2 Unknown Rank
While Hans gazed out of the window, observing as the brown leaves cascaded from the trees, his mind drifted to his class rank.
Even if he wasn't particularly interested in the awakened and the gates, Hans still had some knowledge regarding it.
After all, he hadn't been living under a rock for the past decade, and the circumstances of his family obliged him to do some research.
From what he could recall, the current hierarchy of class ranks were: Common, Rare, and Epic.
Those with a common class were ubiquitous, while the ones who possessed a rare class could be considered exceptional geniuses, numbering only a couple thousand throughout the world, making it really 'RARE'.
And finally, regarding the EPIC class, they were even scarcer, with currently only four epic classes to be known publicly in the whole world, three of which led some of the most influential guilds.
The disparity among the classes was not just about the skills they were granted, rather, it was also about the overwhelming advantage they had in their stats.
With each rise in level of a common class, they would be granted 2 stat points, assigned in correspondence to their role.
For example, a warrior would most likely gain strength, a mage would gain wisdom, an assassin agility, and a tank, endurance.
There were also classes like priests that could grant you exclusive stats like divine power, but those weren't so common.
While a common class would only gain two stat boosts per level, the rare class would gain three, and likewise, the epic would gain four stats.
'Now then,' Hans thought, 'Can an unknown be a grade above the epic? Or is it something completely different?'
Even if his common sense would lead him to the former possibility, he couldn't help shake off this feeling of strangeness.
Why would a class rank even be called UNKNOWN?
And for what reason had his stats failed to increase upon awakening, quite contradictory to the norm where it would have the same effects one would gain after 10 level-ups?
"Haaah," Hans let out a sigh, massaged his temples, and thought, "I guess I'll only know after leveling up."
Disembarking the bus, he approached the city's central library.
Slightly pushing open the light glass door, he entered the building and admired its majestic interior for a while.
The scaffoldings were all made of dark wood and the atmosphere in the building exuded a wintery ambiance.
Located at the center of the room were various desks and benches, made from a lighter-colored wood.
Despite the spacious hall and the number of benches that could fit ten times the current dwellers, there were no more than ten people for the time.
After looking around for the next few minutes, Hans walked around the place and picked up some books from various genres before slowly stacking them on one of the tables which he found empty.
After gathering everything he needed, a dozen columns of books had formed before his seat, prompting curious glances from the readers around.
Remaining nonchalant, Hans started reading the books one by one. The day quickly passed while he seemed to be lost in the books.
After having his lunch right outside the library, Hans once again hurried back inside to continue his reading marathon, reading the books he hadn't finished before.
_____
9:30 PM.
"Sigh", Hans slammed a book shut, making a noise that echoed throughout the empty and dead-silent library.
The sun had already set for more than three hours, and due to the lack of electrical light in the building, Hans was forced to rely on a lamp to illuminate the pages of the books to continue his reading.
Even the guardian of the place, stationed in a corner of the room right beside the entrance, seemed tired and scrolled through his phone.
After placing all the books he had taken in their respective slots, Hans departed unnoticed by the guard while he was occupied with his phone.
As Hans made his way out, a chilly breeze blew around the city, tingling his face and making him rub his hands against the cold.
After waiting at the bus stop, Hans took the last bus and made his way to his neighborhood.
Once home, Hans relaxed his tense muscles influenced by the cold, And after changing, he rested in a chair.
With his right hand holding a fountain pen, and his eyes staring at a lined sheet, Hans struck his pen against the paper a few times, meticulously noting down his progress on the sheet:
{First-day results: Wisdom stat 10 –> 18 Note: Not all the books read will grant extra stat, only things like physics laws and hypotheses.
Books like fantasy stories and such will not provide any increase.}
He then continued to repeat this routine for another few days, writing about his progress every night:
{ Second day results: Wisdom stat 18–> 31 Note: Not all books give the same amount of stat, for example, even if appropriate, books that are too basic in knowledge will not grant anything, but understanding major biological laws and achievements will help to improve the wisdom by more than just a single point.}
{ Day Three: Wisdom stat 31–> 45..}
{…Four: Wisdom stat 45 —> 54…}
{…Wisdom stat 54 –>63…}
{… stat 63 –>71…}
{…71 —> 76…}
{…—>80…}
{…>85…}
{…88…}
Thirteen days had passed, and Hans's wisdom stat had climbed to 96. However, in the last few days, his gains were slowing down as the number of significant books he hadn't read was steadily decreasing.
Right now, he was walking in the nearly deserted pedestrian streets while eagerly anticipating reaching the library and curious to see what might be the impact of reaching a wisdom stat with triple digits.
He wore a black, cozy fur-trimmed coat that felt really warm.
Just as he was relishing this peaceful moment, screams of panic and chaos erupted over the large streets.
People around him started screaming and running away with just Hans standing still on the spot, akin to a salmon resisting the current.
After the people left, two small hooded figures remained behind, reaching barely a meter-thirty (4'2).
Meanwhile, as a lady tripped on her heels while running away, one of the little guys jumped over her and took out a small dagger from the sheath that hung around its waist before stabbing it through the back of the woman's neck.
"Krkekekee!" It then laughed eerily before standing on the already dead woman's body, which was floating in a pool of blood that drenched the clothes of the carcass and stained the concrete beneath it.
It then looked at the woman's hand, more precisely at her ring finger, on which a stone reflected the early morning's light. Mesmerized by the stone, the figure ripped it off the dead's hand and held it on its own while chuckling eerily as before.
Hans, who had seen this from a distance had recognised the assailant.
A green and wrinkled skin, sharp teeth, and eyes full of anger and greed; it was nothing but a goblin.
'Dungeon break!' Hans was alarmed as he saw a monster that should only have existed inside the gates.
Sometimes, when the gates were not cleared in a month, the mana inside the gate could explode, resulting in the monsters coming out by themselves and creating a disaster for the civilians around the gates…
Wasting no time while the goblin was still captivated by the gem in its hands, Hans rushed forward with a troubled expression on his face, even after knowing very well that the woman wasn't his acquaintance.
He simply felt pity for her, for her loved ones, who would be waiting for her, only to find out that she wasn't coming back.
After all, he knew the feeling too well…
Even though it was fascinated by the new treasure in its hands, the goblin still noticed the young man approaching it and put away the jewel before preparing its dagger and assuming a battle stance for a confrontation.
There was nothing to do, goblins weren't as weak as they seemed, their strength and agility were almost twice that of normal humans, and stood at about seven points, not to think about the fact that Hans's opponent was armed.
'HOWEVER!! This time there's no need to think!'
Hans vowed to himself.
Just when he was five meters away from reaching his target, Hans suddenly sped up, nearly tripling his pace as he bolted across the air, before using his weight and momentum to gather all his power in his right fist.
His tightened fist hit the goblin's head, before accompanying it on the ground, which then released a cracking sound as it hit the concrete and formed a puddle of purple blood that flowed out from the side of the goblin's cracked skull.
While Hans was still cleaning his hands of the viscous purple liquid, the window once again appeared in front of his eyes.
[ Killed a Level 5 Goblin! ]
[ +50% Exp gained due to the level difference!]
[ You have leveled up!]
[ You have gained 5 stat points!]
[ Due to the first effect of the skill{Almighty Knowledge} all the points will be attributed to wisdom! ]
[ Due to the second effect of the skill{Almighty Knowledge} every other stat will increase by 1! ]
[ Your wisdom has broken through the 100s threshold]
[ You are now able to form your first circle.]
[ You have awakened a class skill: {Piercing Gaze}]
[ Current Status: ]
[ Name: Hans
Age: 18
Class: Knowledge Seeker (UNKNOWN)
Title: NONE
Lvl: 1
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance:10
Wisdom:101
Class skills:
{ Knowledge Hunger}
{ Almighty Knowledge}
{ Piercing Gaze (NEW!)
Description: You can see that which cannot be seen, and perceive that which cannot be perceived.
Effect 1: If you observe something with this skill, a window will appear describing it, the precision is altered by the level of the skill and subject or object being analyzed.
Effect 2: Increase your "???" Percentage.}
Normal skills: None.]
Stunned for a second, Hans stared at the numerous messages that surged before his eyes.
After taking a moment to absorb the information, a bead of sweat formed on his forehead, while the corner of his lips curved up.
With enthusiasm, he whispered while embracing the power:
"Yeah, this is it!"
"The power of the UNKNOWN!"
