Chapter 1 - The Alchemist's Brand
Today was the Class Awakening.
The day when every fifteen-year-old in the Dominion underwent their Binding—a sacred ritual where fate would assign them their class. For most, it was a celebration. For Kairen, it was a gamble his family had staked their lives on.
The Ceremony Hall was a cathedral of light and crystal. Grand chandeliers floated mid-air, humming with mana. Robed officiants formed a perfect circle around the Awakening Platform, their staffs resonating with ancient power.
Kairen stood at the edge, clutching a copper coin, the last thing his father had left behind. His mother sold their home to buy him entry into the Capital's Awakening Ceremony. This was it.
His heart pounded like war drums.
Around him, other youths stood tall and proud. Some were nobles, others backed by guilds, wearing enchanted cloaks and clutching expensive relics to increase their chances of getting a rare class.
Kairen had none of that.
He had no bloodline. No relic. Just desperate determination.
"Candidate 47. Step forward," the officiant's voice echoed.
He swallowed and stepped onto the platform.
A crystal prism hovered before him, slowly rotating. The moment he touched it, a surge of power lanced through his veins like fire and ice.
"Analyzing soul signature..."
"Assigning Class..."
Silence fell. Even the whispers faded.
Above Kairen's head, a glowing sigil began to form. The prism spun faster—then suddenly slowed, flickering.
"Class Assigned: Alchemist (Unranked Variant – Incomplete)"
The room stayed dead quiet.
And then came the laughter.
"Alchemist? Are we still in the Dark Age?"
"An Unranked class? I didn't even know that was possible."
"Wait, did it say incomplete?"
Kairen's face burned, but he didn't flinch. His eyes stayed locked on the prism, still flickering unnaturally.
The officiant's face was unreadable, but the flicker of pity in his eyes stung worse than the laughter.
"Candidate 47, step down."
"But—what does incomplete mean?" Kairen asked, voice hoarse.
The officiant paused. "It means your class is either defective or... evolving. Either way, it is unrecognized by the current Dominion System."
That made it worse. A class so weak it didn't register, or so strange the system rejected it.
Either way—failure.
"Next!"
Kairen descended the stairs in silence.
His mother stood at the edge of the plaza, watching. When she saw him, she smiled anyway, even though tears gleamed in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
She shook her head. "Not yet. Not until you give up. Do you understand me?"
He nodded, barely.
---
That night, as Kairen sat alone outside the empty shed they now called home, the crystal brand on his hand began to burn.
Suddenly, something changed.
A second voice echoed in his mind.
"Hidden Alchemist Class: [Origin Forge] recognized."
"This path is not registered in the Dominion System."
"You walk an older road—one long buried."
Then, his status window appeared before him—no longer empty.
> [CLASS: Origin Alchemist]
Grade: ???
Authority: Evolution Tier
Bonded Element: Etherglass Flame
Unique Ability Unlocked: Deconstruct & Reforge (Locked)
Kairen blinked.
This wasn't a failure.
It was something else entirely.
Something the world had forgotten—or hidden.
And he was going to find out what.
Even if he had to burn the world down and remake it himself.