"Quiet down!"
A loud voice echoed across the crowded plaza.
"The awakening ceremony will officially start now. When you hear your name, get up here to receive your class and talent!"
Hundreds of nervous students stared toward the rough-looking teacher standing at the centre of the platform.
Behind him stood an enormous transparent crystal, while a complex magical formation covered the stone beneath it.
Similar awakening platforms had been set up across several distant sections of the enormous plaza, each handling a different group of students.
"This is it, man." Leon grabbed Karl’s arm with an excited grin. "We’re finally about to receive our classes!"
Karl did not answer, his face was filled with pure disbelief as he stared at the familiar plaza, the awakening platforms and the countless students gathered around him.
What the fuck? Why am I back here?!
Only moments earlier, Karl had been lying inside the final chamber of a hidden dungeon with blood spreading beneath his body.
His team had betrayed him after discovering the special reward hidden inside the dungeon, but what remained clearest inside Karl’s memory was the person who had delivered the final blow.
His own fiancée.
She had stood behind him and personally driven a blade through his back before taking the reward.
Karl had fallen to the ground as his consciousness gradually faded, regretting the countless decisions that had eventually brought him to this point.
Then an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed through his mind.
"If you had the chance, would you do everything over?"
Karl’s fading thoughts immediately stopped and the voice continued.
"Even if it costs you your humanity?"
Karl did not know who or what was speaking to him, nor did he care anymore.
"Yes!"
A faint chuckle echoed through his mind as everything around him began to distort.
"Very well."
Those were the final words Karl heard before everything went black and now he was here.
Leon finally noticed his expression and frowned. "Why are you looking like that?"
Karl immediately turned toward him, the face before him was younger than he remembered, but there was no possibility of mistaking that foolish grin.
Leon Wood.
Karl’s childhood friend and the only son of the head of Ardent City’s Awakeners Association branch.
In Karl’s previous life, Leon had remained one of the few people he could trust even after they entered different academies and gradually followed separate paths.
Karl had only learned about his death several years later.
Leon had died while defending a group of injured awakeners during a dungeon outbreak. By the time Karl received the news, even his final rites had already ended.
Yet now he stood directly beside him in the flesh. Karl’s eyes became slightly wet before he quickly forced the emotion back down.
Leon stared at him strangely. "Did something happen to you?"
Karl ignored the question and immediately asked, "What is today’s date?"
Leon blinked. "What?"
"The date Leon, tell me today’s date."
"The seventh day of the ninth month," Leon answered slowly. "Why are you asking?"
Karl’s fingers tightened slightly. "What year?"
Leon placed the back of his hand against Karl’s forehead. "Did you eat something strange this morning? How can you forget the year during your own class-transition ceremony?"
Karl pushed his hand away. "Just answer me."
"Alliance Year 216."
Karl went silent, the date matched perfectly. He had returned exactly ten years into the past, back to the day of his class transition.
So that voice was real.
It had actually fulfilled its promise.
"Karl, are you certain you are fine?" Leon asked. "You look as though someone just told you the world is gonna end."
Karl slowly released the breath trapped inside his chest. "I am fine, I was only thinking about something."
Leon still looked suspicious but eventually turned his attention back toward their platform.
Before Karl could think further, Leon suddenly released a nervous breath beside him. "Man, I better awaken something good."
Leon rubbed the back of his neck. "If I get some useless talent after everything my father spent preparing for today, he is probably going to break my legs."
Karl almost laughed, Leon clearly had no idea what was waiting for him.
In Karl’s previous life, he had awakened an S-rank talent alongside the Martial Saint class, with his class compatibility reaching fourteen stars.
That result alone had been enough to make several major academies immediately interested in him.
"You’ll be fine," Karl replied.
Leon looked toward him. "You sound pretty confident."
Karl only smiled slightly.
A magically amplified voice suddenly spread across their section of the plaza. "Leon Wood!"
Leon’s expression immediately changed. "Already?"
Leon took a breath before walking forward.
Karl quietly watched him climb onto the platform, already knowing exactly what result was about to appear.
Class compatibility was measured through stars, with eighteen stars representing the highest officially recognised value within the Human Alliance.
Three or four stars generally represented poor compatibility, while anything above nine was already considered exceptional.
Once someone crossed twelve stars, major academies would begin competing seriously for them.
Leon stepped into the centre of the formation and placed his palm against the awakening crystal and the entire array immediately lit up.
Lines of pale golden light spread beneath his feet and gathered around his body as a faint pressure swept across the surrounding students.
Several instructors immediately turned toward the platform. The examiner stared at the information appearing upon the crystal before his expression changed.
"S-rank talent!"
The students gathered around their platform immediately became quieter.
"Class: Martial Saint!"
"Class Compatibility: Fourteen Stars!"
For several seconds, Leon simply stood there staring at the result.
Then his eyes widened.
"S-rank..."
A grin rapidly appeared across his face. "I actually got an S-rank talent!"
The surrounding students immediately erupted into excited discussion.
Near the platform, the school principal stared at Leon’s result in obvious shock before an excited smile appeared across his face.
An S-rank talent with fourteen-star compatibility was already enough to make Leon one of the most talented students the school had produced in years.
Leon practically jumped down from the platform once the examiner finished recording his information and immediately rushed toward Karl.
"You heard that, right?! Martial Saint! Fourteen stars!"
Karl could not stop a small smile from appearing. "Calm down, you are making an S-rank talent look embarrassing already."
"Who cares? I got Martial Saint!"
Karl laughed quietly, everything had happened exactly as he remembered.
The ceremony continued as several more students were called onto their platform, but Karl barely paid attention to their results.
It did not take long before the examiner looked down at the list again. "Karl Reed!"
Leon immediately slapped him across the back. "Finally. Go show them what you have got."
Karl stepped away from him and began walking toward the platform. Unlike most of the students called before him, there was almost no nervousness inside his heart.
Ten years ago, the moment Karl touched that awakening crystal, he had awakened the SSS-rank talent Sword Saint.
Back then, he possessed incredible talent but lacked the experience necessary to properly use it, this time it was different.
He carried ten years of combat experience and complete knowledge of the mistakes that had slowed his development during his previous life.
With Sword Saint and everything I know now, my growth will be completely different.
Karl climbed the final step and entered the centre of the magical formation; the examiner gave him a brief nod before pointing toward the crystal.
"Place your hand upon it and remain still until the awakening is complete."
Karl looked at the familiar crystal before calmly raising his hand and his palm pressed against the awakening crystal.