Classless Ascension

A man sat cross-legged on the stage as he listened to the teachings.

Normally anyone would have laughed at such a fool. Learn a skill? He'd be better climbing a Tower to be awarded some! But none here would ever dare to underestimate the founder.

They simply followed the lesson along with Josh, summons flooding the stage and flying around him as he tried to get a feel for it.

"Sir, do you sense this? This is the magical "wavelength" that I use to summon. But for you it won't be the same one. You have to find one that fits you…."

"I see…"

Summoning was akin to manually changing the radio channel until something finally reacted…if there were infinite possibilities and only one active station!

It was definitely a waste of time! — or so most people would have agreed.

"Get a feel for it, get a feel for it." He kept repeating as she kept summoning while chugging mana potions.

Right, since when were mana potions a thing? Josh disregarded the thought as he indulged himself in the world of jellyfishes, the entire stage area glowing from their presence.

Orc King, orc king, orc king…

He focused all his mana, trying to get the feeling right. He simply had to— suddenly, he threw up a mouthful of blood, his idol teaching panicking.

"Y-you, what are you trying to summon?!"

"Orc king…"

* Gasp! * Many couldn't help but breathe a cold breath in.

Was he suicidal?! Trying to invoke a sentient humanoid as his first summon?! This was the equivalent of running a marathon before learning how to crawl.

"Are you crazy!! Start with something smaller and less specific! Only afterward can you try something so difficult!" She berated him.

"Alright, I understand." Josh nodded solemnly. He couldn't afford to screw up; his friend was stuck somewhere in the Tower.

Thus he got back to work, seemingly meditating….if meditating involved throwing blood every other second from overwork.

"Medic, we need a medic here!" The poor teacher screamed.

She wanted nothing more than to order him to take a break, but every time he'd give her a look that meant "don't you dare," his regeneration taking care of his injuries.

But there was still one guy that objected, one that just happened to be a visitor in the front row.

"Stop, just stop! I'm a doctor, and you're about to kill yourself! Your mana will be all messed up, and you'll implode!" He cried out, frightened.

What?! Was it that bad?! All could sense the genuine concern in the doctor's voice, with a few actually recognizing it.

"Ah! He's doctor Beauregard! He's one of the good ones. Sir, you should definitely listen to him and—"

"I'm fine…." Josh simply shrugged as he waved the man away, but as he saw his students worry, he sighed before gesturing for the man to come on the stage.

It only took a few seconds for the doctor to do a quick check-up, only for his mouth to hang open in shock. "H-how?! You're not just controlling the mana, but you're transforming it?!"

He couldn't believe what he had sensed. This was the difference between someone that had been given mana by the Tower and one that had figured out how to use it by himself, the control.

Others in his position would have long died, but he was able to recover instead. Thus he kept training, painting the stage crimson under the crowd's baffled eyes.

"As expected of the founder…." They kept repeating to themselves, trying to deal with the unbelievable scene before them.

But Josh didn't care about their gazes…

What kind of summon would work well with him? It had to be something from his past. After all, part of him still lived in those days, the nostalgia part of his being.

Would it be the dog the little one had always wanted?

Perhaps the moonlight frog he had caught with her on one of their first dates?

No, that wasn't it either. It had to be something else, something he had a deeper attachment to, something else…but what?!

He dove into his memories, a peaceful smile adorning his face, his eyes turning cloudy as he lost sight of the real world.

.

.

.

A cloudy sky, the rough grass tickling his back, the cold wind caressing his cheeks…the weather was trash! And yet it was a beautiful memory, a sunny one even.

"Josh, Josh, look at them fly!" The little one excitingly hollered from the side. She was pointing toward the ducks.

He lazily opened his eyes, resting them on the gorgeous face before him. With his head resting on her lap, he had a perfect view. That smile of hers especially, it was warm enough to thaw the antarctic.

"Look, look! They're so cool and majestic!" The little one reiterated.

He slowly moved his eyes away, gazing at the majestic creatures…the ducks. Yep, simple ducks that one could find in any park.

Their family was definitely the only one that would come for a picnic on a day with heavy downpour to be expected. Oh, and maybe some thunder too at this rate.

But, he had promised the little one they'd see ducks, and ducks she would see.

"Majestic? Isn't that reserved for eagles?" He chuckled.

"Humph— Nope! I prefer ducks by far!"

Josh knew an entire country that would disagree with that statement. "Oh, why is that so?"

"Eagles are cool, but everyone knows they're cool. Ducks are the best because they don't look that awesome, but they really are…just like you!!"

"How am I a duck?!"

"Sigh, I hope for you she doesn't mean the ugly duckling." A crystalline chuckle came from above him.

"Ugly?! If you don't want him, I'll take him! Josh's the best! No, ducks can fly, float, and swim. There's nothing they can't do…just like him!" She explained with confidence.

"Right…." That was a compliment, right?

"Pfft— I guess you're right, little sister. A duck, eh? He does kind of look like one when he's wet."

"Wet? Just you wait. We'll see who ends up wet later!" Josh playfully protested.

"I'm sure we will, won't we."

A mighty quack interrupted the two's shameless flirt. The little one had somehow managed to grab a duck and was carrying it akin to a tiny kitten.

"Look, look! So fluffy!" She happily brought her captive along, releasing it on the table cloth they had laid on the ground.

It was yellow, surprisingly friendly-looking, and was already gobbling down a few vegetables, the little one encouraging it. "You were so hungry, weren't you!"

A duck… wouldn't that be great for… Josh's head suddenly ached.

As he remembered that this was only a memory, the entire world transformed. The dark clouds turned pitch black as they growled and shook.

A second later, it began raining, the little one and the duck happily playing together in the rain…

— Drip! Drop! Drip! Drop! —

But there was something wrong. The rain was warm…and smelled of iron. Blood, warm blood, so much blood everywhere! It drenched everything, sticking to their bodies.

Under the rain, the duck happily quacked as it drank the red liquid, even bathing in it. Then it shook its body gleefully, sending blood droplets everywhere.

By now, its appearance had changed. Its beak adorned sharp shark-like teeth while its eyes glowed a bloody neon red….yet it was still a duck.

Yes, this was a dream…

They were dead, weren't they….

This was his curse for living in the past…

"Sorry about that." He gave a sorrowful sight.

He felt her hand caress his wet hair, then his face, as she moved closer to kiss him. She had the bloody appearance from back then, an unrecognizable corpse.

He closed his eyes, enjoying the kiss anyway, hearing her whisper in his ear.

"No need to apologize, just keep living. Still, I wonder…." She had long stopped breathing, and yet she somehow finished her sentence. "Will you destroy the world this time…"

What was she even talking about? Either way, he didn't care. So what if the world disappeared? He enjoyed the last few seconds of a peaceful dream with his loved ones.

Back in the real world, an earth-shattering phenomenon was in progress. An unbelievable quantity of mana gathered toward Josh at a rate that shouldn't have been possible.

Many meteorological satellites were relentlessly sounding alarms. They had all detected a typhoon! But when the scientists looked at the data, they almost had a heart attack.

This was mana. All of it was mana, not wind!

"God, please help us. The world is ending."

"Quick, send a message to the area affected! Evacuate…D-23?!! Didn't their founder just come back?! What the hell is this about?!"

As for those who could see it first-hand, they weren't sure what they were looking at either. There was something crazy happening, yet Josh didn't seem to be doing it consciously.

"Oh god! T-this is a summoning, isn't it?! He's finally succeeded?!" All the signs pointed to summoning, but wasn't this way too over the top?!

The mana kept gathering, so bright that it turned the entirety of D-23 into a light show, rotating faster and faster toward Josh as if he were a black hole.

Then the mana finally condensed into one spot in front of him. That's when a shape began forming, the spectators holding their breaths.

Whatever would appear here would make history…and possibly break the universe at this rate! It sounded exaggerated, but some were worried about their world's fate!

With one poof, the mighty creature was born.

In front of a shellshocked audience appeared….a duck?!

The duck turned toward the traumatized Climbers, giving them a silly look as it addressed them. "Quack!"…That was it?!

They were so full of questions that their entire being could as well have been a question mark. But they were suddenly awakened from their stupor by a mighty shout.

"Get that duck!"

Along with the shout appeared plenty of strange creatures….wait, mutants?! Gene Corps was attacking at the worst possible timing!

"Protect the founder!"