I was still in my room, the glow of my new status panel fading. I picked up the other two scrolls my father had given me: [Basic Skill Scroll: Wind Blade] and [Basic Skill Scroll: Earth Wall].
I opened [Wind Blade] first.
[Ding! You have learned [Basic Wind Blade (Tier 1)]] [10x Multiplier System detected! Skill [Basic Wind Blade] has been upgraded!] [You have learned the skill: [Gale Slicer (???-Rank)] (Tier 1)]
I immediately crushed the second scroll.
[Ding! You have learned [Basic Earth Wall (Tier 1)]] [10x Multiplier System detected! Skill [Basic Earth Wall] has been upgraded!] [You have learned the skill: [Earthen Bastion (???-Rank)] (Tier 1)]
In seconds, I had learned two more ???-Rank skills. My eyes drifted to the small healing potions on my desk, also part of my father's gift. That must have cost him a significant chunk of his savings. Seeing his sacrifice, my resolve hardened. I must make him proud.
My thoughts were interrupted by my phone buzzing. It was James.
"Luke! You won't believe it!" he yelled before I could even say hello. "I awakened an [Uncommon Technopath]! It's so cool, I think I can talk to machines! We should totally team up tomorrow, hit the leveling grounds!"
I smiled. "That's great, James. Good for you, man."
"Yeah! So, you in? We can go to Area A in the Dark Forest tomorrow morning, grind some slimes!"
I hesitated. "Ah, I can't tomorrow, James. Got some... family stuff to help out with."
"Oh, okay. No problem! Maybe the day after?"
"Yeah, maybe. I'll let you know. Congrats again, man."
I hung up. I felt a little bad for lying, but I couldn't go with him. I needed to go there alone. I had to see what my [Fireball (???)] truly was.
My father gave me three skills, but as an [???mage???], I should have more. I needed ice, lightning, and support skills. But to get those, I'd need to buy skill scrolls from the Awakener Market, and that meant I needed credits. Lots of them.
My gaze drifted to my SP counter, which was still ticking up.
"Maybe I should upgrade my skills... then go to the hunting grounds to level up and earn some credits."
The next morning, my alarm went off at 5:30 AM. By 6:00 AM, I had left my house, leaving a note for my parents.
I arrived at the entrance to the Dark Forest, the main hunting ground for rookies in our city. A large sign detailed the zones:
Area A (Level 1-5): Goblins, Horned Rabbits, Forest Slimes.
Area B (Level 6-10): Hobgoblins, Dire Wolves.
Area C (Level 11-15): Orcs, Forest Trolls.
Area D (Level 16-20): Ogres, Adolescent Wyverns.
James and the other rookies would be heading into Area A, and they'd probably stay there for a week just to get to Level 5.
I, on the other hand, was planning to start in Area C. Or maybe even D.
But first...
"Status," I whispered.
I needed to check my status. It had been exactly 21 hours since my awakening. At 1,000 SP per second... that was 3,600,000 SP per hour.
My hidden system window opened, and my eyes went straight to the SP count.
[10x Multiplier System Window]
Name: Luke Arkwright
Occupation: [???Mage??? (???-Rank)]
Level: 1 (0/100 EXP)
Mana: 200/200
Skill Points (SP):75,600,000
Talent: [??? (SSS-Rank)]
Skills:
[Fireball (???-Rank)] (Tier 1)
[All-Seeing Eye (???-Rank)] (Tier 1)
[Gale Slicer (???-Rank)] (Tier 1)
[Earthen Bastion (???-Rank)] (Tier 1)
I had 75.6 million SP.
I looked at the cost to upgrade a skill from Tier 1 to Tier 2: 50,000 SP.
I laughed. This was insane.
I stood at the entrance to the Dark Forest, my SP count at a healthy 75,600,000.
"System," I commanded, "Show me the upgrade paths for my skills."
[Ding! Skill Grade upgrades:]
Basic -> Intermediate: 5,000 SP
Intermediate -> Advanced: 10,000 SP
Advanced -> Transcendent: 1,000,000 SP
[Ding! Skill Tier upgrades (unlocks new skills):]
Tier 1 -> Tier 2: 50,000 SP
Tier 2 -> Tier 3: 150,000 SP (Cost x3)
I stared at the two paths. "Wait a minute," I thought, "This is confusing. Are Grades and Tiers separate? If I upgrade my [Fireball (Basic-Rank)] to Tier 2 and unlock [Fire Burst], is [Fire Burst] also Basic-Rank? Do I have to pay 1,015,000 SP to upgrade every single skill in the Tier list to Transcendent?"
That would be insanely expensive and redundant.
The system in my head, which had been silent, suddenly pinged.
[Ding! Error detected!] [Host has identified a logical flaw in the System's progression path.] [Fixing issue...] [Ding! Update complete. Due to Host pointing out this issue, the rule has been clarified!]
[Rule Clarification: **Grade** (Basic, Adv, Transcendent) applies to the **entire Skill Tree**. **Tiers** (1-9) are the individual skills you unlock within that tree.]
[Host only needs to upgrade the **Skill Tree's Grade** once. All skills unlocked via Tiers (T1-T9) will automatically be of that Grade.]
[Example: If Host upgrades the [Fireball] Skill Tree to Transcendent-Grade, the T1 [Fireball] and the T8 [Solar Flare] will *both* be Transcendent-Grade.]
A savage grin spread across my face. "That's more like it. One payment to rule them all."
"System," I commanded, "Upgrade the [Fireball] Skill Tree from Basic-Grade to Transcendent-Grade."
The cost was the sum of all previous steps.
[Ding! Cost: 5,000 (Int) + 10,000 (Adv) + 1,000,000 (Trans) = 1,015,000 SP. Confirm?]
"Confirm."
[1,015,000 SP Deducted!] [Ding! You have successfully upgraded a Skill Tree to Transcendent-Grade!]
The instant the upgrade completed, a sound like a thunderclap boomed in my mind, so loud it made me stagger. This wasn't my 10x System. This was the World System.
[WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT]
[Congratulations! A faceless pioneer, ???, has become the first in history to achieve the TRANSCONDENT-GRADE for a skill tree!]
[The path beyond Advanced is now confirmed! All Awakeners, strive for new heights and break your limits!]
[As a reward for this world-first achievement, the pioneer ??? is granted the unique Title: [Transcendor].]
I stood frozen in the alley, completely stunned. "A... world announcement? For me?"
My own system chimed in.
[Ding! You have been awarded the Title: [Transcendor].]
[Title: Transcendor (Unique)]Effect 1: All skills are 10% more effective.Effect 2: All SP costs for Grade upgrades are reduced by 10%.
[Ding! 10x Multiplier System has detected the Title!] [Applying 10x Bonus to Title effects...]
[Title: Transcendor (Host's Version)]Effect 1: All skills are 100% more effective (2x Power).Effect 2: All SP costs for Grade upgrades are reduced by 100% (FREE).]
My jaw dropped. "Free...?"
My SP count was at 74,585,000. "System... Upgrade the [Gale Slicer], [Earthen Bastion], and [All-Seeing Eye] Skill Trees to Transcendent-Grade."
[Ding! Cost per tree: 1,015,000 SP. Discount: -1,015,000 SP.] [New Cost: 0 SP] [Upgrading 3 Skill Trees... Complete!] [All four of your Skill Trees are now Transcendent-Grade!]
My SP count remained untouched. I had just saved over 3 million SP.
"Okay," I said, my heart hammering. "Now... for the Tiers." I looked at my 74.5 million SP. "System, upgrade the [Fireball (Transcendent-Rank)] Skill Tree from Tier 1 to Tier 8."
[Ding! Initiating Tier 2-8 Unlocks...] [Total SP cost: 54,650,000. Confirm?]
"Confirm."
My mind was flooded with notifications as 7 new fire skills, from [Fire Burst] to [Solar Flare], unlocked in my mind, all at Transcendent-Rank. My SP dropped to 19,935,000.
"System, upgrade the [Gale Slicer (Transcendent-Rank)] Skill Tree from Tier 1 to Tier 7."
[Ding! Cost: 18,200,000 SP. Confirm?]
"Confirm." Six new wind skills unlocked, ending in [Tornado]. My SP dropped to 1,735,000.
"System, upgrade the [Earthen Bastion (Transcendent-Rank)] Skill Tree from Tier 1 to Tier 4."
[Ding! Cost: 650,000 SP. Confirm?]
"Confirm." My SP was now 1,085,000. And in the few seconds it took me to do all this, it was already back up to 1,135,000.
"Status."
[10x Multiplier System Window]
Name: Luke Arkwright
Occupation: ???mage???
Level: 1
Title: [Transcendor]
SP: 1,210,000... 1,211,000...
Skill Trees (All Transcendent-Rank):
▼ [Fireball] (Tiers 1-8 Unlocked)
(T1) [Fireball]
(T2) [Fire Burst]
(T3) [Flame Lance]
(T4) [Hellfire Column]
(T5) [Pyroclastic Bomb]
(T6) [Meteor Swarm]
(T7) [Sun's Vengeance]
(T8) [Solar Flare]
▼ [Gale Slicer] (Tiers 1-7 Unlocked)
(T1) [Gale Slicer]
(T2) [Wind Scythe]
(T3) [Air Cannon]
(T4) [Storm Wall]
(T5) [Vacuum Blade]
(T6) [Gale Force Armor]
(T7) [Tornado]
▼ [Earthen Bastion] (Tiers 1-4 Unlocked)
(T1) [Earthen Bastion]
(T2) [Earth Spike]
(T3) [Stone Gauntlet]
(T4) [Grasping Earth]
▼ [All-Seeing Eye] (Tier 1 Unlocked)
(T1) [Appraisal]
A/N: Thanks for reading, and if you like it, plzz add it in your collection.