Chương 4: Sebastian

For a moment, I just sat there and looked outside. I never knew just how much I treasured a clear blue sky. Then I felt the bumping of the carriage, the small sound of tea being sipped. The hissing of a cat. I loved it much more than having to shed the blood of a human. I petted Inky, and the hissing stopped.

"Are you alright, Ivor?" Sebastian softly called out to me. I nodded. I was as alright as somebody could be after killing ten men in cold-blooded murder. Whether they were real or not mattered little. It felt real, and so was my decision.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"For a few minutes," Sebastian said. I took a sharp breath. I spent more than a day in there, yet only a few minutes had passed here. Immediately, I wondered whether or not I could take advantage of the situation. What if I delayed an objective and just honed my skills? Then, I remembered the Calamity Points. It was probably better not to tempt fate.

"I see," I said and checked my level. Level 5 [9%] I nodded. I mentally called out my skill Life Simulation again. It was too good to pass on just because I didn't feel like it. I gained five levels in a few seconds. I was just halfway towards Stone Rank. I gained four General Skills with multiple levels in the same time span. This pace was unheard of. This was a new world, and I had to adapt to it. If I wanted to thrive and succeed, I had to change. I was tired of being at the bottom of the barrel.

I would use this chance. Unfortunately, nothing happened, and instead, a line of text appeared in front of me. Skill on Cooldown. Try again later. I sighed. Relief washed over me, and tension I didn't know I had left my body. Just because I needed to do it didn't mean I was keen on doing it. Now, I had at least a valid reason.

"If I had to guess, then you used your Skill accidentally," Sebastian spoke as he sipped on his tea. I petted the cat and nodded.

"It happens sometimes when you say the name. Usually, intention is required too but not always," he said.

"Hmm, what does your Skill do? I am not familiar with its name. I have never heard of it in my life, let alone it being a Drunkard Class Skill." I stayed silent for a while and thought about whether to be honest or not. The man didn't urge me to speak. I went through the previous Ivor memories as fast as I could. It was weird. I didn't have many specific memories, just my feelings associated with certain people or events. For example, I knew I couldn't trust my brother or father.

But I didn't have an example as to why. It was blurry in that regard. In fact, I barely remembered my father and brother. I just knew what they looked like. I don't recall ever meeting them. But I know I have. It was weird. My current working theory was that I had to be exposed to the person or thing for my memory to come back. I knew things about Sebastian. I remember him giving me a piggyback ride back to the mansion after I went out to a brothel. He took the blame back then. His pay was cut for three months.

I also knew the basics of the world. I knew how Classes worked. But I don't remember eating breakfast with my father. Either way, my memories and feelings were quite clear in regards to Sebastian. Fucking trust the man.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked. The man didn't say anything but snapped his fingers. A small sphere formed above his hand before it grew in size, eventually enveloping me and Inky. She hissed at him. The mana sphere continued growing in size until it surrounded the whole carriage in the same way a barrier would. The sphere was faint and clearly see-through, but the blue hue made it easy to spot. I didn't know what it was but I could guess.

"A sound barrier," I said. The man was a Peak Bronze Rank Fire Mage Journeyman. I wasn't surprised by his ability to use mana. But it did make me wonder about my Uncommon Skill in limbo state. Could I do the same?

"More or less," Sebastian said and then fixed his right cuff. The same arm that moved when he snapped his fingers.

"It's not a true sound barrier, but it functions well enough." I nodded, then started with the big news.

"I have changed my class." The man looked me deadpan in the eyes.

"That's impossible."

"But it's true."

"How?" He asked, his gaze piercing. We both knew this information would be priceless. And worse, enough to be killed for. I shrugged.

"No idea. I checked my Status to look at my Class Skill and there I saw that my Class had been changed. Then I told you my Class skill and used it." He kept looking at me for several seconds, trying to determine whether I was lying or not. Then he nodded slowly. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What is the rarity and the name of your Class?" I hesitated. This was private information. Classes until a certain grade were public knowledge. Then they became state secrets and information to kill for. Usually, famous warriors were only known by their archetype and way of fighting rather than their Class name.

"I see," Sebastian said.

"Then I won't ask for more. If somebody asks, say you have reset or evolved your Class at Stone Rank depending on when they ask. Make sure your lie is consistent and fits the archetype of your Class. Don't go around saying you evolved into an Ice Mage and then fight like a swordsman." I nodded and stayed silent for a moment. I considered simply moving on and not talking about this information. It was not an issue about trust. There were ways to extract information without the other party's consent. Screw that!

He is much more experienced than me. I have no idea how this world truly works. It's a risk worth taking. I shared with him everything I knew about the Class. I didn't spare a detail. I told him its name, grade, and how the skill worked. Even the stat points I got. He simply took it all in without saying much, only nodding occasionally. His eyes widened slightly when I mentioned the grade of my Class. I also tried to speak about the Calamity Points, but for some reason, he couldn't hear what I said.

He didn't question why I moved without sound. In fact, when I asked him about why he didn't question it, he said that I didn't speak. So, I tried again. Same answer. And luckily, I knew when to shut the heck up and keep it pushing. I also mentioned the simulation. But I didn't talk much about it. When he asked about it, I kept my answers short, and Sebastain could read between the lines. Once I was done with all the other details, he opened his mouth.

"I see. Let's start with the easy part. Your Stat points. You get five. That is the upper end of Uncommon. It's not too bad considering the Class Rarity limit of Wood Rank is Rare. But this brings us to your problem. Your skills. Right now, all of them are utility-based. Life Simulation may seem like a combat Skill but it's not. Class combat Skills are different from General Skills." I nodded, and he continued.

"Class Skills are much more specific and frankly much more powerful. They are also easier to evolve into a higher rarity. All it takes is to go up a Rank. General Skills are much more manual in that regard. You can evolve their rarity, but only through hard work and insight. The System doesn't hold your hand. Which brings me to my point. Classes dictate your Class Skills. Class Skills dictate your fighting style. Your fighting style dictates your stat allocation.

Meaning you are going to have to rely on your General Skills as a fighting style or your Class gives you combat Skills later on." Sebastian drank his tea and leaned back in his seat. Then he gazed outside and spoke again.

"You said you truly experienced the simulations? And that you have been there for a day?" I nodded.

"General Skills aren't weaker because of an unknown reason. They are weaker because they just take much longer to raise. Get a Rare Class and you have a plethora of Rare Skills. Rare General Skills are expensive and, well, rare. Even if they just have the same name and function as Class Skills."

"But I think you can outwork that system. The benefit of General Skills is that they are versatile. You can buy Skills books or you can learn the Skills yourself. This takes either time or resources. You have skipped that step. You can learn a large and versatile amount of General Skills."

"But I only have three Skill slots," I pointed out the obvious flaw.

"Yes, but that will increase as you Rank up," Sebastian said.

"However, the true power of your Class is not that. It's Skill Merging. Or rather just the possibility of it. Multiple General Skills are able to merge into a stronger and/or new skill most of the time of higher grade. The problem is that this path is usually one prodigies or the heirs to Dukes follow."

"And how do I merge Skills?" I asked curiously. I didn't know this was possible.

"I don't know," Sebastian answered honestly.

"It's a state secret. But I overheard your father and brother theorizing about it. You have to use them together, and they have to be similar enough."

"Sounds simple." Sebastian nodded.

"It does. But it isn't. Else it wouldn't be such a rare occurrence. Anyway, my point is that your simulations might help you with that. For now, do not use any of your limbo state Skills and think about your fighting style. Later try to merge your General Skills. If you manage to do that, you will become a true monster. If not, your Class will still be around Uncommon Grade just from the Simulations alone. Better than being a Drunkard. Congratulations."

I didn't say anything, and this time the man stayed silent for multiple minutes. It felt like an eternity.

"Now your Skill Transfer Skill... that... that would bring war to you. You may not understand the power of it right now. Even I don't. It all depends on how many and what kind of skills you can gain from your simulations. But... if... if... you get enough Skills, you could build the greatest force in the Kingdom. Maybe even the world." I gulped, and we mostly stayed silent for half an hour. I let his words settle.

"What are the Class limitations?" He suddenly spoke up. I grimaced. Not because of his question but rather at the amount of information that was forced into my mind. I didn't even try to comprehend it, I just spewed everything out.

"Very limited experience from killing beasts or monsters. Receiving Skill through Skill books: impossible. Heavily depended on Simulations for leveling and General Skills, accompanied by a long cooldown and–" Calamity Points. I didn't say the last part out loud. Sebastian nodded and drank another cup of tea.

"As a Fire Mage, it's basically impossible for me to learn Water magic. Only the basics like Cleanse are possible. These limitations aren't too bad. Your Class basically provides a solution for all of them."

"I hope you are right," I said with a sigh. This was a lot to take in and a lot to think about. But I was glad I shared my Class with him. It took some stress off my shoulders. Just having him by my side and being able to share my burden lightened it. Honestly, now I understood why people went to therapy. It fucking worked. I petted Inky, and she enjoyed it. The man didn't speak more. A few minutes later, the proxy sound barrier was dismissed. For the next few hours, we sat in silence. He drank more tea.

I gazed outside as the grassy hills changed to flower beds with faint trees in the distance forming a forest. The sun sank, covering the fields in an orange hue that stretched all over the lands before night slowly crept in. We still didn't talk. I petted Inky. She meowed. I closed my eyes. Tired. The day came to an end, and not even the bumping carriage or the demanding kitten could keep me awake after such an emotionally exhausting day.

The first thing I did after waking up was use my Class Skill. It didn't work. It looked like I needed to wait more than 24 hours. I wasn't disappointed, as I had guessed as much. With nothing to do but sit inside, and Sebastian asleep, I simply thought. I thought about a lot of things. About my life back on earth. The car crash that took my parents. The cancer that took my little sibling. The college I dropped out of to support her battle. And the miserable entity I became towards the end of my pitiful life.

The Ivor Harvings of this world were not much different. He also had nothing going for him. He had no ambition. No dreams. He just wanted to get drunk and survive the next day. Publicly he called it enjoying life. Inside he hated himself for it. I didn't want to remain that way. One lifetime of that misery was enough. The memories of a second wasted life were the cherry on top. There was no way in hell I could waste this life. Not after having been granted not just a second chance but a great privilege.

A unique Class and noble status–even if I was being banished. I had also accepted another thing. Me and this Ivor Harvings were the same. He had the same name and looked the same. This was my new life. I was him and he was me. I sighed, and for what felt like a long time a genuine smile appeared on my face. I was headed towards a new beginning.