’It’s not showing my name.’
At first, that might’ve seemed like an error. But I knew the reason.
Shadow wasn’t just a weapon.
It was one of the Supreme God’s thirteen treasures, forged specifically for an assassin.
Even at its weakest, it had inherited related properties.
One of them was the ability to erase its master’s record from System.
System usually recorded everything. Your species, your stats, your class, even your name.
If someone used Inspect or any other tracking skill, they could trace your identity through your recorded data.
But now, that wasn’t possible for me.
The moment I gained Shadow, it had erased my name from the System’s registry.
That was no small feat. And I was thankful for it.
In Wageah, people paid fortunes for items that could disrupt or hide their System record for even a few minutes.
I had it permanently. That alone made me harder to track than 90% of people.
I shifted my focus to the rest of the screen.
Species: Human. Rank: 1.
Humans weren’t at the bottom of the pyramid, but they weren’t far from it either. At least they weren’t Rank 0.
That title went to trash-tier species [Slimes] that barely had sentience.
Rank 1 species like humans or goblins were fragile but adaptable. They didn’t get stat bonuses, or innate skills.
But they had potential. Humans in particular were capable to evolving into powerful species if correct conditions were met.
Higher rank species gave stat bonuses, special body constitutions, and skills. It was natural that a lot of people wanted to evolve.
Next, I glanced at the stat list.
Strength: 0
Dexterity: 0
Endurance: 0
Intelligence: 99
Spirit: 0.
’My stats are terrible.’
I already expected that. I was a baby, after all.
The stat values weren’t absolute.
Anything under 1 was rounded down to zero. So even if my Strength was 0.9, it’d still show up as 0.
At this age, I barely had muscle control. That explained low Strength and Dexterity.
Strength determined physical force.
Dexterity covered flexibility, coordination, and reaction speed.
Together, they created what most people called Agility.
For assassins, agility was everything. Speed without control got you killed. Control without speed meant you got left behind.
Endurance affected how long you could last physically, how many hits you could take, and how long you could run without breaking down.
’Right now, I’m basically useless in every physical sense.’
But then there was Intelligence: 99.
That stood out.
’That’s... odd. A baby’s brain shouldn’t have that high a stat.’
I tapped my head lightly—well, I tried to.
My hands still had that weird floppy reflex most newborns had. But the thought was there.
’Maybe it’s due to the Shadow that I have such high Intelligence.’
Either way, my thought process wasn’t a mess of baby gibberish thanks to high Intelligence.
Intelligence determined how fast you learned, how deep you could think, and how well you adapted to complex concepts.
It was a necessary stat for spellcasters and strategists. Usually, learning special skills, or techniques needed a minimum Intelligence stat.
I was thankful to have it this high, though it made the contrast with my Spirit stat more frustrating.
Spirit: 0.
If Intelligence was the brain’s capacity, Spirit was its fuel.
It decided how much mental strain you could handle, how many skills you could use before collapsing, how long you could focus, how well you resisted illusions and mind-related attacks.
’A 0 Spirit stat is going to be a problem for my skill training.’
I scrolled down to my class.
[Shadow] — Rank 0.
In Wageah, people could gain multiple classes.
Each class had its own path and progressed differently. But that was a long-term concern. Right now, I only had one Class, and I needed to make it count.
Class Skill: Shadow Summon — Level 1
Description: Allows user to summon their own shadow. The summoned shadow’s size and traits depend on the shadow’s stats. Its duration and range are determined by the user’s Spirit stat.
I took a breath and focused.
’Shadow Summon.’
A sharp, pulsing strain hit the center of my mind.
My shadow shifted.
It peeled off the floor and rose, mimicking my baby form. Small, wobbly, semi-solid. It stood next to me, head tilted, as if waiting for a command.
I moved it with a thought. It crawled to the left.
I pulled it back. Sent it forward. Brought it back again.
’It listens well.’
But that was it.
The Shadow Summon had no physical presence.
Right now, it couldn’t interact with the world at all. It was just a semi-solid illusion that followed my orders.
Still, it was a start.
’I remember back when I first got this skill. It made me doubt if this was a Supreme Treasure.’
I shook my head, recalling the past.
It was after my [Shadow] reached Rank 1, that I realized the first skill was just a warm-up. The later skills were overwhelmingly powerful.
The summon faded after ten seconds.
’Tch. That’s barely anything.’
It matched what I feared.
With Spirit stat at 0, I could only hold the summon briefly.
To rank up [Shadow] and get new skills, I had to get the Shadow Summon skill to Level 10.
That meant spamming Shadow Summon repeatedly until I could hold it longer, use it faster, control it better.
The problem?
’With this Spirit stat, that’s going to be slow as hell.’
I could either brute force it—strain my mind again and again and let the slow grind begin—or I could find another way. Maybe a shortcut.
I thought about the Mage class.
If I could somehow acquire it, I’d get automatic Spirit and Intelligence boosts with each level, and those stats would grow faster even with natural training.
Mages naturally built-up mental stats.
’But becoming a Mage on Earth is hard.’
Mana was rare on Earth. It was almost non-existent.
Without enough ambient mana, I couldn’t qualify for the class even if I had all the knowledge.
’I need to search for a Mana Stone.’
’A Mana Stone can give me enough Mana to become a 1st star Mage and....’
’I remember that Mana Stones were in wide circulation during this period of time.’
Normal public didn’t know the actual use of Mana Stones.
They thought of them as ’precious’ metal and used them in jewelry.