Lucien's eyelids parted, grey irises cutting through the pale morning light.
"Was it a bad dream?"
His voice sounded like iron grinding against stone, harsh yet oddly soothing.
The young lord closed his eyes once more, letting the warmth of the sun grace his skin. It gave him a sense of peace he hadn't felt in a long time.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
"Why does this feel strange to me? Why is my heart calm… yet in turmoil?"
He sat up on his bed, lowering his gaze to a pair of young palms, sleeves woven from the finest silk.
"No."
It was a single word, but it carried the weight of a lifetime of blood, pain, and even love.
He closed his eyes, and the image of a young woman with wavy pink hair surfaced in his mind.
"I'm back. The dead god… he brought me back."
Lucien jumped out of bed and pushed open the window. Below, a garden of daisies danced in the wind. Maids moved briskly through the paths, and knights trained upon the open field. It was a peaceful estate, one befitting the house of a great duke.
"I'm home."
Lucien was still skeptical, but who could blame him after the life he had led?
He shut the windows and rushed to the mirror in his dressing room. He needed to know how old he was now. His hands were too young to belong to a battle-hardened awakened.
But his expression froze the moment he saw his reflection. His once black hair was now grey, almost white and his irises matched.
His body was that of his fourteen-year-old self. Lucien wasn't too bothered by that, but the sudden change in hair and eye color would surely draw attention.
"If only I had awakened when I was fourteen, then I could claim this change came from the transition. It isn't uncommon for features to mutate during awakening."
Lucien paused for a moment.
"But again, I was already awakened when I died… maybe the dead god brought me back with my abilities intact."
He clung to that thought. Stepping back a few paces, he raised his hand toward the mirror.
"Mirror Mirror... turn your face and let me in, Bend and break beneath my call, Split the veil and whisper my name, Let my gaze crawl across the planes, for unseen I shall remain".
Lucien held his posture. Nothing happened. His expression darkened.
"I was an awakened Caster in my previous life. Could it be that I'm now an awakened Warrior? Most of my family awakens to that class… if that's the case, perhaps Father might actually be proud of me for once."
He said the last part with deep scorn.
Grabbing a small dagger, still sheathed he tried bending it with both hands. For a normal human, this would be impossible. But for even a Rank One Warrior, it would be effortless.
Nothing happened.
Lucien sighed.
"Well, it was worth the attempt. Perhaps I became a Spirit Awakened."
That thought didn't last long. Spirit Awakened could sense the spirits of all natural elements, yet the only thing Lucien could sense was a dull ache in his back from sleeping too long.
"How could a god, with all the power in the world, fail to resurrect a man with his awakened status? Then again, they must not have been all-powerful if they're now dead and rotting in a wasteland."
Lucien drew a slow breath to calm his irritation.
"What did that dead wretch even say? Something about a cruel lord… betrayed? No, that must've been the idiot spouting nonsense. But the part about a resurrection system, or was it nirvana…"
He sat cross-legged on the bed, mind still racing.
"It's surprisingly difficult to recall a conversation when there's a hole in your gut and you're choking on your own blood… I've read many books, yet I've never heard of anything like this. A system… that's what the evil god called it."
Lucien wasn't one to complain, but the gap in his memory left a bitter taste. Then, suddenly, inspiration struck.
"That must be it. Perhaps I reawakened after devouring the evil god's heart. That's why I lost my abilities as a Caster. If I'm not a Warrior or a Spirit… what's left?"
He smirked.
"A Priest?"
Lucien's tone dripped with mockery. There was no such thing. Only the three classes granted by the last living gods, Caster, Warrior, and Spirit existed.
He shook his head with a faint grin. "The evil god is just that, I suppose. What am I even to do with some 'Nirvana System'?"
Deciding not to dwell on it, he laid back on his bed, savoring the comfort he'd been long denied. But instinctively, his lips parted.
"If the evil god could bring me back to life, why not himself? After all, he should have the same Nirvana System."
Silence fell on the room once more.
Then a familiar pressure crept into his mind, cold, heavy and intrusive. It felt as though the dead god himself were pressing against his consciousness.
It wasn't painful, but it was far from pleasant.
[Evil God Nirvana System: Adapting to world's energy source…]
[Adapting to human host…]
[Adapting to growth potential…]
[Adapting to required tribulations…]
[Adaptation complete.]
....
[Caster deemed impractical.]
[Warrior deemed barbaric.]
[Spirit deemed pointless.]
Lucien's eyelid twitched. "What do you have against the Spirits?"
[Relegating… creating… Recreating…]
[Awakening: Hidden Class Heretic.]
Lucien didn't jump off the bed, nor did his expression change much, even his heart beat remained the same, in fact, the only thing he felt was annoyance.
After waging wars across the continent, Lucien's outward disposition now remains fixed in a calm almost cold state, most people will find him distant and indifferent.
And even after being resurrected, the most he felt was a desire for revenge, but other than that, he wasn't really that impressed, he's always been a difficult person to please.
"A hidden class?... since the three major classes are granted by the living gods, then it should make sense that a dead god could grant a hidden class to a chosen human".