I made my way back to our resting place, the forest shrouded in darkness. As soon as I arrived, I called out to Logan and told him to head to the checkpoints to raise his level. I had left him a few gifts there.
He stared at me, shocked.
Then, as if realizing something, he looked up.
I followed his gaze, and sure enough, the floating cube displaying our level rankings hovered in the night sky. My name was still at the top, now at Level 10, while the second-place rank remained at Level 6.
Logan turned back to me, his face unreadable for a moment. Then, after cursing me out with an impressive variety of insults, he stormed off toward the checkpoint.
I chuckled and climbed up my tree, settling onto a thick branch.
"Finally."
I exhaled heavily, my body relaxing as my mind settled into a calm state.
The checkpoint was cleared, and I had done it before anyone else. But it wasn't about being first. I had felt capable of completing it, and if I had ignored that feeling, it would have made me restless all night.
I opened my status and allocated the unused stat points from leveling up. Constitution increased to 20, Dexterity to 18.5.
Next, I tested [Essence Manipulation].
Now that it had reached Level 2, I wanted to see how much smoother it had become.
I focused, pulling Essence from my heart and moving it through my body.
It flowed more easily now, responding faster and with greater efficiency. Thanks to my increased Constitution and the upgraded skill, I could now handle more Essence at once.
I tried shaping it. Instead of free-flowing gas, I managed to form an uneven sphere—still crude, but it was a start.
I grinned. Just one more unit of Essence, and I could level up my talent. Excitement bubbled inside me at the thought. I stood, stretched, and dropped down from the tree.
"Power up," I whispered, activating my Generator Core.
I took a deep breath and activated my new skill.
[Psynapse Boost]
Everything sharpened in an instant.
I felt the breeze whisper across my skin. The leaves around me slowed, their edges crisp, each movement exaggerated.
My heartbeat drummed in my ears, steady and clear. My sense of smell heightened, and my vision improved dramatically.
The only downside was that both of my innate skills required Essence to function. If my tank ran dry, I'd be back to normal.
I funneled three units of Essence into Dexterity, temporarily boosting it to 21.5. Then, with my heightened senses, I closed my eyes.
I needed just one more unit of Essence to level up Generator. I decided to work on my strikes, focusing entirely on channeling Essence properly.
With [Essence Manipulation] now at Level 2, I wanted to refine its efficiency and control.
I shifted into my stance, my mind locked onto the flow of Essence in my arm.
My first punch landed against the tree, solid and controlled. I continued, each strike fueled with precision, my thoughts focused on every motion, every pulse of Essence moving through my muscles.
It took me half an hour of slow, precise punching before I finally heard the notification.
[Requirement completed]
[Talent Leveling Up…]
Suddenly, Essence stirred around me, rushing into my heart. It wasn't as overwhelming as when I first activated my talent, but it still came in waves, controlled yet powerful.
I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth, staying perfectly still. My heart heated up, its frantic beating hammering against my chest.
The process continued for about two minutes, the sensation intense but not unbearable. Then, just as suddenly as it started, everything settled.
[Talent Level Up!]
[Generator 1 → Generator 2]
I exhaled sharply.
"Damn, that hurt a little."
Shaking off the lingering discomfort, I pulled up my status and navigated to the talent section. Time to check the updates.
[Talent]
-----------------------------------------------
Talent Name: Generator
Function: Generates Essence from absorbed energy
Level: 2
Essence: 2/10 units
Level Up Requirement: 200 units of Essence generated
Progress: 2/200
Talent Upgrade Requirement: Talent Level 5
Generator Activation Command: Power Up!
Recharge Sources: Any form of energy
Abilities:-
Essence Transfer – Can transfer stored Essence to an attribute. After use, 20% of the transferred Essence unit remains as a permanent boost
Essence Infusion – Can infuse stored Essence.
-----------------------------------------------
"Wow."
There were a lot of updates to the panel.
First, my talent had increased to Level 2.
Second, my total Essence storage had doubled from 5 to 10.
Third, the requirement for the next level up was still 20 times the total storage, meaning I now needed to generate 200 units of Essence to reach Level 3.
Fourth, my Essence Transfer ability had received an upgrade. Now, 20 percent of the transferred Essence would remain as a permanent boost.
That meant if I transferred all 10 units, 2 units would stay as a permanent increase to my attributes. This was huge since I would only gain 5 unused stat points per level up until Level 25.
On top of that, if I infused all 10 units into an attribute during a fight, it would be the equivalent of gaining two levels' worth of stats instantly.
With this, I would be able to fight two levels above me without much issue, combining the boost with my skills.
Next I moved to my status section to check my attributes.
[Status]
----------------------------------------------
Name : Billion Ironhart
Race : Human
Class : N/A
Laws : N/A
Level : 10
Talent :
- Generator 2
- Essence : 2/10
Attributes :
- Strength: 25.5
- Constitution: 20
- Dexterity: 18.8
- Psynapse : 24.2
Unused Stats: 0
Skills:
- Essence Manipulation (Innate) Level 2
- Psynapse Boost (Innate) Level 1
----------------------------------------------
The status panel displayed my new skill along with the level update to Essence Manipulation.
My attributes were growing steadily—two were approaching twenty, while the other two had already reached twenty-five. There wasn't much imbalance either, which was a good sign.
I closed the status window.
My body was recovering well, but what I really needed now was some proper food.
Unfortunately, all that roamed this place were abominations, and their meat was completely out of the question, they reeked too much.
That thought reminded me of something else. I sniffed the air and immediately regretted it. I was covered in hound blood and all sorts of other filth, and the stench was unbearable.
I looked down at myself, my uniform was in tatters. With a sigh, I tore off the remaining scraps of my shirt and decided to just stay in my pants while I waited for Logan.
He was taking longer than expected.
Finally, after ten minutes, Logan arrived, grinning from ear to ear.
"I leveled up," he said.
I nodded.
"That's good. Would've been really surprising if you couldn't even kill unconscious hounds," I joked.
He coughed awkwardly.
"Yeah… thanks for that, Billion. I'll remember this favor."
I waved a hand dismissively.
"Don't mind it. Anyway, I'm going to sleep. My body needs rest. See you in the morning."
With that, I said my goodbyes, climbed up the tree, and fell asleep almost instantly, my heart at peace.
***
The next morning, I stirred from my sleep. My eyes blinked open, and after a quick glance around to confirm I was still on the same branch with no danger nearby, I stood up, yawning and stretching.
My gaze drifted up to the floating projector in the sky, and seeing my name still at the top of the rankings, I smiled.
I liked that.
Now, there were two important things I needed to take care of.
First, figure out what the hell that glass core actually did.
Second, and far more urgent—find a place to take a shit and a bath.
"Hey, Logan! Wake up, it's morning already," I called out.
From the nearby tree, I heard a groggy mumble.
"Yeah… just two more minutes…"
I chuckled.
"Oh, is that so?"
Without hesitation, I moved between the branches and jumped onto his tree.
I landed lightly on Logan's branch, crouching to keep my balance.
He was sprawled out against the trunk, snoring softly, his arms crossed like he was hugging himself for warmth. His mouth hung open slightly, and a faint line of drool trailed down his cheek.
An idea popped into my head
Carefully, I positioned myself over him, gripped the branch above for support, and swung my legs forward, planting both feet against his side. Then, with a light push—
"Rise and shine, buddy!"
Logan jolted awake with a strangled yelp as he lost his balance. He flailed, grabbed at nothing, and in a glorious display of morning confusion, tumbled right off the branch.
With a loud thud, he landed flat on his back in the dirt below.
Silence.
Then, from below:
"…Ow."
I peeked over the edge, grinning.
"Good morning, sunshine. Sleep well?"
Logan groaned, sitting up and rubbing his back.
"Man, no pranks in the morning, that's the rule," Logan groaned, rubbing his back.
"That's fair," I said, hopping down beside him. "But rules are meant to be broken and we've got more important things to do."
"Like what?" he asked, still glaring.
I patted my stomach.
"For one, I need to take a dump and a bath. So pick up my bag and follow me."
Logan gagged.
"Dude, what the hell? Too much information!"
I shrugged, grabbed the glass core cage, and started walking.
"Better get used to it. We're stuck in this place for a while."
Behind me, I heard him mutter some gibberish which I obviously ignored.