"In this world, everything changes faster than my ability to understand... and sometimes, I wish I could stop for just one moment, only one moment, to catch my breath."
– From Kain's thoughts
Kain was looking at the system screen, feeling continuous pain in his body with every increase in the stats. Muscles were growing, nerves adapting, and every point gathering in his body had a heavy price. He was trying to keep calm, but he could only mock the situation.
"How does stat growth in other novels look? It always seems easy and completely painless!" said Kain in a sarcastic tone, moving his head in discontent. This was not what he imagined when he decided to begin his journey in this new system. The pain was real, and his body was rebuilding itself slowly, point by point.
He finished his school day as expected: boring, ordinary, exactly like his days in the past. So far, things had not changed much, but it seemed there was something strange in this small, dark town. After a long day of lessons that did nothing but increase his frustration, Kain headed to the truck Billy had given him.
The truck was old and unnaturally uncomfortable, but Kain was tired enough to care only about reaching home. He sat beside Bella in the front seat while the car was making its way through the narrow dark roads in Forks. Silence surrounded them, until—
"Did you notice how Edward looked disgusted when he was standing near me?" said Bella in a voice seeping with anger.
Kain raised an eyebrow and said gently: "Yes, he looked like he did not want to get close to you. Do you think there is a reason for that?"
Bella frowned and replied quickly: "I don't know, but it seemed like he was deliberately avoiding me, as if I was causing him annoyance. Maybe he was trying to change his class just to stay away from me, who knows?"
Kain smiled lightly as he noticed Bella's rising emotions. "Maybe. But it does not seem like just coincidence. Some people have extreme sensitivity to certain scents."
While they were speaking, Kain was thinking of another explanation. He knew from his experience in his other world that there were some beings that could be strongly affected by the scent of humans. But since Bella was not aware of that, it was better to keep things vague for now, especially with her obvious irritation.
When they arrived at home, Kain gave a quick greeting to Charlie before running upstairs, eager for only one thing. His room, which had become his refuge in this new world, was his private place where he would discover everything about the system that had begun to control his life.
He sat on the bed and took out his small device, directing his eyes toward the system screen. "Alright, let's begin the exploration!" he whispered to himself as he began browsing the stats.
Something strange had happened. Now, when he looked at his level, he noticed that it had already risen. Kain's level had risen to 1, as expected. With it, all the stats increased by two points. Strength, agility, intelligence, and vitality—each one increased painfully, as if his body was being reshaped with every increase. He could feel every point, every change, every development.
"Ah, this hurts!" whispered Kain as he tried to adapt to the pain that was sweeping through his body. Although he had expected things to be smoother, this feeling was completely new to him.
Then he noticed something else. In the lower corner of the screen, there was a new icon pointing to the Shop. "The Shop?" Kain muttered as he pressed the icon.
The shop opened to show only one ability on display, which was "The Eternal Dragon Eye." It was a strange A-rank ability, and its description was even more exciting: "A dragon's eye that grants the ability to see others' status." Its price was 20 SP.
Kain looked at his pitiful points and sighed deeply: "I will have to wait for a while to get it."
While browsing the shop, he discovered that there was another category under the name Weapons. Inside was a steel katana of rank E, its price 2 SP. He had two points, but was not sure if he should buy the sword or not. He decided to wait until more points were available. His main goal was the Eternal Dragon Eye, and he did not want to waste his points on something else now.
At that moment, two system quests appeared. The first was "Perform one hundred sword swings" and the second "Kill five animals with a sword." Each quest offered tempting rewards: 15 SP and 15 XP for the first, and 20 SP and 20 XP for the second.
Kain decided to answer the question occupying his mind: "Why is there so little in the shop?"
The system's answer was direct: "As your level increases, the shop list is updated. New things will be added with every level, and every five levels a new skill will be added. Skills are not added at every level, but every five levels."
Kain thought for a little, then decided to buy the sword. Pressing the button was enough to show a system notification: "Sword purchased successfully."
He felt some excitement, as if he had begun to acquire the power he lacked. A new adventure had begun, and he had to face the challenges of the day.
He took the sword from the shop and drove his car to the forest to continue his daily quests. He knew this would be a big step for him on the way to discovering his true potential, and he began to feel excitement.
After Kain finished his daily task, he decided to head straight to the forest and began performing the required exercises. The mission included running one kilometer, ten push-ups, and twenty squats. The time limit was 24 hours. With every movement, the pain in his body increased, but he knew it was the price to be paid for progress.
When he finally finished the exercise, he gained the free points (FP) he had been waiting for. He immediately decided to open his status to monitor his development, and the screen appeared as follows:
✦ Host's Basic Status
Name: Kain Swan
Race: Human
Level: 1
[ Strength ]: 9
[ Agility ]: 8
[ Intelligence ]: 11
[ Vitality ]: 9
[ Defense ]: 7
[ Endurance ]: 8/3
Available FP: 6
Available SP: 2
Current XP: 0/15
Kain looked at his status carefully, then decided to begin testing the effect of each attribute on his body. "Could strength, agility, intelligence, and others have a tangible effect on my abilities?" he wondered, deciding to begin with a direct experiment. He had 6 FP, so he decided to distribute one point to each attribute.
He began first with Strength, raising the point in the Strength section, and with every increase he felt something strange—his muscles began to spasm under the weight of pain. But this pain was not exaggerated like the pain of level-up he had experienced earlier, since it was only one point this time. After the pain stopped, he noticed a slight improvement in the size of his arm muscles, as if he had gained some strength, although the improvement was not very noticeable.
Then he moved to Agility. He felt something similar to the stretching of his muscles, but without tearing. As if his body had become a little lighter. He decided to run a bit, and noticed a slight increase in his speed compared to before.
As for Intelligence, this was the attribute that intrigued him the most. When he increased it, he felt a sharp headache in his head, but he knew this was the required price. After the pain stopped, he felt an ability to think faster, as if his brain was working more effectively, even his reactions became slightly quicker.
He then moved to Vitality, and noticed a slight improvement in his senses. His vision became clearer, his hearing sharper, and his smell more sensitive. There was no pain this time, as if the system compensated him for the earlier pain.
Then he increased Defense. When he raised it, the pain returned to his muscles, but this time he felt the hardness of his body increase slightly. Finally, he decided to increase Endurance. This stat had been lacking a bit due to the effort he had exerted recently. But when he raised it, he felt an increase in his energy and vitality. He became more active and lively, and some slight changes appeared in his abilities.
After finishing testing all the stats, he decided to begin his next quest, which was sword swings. He immediately began performing the exercise. And when he completed the mission successfully, system notifications appeared:
[Quest completed!]
[Congratulations to the Host! 15 XP and 15 SP acquired]
[Level up!]
Kain felt a light headache when his level rose, but as usual, it was the required price. He immediately decided to open his status to see his development, and the screen appeared as follows:
✦ Host's Basic Status
Name: Kain Swan
Race: Human
Level: 2
[ Strength ]: 12
[ Agility ]: 11
[ Intelligence ]: 14
[ Vitality ]: 12
[ Defense ]: 10
[ Endurance ]: 11/6
Available FP: 0
Available SP: 15
Current XP: 0/20
Kain became happy with his noticeable development, and felt that the changes in his body had a big effect. He decided to continue working on his next quest, which was killing some animals.
He decided to hunt something weak to make sure of his true strength, and when he began hunting, he felt that things were easier than he expected. After his level increase, he had become stronger than he thought. He completed the mission successfully, and system notifications appeared:
[Quest completed!]
[Congratulations to the Host! 20 XP and 20 SP acquired]
[Level up!]
Kain felt excited, and opened his status again after the pain disappeared, and the screen appeared as follows:
✦ Host's Basic Status
Name: Kain Swan
Race: Human
Level: 3
[ Strength ]: 14
[ Agility ]: 13
[ Intelligence ]: 16
[ Vitality ]: 14
[ Defense ]: 12
[ Endurance ]: 13/8
Available FP: 0
Available SP: 35
Current XP: 0/25
Kain decided to finally unlock the inventory. He had waited a long time for this moment. He used 10 SP to unlock the inventory, and bought The Eternal Dragon Eye with the remaining 20 SP.
When using The Eternal Dragon Eye, he felt severe pain in his eyes, as if something was being inserted directly into his brain. But after moments, the pain disappeared and a new world of visions opened before him.
🌀[End of Chapter Four]
✦ Next Chapter: "Lenses that cannot perceive the heart"