Jason's Ascension

Jason ran straight back to his apartment at 13 Silvers Street and locked the door. He was going to consume the potion, which would push him straight to System Veteran. He would also receive his long-awaited class.

He shut down the lights in the living room and kitchen, then went straight to his bedroom. After also locking his bedroom, he shut the curtains before sitting on his bed in absolute darkness. He held the potion flask and gulped dryly.

"Cheers..." He took a deep breath, then he exhaled and downed the potion in one go. The liquid went straight to his stomach, which started the transformation.

His bones, cells, muscles, and organs started having a mystifying transformation. His bones grew denser, his muscles stronger, and his cells and organs became more healthy.

The broken ribs started connecting as the very small crack began to heal. Soon, his broken rib had entirely healed, and Jason felt refreshed, as though fresh wind was blowing against his face.

Then he opened his deep blue eyes and saw a light blue holographic screen appear out of nowhere.

[RANK UP!]

***

[Welcome to the Human System!]

[Name: Jason Grandhart]

[Rank: System Veteran]

[Age: 18]

[Level: 5]

[Percentage: 23/100]

[Class: Bending...]

***

"Ah!" He screamed as his eyes suddenly rolled backward. His vision turned entirely black before he saw a light in the distance.

His legs started subconsciously running towards the light as if it were a beacon of salvation.

The light began spreading across the pitch-blackness as if holy power were slowly cleansing the corruption. Soon after, the light had engulfed Jason and wrapped him in its warmth.

Jason kept his eyes closed as he suddenly felt very protected and warm. A memory began flashing across his mind. He remembered his mother's gentle expression, even though he didn't even know how she looked before this day. She had left a few days after his birth.

Her eyes were a beautiful crimson, and she had long, smooth red hair cascading down her back. She sported an eternally black dress, which made her look like a beautiful demoness. However, despite all that, she looked at the baby in her arms with a motherly smile.

"Ha!" Jason gasped for air as the memory fragment suddenly cracked like a glass window. He looked around and noticed that he was still floating in the middle of the light-enveloped area.

At that moment, a black sphere appeared in the middle of the light-covered area. It slowly widened till it looked like another holographic screen. It started slowly pulling Jason closer until he was an arm's length away.

[Hello]

A word appeared on the screen.

Jason frowned and hesitated before saying. "Hello?"

[You are about to receive your class. You can't change your class. You can't get rid of your class. Your class will stay with you till you are dead. That is Rule of the Universe]

'Third Rule of the Universe?' Jason gulped before nodding at the holographic screen.

[Are you ready to receive your class?]

"Uh... yes, I am." Jason clenched his fists as he straightened his back. He was ready to see his class, which would decide how his life would move from this day onward.

[Alright. Let's see. This will take a moment. I still have to decide your class based on your attributes and mortality]

'Attributes? Maybe something has to do with the potions I took, but what does my mortality have to do with anything?' Jason didn't ask questions but instead waited.

[Strange... how strange. I can't feel your presence. This is the first time I see someone who can stay hidden from God's omnipotent eye. You have some opposite traits from the Gods as if you were born to oppose them. I see; you are the Great Anomaly. Fascinating. Are Gods and Goddesses aware? No, they aren't]

Jason was confused as rows after rows of words appeared on the screen. He wondered what the Great Anomaly meant and why he was born to oppose the Gods.

'No one can oppose the Gods. That's why their name is God.' Jason frowned.

[I have decided your class. I will be very interested to see what happens to you. The Great Anomaly is, after all, not bound by any destiny. Anything can happen. Anything]

Jason closed his eyes in a hurry as blinding light attacked his eyes. When he noticed that the darkness had returned, he opened his eyes and saw his dark room. He had left that strange mental place.

At that moment, he also saw the beautiful white stairs going towards the heavens. His figure was eagerly moving forward, and several shadowy figures that were standing in his way stepped aside while they bowed their heads.

The stairs disappeared, and he saw a holographic screen appear out of nowhere. It showed his class' name and the first skill he received.

[Class: Anti-God]

[First Skill: All Fire]

Jason felt his head throbbing as floods of new memories entered his brain. His class' and first skill's descriptions appeared in his mind. It was a strange feeling to receive new memories since it felt like he knew them beforehand but also that they were unfamiliar.

The strange talking voice and all mentions of the so-called Great Anomaly turned hazy inside his mind. It was as if those thoughts were obscured by some strange power, not wanting Jason to remember them as he was still too young and weak to need those memories.

He then concentrated on his class' description.

His class was Anti-God. The class was entirely all-rounder. It didn't focus on one aspect. The class could give him either physical, magical, spiritual, or divine skills. The first skill, All Fire, was magical.

All Fire contained all the fire powers in existence, but it was severely limited by Jason and his imagination. However, since Jason was only a System Veteran, there were limits to what he could do. But his first skill already made him stronger than any System Veteran. It was also a mystery how far his strength currently reached.

He then remembered the Vampirification Potion and concentrated his attention on the digestion method. Soon, Jason grimaced and started massaging his temples. The digestion method had its own dangers. He would have to go to Vampire Realm, be there until the potion had digested.

The Vampire Realm had its own blood moon that gave vampires most of their power. Jason thought he would have to go there because of that blood moon.

'That will be dangerous. Some vampires really like human blood, but there are also those who detest it.' Jason sighed as he knew that it wouldn't be easy. However, his new-found power made him more confident. It was confidence he hadn't felt before.

Jason switched the lightswitch on and unlocked the door before going to the bathroom to wash his face. However, when he saw his reflection in the sink mirror, he was taken aback. His skin looked smoother and more unblemished than before.

Not long ago, he still had a very small portion of facial hair below his chin, but not anymore. All signs of a beard had disappeared. His face had become more handsome after acquiring the new skin. Jason looked at the rest of his body, but there were still some scars and injuries. Most of the beautifying effect occurred on his face.

Jason then washed his face before wiping it with a towel. He then went to the living room to test his abilities. He only knew that he had all the fire powers in existence, but it was up to him to learn how to use them.

First, he started with something basic. Jason reached his hand forward, palm open. Then he imagined a small flame appearing on it. He closed his eyes until he heard crackling sounds. After opening his eyes, he saw a very small flame flickering on his palm. It didn't hurt his flesh, as it felt like it didn't emit any heat.

However, he knew that the flame wasn't cold by any means. An ordinary person would already be sweating. This was the power of the fire!

"All Fire..." Jason closed his fist, and when he opened it again, the flame had disappeared. He then realized that he couldn't test anything else in his apartment. There was danger of burning his house and every house in the neighborhood. Thus, he decided to visit an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Romance City tomorrow.

He wouldn't go directly to Vampire Realm since he needed ways to protect himself if he got exposed there. He mostly planned to hide until the potion digested, but there was a chance that he would get exposed. Especially since vampires have a crazy good sense of smell.

Jason plopped down on the couch with a refreshed look. It was a rather long day, and he didn't feel like walking back to his room. Thus, he fell asleep on the couch.

...

A ray of sunlight seeped through the closed curtains as the darkness was slowly diminishing.

Jason groaned as he groggily opened his eyes. He looked around and sat up on the couch. After a few yawns, he went to brew coffee before leaving the house to pick up a newspaper. After returning to the apartment, he drank his coffee, finished reading the newspaper, and did other morning activities.

After finishing all his business in his apartment, he picked up his backpack and left Silvers Streets with a carriage. The driver took him directly to Heart Street, which was on the outskirts of Romance City. He paid for the carriage and found the abandoned warehouse.

There, he tested several magical fire spells. He threw fireballs with a clumsy aim, but it still showed the spell's destructive potential. One fireball might not help him kill a person, but it would cause a severe burn wound. Then he tested creating different kinds of weapons with All Fire.

He tried flaming chains and succeeded, but he severely lacked control. He almost hit his legs with them several times. Even though the flames couldn't hurt him, the chains definitely could.

Lastly, he tried fire bullets with his fingers, and he was honestly ashamed of his terrible aim. It was harder than with the revolver, which he had grown used to. Then he thought about using the fire bullets with the revolver.

He emptied the cylinder wheel from bullets and created his own fire bullets. It needed delicate control, which he still lacked quite a bit of. However, he could create one fire bullet that didn't dissolve.

Then he aimed and pulled the trigger. The fire bullet explosively flew out of the barrel and shot through a wall, leaving a burning hole behind. It was a terrifyingly successful experiment. The single fire bullet was much stronger than any other bullet.

Also, they were free. He only needed to learn the controls and how to create them while in the middle of battle. Perhaps he didn't have to buy bullets any more.

Jason slipped the revolver back into his holster and left the abandoned warehouse. The day was still young, and there was still some time left to plan his departure to the Vampire Realm. He wanted to have something that would cover his scent so that the vampires wouldn't lock onto him so easily.

Especially since stronger vampires could smell his scent from kilometers away!