When dawn broke, I was still awake.
The forest around us had gone quiet after the ambush, but my mind wouldn't rest. The flickering system screen above my palm refused to disappear, cycling through new notifications like a heartbeat made of light.
> [System Update: Evolution Pathway Unlocked]
[Host has absorbed a fragment of Divine Essence.]
[Processing compatibility… 89% match.]
Divine essence. That word again. It was buried deep in everything — my system, the assassins, even my blood. Whatever this "Celestial Heir" title truly meant, it was waking up inside me now.
"Still not sleeping?" Lyra's voice broke through my thoughts. She sat by the campfire, her silver hair reflecting the flames. She smiled softly. "You've been staring at that thing for hours."
I exhaled, letting the interface fade. "Can't sleep. The system's changing again."
"Changing how?"
I hesitated, then showed her my palm. The faint glow of runes pulsed there, shifting symbols rewriting themselves in real time. "It's like it's rewriting me."
Lyra frowned. "Is that… safe?"
"Nothing about my life has been safe since this thing chose me."
Arden stirred from where he'd been resting, groaning. "If your system starts talking in tongues, just make sure it doesn't explode near me."
"Noted."
Then, the system spoke again — not as a voice, but as a pulse that struck directly into my mind.
> [Congratulations, Kael. New abilities unlocked.]
[Translation] — Communicate with any living or spiritual entity.
[Reflection] — Copy any skill witnessed within range.
[Skill Domination] — Override and control any active ability.
[Supreme Core Awakening] — The vessel of ascension has begun activation.
The words burned themselves across my consciousness. My hand glowed white-hot, light spilling from my fingertips before fading to silence.
I flexed my fingers. The world suddenly felt different — sharper, alive. I could hear the faint whispers of trees, sense the heartbeat of a bird perched far above. The entire forest spoke in its own language, and somehow, I understood.
> "You're glowing again," Arden muttered, pulling himself up.
"Better than bleeding," I said.
Then, something unexpected happened. A small, blue serpent slithered from the shadows, coiling near my boots. Normally, creatures avoided humans — but this one looked at me, eyes bright with curiosity.
"Careful," Lyra warned. "That's a mana serpent — they're unpredictable."
I crouched slowly. The serpent hissed, but the hiss wasn't just a sound. It was words.
You carry the mark of light, it said inside my head. The forest whispers your return.
My breath caught. The system didn't even translate — I just understood. "It's speaking," I whispered.
Lyra blinked. "Speaking? Kael, that's—"
"It said something about… my return."
The serpent tilted its head, then slithered off into the underbrush. As it vanished, a new message blinked before me.
> [Skill "Translation" Activated Successfully]
[New Language Acquired: Primal Tongue]
I stood, heart racing. "I can talk to creatures now. Not just understand them — feel them."
"That's actually terrifying," Arden said. "Do me a favor and don't start chatting with monsters mid-fight."
I ignored him, focusing on the other new skills. Reflection. Skill Domination. Both sounded unreal — even broken. I opened my interface again.
> [Reflection: Ability Copy Test Available]
[Would you like to test?]
"Sure," I murmured.
A holographic training dummy appeared beside me, woven of pure light. I focused on it, drawing my sword. "Alright. Let's see how this works."
The dummy attacked — a slow overhead slash, more of a motion test than a real strike. I mirrored its movement exactly. Then, something strange occurred. My blade glowed, and suddenly, I felt its technique flow into me — the precision, the angle, the mana channeling. My arms remembered what my eyes saw.
> [Reflection Success.]
I swung again. This time, my strike tore through the dummy with perfect form and double the force.
Lyra gasped. "You just copied it."
"No," I said, staring at my hand, "I learned it."
The air shimmered. The dummy reformed, launching a magic projectile this time — a simple fire orb. I dodged, and without thinking, my palm flared. The same orb appeared in my hand, and I fired it back, identical to the original.
> [Reflection Adaptation: Complete.]
"Okay," Arden said, crossing his arms. "You're officially cheating."
"Not cheating," I said with a grin. "Strategic advantage."
Then came the last one — Skill Domination. The name alone sounded dangerous.
I focused again, summoning a small mana sphere — a basic combat spell. The system interface opened a red warning.
> [Caution: Skill Domination drains divine energy directly.]
"Divine energy?" I muttered. "Meaning what, exactly?"
The answer came too soon.
When I activated the skill, my chest burned, and the mark of light — the faint crest I'd seen weeks ago — flared again, brighter this time. The mana sphere froze midair. Then, something impossible happened: it obeyed me. I didn't just control its trajectory — I felt its essence. I could expand it, compress it, even rewrite it.
It was like being the spell itself.
Arden whistled low. "Remind me not to piss you off."
Amara, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "Kael. These aren't ordinary powers. Skill Domination is divine-level. You shouldn't even be able to access it yet."
"I know," I said, watching the fading light in my palm. "But it's there. It's part of me."
Lyra frowned. "What if it's too much for your body to handle?"
I smirked. "Then I guess I'll have to keep up."
But in truth, her words echoed in my chest. The power was growing faster than I could understand. Every time I used it, something inside me stirred — something ancient, vast, and watching.
Later that night, as the others slept, I moved away from camp and sat alone beneath a dying tree. My reflection shimmered faintly in a puddle — and for a split second, it wasn't my face looking back. It was something older. My eyes glowed gold, like molten light.
> [Supreme Core Awakening: 9%]
Nine percent. That meant this was only the beginning.
I closed my eyes, feeling my heartbeat sync with the system's rhythm.
Each pulse whispered a word I didn't fully understand: Ascend.
I didn't know what I was ascending to — or what I was becoming — but one thing was certain. The world wouldn't stay the same after this.
And neither would I.