When Alden Thorn finally received the System's summons, it happened in the most undignified place imaginable, a high school bathroom with graffiti on the walls and the smell of disinfectant in the air. He had been expecting a climactic moment of destiny, a sign from the universe that his years of preparation had been worth it. Instead, he got a B-rank Meister of Cudgel, a class so laughably specific it seemed designed for a medieval themed amusement park. The disappointment was immediate, a cold splash of reality against his dreams of becoming a battlefield support hero like Hannah. But almost as quickly, he remembered Gorgon's cryptic hint about luggage, and he began the frantic process of trading his way toward something better. The pre-affixation trading market became his new battlefront, a global marketplace of desperate teenagers trying to swap their way out of classes they hated. He met the abrasive B74 who was also hunting for an upgrade, the charming Andrzej who wanted Meister of Knuckles for the stat bonuses, and eventually the Velra family, who had been using immense wordchain luck to force the universe to deliver them a Chainer of exactly the right rank. Alden found himself at the center of a political storm he had never anticipated, with superpowered families competing for the right to take his class from him and give him the one Gorgon had somehow known he needed. It was Rabbit, the noncombat errand runner class, the last thing any aspiring hero would ever want. But it was also the key to the skill Gorgon had specifically recommended, the ability to preserve anything entrusted to him, a power that would prove invaluable beyond his wildest imagination.

Alden barely had time to process his new Rabbit status before he was kidnapped by a smiling woman in a sports car. Aimi Velra was the crazed aunt of a family that had been blessed by a powerful wordchain, and she had been sent to find the boy who could save her niece Hazel from being stuck without the Chainer class. What followed was a harrowing ride through Anesidora, a frantic negotiation with the Velra matriarch, and a surreal funeral for Hannah Elber where Alden had to trade his class in secret while surrounded by grieving superheroes. The entire experience was a masterclass in power dynamics, showing how even ordinary human politics become magnified when superhuman families are involved. Alden learned that the Velras had spent decades monopolizing the Chainer class, and that his decision to trade with them would have consequences that rippled through Anesidorian society. But he also gained something precious: a fortune in Argold and a clear path forward. The scene at the funeral was particularly poignant, with Alden sitting among Hannah's friends and colleagues, knowing that he was about to leave this world behind. When he finally traded Chainer for Rabbit, he felt the weight of his choice settle on his shoulders. He was now an errand runner, a magical assistant, the least glamorous of all superhero classes. But he was also free, free to pursue his dream of battlefield support in his own way, with a skill that would let him freeze time and space for anything entrusted to his care. The blood debt to Gorgon had led him here, and he could only hope it would lead him further.

The summons came just hours after Alden had affixed his Rabbit class, yanking him from the Chicago consulate to a university campus on Artona III. He found himself working as a hazardous materials disposal expert, a job that seemed absurdly above his pay grade for a teenager who had only been an Avowed for a day. But his skill, the ability to preserve anything entrusted to him, was exactly what the university needed for its dangerous lab exams. Alden spent his days carrying volatile magical experiments, dodging explosions, and learning the true nature of his power under the eccentric guidance of Professor Joe. The professor was a fallen wizard, a man who had once been powerful enough to consort with the highest levels of Artonan society, now reduced to teaching at a university as punishment for his crimes. He took an immediate interest in Alden, recognizing the uniqueness of his skill and the potential of his class. What started as a simple lab assistant job quickly spiraled into something much darker when Joe asked Alden to participate in a secret mission: rescuing stranded assistants from a dangerous moon and stealing back the professor's confiscated research. This was the moment Alden crossed the line from innocent Avowed to active participant in Artonan politics, accepting a contract that required him to get a magical tattoo and promise absolute secrecy. He was no longer just a Rabbit; he was a smuggler, a rescuer, and a potential criminal, all at the age of fifteen.

The chaos storm hit without warning, trapping Alden on Moon Thegund with a single survivor: a child named Kibby. What followed was a brutal descent into survival horror, where every day was a fight against the corrupting influence of demonic energy and the absolute isolation of a world gone mad. Alden's Rabbit skill, the one he had doubted so deeply, became his lifeline. His ability to preserve his own existence, to stabilize his authority against the chaos, kept him alive while the Artonan scientists around him died one by one. He learned to live in the dark, to find food in the corrupted greenhouses, to teach himself the local language so he could communicate with Kibby. More importantly, he learned to use his authority directly, casting simple wizard spells and manipulating his own power in ways no human had ever been taught. The months on Thegund transformed him from a confused teenager into something closer to a true mage, someone who understood the nature of magic and his own role in it. When rescue finally came, it was not in the form of a ship but in the person of Gorgon himself, appearing in Alden's mind to acknowledge the blood ritual that had been completed. Alden had taken Kibby's blood and performed the ancient Rite, binding her to him in a way that defied the laws of the System. He had become a successor, a rightful inheritor of powers he still did not fully understand. The journey from Chicago to Thegund had been about learning to survive; the journey home would be about learning to lead.