[Ding! Rewarding a 20x Amplification Multiplier: You have acquired the Divine Talent 'God-Tier Comprehension' and Twenty Years of raw Astral Flux reserves!]
"Hiss..."
Hearing the System's absurdly generous payout, Kaelen couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath of cold air.
Twenty years of raw Astral Flux was one thing—after all, he had hit the jackpot with sixty years last time. He could handle the physical shock.
But this 'God-Tier Comprehension'?
Just how 'God-Tier' are we talking about here?
Kaelen was practically vibrating with the urge to test it out.
The next second, his expression tightened as a deeply familiar, terrifying sensation washed over him. A violent surge of pure, unadulterated cosmic energy flooded directly into his Aether Core.
He quickly closed his eyes, forcing his breathing to slow, concentrating entirely on reigning in and refining the volatile power.
Driven by the massive influx of raw Aether, the stubborn bottleneck that had trapped him at the 'Half-Step Awakened' tier suddenly began to crack and splinter.
Am I about to break through?!
Kaelen's eyes snapped open, his brows furrowing deeply in alarm.
I absolutely cannot break through inside this library!
Breaking through to the legendary Awakened Tier was not a quiet, personal affair. It involved a massive, violent absorption of ambient energy that would undoubtedly cause a localized Aether-quake.
There were powerful security Adepts stationed on the second and third floors. Furthermore, Chief Director Silas, an actual Awakened Tier expert himself, was likely sitting in his office directly above him.
If Kaelen triggered a breakthrough phenomenon right here on the ground floor, his cover would be blown into the stratosphere.
A nineteen-year-old Awakened Grandmaster!
In this world, that wasn't just a prodigy. That was a once-in-a-century, top-grade anomaly. The government would try to draft him, corporations would try to kidnap him, and assassins would put a bounty on his head.
The core problem was that Kaelen's 'Trash' aptitude was common knowledge in the HR department.
If I suddenly reveal my Awakened status...
Actually... would it even matter if I was exposed? Kaelen briefly considered it.
According to Xander, there were only three Awakened Tier powerhouses in the entire metropolis of Neo-Veridia. If Kaelen broke through right now, he would instantly become the fourth titan of the city. Who could possibly threaten him?
But Kaelen quickly crushed that arrogant thought. He simply wanted to lie low.
Being a peerless genius sounded glorious, but it brought an avalanche of unwanted responsibility and danger. He just wanted to clock in, read books, and not get murdered by space bugs.
This was a High-Fantasy Dimension. The Awakened Tier was just the beginning of the real power scaling. Above it was the Ascendant Tier, and likely terrifying gods beyond that. Until he was completely invincible, exposing himself was a fool's errand.
"Xander, watch my booth for a sec. I need to run out and buy something."
Forcibly suppressing the violently surging Aetherial Energy threatening to explode from his chest, Kaelen barked at his coworker and practically sprinted toward the library's exit.
"Wait, what? Hey! Why are you running like you're about to explode?!"
Xander, who had been mid-nap, was startled awake, staring in utter confusion at the trail of dust Kaelen left behind.
...
No one should be able to sense me here.
A few minutes later, Kaelen arrived in a dense, overgrown grove within an abandoned industrial park on the outskirts of the district. It was barely past noon, and the area was completely deserted.
"Can't... hold it in... anymore!"
Kaelen's face was flushed dark red, veins popping on his forehead as if he were trying to contain a localized nuclear blast. He finally released his mental grip, stopping his suppression of the energy.
The next instant, the stagnant Aetherial Energy violently erupted like a shattered dam.
"PHEW!"
A massive look of relief washed over his face.
As the dense, liquefied Aether in his core reached critical mass, Kaelen pushed forward with everything he had, violently ramming the energy against the Awakened Tier bottleneck.
CRACK! BOOM!
A muffled, thunderous sound literally echoed from within Kaelen's chest cavity. A visible shockwave of blue energy blasted outward, violently rustling the trees within a twenty-yard radius.
A look of pure, unadulterated joy exploded across Kaelen's face.
The Awakened Tier!
I actually made it!
"Hahaha! I'm officially a Grandmaster now!"
Kaelen couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh out loud. Although his core philosophy was 'maximum slacking', achieving a legendary state of power that billions of people dreamed of still made his blood boil with excitement.
Feeling the terrifyingly dense Aether crazily circulating through his veins, Kaelen focused his mind. He guided a single wisp of Aether to his index finger, condensing it until it glowed like a miniature blue star, and then violently expelled it.
BANG!
The condensed beam of Aether shot from his fingertip like a laser, instantly piercing straight through the thick trunk of an ancient oak tree ten yards away, leaving a perfectly smooth, smoking hole.
Aether Projection!
This was the hallmark of the Awakened Tier! Adepts at this level could project their Aetherial Energy externally, allowing for devastating ranged attacks and creating defensive shields. This was a realm of combat that Mortal Tier fighters couldn't even begin to comprehend.
But Aether Projection wasn't the only perk.
Kaelen closed his eyes. Instantly, a hyper-detailed, three-dimensional mental map of his surroundings bloomed in his mind.
Aetheric Perception!
He now possessed a terrifyingly sharp sixth sense. Any falling leaf, scurrying rat, or concealed assassin within a hundred-meter radius would trigger his radar instantly.
Furthermore, reaching the Awakened Tier fundamentally altered human biology, vastly extending his cellular lifespan. Barring getting eaten by a Rift Beast, he could easily live to see 150.
Now I finally have the fangs to protect myself.
Kaelen couldn't wipe the grin off his face. Even if this catastrophic world hid many ancient powerhouses, an Awakened Tier Grandmaster was absolutely nothing to sneeze at.
Right... I almost forgot about the second part of the loot drop.
Remembering the 'God-Tier Comprehension' the System had bestowed, Kaelen quickly calmed his racing heart and allowed his consciousness to sink deep into his own mind.
The next second, his vision shifted. He found himself standing in an endless, hazy grey void.
As his consciousness fully entered this space, Kaelen felt an immediate, profound sense of absolute mental clarity. It was as if his brain had been upgraded from a rusty abacus to a quantum supercomputer.
When the complex diagrams and katas of the Zephyr Blade Art flashed through his thoughts, a torrential flood of insights, corrections, and profound understandings instantly bloomed in his mind.
The Zephyr Blade Art, which he had previously grinded to a basic mastery, rapidly increased in proficiency.
A minute later, his mastery reached the 'Minor Success' stage.
But it didn't stop there.
Kaelen stood in the grey void, greedily absorbing the tidal wave of sword insights flowing directly into his soul. Propelled by this God-Tier comprehension, the technique violently evolved.
VMMMMM!
Back in the physical world, a sudden, sharp gust of wind swirled around Kaelen, and the distinct, high-pitched hum of unsheathed steel echoed through the empty park.
Faint, translucent wisps of Sword Aura naturally emanated from Kaelen's skin, slicing the falling leaves around him into perfect halves before they even touched the ground.
Kaelen's eyes snapped open, a terrifyingly sharp light glinting in his pupils.
Zephyr Blade Art... Perfection!
This 'God-Tier Comprehension'... it would be much more accurate to call it an Aetheric Mindscape!
Recalling the sensation of pure omniscience he had just experienced, Kaelen was completely awestruck. While inside that grey void, he entered a state of forced, perfect enlightenment. As long as he focused on a concept, millions of simulated outcomes and insights would instantly flood his brain.
He had taken a basic sword art and forced it to its absolute maximum theoretical limit in less than half an hour.
This kind of learning efficiency was literally reality-breaking!
With this Mindscape, no matter what obscure or broken combat art he found in the future, he could effortlessly master and perfect it while on his lunch break.
There are thousands of martial manuals in the library archives. I have an infinite buffet of skills waiting for me.
Thinking of the dusty shelves in Sector 1, Kaelen's hands actually twitched with excitement. With this cheat code, he could easily become a walking armory, a peerless master of every known combat style.
In the past, Kaelen didn't dare memorize too many books, knowing his physical body couldn't handle the conflicting training. But now? The more, the merrier!
As the ancient scholars of Earth said: A gentleman can never be too heavily armed.
"Kaelen, where the hell did you run off to? Did you go buy a new pair of pants?"
When Kaelen finally strolled back into Sector 1 an hour later, Xander couldn't help but interrogate him.
Kaelen waved him off dismissively. "I told you, I went out to buy something."
Xander looked at his completely empty hands, raising an eyebrow. "Then where's the stuff you bought?"
Kaelen didn't miss a beat. "I forgot my wallet."
Xander: "..."