The tear in space finally sealed shut, and with it, the chaotic winds and warped spatial currents vanished.
The water around me stilled, the violent vortexes and surging pressure fading like they had never existed.
I pushed myself upward, feeling the strange density of the water pressing against me but after everything I'd just endured, it barely registered.
My body was already numb, still echoing with the aftershocks of pain that had wracked it moments ago.
So I kept swimming.
When I finally broke the surface, I gasped and dragged myself up the rocky edge of the crater.
My limbs shook as I climbed out, but I managed to flop onto my back, soaking wet, eyes staring blankly at the massive dome overhead.
I exhaled.
Then I closed my eyes, just for a moment.
And for the first time in what felt like hours, I felt… at peace. Not good. Not whole. But quiet.
My body didn't scream anymore. My mind wasn't clawing at the edges.
After a while, I opened my eyes again. I knew I had ignored a whole barrage of notifications earlier, somewhere between almost dying and being reshaped from the inside out.
The last thing I remembered seeing was the start of my talent upgrade.
I blinked and focused. The backlog of notifications slid into view.
[Initiating Talent Upgrade…]
[Initiating Custom Evolution…]
[Essence Channels Established: Incomplete Circulatory System Formed]
[Internal Optimization In Progress…]
[Innate Skill Synergy Detected]
– Essence Shaping
– Essence Circulation
– Essence Refinement
– Essence Shift
[Synchronization in Progress…]
[Synchronization Finished]
[Optimization Finished]
[Custom Evolution Complete]
[Talent Upgrade Complete]
[Milestone Achieved: Custom Evolution Before Level 100]
[Innate Ability Acquired]
[Essence Engine – Level 3]
I blinked at the notifications, my eyes still trying to make sense of all the messages flooding my vision.
"Damn… that's a lot. What the hell did you do this time, Mr. System?" I muttered.
All I wanted was to create a few channels. Get a simple circulation skill. Maybe refine my control a bit. I didn't expect to trigger some kind of system-wide meltdown.
But no, the System didn't just hand me a skill and call it a day.
It went full mad scientist.
I sighed and began scanning through the notifications one by one, trying to wrap my head around everything that had just happened.
The more I read, the more it started to make a weird kind of sense, if you squinted and tilted your head sideways.
Apparently, modifying my body before reaching Level 100 was a big deal. A milestone, even. One the System clearly wasn't prepared to let go unnoticed.
So it called it a "Custom Evolution."
I wasn't sure if that really counted as [Race Evolution], but... it seemed to think so.
Maybe those Essence channels I carved were more significant than I first realized. I remembered the vision of the grey man and the lines on his body, maybe I'd just taken the first step toward that.
And since I wasn't Level 100, the System did what it called a custom evolution, and my talent? Yeah, that thing saw an opportunity and jumped in for a free upgrade. The whole process got mutated, force-started, and completed before I even had a chance to scream about it.
Then there was the skill synergy. Circulation, Refinement, Shaping, and Shift, somehow all of them had fused into something deeper. And the result? A brand-new passive ability: Essence Engine… already at Level 3.
And apparently, from the System's perspective, the channels I carved were still incomplete.
I scoffed and casually flipped my finger toward the glowing dome above, half-wishing the System was a man watching me from somewhere.
"Showoff."
My mind drifted back to the strange sensations during the chaos, the feeling of marks being etched across my body.
Especially the one right between my eyebrows. I touched the spot gently, expecting to feel a bump or scar. But there was nothing. Smooth skin. I'd have to check for any marks later.
Then my thoughts returned to that white smoke, the one that came out of the space tear and went straight into my chest.
And speaking of that... what was up with the whole space-tearing event?
It felt like too many surprises had been thrown at me in a single moment. The System really was going crazy.
I closed my eyes again, this time focusing inward, zooming in on the core that had just gone through its transformation.
And what I saw made me freeze.
There, at the very center of the core, floated a tiny white sphere, calm, silent, and completely still. No spinning, no pulses. Just... there.
But the weirdest part?
There was no Essence.
I blinked in confusion.
"Where did all that Essence go?"
I remembered a massive amount of it flooding into my heart earlier. Enough to make me feel like I was being torn apart. But now? It was just… gone. Vanished. Not even a trace.
I focused harder on the core, studying it more carefully. The structure hadn't changed in size, my heart still looked the same but now I could clearly see the Essence channels I'd carved earlier.
Except they weren't like before.
These were thicker. Deeper. Glowing in a solid violet hue.
And then I noticed the symbols.
All over the surface of my heart, strange markings had been engraved, symbols I'd never seen before. They pulsed faintly with light, but I couldn't understand what they meant.
My brows furrowed as I stared.
So many changes. So many questions. And all I had to explain any of it were a few flashy notifications and a headache.
"Come on, System," I muttered. "You could at least give me a user manual."
I pushed myself up and sat cross-legged, deciding to check the updates in my status.
[Status]
----------------------------------------------
Name : Billion Ironhart
Race : Human
Class : Essence Noblesse
Laws : N/A
Rank: Mortal
Level : 40
Talent :
- Generator Nexus 1
- Essence : 0/55 (+20)
- Soul Shackle : 0
Attributes :
- Strength: 201
- Constitution: 200
- Dexterity: 203
- Psynapse : 244
Skills:
- Essence Engine (Innate) Level 3 (new)
- Psynapse Boost (Innate) Level 8
- Seismic Burst Level 4
- Havoc Sfera Level 2
- Blitz Hakai Level 3
Abilities:
- Apex Body – I (Passive)
--------------------------------------------------
I blinked and rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn't seeing things.
My talent's name... it wasn't 'Generator' anymore.