Oliver got up from his seat as soon as his name was sounded.
He was confident, and that was understandable.
To everyone, he was the scholar, the incredible student about to make his way up to the Awakening Dais to unlock some sort of high-grade Talent.
But to Oliver, he knew all the outcomes already. And he was not, by a single inch, fazed by his impending failure.
"Go do your best out there," Trisha encouraged with the fuzziest smile she could muster.
Oliver did not give her expression any recognition. He simply started to make his way toward the Dais, ignoring the many eyes that chose to stare at him.
'I can still remember this moment passing by… it seems like such a long time ago, when I awakened as a failure,' Oliver thought, tightening his jaw slightly.
He had awakened in the first timeline with an S-Rank skill. Yes.
But unfortunately, his talent had been Endless Regeneration.
What was the use of someone who could endlessly regenerate? He could still feel pain, and unlike a healer he could not share his regenerative capabilities with anyone else.
After his awakening, Trisha had broken up with him. Soon after, he had lost everything.
'It literally took the me of the first timeline three years to recover… and two more to finally find a way to use the Talent to become one of humanity's best Talent Awakeners.'
Oliver was certain this time would be different.
He wouldn't waste time.
And he would surely level faster this time.
Oliver finally reached the Awakening Dais, his eyes scanning the wide stone platform for a moment before he stepped onto it.
It wasn't a very large platform. With only two steps from Oliver, he was already standing at its center.
While he stood there, the Dais slowly began to glow around him.
Ancient carvings etched into the stone began to shine faintly, thin veins of light travelling through the symbols like flowing mana awakening from a long sleep.
Within Oliver's mind, something else occurred.
In his mind, his consciousness was now floating within an endless expanse of white.
It was normal for people to enter an astral plane during Awakening.
Yet this one felt different to Oliver.
"It's brighter than I remember…" he muttered softly, scanning the endless white horizon.
DZZZZZZ!
[System rebooting]
[...]
[Welcome back Oliver Mori]
[Status: Regressed]
[All stats have been lost]
[All skills have been lost]
[All buffs have been lost]
[Talent has been lost]
Obviously he would lose everything from regressing back in time.
Still, it was a bit painful to be starting from square one again.
Oliver sighed quietly as new notifications popped before his eyes.
[Awakening...]
[Failed]
[Reawakening]
[You have been blessed by the Scale of Judgement. User Talent choices have all been upgraded]
Oliver's face grew pale at this—first in shock, and then slowly morphing into excitement.
'The Scale of Judgement Relic… it actually followed me through my regression!' Oliver exclaimed within himself.
'This is the relic that made the difference for me during the last three years of my first life. The relic that tips the scales of reality into my own favour.'
It was also the very reason for Oliver's regression.
Still, despite being an extremely rare relic, it was almost impossible to operate or control.
Typically, it only worked when it wanted to.
[Talent Choices]
[Class: Endless Regeneration]
[Rank: SS Rank]
[Talent Type: Special]
[Class: Summoner]
[Rank: SSS Rank]
[Talent Type: Hidden]
Oliver stayed silent as he scanned through the two choices right before him.
The first Talent was his original class; Endless Regeneration.
Picking it would be the safe choice, especially now that it had been upgraded to an SS Rank skill.
He had the experience. He knew the pain. He knew the burden that came with the skill.
With his current knowledge and techniques, it definitely would not take him more than one year before he began making a real difference.
Though Oliver's mind slowly drifted to the other option.
The one the Scale of Judgement had added to give him a choice.
"I have never seen an SSS Rank summoner before… but since it's a hidden class, shouldn't it be something extraordinary?" Oliver whispered to himself.
Still, with his experience dealing with summoners, it was a useless talent—wasted potential, no matter the rank.
Summoners could only summon one creature.
And they were literally defenceless without their summons.
If the summon was killed, even an S-Rank summoner would have to await a cooldown time of at least three seconds.
"Which is more than enough time to kill a summoner," Oliver quoted from experience.
So the Summoner Class should have been a clear no for Oliver.
Still… he could not help but entertain his curiosity.
Oliver slowly rubbed his chin, the small strands of beard hair there acting as a strange comfort as he pondered his current situation.
'The Scale brought me back… a second chance. No… a better chance.'
'Doesn't that make it worth the risk of taking a new Class?'
It sounded right—to take up the class given to him by the relic that had saved his life.
Nonetheless, accepting this choice would be the same as starting from a completely new slate.
It could slow him down in his ascension.
Or perhaps…
Accelerate him even faster than his original class ever could.
It was a big risk.
Maybe even too big.
Especially for a second chance at life.
A chance for revenge.
And power he could not afford to lose.
It took him a while before he finally made his decision.
Back in the real world, the light from the Dais slowly began to fade away, and Oliver's rank started to take form above him.
Oliver carefully studied the faces in the crowd.
The expressions, whether heavy or light, expected or unexpected.
Every reaction that appeared as his rank was revealed.
In his first life, he had wished so badly to return to this moment.
To see if he could somehow change things.
To see if he could somehow choose a different class.
But standing here now…
All he wanted was to carve the image of their doubtful and terrified stares deep into his mind.
Painting them as the faces of people he would one day prove wrong.
The headmaster sighed painfully, shaking his head in disappointment.
"How unexpected," he whispered to himself with a blunt tone at Oliver.
A statement everyone heard without fail.
But Oliver remained completely unconcerned.
Then the headmaster grunted, clearing his throat before speaking loudly to the hall.
"[Name: Oliver Mori]
[Rank: SSS Rank]
[Class: Summoner]"
The hall exploded.