“It's acting, that's it. That is the answer for your class advancement,” Slea huffed, glaring down at him for some reason.

  The giant gate was brittle with a greenish pulse of dying life thrumming through its body. He spotted a giant pole that would perfectly fit the undead Gatekeeper's hand. But that would be useless, from this side at least.

  Suna let out a smile. He gazed upon the bodies of dying giants, flesh-eating undead golems lying around. That green blood of theirs was smelly; it almost choked Suna earlier when he was close to it.

  He stretched his neck, popping it in a satisfying crack. In his hand was a Mana Arrow, a normally sized one. Slea had recommended that he get used to it, to accept it as part of his reality. Apparently, his brain still did not accept that magic exists. So he had to experience it to get his Mana and mind in tune.

  So he sat down on a conveniently placed rock and spun it repeatedly with his drawing fingers.

  “Acting, huh?” Suna muttered. He wouldn’t call it ‘acting’ to be fair. After all, you're not exactly pretending.

  “Yes, so basically, your skill will tell you the direction of your next class. And you’re a thin thread– to connect to this class, you need to close on it. And the method to do that, of course, is to keep using corresponding skills–and to recognize what your class is and act according to it.”

  “So, if I sense my skill forming into, let's say… Knight class. Do I do better not using my magic skill and focus on my melee skill?” Suna asked.

  “I think that's accurate enough,” she nodded along, her hair bunched up thanks to the brimhat. “But, that's not enough, you're forgetting the acting part.”

  “So I should find some woman, and swoop her off her feet from monsters?” Suna asked, joking. But Slea actually considered this.

  “That depends on what you view a knight as. Remember how I told you to get used to that Mana Arrow?”

  Suna nodded.

  “Well, it’s the same thing with the class. Acting helps your brain start to accept this Knight Class. By acting on it, you will grow closer, and the skill will be more responsive to you. It also helps if you want to be one so badly.”

  “How so?” Suna lifted his eyes up. He recalled the feeling of bursting apart the Gatekeeper with his arrow. That was… intoxicating. This might be it…

  “Because when you look forward to something so bad that you could taste it… It will push your brain to keep thinking about it, to desire it to the point your blood boils. That will help the resonance part and even your brain to trick itself into accepting it as your new reality.” She explained.

  Suna hummed. “I wouldn’t call it ‘tricking’.”

  Slea raised her eyebrow at him. She slinked down and sat beside him. She motioned with her face, edging him to explain.

  But there’s really not much to explain. “This is the new reality,” he said, matter-the-factly, “Why call it ‘tricking’?”

  Her mouth opened, and her body jerked at him, a bundle of yellow escaped her brimhat. She drew her lips thin, then said, “I guess it is.” She mumbled.

  “So, what did you do to get this Flame Mage class?”

  Slea ignored his question. “Do you have a family, Suna? Or anyone you worried about?”

  “I do”

  “Well? I mean, aren’t you worried? The first week I’ve been here was like a fever dream. I’m here, yet I still think I’m dreaming. But as days passed, it just registered. And this… cold sensation bristles through all my body, giving me the chills all the time, then something sets them off.”

  Was that why she changed so drastically? Granted, Suna did not pay attention to Slea or Reki during the week of his training. All his mind was preoccupied, every night after training, they went on meditation, where they needed to hold this ‘void’ James described. It could be anything, just make it something to feed your mind into it—then zoom out and observe it. Observe that its just stuff that you make up, and realize you can control it.

  So Suna controlled it, when his body was about to give up, he kept going. When his mind wandered from his shot, he forced it still.

  When he was worried about the outside world and his family, he told himself that that was why he was training.

  His mouth opened, but before his voice came out, he debated on whether he should push her to tell him what she did to become this [Flame Mage] or not.

  Well, she already made it clear that she didn’t want to tell me.

  “I’m worried,” Suna said, which earned a pointed look from her. Her blue eyes shone under the shadow of her brimhat, expecting more answers. “But what I feel doesn’t matter. Nothing I can do about the outside world, except to prepare, that is.”

  “Did James train you boys to kill your emotions?” Slea grumbled in a small voice, but he could still hear her. Then she spoke a bit more loudly for him to hear. “Well, would you look at that.” She opened a palm and gestured away in a dismissal wave as she walked to where Min and Reki were. “You will have no problem when your skill calls you out for a class upgrade.”

  “Wait!” Suna stood promptly, but he stumbled on a rock before catching himself up. “How do you know when this skill is calling you for a class upgrade?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Spend time with yourself, alone. Engulf yourself in your mind, cut off the outside world. No need for meditation. Though that will help,” she answered and jogged after a group of Tieflings. Slea halted to a stop, then turned again and shouted at him. “Suna! Go find Noa, both of you got a present from me,” she winked and continued to walk again.

  The first Thiefmaster, the [Mage] Tiefling, spoke with Reki and Min, along with them were the five Tiefling Spearbearers, the Runebearers of the First. Their armor was courtesy of Reki, a golden chainmail just like his own. The tip of their spears glistened with green blood, and those did not corrode, so those must be a pretty good item.

  Her name was difficult to pronounce, so he kept forgetting it; well, whatever, he would catch it from someone else's mouth sooner or later.

  But, now, what was more concerningly was that it looked like Min was being approached, to be… scouted? By the First faction. Hopefully, he was wrong, but the Thiefmaster just offered her a cloak, one that had a woolen brown color. Min gasped and tried to refuse, but the Thiefmaster insisted.

  [Feat Earned] [Giant Slayer] – You have taken down giants with your small body. Such a feat would require you to face up and still take the fight. Strength + 30

  [Feat Earned] [Undead Cleanser (1)] – You killed an undead. Such a feat requires you to face death and overcome it. Vitality + 30

  [Feat Earned] [Mage Archer (1)] – You have taken down foes above your level with magic archery. Such a feat is worthy of the praise of Arcanic One. Arcanely + 50

  Name: Suna Amor

  Level. 21 → 26

  Class: [Archer]

  Rune: 41 → 48

  Feat: 6 → 9

  Mana: 350/1250 → 350/2150

  Class Skill (7/15)

  - Archer Sense [Common]

  - Archer Backstep [Common]

  - Mana Arrow [Uncommon]

  - Moving Shot [Uncommon]

  - Flint Draw [Uncommon]

  - Arcane String [Uncommon]

  - Bow of Wind [Uncommon]

  General Skill (6/15)

  - Quick Draw [Common]

  - Drowfication [Rare]

  - Rune Seeker [Uncommon]

  - Gale Step [Uncommon]

  - Air pocket [Common]

  - Heat Sense [Common]

  Strength: 400 → 465

  Dexterity: 425 → 485

  Vitality: 135 → 201

  Arcanery: 125 → 215

  Sense: 189 → 258

  He had truly surpassed the gatekeeper level, having killed eight of them, to be exact. The Tiefling recognized those kills and permitted him to break the Runes. However, the Runes were small and quite disappointing.

  Suna had hoped for some item, but no, it was all stat runes. Granted, he was still grateful for it, especially when his body started to pulse with his newfound power. He spun his Mana arrow, over and over. Was there a better way to do this? He had to ask Slea again.

  Speaking of Slea, she mentioned something about a gift. He looked around for Noa, to see that the [Warrior] was walking to him; in his arms were two swords, one in each.

  The bone sword and dark sword.

  He had forgotten about them. Did Slea claim them back? Wait, was this the gift she's speaking about? Suna eyed the young woman, she was laughing with her Thiefmaster and Min. Behind them were James, along with Desha and the Third Runebearers, who were inspecting the gate and talking among themselves.

  “I couldn’t believe it either,” Noa said when he got close. “So? Which do you want?” He raised both swords.

  [Rosha Bone Sword] [Rare] – The Mage-Knight Rosha has been betrayed by his dearest, and as if his death was not enough, his body was repossessed. The Rosha Bone sword, wrought and crafted from Rosha’s very own bone that held so many arcane matters, this sword shall hold mana and convert it into sharpness that would embarrass most swords. Arcanery + 50, Strength + 25.

  [Umbralline] [Rare] – Umbral is another word for complete darkness, a breath that huffed in line of dark Mana. Akin to death, but rejecting it—Umbralline is a manifestation of will and struggle, yet embraces sorrow and grief. It's evil, but none is purely black and white, only gray exists. Arcanery + 50. Dexterity + 50

  “One is straight up creepy, and the other is confusing as hell,” Suna muttered, he stared at the two beautiful, sheathed swords.

  Rosha Bone Sword was made out of bones completely, with no trace of steel on it. He couldn’t help but wonder how exactly it was made.

  Magic, let's just say magic.

  The blade point was jagged and would cause a complicated injury to anyone, but this shape makes Suna think that it would be harder to get a clean strike.

  Umbralline, on the other hand, was a sleek black with a slight glint of shadow itself shown only when Suna drew it from its sheath. He gasped silently, not disturbing the sleeping sword.

  Still, this sword was confusing, what with that description? Akin to death, but rejected it? What would happen if he used it on the undead?

  “Well? Which one?” Noa asked again.

  Suna tilted his head in confusion. “You’re just going to let me pick? Did Slea tell you to?”

  “No, no. It just seems right.” Noa scratched the back of his head. Suna did not know what the [Warrior] had been doing in the battle, but it looked like he did well if Slea offered one of these swords to him.

  “Do you need it though, Noa?” Suna asked pointedly.

  Noa stopped smiling. The underlying question within his question was obvious. Why would he need it if he was not going to fight?

  “I do,” Noa said, his voice resolute. “I will fight.”

  “Do I want to know why?” Suna asked. If Noa was going to fight, the reason hopefully be within him internally instead of an external reason. You cannot rely on external factors; they are always changing, after all. But, internally… You at least have control.

  “I want to fight, because I realize that I can grow stronger, these Tiefling… Those who are not Rune bearers will be stuck forever; unless they take an incredible risk. And even after that, they still can’t level up. But I can.”

  “Still, why? That's more circumstances rather than a reason,” Suna said.

  “Fewer of them will die if I get into the fight, right? If you were not here, Suna… James and his Rune bearer, along with the First faction Thiefmaster–Floundea, might still win the fight, but how many more will be dead?” Noa said, eyes gazing at the corpses.

  Suna was not satisfied with his reason. He had hoped that Noa’s reason for fighting would be something like, ‘I want to survive’ or ‘ I want to get stronger’. Things like that are something you can always keep inside you, and you can mold them to your liking. But, he would not discount Noa's will.

  “You will still come with us, through the gate, right?”

  “Of course,” I just want to help the Tiefling take the tower and the altar, so they will be in a safe position first, at least.”

  Now, he sounded like Pito…

  “Alright,” Suna opened his palm.

  Noa grinned and took it in an eager handshake, his eyes even teared up a bit

  He coughed, “Uh, I mean, give the dark sword to me.”

  “Oh… I was hoping you would pick the bone one,” The[Warrior] grunted, discreetly eyeing him.

  Yeah, not happening buddy.