"AAARGH!"
Sebastian bit down on his pillow to stifle the scream.
It felt like someone had poured liquid nitrogen into his veins. His lungs burned, expanding against his ribs until he thought they would crack.
His pores blasted open, expelling a black, tar-like substance—the impurities of his body being purged in seconds.
The mana in the room, usually thin and weak in the slums, was suddenly sucked toward him like a vortex. The tin walls of the shack rattled.
[Basic Breathing Technique Level 10... Evolving...]
[Evolution Complete.]
[Skill Acquired: Void Respiration (Level Max).]
The pain vanished as quickly as it had arrived.
Sebastian lay on his mattress, gasping for air. But every breath he took was... different.
He didn't just breathe air. He could feel the mana particles floating in the room. With a single inhale, he pulled them into his body. They rushed through his meridians like a raging river.
[Mana: 100/100.]
Sebastian sat up. He felt powerful. Not just better—transformed.
He pulled up his status.
┌──────[ Profile ]──────┐
│ Name: Sebastian Vance
│ Talent: Rusty Iron Dagger (F-Grade)
│ Level: Awakened 2 (Upgraded!)
│ Strength: 5 -> 15
│ Agility: 6 -> 18
│ Mana: 2 -> 100
│
│ Skill Points: 490
└──────────────────────┘
"Awakened Level 2..." Sebastian stared at his hands. They were covered in dried grime from the purification, but underneath, his skin looked tougher. His muscles felt denser.
"I jumped a whole level in... ten seconds?"
Most people took six months to go from Awakened 1 to 2.
And his Mana... it had jumped from 2 to 100. That was the mana pool of a Level 5 Awakened.
"Void Respiration," he muttered. "Passive mana absorption increased by 5000%."
He looked at the remaining 490 points.
His eyes drifted to his weapon. The Rusty Dagger.
It still looked like trash. But now, Sebastian saw something different. The System had called it a "Growth-Type Vessel (Sealed)."
He checked the [Talent Skills] tab again.
│ [Talent Skills]
│ 1. Rusty Edge (Passive) - Locked. Requires 100 Points to Unlock.
He hesitated. The dagger was F-Grade. Everyone said it was useless.
"But the System chose me because of it," he reasoned.
He tapped the unlock button.
[DING!]
[Skill Unlocked: Rusty Edge.]
[Description: Attacks inflict a minor poison effect.]
"Boring," Sebastian muttered. "Let's see what happens if I pump points into it."
He had 390 points left.
"Upgrade Rusty Edge."
[Investing Points...]
The dagger on the crate began to vibrate. The rust on the blade didn't fall off; instead, it seemed to come alive. The reddish-brown corrosion darkened, turning a sickly, venomous green.
A foul smell filled the room, like old blood and chemicals.
[DING!]
[Rusty Edge evolved -> Tetanus Aura (Level 20).]
[Tetanus Aura evolved -> Corrosion Intent (Level 50).]
[Skill Maxed for Current Tier.]
Sebastian reached out and picked up the dagger.
It felt different now. It buzzed against his palm.
He looked around for something to test it on. He saw an old iron pipe he kept under his bed for self-defense against slum gangs.
He held the pipe in his left hand and the dagger in his right.
He tapped the blade against the iron pipe. Gently.
Hiss.
There was no clang of metal on metal.
The moment the dagger touched the pipe, the iron turned gray, then brown, then crumbled into dust.
Sebastian dropped the pipe in shock. The corrosion had eaten through an inch of solid steel in a split second.
"Holy..."
He looked at the System description.
[Corrosion Intent (Level 50): The blade carries the concept of decay. Non-magical metal shatters on contact. Organic flesh suffers instant necrosis. Wounds cannot be healed by standard potions.]
Sebastian swallowed hard.
This wasn't an F-Grade weapon anymore. This was a murder weapon.
It still looked like a rusty piece of junk. If he walked down the street, people would still laugh at him.
"Let them laugh," Sebastian whispered, a cold smile touching his lips. He gripped the handle, feeling the hum of death within the blade. "Jax has fire? Cool. I have the plague."
He checked the time. It was 4:00 AM.
The Gray Zone—the beginner hunting grounds just outside the city walls—opened at 5:00 AM.
"I need to test this," he thought. "I need to see if this is real."
He quickly washed the grime off his body in the small basin. He dressed in his dark hooded tunic.
Before he left, he peeked into the main room. Elara was asleep in her chair, the cracked shield on her lap. Her breathing was shallow.
"I'll fix it, Auntie," Sebastian vowed silently. "With this System... I can do anything."
He slipped out the door into the rain.
The slum was quiet, save for the distant wail of sirens. Sebastian moved through the shadows.
With Void Respiration active, he didn't get tired. The mana flowed into him with every step, fueling his muscles. He ran toward the city gates, his speed easily double what it had been yesterday.
He reached the gate to the Gray Zone. A massive steel wall separating humanity from the monsters.
The guard on duty was a bored-looking man reading a magazine. He glanced at Sebastian's ID.
"Awakened Level 1?" The guard squinted. (The ID hadn't updated to his real level yet). "Kid, the Gray Zone is dangerous. Even the rats there can bite your finger off. You got a party?"
"Solo," Sebastian said, his voice steady.
The guard scoffed. Then he saw the rusty dagger on Sebastian's belt.
"You're hunting with that?" The guard laughed. "Did you dig that out of a grave? Go home, kid. Don't die on my shift."
"I'll be fine," Sebastian said.
"Suit yourself. But if you scream, I'm not coming to get you."
The gate hissed open.
Sebastian stepped through. The air instantly changed. It smelled of wet earth, pine, and blood.
The Wilds.
He took a deep breath, Void Respiration cycling mana furiously.
"System," he thought. "Show me the nearest enemy."
[Scanning...]
[Target Detected: Steel-Hide Boar (Level 3). Distance: 50 meters North.]
A Level 3 Boar. Its skin was as hard as iron plate. Usually, it required a team of three Level 2s to take down—one to distract, one to tank, one to find a weak spot.
Sebastian drew his Rusty Dagger. The green aura was invisible to the naked eye, but he could feel it pulsing.
"Level 3," he whispered. "Let's see who breaks first."