His face scrunched up as he gazed at the holographic panel.

Yep, there was no mistaking it.

The change seemed so real that he wished it weren't.

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Name: Nero Orias Lilin

Affinity: Life

Job: Alchemist 

SP: 176

Charm demon (20%)

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"What have all my efforts been for all these years?"

Sighing heavily, Nero slumped back onto his worn-out bed, the tired creaking of the wooden frame echoing in the small room. The dim light filtering through the window revealed the exhaustion etched on his face. His mind raced, figuring out how he ended up in this peculiar situation.

A first-year high schooler who suddenly chanced upon this world. He was a typical reincarnate in this magical world.

However, there was no truck-kun, the Goddess who gives cheats, the kingdom facing a demon king needing a chosen hero, or any other bullshit that came up as the reason for his rebirth. 

After spending endless hours pondering the matter, Nero resigned himself to the fact that this birth event was something that he was currently incapable of figuring out because of his limited abilities and understanding. So he chalked the whole birth event to an unsolved puzzle in the back of his head, and as for cracking it, he just threw it over the bucket list of things to do in life. 

He had tried, but his memories proved to be his greatest obstacle. The early recollections of his childhood were fuzzy.

His mind in those times was bouts of consciousness, like a weak flame in the darkness that occasionally flared up. Even simple tasks, like moving his body or forming coherent thoughts, were a hassle for him.

Reflecting on the past, he struggled to recollect any specific details from his childhood before turning eight.

Nero concluded that some mishap during his rebirth must be responsible for everything. But in the eyes of everyone in the village, it was enough to pass him off as a total failure, except for his granny. 

She never lost faith in him.

She brewed some weird potions and fed him regularly, which tasted worse than botaur shit, but hey at least they seemed to do their job.

By the age of six, he regained his ability to speak and move, resembling a normal child. As he turned eight on the night of the Harvest festival, he experienced a remarkable recovery, with most of his memories from the other world settling in.

It wasn't easy nor fast, rather a slow growling process.

Apart from the shitty start, his life could be considered quite pleasant. His granny, a revered figure in the village, held the esteemed role of main priestess. Devoting herself to the care of the sacred grove, she spent her days teaching the young children or overseeing rituals. Their house, fit for a priestess, stood out as one of the most impressive around the village. Money was never a concern. At least it should have been for Nero, as he hardly remembered a day when he was tight on funds. But we will get to that soon.

With Granny's vast collection of books, she made sure he had every opportunity to educate himself, teaching him language, history, healing skills, potion making, and, of course, the boring ass theology. She also revealed her plans to send him to the city to enroll in an academy, so she was never stinky for his education, ensuring he never lacked knowledge. 

He didn't have any parents in this life, either. But at least he never felt lonely. 

He had his granny. Her presence was a constant comfort for Nero, as for the first time, he felt familial love. Through her tireless efforts to nurse him back to health, she filled his life with knowledge and affection, giving him a sense of belonging.

More importantly, this world was filled with magic, dragons soaring through the skies, and terrifying magic beasts roaming the unknown. It's a place where divine beings exist for real. Yep, the real deal. Not like the fabricated one designed to manipulate the masses from Earth, but true divine deities. Those who could respond to prayers, bless their followers, perform miracles, and also punish the evildoers.

Yeah, He wasn't buying the good god part much, but Nero was convinced they were real after getting up close and being an active part of the blessings. 

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Humans had a high mortality rate and an average lifespan, reaching merely sixty-five for civilian people. The reality that this was happening in a world with great healing magic and a decently developed medicinal field showed the dire states.

The different religions were also spreading their influence among the masses, each vying to prove their divine god's unrivaled benevolence as the ultimate savior of humanity.

These Religions, alongside Nobles and Ascenders, held a firm grip on human society. Be it wealth, laws, culture, or morality, they decided and shaped it.

In short, they were the bigwigs who call shots on how shit worked around here.

It was a hard concept for Nero to digest, but one he learned to live with. 

Overall, it was still awesome. The mere possibility of wielding a superpower was enough to hype him out. And this world was still untouched by humans in the genuine sense. Their presence was akin to a small fish in the vast ocean. That means tons of uncharted terrains existed where the taste of adventure awaits in the corner with unknowns like those deep creatures of the depth. 

His adventuring spirit was stroked along with a burning desire to be strong and roam in this alien world unrestrained. 

So Nero fully embraced and fell in love with his new world.

Specifically, it started when he saw the Ascension ceremony during the harvest festival for the first time.

People lined up to the sacred grove for their fortune to be read. If lucky, they could be blessed to have a compatible path. The difference between those who gained no path and those with it was huge.

In the first case, you have severely lost an opportunity, and this Ascension ceremony itself could be considered a last chance for these common folks on the outskirts of the kingdom. As for the latter, they have a minute chance to be awakened.

Even if they can't, merely having one is already enough. A person who has gained a compatible path as a peasant holds the opportunity to be a farmer, one who owns the land and cultivates it. 

Well, not exactly owning the land, but leasing it from the bigwigs for a lifetime.

Only then can they build a new house with viable costs. 

Otherwise, they have to pay sizable income to the temple and get support from them. Then seek the village head to find a suitable spot and build everything from scratch. 

 It is a cumbersome task that also strains one's pocket.

Though it's still better than living in a cramped house with all the family. 

Ah, I wandered off-topic. Let's get back to the guys who had gained a compatible path. Their potential is their value, whether for a marriage, a job, or standing in society. Meanwhile, those who haven't gained their path through the Ascension ceremony faced an uphill battle compared to their peers.

Those who have gained a path only have to adhere to it. Doing tasks that complement their path will yield progress, opening a more advanced version of the path. 

To Nero's brain, all this translated was that people of this world could awaken a job, and completing the corresponding job quest meant leveling up. Meaning they could unlock a higher version of said job.

That sounded like a classic RPG setting to his ears!

Nero didn't know exactly what job he was going to get. But to land a combat-oriented job, he was determined to make the most of his past life knowledge to his advantage. He regularly did all the exercises he remembered to make himself sturdy while trying meditations from fiction novels to gather mana.

But the results were disappointing.

No matter how many hours of attempts he put in on meditations to gather mana, he fared poorly, marking him clearly as average. 

Undaunted by his failure, Nero shifted his attention to becoming close combat, aka a warrior job. It wasn't like he didn't want to be a mage-type and cast a volley of spells, but his talent in the area was not up to par to fuel his dreams.

Nero summed up his gaming experience and concluded that being fully proficient in a wide range of weapons alongside training his body would increase his odds. So he didn't waste any time and started begging Granny to buy weapons to practice. 

Granny reached out to Craft Woods Village, the nearest settlement, to place a custom order for a batch of throwing spears, which she then collected from the caravan.

He didn't understand her choice, but she spelled out it was the preferred weapon for hunting. So he just practiced with it.

In a couple of months, the satisfying thud of his javelins hitting their target echoed in his ears. 

With newfound confidence, he approached Granny to buy him a dagger. Then, in a few more months, he followed it with his request with a plea for a melee spear. Despite Granny's initial resistance, she relented after a little huff and puff. The breaking point was when he uttered the words "weapon-type gear," resulting in Granny's temper blowing up.

She gave Nero a lengthy explanation of how money doesn't grow in trees, followed by a lecture on financial management. Granny's verdict on that day was that it was time for Nero to start earning his keep around the village, which he could use as he saw fit for his current needs or save up for his future. As for the Gear, it will depend on his Ascension ceremony. If it's necessary for his path, she will arrange for them to be forged, tailored to his path, through the priestess of the sacred grove in the city he wants to move to. Until then, he should forget about it.

When Granny remained staunch in her stance, Nero was forced to find a source of money for his ventures or devise a better plan to secure a warrior's job.