the abyss, that thing called "system" appeared before the chosen ones known as "awakened ones."
When the "creative abysses" emerged and thousands of awakened entered to complete the events of the creators, a new normal was established.
The awakened would level up, and when they reached level 99, everyone realized a bitter truth:
"The level limit for humans is 99."
No matter how hard one tried, it was impossible to surpass it.
Freddy was never an awakened one.
Strength, agility, endurance, skills, equipment and items that increased characteristics were privileges exclusive to them. Freddy never knew the feeling of using those rewards, obtained after completing an event in a creative abyss, found inside the abyss or acquired there.
All of that was alien to him.
"So... am I really an awakened now?"
He could see his skills, stats, and class.
Lord of calamity.
What did that really mean?
The skills that appeared were flashy, but....
"Sword of Eternity.... Magic of the 10 Suns."
Wasn't the Sword of Eternity a physical weapon?
And wasn't the Magic of the 10 Suns the ability of the monarch Arhat, the same magic that had erased the entire dimension of Earth?
Why the hell were they listed there?
"Great Transcendental Magic."
Was he even a wizard? But his class was called Lord Of Calamity, so it couldn't just be that.
"Awakened ones can see the characteristics of each skill to understand how they work. The same applies to the class," he recalled.
"And how is that done?" he muttered.
"Easy. Just touch the ability, and it automatically pops up the information. Same with the class."
"That works with all awakened?"
"Of course, asshole."
So, that meant... he could see the characteristics of each skill and also its class.
"I just have to tap where it says Lord Of calamity, right?"
The screen was still floating in front of him, and when Freddy reached out and touched the letters, he felt something. It was like touching a window.
That's when the screen changed, revealing new letters and information completely different from what he had seen before.
"W-what...the hell is this.... This is too much."
He had never heard of anything like this before.