--
Mochizuki, huh…
Sounds Japanese.
Well, her face already made it obvious she was Asian, but the name pretty much stamped it in ink.
Another question rose in my mind. I glanced her way, ready to ask, but her eyes were already locked on her own interface, her expression distant.
I stifled a sigh, letting the thought slide. It didn't matter right now. We had bigger problems.
I summoned my status screen with a mental command. The space shimmered as the panel materialized, hovering steadily before me.
'Seems like some changes took place with the upgrade.'
The interface itself had shifted—more horizontal now, with tabs neatly lined along the top, each marked with an icon. It was easier on the eyes, far more intuitive than the rigid, mechanical layout before.
/******************************************************\
[🟢 STATUS] [🗡️ SKILLS] [🛒 MARKET] [⚠️ ALERTS]
\******************************************************/
The alert tab pulsed rhythmically, likely signaling system messages or notifications, but I ignored it for now, focusing on the status tab instead.
****
-[STATUS]-
Name: Maxwell Scott
Race: Human
Level: 1
PATH: Unassigned
Gene Skill: Hell Fire
--- Vitals ---
❤️ HP: 100%
✨ MP: 100%
--- Progress ---
⚡ CP: 0%
⭐ EXP: 0%
--- Attributes ---
💪 STR: 9
🤸 AGI: 10
🛡️ END: 11
👁️ PER: 13
🧠 INT: 14
🗻 WIL: 12
****
"Changes here too, huh," I muttered. The tab felt less mechanical than before; abbreviations and icons made the data cleaner, easier to digest. My gene skill was unlocked, and I noticed that Stamina had been replaced by a new metric: CP.
My eyes narrowed the moment I saw it. CP… AKA, Core Points.
Core Points were one of the most frustrating resources for any awakener. Why? Because they were the only way to upgrade the rank of your skills. Whether a gene skill or a normal skill, nothing else could substitute. Without CP, a skill remained stagnant, no matter how much experience you had.
For most people, especially weaker awakeners, acquiring CP was a nightmare. It could only be sourced from creatures level 10 and above, and like EXP, it had to reach 100% before it could be spent on a single skill upgrade. Worse still, filling that CP bar was two to three times harder than filling a standard EXP bar.
"…Fuck," I muttered under my breath, resisting the urge to click my tongue.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Aoki staring at me, one brow slightly raised in silent questioning.
I gave a small shake of my head.
She held my gaze for a heartbeat longer before turning back to her own interface.
I focused again on mine.
Five stat points… nice.
I tapped into the Attributes sub-tab, distributing them where they mattered most.
****
--- Attributes ---
💪 STR: 12
🤸 AGI: 11
🛡️ END: 11
👁️ PER: 13
🧠 INT: 14
🗻 WIL: 12
****
The highest Stat any unawakened human could reach through sheer discipline and brutal training was seventeen.
My Intelligence points weren't far off, already brushing the ceiling of natural human capability.
Likely a perk of being a reincarnator.
A subtle sense of satisfaction washed through me. That small surge of growth—no matter how minor—never got old. It was… intoxicating.
Changes rippled through my body almost immediately. Not painful, not dramatic, just quietly present. Muscles tightening like coiled springs. Nerves firing a fraction faster. Breath settling deeper in my chest.
Yeah… definitely intoxicating, I thought, clenching my fist.
The moment my fingers curled inward, heat gathered instantly. A spark ignited between my knuckles, crimson light leaking through the seams of my clenched fist.
Then—FWOOOM.
A wild flame erupted, racing up my forearm until it sheathed the entire limb in brilliant, hellish red. The room's temperature spiked instantly; the air warped and rippled, as if reality itself recoiled from the heat.
The fire pulsed once—alive, hungry.
It didn't cling to my arm, it fought to escape it. Tongues of flame snapped and coiled, tearing at the air as though hunting something to burn.
Behind me, Aoki's breath hitched. The infernal glow reflected in her eyes. She didn't step back… but she didn't blink either.
The flames surged erratically—spiking, collapsing, roaring back stronger, resisting restraint. A wave of heat detonated outward, whipping my shirt and hair violently. Strangely, I felt nothing. The fire treated me as its own, scorching everything else but sparing my flesh.
{'Sir, your mana and health levels are dropping.'}
Nox's voice cut through the chaos, calm—but edged with subtle urgency.
"Huh?"
The interruption shattered my focus. The flames faltered, collapsing inward like a living thing beaten down, imploding silently. The infernal glow vanished instantly, snapping the room back to normal like a blown fuse.
Then it hit.
Exhaustion.
It slammed into me all at once. My knees buckled as dizziness rolled through my skull, the floor tilting beneath my feet. Pain ripped up my arm—sharp, vicious, as if my blood vessels were being seared from the inside.
I looked down.
Thin red lines glowed beneath my skin, veins lit like molten wires, pulsing faintly as residual heat crawled through my arm.
I hissed through clenched teeth. "What the fuck…"
My legs wobbled as I staggered toward my bag. My throat burned, bone-dry, like I'd swallowed sand. Nausea surged up hard and fast, my stomach twisting as dehydration slammed into me all at once.
I gagged once, barely keeping it down, and forced myself to breathe.
"You okay?" Aoki's voice came from behind, taut with concern, but tinged with disbelief.
"Yeah," I rasped. The word barely above a whisper.
My fingers fumbled with the zipper, hands trembling as white-hot pain flared again. I clenched my jaw until it ached.
'What's going on, Nox?' I thought, forcing grit through the pain.
{'Gene skill backlash and acute mana exhaustion, sir,'}
I grunted, yanked a water bottle from my bag, and drained it in one brutal gulp.
A sharp hiss followed.
Steam curled from the pores of my arm as the heat vented out, coiling into the air. Relief crept through me, slow, crawling. The glowing veins dimmed, retreating until my skin returned to normal. The nausea eased. The dryness faded.
But exhaustion remained.
I sank to the floor, back hitting the wall as I focused on pulling air into my lungs, one breath at a time.
When I finally dared to look up, Aoki was staring at me.
Wide-eyed. Silent.
Surprise, awe… and just a trace of fear reflected in her gaze.