It was a little after six in the morning when the first light of dawn slipped through the curtains, casting a faint glow across the floor.
The house was quiet except for the occasional clicking of bones, a sound that seemed particularly clear at this hour.
Kyle slowly opened his eyes, ending a full night of meditation.
The Spirit he had spent repeatedly summoning Skeleton Warriors the night before had completely recovered, and despite not sleeping, he didn’t feel tired.
If anything, he felt more refreshed than he normally did after a night’s rest.
He sat on the edge of the bed and rolled his shoulders before looking across the room.
Several gray-white figures had been standing there since last night.
Skeleton Warriors didn’t need to breathe, nor did they grow tired from standing in one place for hours.
Unless Kyle gave them another command, they would simply remain where they were.
The blue soul flames in their eye sockets flickered quietly.
Every now and then, one of them would turn its head, producing a faint click from the bones in its neck.
After experimenting with them the night before, Kyle had learned a few things about his summons.
Skeleton Warriors didn’t need food or rest in the way living creatures did.
As long as they weren’t badly damaged, they could remain active for long periods of time.
That was certainly convenient.
If his new summons had needed regular meals, the first problem Kyle would have faced after awakening wouldn’t have been how to level up, but how to afford feeding all of them.
He had also discovered another trait that wasn’t particularly useful, though it was somewhat interesting.
Skeleton Warriors constantly gave off a faint chill.
With several of them standing in the same room, the temperature would gradually drop.
The weather wasn’t hot enough for it to matter now, but once summer arrived, they might actually be useful for cooling the house.
The thought brought a slight smile to Kyle’s face.
He had awakened as a Necromancer, a Hidden Class, and one of the first practical uses he had found for his undead was keeping the house cool.
The thought didn’t last long.
Today would be his first real battle after awakening.
More than anything else, he needed to find out how his Skeleton Warriors actually performed against real monsters.
With a thought, the soul flames in the eyes of the Skeleton Warriors flickered at the same time.
Dark vortices slowly opened behind them.
The moment they received Kyle’s command, they turned and entered one after another.
When the final gray-white figure disappeared, the clicking of bones stopped and the room slowly began to warm again.
Kyle opened his status panel.
[Summoning Space: 4/10] All four Skeleton Warriors were safely stored inside, while his Spirit was completely full.
Kyle had no intention of filling the remaining six slots before leaving.
On paper, a Skeleton Warrior with 150 points in every attribute was undoubtedly powerful.
But numbers on a status panel were still only numbers.
Kyle had never fought a real monster in this world before, and he didn’t know exactly what to expect inside the beginner trial zone.
For his first real battle, keeping enough Spirit in reserve was the safer choice.
If he needed more summons later, he could always create them on the spot.
Once he was satisfied with his preparations, Kyle washed up and made himself a simple breakfast.
While eating, he went through the beginner trial handbook the academy had distributed the day before.
He had already studied most of the information in class, but reviewing it before actually entering the trial zone couldn’t hurt.
Monster levels, regional divisions, emergency procedures, and the attack patterns of several common low-level monsters—Kyle checked all of them again.
About fifteen minutes later, he closed the handbook and packed everything he needed into his bag.
Before leaving, Kyle glanced at the photograph on the cabinet out of habit.
Lia was still smiling brightly in the picture.
His eyes rested on her for a moment.
“I’m heading out.” Naturally, no one answered him.
Kyle said it anyway, just as he always did, then picked up his bag and left.
Westport City was already coming to life.
Shops along the streets were opening for the day, and the smell of freshly baked bread drifted from a nearby bakery.
Several wagons carrying goods rolled along the main road, their wheels producing a steady rhythm against the stone pavement.
There were noticeably more young people around Kyle’s age on the streets today.
Yesterday’s Class Awakening had marked the beginning of their lives as awakened professionals.
Those with Life Classes were mostly heading toward their respective training facilities, while students with Combat and Support Classes were clearly more excited.
Many had already put on simple protective gear and carried the basic weapons provided by their academies as they made their way east in small groups.
That was where Westport City’s beginner trial zone was located.
Kyle didn’t go to the academy first.
Before leaving yesterday, every eligible student had received a temporary trial permit and was free to decide when to enter.
That suited him perfectly.
Going directly from home to the eastern side of the city was much faster than making a detour to the academy first.
Along the way, Kyle passed several students from Westport First Academy.
A few recognized him almost immediately and looked over.
“Isn’t that Kyle?” “The one who awakened the Hidden Class yesterday?” “Yeah, I think that’s him.” Kyle continued walking.
After the phenomenon caused by his awakening, he had already expected this kind of attention.
People would lose interest eventually.
About half an hour later, he arrived at the beginner trial zone.
It looked nothing like the enormous teleportation formation he had once imagined.
Instead, the entire place resembled a large training facility built on the outskirts of the city.
A wide gray-white stone hall stood at the foot of a hill.
Behind it stretched a large forest enclosed by high walls and protective formations.
Rune-covered stone pillars had been placed at regular intervals along the walls.
Faint magical light connected one pillar to the next, forming a barrier that was almost invisible to the naked eye.
This wasn’t true wilderness.
To give newly awakened professionals a relatively safe place to gain real combat experience, Westport City arranged for experienced professionals to inspect the entire trial zone every year and keep the monsters inside within a controlled range of levels and numbers.
But monsters were still monsters.
The trial zone might be far safer than the wilderness outside the city, but injuries and even deaths were still possible.
That was why the staff repeatedly emphasized safety to anyone entering for the first time.
Kyle entered the main hall and was immediately greeted by a wall of noise.
Students from all six academies filled the building.
Some were lining up at registration counters, others sat on benches checking their equipment, while newly formed parties gathered around maps to discuss their routes.
“We’ll stay in the outer area first.
Don’t rush into the Level 3 zone.” “I’ll take the front.
Stay close behind me.” “Did everyone bring recovery potions?” Voices overlapped throughout the hall.
Some students were excited, some nervous, and many were clearly feeling both at once.
Kyle took a quick look around before joining the line at one of the registration counters.
The line moved quickly, and it wasn’t long before his turn came.
The man handling registration looked to be around forty.
He wore the standard gray uniform of the trial zone, with a silver badge pinned to the left side of his chest.
“Name.” “Kyle Gray.” The man’s pen paused.
He looked up.
“Westport First Academy?” “Yes.” “Class?” “Necromancer.” Recognition immediately appeared in the man’s eyes.
News that Westport First Academy had produced a Hidden Class yesterday had clearly reached the trial zone.
Unlike the students, however, he didn’t ask any questions.
He simply lowered his head and added the class information to the register.
“Level?” “One.” “Party members?” “None.” The man looked up again.
“You’re going in alone?” Kyle nodded.
“Yes.” This time, the man didn’t immediately continue with the registration.
He studied Kyle for several seconds.
“I know you awakened a Hidden Class, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any danger in there.
Every year, we get students who think their class is impressive, only to find out that real monsters are nothing like academy training.” His tone wasn’t harsh.
He was simply doing his job.
Kyle wasn’t offended.
“I understand.” “Still going alone?” “Yes.” Seeing that Kyle had already made up his mind, the man didn’t try to persuade him further.
He reached beneath the counter and placed a circular badge about the size of a palm in front of Kyle.
“Keep this with you.
It’s a temporary emergency badge.” Kyle picked it up.
A simple shield symbol had been engraved on its surface, with a ring of tiny runes around the edge.
“Once you’re inside, don’t go beyond the red boundary markers.
The outer area mostly contains Level 1 to Level 3 monsters.
The farther in you go, the higher their levels become.
It’s your first day, so there’s no need to take unnecessary risks.” The man pointed to the runes around the badge.
“If the badge suddenly starts glowing red, it means something unusual has happened nearby.
Whatever you’re doing, leave the area first.
If you run into something you can’t handle, channel magic into the badge.
Patrol teams nearby will receive the signal and come to you.” Kyle committed the instructions to memory.
“Thank you.” After completing his registration, he was about to head for the entrance when a large wooden board on the right side of the hall caught his attention.
Dozens of task notices had been pinned to it.
Kyle walked over.
They were simple missions prepared specifically for beginners.
Some required gathering herbs, while others asked for materials from low-level monsters.
The rewards weren’t high, but neither was the difficulty.
Most could be completed naturally while leveling.
[Eliminate 20 Fang Rats] [Reward: 40 Copper Coins] [Collect 5 Gray Wolf Fangs] [Reward: 1 Silver Coin] [Gather 10 Windbell Herbs] [Reward: 30 Copper Coins] Kyle looked between the available tasks.
Leveling was important.
So was money.
He wasn’t yet an awakened professional capable of earning a stable income.
His daily expenses weren’t a major problem for now, but the amount of money he would need in the future would only increase.
Equipment, potions, skill books, and even access to certain special dungeons all cost money.
Edmund had been looking after him for the past year, but Kyle had never intended to depend on him forever.
Since he was going into the trial zone to hunt monsters anyway, there was no reason not to complete a few tasks along the way.
In the end, he accepted the Fang Rat elimination task and the Gray Wolf Fang collection task.
Only after registering both did he finally make his way to the trial zone entrance.
The heavy stone doors slowly opened.
A breeze carrying the scent of grass and damp earth brushed against his face.
Kyle stepped through.
The noise behind him gradually faded until the surroundings became quiet.
A gravel path stretched ahead, bordered by thick bushes.
Beyond them stood a rolling forest.
Sunlight filtered through the branches and scattered uneven patches of light across the ground.
Somewhere in the distance, birds occasionally called from the trees.
If Kyle hadn’t known that monsters lived throughout the area, it would have looked like an ordinary forest outside the city.
He didn’t immediately head deeper in.
Standing near the entrance, Kyle observed the area first.
A few other students were still visible ahead.
One three-person party was moving along a path to the left, with a boy holding a shield at the front.
His movements were noticeably stiff.
The two students behind him stayed close, nervously checking the bushes on both sides of the path.
Being nervous during a first encounter with real monsters was perfectly normal.
This was Kyle’s first time too.
His method of fighting, however, was very different from theirs.
With a thought, a gray-black vortex slowly opened beside him.
A skeletal hand emerged first, followed by a Skeleton Warrior.
The same gray-white bones.
The same badly damaged sword.
No matter how many times Kyle looked at it, the summon still didn’t appear particularly impressive.
By now, he was used to that.
He didn’t release all four Skeleton Warriors at once.
He wanted to test one first and see how it performed in real combat.
“Follow me.” The blue soul flames in the Skeleton Warrior’s eyes flickered.
It followed Kyle along the gravel path.
After five or six minutes, the other students were no longer in sight, and the bushes on both sides of the path had become much thicker.
Kyle was about to continue when a patch of grass to his left moved slightly.
The sound was barely noticeable.
The Skeleton Warrior stopped immediately.
Its skull turned toward the bushes.
Kyle noticed its reaction and stopped as well.
A few seconds later, the bushes shook violently.
A dark shape burst out and landed in a clearing a little over ten meters away.
The creature was considerably larger than an ordinary house cat.
It had thick limbs, gray-brown fur pressed close to its body, and two long fangs protruding from the corners of its mouth.
Instead of attacking immediately, it lowered its body and dug its claws into the soil, letting out a low growl.
[Fang Rat] [Level: 2] Kyle’s expression became more focused.
This was the first time since arriving in this world that he had stood face-to-face with a real monster.
He had seen plenty of them in textbooks and academy combat recordings, but none of that compared to having a living monster directly in front of him.
Even from more than ten meters away, he could see its abdomen rising and falling with each breath and hear its claws scraping softly against the dirt.
The Fang Rat was watching him as well.
After a brief standoff, it suddenly kicked off the ground.
Dirt scattered behind its hind legs as it charged toward him, its body staying low to the ground.
It was faster than Kyle had expected.
“Go.” The moment the command left his mouth, the Skeleton Warrior charged forward.
With 150 points of Agility, the battered skeleton moved at a speed completely at odds with its appearance.
The distance between them disappeared almost instantly.
The Fang Rat opened its jaws and aimed its fangs at the Skeleton Warrior’s leg.
The skeleton didn’t dodge.
It simply tightened its grip on the damaged sword and swung.
The blade struck the Fang Rat with tremendous force and sent the monster flying sideways.
It crashed into a nearby tree hard enough to shake the branches before falling to the ground.
It didn’t get back up.
The entire fight had lasted only a few seconds.
Kyle looked at the dead Fang Rat, then at the ruined-looking sword in the Skeleton Warrior’s hand.
[Fang Rat successfully killed.] [Experience gained.] The notifications appeared.
Kyle didn’t immediately move on.
Instead, he walked over to the body and crouched down to inspect the wound.
The damage was worse than he had expected.
It would almost be more accurate to say that the Fang Rat had been beaten to death by the sheer force of the blow rather than cut down by the sword.
A Level 1 Skeleton Warrior had killed a Level 2 Fang Rat with a single ordinary attack.
That result already told Kyle plenty.
Following what he had learned at the academy, he processed the corpse and removed the material required as proof for the task.
It was his first time handling an actual monster corpse, so his movements were somewhat clumsy.
The smell of blood was also much stronger than anything he had experienced through classroom recordings.
Kyle continued anyway.
If he had chosen the path of a Combat Class, this was something he would have to get used to sooner or later.
Once he finished, he continued deeper into the forest.
Over the next fifteen minutes, he encountered several more Fang Rats.
The results were almost identical.
No matter where they attacked from, none of them could survive a single strike from the Skeleton Warrior.
After confirming this several times, Kyle finally relaxed some of his earlier caution.
Level 1 and Level 2 monsters in the outer area posed no real threat to a Skeleton Warrior enhanced by Total Enhancement.
There was little point continuing to test them one at a time.
Kyle stopped and released the remaining three Skeleton Warriors from his Summoning Space.
Four gray-white figures now stood among the trees.
Their blue soul flames were especially noticeable beneath the shade, and the surrounding temperature dropped slightly with their appearance.
Kyle didn’t send them running blindly into the forest.
The thick bushes and trees made visibility poor.
Sending his summons too far away might increase the speed at which they found monsters, but it would also create unnecessary risks.
“Spread out and search.
Stay close.
Kill any monsters you find.” The four Skeleton Warriors immediately moved in different directions while remaining within the general range Kyle could sense.
Kyle continued forward as well.
It wasn’t long before the sound of a brief fight came from the left.
A kill notification appeared in front of him.
Several minutes later, another came from the right.
Then another from ahead.
As the Skeleton Warriors spread out, the rate at which they killed monsters increased significantly, while Kyle’s own pace barely slowed.
Only now did he truly begin to understand the difference between a summoning class and an ordinary Combat Class.
Most professionals could only search in one direction.
Once they found a monster, they had to stop and fight before continuing.
Kyle could search several directions at the same time.
As long as his Skeleton Warriors kept moving, he didn’t have to spend all his time personally searching for monsters.
And right now, he only had four summons.
His Summoning Space could hold ten.
As he leveled up and gained control over more undead, that advantage would only become greater.
Kyle was beginning to understand the direction in which a Necromancer was meant to develop.
Powerful individual summons were useful, but for a class like his, numbers were a form of strength in their own right.
Over the next hour, Kyle steadily made his way deeper into the forest.
He quickly completed the task of eliminating twenty Fang Rats.
Along the way, he also encountered several Ironback Beetles and low-level Venom Lizards.
None caused his Skeleton Warriors any trouble.
Once the first task was complete, Kyle didn’t remain in the outer area.
He stopped beside a shallow stream and took out the trial zone map.
The area ahead was where Level 3 and Level 4 monsters became more common.
It was also where he could find the Gray Wolves he needed for his second task.
The monsters in the outer area were safe, but the experience they provided was already beginning to feel limited.
Now that he had confirmed the combat ability of his Skeleton Warriors, there was little reason to stay.
Kyle put the map away and recalled the Skeleton Warriors that had spread through the nearby forest.
After checking that none had suffered any noticeable damage, he led all four past the yellow boundary marker ahead.
The environment gradually changed as he moved deeper into the trial zone.
The trees became denser, and the artificial gravel paths of the outer area disappeared, leaving only soil covered in fallen leaves.
He could no longer hear other students talking.
Only the occasional wind moving through the treetops broke the silence.
Kyle slowed down.
The monsters here were no longer harmless creatures like the Fang Rats.
He had only traveled a few hundred meters when heavy breathing came from the forest to his right.
Kyle stopped.
All four Skeleton Warriors turned toward the sound almost simultaneously.
A pair of pale yellow eyes appeared behind the bushes.
A moment later, a gray wolf nearly twice the size of an ordinary hunting dog slowly stepped from behind a tree, sharp teeth visible between its slightly parted jaws.
Before Kyle could react, movement came from the other side.
A second wolf appeared.
Then a third.
Instead of attacking immediately, the three wolves approached from different directions, clearly attempting to surround them.
[Gray Wolf] [Level: 4] Kyle tightened his grip on the basic staff in his hand, his expression becoming more serious.
For the first time since entering the trial zone, he was facing something that deserved his full attention.
Three Level 4 monsters.
He was only Level 1.
An ordinary newly awakened mage surrounded by three Gray Wolves would probably be thinking about how to escape.
Kyle didn’t move back.
His four Skeleton Warriors had already adjusted their positions on their own.
Two stood in front, while the other two covered the left and right sides.
After a brief standoff, the wolf on the left attacked first.
It charged.
The other two moved almost simultaneously.
“Kill them.” The Skeleton Warriors immediately met them head-on.
The first Gray Wolf had barely left the ground when a damaged sword swept toward it, knocking it sideways in midair and sending it crashing onto the ground.
On the other side, two Skeleton Warriors intercepted the second wolf.
The third didn’t engage them at all.
Using the trees as cover, it circled around the fighting summons and charged directly at Kyle.
He noticed immediately.
These monsters clearly weren’t mindless.
At the very least, they understood that the person standing behind the skeletons was the one actually controlling them.
Kyle watched the wolf rapidly close the distance but didn’t retreat.
Ever since gaining Undying Substitute the night before, he hadn’t had a chance to test how the passive worked in practice.
A written description could only tell him so much.
This was a tightly managed beginner trial zone, and the creature in front of him was only Level 4.
If he wanted to test the passive, this was probably as safe an opportunity as he was going to get.
The Gray Wolf rushed closer before leaping into the air, its front claws aimed directly at Kyle’s chest.
Kyle tightened his grip on his staff and remained where he was.
But just before the wolf reached him, a gray-white figure suddenly rushed in from the side and slammed into it.
The Gray Wolf was knocked off balance in midair and sent flying.
Before it could recover, the Skeleton Warrior protecting Kyle moved in front of him and brought its damaged sword down.
The wolf never got back up.
Kyle looked down at himself, then at the Skeleton Warrior standing in front of him.
He was silent for a moment.
He hadn’t been injured.
Naturally, Undying Substitute hadn’t activated either.
There was nothing wrong with the passive.
The Skeleton Warrior simply hadn’t given the Gray Wolf a chance to touch him.
Kyle could only give up on the test for now.
He would have to find another opportunity later.
Meanwhile, the other fight was already ending.
The second Gray Wolf soon collapsed.
The last one realized something was wrong and turned to flee into the trees, but a Skeleton Warrior quickly caught up with it.
Its damaged sword fell.
The third wolf dropped.
Less than twenty seconds had passed between the three Gray Wolves launching their attack and the end of the fight.
Kyle was about to process the bodies when warmth suddenly spread through him.
A faint glow rose from beneath his feet and surrounded his body.
[Experience has reached the current level limit.] [Level increased.] [Current Level: 2.] Kyle stopped and closed his eyes for a moment.
The slight fatigue from traveling and fighting disappeared almost immediately, and his Spirit rapidly returned to its best condition.
He opened his status panel.
[Name: Kyle Gray] [Class: Necromancer (Hidden Class)] [Level: 2] [Strength: 25] [Agility: 25] [Spirit: 40] [Vitality: 25] [Equipment: Basic Staff] [Summoning Space: 4/20] [Skeleton Warriors: 4] [Talent: Total Enhancement] [Special Passive: Undying Substitute] [Active Skills: Soul Flame (Level 2), Summon Skeleton Warrior (Level 2)] Kyle carefully went through the changes.
All of his base attributes had increased.
His Spirit had doubled from twenty to forty, while the capacity of his Summoning Space had increased from ten to twenty.
That meant the number of Skeleton Warriors he could keep had already doubled.
But those changes weren’t what interested Kyle most.
His attention settled on his summoning skill.
[Summon Skeleton Warrior (Level 2)] The skill had leveled up along with him.
At Level 1, an ordinary Skeleton Warrior had started with fifteen points in its basic attributes.
Under the effect of Total Enhancement, those attributes had reached 150.
Now the summoning skill itself was Level 2.
If the attributes of his summons increased along with the skill level, then any new Skeleton Warrior he summoned should be stronger than the ones he already had.
There was only one way to find out how much stronger.
Kyle looked around.
All three Gray Wolves were dead, and there were no other monsters nearby.
It was as good a place as any to test it.
He raised his right hand and channeled his Spirit.
“Summon Skeleton Warrior.” Gray-black energy slowly rose from the ground.
A dark vortex, noticeably more stable than before, opened between the trees.
The familiar clicking of bones soon came from within.
A gray-white skeletal hand emerged first, followed by a new Skeleton Warrior stepping through the vortex.
It had the same familiar gray-white bones and the same chipped, battered sword.
Even the cracks across its body didn’t seem to have improved much.
Kyle looked it over without the slightest disappointment.
After everything he had seen today, he understood one thing very clearly.
The strength of these Skeleton Warriors could never be judged by their appearance.
With a thought, he opened the status panel of the newly summoned Level 2 Skeleton Warrior.
When the numbers appeared in front of him, even Kyle’s usually calm expression finally changed.