Zeph stared at his status screen, at the freshly integrated skills glowing in his interface, and felt the cold satisfaction of soone about to do sothing perfectly logical and completely excessive.
He had 212,847 PP.
He had four D-rank skills that could be upgraded.
He had technique mastery that could be accelerated.
And he had absolutely zero reason to be conservative about spending resources he’d regenerate in a week anyway.
’Most awakened save their Skill Points for months. Agonize over every upgrade. Treat each expenditure like it’s life or death because they might earn 5,000 SP in a good month if they’re lucky.’
’I generate 32,400 PP per day now. These upgrades will cost less than a week of passive generation.’
’So why the fuck would I hold back?’
He pulled up the upgrade interface for Cleaving Montum first.
[CLEAVING MONTUM - RANK D]
[Current Effect: Consecutive hits increase damage by 10% per hit, stacking 5 tis (max 50%)]
[UPGRADE AVAILABLE]
[D→C: 5,000 PP]
[C→B: 10,000 PP]
[B→A: 25,000 PP]
[TOTAL COST D→A: 40,000 PP]
[CONFIRM UPGRADE? Y/N]
’40,000 PP to go from D to A. That’s... actually cheap. At least by my current standards.’
He selected [YES].
The integration was instant—knowledge flooding his mind about how to maintain tracking on targets, how to feel the montum building with each strike, how to capitalize on the stacking damage.
There was no pain. Active skills existed purely in the ntal/soul space, not the physical body. The upgrade carved itself into his System interface smoothly, like installing software into a computer.
’That was... anticlimactic. I was expecting sothing dramatic.’
[UPGRADE COMPLETE]
[CLEAVING MONTUM - RANK A]
[Effect: Consecutive hits increase damage by 20% per hit, stacking 5 tis (max 100% damage bonus)]
’One down. Three to go.’
He upgraded Wind Blade next.
[WIND BLADE - RANK D]
[Current Effect: Range 10m, 40% weapon damage]
[UPGRADE TO RANK A]
[Total Cost: 40,000 PP]
[CONFIRM? Y/N]
[YES]
Again, seamless integration. The skill expanded in his understanding—how to compress air with five tis more force, how to project it five tis further, how to maintain cohesion across distance.
Knowledge, not pain.
[UPGRADE COMPLETE]
[WIND BLADE - RANK A]
[Effect: Range 50m, 100% weapon damage, Cooldown: 5 seconds, Cost: 100 MP]
’Now it’s actually dangerous. 100% weapon damage at 50 ters ans I can legitimately hurt people from range. That’s a complete ga-changer for soone with an axe.’
Predator’s Advance was third.
[PREDATOR’S ADVANCE - RANK D]
[Current Effect: 50% speed increase, 30 seconds duration]
[UPGRADE TO RANK A]
[Total Cost: 40,000 PP]
[CONFIRM? Y/N]
[YES]
The knowledge integration was smooth, professional. How to move at doubled speed without losing control. How to maintain the acceleration for extended periods. How to transition in and out of the enhanced state seamlessly.
[UPGRADE COMPLETE]
[PREDATOR’S ADVANCE - RANK A]
[Effect: 100% speed increase, 3 minutes duration, Cooldown: 45 seconds, Cost: 5 MP/second]
’With my Sole Survivor title, my AGI becos 156 when alone. This skill doubles that to 312. For three full minutes, I’m faster than most B-ranks.’
’That’s the kind of advantage that keeps you alive.’
Iron Skin ca fourth—and this one was different.
[IRON SKIN - RANK D]
[Current Effect: 15% physical damage reduction (passive)]
[UPGRADE TO RANK A]
[Total Cost: 40,000 PP]
[CONFIRM? Y/N]
[YES]
The mont he confird, pain exploded through his entire body.
His skin felt like it was being replaced layer by layer. A crawling, burning sensation spread from his core outward to every inch of his body. His bones ached as they reinforced themselves. His muscles densified without any visible change.
Zeph’s teeth clenched hard. His hands gripped the edge of his bed as his body physically restructured itself to accommodate 50% damage reduction instead of 15%.
’Fuck. FUCK. This is what passive skills feel like.’
Passive skills modified the body directly, permanently altering physical structure. Active skills were ntal constructs that channeled through the body. The difference was agony.
And it was worse because of his INT and WIS—pathetically low ntal stats that made processing System changes harder than it should be. His mind struggled to handle the information flood while his body went through forced evolution.
Most people with balanced stats would experience this as uncomfortable pressure. Zeph, with garbage INT/WIS, experienced it as trying to download a full encyclopedia into a brain running on dial-up internet.
The pain lasted fifteen seconds.
It felt like fifteen minutes.
When it finally faded, Zeph was breathing hard through Foundation Breath, sweat beading on his forehead despite his enhanced VIT.
[UPGRADE COMPLETE]
[IRON SKIN - RANK A]
[Effect: Passive - 50% physical damage reduction. Always active.]
’Note to self: passive skill upgrades hurt like a bitch. Active skill upgrades are fine. The difference matters.’
’Also note: raise INT and WIS eventually so System integrations stop feeling like brain surgery with a rusty spoon!’
It didn’t feel nice at all!
He checked his PP balance.
[CURRENT PP BALANCE: 212,847 PP]
[EXPENDITURE: 160,000 PP (4 skills × 40,000 PP)]
[REMAINING BALANCE: 52,847 PP]
’All four skills upgraded to A-rank. Still have 52,000 PP left over. I budgeted perfectly without realizing it.’
Zeph stood and tested his new capabilities even without active use. His body felt different. Denser. More responsive. The passive damage reduction from Iron Skin made him feel less fragile, like he’d been wearing paper armor and suddenly upgraded to leather.
’Iron Skin is working right now. That 50% damage reduction is active this very second. My effective VIT just jumped from 220 to... effectively 440 when calculating survivability.’
’Combined with The Inevitable title giving one free resurrection from fatal damage per day, and Adaptive Resilience making progressively immune to repeated damage types...’
’I’m still a glass cannon in philosophy. But the glass just beca reinforced steel.’
But he wasn’t done spending PP yet.
There was still the Iron Woodsman’s Foundation technique sitting at 58% mastery (Adept rank).
[IRON WOODSMAN’S FOUNDATION]
[Current Mastery: 58% (ADEPT)]
[Ranks: Novice (0-20%) | Apprentice (21-40%) | Adept (41-60%) | Expert (61-80%) | Master (81-99%) | Grandmaster (100%)]
[MASTERY ACCELERATION AVAILABLE]
[Cost: 1,000 PP per 1% increase]
[Maximum increase per week: 5%]
[Current available increase: 5% (5,000 PP)]
[NEW MASTERY: 63% (EXPERT)]
The Expert rank started at 61%. He was at 58%. Adding 5% would put him at 63%—solidly in Expert territory.
’Expert-level axe technique. That’s what professional guild mbers spend years achieving. I’m going to get it by throwing points at the problem.’
He allocated the PP.
[PROCESSING MASTERY INCREASE]
[ 5% to Iron Woodsman’s Foundation]
[58% → 63%]
[RANK UP: ADEPT → EXPERT]
[WARNING: Knowledge integration in progress]
This wasn’t painful like the Iron Skin upgrade. It was more like rembering sothing he’d always known but forgotten. His hands adjusted their grip on an imaginary axe. His stance shifted subtly into sothing more refined. His understanding of weight distribution, edge alignnt, and strike optimization deepened.
The twelve fundantal forms from Iron Woodsman beca not just techniques he could execute, but principles he understood at an instinctive level.
[MASTERY UPDATE COMPLETE]
[IRON WOODSMAN’S FOUNDATION: 63% (EXPERT)]
[NEW CAPABILITIES UNLOCKED]
- Perfect form execution under pressure
- Intuitive adaptation of fundantals to new situations
- Can teach basics to others effectively
- Reduced stamina cost for all axe techniques (-25%)
Zeph stood and went through Form Three—the fundantal horizontal swing—in the cramped space of his apartnt.
The movent was clean. Professional. The kind of strike that would make experienced fighters pause and reassess who they were dealing with.
’This is what proper training looks like. This is what I’ve been missing for three years.’
He looked at his remaining balance.
[CURRENT PP BALANCE: 47,847 PP]
[DAILY GENERATION: 32,400 PP]
The only thing he hadn’t touched was Foundation Breath, still sitting at 15% mastery (Novice rank).
He could spend PP to accelerate it. 1,000 PP per percent ant he could push it to 20% for 5,000 PP.
But that would leave him at 42,847 PP, and Foundation Breath wouldn’t show any actual improvent until it hit 21% (Apprentice rank). The skill description had been clear: benefits scaled at rank thresholds, not gradual percentages.
’Not worth it. I’m planning to buy a better breathing technique as soon as I have credits anyway. Heaven’s Rhythm or sothing similar. No point optimizing the basic technique when I’m going to replace it.’
’Better to save the PP for future skill acquisitions or ergencies.’
Zeph dismissed the interface and looked around his cramped apartnt.
He felt different. Stronger. More complete. Like he’d been operating with handicaps and suddenly removed them all at once.
’Yesterday I was Level 35 with D-rank skills and self-taught technique. Now I’m Level 35 with four A-rank skills and Expert-level mastery of fundantal axe combat.’
’My combat effectiveness just multiplied. Not improved—multiplied.’
’I’m still Level 35. My base stats haven’t changed. But my effective combat power just jumped to B-rank in one evening!’
’The geniuses from the large families with their inherited advantages? I just caught up to them through pure resource advantage.’
’And I’ll surpass them completely in a week when I’ve generated another 200,000 PP for whatever cos next.’
Zeph allowed himself a mont of pure, undiluted satisfaction.
He was broke. 4,460 credits to his na. Couldn’t afford the fancy manuals or advanced techniques or quality equipnt that would really make him dangerous.
But in terms of raw combat capability relative to his level?
He’d just beco one of the most dangerous Level 35 awakened in the entire Sanctuary.
And nobody knew except him.
’Tomorrow, I’ll test these upgrades. See what Expert-level technique combined with A-rank skills actually produces against real opponents.’
’But tonight...’
He looked at the clock. 11:47 PM.
’Tonight, I sleep. Let my body finish integrating the Iron Skin changes. Dream about what I’m going to beco once I have actual resources to combine with infinite PP generation.’
Zeph lay down on his too-short bed, his feet hanging off the end as always, and closed his eyes.
His breathing automatically settled into the Foundation Breath pattern. Each inhale and exhale generating 1.5 PP even while he slept.
By the ti he woke up tomorrow, he’d have generated another 32,400 PP just from existing.
In a week, he’d have 226,800 PP to spend on whatever ca next.
In a month, nearly a million!
’The System wanted to be an anomaly. Marcus wants to observe my developnt. The world wants to stay weak and grateful for whatever scraps of power I can earn.’
’Fuck all of that.’
’I’m going to break their expectations so thoroughly they won’t know how to classify !’
The future looked interesting.
User Comments
0 comments from readers