Ansem Arkwright sat on the floor of an empty classroom with his back against the door and his hands covering his mouth tightly.
'What the FUCK is going on?!'
****
Less than twenty minutes ago a holographic screen appeared before them eyes of every human being with a apocalyptic message.
[Earth's protection period has ended. Invaders will be allowed to invade if their Gate reaches a certain threshold.]
[For the next 4 hours Invaders will be allowed to enter and reduce Earth's defenses.]
Then as if hell descended upon Earth the horizon became lined with explosions and screams erupted from the classrooms.
Ansem's class quickly entered the hallway to see where the scream had come from.
Even though the teachers were trying to get the students to stay in the classrooms but there was no way they could focus on the lesson after hearing screams so close to them.
It was only a few minutes before a commotion broke out at the end of the hallway.
Ansem couldn't see what the cause was, but when he started seeing people start to turn towards him while desperately trying to run away he knew it wasn't something he wanted to learn.
Joining the crowd he began running while screams broke out behind him.
However before he could get to the stairway he was forced out of the hallway and pushed into one of the rooms by the tide of fleeing students.
Ansem desperately tried to rejoin to escape but the frenzied crowd wouldn't make room for him.
The sounds of windows breaking and a mysterious squelching sound was enough for Ansem to quickly yank his head back into the room he was in while slamming the door shut.
Despair gripped at his heart and mind as he knew it would only be a matter of time before he was found.
Tears began welling in his eyes as he began to think of his family. His mother and his younger brother, Adam, their pain threatened to break his heart.
All the good, bad and regretful memories. He savored them all as he was grhateful to have experienced the life he had.
Slowly, silently, his tears began to flow freely as he cried knowing his death would be lonely.
No witnesses. The grim wish entered his mind.
'Please let my body stay intact so that I can be identified.'
He prayed his family would be safe.
As he neared closer to the edge of losing all hope the handle of the door he had his back to began to rattle.
Ansem quickly covered his mouth as tight as he could. Afraid even the sound of his breath would alert the creature outside of his presence.
However when he dared to look up at the window he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at him.
His heart froze.
*clink*
If the sound of a small sliver of hope being broken had a sound this is when Ansem swore he could hear it.
Ansem backed up in dread as a grotesque grin appeared on the green creature's face.
The creature began slamming against the door with all its weight.
Ansem looked in hopeless resignation as the creature's hand broke through the glass and began fumbling to unlock the door.
However Ansem was unable to move.
That was when he began to think to himself.
'I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry Adam. If I was a better son I wouldn't be so helpless in this situation...'
He closed his eyes as tears flowed.
Then it happened.
Like a surge of energy entered his body filling it with strength.
[Mana has flooded Earth.]
[Class Awakening will begin.]
[Class: Apprentice Necromancer]
[Gods have descended on Earth. Their blessings given to those with potential.]
Ansem's heart began to speed up.
'If I can get a blessing! I- I can fight the creature if I get a blessing!'
So Ansem waited, but nothing ever came.
The system messages were silent.
'I've been... Abandoned. Ignored.'
Like every other person in his life he was ignored by the gods.
However instead of despairing Ansem felt a radically new emotion.
Anger.
'Why do I deserve to die?!'
It started as a silent protest in his mind. However it rose like a tide building into a tsunami.
Eventually Ansem's heart was pounding as he screamed aloud. Venting to himself, venting to the creature, venting to anyone.
"WHY SHOULD I BEG FOR YOUR HELP?!"
[Class influenced!]
[Apprentice Necromancer -> Apprentice Necromancer (Ghosts)]
Ansem moved forward, overtaken by adrenaline and rage, grabbing a nearby desk chair in his hands.
He raised the chair over his shoulder and slammed it against the thin green arm trying to unlock the door.
The creature cried out in pain and quickly pulled back its arm. However before Ansem could think he had won the fight the creature threw itself through the window.
It pinned Ansem to the ground as it began to furiously scratch at his arms. It's dirty nails leaving mild cuts all over Ansem's arms. If he were able to remain calm he would realize they were nothing life threatening however this was his first fight ever.
Panic replaced the temporary bravery his stunt with the chair gave him.
He thrashed on the floor as the goblin kept scratching him.
"ENOUGH! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"
Abandoning his defense Ansem swung his fist at the green skinned creature. His fist connected with a solid thud.
Thankfully he still had adrenaline pumping in his body so he didn't notice how much his fist hurt after the punch.
Scrambling on the creature Ansem mounted the goblin like an MMA fighter and began to rain blows onto the creature. He continued, fueled by a primal instinct he never felt before, until the creature stopped trying to defend itself.
Ansem stopped but was still on guard.
That was until he saw a message.
[Goblin Lvl. 1 Killed]
[+1 EXP]
[Reached Level 1]
Ansem half expected a bright light to wash him and heal him of all his injuries, like the novels he read, yet that never came.
Bleeding and heavily exhausted Ansem dragged himself off the goblin.
He slumped with his back on the teacher's desk in the room and read through the messages. There were more that he hadn't read and he felt that it might be important to his survival that he takes advantage of the system.
"It said I leveled up to Level 1. Does that mean everyone is Level 0 until they kill a creature?"
Ansem waited a moment but there was no response from the system.
"Okay. So the system is not sentient. If it's just like a game with experience and levels the there should be a... Status."
[Name: Ansem Arkwright]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 80/100]
[MP: 100/100]
[Stats]
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 10
Charm: 0
[Substats]
Physical Power: 1 (+5 STR)
Magic Power: 1 (+12 INT)
Physical Resist: 1
Magic Resist: 1
Luck: 1 (Incredibly Unlucky)
Ansem nodded to himself as he looked at his stats. Unfortunately he didn't know what the average stats of a person were but even he could tell his physical conditions were low. He wasn't very strong or fast so he could only assume he was below average while hoping his intelligence was at least average.
Following the logic that this system was like a game or novel, Ansem tried summoning another screen.
"Class? Skill tree? Skills?"
At the last word a screen appeared that showed his learned skills.
At his current level the only skill he had was [Enslave Ghost (Lvl. 1)].
The skill allowed him to forcibly command a ghost to fight for him for 10 minutes. It was only usable on creatures he killed and it took 25 mana to use. Since he could only have one at a time it would really depend on the strength of the ghost he summoned that would determine how useful the skill was.
Ansem glanced at the goblin corpse in front of him.
'It's... better than nothing?'
He stood up. Unsure of what to do to use a skill Ansem took a power stance with his hand above the body of the goblin.
"Uhhh enslave ghost?"
Ansem felt his energy drain and a soft light enter the goblin's corpse.
Then a see through figure slowly sat up from the body of the goblin. It was an exact copy of the goblin Ansem had killed.
At first Ansem stepped back slightly. The scratches on his arm still stinging from the fight just a while ago, reminding him of the panic he experienced because of the goblin in front of him.
However after the ghost didn't move even after standing up Ansem realized it wasn't the same goblin. This one stood with a blank look as it waited for Ansem's orders.
He walked over and inspected the ghost. It's image was exactly like the goblin before it was beaten. He reached out to touch it but his hand simply went through the creature.
"They're intangible? Does this mean they can't do any damage?"
Curious he pointed at a chair nearby, the one he dropped earlier, and ordered the ghost.
"Pick that up."
Finally the ghost moved and went over to the chair. Ansem expected the goblin's hands to go through the legs but surprisingly the chair was lifted off the ground with ease.
"Hm... Can I see it's status?"
Ansem tried focusing on the ghost and thinking of the status, however nothing happened.
After a couple minutes he decided he should move from where he was and take advantage of the fact he had a ghost for a limited amount of time.
He snuck up to the door, half crouched, and gestured for the ghost to come over to him. It waddled over and stood in front of Ansem.
"Go out into the hallway and look around. Let me know if you find any enemies."
The ghost simply nodded.
Ansem was about to open the door for the ghost when it suddenly walked straight through the door, appearing unphased on the other side. It looked up and down the hallway before gesturing for Ansem to follow it.
He bit his lip because he didn't know if the ghost exactly made the most reliable scout but he didn't have many options. Waiting in the classroom wasn't an option anymore. Especially with the broken glass it was too conspicuous of a hiding spot now.
Ansem unlocked the door and carefully stepped out into the hallway.
He had only taken a step into the hallway before he had to cover his mouth suddenly to prevent himself from making a noise.
There were mangled corpses all along the hallways. Stray limbs scattered around as if something were just trying to make as much of a mess as it could.
Not to mention the smell.
Ansem held down the urge to vomit and turned to the end of the hallway closest to him to try and leave as quickly as possible.
He walked down the staircase all the way until he got to the ground floor.
The stairwell was at the corner of the building, so when Ansem got to the bottom he had two choices, he could either go into the central courtyard or towards the forest that surrounded the school.
The courtyard was simply too exposed so Ansem didn't even consider it an option. At least in the forest he might have a chance to hide.
Walking quickly he entered the woods and began to make his way through it.
The forest behind the school had a major road on the other side of it. It was also the direction Ansem lived.
He often cut through the forest to get to school. However now there was a new atmosphere that shrouded the small forest.
Familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
Memories of walking through the forest without any worry were now mingling with the gut feeling that if he were to let his guard down at any point he could lose claim of his own life.
Nevertheless. He had to keep walking forwards.