"That reminds me," Ryuk said after finishing the dishes, drying his wet hands with a towel nearby.
A soft glow began to coalesce in his palms, and Mrs. Lynia watched as a golden card appeared in his grasp.
He handed it to her.
"This looks like the Ammamoran Visa card," she said, and Ryuk nodded.
"It is. After I passed the test and became an Arch Guard, they mentioned a service I’d be informed about in three days."
"But... I think I missed it, and clueless about what to do next," he admitted, watching as a beam of light shone from Mrs. Lynia’s right pupil and scanned the golden card.
"I’m using my device to interpret the card for you," she explained.
Soon, a few new holograms flickered into the air, revealing to both Ryuk and Mrs. Lynia.
Among the most eye-catching was a blinking timer and a negative counter. Looking closer, he could make out messages and a specific location.
"Seems like they already sent you a message and a venue for a meeting," she said, expanding the holograms.
"I had no idea," Ryuk muttered.
"And they’re deducting 100 Ammamoran Points from your panel every day you fail to show up. It’s been pending all this time. Quite harsh."
She handed the card back to him.
"But I think I know the venue they’re directing you to. The new work week starts tomorrow."
"I’ll decode the location before morning and check the Ammonet for any information that might help."
"Just make sure you wake up early, okay?" she added.
Ryuk nodded and took the card.
"Thank you. Morgaine’s still in the Family Grounds, right?"
She nodded again.
"She lives there now but comes home once every full moon. You don’t have to worry, as I’m sure she’s doing just fine."
From the side window, he could see the fading light of the sunset.
"I’ll see you tomorrow then, Mrs. Lynia," he said.
"Your room is on the eastern side of the second floor. Goodnight, Ryuk," she replied with a wave as he disappeared upstairs.
She grabbed a refresher bottle, spritzing the air before switching off the lights and heading back to her room.
______
TAP
TAP
TAP
The sound echoed through the Ammamoran-designed bedroom, rhythmic finger taps against a table.
They came from Ryuk, who lay on the bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling with a neutral expression.
While it looked like he was simply staring, the truth from his point of view was far more complex.
Before him, a panel hovered:
[System Upgrading...97%]
[Estimated Time Left: 10 minutes]
’A system upgrade, huh? That’s new,’ he thought, resuming his tapping.
Exactly ten minutes later, a new panel appeared.
[System Upgrade Complete]
[Adapting To The Host’s New Essence]
[Adapting And Creating New System Tabs]
[Gathering Stats and Radaring Essence and Associated Bonds]
[Full Scan Completed!]
[Rebooting System...]
{1%...32%...67%...92%...100%}
[System Upgrade And Reboot Complete]
[Welcome Back, Ryuk,] the panel blinked to life with a voice just as he remembered it — except even clearer this time.
"Hey, system..." Ryuk replied aloud.
[Accessing Command Possible:
{Activating System Interface}
[Would Host Like to Activate System Interface?]
’Yes.’
╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║ [ SYSTEM INTERFACE 2.0 ] ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ▸ Name: Ryuk Knull ║
║ ▸ Race: Beyonder Dragon ║
║ ▸ Age: 18! ║
║ ▸ Level: 186 ║
║ ▸ EXP: 2,992,000 / 25,000,000 ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║CULTIVATION ║
║ ▸ Current Energy: Hurricane Essence ║
║ ▸ Cultivation Stage: Imitation Stage ║
║ ▸ Hurricane to Body Sync: 70% ║
║ ▸ Energy State: Stable ║
║ ▸ Hurricane Energy Points: 10,000 ║
═══
"It’s quite the change," Ryuk muttered, eyes scanning the panel.
The design and elaborate Cultivation classifications were vastly different from what he was used to.
’Looks like I clocked another year while I was in slumber. Officially an adult now,’ he mused, chuckling softly.
But his attention drifted to the race tag.
’Both of my original bloodlines are truly gone for good.’
He examined the cultivation stats.
’All my previous energies... gone. Now I only have Hurricane Energy. Furthermore, it’s in a stable state.’
’And my current cultivation is the Imitation Stage? So, Hurricane Energy has its stages too.’
’Good thing the system recognizes that.’
’Hurricane to Body Sync. I don’t fully understand it, but from the name, I get the idea... and 70% is quite the number.’
’But 25 million EXP for the next level? That’s insane!’ Ryuk furrowed his brows.
He had just over two million for now.
Gathering the remaining experience naturally would take far too long—unless he completed some really difficult quests or stumbled upon level-up cards.
At this point, level-up cards were his best bet as waiting to farm 25 million EXP wasn’t ideal at all.
He moved on to the next tab.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ⚙︎ ATTRIBUTE PANEL ⚙︎ ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ⬤ ▸ 10,000 ║
║ ↳ [Formerly: Strength] ║
║ ▸ Raw might, planetary force output. ║
║ ║
║ ⬤ Velocis ▸ 10,000 ║
║ ↳ [Formerly: Agility] ║
║ ▸ Speed, maneuverability, phase shift. ║
║ ║
║ ⬤ 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 ▸ 10,000 ║
║ ↳ [Formerly: Endurance] ║
║ ▸ Resilience, regeneration, collapse limit.║
║ ║
║ ⬤ ▸ 10,000 ║
║ ↳ [Formerly: Intelligence] ║
║ ▸ Multiversal comprehension, system hack. ║
║ ║
║ ⬤ 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘴 ▸ 5,000 ║
║ ↳ [Formerly: Charisma] ║
║ ▸ Presence, pressure, divine influence. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ✦ Advanced Attributes ✦ ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ⬤ ▸ 10,000 ║
║ ⬤ ▸ 5,000 ║
║ ⬤ ▸ 1,000║
║ ⬤ ▸ 5,000 ║
║ ⬤ 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 ▸ 12,000 ║
║ ⬤ ▸ 5.0 ║
║ ↳ Chaos left in the wake of presence. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ⬤ Important Note: All Advanced Attributes cannot Be Artificially Increased With Attribute Points ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ⬤ Attributes Points Possessed: 0║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
"The name of each stat had undergone quite a significant change, but not only that, the majority of stat points had increased."
"My previous highest stats points were 6,000, and now the majority of them are at 10,000."
"That’s a 4,000-point increase," Ryuk muttered, analyzing the interface in depth.
’Now, it makes sense why, even though my last level was kept, the experience point needed is 25 million. That is what the system thinks is an appropriate number to increase my current power level.’
’And seems like there are more new stats too,’ Ryuk thought, looking through the Advanced skill panel.
Previously, the system only analyzed five of his stats, but now, the total number it tracked accurately had risen to eleven.
While the advanced stats couldn’t be upgraded with Attribute Points — and would most likely evolve or shift based on the system’s scans and future growth — Ryuk still found the expansion to be a massive upgrade.
With this, he could finally monitor his overall balance and pinpoint his weakest areas—knowledge that would help him quickly address and improve where he was lacking.
And right now, that weakness was clear: Energy Control, sitting at just 1,000 points, followed closely by Willpower.
’Truly an upgrade,’