Lucas made it out of the dungeon.
The moment he stepped into the sunlight, exhaustion finally caught up with him.
His entire body felt heavy.
His muscles were sore.
His shoulder still hurt from the battle.
Even standing felt like an effort.
But Lucas had done it.
He had completed the advancement dungeon.
He was now a D-Rank Awakener.
Level 17.
Lucas looked toward the city.
Normally, he would have stopped to think about everything that had happened.
The advancement.
The mid-boss.
The C-Rank boss.
His new ability.
The changes happening to Boost Breaker.
But right now, he didn’t care.
He was exhausted.
“I need sleep.”
Lucas headed home.
He barely remembered entering his apartment.
He dropped his equipment beside the door, walked into his bedroom, and collapsed onto his bed.
The moment his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep.
He didn’t set an alarm.
He didn’t care what time he woke up.
He just needed to rest.
Several hours passed.
Then several more.
Eventually, Lucas opened his eyes.
He stared at the ceiling.
For a few seconds, he didn’t remember where he was.
Then everything came back.
The dungeon.
The mid-boss.
The C-Rank boss.
The advancement.
Lucas slowly sat up.
He looked toward the window.
It was completely dark outside.
Lucas grabbed his phone.
9:47 PM.
He stared at the time.
“I slept that long?”
He rubbed his face.
His body felt completely different.
The exhaustion was mostly gone.
The pain in his muscles had faded.
His energy felt full.
Lucas stood up.
He stretched his arms.
Then he opened his status.
[STATUS]
Name: Lucas
Level: 17
Rank: D
Class: None
Ability: Boost Breaker
Hidden Ability: Time Manipulation
Lucas stared at the screen.
Class: None.
He frowned.
“Still nothing.”
Lucas had been so focused on reaching D-Rank that he hadn’t thought much about it.
But now that he was rested, the lack of a class stood out.
Classes were extremely important to Awakeners.
They weren’t simply titles.
A class could dramatically increase an Awakener’s power.
Some classes increased physical attributes.
Others improved energy regeneration.
Some strengthened specific types of abilities.
Others specialized in combat, defense, support, magic, weapons, or unique techniques.
And some rare classes could completely change how an Awakener fought.
Lucas had seen it happen in his first life.
An average Awakener could receive an exceptional class and suddenly become far stronger.
A powerful Awakener could receive a class that perfectly matched their ability and become terrifying.
Classes weren’t everything.
But they could make an enormous difference.
Lucas opened his detailed status.
[DETAILED STATUS]
Name: Lucas
Rank: D
Level: 17
Class: None
Strength: 86
Speed: 82
Defense: 74
Vitality: 79
Energy: 91
Recovery: 76
Control: 100
Sense: 84
Lucas stared at the numbers.
He had seen them after defeating the boss.
But now he could actually think about them.
“These are high.”
Lucas opened another window.
[AVERAGE D-RANK LEVEL 17 AWAKENER]
Strength: 51
Defense: 46
Vitality: 49
Energy: 53
Recovery: 45
Control: 50
Sense: 47
Lucas compared the two.
The difference was enormous.
He was ahead in every category.
His Strength was significantly higher.
His Speed was higher.
His Defense was higher.
His Energy was nearly double the average.
And his Control was exactly twice the average.
Lucas looked at the word Class again.
“That’s without a class.”
That was the part that bothered him.
A class could increase an Awakener’s power even further.
Lucas didn’t know what would happen when he finally received one.
He remembered his first life.
He had awakened a class eventually.
But it hadn’t been anything extraordinary.
It had helped him.
But it hadn’t perfectly matched Boost Breaker.
Back then, Lucas hadn’t understood the importance.
He had simply accepted whatever he received.
This time would be different.
Lucas had already learned that his second life wouldn’t follow the same path.
Boost Breaker had changed.
His abilities had appeared earlier.
Time Manipulation had awakened.
Appraisal had appeared far earlier than it should have.
His advancement had been completely different from normal Awakeners.
And now he had reached D-Rank Level 17 without a class.
Lucas smiled.
“Maybe there’s a reason.”
He closed the status window.
Then opened Boost Breaker.
[BOOST BREAKER]
[Current Rank: D]
[Current Level: 17]
[Abilities]
[Basic Enhancement — D-Rank]
[Strength Enhancement — D-Rank]
[Speed Enhancement — D-Rank]
[Break Limit — D-Rank]
[Impact Break — D-Rank]
[Appraisal — D-Rank]
[Defense Break — D-Rank]
[Quest System — Active]
Lucas looked at each ability.
Every ability he had previously unlocked had become stronger after reaching D-Rank.
The abilities weren’t replaced.
They evolved with him.
His body could handle more power.
The abilities consumed energy more efficiently.
Their output was greater.
And their potential had increased.
Lucas opened Time Manipulation.
[TIME MANIPULATION]
[Current Rank: D]
[Ability: Temporal Sight]
[Duration: 8 Seconds]
[Cooldown: 45 Seconds]
Lucas nodded.
Eight seconds.
Forty-five-second cooldown.
That was a huge improvement.
He remembered when he had first awakened the ability.
Five seconds.
One-minute cooldown.
Even then, it had been incredibly useful.
Now it was stronger.
And it would continue improving as his rank increased.
Lucas closed the window.
He walked toward the kitchen.
His stomach growled.
He opened the refrigerator.
He stared inside.
There wasn’t much food.
Lucas sighed.
“I need to go shopping.”
He closed the refrigerator.
Then he stopped.
His senses were sharper.
He could hear the refrigerator motor.
Cars moving outside.
Someone walking down the hallway.
His body reacted faster than it ever had before.
Lucas smiled.
D-Rank.
Level 17.
No class.
And he was already stronger than most Awakeners at his level.
He wondered what would happen after he awakened one.
Lucas returned to his bedroom.
He sat on the edge of his bed.
The academy entrance examination was still coming.
He needed to prepare.
His class.
Lucas remembered where awakened people went to receive one.
The Awakener Administration had a special facility dedicated to class selection.
Every Awakener who reached the required stage could enter the facility.
Inside was an ancient system connected to awakened energy.
It would analyze the Awakener.
Their ability.
Their attributes.
Their combat tendencies.
Their achievements.
Their potential.
Then it would present a selection of classes compatible with them.
The stronger the Awakener’s foundation, the better the possible classes could become.
Lucas had never cared much about it in his first life.
Now he did.
Very much.
He stood.
“I want to see what Boost Breaker gives me.”
Lucas grabbed his jacket.
He left his apartment.
The streets were still busy despite the late hour.
Awakener advertisements covered the buildings.
Guilds were recruiting.
Equipment stores were still open.
The world was slowly changing.
Lucas walked through the city until he reached the Awakener Administration’s central building.
He entered.
The lobby was nearly empty.
A receptionist looked up.
“Can I help you?”
Lucas placed his Awakener identification card on the counter.
“I want to access the Class Selection Facility.”
The receptionist scanned his card.
Her expression changed slightly.
“D-Rank?”
Lucas nodded.
“Yes.”
She checked his information again.
“Your advancement was just registered.”
“That’s right.”
She handed his card back.
“Class selection is available on the third floor.”
Lucas thanked her.
He walked toward the elevator.
The doors opened.
He stepped inside.
The elevator climbed.
Third floor.
The doors opened.
Lucas stepped out.
A long hallway stretched ahead.
At the end was a massive set of double doors.
A sign was mounted above it.
CLASS AWAKENING FACILITY
Lucas stopped.
He stared at the doors.
For the first time since his regression, he felt genuinely curious about what would happen next.
He walked forward.
The doors opened.
Lucas stepped inside.
The room was completely white.
In the center stood a massive crystal surrounded by ancient symbols.
Lucas approached it.
A notification appeared.
[CLASS AWAKENING FACILITY]
[Awakener recognized.]
[Rank: D]
[Level: 17]
[Ability: Boost Breaker]
[Beginning compatibility analysis…]
Lucas’s eyes narrowed.
The crystal began glowing.
The room became silent.
Then another notification appeared.
[ANALYZING AWAKENER…]
[Please wait.]
Lucas stared at the crystal.
He had no idea what classes would appear.
He had no idea whether Boost Breaker would influence the result.
And he had no idea whether his regression had changed this too.
Lucas placed his hand against the crystal.
The moment his fingers touched it—
The entire room lit up.
Lucas’s eyes widened.
[CLASS AWAKENING]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[GENERATING COMPATIBLE CLASSES…]
Lucas stared at the notification.
Then the system paused.
[ERROR]
Lucas froze.
The crystal’s light intensified.
[UNIDENTIFIED COMPATIBILITY DETECTED]
Lucas’s expression became serious.
“What?”
The system displayed one final message.
[CLASS SELECTION WILL BEGIN.]
Lucas stared at the glowing crystal.
Whatever was about to appear would determine a major part of his future.
And for the first time, Lucas wondered if even Boost Breaker knew what class it was going to give him.