Moon's eyes snapped open, his body jerking upright as he took deep, gasping breaths like he'd been drowning for hours and had only just broken the surface.
His hands imdiately flew to his head, clutching at his skull as throbbing pain pulsed behind his eyes with relentless intensity.
"What happened..." he muttered through gritted teeth, his vision swimming as he tried to orient himself. "Why am I in an inn? I was in that mystical river, and then... agh."
The pain suddenly intensified, spiking from uncomfortable to excruciating in an instant. Moon winced sharply, his jaw clenching so hard he could hear his teeth grinding.
Fragnted mories began surfacing through the agony—walking the impossible path, the crushing pressure, his consciousness fragnting and failing, his body moving on pure instinct alone. The recollections were vague, distorted by the trauma his mind had endured, but one thing beca clear:
He'd failed sowhere in the river.
He hadn't reached whatever endpoint might have existed. The trial had ejected him before he could complete it fully, saved him from the pressures that would have pulverized him entirely if he'd continued even seconds longer.
The pain finally subsided, gradually fading from skull-splitting to rely uncomfortable, then to a dull background ache.
Moon released a breath of relief, his hands slowly lowering from his head as the worst passed.
Then he rembered: rewards.
The System had said he'd earned sothing for his achievents, for walking that impossible path further than... than what? The proclamation had been vague, but clearly he'd done sothing exceptional.
Excitent surged through him, montarily overwhelming the lingering discomfort.
Moon hurriedly opened his status screen, the familiar interface materializing before his eyes:
---
[ Na: Moon ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Class: Classless ]
[ Level: 25 ] [Awaiting Evolution]
[ Lives: 27,719 ]
[ Strength: 48 ] [ Agility: 48 ] [ Constitution: 53 ] [ Mana: 68 ] ( 5 to all stats)
[ Attribute Points: 5 ]
[ Skills: Elental Attack, Advanced Elental Body, Tenacity, Golden Skin, Ignite, Dagger Arts, Rune Inscription, Appraisal, Lightning Raiju ]
[ Talent: Grim Reaper ]
[ Class Skill: Class Slot {0/1} ]
---
"What the hell?!"
Moon's shout of pure shock echoed through the empty room as his eyes scanned and rescanned his status, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Three new skills. Three entirely new skills that hadn't existed in his arsenal before.
And his Silver Skin had sohow evolved into Golden Skin, a transformation he couldn't imdiately explain but that suggested a fundantal improvent in the defensive ability.
But that wasn't even the most shocking part.
"My attributes... they all increased by ten..."
Moon stared at the numbers with an expression caught between disbelief and euphoria. His Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Mana had each gained ten full points. That was a total of forty attribute points gained from a single trial.
Forty.
At his current power level, that kind of growth was beyond abnormal. It was, in fact, completely unheard of.
Even the most legendary treasures that had been discovered, items that most awakeners killed each other over, that sparked wars between clans, that were kept in vaults protected by powerful guardians, never granted more than five or six attribute points at most. And those were singular treasures. One-ti consumables that cost fortunes and were almost impossible to obtain. Moon had just gained the equivalent of finding and consuming eight of those legendary items.
From a single inheritance trial.
"It's even better than the blood of the Golden Fish..." Moon murmured, a smile spreading across his face despite his lingering exhaustion.
The Golden Fish's blood had granted him significant benefits, true. But this? This was on an entirely different scale.
Every mont of agony he'd endured in that river—every second of crushing pressure, every instant where his mind had shattered and his body had failed—had been more than worth it.
His eyes moved to examine his new skills, inspecting them one by one with growing amazent.
---
[Rune Inscription]
[Rank: Epic]
[Level: MAX]
[Details: You possess elite mastery of first-order runic language and can inscribe powerful runes for offensive, defensive, or support purposes. Your runes can be etched onto surfaces, objects, or even directly into the air using mana as a dium. Inscribed runes activate either on command or when triggered by specific conditions. 100% Inscription Speed and Stability. 100% Rune Duration and Effect Potency.]
---
Moon's eyes widened as he processed the skill's effects.
Rune inscription was different from normal spell-casting. Where elental magic required constant concentration and mana expenditure, properly inscribed runes could remain active for extended periods—hours, days, even weeks depending on the complexity, and resources invested.
They could create traps that waited patiently for intruders. Barriers that reinforced themselves automatically. Enchantnts that enhanced equipnt without requiring active maintenance. Automated defensive systems that responded to threats without any conscious input from their creator.
And he'd just gained elite mastery of the craft for first order inscriptions.
Overnight, he'd beco a Rune Master—one of the most highly respected professions outside of pure combat specialists. Their services were essential for fortifying important buildings, creating complex defensive arrays, enchanting high-tier equipnt, and countless other applications.
Masters of runic inscription could na their own price and would never lack for work or resources.
Moon forced himself to move to the next skill, though he wanted to imdiately start experinting with rune creation. He had plenty of ideas to implent that would help him in his next adventures.
---
[Appraisal]
[Rank: Epic]
[Level: MAX]
[Details: You can perceive far beyond what normal sight reveals. Your perception reveals detailed information about item rank, composition, and enchantnts. This skill also detects concealed properties and curses. 100% Information Depth and Accuracy. 100% Detection Range for Hidden Properties.]
---
'Another epic skill...' Moon thought, shaking his head in continued disbelief. 'Just how powerful was the World's Flaw? To casually have skills of this caliber in his inheritance.'
Appraisal was a skill that most awakeners would kill to possess. The ability to accurately assess items, to pierce through concealnt enchantnts, to detect hidden curses or beneficial properties that weren't imdiately obvious—it was invaluable for anyone who dealt with magical equipnt or explored dangerous dungeons.
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