Chapter 67: The Knight’s Card
Kyle didn’t sleep last night.
He lay in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what he had figured out. Or what he hadn’t figured out. The faces he couldn’t see. The name he wasn’t sure was his. His mind kept going in circles.
Eventually, he gave up. Got dressed and left the room.
Now he was walking through the misty forest with Virgo. They were carrying buckets to fill from a well in the middle of the forest.
"You didn’t have to come," Virgo said.
"I know."
"You look tired."
"I didn’t sleep."
She glanced at him with her yellow eyes that bear the maiden symbol.
"Is the bed uncomfortable?"
"No." Kyle paused. "Just thinking."
Virgo nodded, without asking what about. She wasn’t the type to pry.
They walked in silence for a bit. The mist was thick today and the trees looked like skeletons.
Then Kyle said, "So you are Virgo, right?"
"Yes."
"That means you are... organized? Neat? Like to keep things in order?"
She looked at him again. "How do you know that?"
"Just a guess."
These were the known things about Virgo in his world. And perhaps in this world as well.
Virgo was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "I like things to be where they belong."
"Figured."
They reached the well. It was very old, as old as the mansion. With moss growing on the side.
Virgo started pulling up the rope.
Kyle leaned against a tree, watching her.
"You know," he said, "for someone who likes order, you’re living in a pretty chaotic place."
She didn’t look up. "I didn’t choose the chaos."
"Fair."
She filled the bucket. Then pulled it up, which made the water spill over the edge.
Then Kyle said, "You also blush really easily when someone teases you."
Virgo froze. Her cheeks turned pink.
"I do not."
"You’re doing it right now."
She gripped the bucket handle tighter. Her calm face cracked, just a little.
"I am not blushing."
"Your ears are red."
Virgo turned away and started walking back toward the mansion. Faster than before.
Kyle smiled, following her.
`At least some things are normal.`
***
Later, in the courtyard.
Lilian was waiting for Kyle. She stood in the center, hands clasped behind her back.
"You are late," she said.
"I was getting water with Virgo."
"Excuses."
Kyle walked up to her. "So, what’s first?"
Lilian stepped closer. Reached out. Put her hand on his shoulder. Her fingers pressed gently.
Kyle didn’t move.
She kept her hand there for a few seconds. Then her brow furrowed. She moved her hand to his chest. Then his arm.
"What are you doing?" Kyle asked.
"Checking your affinity."
"My what?"
Lilian didn’t answer. She kept feeling along his shoulder, his neck. Like she was searching for something.
Then she stepped back and nodded.
"I thought so."
Kyle frowned. "Thought what?"
"Your mana affinity is... nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Zero. Null. Completely absent." She tilted her head. "That’s good."
"How is nothing good?"
Lilian folded her arms.
"Listen. Most people are born with an affinity for something. Fire. Water. Sword aura. Healing. Whatever. Their body naturally leans toward that type of mana."
She paused.
"But you? You have no affinity. No leaning. No pull toward any element or energy."
Kyle waited.
"That means you’re a blank slate," she said. "You can be shaped into anything. If you had an affinity already, it would conflict with whatever class you try to learn. But since you don’t... You can choose."
Kyle’s mind went back to his stats. He had never increased his Mana stat. Not once. Because he was careful... Turns out, that saved him.
"So," he said, "what does that mean for me?"
"It means we can decide what kind of energy you should use. And train that specifically."
Kyle thought about it.
"How does mana even work? How can I get it?"
Lilian sighed slightly. "Sit."
He did what she said immediately and sat on the ground.
"Mana is an old word for energy," she began. "And energy is the ability to surpass nature. To do things normal bodies can’t."
She held up her hand.
"A fire mage pulls fire mana from the air. It’s everywhere — in the atmosphere, in hot places, in the sun. They shape it into spells. The better their affinity, the stronger their spells."
She lowered her hand.
"A priest? They use borrowed mana. From whatever god they worship. They call it divine mana. It’s not in the air, it’s given."
Kyle nodded.
"A knight or a warrior? They use internal mana. Every living body has a small amount of life force. Some have more. Some have less. They circulate it inside themselves to strengthen their muscles, speed their reflexes, harden their skin."
"Like ki?" he asked.
Lilian paused. "What is ki?"
"Never mind."
She continued. "A necromancer or dark mage uses negative mana. From corpses. From death. From suffering. It’s not in the air either. It clings to things that died."
Kyle processed all of that.
"So every class uses mana?"
"Every class uses energy," Lilian corrected. "Mana is just one word for it. But yes. Everything comes back to energy."
He stood up.
"And since I have no affinity..."
"You can pick whatever you want. Of course, you must also have talent." She paused. "But you have to pick one. Or you will never grow."
Kyle’s jaw tightened.
`Another choice.`
"Alright," he said. "But before that, tell me about classes and cards."
Lilian raised an eyebrow. "You really don’t know anything?"
Kyle scratched the back of his head. "No. I really don’t."
She sighed again. Then sat down on a low stone wall.
"Classes are... specializations. Categories of power. Some are common. Knight, Archer, Foot soldier. Anyone can learn them. They have limits, though."
"Limits?"
"A common class can only reach a certain rank. You can’t push past it. The class itself doesn’t have the capacity."
Kyle’s eyes narrowed.
"Next, there are Rare classes. Like Magic Swordsman, Battle Mage, and Shadow Assassin. Epic classes are even rarer, like Void Walker and Soul Reaper. Mythic classes, only the strongest people in this world have Mythic classes. Finally, Legendary classes, it’s almost a myth."
`Common, Rare, Epic, Mythic, and Legendary...` He tried to memorize them.
She looked at him and continued.
"For every class, there’s a ladder. Seven ranks."
She counted on her fingers.
"Seeker. Walker. Master. Lord. Monarch. Sovereign. Divinie."
Kyle repeated them in his head again to memorize them.
"The higher your rank, the more skilled you are in that class. A Seeker swordsman is a beginner. A Lord swordsman is... terrifying."
"What rank are you?" Kyle asked.
Lilian was quiet.
Then she said, "You are focusing on things that do not matter now."
Kyle didn’t push.
"And the cards?"
Lilian reached into her sleeve. Then pulled out a small card like tarot cards. It had the figure of a knight on it.
There was something written below: Common Class - Knight.
"This is a Class Card."
Kyle stared at it.
"Someone created this, a powerful person. He put all the knowledge from the class into this card. When someone absorbs it, they gain that knowledge. How to fight. How to grow. What weapons work best? Where are the limits?"
She held it up.
"But knowledge isn’t skill. You can know how to swing a sword a thousand times. Your arm still needs to do it."
Kyle understood.
`It’s like memorizing the math book without understanding it.`
He looked at the card. "So if someone absorbs one of these..."
"They can start training immediately. They don’t have to figure everything out from scratch. That’s why noble families hoard them."
Kyle’s mind raced.
`When the system gave me my class... did it give me a card too? Or something like it?`
He looked down at his hand. At the mark where Nightmare lived.
`No. The system just... chose for me.`
But that meant—
He asked, quietly, in his head.
`System. The classes you showed me at the beginning... what ranks were they?`
For a moment, nothing.
Then the blue screen flickered in front of his eyes.
[The classes presented to the user included Common, Rare, Epic, Mythic, and Legendary ranks. However, since the user was allowed to choose without external influence, the rarity labels were hidden to assist the user.]
Kyle’s eye twitched.
"Wait," he muttered out loud.
Lilian looked at him. "What?"
He ignored her. In his mind, he was screaming.
`So you are telling me... I could have picked a LEGENDARY class?! And you just... hid that?!`
The screen didn’t respond.
`What if I picked a Common class by accident?! What if I—` He stopped. His breathing was heavy. `I could have chosen anything. And you are saying it’s to help me?!`
He looked up at Lilian.
She was staring at him. Or at least, facing him with her blindfolded eyes.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
Kyle took a breath.
"No," he said. "Nothing."
But inside, he was cursing.
`YOU SON OF A—!`
