’Well,’ Alex thought, ’it’s been a while since I checked my system interface. Let’s see exactly where I stand right now.’
He willed it, and the screen bloomed into existence in front of him, unfolding in its full display and glory.
✧ ✦ ✧
[ System Interface ]
[ Name : Alexander Abyss ]
[ Race : Human ]
[ Bloodline : Evolvari ]
[ Aspect : Adaptation ]
[ Aspect Rank : 1 (Awaken) ]
[ Level : 0 ]
[ Experience Points : 0/10 ]
[ Attributes ]
[ Strength : 30 ]
[ Agility : 30 ]
[ Vitality : 30 ]
[ Magic : 50 ]
[ Will : 110 ]
[ Attribute Points : 0 ]
[ Special Points Pool : (Empty) ]
[ Skills : Mana Absorption ]
[ Adaptation : Shadow Element ( Current Synchronization : 99.8% ) ]
✧ ✦ ✧
Alex felt a strange thrill whenever he opened the system interface.
It never quite got old, no matter how many times the same panel of glowing text unfolded before his eyes.
And why wouldn’t it thrill him.
He’d spent much of his seven years training relentlessly, chasing every scrap of progress with a stubbornness that bordered on obsession, and watching the real-time impact of all that effort laid bare in cold, undeniable numbers was, to say the least, one of the best joys of his current life.
’My level and experience points are still sitting at zero.’ Alex thought.
’But I guess that will change very soon...’
His eyes wandered below that.
The Attributes section.
It was the main dish.
He let his gaze settle there, unhurried, focusing on each of his attributes in turn, the way a craftsman might inspect his own tools before a job.
’Strength, Agility, Vitality, have all reached the 30 range now.’ Alex thought, and a small flicker of satisfaction warming his chest at the progress laid out plainly before him.
Numbers that had once crawled upward in agonizing fractions now sat solid and whole, proof of years spent grinding through pain he no longer bothered to count.
’Magic has reached 50, and my Will has finally crossed into the three-digit mark of 110.’ Alex noted proudly, letting his gaze linger on that last number a moment longer than the rest, something almost reverent in the way he studied it.
There was a good reason none of them sat a bit further into decimals, and were instead perfect whole integers, each one a clean, deliberate milestone rather than an accident of time.
’I started to focus entirely on shadow element synchronization after I hit the plus-twenty mark on all my attributes a few weeks ago,’ Alex remembered, tracing back through the choice he’d made, replaying the weeks of narrowed focus that had led him here.
’And I think I did the right thing, I’m almost there, I just need a little more push, I can feel it, something’s going to happen and I can’t wait for it!’ He was practically buzzing at the thought of what was coming, a restless energy humming just beneath his skin.
"Did we receive any letter or message from Eclipse this week?" Alex asked, looking up from the glowing interface, the question slipping out before he’d fully decided to ask it.
"I think we’ll receive it in a few days." Zara replied thoughtfully.
He had been exchanging letters with Eclipse for the past seven years now.
Of course, she had visited a handful of times, but she only ever came for work, and even when she was there, she wasn’t able to spend much real time with him, not for lack of wanting to, but because she still had to keep working on herself.
He understood that, even if some quiet part of him wished things could be different.
"Last time we heard from her, she was already on her way to the Mid Ascension rank." Zara said,
"Though I’m not sure what her current level is."
"What was the separation people use inside a rank?" Alex asked her, genuinely curious now, the earlier thought of Eclipse fading into the back of his mind.
"Well, when you start to level up," Zara began, and Alex shamelessly laid back down onto her lap, making her mouth twitch mid-sentence.
"As you already know, my little prodigy, after entering the level range of any rank, let’s say you entered level one or above, the level required to enter the Awaken rank," Zara paused here, looking down at his face before poking the tip of his nose with her right hand’s index finger.
*Poke*
Alex shook his head to dislodge the offending finger, though he made no real effort to sit up.
"Except for you, and maybe her..." Zara added, a strange look crossing her face, there and gone before he could properly read it.
"Then from level one to five you’re classified as an Early Awaken ranked person,"
"It describes the early stage of your entry into this level, where you’re still learning to get used to your new powers, your class, and the general things." Zara explained properly, her tone settling into something almost lecture-like, patient in a way that only came from long practice.
"Then from six to ten you’re considered to be a Mid Awaken ranked person,"
"Here, people have a good grasp of their class and their spells, and you’re no longer a beginner." Zara said, resting a hand gently on his head, moving it slowly up and down through his hair.
Alex did not pull away this time.
Definitely because he was more focused on the information.
Not at all because he was enjoying it!
"Then there’s eleven to fifteen, High Awaken,"
"Here you’ve reached a stage where you have an excellent grasp of your class and spells, along with the mana core, at least a good grasp of how to use mana more efficiently than before," Zara continued, tilting her head slightly, and a peaceful atmosphere seemed to settle over the room like a held breath, the quiet between her words stretching comfortably long.
"Then, at last, level sixteen to twenty, this is the Peak Awaken ranked person,"
"Here, people have mostly mastered everything available and integrated it into their fighting style,"
"At this range, it’s the ultimate expression of your rank fully realized in combat,"
"And also, you can start looking for a way to cross the threshold into the next rank once you’ve passed the level twenty range." Zara finished the explanation there, then raised both hands and patted them lightly against his cheeks, a slight smirk tugging at her mouth.
Alex immediately sat up from the second best lap p— from doing his shadow synchronization.
Some things need breaks sometimes.
That’s it.
Nothing more!
"I see," Alex said, thinking out loud, still turning the information over in his head.
"Well, I did hear there was a five-level range sub-classification, so that’s how it works, huh..."
"Yes, that’s how things are." Zara said.
Then she looked at him and added, "But I don’t really know how you’re going to grow, so we’ll see what happens,"
"Classifying you in the same range as others would be a bit difficult, I think." Zara said, voicing what she truly thought.
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End of Chapter 94: System Interface
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