Ding!
[The Path of Endless Flesh: Activated.]
The chime echoed inside my skull like a funeral bell. I blinked my eyes open to the dim glow of the cell, and for a moment, I wasn't sure if I was dead or dreaming.
A faint, translucent screen shimmered above me, blue light flickering like a dying flame.
[Host: Zeke Draco]
[Mana: 0]
[Vigor: 0%]
I frowned. That couldn't be right.
Every awakened human had mana, even the weakest ones. Mana was life. It was how humanity had survived the Great Beast Tide. How they'd burned the monsters that wiped the old world clean.
Mana flowed through everything. The sky, the beasts, the people. It powered cities, weapons, and dreams. Even the beggars back in Vagrant's End could feel it humming faintly under their skin.
And yet mine was empty. Just that strange number pulsing at the bottom.
[Vigor: 0%]
I stared at it until a sharp pain stabbed through the back of my head. I hissed, clutching it, and that was when I heard the voice, cold, mechanical, and inhuman.
[System: THE PATH OF THE ENDLESS FLESH.]
[Core Function: Rejects mana. Relies solely on Vigor]
[Growth Condition: Physical pain and injury convert into permanent strength.]
[Warning: Evolution is irreversible.]
I blinked.My breath caught.
"…Evolution through pain?" I whispered.
It sounded like a cruel joke.
Most people used mana. That was the world's balance. Mana shaped the mind, the spirit, the world itself. Vigor was just a support system, something everyone had in small amounts to help heal, move, and fight. It never grew beyond a limit. I had none of the former, and all of the latter.
Infinite potential in flesh.
I flexed my fingers, feeling something strange crawl under my skin, like my body was listening.
The screen flickered again.
[Host lacks mana veins.]
[Compensating through Vigor amplification.]
[Vigor Potential: Limitless.]
I froze. Limitless.
The word rang through me like lightning.
That wasn't possible. No one could surpass their biological limit, not even high-class Awakeners with years of training.
But I could feel it. My blood burned hotter, my breath steadier. Every beat of my heart felt heavier and denser.
I stood up slowly, and the chains on my wrists creaked. My body felt alive, too alive.
I exhaled a shaky laugh. "You've got a sick sense of humor, system."
Then I looked toward the door as footsteps echoed down the corridor, guards shouting, keys jangling, boots scraping metal.
"Alright," I whispered, picking up a shard of iron from the floor. "Let's see what infinite flesh can do."
The sharp click of the lock echoed in the cell.
The door flung open. A large soldier stepped in, carrying a baton that glinted under the dim light.
If my Vigor grows through trauma and pain… then I guess I get to test that right now, I thought.
He looked at me like I was nothing. That was the mistake. I had no affinity. I wasn't Awakened. No mana. So what threat could I possibly be?
The guard froze as soon as he saw me.
"Didn't they say this guy was bleeding to death?" he muttered to himself.
He was right. I had been stabbed… yet there was no wound. My fingers brushed my stomach, the scar was gone
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. We're moving you out of here, Red head," he said, jerking my arm.
I had red hair. My friends had called me Red Zeke back in Base 9.
"Government dog!" I spat at him.
"All you had to do was behave, trash, and this would've gone smoothly," the guard growled. Then he struck.
The baton slammed into my shoulder. Pain lanced through my body like fire. I screamed, raw and ragged.
Good… I thought, grimacing through the pain. This is what the system wants.
He hit me again, each blow sharper than the last. Pain ripped through my muscles, bones, and nerves.
[Vigor Growth +0.12%]
[Muscle Density +1]
[Pain Threshold +0.5%]
I staggered but didn't fall. The system hummed in my skull. Every strike fed me. Every bruise, every shock of agony… made me stronger.
"Trash like you should keep their mouths shut," he spat, dragging me to my feet.
The corridor stretched ahead, dimly lit and filled with prisoners being herded out of their cells. Chains clanked and guards barked.
I felt my body shift. My arms tingled, muscles twitching beneath my skin. Bones ached, then hardened. My vision sharpened, reflexes buzzing like coiled springs.
[Vigor Growth +0.34%]
[Muscle Density +2]
[Reflex Enhancement +0.1%]
Everything went black.