It has been 2 weeks since Lukas left with Tasha to join the military academy. The registration process was smooth. He was given a card with his details on it. Since he had no last name the name Lukas was the only thing printed on the card. His age was set to 10. After all the necessary procedures Tasha left him; she had her own business to attend to.

Lukas was sitting on a chair in a classroom. There was a male teacher in front of him. There were also four children around the same age as him in the classroom. He was being taught how to read and write. The teacher was easygoing; he cracked jokes here and there to make the kids less tense.

 They had to be literates before they joined the main academy. All students in the academy had to be literate. Lukas paid serious attention to what was being taught. It was absolutely necessary for him to be literate. Information about this world was in the library, and he couldn't learn about them if he couldn't read; so he made literacy a priority.

***

It has been 6 months since Lukas started attending classes. It only took 3 months for him to be a basic literate, surpassing his peers by leaps and bounds. He had created a schedule for himself. After being taught something he made sure to practice it in his dormitory over and over again. He needed a solid foundation and he had to create one for himself. The things he had learned were negligible compared to what he needed to learn. He was no longer as clueless as he was 7 months ago. He had learned basic things about this world.

For one there was magic. And mana was the base of all things. Mana was needed to cast the most basic of magic. Not everyone was able to feel, grasp and use mana. Those that were able to use mana were the cream of the crop of this world.

The world was very vast and those who could mana were only a minority. Mana separated the ordinary from the outstanding. He also learned that at the age of 14 most children would be taken to the awakening center. There they will be tested to see if they could use mana or not.

There were also ranks among the mana users. People could climb the ranks and become a God.

Yes, a God.

Once a person awakened the road to ascension begins. They would embark on a challenging journey to become a God.

They were also different types of users among the awakened. An example of such was the healer class. They were highly respected because of their ability to heal the gravest of wounds, chronic illnesses and perfectly join separated limbs. It was a healer that was responsible for healing Lukas during the incident at the forest. They were needed in almost all walks of life in this world.

Other classes were the Berserkers, Knights, Archers, Lancers, Swordsmen and Mages. They were also hidden classes apart from the major classes but as their name suggested, they were hidden. Not much information was known about them, but they were just as powerful as the major classes.

Another thing he noted was the currency. In this world, gold, silver and coppers were the standard currency with gold being the highest. Each gold was equivalent to 100 silvers, while each silver was equivalent to 100 coppers.

That wasn't the only thing peculiar about this world. Despite the fact that this world was very developed they still employed the ruling system of Empires and Kingdoms.

Lukas was currently living in the Aegis Empire founded by a Berseker God. It was a fairly powerful empire but not the strongest. There were five empires that were absurdly powerful that no one questioned their authority. Any enemies of the empires were instantly snuffed out. Their tyranny had been going on for years now that they were dubbed the five great empires.

There were also monsters in this world. Each of the monsters had their own ranking just like the awakened. There were the servant class monster, they were at the bottom of the hierarchy among monsters, but it took a party of novice awakened to take care of 1 servant monster.

Above the servant class monsters were the warrior class monsters. An example of the warrior class monster was the four eyed wolf Lukas encountered in the forest. They were fairly strong and it would take a group of experienced awakened to take them down.

Above the warrior class monster was the colonel class monsters. They were referred to as minor bosses in the wild. They were usually accompanied by a group of warrior and servant class monsters. If left unchecked and entered a town they could massacre every human in the town before aid arrives. Even 2 or 3 groups of experienced awakened might not be enough to take care of such monsters.

Above the colonel class monster was the hazard class monsters. They were devilishly strong and could massacre a whole city by itself. They were periodly hunted down by strong groups of awakened as the slaughter they could cause were undoubtedly tragic.

Above the hazard class monsters were the calamity class monsters. Only extremely powerful awakened could take care of such monsters because as their name suggests, they were the embodiment of calamities. They had enough strength to topple a kingdom. They were several cases of which calamity class monsters erased a kingdom from existence.

Above the calamity class monsters were the disaster ranked monsters. A disaster rank monster could topple several kingdoms by themselves. They were extremely powerful and only armies of powerful awakened could combat them.

Above the disaster ranked monsters were the catastrophe ranked monsters. A catastrophe ranked monster could destroy a whole empire by itself. There had been several cases where weaker empires or newly formed empires had been extinguished by a catastrophe ranked monster before they could make a foothold for themselves. Only demi-gods, awakened half step into becoming a God could combat a catastrophe ranked monster. Even at that, they were still heavy casualties when combating one.

Above the catastrophe ranked monsters were the apocalypse class monsters. They were at the apex of the monster hierarchy. A single apocalypse class monster was enough to permanently erase several empires. That wasn't the only reason why they were greatly feared; as they had the ability to kill Gods. Even a God wasn't safe when combating an apocalypse class monster. When an apocalypse class monster appeared, only utter destruction are left in their wake.

Lukas frowned as he recalled the monster rankings. Just a single servant class monster was enough to kill him. He didn't like that feeling of being helpless. If Leonard and his group weren't on a quest he could have lost his life.

Lukas looked at the calendar hung on the wall of his dorm room. There was still 2 years and 5 months before he could take the test to see if he could become an awakened.

Strength. He needed strength. Lukas lay back on his bed and closed his eyes. He silently made a vow to become an awakened. He would not let himself feel helpless again. In this unfamiliar world, the only thing he could trust was himself. Lukas drifted to sleep amidst his turbulent thoughts.