[Attention! You are going to be teleported in 15:00 Make sure you have all the equipment needed for your first Quest.
The calm, insulated serenity of the bathroom was ruined by the system's robotic voice announcing the countdown every minute.
Horus tried throwing up, but he couldn't get there, so he gave up and just sat on the toilet with his hands covering his face.
There was a sick feeling intruding on his normally cold body. He felt unnatural, disconnected from his body. Like he was watching himself from a bird's eye view, folded over on the toilet and unnaturally still.
[Crescent Swordsman].
Every one of his siblings awakened this class. It was the bare minimum.
His friends got the classes they wanted, and Shiv even went far beyond what she expected.
From the looks on their faces, I doubt they want anything to do with me.
And it would be the same with his siblings. Except now he was a stain on the Twilight clan. They would all join Ares and work on dealing with him. Make sure his dishonour vanishes.
Strangely, he found himself laughing. "Why am I happy?"
It made no sense. What a rotten bastard he was. He couldn't dare to show his face in front of his mother, Seraphina, not that she would ever want to see him again. And he was afraid to even meet Enji again.
He had a strange premonition that their next meeting would end in a battle to the death.
Instinctively, he brushed the sword at his hip. The blade was curved and hookish, so its scabbard was customised and came off a bit harder.
He studied the black blade and the slight glimmer of stars beneath the surface.
Celestial Steel. It came from another world. Seraphina and Twilight's best warriors travelled through a gate in Nevada to get it.
The sword had been his companion since he was born.
Many people died just to forge this blade. Many people died just to forge him.
[Attention! You are going to be teleported at 14: 00. Make sure you have all the equipment needed for your first Quest.]
Without the Epic class, he was limited to the [Basic Swordsmanship] skill pool. Unable to fully utilise the sword's traits.
Enkdiu straightened up suddenly. Something struck him, and he will Status to open and confirm it.
Skills:
[Twilight Swordsmanship]> 15 (Common)
Why do I have Twilight Swordsmanship?
Only people with the class of [Crescent Swordsman] or [Twilight Swordsman] should have that Skill.
He checked all his other skills, and they seemed in order. There was one way to confirm it was real.
He eyed his [Weapons slot], then his sword. Sheathing the sword, he mentally willed the blade to be equipped.
[Celestial Steel sword has been equipped]
This way, he could call the weapon back to him if he lost it, and any passive effects on him would affect the sword.
Twilight mana had unique effects on Celestial steel. He drew the sword. If he had the mana type then…
The sword glowed with auroral lights, dazzling purples and blues that made his heart leap.
How is this possible?
He checked his class repeatedly, dismissing and resummoning his status like a faulty computer. Then the Title above his class caught his eye.
[Lonely Moon].
He had never heard of it. It had to be high-tiered. He willed the system to expand it.
[Rarity: Unique]
Unique? That meant its utility wasn't defined by the normal ranking system. He read the description.
[Description: Someone has tampered with your Fate. This title is compensation.
With this Title you can gain mana types of all Swordsmanship classes. As long as you train and gain insights into the nature of these sword styles, you can gain their mana types and use their skills.]
For a long time, he was frozen, standing there and staring into the air. This was beyond a game-changer. It was something he only casually wanted as a child.
He had always loved all types of swordsmanship. He remembered seeing the displays of the [Sword Saint] class and wishing to learn their skills.
Now he could.
He could learn all skills. Claim any class.
[Attention! You are going to be teleported in 11: 00. Make sure you have all the equipment needed for your first Quest.]
His family would have no choice but to accept him now. It wasn't his fault that he didn't awaken the right class; the literal system acted against him.
A small smile carved itself onto his face, but deep within, something twisted his guts.
"Why am I not happy?"
He grew tired of his contradicting feelings, but before he could think he heard voices familiar approaching.
"I'm sure he's alright," a girl's voice reassured. "What I think we should be more worried about is ourselves. Like what I've been trying to tell you for the past three Felling weeks."
"I can't leave with you," Wally replied, his voice tight. "This is our home. Not just theirs."
"Our home is a pile of Orc shit stacked by a man that thinks it's gold," the girl replied carelessly.
Both their footsteps stopped, and Wally's voice grew dangerously low. "Be careful with how loudly you speak."
"Sorry," she murmured.
The bathroom door clicked open as they both walked in. Horus chose to walk out of the stall with a forced smile.
The bathroom was white-tiled, with steel faucets and beige stalls, so Horus felt they all had too many colours for such an orderly bathroom.
Wally and June's fiery red hair was striking, and Horus caught the shine of his blue and purple eyes in the tiles.
His smile felt so awkward. "Hi."
"Are you okay?" Wally asked.
[Attention! You are going to be teleported in 9:00. Make sure you have all the equipment needed for your first Quest]
They all glanced up at the system's incessant notifications.
June clicked her tongue. "Can you stop?"
Horus hadn't noticed how pretty she was. He always forgot Wally had a sister, but her voice was familiar from phone calls Wally had.
What was said before they entered the bathroom suddenly stood out to him. He really needed to stop eavesdropping on people, even if it wasn't intentional.
The silence around them was getting awkward for even Horus, so he said, "You both Awakened. Congratulations."
He guessed, since they saw the system prompt too, but it would be very awkward if he was wrong.
The sibling murmured thank you. Wally was glancing worriedly at Horus as he tried to breach the topic, while June was strangely just studying him. Like a rare plant or picture.
"About my awakening," he decided to rip off the band aid and explain his title.
He would have liked to tell only Wally, but June was here, and he couldn't just tell her to go away. Actually he could, but she was staring so hard.
"That's… amazing," Wally said breathlessly, " Even the system is feeding your little sword obsession."
"Enemies that can change your fate," June whispered in disbelief. Then she chuckled. "Of course you have enemies like that."
"What do you mean?" Horus wondered.
June suddenly grew stiff when his eyes settled on her. "Nothing, just that you're so… I don't know what to say. You're a lot scarier up close—ouch"
Wally jabbed her with his elbow. "What's wrong with you?"
Horus laughed a little. "It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Horus Twilight."
"Duh," June replied before Wally jabbed her again. "Ouch, stop that. I'm Juniper Hart, but everyone calls me June. This is William Hart, but everyone calls him an asshol— ouch."
The siblings both glared at each other before the timer went off again.
[Attention! You are going to be teleported at 2: 00. Make sure you have all the equipment needed for your first Quest]
"Black blood," Wally muttered. "Are you ready? Cause I don't think John is… You know, actually, we shouldn't do this. Your dad—"
"I'm coming," Horus said in a low voice. "I don't think my dad cares much about what I do right now."
June had a strange smile on her face when he said this, but he ignored it.
Wally smiled brightly, then his smile fell a little. "Ares… has he been smiling at you, too? Did you hear anything suspicious from anywhere?"
Ares smiling was strange in itself, but it raised many questions. Could he be a part of what happened with Horus' class?
Or was this something closer and more sinister?
Wally was the information guy, Horus didn't bother much with interpersonal relations, so he had no idea.
"No," Horus sighed. "But whatever he does now doesn't matter. We're all awakened now, and it's about time we made our own decisions."
June nodded rapidly, glancing between them both in a way that seemed to annoy Wally, even though he was smiling too.
Horus watched the counter finish.
[Attention! You are going to be teleported at 00: 00. Make sure you have all the equipment needed for your first Quest]
Then they all vanished without a trace. The serene bathroom regained its peace, and the young Awakeners went to face the danger they never expected awaited them.