[Congratulations, host, for unlocking the Endless Evolution System.]
[Due to system binding, host's Psychic ability will be strengthened by a hundredfold.]
[Commencing strengthening...]
[Strengthening complete. Congratulations for unlocking three new skills. Please check your status by calling out "Status" in your mind.]
Cale froze.
His eyes widened. He couldn't believe his ears.
'A system?'
He'd read about systems in his past life.
System. The sudden, miraculous aid granted by a mysterious source. Something like a cheat code for life.
"I got one…?"
A second passed. Then he muttered, "Status."
His mind flashed white for a heartbeat. Then words appeared before his eyes, floating in a rectangular panel.
…
Name: Cale Virell
Species: Human
….
[Martial]
Rank: Apprentice
Blood Vitality: 0.1
Physique: 4
﹂Strength: 3
﹂Endurance: 5
﹂Dexterity: 4
Martial Arts: None
…
[Psychic]
Rank: Rank 1
Inherent Ability: Shadow
Skills:
﹂Shadow Summon Level 1: Allows user to summon their own shadow. The summoned shadow's size and traits depend on its strength.
﹂Shadow Eater Level 1 (New): Absorbs a portion of another being's shadow. Affects stats and techniques. 10% of absorbed shadow's stats will be permanently shared with user.
﹂Shadow Gaze Level 1 (New): Grants the ability to see the shadows of all beings.
﹂Shadow Assimilation Level 1 (New): Temporarily merges the user with their summoned shadow, allowing you to use the Shadow Summons's stats. User's presence is greatly diminished, becoming undetectable. In this state, the user may enter shadows and move through them.
…
Cale swept his eyes over the details.
"Name and species are easy to understand."
He liked that Martial and Psychic sections were separated. It made things easier to interpret. There was no need to guess which part belonged to which path.
"Rank: Apprentice," he repeated, rubbing the back of his neck.
The Martial path was something he had only recently dabbled in. It was to cover for his previous weak Psychic ability.
As far as he knew, the ranking system went like this:
Apprentice Martial Artist
Rank 1 Martial Artist
Rank 2 Martial Artist
Rank 3 Martial Artist
That was the general structure. He'd heard some elite families had internal ranks beyond those, but officially, those four were the known ranks.
An Apprentice wasn't considered a real Martial Artist. It just meant you'd started walking the path. That's all.
"To reach Rank 1, you need Blood Vitality of 1 and a punching force of 1,000 kilograms," he said.
"For Rank 2, Blood Vitality of 10 and punching force of 3,000 kilograms.
"Rank 3 needs Blood Vitality of 100 and 10,000 kilograms punching force."
He sat back down on the edge of the bed, thinking it through again.
The way the requirements jumped made sense.
The stronger you got, the more exponential the growth became.
Just reaching Rank 2 was ten times harder than Rank 1, and Rank 3 was an entirely different beast.
His eyes narrowed.
"I can see Blood Vitality in my status. But not punching force."
He tapped his finger against the air as if poking the status screen.
"Instead, it's showing Physique... made up of Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity."
That was when something clicked.
Punching force was determined mainly by Strength. Everyone could deduce that. But what if the rest of the stats also played a role in a less obvious way?
"Most Martial Artists only train Strength. They ignore the other things that make up their Physique," Cale said.
He remembered the bullies that attacked the original Cale on daily basis.
Their bodies were ripped, but their movements were stiff. Their attacks were powerful, but easy to dodge.
"If that's the case… maybe that's why Martial Artists are weaker than Psychics of the same rank."
Psychics didn't need to train their bodies. Their strength came from their awakened minds.
But Martial Artists depended entirely on physical growth, and if that growth was unbalanced, then it left weaknesses.
He leaned forward.
"But if I train all three stats—Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity—together, maybe I can change that. Maybe I can become a Martial Artist who is as strong as a Psychic of the same rank, and perhaps even stronger."
It was just a theory. There was no confirmation. But it made sense.
And if he was right, he could become a Martial Artist that was on par with Psychics.
He turned his attention to the Psychic section of the screen. It was much simpler.
"All Psychics start from Rank 1 and evolve from there. Rank 2, 3, and so on. Normally, they just train their abilities and they don't know when exactly they can rank up.
"But seeing the levels in my skills, I suppose the rank up will happen for him when I master the skills to maximum level."
Upon awakening the potential of mind, each person gained a unique ability.
In his case, it was Shadow.
Before the system had stepped in, his Shadow ability had been barely functional. It could do little more than create a useless dark doll.
Now, he had actual powerful skills.
He read through them again, especially the three marked (New).
Shadow Eater stood out the most. The idea of absorbing someone's shadow and gaining a portion of their stats permanently was beyond anything he'd ever heard.
Even elite Psychic techniques only allowed temporary buffs or short-term borrowing. This was permanent. If used right, it could let him steal growth itself.
It was helpful not only as a Psychic but as a Martial Artist too. By gaining stats from others, he could grow stronger rapidly.
Then there was Shadow Assimilation. Not only did it hide him from detection, but it allowed him to move through shadows.
That kind of mobility could decide entire battles.
Shadow Gaze was a mysterious skill. It had barely any description, and the description was quite useless.
But Cale had a feeling that this skill was equally important, if not more important than other skills.
"I need to test these skills," he said, standing up again.