Ethan tried. He really tried but before he could get two words in, the whirlwind of the morning had swept him up and shoved him into the carriage. Now, he was alone, save for the driver—a silent, grizzled man who hadn't spoken a word since the journey began.
Ethan slumped back in his seat, exhausted. His gaze lingered on the figures of his new family standing at the village gate. His "father," stern but proud, stood with arms crossed. His "mother" clasped her hands tightly in front of her, worry etched on her face. Marella, his supposed sister, had her arms folded, looking as if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
Their expressions were clear—they were genuinely sad to see him go.
But why? Wasn't he going to come back after the awakening?
Soon, the village disappeared from view. Ethan stared out of the rattling carriage only to find the dense woods flanking the narrow dirt path. The steady creak of the wheels and the rhythmic clop of the horse's hooves filled the air.
As the carriage bumped along the uneven road, a growing sense of unease gnawed at him. The thing was... after everything that had happened, some explained by logic and some explained by magic, there was still one thing left that he couldn't really think of any explanation for.
If he was here, then what happened to the Ethan of this world? Did the previous one simply disappear? Or did their souls merge or some shit? Maybe the other guy would take over the body sometime in the future?
It just felt very fishy that something like this would happen on the eve of this world's Ethan's big day.
Ethan thought about it for a while and decided to let it go. It was pointless. He was thinking in circles and not getting anywhere.
The woods grew denser as the carriage pushed deeper along the path, and the silence from the driver only amplified Ethan's swirling thoughts. He leaned his head against the wooden frame of the carriage, staring blankly at the trees blurring past. He felt like an imposter sitting here, taking on the life of someone who had clearly existed before him.
With a sigh, Ethan closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that the bumpy ride would somehow settle his restless mind.
After a few minutes of procrastination, he finally opened his system screen to tinker with it.
[Ding! Status Screen]
Name: Ethan Rutgard
Age: 16
Class: Unshackled Summoner (SSS-grade)
Level: 3
Rank: F
Titles: Hidden Class Awakener
Health: 100
Mana: 100
Strength: 10
Agility: 8
Constitution: 7
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 7
Free Attributes: 10
Core Skill 1: Marked by the Unshackled Summoner (Passive): All beings killed by you are yours to summon.
Core Skill 2: Summon (Active) Consumes the required mana to summon a bound being.
Bonded beings: Green worm, Small spider, Small Spider, Small Spider, Small Spider, Small Spider, Small Spider, Small Spider, Small Spider, Small Spider.
***
Ethan cringed at the list of his bonded beings. What SSS-grade class? He might as well be a bug catcher at this rate!
'System, can I... err... release some of these bugs?' He mentally asked and waited.
And then waited.
Waited some more.
No response.
Ethan tried asking a bunch of other questions, some even mumbling out loud making the driver give him a bunch of weird looks. However, there was no response for anything.
"Figures," he muttered under his breath, glancing at the driver, who remained silent and focused on the road ahead. He didn't want to appear any crazier than he already seemed, talking to himself about bugs and spiders.
Or worse, reveal something that he should not.
Ethan had a stinking feeling that the so-called awakening was probably related to his status screen and gaining levels that he already had. What if he wasn't supposed to have it just yet?
He once again put these thoughts aside. What was the point in rushing to find answers to these things?
The image of the wolf and the cruel smile on its face flashed in front of him again. The first thing he needed to do was to get stronger.
Sure, his new family was sad to see him leave but he was a little relieved to get a break from them. Before he got embroiled with everything that was not him, he needed some alone time to sort out things on his own and break some ground.
In this world, strength was the only way to survive, and right now, despite his "SSS-grade" class, he felt painfully underprepared. His bonded beings—bugs and spiders—hardly inspired confidence. He needed something better, something stronger to kick things off.
Speaking of which, whatever happened to his bugs?
"Summon small spider?" He activated the skill and started with the first one. He doubted if the man driving the carriage would sense anything. Just like he thought, the man did not even blink.
One by one Ethan pulled out all of his summons. The pitiful line of bugs assembled in front of him.
Thankfully, he hadn't killed another bug so his new limit was fresh. He needed to hunt something big down before this new quota got filled with more bugs. What a weird problem to have. He smiled wryly.
Ethan stared at the small army of spiders and the single worm lined up in front of him, feeling both absurd and slightly amused. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Alright, you little guys," Ethan muttered, "We need to figure this out together, I guess."