The beach below shimmered with soot and glass and left ashes of a battle too vast to name. Dane stood alone, letting the silence wash over him like a tide; he no longer had his bonds in the right corner of his screen. Even the feeling that Dia was asleep was gone. He sprawled on the glass-laced shore, and a jellyfish's sting bit into his leg, forcing him to move his feet. He kicked the Jellyfish out into the water.

  He still had a system interface, but it was different from what he was used to. Weaker, almost, but freeing. He felt the cosmic power rush into him from his kill. It was more EXP than he had ever gained for a single kill. However, he felt the power flow somewhere else after he absorbed it.

  SYSTEM INTIALIZING...

  DESIGNATE a NAME for SYSTEM 2233440322235

  You want me to give you a name?

  How about Dia?

  The NAME has been rejected.

  Okay, then what about Babysitter?

  ....

  Alright, alright, how about Earthbound System?

  SYSTEM Renamed Earthbound System.

  You have accumulated enough EXP to initiate RACE evolution; would you like to proceed?

  Y/N

  Yes

  Dane no longer had Dia tethering his soul to his body, and he felt his spirit brought to the astral, as the elves called it. He still remembered his old schooling, calling it the cosmos. He was in space and hovered above Earth. It looked so small that he felt he could reach out and grasp it in his hand. His system prompt urged him, but he was lost in the magnitude of the moment. He didn't know how many humans made it into space before the System or after, but now he could count himself among them. His childhood dream was accomplished, but it now felt hollow.

  He would have been happy if you had told him that this was his future. But responsibility nagged at him. Destiny was ironic like that, through all the twists and turns, you ended up exactly where you were always meant to be. Everything felt wrong, as if he wasn't meant to be here. He wondered why powers around him conspired to let him live amid misery.

  He finally looked at the interface and saw the options

  Please select a RACE

  Humans excel in a multitude of different categories; their possibilities are endless. Warning: You will lose access to spirit magic upon selection of this class.

  Dane paused at this option; he could go back to being an unmodified human, but the thought sickened him. How was he supposed to go back like nothing happened, like Dia didn't give everything for him?

  Earthbound Champion: You have fought where others would crumble. Lived when you should have died. You are the shining example that those from your world should strive for.

  That one wasn't bad, but it still felt like too much of a betrayal to Dia. That's what the Emperor wanted. Accepting that Race was like giving away the right to rule.

  Fractured Chronite: You have been fractured, a piece of your soul ripped out. But what is broken will heal in time. You were meant to be a champion, but you are a rebel. Ment to be enslaved but stand as a master. Die, but you live. This anomaly has been noted, and the class options have been changed upon the acceptance of this class.

  His finger hovered over the next option, but a whisper, something faint and familiar, brushed against the edge of his soul. Dia? A memory, maybe.

  He selected the Race and felt his body and soul desynchronize. He woke up feeling the grit of the cold, sandy beach, not just on the 23rd, but also in his soul space. Both moments were happening at once. His brain tore like wet paper. Pressure crushed his skull from the inside out. Blood gushed from his nostrils in streams, as if his body rejected the paradox of dual existence. He fumbled for the flickering system screen, hands shaking, vision doubled. He punched points into Intelligence. One after another, until the pain subsided and the world stopped convulsing. The world spun not just in the real world, but also in his inner space. He closed his eyes tightly until both worlds faded away.

  He choked and spat up a mouthful of briny water, coughing hard as the tide surged around him. Saltwater wormed into his airways as the tide climbed higher, setting his throat on fire. His chest convulsed, lungs locked in a violent spasm.

  His eyes blazed with the familiar iridescent white, the unmistakable glow of time magic, like two perfect Opals. But the glowing energies hung around like the smoke from a campfire, following him no matter where he looked. He tried to stop cycling Mana sight but was met with a system message.

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

  ERROR due to RACE Restrictions: You may not deactivate Mana Sight. It has become a permanent passive.

  The Emperor had left him bare, stripped him of armor, dignity, and soul. Goosebumps bloomed across his arms in the morning cold. He looked down at his hands. A faint purple light traced through the cracks in his skin. The cracks were shaped like branching trees, flowing down like roots from his chest and through to his fingertips. The marks were born of a god's fury, etched into him during the battle. The divine artistry of the burn branded him a heretic. "Aren't I supposed to get a new Class?" He said, to no one in particular.

  WARNING: SYSTEM running on minimal settings to conserve power.

  That made sense, after all; the Earthbound System was quickly hobbled together and reflected the stolen power from the Emperor forged by Dia's will.

  The Empire's System didn't run on nothing. It fed off the same Cosmic energy harvested through death, siphoning power from the lives its users claimed. That meant he had only one option if he wanted an upgrade—he'd have to start killing.

  Breathing heavily, Dane sucked in air. It was difficult to kill the monsters that still out leveled him by forty levels. He didn't have his familiar pickaxe; instead, he was fighting with a dagger that he had fashioned from a shark's tooth and driftwood in his left hand, and a sharpened piece of glass that looked like obsidian. He tried to fit a driftwood handle to the glass.

  However, with each stab that he performed, it would cut through the wood like a hatchet splitting sticks. He gave up on the hilt idea and was cutting his right hand with each successful blow. His blood was not the standard scarlet color he was accustomed to, but now looked like ink, a deep ebony.

  As he plunged the blades into the piranha's skull, a pressure swept over the room that felt like the very essence of time itself. Khronos was watching. Judging. As fast as Dane felt his presence, it was gone.

  He stared at the chest that lay on the remains of the King Piranha, the last boss of the floor. He opened up the ornate container, and inside were a pair of pants that looked like leather. He analyzed.

  Pants of the Megalodon king. They offer nothing but the protection of your modesty.

  Underneath the fabric of the pants was an orb that was glowing light blue. He often associated this color with water mana, and without thinking, he teleported it directly inside his stomach. His body convulsed as he converted the mineral into cosmic energy. His Mana bar filled, then he felt the power channel through his EXP into Día's System.

  Power Reestablished, REFORGING bonds. CONNECTED. Would you like to send a message?

  He didn't hesitate.

  "A friend died that you never knew. She forged this System. If the Emperor has shunned you, I hope it gives you strength."

  Please select a class from the options below.

  Lacunar Knight(Legendary): The Lacunar is a voidnight that incorporates water mana into the flow of time, granting easier access to time spells—warning: Time magic still pulls directly from EXP. +2 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +2 Willpower, +1 Intelligence, +50 Unassigned Stats

  Arcane Warrior(Legendary): The classic spellsword who uses magic to assist, but deep down is a melee-focused person. Warning: if this class is selected, all affinities will be lost and replaced with general mana. +2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Willpower, +1 Intelligence, +48 Unassigned Stats

  Starcore Excavator(Mythical): This is a direct upgrade to the class Master Prospector and awards. +5 Strength, +10 Dexterity, +100 unassigned points.

  Willbreaker (Unknown): You bind others to your will, and all that remains is obedience, in a broken world, mercy is a cruelty—+300 Unassigned points.

  His mind flitted back to when he selected his class for the first time; now, he had another terrible choice. "Dia, you lied." He crumpled. His hands tightened into fists, plunging into the beach repeatedly. His torn knuckles, sore and raw, were proof of a child's tantrum.

  "You told me that on the next one, I would be able to select a better class."

  He didn't choose. Couldn't. His finger hovered over the Starcore Excavator; he could pick it up, and no one would know. Power was cruel, however. Without it, you would be subject to those with it. If you had too much, it never changed you, only revealed what was underneath.

  It felt like a slap in the face. What was the point of creating a new system if it would chain him like the old one? After about an hour of watching the tide bring in and out the driftwood, he pulled up his screen.

  With a resolute rage, he slammed his finger into the class Willbreaker. Disgust filled him, and the pit in his stomach tightened.

  Error anomaly detected skill Exodus present.

  SOLUTION FOUND... CLASS changed to Oathkeeper(Unknown): Oaths are given, not taken. The Oathkeeper must protect the chains and the people bound by them. +300 Unassigned stats

  Ada, the 22nd Floor, Moments after Dane left for the 23rd floor.

  Ada walked to the nightstand where Dane had left his note. The script was elegant, but she couldn't read the words. She recognized it as the language written on the shipment crates and knew that it was elvish. She got dressed in the clothes she had worn the night before. A burnt wedding dress that acted as armor. Every step to Amelia's door was dragged out; she didn't want to see her, but knew of no one else that could read the note.

  She approached the door, her breath caught, and she found the courage to knock. First, it was as if a mouse had struck, but as the confident Ada returned, it became thunder.

  Amelia didn't respond. Ada stopped banging on the door, and the door slowly began to creak open, the latch broken under Ada's knocking. Revealing Amelia's lone silhouette. As she entered the shadows, Amelia disappeared. Salt dried on her face. No more tears were present, but Ada recognized when someone was crying. She walked to her and realized that she looked like she had when they first met, as if time had wound itself backwards for her. Ada's heart began to catch in her chest, anger and betrayal waged war for dominance in her heart.

  "Why couldn't you leave him alone?" A faint voice came from the woman at the vanity. "He is too good for you."

  Ada blinked, as if the words had physically struck her. Her fists curled at her sides, nails cutting into her skin. The blood rushed in her ears, and for a moment, she didn't know whether she was going to scream or sob.

  "He's too good for me?" she spat. "You think I'm the dirt under his boots?"

  She took a step forward, each word landing like a slap.

  "I'm the one who held him when he broke. I'm the one who watched him almost die a dozen times and still stood next to him. You, you hide in your grief and pretend it makes you noble."

  Ada's voice cracked, but she didn't stop.

  "You want him? Then say it. Say what we both know. That you hate me not because I'm unworthy, but because I got there first."