When Aiden stepped through the massive stone doors, the noise from the village square almost completely faded away. Only a handful of candles illuminated the great circular hall where the young villagers had received their Classes two days earlier.
The Awakening Crystal still rested at the center of the room. It looked perfectly ordinary. Aiden paused for a few moments to study it. Just a few days ago, he had believed this crystal would decide the course of his entire life. He had been right. Just not in the way he had imagined.
"I was wondering when you'd come back."
Vandemar's voice echoed from behind him. Aiden turned around. The old man was slowly descending a staircase behind the altar, an oil lamp in his hand. He looked more tired than he had during the ceremony.
"Good morning, Father."
The priest gave him a faint smile.
"I figured you'd come yesterday. Young people who receive an unusual Class almost always come back to see me."
Aiden stepped closer.
"You knew I'd come back?"
"It wasn't difficult to guess."
The old man studied him for a few seconds.
"You're looking for answers."
"Yes."
He glanced toward the crystal.
"I want to understand what a Grave Keeper really is. No one seems to know anything about this Class."
"Come with me."
He walked around the pedestal and headed down the narrow staircase he had come from. Aiden followed him. The steps descended deep beneath the temple. The air grew cooler with every level. After about thirty steps, they stopped before a heavy wooden door reinforced with iron bands. The priest pulled an old key from his belt.
"Very few people know this room exists."
The lock groaned loudly before the door finally swung open. The smell of old paper immediately filled the corridor. Aiden found himself staring into a room lined with shelves. Hundreds of books had been carefully arranged upon them.
Some looked almost new. Others were so old that their covers were falling apart. Wooden chests held dozens of rolled parchments. A thick layer of dust covered most of the furniture.
"The Temple Archives," Vandemar murmured.
"Does all of this belong to the village?"
The old man gently shook his head.
"No. Every temple keeps a copy of the kingdom's records. Whenever a child receives a Class, their name is recorded here, and a copy is then sent to the capital."
He set his oil lamp down on a table.
"The oldest records date back nearly two thousand years."
Aiden felt his curiosity growing.
"Two thousand years..."
The priest walked over to one of the bookshelves. He slowly ran his fingers along the spines before pulling out an especially thick volume. It was bound in black leather, its corners reinforced with thin bronze plates. The old man carefully laid it on the table. A cloud of dust immediately rose into the air.
"This register contains the Classes considered extinct, extremely rare, or forgotten."
Aiden felt his heartbeat quicken. The priest gently opened the book. The first pages were covered in elegant handwriting. Each entry contained a name, a description, and several annotations. The old man slowly turned the pages.
"Beast Whisperer..."
He turned another page.
"Rune Weaver..."
Another.
"Storm Caller..."
Aiden carefully examined each Class. Some seemed incredibly powerful. Others were completely incomprehensible. Vandemar continued until he reached a page that was almost empty. He gently placed his finger on a single line.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Here it is."
At the center of the page, only a few words had been written in black ink.
Grave Keeper
Funerary Class
Rank F
Nothing else. Aiden frowned.
"That's all?"
"No."
The priest turned the next page. There were only three names. Only three.
The first.
Name: Elias d'Arven
Class: Grave Keeper
Rank: F
Place of Awakening: Kingdom of Aster, Sanctuary of Arven
Awakening Date: Royal Calendar Year 842
Date of Death: Year 843
Age at Death: 19
Official Cause of Death: Unknown
Last Known Location: Old Ossuary of Arven
Archive Notes:
The subject left his village less than three weeks after his Awakening. Several witnesses claimed he insisted he could hear a voice. His body was found eight months later near an ancient cemetery. There were no signs of a struggle. No one else in the area had been harmed.
Name: Marwen Elross
Class: Grave Keeper
Rank: F
Place of Awakening: Kingdom of Belmor
Awakening Date: Royal Calendar Year 1137
Date of Death: Year 1139
Age at Death: 20
Official Cause of Death: Missing, Presumed Dead
Last Known Location: Catacombs of Khar
Archive Notes:
The subject displayed several unusual behaviors after his Awakening. He claimed to see invisible figures and was frequently seen talking to himself. The search was abandoned after four months. His body was never found.
Name: Lorian Veld
Class: Grave Keeper
Rank: F
Place of Awakening: Village of Elden
Awakening Date: Royal Calendar Year 1548
Date of Death: Year 1549
Age at Death: 19
Official Cause of Death: Unknown
Last Known Location: Graymist Forest
Archive Notes:
The subject repeatedly claimed to hear a voice that no one else could perceive. He requested access to the temple archives on three separate occasions before disappearing. His body was found three days later. No predator had touched the remains. The circumstances remain unexplained.
Aiden immediately noticed one detail. All three records ended very quickly. He looked up at the priest.
"They all died young..."
"Elias died at nineteen."
His finger moved to the second name.
"Marwen died at twenty."
Then to the last.
"Lorian died at nineteen, only a few months after his Awakening."
A heavy silence settled between them. Aiden read the three names over and over. There were no other Grave Keepers. In two thousand years. Only three.
And now him.
"Do you know how they died?"
The priest shook his head.
"The archives are incomplete. The circumstances of their deaths were never recorded."
"None of them became adventurers?"
"Not one."
The old man gently closed the register.
"They disappeared before they ever had the chance."
Those words left a bitter taste in Aiden's mouth. He thought back to the old grave. The wandering soul. His Funerary Vision skill. It all seemed far too strange to be nothing more than a coincidence.
"This Class is hiding something."
The priest remained silent for a few moments before answering.
"Perhaps."
He slowly sat down across from Aiden.
"Or perhaps it's simply a flaw in the System. No one knows."
"A flaw?"
"Classes are meant to help people live. Some are more powerful than others, but they all have a purpose. Grave Keeper..."
He paused.
"I've never understood what purpose it was meant to serve. In my entire life, I've only met one other Grave Keeper."
Aiden immediately looked up.
"You knew one?"
"Yes. Lorian. I was still a young temple acolyte back then."
He seemed lost in his memories.
"He was quiet. Polite. Always alone."
"And then?"
The priest's expression darkened.
"One morning, he disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"His body was found three days later in a forest several miles from the village."
Silence settled over the room once more. The old priest lowered his eyes to the register.
"No one ever discovered what had happened to him."
Aiden felt a shiver run down his spine. Could it really be a coincidence? Three Grave Keepers. Three early deaths. He refused to believe it was mere chance.
The priest closed the book completely.
"Aiden."
His voice had grown more serious.
"I'm going to give you one piece of advice. Forget this Class."
"What do you mean?"
"You're still young. Nothing is stopping you from learning an ordinary trade. Your father is a good hunter. A blacksmith might hire you as a laborer. You could become a merchant, a carpenter, or a farmer. But give up any thought of becoming an adventurer."
Aiden remained silent.
"This Class..."
The priest took a deep breath.
"I'm afraid it leads to only one thing."
"Death?"
The old man did not answer.He didn't need to.A few minutes later, Aiden left the archives. The priest accompanied him back to the temple entrance. Just before he stepped through the doors, Aiden asked one last question.
"If you could go back... would you give Lorian the same advice?"
"Yes. And this time, I'd hope he listened."
Aiden gave a slight nod before leaving the temple. The sun was already high in the sky. Children ran around the fountain. A merchant chatted with an elderly woman. The world kept turning.
And yet, Aiden felt as though his own world had crumbled a little more. Three bearers. Three deaths. No explanation.
He walked without really paying attention to where he was going. Was that truly his future? Was he doomed simply because he had received a forgotten Class? As he crossed the main street, a sudden pain shot through his mind. The translucent window appeared before his eyes. For the first time in several hours.Only a single line was written on it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Survival Probability: 12.0%
_______________________________________________________________________________________
The window vanished immediately.
Aiden stopped dead in his tracks. The color drained from his face.
"Twelve percent...?"
Around him, no one seemed to have noticed anything. The village carried on with its daily routine. As though nothing had happened.
But deep inside, a certainty had taken root. The System hadn't shown him that number by chance. Something was about to happen. And according to it, he had only a one-in-eight chance of surviving.