[E.M.Supreme] Chapter 1 - A Golden Opportunity

Mark had done the dumbest thing he could have done on such an important day. 

He went out into the forest surrounding his small industrial town to relax and find some way to ease the anxiety he was suffering. 

Today was the day he would go to the village square, him and hundreds of people around his age. All to unlock their [Classes] and join the wider society. Become contributors and stable actors to keep life as they knew it going. 

His father had made sure to press on him the need to be there an hour early to unlock his expected [Tanner Class] just like his father, uncles, cousins, and everyone else in their lineage. Mark had promised him he would be there exactly when he had wanted him.

Except here he was, bruised and aching.

Fallen into a collapsed ground and into the depths of the abyss underneath. The only thing he could see was a distant glowing gold far into the darkness and the little light that entered through the giant hole he found above his head. 

Not only was he going to miss unlocking his class, but he was likely to die as well without anyone to save him.

Mark could have sat there and done nothing, hoping someone would come along and hear his cries for help, but he knew better. No one was going to be outside of the town during such an important day. 

Trade was canceled. 

No schools were open.

Everyone had the entire day off.

Even the bandit crews would come in and unlock classes for their youth without being accosted. 

A royal decree made it so. 

Mark stood up, groaning and mumbling under his breath at his luck. His legs hurt, back hurt, arms, and even his neck. Falling a dozen feet and landing on solid rock in a heap of limbs tended to be a lot more catastrophic, yet somehow he had come out unscathed. 

Shit! How the hell do I get out of here?

He looked up at where he had fallen from. There was no way to get out of there. He only had one choice and that was going toward the golden light that awaited him. This felt like some horror story waiting to happen, but what choice did he have. 

It was either die here or die there. 

At least he was being proactive and trying to find a solution rather than be a coward and die without doing anything at all. 

Mark took a deep breath and took his first step in the pitch black around him. Finding stable ground that hadn’t collapsed underneath his weight, he pushed forward. Nearly slipping a few times on the slick stone. He kept going until he got close enough to make out what the soft golden light was.

He stared from a few dozen feet away at a grouping of crystals protruding from the walls at about his vision’s height. They were connected to a central one that was far larger than all the rest.

What is it and why is it glowing?

In a fantastical world, glowing things tended to be dangerous. 

Dragons started glowing red before burning the entire countryside. Mages glowed a dozen colors associated with their mana before they cast their magics around the town. Healers were all fuzzy and bright white when helping the ill and injured. 

Never had he seen a golden color before. 

Mark approached it slowly in case it grew a head and ripped him in half with a single bite. Nothing happened until he was only a foot away from the largest crystal. Its soft glow washed his face with warmth.

All the butterflies in his stomach disappeared without him noticing. The lump in his throat and fear vanished. Confidence filled his no longer aching and injured body, having been healed already while he was unawares. All he could focus on was the giant crystal and touching it. 

He had fallen into a trance once he was only a few feet away. 

Mark reached for it and touched the crystal–

Golden Class Unlocked!

Endless Mage Supreme - Absolute Level

No! No! No! I can’t… This can’t be happening!

Mark was supposed to be a [Tanner]. 

That was all he wanted out of a class. His dream of stability and having everything his father had was shattered because of an idiotic decision he had made. Mark shouldn’t have been out in the forest on such a special day. He should have dealt with his anxiety and fear just like every other kid. 

Yet, here he was…

I was supposed to marry Susana! Have a bunch of kids and die of old age in my bed surrounded by a couple dozen peoples all from my lineage! Just like grandpa!

Everyone knew what it meant to have a Golden Class. 

It meant death.

Executed by Royal Knights searching for any unlucky bastard that unlocked one. Long before, in myths and stories, heroes had Golden Classes. They brought humanity out of the darkness and oppression of many other races that had been stronger, but many had turned violent and genocidal against their own race. 

Ending in a clear kill on sight order for any new ones. 

How do I give this back–

Mark froze as a cold feeling covered his body, freezing him. Nothing happened for long moments before a burning sensation erupted from his sternum and covered his entire body. He screamed as something destroyed his insides and then rebuilt it in its own image. 

Body Recomposition Started! 

Please be patient User 99@j8s77OP88!

He blanked and vision turned black. Losing consciousness as the system took over the process.

Body Recomposition Successful!

No known naming mechanism found in hosts primary language/Knowledge for level of Mana Core…

Mana Core Upgraded to ____ stage!

No known naming mechanism found in hosts primary language/Knowledge for level of Mana Vessels…

Mana Vessels Upgraded to ____ stage!

No known naming mechanism found in hosts primary language/Knowledge for level of Mana Body…

Mana Body Upgraded to ____ stage!

Mark woke up a few hours later to the worst stench he had ever had the misfortune of experiencing. It invaded his senses and made him gag a dozen times. Luckily, he had been too nervous to eat anything before he had ventured out into the forest, even though his parents tried to force him to eat. 

The horrific smell was coming from his clothes, he stripped and threw them as far away as possible. 

The remnant odor seems to be stuck in the area he was at. 

He looked down only to find black sludge on the ground with a clean area that was in the shape of a sprawled-out form. 

It had somehow come from him 

It took a long moment before everything that had happened came back crashing down on Mark. The golden class of burning pain, and finally, the final message he had received from the system before losing consciousness. This system had remade his entire body. 

He looked back at the notification he received once he was knocked out.

Mark's mouth went dry as he read. He had been given stages to his mana core, vessel, and body that were not even thought of within his entire language and everything that was gathered under the purview of knowledge.  

What does that even mean? 

He blinked as he stared at his surroundings. That pitch-black darkness that had filled the cavern no longer existed. Rather, you could see pretty clearly as though every single corner had a soft, glowing torch that kept it well-lit. 

From a distance, he could see skeletons covered in armor with weapons lying about, but all within the same area to his right. A few locked in combat that seem to have died on top of one another. There was even a pile that was higher than he was tall with dozens of bodies all stacked up on top of each other. 

To his left was a pond of moving water that he could clearly hear, even from that far out. 

The cavern was larger than he expected. 

Had he not gained this Golden Class, he would not have noticed everything around the area, and the most important feature that would likely save him.

Near the groups of skeletons to the right of him was a doorway made out of wood. 

That was his escape route and the only way he would be able to get out of this horrible place. 

Mark did consider figuring out how to use his new class to jump out of where he had fallen from. But the thought of going back to the town with such a calamitous class made him reconsider. He loved his family. He loved the stability that his family had created for themselves throughout generations. 

To threaten that was worse than him dying here of starvation. 

At the end of the day, he was a Tanner, Mark Tanner.

I probably should change my last name too…

He thought for a few seconds. The only adventurer within their entire city was a man named Steve. A drunkard and womanizer that most of the town stayed clear of if they could. 

Steve…? Stevens! Perfect last name!

Satisfied with his new last name, Mark made his way towards the pond to clean himself of the remnant black sludge that still stuck to his body. I made a mental note of the few skeletons that still had rags on them so he could cover his modesty. 

It didn't take long to scrub off all of the nastiness. 

Once done, he turned around and walked towards the skeletons. 

Mark stopped halfway there. 

That skeleton shifted?

He stuck his hand out to feel for any wind or breeze but could not find anything. The ground had not shifted, and there were no skittering sounds that surrounded him. 

Mark took another step forward, and the same skeleton closest to him shifted again. 

Oh, no…

He bolted towards the closest sword that did not seem too rusted. By the time he reached it, the skeleton had already jumped to its feet, and a dozen more followed. 

All of them snap their heads towards Mark. 

Open their mouths in unison. 

I finally let out screeches that nearly deafened him. 

Mark felt the mana in his core bubble to life as he held up his sword towards the monsters that surrounded him–

All of the skeletons charged him.