[Brace yourself for appraisal…]
The instant Melvin disintegrated into shards of light, he disappeared. Finally, he was able to open his shut eyes, but when he did, he found himself in a vast space that didn't look anything real. Not even close to the reality behind the cosmos of the Silver Spire.
He wasn't even sure if he had a body. Yet, for some unexplainable reason, he was fully aware of his surroundings.
All around him stretched an endless void filled with soft green light, moving slowly like rivers flowing through the air. Scattered everywhere were lights like stars. Some were bright, and some were dim. Connecting these stars were thin silver-green lines that tied them to one another, creating webs that looked like a giant net made of light.
Everywhere, the scenery was lit.
Somehow, Melvin felt that this was a physical depiction of the system, or something behind it. The fact that what was happening took effect after the system asked him to prepare for appraisal even made his guess more valid.
Although, in his previous life, Melvin hadn't been privileged to possess a system or become one of the Awakeners. But ever since he had the ability to read fantastical stories that mentioned "systems," he had always wanted to see how one really looked.
More to that curiosity, he even wanted to know what that bigger something behind the system is. Can I… find it here somewhere?
Melvin continued to think and look around him. But before he could think deeper about it, the space shifted and several lights flared brighter.
Melvin paused and stared for a while. However, nothing else happened.
'Phew,' he sighed.
The best answer he could come up with was that there was no way to know what that bigger something is. It was even more mysterious how those systems came about—gacha systems, get-rich systems, ascension systems, and all the other lots of them.
It was just better to accept it when it came to you. Nothing more. He had even read in a certain book where it was classified as a "function rather than a creature".
However, Melvin dismissed these mysterious thoughts. He wanted to know what his appraisal entailed.
As if reacting to his will, the reaction that had stopped earlier continued. The green currents in the void slowed, and then, a voice spoke.
'Let's go!'
The sweet, feminine voice of the system began.
[You have received four Soul Signatures: Aftertick; Seven Keys-1; Brinewrough Aegis; Hollow's Shroud.]
'Huh?'
Although happy the process he had waited for was finally beginning, Melvin was partially unsatisfied. Why call up the three Soul Signatures he had received as a gift from the whip wielder and from slaying the Sea Slug King?
'And that key, isn't it meant to have been destroyed after serving its use? Is there more to it? What else will I use it for?'
He couldn't reach a suitable answer, since he knew quite well that after appraisal, his trial would finally be counted a success. So, why was he also supposed to live with the key?
'Mhm, mhm. Don't dwell on it, Melvin. But… wait, didn't it say four Soul Signatures?'
Melvin's eyes widened as he glanced at the fourth Soul Signature. He couldn't recount any of his deeds that should grant him that. In that case, he was losing his patience to take a look at the Hollow's Shroud, but the voice of the system returned and shattered his momentary curiosity.
[Carrier! Your trial has ended.]
As the system spoke, images began to flash around him…
[You have slain a Mythic Creature: Sea Slug King.]
Image of the abomination being crushed under the stone pillar.
[You have crossed the Opening Bastion.]
The disgusting image of salt soaking into his flesh… of himself crawling for survival… of himself approaching the monolithic door.
[You have received the will of the god of time.]
The image of him sliding a key into the altar and all others that followed in the open hall.
Melvin remained calm, but he had a certain question that would now begin to haunt him until he found the answer. He could let other mysteries off his mind, but not this. Nothing but a burden of a god he now bears.
What was the god's will?
[Evaluating achievement…]
The lights around him flickered. The dimmed became dimmer while the bright ones grew brighter.
His virtual, illusive, or whatever form he was now taking was engulfed with awareness, as if he was being measured. After a long moment, the voice resounded once again.
[Final appraisal: exceptional. Your survival instinct defies reason.]
Of course, his performance to survive up until now truly should be exceptional. But why was the system further mentioning his survival instinct, defying reason? Although this was an appraisal, he felt that the system was giving him a warning beforehand. Or perhaps, telling him what would happen in the future.
If it was what he was thinking, then it was not really necessary to mention it. As far as he was concerned, it shouldn't be bound to happen.
[Climber Melvin, receive your boon!]
Melvin grinned in understanding. The system had switched from addressing him as a mere Carrier to a Climber. He was now almost on the same page as the other awakened out there. All that remained now was to know his magical affinity.
One of the bright points near him exploded with light, and energy rushed into him.
[You have been bestowed an Origin: Aeon's Eye.]
Melvin blinked his eyes. He was yet to understand some terms used by the system, and the stunning lady hadn't mentioned anything about being bestowed an Origin among much other information she provided. He was surely going to become a bookworm… a researcher… He would gather as much knowledge as he could before climbing the next step.
Hence, he ignored that information and focused on the rewards that kept coming.
[Your Affinity is ready to awaken. Aw…]
'Don't even ask that question. Be about it immediately!'
He immediately felt pressure at his core. Everything went still for a moment.
Then—
[Affinity awakened.]
[Affinity Rank: Ascendant.]
The word echoed through him. The entire giant net seemed to tremble at that announcement. Then, the runes changed directly into his affinity.
[Affinity: Time.]
***
'Ascendant?'
Melvin was suspended in this vast expanse, stupefied. He felt the weight of the tremble return to him.
He wanted to move, maybe even raise his hands or just do something that could make him believe he wasn't hallucinating. The stiffness and inability to do so, due to the force behind his suspension, cleared his mind.
'Didn't that stunning lady say that Ascendant was the last rank? No, there's an unknown one, but still…'
There was no use pondering over this now. Melvin simply summoned the runes so that he could see what attuned him to that affinity.
[Affinity]: Time
[Affinity Rank]: Ascendant
[Affinity Description]: Your existence does not fully follow normal rules. What has happened can still affect you. What might happen can whisper to you. However, you have the will of your predecessor and wish to fulfill it.
'Fulfill what exactly?'
But the system didn't respond to that question. Instead, another piece of information replaced the former.
[Affinity Ability]: Fixed Point.
[Ability Description]: You may change and declare a single, forward moment within your perception as immutable. For a brief duration, cause, effect, and probabilities that influence your physical state are rejected, taking you to the designated point in time. A fixed point cannot be moved by external force.
That was… a lot to digest.
First of all, Melvin felt his heart beating faster. He had thought he was going to receive an ability that had something to do with, maybe, a temporal shear. He thought with an affinity for time, he was going to be able to return himself to how he was a few moments ago.
Anyway, the affinity still had a very rare and high rank. And, if he understood the ability so well, it meant he could somehow respawn. No, that was not the right way to put it. The description had made him understand it can be a forward designation and immutable change.
What should he call that ability to make it simpler to understand? Something like teleportation? Or apparition?
'Hmm. Whatever,' Melvin thought with a smirk.
But a sudden comprehension crossed his mind, and his eyes widened in realization.
Although he couldn't control time, he could select a future state of himself within his perception, for instance, by declaring statements like, "At this moment, I will be this."
He sighed.
So, it meant that for a short duration, causality bends so that his declared outcome becomes unavoidable. However, it doesn't mean he was rewriting reality but is anchoring a possible version of himself to existence.
'That sounds nice, though. I wonder how this will work for me,' Melvin mused.
Having understood what his ability entailed, he looked around to see if that was all he should be appraised with. There should be more, right?
Just then, the green web around him pulsed stronger. And the lights flickered once again.
Melvin felt himself breaking apart again as everything around him collapsed into brightness. Then, what seemed to be the final words of the system followed him:
[Trial Zone is conquered.]
[Prepare for Ascension.]