The world came back to Mike slowly, like resurfacing from a long, quiet dream. A faint hum pulsed through his bones, rhythmic and warm, and for a moment he thought the Clone’s dying scream was still echoing in him. But no. The chaotic imprint had been consumed, fully absorbed, leaving behind only a strange, volatile tension somewhere deep in the center of his being, like a knot of static waiting for the right moment to unravel.
Then the chime came.
Bright. Crisp. Absolute.
[LEVEL UP!]
[You have reached Level 8.]
[System Upgrade Triggered: Full Status Interface Unlocked.]
[Displaying Updated Character Sheet.]
A window unfolded in front of him, not abruptly like usual, but with a smooth, deliberate expansion, as though the System itself was taking its time to present something important.
The design was different—cleaner, more precise, with sharper lines and an organization that immediately felt more mature. No clutter, no redundant fields. This looked like the real thing, not the simplified UI meant for new initiates.
Below it, the full sheet unfolded in perfect detail.
Race: Human
Class: Chaotic Stormbringer (Unique)
Status: Stable
Location: Tutorial Instance — Outer Trial Boundary
Strength: 21
Agility: 28
Endurance: 21
Vitality: 21
Perception: 21
Arcane Power: 17
Arcane Control: 17
Mana Capacity: 17
Lightning — Rank C
Chaos — Rank ???
Stormstrike — Rank D (Rare, Active)
Description: Imbue melee attacks with lightning.
Cost: Low Mana
Static Step — Rank E (Rare, Active)
Description: Short-range displacement guided by lightning.
Cost: Moderate Mana
Stormsense — Rank D (Rare, Passive)
Description: Detect movement and mana disturbances.
Chaos Pulse — Rank F (Mythic, Special)
Description: Emit an unstable burst of chaotic mana.
Cost: High Mana, minor self-harm risk.
Chaos Clone — Rank F (Unique, Unique)
Description: Form an unstable duplicate from chaotic echo-mana.
Cost: High Mana
Resonant Integration — Rank F (Rare, Passive)
Description: Slight reduction of chaos backlash.
Slots: 10 / 10
? Verdant Heart Core (Minor)
? Conductive Tutorial Blade
? Basic Tutorial Garments
? Minor materials
Tutorial Main Quest: First Selection
Time Remaining: 39 hours
Objective: Survive and advance
Optional: Eliminate hostile candidates
As the interface faded into transparency, Mike let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. The numbers felt… substantial, more real than the previous iteration. The new framework suited him—organized, structured, direct. It made the chaotic knot in his core feel even stranger by contrast.
Lumi nudged his knee gently, tails brushing his leg like warm feather dusters.
“Yeah,” Mike murmured. “New level, new sheet.”
“You fully awake now?” Arin called from a short distance up the path. She’d been standing guard with Marina while Vex paced impatiently, occasionally glancing at the brush as though expecting someone—or something—to leap out again.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Mike rose slowly, stretching cautiously as the last remnants of level-up energy settled into his limbs. Agility surged first, fast and sharp, then the physical strength caught up behind it. He felt balanced now, not in some artificial “game sense,” but in a grounded, physical way. Like his body simply fit together better than before.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m good.”
Arin approached, studying him carefully. “Your… everything just spiked.”
“Level up,” Mike replied. “System updated my interface. Full status unlocked.”
Her brows rose in surprise, then slowly lowered in contemplation. “So eight is the threshold.”
“Seems like it.”
Vex stopped pacing. “Wait—level eight already? We’re level three. Marina’s barely four because she keeps healing us.”
“I don’t keep healing you because I want to,” Marina muttered softly, cheeks warming in embarrassment. “I keep healing you because you keep running into danger.”
Vex grinned. “And I appreciate your service.”
Marina rolled her eyes and tapped her staff lightly against the dirt.
Arin crossed her arms. “Anyway. We should move.”
Mike nodded. The clearing was still far too quiet. Not in the ominous sense of danger, but in the subtle, almost respectful pause that followed life-or-death moments. Like the forest itself was waiting to see what they’d do next.
They continued walking.
The forest grew denser as they moved forward, the trunks taller and the leaves darker, shading the path in deep green. Sunlight filtered through in soft gold lines that danced across the ground. The air felt subtly charged, like the atmosphere before a storm—something his affinity noticed immediately, resonating faintly in the back of his mind.
They didn’t speak much. Arin led with deliberate steps, posture relaxed but alert. Marina followed, occasionally tapping her staff on exposed roots to summon the soft glow that eased her nerves. Vex hung near the edges of the group, never quiet for long but subdued enough that his usual chatter faded.
Mike walked behind them, Lumi perched on his shoulder, watching the branch lines like a hawk.
It wasn’t long before the silence broke—by something snarling in the underbrush.
Arin reacted instantly, blade drawn in the space of a breath. “Left!”
Mike’s Stormsense flared a heartbeat later—slower than hers this time, he noted.
A wolf-like creature lunged from the shadows, eyes glowing with residual Verdant Maw taint. Its spine was lined with half-grown roots that pulsed with sickly green light. Marina conjured a ward without hesitation, a shimmering veil of pale blue intercepting the wolf’s jaws as they snapped toward Arin.
Vex dashed around the flank, daggers already in motion, each step so light it barely disturbed the leaves beneath him. He struck at the tendrils along the wolf’s back, severing a few with quick, precise slashes.
Arin seized the opening. Her blade sliced cleanly through the creature’s ribs.
Mike surged forward only when the wolf turned toward Marina, preparing to leap. He didn’t hesitate; lightning gathered around his fist almost instinctively.
“Stormstrike.”
His punch connected with the wolf’s neck. Lightning arced violently through its body, snapping tendrils, rupturing corrupted veins. The creature spasmed, collapsed, and lay still as smoke rose faintly from the scorched fur.
A soft chime echoed.
[Evolved Wolf — Defeated]
XP Gained (Party Split).
Vex whistled. “You fried it like a cheap motherboard.”
Mike shrugged. “It tried to bite someone.”
“Yeah, but still. That was stylish.”
Marina giggled nervously. “I can’t believe we’re saying sentences like that now.”
“Believe it,” Arin said.
They resumed walking.
As they progressed, something in the environment changed. The air thickened, not in a suffocating way, but in a charged, ritualistic one. The ground shifted from soil to faintly smoothed stone. Carved patterns—old, weathered symbols—lined the path leading upward.
The forest opened into a massive clearing.
A dome of shimmering energy enclosed a large platform carved from polished obsidian-like stone. At the center of the platform rose a wide staircase leading to a towering monolith, its surface etched with countless runes that shifted like they were breathing.
Every step of the staircase radiated a strong, ancient presence.
Mike stopped walking.
Arin did too.
No one needed to say what it was. They all felt it.
“Trial of Awakening,” Mike murmured.
Marina nodded slowly. “It feels… alive.”
Vex rubbed his arms. “It feels like it wants something.”
The System orb drifted upward and pulsed brightly.
[Trial Detected: THE AWAKENING]
[Entry Protocol Engaged]
The air trembled softly.
A second notification followed:
[All candidates must ascend alone.]
[Assistance prohibited.]
[Failure results in elimination.]
Marina inhaled shakily. “We really have to do this alone.”
“We do,” Arin said, voice steady.
Mike knelt as Lumi hopped gently from his shoulder. The fox pressed its forehead to Mike’s hand with surprising softness. Mike stroked his fur slowly, the warmth grounding him.
“I’ll be fine,” he whispered. “Wait for me here.”
Lumi sat beside Marina, tails wrapped around himself, eyes bright with worry but trust.
Mike rose, exchanged a brief look with the others, and stepped toward the base of the stairs.
“See you at the top,” he said.
He placed his foot on the first step.
The monolith pulsed.
Light surged around him.
The world dissolved into white.
The Trial had begun.
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