For now, I put aside my future ambitions, focusing on what I could do at the present moment. And that was ranking up and choosing a Class, first and foremost.

  Currently, in the body of this human boy I inhabited, I was Unranked and without a Class. In total, there were nine Ranks that were defined and known of in this world— Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Diamond.

  It was said that Diamond was the highest Rank that was achievable: that Aria the Lady of Light had reached that pinnacle of power that had also been obtained by all the [Heroes] who came before her just before the final battle to defeat me began.

  However, the only reason that was believed to be true was because that was the highest-recorded Rank by the Church of Life. I had actually reached a Rank that transcended Diamond. A tenth Rank that made me far stronger than Aria had been during our final battle even with all the boons she had been given before our confrontation.

  A Rank that allowed me to do what I did to survive my demise at the hands of fate.

  …and considering the fact that I was Unranked right now, it was suffice to say I had quite the long journey ahead of me to regain that level of power.

  “At the very least, I have both my past life’s knowledge and a vast pool of mana to help me out, so getting back to my previous Rank won’t be as tough as it was the first time around,” I muttered as I brought a hand up.

  I pulled up my Status once again and focused on the notification telling me that I could advance in Rank.

  (Rank Up Available)

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then I felt my chest aching for a moment. My eyes widened as I saw a vision. It was the inside of my soul shifting— a fiery crimson tempest that was my essence, twisting and turning inside of my body. It raged wildly as it threatened to consume my entire being. But then it began to coalesce into itself, calming and forming something at its very center.

  At first, it looked like a molten sphere. But it began to rapidly cool until it was now a metal-like sphere.

  It was an iron core. It hovered in the middle of the now-calmed crimson tempest at the very center of my soul.

  “Huh… that’s different…” I grimaced as the pain lingered for a moment longer.

  In my previous life, when I first ranked up to Iron, the entirety of my soul's fiery essence coalesced into what became my iron core. There was nothing left of that pool of crimson. And yet, for whatever reason, there was now an excess of my essence orbiting the metal sphere now.

  “Is it because of the circumstances behind my reincarnation?” I wondered aloud.

  But before I could fully process this, my vision came to an end. The pain I felt dissipated as the blue box flickered, before showing a shift in my Status as a brand new notification popped up before it.

  *ding!*

  You are now Iron Rank!

  +3 [Strength]

  +3 [Speed]

  +3 [Magic]

  +3 [Vitality]

  +3 [Dexterity]

  +3 Free Points

  *ding!*

  You are now eligible for a Class:

  There are currently two Class options for you to choose from!

  [Death Knight]

  A rare specialized Class that focuses on death magic spells to enhance close-quarters combat proficiency. A [Death Knight] may not be as physically strong as an ordinary [Warrior], but they make up for their lack of strength with their magic to whittle down their enemies in battle.

  +10 [Magic]

  +5 [Strength]

  [Death Mage]

  A rare specialized Class that focuses on casting death magic spells from afar. A [Death Mage]’s magic may not be as destructive as a regular [Mage] due to the taxing nature of their spells, however they are often far more durable and capable in one-on-one confrontations.

  +10 [Magic]

  +5 [Vitality].

  “Is that really it?” I stared at the two Class options given to me.

  I had been given five different options when I became Iron last time around. But it also took me far longer to reach Iron, since I had barely just been ‘born’ back then, and I barely understood anything. Back then, I was fully sentient, but with no prior knowledge of anything, so I was just wandering around, simply trusting my instincts.

  And so I accomplished much more than just killing two random thugs before I finally became Iron. Since Classes were given based on feats, it made sense that I had a larger variety of Class options to choose then, and only two options right now.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Well, I don’t want to be either a [Death Mage] or a [Death Knight],” I said as I crossed my arms, eyeing the blue boxes floating before me. “However, if I remember correctly, I could unlock more Class options if I refuse to choose a Class right now.”

  And since I wanted to pursue a non-death magic related Class to get into the Holy Academy of the Church of Life, I made the decision to postpone choosing a Class for now. Not until a better option showed itself to me.

  “Alright,” I said as I clapped my hands together, dismissing the blue boxes before me. I looked towards the night sky above. “Now that that’s settled, I should get going. I don’t want to be eaten by any monsters that are lurking in the area.”

  After all, even though I had an abundance of mana that allowed me to deal with most enemies up to Sapphire or Ruby in one shot, I was still quite fragile. If I got snuck up on, I’d be dead in an instant.

  So I started in the direction of Velmond— the city that the thug I killed had pointed out to me— as I left the forest behind.

  Name: Nox

  Race: Human

  Rank: Iron - Level 1

  Class: N/A (Class Options Available)

  Titles: [Nascent Death God]

  Title Skills: [Death Magic Mastery]

  General Skills: [Quick Dash]

  Attributes:

  [Strength: 8]

  [Speed: 13]

  [Magic: 499]

  [Vitality: 9]

  [Dexterity: 10]

  Free Points: 3

  ***

  It didn’t take me long to find Velmond. It was only a few miles away, and I caught sight of the torchlight lining the streets of the city in the distance after walking for only half an hour or so.

  Velmond was a small city, as the thug had said. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it was pretty much just a town. There wasn’t even a wall erected around the perimeters of the city to protect it from monster attacks. In fact, I had only seen a single patrol of guards wandering the peripheries of the city, and they barely even paid attention as I walked past them, despite me being a kid covered in bloodied clothes and light cuts.

  Not that I minded that. I actually preferred that they left me alone. After all, the less attention I attracted, the better.

  So as I wandered the streets of Velmond, I looked into the bag of coins that I had taken off the dead thug’s body. There were only five silver coins and twenty-three copper coins inside of it. Not enough to last a long time, but more than enough to pay for a night or two in an inn as I gathered my bearings and formed a course of action to follow.

  That thug mentioned something about a gang, I recalled the conversation I had just an hour or so ago. They definitely want me dead, so I’ll have to keep a lookout for them too.

  However, they thought I was dead— dealt with by those two thugs who dumped me in that creek. And that gave me the element of surprise. After all, I wanted them dead too.

  It was very likely that the experience from killing them would give me a better Class option too. Since they were bad guys, maybe I could even get the option to become a [Paladin] of sorts. I would certainly get accepted into the Holy Academy of the Church of Life if I was a [Paladin] or a related Class. If not, it would still help me reach the next Rank anyway.

  “If I remember correctly, you have to be at least Silver to enroll in the Holy Academy of the Church of Life,” I whispered as I tapped a finger on my chin.

  Also, for whatever reason, a small part of me wanted to kill them because they killed ‘me’. Sure, it was not truly me they killed, but there was still some emotional attachment I felt towards the original owner of this body. I didn’t know how to explain it. I just knew I felt like I wanted to get revenge. That I would get some emotional catharsis from their deaths. And the Death God part of me was determined to see it through.

  So I searched for an inn to stay the night. But as I was wandering the mostly-empty streets of Velmond, a pair of figures spotted me from up ahead.

  A young man and a little girl stood right before a lamppost, scanning the streets until they caught sight of me. I didn’t know why, but my gaze was drawn towards them too. And I thought I recognized them, even though I had never met them before in my entire previous life.

  “Eli!” the little girl cried out as she dashed forward.

  “Hannah, wait—” the young man tried to stop her.

  But she slipped past him, running up to me and throwing her arms around my shoulders. I blinked a few times as I stared at her. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, and she looked like she was a year or two younger than me.

  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she clung onto me, while the young man trailed a step behind her.

  “Gracious Goddess, I was so worried… Ethen and I have been searching for you all day!” Hannah, the little girl, exclaimed as she clung tightly onto me.

  The young man— Ethen— placed his hands on his hips as he came to a halt behind her. He had messy brown hair, and he looked like he was maybe four or five years my senior. He glared down at me for a moment as he spoke in a reprimanding voice. “Eli, how many times have we told you not to wander off on your own?”

  But then he paused as he eyed me up and down. He took a step back in horror.

  “Wait, what happened to your clothes? And your arms—” he started.

  Hannah pulled back from me too when she heard that. She blinked a few times as she took in my state.

  “Eli? What happened?” she asked as she gave me a worried look.

  I didn’t know who these two were. But we were clearly close. So I pretended I knew them.

  “I, uh… fell down some stairs?” I said, scratching the back of my head.

  Hannah tried to work her jaw as she looked at my torn shirt. Ethen raised a disbelieving brow, before opening his mouth.

  And I laughed as I waved a hand off dismissively. “I’m joking, I’m joking. I just got into a little bit of a scuffle. Don’t worry though, I’m fine now.”

  “I can’t believe you,” Ethen said as he shook his head at me. “You better not have been messing with the Blood Swords again— Ms Mary told you to leave them alone!”

  I just responded with a nervous chuckle, before Hannah stepped between Ethen and I.

  “That’s enough, Ethen. Let’s just head back to the orphanage, alright? Eli’s fine, and that’s all that matters.” She took me by the hand as I looked between them.

  “That’s—” Ethen started.

  But I cut him off before he could press the issue. “Yeah, I’m fine, and that’s all that matters. So let’s just get going.”

  I let Hannah take me as she led me down the street. Glancing back, I watched as Ethen shuffled his feet for a moment with a scowl on his face. But then he lowered his head, following slowly behind after us.

  “Ms Mary’s been worried sick,” he harrumphed, before pausing. “And… I was worried too, alright?”

  I see, I thought to myself as I followed the two of them through the streets of Velmond to the orphanage. I just raised a curious brow. So this boy’s name was Eli, and he was an orphan, huh? Interesting.

  For now, I made my decision: I would follow along with them, pretending to be this boy as I tried to learn more about the Blood Swords and their influence here in Velmond. Not only that, I also recalled what Roy had said. That I had been dead for ten years.

  And I wanted to know what had happened during this time. After all, much had to have happened since my passing…

  That was why, for now, I decided to listen, observe, and just ask questions.