Darkness.
That was all Elias knew after drifting away from the goddess. Then, suddenly, a warm light shone on his face, causing him to slowly open his eyes.
He blinked several times, shielding his eyes with one hand as bright sunlight poured through the window and hit his face. It took him a few moments to adjust to the sudden brightness.
Once his vision cleared, Elias looked around and took in his surroundings.
He was inside what looked like a poorly built wooden hut. The ceiling was made of rough, uneven planks with tiny holes where slivers of sunlight slipped through. The walls were made of logs, also uneven, patched in places with dried mud and thatch. The air smelled of earth and old wood, and he lay on a crude bed made of straw and rough cloth.
As he was observing the room, a glowing blue screen suddenly appeared in front of him, startling him.
> [System Initializing…]
> [Calibration Complete.]
> [System Initialization Completed.]
> [Please proceed with class selection.]
Elias stared at the glowing screen in front of him, eyes wide in awe. It felt surreal—just like the video games and fantasy novels he used to read back on Earth.
Speaking of which, this was Aurelia—the very world Emperor's Dominion was based on.
Seeing the game-like interface made him wonder if things would follow the same rules as the game, or if this world would be different in some ways. But that was something to figure out later. Right now, his focus was on the screen in front of him, which displayed several class options.
He reached out to touch the interface, but his hand passed right through it.
'As expected.'
From the fantasy novels he had read, Elias knew that these kinds of system screens only existed within the user's vision. They weren't real or physical—just a part of the system.
Now that he confirmed it was a personal interface, he focused on the class selection.
There were many classes listed: Mage, Warrior, Assassin, and more. But Elias skipped them all. He already knew what class he wanted.
Summoner.
Back on Earth, the top player in Emperor's Dominion had been a Summoner. In this world, Summoners were highly valued, especially as lords. They could command large numbers of powerful summoned creatures to fight and protect their territory, making them extremely dangerous in battle.
Of course, he wasn't sure if things would work the same way here. Maybe he wouldn't become a lord, or maybe he would. Either way, he liked the idea of summoning cool, powerful creatures to fight alongside him.
With his mind made up, he selected the Summoner class without hesitation.
The screen rippled in response.
> [Class Selection Confirmed.]
> [Analyzing Unique Attributes…]
> [Error Detected: Adjusting Class Parameters…]
> [Class Evolution Triggered.]
> [You have been assigned the class: Undead Summoner.]
Elias blinked and stared at the screen, eyebrows furrowed.
"Undead Summoner?" That wasn't a class he remembered existing in the game.
It looked like some sort of evolved version of the regular Summoner class. If that was the case, then it had to be stronger—after all, it was an evolution.
Before he could think further, another message popped up.
> [Welcome, Host, to the world of Aurelia. You have been assigned Territory #0598261-F. Location: Ashgrave Ruins.]
Main Objective: Survive. Build. Ascend.
Elias read the message carefully. It seemed to still follow the game plot which meant he was now a lord.
But the location of his territory made him uneasy.
He remembered reading about Ashgrave Ruins in fan forums back on Earth. The place was dangerous, filled with wild beasts and other threats. Now his territory was located right in the middle of it.
That worried him a bit, but he decided to push the thought aside for now and focus on more important things.
"Status," he said out loud.
A new screen opened in front of him.
---
" STATUS WINDOW "
Name : Elias Ashbourne
Level : 1
Class : Undead Summoner
EXP : 0 / 100
Health : 85 / 85
Mana : 54 / 54
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength : 9
Agility : 8
Intelligence : 12
Endurance : 7
Willpower : 10
[TALENT & SKILLS]
Unique Talent : Legendary Extraction
Base Skills : Undead Awakening, Undead Summoning
Skills :
[RESOURCE POINTS]
Extraction Points (EP) : 5
Summon Capacity : 0 / 5
[SYSTEM CURRENCY]
Karma Points : 0
Elias stared at the system screen, pausing as his eyes landed on the talent section.
"I actually got a talent," he muttered, eyes a bit wide with surprise.
Talents were rare—very rare, to be exact.
Back on Earth, only a few players ever managed to get talents for their characters, and most of them were top-ranked players. That alone showed how rare and powerful talents were. And now, he had one. He couldn't help but feel excited.
But Elias quickly calmed himself down. He guessed this talent must've come from the card he had drawn earlier. After all, the lady had said it would be something useful to him. And judging by the name of the talent, it definitely sounded like something special. With that in mind, he focused back on reading the rest of the status screen.
Next up were the base skills.
Base skills were abilities every player on Earth received when they picked a class. They were directly connected to the class chosen and were different for each player.
These skills were important because they served as the foundation that guided a player's future path.
For example, back on Earth, Elias had chosen the mage class. His base skill back then increased the power of any fire-related spell he used. That made him focus on collecting fire-type abilities, slowly turning him into a fire mage.
So Elias fully understood the importance of base skills. He gave his attention to the two listed on the screen and tapped on the first one.
> [Undead Awakening]
Description: Awakens a physical corpse into a basic undead servant. These undead are mindless constructs, animated by your mana and tethered to your presence.
Note:
• Requires a corpse with an intact structure
• Awakened undead lack a soul core and independent will, making them fully dependent on your mana
• The more you summon, the more mana it will consume
• They become inactive if left without commands or if they move too far away
Elias read through it, eyebrows furrowed.
"So basically, puppets?" he muttered, exhaling.
It seemed useful, especially for large-scale battles, but at the same time, it meant he would need a big mana pool to make full use of it.
That sounded like a bit of a headache.
He sighed and moved on to the second base skill.
> [Undead Summoning]
Description: Summon a soul-bound undead entity. These summons have intelligence and their own energy source, needing only simple orders to operate.
Note:
• Requires summoning materials
• Can understand basic instructions and act on their own
• Can grow, mutate, or evolve over time
• Will stay summoned until dismissed or destroyed
"This is more like it," Elias said with a small smile.
These weren't mindless puppets. They were more like proper summons—just undead versions. He liked the idea.
Though he couldn't help but wonder what the "summoning materials" were.
Back on Earth, Summoner-class players had to craft something called a summoning card. He wondered if it worked the same way here.
"Guess I'll find out later," he thought to himself as he shifted his gaze to the rest of the system screen.
The Extraction Points (EP) and Summon Capacity sections were pretty easy to understand, so his eyes landed on the Karma Points section.
"System, what are Karma Points, and what are they used for?" he asked.
> [Karma Points are the system's currency. You can use them in the system shop to buy various items.]
"Oh, I see," Elias nodded. "So how do I earn them?"
> [You can earn Karma Points by completing system quests, defeating enemies, or trading items with the system shop.]
"Hmm," Elias muttered, nodding thoughtfully.
"Well, that's enough for now," he said, closing the system screen.
With the screen gone, Elias leaned back and let his body relax as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Who would've thought?
Just a short while ago, he was a fat, lonely guy wasting away behind a computer screen. Eating junk food, skipping showers, ignoring life itself.
And now…
Now he was here, in a whole different world.
If someone had told him this would happen, he would've called it a fat lie. But here he was.
Elias drew in another deep breath and let it out slowly.
"All right," he whispered. "Enough dilly-dallying."
He couldn't afford to sit around in awe forever. He had to get up, step outside, and figure things out.
With that thought, he began to push himself up from the bed.
But just as he did, a voice suddenly echoed inside his head.
"Good morning, Master."