The silence that follows a moment of horror is always a strange catharsis. There’s nothing that can be done, because we would speak if we had a solution, so there is quiet. I heard a scratching sound. My dad’s hands moved rhythmically over a piece of paper, a blur in my eyes.

Sheet after sheet was dealt with delicately and placed to the side. I couldn’t reach them, but I could see the symbols on the surface. Layers of complicated lines intersected and crossed each other in random patterns, dozens of different combinations placed aside without a second thought.

It was like watching a machine. His hands didn’t stop for breaks, and his eyes didn’t blink. He stared down at the papers with such fierce concentration that I was worried they’d burst into flames.

I couldn’t hold back my concern. “Dad, what are you doing? Are you okay?”

His hands stopped, and his head perked up. His eyes were clear, and he gave me a soft smile.

“I think we can overcome this problem.” My dad held up his latest drawing to the light. “Tell me, son, is there an issue here that needs to be solved immediately?”

I'm going to die at twenty-five. I frowned. That wasn’t an immediate issue.

“No, but the longer I go without dealing with this, the more worried I’ll get.” I spoke.

“That’s okay, I didn’t mean to suggest we’d be leaving this issue alone. It’s the opposite. I have an idea, but it will take time.”

I took another look at the symbols. I couldn’t recognise any of them. “You’re going to make a regent?”

I didn’t know what was needed to make a regent, but complicated symbol combinations felt like a safe bet.

“I am.” My dad smiled. “It’s what I excel at and think I can make something to help you.”

My father had been scared only moments before and now he was calm and thinking of counter attacks. My heartbeat quickened, and I felt my adrenaline surging. An emotion nestled in my heart, serenading me with gentle waves of strength.

“You know how to beat that thing?” My courage thrived in his confidence.

My dad’s pen froze mid-movement. “Why do you have to confront them?”

The drawings of the eyes itched at the side of my vision. They laughed at me and taunted me. Something had entered my mind and changed my body.

“I want to feel safe. Something is watching me. Isn’t the only way to stop it… to beat it?”

The thoughts drummed in my mind. I was being watched. I couldn’t see the watcher. I wasn’t safe. My thoughts raced, spiralling down my mind and digging up dark emotions that bubbled upwards into my heart.

My dad placed his pen down and slid the half-finished symbol to the side. His eyes lowered to meet mine, and he shook his head.

“I think I may have given you the wrong impression, champ. A bloodline is a gift, but that does not mean that the gifter is benevolent.” He gestured at the stack of papers in front of me.

The drawings of an eye that I don’t remember creating.

“I don’t know what gave you your bloodline, but I do know that we cannot fight it. Certainly not after a year’s preparation, and possibly not ever.”

My dad didn’t know about the twenty-five-year countdown…

And did it matter if he did?

“You said it’s watching you.” My dad’s voice calmed me. “That means any plans you make against it are doomed to fail.”

My chest tightened. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

“If I can’t fight it then what can I do? I’m learning about the system. I’m willing to learn. Help me see what I’m missing, dad. What can I do if I can’t fight this thing? What’s your solution?” I begged him.

“It will see any plans you make because it is watching you.” My dad looked up at the ceiling, a flicker of worry passing over his eyes. My dad’s smile tightened. “We can’t fight. Not in a year. But we can hide you.”

Hide me?

That… didn’t sound like a bad idea.

The idea of something watching was unnerving. No matter how I approached the situation of my death clock, I would get nowhere if this creature could see me whenever it wanted to, wherever I was.

How do you plan to defeat something that can see you at any moment?

You don’t.

My fingers slid over the table as I thought over my dad’s words, and they trembled as they touched the drawings I’d done. I pushed them aside, out of sight.

“Alright. What do we need?”

“Classes, regents, and time.” He spoke.

“We focus on the things we can change.” My dad focused on the papers around him. “First, a regent to hide you. What I will need to do is take a few readings of you, and occasionally take some blood. Is that okay?”

The sound of his voice was broken by the odd scratch of pen against paper. Each symbol combination was growing more complex, several papers linking together now.

He was thinking of any way he could to save me.

I nodded. “I’ll give you anything you need. How long will it take?”

“I need tools, and time for calculations. Then I need to order the proper materials and make the regent itself. If we account for failures… the time frame is twelve months. Minimum.”

That was a long time to a baby that had only been alive for five months. To an adult it was manageable.

“Okay.” I smiled. “That’s your job. What do you want me to do?”

I trusted my dad, but I wouldn’t waste my time. The idea that I could only wait and see didn’t sit well with me. I wanted to be in control of my own destiny.

“You need to work towards your class. And polish your skills.”

My class. I’d been hoping to take this slow, but maybe it was time to speed things up…

“Rushing is the companion of mistakes, and the enemy of progress.” My dad’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

Had I said that out loud.

No. My dad just knew me that well.

“I don’t know how horrifying it must be to go through this son. But tell me, are you rushing because you have no time, or because you only feel that you have no time?” My dad leaned forward and put his pen down. “I will teach you about classes, but you need to put everything into perspective. We are dealing with an unknown here. It has not harmed you yet, and we don’t know if it ever will. That unknown is terrifying, and I don’t want you to go through it alone. Rushing will only get you hurt, and today I’ve seen you hurting too much to carry any more pain.”

“You won’t be able to solve every problem today.” He sighed. “But we can solve it with time. Time will clear our mind and give us perspective. I will do my readings and gather materials. I will teach you everything you need to know. We will get through this.”

He reached out and grabbed my hand in his. “I just need you to tell me you’re okay with that.”

I leant back. I was not okay with that.

“Inaction won’t bring me anything.” I shook my head. “Can… we at least learn about classes?”

My dad brought out a piece of paper. He wasn’t happy with my decision, but he would respect it. I shut out his disapproval. My mind burned with the need to act, to grab back some of the control that had been taken from me. My thoughts raced, and my heart pounded.

“All the information I give you today will help you. Don’t be afraid to learn it piece by piece.”

He slid the paper towards me.

Pillars = classes.

Five pillars = ‘common’ classes.

Sixth pillar - tenth pillar = ‘rare’ classes.

Eleventh pillar = always a ‘legendary’ class.

Twelve - fifteen = ‘rare’ classes.

Sixteenth pillar = always a ‘legendary’ class.

“When selecting classes, you are offered choices.” My father tapped the paper. “These choices take different forms, and we call them pillars. Each pillar has a trial, and the trial is harder for the rarer classes.”

I stared at the paper. Common, rare, and legendary. These were the ranking systems of this world. I looked up at my dad, a smile on my face.

“Is it easy to get a rare or legendary class?”

He shook his head.

“Most schools only teach up to the eleventh pillar because it’s used as an example of what you won’t get.” He pulled the paper back to himself. “People will always want the rarest classes. I’m not saying you cannot get them, but they may not be the best for your situation.”

“Each class… is determined by four factors.” My dad rubbed his hands against his forehead as he frowned. “This is the tough part. Your achievements, your actions, your abilities, and your skills. Each of these determine what options will be presented to you.”

“Presented to me? How do I access these pillars?” I interjected.

“See, champ, this is why we invented high school.” My dad chuckled. “If you fulfill the condition to unlock classes then you will be presented with a trial. Pass that trial and you will be given access to the pillars.”

There was a lot to take in here. Now I know why my dad didn’t want me to talk about classes right now. Alongside the other things I learnt today, it was a bit much.

For the sake of my future, I needed to power on.

“What’s the condition?” I asked.

This would be the first thing I aimed for.

“Existing.” My dad’s words took the wind out of my sail. “As you grow your body will acclimate- I mean, it will get used to the mana it contains. That takes time. Years. As you are now, you have a mana pool, but it is not truly part of you yet. All people with mana have to fulfill this condition before they can obtain a class.”

I felt something against my spine, and I realised I had dropped back into my seat. My shoulders hunched, and a wave of tiredness came over me. My body had given up when I heard my dad’s words.

I didn’t want to hear that obtaining a class would take a long time. It pained me to know that there was nothing I could do right now. I had felt something far greater than me, and it had scared me. I wasn’t alone. While it existed, I would never be alone.

I was trapped in a show without a choice, watched at every moment by a being beyond my comprehension.

“The least I can do is my best.” I spoke. “If this is going to take time, then I can accept that.”

A small smile broke out on my dad’s lips.

“Then I will tell you what you need to do, because it’s not going to be easy.” My dad pointed at the regent. “At minimum this will be a year of work. But it will likely be more. And your class will come with time. Until that time can you focus solely on leveling your skills?”

I thought over it.

No rushing, no panicking. Only waiting, and training.

I had nothing to do. Nothing I could do, except seclude myself and focus on increasing my skills levels, and mana increases. The Mark was changing my body, but I could use that. I would try more things and gain more mana.

It didn’t matter how much it hurt.

“Of course, I can, dad.”

There was only one other thing to do before I isolated myself from the world.

“Baby.”

“Indra.”

My magic teacher and I were sitting on the cultivation room’s stones. Breathing in and out as we meditated and cleared our minds

“Are you sure you wish to do this? There’s a saying. Rushing is the companion of mistakes, and the enemy of progress.”

My stance didn’t falter. “I’m certain.”

I leaned forward and looked at him in the eyes.

“Today I want you to teach me everything you know about the basics of magic.”