The road stretched ahead, scorched and broken, winding toward a horizon stained in orange and red. Jimmy walked it alone, the ruins of his home now a distant scar on the land behind him. His clothes clung to his body, stiff with sweat and dried blood. His sandals were falling apart. But he didn't stop. He couldn't. Not after what he'd seen. Not after what he'd lost. Every step he took was fueled by grief, anger, and rage, but his mind remained locked on one promise which he made beside his family—three simple graves.
He had vowed to find out who did this, why they did it, and make them pay. "I'll find out those involved in their death," he muttered in his thoughts. "And I'll make them pay."
As his journey continued, a screen flickered silently back into view, hovering just above his line of sight like a quiet companion. He hadn't summoned it. Apparently, it didn't always need permission anymore. It only ever showed itself when it had something to say.
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Notification. System Sync, twenty-three percent complete. Path to Awakening: Active.
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The words "Path to Awakening" caught his eye. "Awakening?" he muttered, brushing a sweaty strand of hair from his forehead. "What does that mean?" As if responding to his thoughts, another screen blinked into existence beside the first.
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The Path to Awakening is the route to discovering your hidden potential. Every choice you make from now on will either elevate or break you.
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Jimmy narrowed his eyes at the screen. "So this is more than just a system giving me power… huh?" he murmured. "It's also trying to advise me." He sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"
A distant growl suddenly snapped his attention forward. He crouched behind a tree just off the trail, peeking through the brush. In the clearing ahead, a strange-looking creature paced slowly.
It looked like a mutated deer, bigger than a horse, with bark-like skin and antlers that crackled faintly with blue energy. The system returned.
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Target Identified: Voltstag. Level, five. Aggression: low unless provoked. Reward for Slaying: Unknown. Warning: Current Host Level is insufficient.
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Jimmy stared at the screen, then back at the creature. "Yeah, no kidding," he muttered. "It'd be suicide to face that thing by myself at this level. And I don't even know if there are more out there." He crept along the edge of the clearing, hugging the tree line, holding his breath with every step. The Voltstag blinked once but didn't chase. It didn't sense a threat. After a tense few moments, Jimmy was safely back on the trail, his heart pounding in his ears. The sun bathed the land more intensely now, its heat rising sharply. He came upon an abandoned cart, half-buried in green weeds and swarmed with insects. Inside, he found a tattered cloth covering what used to be supplies. Most of them looked like stolen goods—not native to the area. Among the pile, he discovered a flask of clean water, a piece of discarded bread, and a rusted dagger. He picked up the three items and examined them. Wrapping the tattered cloth around his shoulders like a cape, he slipped the water flask into a worn sack he found nearby and tossed the bread aside. He was hungry, but he couldn't bring himself to eat it. Just as he was about to stash the dagger in his new sack, the screen flickered again. Startled, he jolted and fell to the ground.
"Please try giving a notification next time before popping out of nowhere," he grumbled.
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Inventory Updated. Item Acquired: Rusted Dagger. Durability: Low.
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Then it vanished.
"So such things can still be of use, huh?" he whispered. "Anyway, it's better than a stick," he muttered, and was about to clip the dagger to his belt when it vanished from his hand.
"Huh!? What the?" he gasped, staring at his empty palm. The screen returned a moment later.
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The dagger has now been added to your inventory collection, noted the system.
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Another window opened beside it, displaying numerous tiny boxes. Only two were filled. One held the Gergesa Claw he'd earned earlier; the other showed the rusted dagger.
"What!?" he exclaimed. "So this is where you are." He tried touching one of the boxes, expecting a different result, but the same thing happened. The screen flickered as his finger came in contact with it.
"If I can't touch it, how am I supposed to get what I need?" he wondered. A sharp chill ran down his spine as, without warning, the dagger shimmered into existence in his hand. His fingers curled around the hilt by instinct.
"What the...?" he whispered. His eyes widened as he turned the blade in his palm, inspecting it as if it might vanish again. Confusion flickered at first. Then disbelief.
"Did it just... respond to me?" he thought while walking. Then an idea came to him.
"What if… it's not about touching it? What if it's about needing it?" he thought.
His steps slowed as the thought echoed in his mind. He looked down at the dagger, its black edge gleaming faintly even without light. The weapon felt perfectly balanced in his grip, like it had been renewed the moment it appeared in his inventory.
"So… the system gives me what I need, when I need it." He glanced around, half-expecting someone to leap from the shadows just to test the theory. But nothing came. Still, the pieces started to fall into place. Just when he was thinking of a place to keep the dagger, the system claimed it and added it to his inventory. His grip tightened slightly.
"Maybe I won't summon it with my hands... but with my will." He paused, eyes narrowing in thought. "It listens… not to what I do, but to what I need."
"Alright," he muttered, lips curling into a quiet smirk. "Let's see what else you can do."
A subtle pulse of energy rippled through his palm, as if the system acknowledged his realization. Then, without thinking, he let go of the dagger. It vanished, just like that. No shimmer, no sound. Just gone.
His heart jumped.
"Okay," he muttered, lifting one hand as he let out a breath and whispered, "Equip."
Immediately, the dagger reappeared in his hand. He exhaled, with a slow grin spreading across his face.
"Now we're getting somewhere," he exclaimed.
With his test being completed, he set off once more toward the kingdom. Since his family had lived in a remote part of the village, far from the others, no one would even notice their absence. Jimmy didn't bother telling the village chief about his loss. He simply took a different route out, leaving everything and everyone behind with only one goal—to avenge his family and learn why it happened.
As he continued his journey through the forest, the woods, and past the lake, he was never truly alone. The system had become his new companion, his first real partner. And as he traveled with it, he began to learn and understand how it worked.
With a simple thought, the screen appeared again. The first thing he checked was the inventory. The tiny boxes remained, most still empty. Then, the more screens began to appear, the more he became curious. He opened his stats: current level, strength, agility, health points, and energy levels. Another menu displayed his skills and abilities—but it was locked.
"Huh?" he murmured, frowning his face. "Locked? What does that even mean? Shouldn't everything be open for me to use?"
Once more, the system responded with a message written in text.
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Notification. Access Denied. Skills Menu: Locked. Requirement: Defeat a Rank-C Beast or higher. Note: Unlocking the skill menu not only requires defeating a Rank-C, but also requires combat achievement and survival verification.
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Jimmy stared at the message, caught between disbelief and frustration. "Wait. What!? Rank-C beast?" he echoed. "I have to fight those things just to unlock skills?"
His thoughts returned to his earlier encounter with the Gergesa beast. He hadn't broken a sweat, but even then, he kept telling himself he'd just gotten lucky. Frustrated, he closed the remaining menus without checking them further. He stepped onto a rocky ledge, breath catching as he gazed out from the cliffside, unaware that his long journey had brought him near its end.
Below, half-veiled by mist, a towering wall stretched across the valley like the spine of a giant. Its sturdy stone surface rose high into the sky, crowned with watchtowers that blinked like distant stars. Beyond the wall, he saw the silhouette of a grand city with tall spires, scattered lights, and rooftops of metal glinting in the sun's final rays.
With the sun dipping behind him, Jimmy Valebrook stepped off the ridge and walked toward the kingdom of Elarion.