All of my hard-earned skills are gone. The same goes for all my stats. Also, 16? Seriously? I was 24 before I died...
Neraxis lay back on his bed, nearly stumbling onto the ground.
So much had happened in the last couple of minutes that he found it hard to believe what he was seeing.
He picked up a nearby pencil and twirled it around. It felt real in his grip, but one could never be too sure.
Neraxis took a deep breath and thrust the pencil straight into his thigh, much to his surprise, he felt pain—a lot of pain, for that matter. It was a flat pencil, not yet sharpened, so it did not manage to pierce through his skin. Nonetheless, it still hurt.
Just as he was about to scream, an even louder knock came from his door, followed by his sister's voice:
"If you don't come out in the next five minutes, I am breaking down the door!" She finished with a kick to the door.
She always liked to nag...
It still felt unreal. He had died. Elara, too... But as doubt began creeping in again, a series of system messages flashed before his eyes.
[Viewing System Logs...]
[Evaluation Complete: SSS-Rank]
[Removing Unique One-Time-Use Skill: Rebirth | Reason: Used]
[Removing All Previously Acquired Skills | Reason: Incompatible]
[Too Weak to Receive All Rewards: Progressive Reward System Initiated]
[Would you like to accept the rewards? Yes/No]
Neraxis stared blankly at the messages before him.
Rebirth? Incompatible...? What the fuck...
He pressed the Yes button. It did not sound like he had much of a choice anyway.
This was also how he got his first skill back in the past. It had happened a few months before the academy officially started, when he passed the basic exam to get in.
After a few seconds, another message popped up. Instead of his main skill, Hell Scythe, there was a new skill—one he had never seen before.
[Progressive Skill Received: Eve of Ruin {G-SSS}]
[Skill Description: Harness the power of Vulnerability and Decay. Due to the low rank of the skill, most options are locked.]
[Skill Effects (1/2): Aura of Vulnerability: All enemies within a 5-meter radius take an extra 5% more damage from all sources. Duration: 1 minute; Cooldown: 15 minutes.]
[Skill Effects (2/2): Mark of Decay: Mark a single enemy within a 30-meter radius and inflict the Decaying debuff; Cooldown: 10 minutes.]
[Debuff - Decaying: Each attack against the target has a low chance to remove a beneficial effect and temporarily disable healing. Each attack reduces the target's Movement Speed by 1% per stack. Stacks up to 5 times. The debuff lasts as long as the target is being hit; if not hit for more than 30 seconds, the debuff vanishes.]
This is... pretty shit.
Neraxis read through the entire skill description. While it seemed promising because it could evolve to SSS rank, it was currently somewhat useless. Even his previous Hell Scythe skill started at C rank, which he evolved to B rank just before his last battle.
The evolution had occurred mainly due to his proficiency. Now, though, he had no clue how to begin evolving such an ability. This skill would be good if combined with another skill, much like his previous main skill, but alas, the system had once again let him down.
While it wasn't what I expected, at least the Decaying debuff is alright. I assume the healing stays disabled until the debuff expires? That would be pretty overpowered now that I think about it...
As he immersed himself in thought, his door suddenly swung open when it nearly broke the frame.
"Ten minutes, you idiot! If you don't get there in time, they'll expel you!"
Elara walked up to the stunned Neraxis and grabbed him by the collar. Surprisingly, her strength was high enough to lift him.
But that seemed fair. After all, he was a bit frail at the moment. Tall and frail—definitely not the greatest combination. Still, he remembered improving his physique quite quickly after arriving at the academy; after all, it was one of the best in the country.
He was already dressed, so Elara dragged him downstairs, handed him a fork, and placed a meat dish in front of him.
"Eat up. Try not to choke."
Neraxis nodded mindlessly and began devouring the food, though his emotions were in turmoil.
She's just like I remember her. Hair and eyes the same as mine. Her fierce look while washing the dishes... funny and nostalgic.
Taking a deep breath after finishing his food, he leaned back in his chair.
I really am back, aren't I?
But as his mind cleared, his confusion only deepened.
Why had the heroes betrayed and killed him? He wasn't a bad judge of character. He had always ensured that those he opened up to were trustworthy.
The same went for Lar. Up until the last fight, Neraxis noticed nothing wrong. Only after slaying all the monsters did they show their true intentions.
Then there was that system message he received before everything began crumbling down. Scrolling through the logs, he ignored the random countdowns until he found what he was looking for.
[Task Failed Successfully!]
What task did I fail? And what does it mean by successfully?
Before he could delve deeper, Elara hit him over the head with his own bowl.
"Six minutes. If you run full speed, you might just make it."
She reminded him while taking his plate to the sink to wash.
Understanding it was time to leave, Neraxis headed to the front door. Pausing with one leg out of the house, he turned back to Elara, who was still washing dishes.
"See you later?" he asked with a shaky voice.
"Five minutes," she replied, scrubbing another plate.
Without another word, Neraxis began running.
His stamina was horrible since he was out of shape. The academy was only 5 kilometers away, and since he was a superhuman, running that far in 5 minutes was definitely doable. The world had changed quite a while ago; the norms were no longer the same.
It was currently the year 2367, and the last rift outbreak had been 17 years ago. He already knew when the next one would happen—exactly 8 years from now.
Superhumans first appeared in the year 2195. Random humans began seeing status screens right before their eyes, and then there were skills—abilities that granted them immense strength.
But alas, with the appearance of the first superhumans also came a time of chaos. In the year 2200, the first-ever rift outbreak happened, wiping out a good portion of humanity.
That continued on, the difficulty increasing each time until finally, Neraxis put an end to it—or so he thought, anyway. He had no way of knowing if whatever he had done even had an impact.
As he was in the middle of running, he spotted something strange in the corner of his eye. It was a perfect time to take a break since he felt like his lungs were on fire anyway. It was a good thing the academy was right ahead of him.
But that was not what caught his attention. Instead, it was the massive, slender, purple tower stretching straight into the clouds. He could not even see the very top of it. There was an ominous feeling emanating from it, but he could not quite put his finger on what exactly it was. In the end, however, one thing was certain.
That was definitely not there before...