"What the hell is going on? Where am I?" A trembling voice broke the silence.
A young man jerked up from the ground, his breathing erratic as his eyes moved frantically in the darkness.
He could not define where he was, but one thing was certain: it was not Earth. Around him, colossal trees rose toward an unseen sky, their foliage so dense that it smothered any trace of light. The ground was hard, stony, a dull gray, as if life itself had been drained away. The air was heavy, soaked with an acrid, metallic smell.
Blood.
John was not used to that smell.
But Jeremy was.
Suddenly, a change in perspective broke the thread of his thoughts.
'Wait a minute ... what strange place could be called Earth?" thought Jeremy, a shiver of confusion running down his spine.
Memories that did not belong to him kept surfacing in his mind, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle that assembled itself, slowly but surely.
Then he took a few steps forward-and saw it.
The half-eaten body of a creature lay before him in a pool of its own blood. It looked like a raccoon, but it was much larger, with two huge protruding fangs, sharp claws and ash-gray fur.
The perspective changed again.
John gasped, terror tightened his throat, and he almost fell backward. "Disgusting..." he muttered, his voice broken with shock.
He had never seen anything like it in his life.
But once again, something deeper stirred within him. A dark whisper echoed in his chest, a primal impulse vibrating in his bones. And, without warning, his gaze changed again.
The terror vanished.
The boy's eyes, previously full of fear, became blank, expressionless, devoid of any emotion.
He remained motionless, gazing at the creature's carcass. Recently dead, judging by the still fresh blood.
Then, as if driven by an innate instinct, he raised a hand. Dense, cold energy leaked from his palm, snaking through the air before pouring directly into the body of the dead beast.
Skreeh.
A sickening sound filled the space around him. Torn flesh. Blood splattered everywhere. The creature's corpse writhed unnaturally, until....
Something emerged from the carcass.
It was small, composed entirely of bones. It stood there, crouched on four legs. The skull, vaguely resembling that of a raccoon, was adorned with a bluish fire that flickered in its empty eye sockets. Its limbs were slender, agile, ending in tiny paws equipped with sharp claws. Two fangs protruded from its clamped mouth in an unnatural expression.
It was creepy.
The young man's vision blurred. The air around him grew heavy, his body suddenly too weak to support him.
He fainted.
He fell to the ground without uttering a sound.
The little creature stood there, motionless, its paws resting on the gray ground. It did not move. It was not breathing.
After all---she was already dead.
---
After an unknown amount of time, the young man opened his eyes. He tried to stand up in full, with a look of confusion still on his face.
John, no Jeremy, no maybe someone else, had been having strange dreams that did not belong to him. He reviewed the moments of his death and near-death. He was beginning to understand something.
He was no longer Jeremy, he had taken the memories of a certain John, and the merging of the two led to a loss of identity.
He was neither John nor Jeremy. He was both and at the same time neither of them.
As if to act as a bridge between these two people, there was a blank-eyed figure.
Memories were fleeting, as if they were not supposed to exist. But one thing was certain. That figure was powerful.
After a few minutes with a vague gaze reorganizing memories, Jeremy got up from the ground.
He felt strangely strong. Very strong.
He felt he could jump for meters and shoot forward at incredible speeds. Just as he was about to make a leap, he saw flying bones in front of him looking straight into his eyes.
Then realization hit Jeremy's face, reminding him that he was no longer in the confines of the academy.
He immediately took a fighting stance. Although he could not be considered very strong compared to the other students at the academy, Jeremy was not weak.
The academy served to prepare students for combat with monsters; therefore, in addition to the study of combat techniques there was also the study of monsters. Their names, their strengths, weaknesses. Whatever. The academy had a huge register of identified creatures to be studied and analyzed by the students.
However, Jeremy had never seen or heard anything like this before. A creature made entirely of bones was a puzzling thing.
His battle instincts made him get into a fighting stance, but as seconds passed, nothing changed. The creature stood there, motionless, with the two blue flames staring intently at Jeremy.
"Something doesn't add up, what the hell is this thing? Is it even alive?" a whisper left its lips as it slowly moved away from those walking bones.
He seemed to have lost his memory, or rather, his memory was fragmented. He could not remember everything well. He could only slowly explore what was around him hoping to remember something in time.
Then a memory crossed his mind and a soul-level connection was made with the creature.
He vaguely remembered that it was he, perhaps, who had used the ability on the carcass. Though fuzzy, the memories were there.
Then a realization. He had not thought much about it before because of all the events that had assailed him, but he had suddenly become stronger.
"I have awakened," cried the boy without thinking.
"A natural awakening!" He said with an excited face.
Just as he was thinking about this, a holographic screen appeared before his eyes.
---
Name: Jeremy
Class: Necromancer (F)
Class Potential: ??
Race: Human (racial bonus, 1 point to each stat)
Lv1/5
0/100exp
HP: 400
MP: 600
Physical: 2 (+1)
Agility: 2 (+1)
Intelligence: 4 (+1)
Endurance: 2 (+1)
Skills: Summon Undead, Bone Spear
---
"What the hell is this thing?" Said a bewildered Jeremy.
Then, memories that were not his own, but which he had now stored, gave him an answer.
"Ah yes, the system that every awakened person unlocks. It's even more amazing to see it alive."
"Just like in the Novels I used to read."
"It's like being in a video game, with numbers defining my strengths and a list of my abilities." He said, scratching his chin.
Words that seemed at once foreign and unrelated came out of his mouth.
"Necromancer, F-level class. my starting point seems to be like any other awakened, nothing special."
---
Human awakeners, whether natural or artificial, had one thing in common. The starting point of their class. Each class started from the lowest level, F. Evolution was possible, but only through the completion of certain quests. That is why the noble families, with more resources, were so powerful. They had materials at their disposal that could easily allow the evolution of a class.
The known Ranks of a class were as follows: F, E, D, C, B, A, S. For higher ranks not much was known, no one had ever reached that point except Emperor Ydra, but little was known about his class. He was called Divine, however.
---
"But a strange thing are those question marks on my potential. What are they supposed to mean, that my potential is more powerful than normal?"
There are 3 types of potential for humans.
Low potential, which offered four free attribute points per level.
Medium potential, which granted a total of six stat points per level.
High potential, which granted eight stat points per level.
For monsters, the ranking was the same.
---
After a moment's thought, he decided to ignore the issue and move on to the problem in front of him.
Skeleton.
---------------
It was clearly his summon, from what he said the ability could only have one. At least for now.
He vaguely remembered that it was he, more or less, who had brought that mass of bones to life using the skill.
---
Summon Undead
Using mana and carcasses of creatures of any kind, the summoner can grant undeath. The limits of the ability depend on the summoner's rank and level.
Current undead 1/1
---
"I can only create one undead --- and it is limited by my level."
"I possess two skills, just like those who awaken with high potential," Jeremy said to himself as he thought about his situation.
"However, I have a total of ten statistical points, not eight like high potential."
Thinking about his skills, he decided to take a closer look at his undead skeleton.
He approached the skeleton, circling it carefully, examining it from every angle.
"There's no doubt about it. It looks just like an Earth raccoon...only it's definitely more terrifying. Those fangs are not normal, not to mention the claws. Well, actually, nothing about him is normal, starting with the fact that he's a bloody skeleton."
She crouched slightly, watching him with a mixture of curiosity and caution.
"Now...how am I supposed to command him? Can I give him orders? Or is it just a macabre ornament?"