"Yuna, how old are you?"
"Eight."
"When's your birthday?"
"November 1st."
The very first day of the month.
There was a rumor that children born on the first day of the Moonstar's descent often possessed a faint trace of something special. It was only a legend, but because of it, the number of children born on the 1st of the month tended to be slightly higher than on other days.
This was actually Rei's first time speaking with someone his own age.
After all, simply changing classes required at least sixteen years of age.
Rei rarely shared any common ground with non–class changers. As for playing with actual children—aside from finding them naïve, he felt nothing else.
His psychological age was already twenty-eight.
How could he possibly get along with kids?
But the girl in front of him was different…
"Were you born in the White Tower?"
"Mm."
By now the two of them had already reached the third floor.
The White Tower truly lived up to its name. The architecture was dominated by pure white tones, though streaks of blue and the shadows of light created subtle accents.
The palette formed a balance between white and soft grayscale, layered with an elegant aesthetic.
Occasional streams of deep azure flowed through the design, adding a unique artistic charm.
After all, this was the Tower of Scholarship—refined aesthetics were only natural.
"Over there—that's the Precognizer Project," Yuna said, pointing toward a section in the distance.
"Why did you bring me here?"
Yuna turned her head and met Rei's eyes.
"Didn't you want to learn about the Precognizers?"
That was true.
Smart kid.
Still, refusing to say even a single unnecessary word—wasn't that a little too mature?
Even Rei, a reincarnator, tried his best to act like a normal child, making use of the advantages that identity provided.
"What about you?" Rei asked.
Yuna tilted her head.
"Me?"
"Is there anything you want to do?"
"No. If you don't have any more questions, I'm going back to read."
That was truly the demeanor of a scholar.
"No, I still have questions."
Rei shamelessly grabbed her sleeve and pulled her down to sit beside him.
"When did you start studying?"
"Can you remember every book you read?"
"Have you already awakened your spiritual power?"
"Have you ever been outside?"
…
Rei asked everything he wanted to know.
And surprisingly—
Yuna answered every question.
Listening to her responses, nothing seemed unusual.
From a very young age, she had loved learning all kinds of new and fascinating things.
When other children were still crawling around chasing toys—
She had already begun reading literacy books.
At two years and one month old, she had already learned all the characters.
From that point onward, she began studying various fields of knowledge.
Her parents seemed to be high-ranking scholars of the White Tower, so their academic knowledge was also vast. Whenever Yuna didn't understand something, she would ask them.
As for the Precognizer Project, both she and her parents had voluntarily agreed to participate.
There were no signs of coercion whatsoever.
"Where can I find you?" Rei asked.
"Find me?"
"Yeah. I'm really interested in monster studies. You're very skilled in that field, right? There are many things I'd like to ask you about."
When Rei said that—
Yuna's face turned slightly red, almost imperceptibly.
"…Okay."
"I usually read in the third-floor reading area. Just come there."
"Great!"
If she could score 100 points in Monster Studies, her mastery was probably comparable to the level of Origin Magic.
For someone who hadn't even changed classes yet to reach that level—
That was truly terrifying talent.
Yuna spoke softly.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go now."
Rei waved cheerfully.
"Alright. See you next time!"
He watched her leave.
Then Rei turned his gaze toward a nearby bookshelf.
Although he still had many doubts, some things couldn't be asked directly in front of her.
That direction…
Those must be the Precognizer Project materials.
Originally, he had intended to search for information on divination, fate studies, futurism, and the Technique of Heavenly Fate Theorem.
These were all requirements for the Prophet class.
Especially the Technique of Heavenly Fate Theorem—even Iz had never heard of it.
In the end, Rei had obtained its location from Pari.
That single divination had cost him 4 million gold coins after the price doubled.
The result?
Just one sentence.
[You will obtain it in Kronoria.]
That was the entire prophecy.
One light, floating sentence.
At that moment, Rei had seriously considered attacking Pari.
You're telling me this about a place I was already going to?!
Give me my four million gold back!
Diviners…
Damn those diviners.
He had already suffered losses at their hands so many times.
Why did he keep getting tricked again?
Just thinking about it made him angry.
Still—
At least he now knew that he would obtain the Technique of Heavenly Fate Theorem in Kronoria.
Which meant that as long as he quickly mastered:
Chronology
Precognition
Future Studies
Fate Studies
Divination
And combined them with the Heavenly Fate Theorem he was destined to obtain—
He would be able to change classes into a Prophet.
Thinking about it carefully…
Had he really become so certain about Pari's prophecy?
That wasn't exactly a good sign.
He was trusting diviners too much.
Rei walked toward the bookshelf containing the Precognizer Project materials.
His perception swept across the shelves.
Surprisingly—
He detected no hidden restrictions.
None?
That was the strange part.
Logically speaking, something like this should contain at least a few confidential secrets.
[Experiment Record: Bessie][Experiment Record: Edelrosa][Experiment Record: Bison]
…
All of them were people's names.
Rei opened one of the records.
[Bessie][Date of Birth: April 7, Year 5017][Spiritual aptitude passed testing. Parents and subject consented to join the Precognizer experiment.][Experiment Start Date: March 1, Year 5020]
…
Which meant that currently, she was also eight years old.
Rei flipped forward a few pages.
[March 1, Year 5020]Performed the Initial Spiritual Awakening Ritual for Bessie. Her spiritual energy has begun to activate.
[March 2, Year 5020]Bessie read one book today. She can remember most of its contents.
[March 5, Year 5020]Bessie has completely learned the Common Language and can communicate normally with anyone.
Rei paused.
Wait a second…
He flipped back to the first page.
Parents and subject consented?
She was three years old when the experiment started.
How exactly did she consent?
Did the baby just nod once and that counted?
Suppressing his confusion, Rei continued reading.
The rest of the pages were essentially records of Bessie learning various things and mastering certain knowledge.
Almost like a diary.
Still—
Rei patiently read the entire record from beginning to end and committed everything to memory.
After finishing, he left that row of shelves.
He walked toward another bookshelf he had already sensed earlier.
[Precognizers: The Initial Spiritual Awakening Ritual]
So this was it.
If he wanted to understand the Precognizers, he had to start with this ritual.
A ritual capable of awakening spiritual power without changing classes.
As Rei read it carefully—
His eyes lit up.
He had to admit—
The design of this ritual was astonishingly ingenious.
Normally, a Class Change Ritual connects a person's spiritual essence with a natural origin, awakening the corresponding class power.
But this Initial Spiritual Awakening Ritual did something completely different.
It fabricated an artificial origin.
Then it awakened a completely blank class, thereby activating spiritual power while preserving it from dissipating.
It was a genius-level concept.
Rei himself had once considered similar ideas.
But thinking about it and actually implementing it were two entirely different matters.
"Constructing a blank origin…"
"Modifying the class-change ritual to redirect its target from a natural origin to an artificially constructed void…"
Absolute genius.
Although Rei wasn't particularly proficient in ritual studies, even he could see how extraordinary this ritual truly was.
As he read further—
He couldn't find any flaws.
A completely artificial origin with no internal structure meant there was no possibility of contamination.
And the awakened spiritual energy could be perfectly preserved.
"The White Tower really does have incredible things," Rei murmured.
However—
This seemingly flawless ritual was still in the testing phase.
More precisely, the Precognizer Project consisted of three coordinated experiments:
[Initial Spiritual Awakening Experiment][Spiritual Extraction Experiment][Spiritual Reintegration Experiment]
Together, these three formed the Precognizer Project.
The process worked like this:
Activate spiritual power early and preserve it.
When the subject reaches the proper age, temporarily extract the preserved spiritual energy.
Perform the class change ritual after extraction.
Once the class change is complete, return the extracted spiritual power.
In this way—
The spiritual contamination caused by class changes could be avoided.
While still preserving extremely high spiritual potential.
Rei had never seen any mention of these experiments in the books he previously read.
"The White Tower is the center of cutting-edge research."
"If you ever get the chance, you must come see it."
Iz's words had clearly not been exaggerated.
Rei continued reading the theoretical proposals behind Spiritual Extraction and Spiritual Reintegration.
There were some parts he couldn't fully understand, but overall, the logic seemed sound.
Moreover—
Experiments conducted on monsters and death-row prisoners had already succeeded.
Oh?
Within the White Tower, using death-row inmates for experiments was apparently acceptable.
The ethical restrictions here seemed… rather loose.
After spending some time thoroughly understanding the Precognizer Project, Rei finally felt a weight lift from his mind.
Otherwise, the idea that the White Tower might be conducting inhumane experiments on children would have continued lingering in his thoughts.
Although the phrase "parents and child both consented" still raised some doubts.
After finishing his research, Rei left the area.
He wandered around for a while and picked up several books:
White Tower Rules Guide
White Tower Regulations
Various books on Fate Studies
The White Tower wasn't only for reading books.
Still, Rei planned to fully understand the rules first.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find any record of the Technique of Heavenly Fate Theorem on the third floor.
After walking around for a while—
He saw Yuna again.
But Rei didn't greet her.
Instead, he sat down quietly beside her with his books.
The two maintained a subtle distance.
Rei entered a state of deep concentration.
Meanwhile, Yuna treated him like air and continued reading a book about lunar phases.
…
After completely studying all the books he had brought over, Rei finally exited his focused state.
When he regained awareness—
Yuna was still sitting beside him, reading.
Originally, he had sat nearby hoping for a chance to start a conversation.
If she had spoken first, Rei wouldn't have minded the interruption.
After all, entering concentration only took him an instant.
But now—
It seemed better not to disturb her.
Rei quietly stood up and left.
After he departed—
Yuna turned her head and looked at the towering stack of books beside where he had been sitting.
He read all of those in one afternoon?
This was the first time Yuna had met someone her age with greater knowledge than her own.
"If I became a class changer…"
November 21
"Kumironi, are you talking about the early class-change promotion ritual?"
"Mm~ I promised someone I'd come help with their class change."
"But besides that, there's another ritual I need to attend."
"I'm not hosting that one though—I'm only there as a supervisor."
Kumironi herself wasn't normally responsible for class-change ceremonies.
So people rarely invited her for such events.
"Something that specifically requested Kumironi's supervision—what kind of ritual is it?"
"Hmm~ It's research from the White Tower."
"They've made new progress in class-change studies. If successful, it might allow people to change classes without spiritual contamination."
"I'd heard about the research before, but this will be my first time participating directly."
"After all, I've spent most of my time traveling outside the capital…"
Ever since she changed classes, Kumironi had rarely stayed in the capital.
She usually explored the world with Iz and the others.
Naturally, she wasn't deeply familiar with long-term research projects.
Even powerful individuals couldn't master every field in detail.
"Do you know who's changing classes?" Rei asked.
"I think it's a girl named Yuna. About your age… maybe even younger."
Her?
What a coincidence.
Or perhaps—
Not a coincidence at all.
It seemed more like inevitability.
Yuna had probably planned all along to conduct her class-change ritual the day after passing the White Tower examination.
And Rei just happened to attend the exam on that same day.
As long as he took the test—
It was inevitable that he would meet Yuna.
After studying Fate Studies deeply yesterday, Rei now had an entirely different perspective on destiny.
What appeared to be coincidence was often simply inevitability in disguise.
Kumironi, as the High Priestess of the Temple of Life and the strongest healing mage alive, being invited to oversee the ritual was also inevitable.
Even if spiritual contamination occurred during the ritual, she would be able to resolve it.
Rei chatted with Kumironi as they walked, discussing daily events.
Soon—
They arrived at the Advancement Hall.
At the entrance, Rei noticed a black-haired girl who looked slightly older than him.
She stood out immediately.
Even in the heavy snowfall, she wore light combat clothing suitable for battle.
Two dagger sheaths were strapped to the outer sides of her thighs, each holding blades of different lengths.
A loli-like appearance—
Yet dressed like a professional assassin.
Impossible not to notice.
When Kumironi saw her, she waved happily from a distance.
"Qingying!"
"You got here so early!"
Her name was Seira Kiyomi.
Only ten years old, yet already rumored to be the most skilled assassin in Kronoria.
Rei hadn't encountered many assassins before.
He didn't know exactly how impressive "the best" really meant.
But today—
Kumironi was here to assist her advancing to Level 4 Assassin.
Honestly, that didn't sound that impressive.
Could a Level 3 be stronger than him?
The three of them entered the Advancement Hall.
Rei noticed that Seira's gaze kept lingering on him.
It was a cold, razor-sharp stare.
Even without killing intent, it still felt piercing.
Rei could only respond with an innocent childlike smile.
Before he could say anything to ease the tension—
She spoke first.
"Are you strong?"
Rei smiled helplessly.
"I'm not weak."
Seira replied with absolute seriousness.
"I'm stronger than you."
Rei could feel the unwilling competitive aura radiating from her.
He sighed internally.
These geniuses…
They never seemed to have an accurate understanding of their own strength.
Always believing they were invincible.
They had no idea there were always stronger skies beyond the sky.
"Oh? I don't think so."
Rei dropped his smile and answered calmly.
Suddenly—
Ultimate Perception triggered an intense danger alert!
Rei instantly jerked his head backward!
Slash!
A dagger had already stabbed toward him!
After he dodged—
The blade followed the direction of his movement, slashing again as if determined to kill him.
Rei instantly entered combat mode.
Using Flash Step, he pulled away—
But Seira had already vanished from her original position.
"Are you insane?"
Attacking here?
This was the Advancement Hall!
And launching an attack without warning?
Shouldn't challenges happen in the arena?
What if he hadn't dodged in time?
Would she have actually killed him?
Anger surged inside Rei.
He hated when someone threatened his life.
Even if he could easily avoid the danger.
"Seira Kiyomi. We have no grudge against each other, do we?"
Rei's voice turned cold.
He stood still, gripping a white spear-shaped staff in his hand.
His Astral Ring Staff was currently with Aizen, who was upgrading it.
So he had to use a substitute for now.
Seeing Kumironi's helpless expression, Rei restrained himself.
She probably assumed that even if Rei died, she could resurrect him.
Attacking without warning—
That really was an assassin's mindset.
Fine.
If you came prepared to kill me—
Then if I kill you in return, that's perfectly reasonable.
"Kumironi."
"I'm a little angry right now. If I do something excessive… I hope you'll understand."
Kumironi sighed helplessly.
"…Alright. I'll handle the aftermath."
"She's the one at fault here."
"Rei, go ahead and teach her a lesson."
Rei's instincts suddenly tightened.
He instantly twisted his body sideways—
Dodging the dagger thrust—
And grabbed her attacking wrist in the same motion!