Almost an hour later, Nael's eyes snapped open. The last of the raw essence from the Echo Gloom-Bat had been refined, settling into his core as a deep, stable well of power.
The psychic headache was gone, the cuts and bruises had faded to a dull ache, and his Vigor had fully replenished. He felt... more. Sharper. Denser. The jump to Level 5 was a significant threshold crossed.
He willed his Soul Tome into existence, eager to see the final numbers.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Name: Nael
Age: 16
Class: Investor
Grade: Common
Title: Prime Investor
Achievments: Architect of a Legend | Giant Slayer | Solo Hunter
Level: 5
Essence: 295/1800
Primary Stats:
- Vigor: 280/325 (+40)
- Aether: 320/320 (+70)
- Focus: 500/596 (+148)
Attributes:
- Strength: 24 (+4)
- Vitality: 23 (+2)
- Agility: 21 (+4)
- Intelligence: 28 (+4)
- Wisdom: 54 (+14)
- Charisma: 18
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
A slow, satisfied grin spread across his face. The level-up increases in attributes and the +2 Strength, +2 Agility, +4 Focus from [Solo Hunter] had massively compounded the gains from his two level-ups.
His physical stats were now solidly in the realm of an ordinary combat class, and his mental stats were becoming monstrous. He was no longer just a Common-class struggler anymore.
But the real prize was next. With an eager expression, he turned to the next page and focused on the Class Skills tab. And there, right below the foundational [Invest] skill, a new entry glowed with a soft, internal light.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
[Aetheric Infusion]
· Rank: N/A
· Cost: Variable Aether
· Cooldown: 10 minutes (after infusion fully expires)
· Description: Channel Aether to perform a targeted, short-term investment in your own or an ally's capabilities. Choose a single Attribute or Skill to bolster. The potency and duration of the infusion are directly proportional to the amount of Aether invested.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
"!"
Nael's eyes widened as he read the description again, his mind already racing through the implications.
"Whoa..."
This was it. This was the game-changer. A skill that finally would let him use that massive, mostly idle Aether pool for something incredible.
A low chuckle escaped him. "If I'd had this against the bat... I could have infused my Strength right at the start. One clean thrust would have ended it before it even shrieked." The thought was equal parts thrilling and frustrating. The risk had been necessary, but the future... the future was now far brighter.
The sheer versatility of it was staggering as well. He could turn himself into a temporary powerhouse. He could turn a party's tank into an unbreakable wall or their striker into a blur of death. For a solo artist like him, it was the ultimate trump card.
He was no longer just a man with a spear and a plan. He was an Investor, and now he could literally invest in victory.
He closed the Tome, the grin still etched on his face. The dungeon felt different now, less like a deathtrap and more like... a market full of volatile opportunities. And he had just been given the capital to play.
'Then, shall we test it out?'
But the cold, analytical part of him, honed by high Wisdom, quickly reasserted control. A new tool was worthless if you didn't understand its weight and balance. Venturing deeper into the dungeon's dangerous inner zones to test it would be arrogance, not strategy.
He needed a safe experiment. Easy opponents.
He moved out of his position, his senses heightened. The tunnels felt more navigable, the faint scuttling sounds and distant echoes mapping themselves into a clearer picture in his mind.
After three or four minutes of silent pursuit, he found his test subjects: a cluster of five standard Gloom-Bats hanging from a high outcrop.
'Perfect.'
He focused inward, on the new skill. He designated the target: himself. The parameter: Strength. The capital: 100 Aether.
[Aetheric Infusion Activated. 100 Aether Invested.]
He felt like a sudden, violent surge of power that erupted from his core and flooded his limbs. His muscles felt stronger and denser, coiled like steel springs. Veins stood out on his arms, and a thrilling, electric energy crackled through him. The sensation was intoxicating.
[Strength Temporarily Increased by +5. Duration: 00:30]
'Oh.'
Without a second thought, he acted.
He didn't need a complex plan. He simply burst from his hiding spot, his spear a blur in his hands. The bats shrieked in unison, their disorienting cries slamming into his mind.
But where before they were psychic daggers, now they were mere pinpricks. His towering Focus stat brushed the assault aside like gnats.
Swoosh-!
He moved among them like a force of nature. A single, powerful thrust skewered one bat, the force of the blow so immense it pinned the creature to the cavern wall. He ripped the spear free and swung the butt end in a wide arc, crunching into a second bat and sending it spinning into a third with a sickening crack of broken bones.
The two remaining bats dove at him, claws extended. He met the first with a palm strike that shattered its skull and grabbed the second out of the air, crushing it in his enhanced grip with a wet pop.
Silence returned, faster than he could process. Five bats. Five seconds. The entire skirmish had taken less time than the infusion's duration.
"Huff... Huff..."
The +5 Strength vanished as suddenly as it had arrived, leaving a faint hollow feeling in its wake. He stood amidst the dissolving corpses, breathing steadily.
"It really works," he murmured, a fresh wave of satisfaction washing over him. This changed everything.
His gaze then drifted to the faint, ethereal timer only he could see, counting down the cooldown on his new skill. As he watched the seconds tick away, another timer surfaced in his vision. He was looking at his acronometer.
"Oh." The realization hit him. "It's almost been a full day since the Awakening Ceremony. Since Mira..."
His initial theory had been that the investment's settlement was tied to a 24-hour cycle from the moment of the transaction. But now, seeing the skill's precise, Weave-enforced cooldown, a new, more logical—and frustrating—possibility occurred to him.
The time limit of the [Pending Settlement] status had probably started after she awakened, not when he made the investment.
"Well, at least I hope it's so," he muttered. "If not, that would be... really unsatisfying." And frustrating beyond measure.
He checked his arconometer again. "Just a few more minutes. Then I'll know for sure."
Deciding to use the time productively, he retreated to the relative safety of the Echo Gloom-Bat's former chamber. The 110 Essence from the five bats was a small but useful amount.
"..."
The ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, a river of calm focus washing away the lingering excitement from testing his new skill.
[Refinement Complete. Essence: 405/1800]
His eyes snapped open, his mind clear and serene, his senses sharpened by the meditation.
"!"
That's when every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The temperature dropped several degrees in an instant, and time slowed down.
His body moved before his mind could fully process the threat. He threw himself into a desperate roll to the side.
SHIIICK!
Something sharp and impossibly cold grazed his back, slicing through his leather armor and tunic as if they weren't there. A line of icy fire bloomed across his skin. Had he been a fraction of a second slower, it wouldn't have been his back—it would have been his neck.
"Urgh."
Nael scrambled to his feet, spear held in a shaking guard, his heart hammering against his ribs.
There was nothing there.
No, that wasn't right. The shadows in the corner of the chamber were... wrong. They were too deep, too solid. They coalesced, swirling like ink in water, pulling away from the walls to form a shape.
It was a creature of living darkness and smoked glass, a nightmare given form. It had the sleek, predatory silhouette of a large panther, but its limbs were too long, its joints all wrong. It moved with a silent, liquid grace that was utterly alien. Its face was a smooth, featureless plane except for two pits of absolute nothingness that served as eyes.
A single, bladed forelimb, the one that had just missed him, was raised, dripping a single bead of sizzling, tar-like substance that ate a tiny hole into the stone floor where it landed.
"!"
And it was staring right at him.
Before Nael could even form a coherent thought, a system message, tinged with an urgent crimson hue, seared itself across his vision.
[ WARNING: CATASTROPHIC THREAT DETECTED. ]
[ UNIQUE GRADE ENTITY: GLOOM PREDATOR. ]
[ RECOMMENDED PARTY SIZE: 10 (MIN. LEVEL 10). ]
[ RECOMMENDED ACTION: IMMEDIATE EVACUATION. ]
The message was as terrifying as the creature itself. A recommended party of ten level 10s. For him, alone at level 5, it wasn't a fight.
It was an execution.