Ascension: Rune Evolution System

The silence that followed was deafening.

Frost could feel it pressing down on his shoulders, and although his expression remained mostly calm, his mind was already beginning to curse him for opening his mouth in the first place.

He had not meant to say all of that.

At least, not in such a direct way.

He had wanted to give them an answer, maybe throw in one or two harmless jabs while he was at it, and then go back to minding his own business until the lecturer arrived.

Instead, he had basically stripped half of their little social circle naked in front of everyone.

Not literally, of course, though considering how uncomfortable some of them looked, it might as well have felt that way.

Jason’s expression went through a wide range of changes.

At first, there was confusion, the kind of blank, delayed confusion Frost had seen many times before whenever Jason was forced to process more than one thought at a time.

Then came the faint narrowing of his eyes, followed by the slight twitch in his jaw as the meaning behind Frost’s words finally began to crawl its way into his brain.

”You..!”

Frost immediately looked away.

’Ah, yes. There it is.’

That familiar tone.

That wonderful little promise of violence disguised as barely restrained anger.

It was almost impressive how quickly the handsome bastard could switch from charming to threatening, though Frost supposed that was part of the reason people like him got away with so much.

In front of everyone else, Jason was friendly, athletic, confident, and easy to admire. But when there were no teachers around, no adults watching, and no one brave enough to speak up, the mask slipped just enough for people like Frost to see what was underneath.

A spoiled little tyrant who did not like being embarrassed.

”What did you just say?” Jason asked, pushing himself up from his seat.

A few of the students nearby immediately leaned back, not wanting to be too close to whatever was about to happen, while others watched with the kind of excitement people only had when they were certain the disaster would not involve them.

Frost noticed all of it from the corner of his eye and almost laughed.

This too was part of the illusion, was it not?

Everyone liked to pretend they were good people.

Everyone liked to think they would stand up for what was right when the time came, but most people only cared about justice when it was convenient, when there was nothing to lose, and when the person suffering was not standing right in front of them.

In the end, most people were cowards with decent excuses.

”I answered the question,” Frost said, his tone a little too calm for someone who was clearly about to get punched sooner or later. ”Wasn’t that what you asked me to do?”

Jason took a step forward.

”You think you’re funny?”

”Not particularly,” Frost replied. ”But sometimes, people laugh anyway.”

A few muffled snickers came from the back of the classroom, but they died almost as soon as Jason turned his head.

Frost sighed inwardly.

’What a useless bunch.’

He did not know why he still expected anything from these people.

Maybe it was because he was young enough to still be disappointed by human nature, or maybe it was because some small and stupid part of him still wanted to believe that there was a difference between being ordinary and being spineless.

Unfortunately, reality was not that generous.

Jason stopped beside Frost’s desk and placed one hand on its surface, leaning down with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

”Listen here, Frosty,” he said quietly, ”I don’t know what kind of fantasy you live in inside that weird little head of yours, but you should learn when to shut your mouth.”

Frost looked at the hand resting on his desk, then at Jason’s face.

There were many things he could have said in response.

Many wonderful, cruel, and surprisingly accurate things that would probably haunt Jason for the next three business days if he actually understood them.

With how things had unfolded up to now, Frost would be quite fortunate if he made it home without more than just a few bruises today, so the biggest question was simple: back away, or double down?

After giving it thought, he came to a very simple, impulsive decision.

’Ahh, fuck it.’

There was no avoiding the inevitable thrashing, so he might as well enjoy making the bastard suffer with some words while he could.

”I knew you were a little slow, but I didn’t realize you were that stupid, Jason. You asked a question, and I answered honestly. Is that so hard for you to understand?”

Silence.

Every single person in the room seemed to have stopped breathing. For a brief moment, the classroom became so quiet that when someone’s pen slipped from their desk and hit the floor, the faint sound of it striking the ground was all that could be heard.

Jaws dropped. People could not believe what they had just heard.

The way Jason’s face twisted and reddened in anger might have been the most beautiful sight Frost had ever seen in his whole life, and honestly, it brought a satisfied smile to his face.

This time, Jason didn’t bother with words.

Before anyone could recover from the shock of Frost’s words, Jason’s fist blurred, making its way toward Frost’s face.

Frost could only sigh and shake his head as time seemed to slow.

It seemed Jason had given up all pretense of his good-guy persona, but then again, considering the fact that he was not the sharpest tool in the shed, it was not surprising that a bit of provocation was all it took to burn through his short fuse.

Everyone else in the room grimaced as they prepared themselves to see some blood; however, the scene they were all waiting for never arrived.

The sky outside suddenly darkened.

Time froze, and even the bright fluorescent lights in the classroom lost their radiant glow.

The most shocking part was the fact that this phenomenon was not bound to this small area, but the whole planet.

Even in places where it was currently nighttime, an eerie darkness, vastly different from the darkness of night, pervaded the atmosphere.

If every single person had not been frozen in time, perhaps they would have been able to look outside and realize that fractures and ugly fissures had begun to appear and spread through the sky.

From Frost’s perspective, it felt like he was aware of everything, like this particular moment in time was stretching infinitely.

He could perceive the darkness. He could perceive the fist that was supposed to be making its way toward him. But it was as though everything had simply stopped.

’What is going on!?’

Had he suddenly awakened some sort of time-stop power when he was just on the brink of getting embarrassingly beaten down in front of the whole class?

If that was so, then why couldn’t he move as well?

If he had been able to glance outside, he would have noticed thousands of fissures appearing in the sky, growing larger and wider with every passing second.

Within seconds, the cracks reached a breaking point...

Crack!

The violent sound of glass breaking echoed out, and fragments of the sky began to fall. However, no cataclysmic event followed. As the fragments descended, they disintegrated into motes of light, and the gaps they left behind revealed only a dull, monotone grey.

This went on until the entire world had lost its color, and from Frost’s perspective, much like everyone else, the world was now painted in black, white, and every shade of grey in between.

Following this inconceivable phenomenon, the absolute silence was suddenly shattered by a violent screech that made everyone’s ears ring, but it vanished as quickly as it came, followed by a thundering voice that could only be described as godlike.

[People of Earth, hear now the decree of the heavens!]

[The Day of Judgment is upon you, and with its arrival, the old world has reached its end. From this moment forth begins a new world order, one forged not by wealth, status, or birth, but by strength, courage, and the will to ascend.]

[Earth’s First Ascension Trial Event shall now commence. The path ahead will be perilous, and countless souls will perish before reaching its end, but to every hopeful who dares step forward, I offer my sincerest blessing.]

[May fortune favor your journey, may your resolve remain unbroken, and may you rise beyond the limits of your former selves. Go forth, hopefuls, and awaken. I eagerly await the birth of Earth’s new generation of Awakened.]

With those final words, Frost felt his vision darkening from the edges, and before he knew it, he had passed out.