It wasn't fast.
It wasn't dramatic.
But it was progress.
A quiet shift rippled through my soul the moment the template crossed the threshold.
2%.
It felt… strange.
Like my body remembered something it wasn't supposed to know yet.
The first thing that changed was my perception.
Mana stopped being invisible.
It became a language.
Threads. Currents. Pressure. Heat.
Magic Sense awakened, and suddenly the air had weight.
I could feel spells before they existed.
Not react.
Anticipate.
I lifted my hand.
Moisture in the air answered without resistance.
A thin ribbon of water lifted from nothing, circling my fingers like a living blade.
Water Manipulation…
Easy.
Too easy.
I opened my mouth and exhaled softly.
The breath wasn't air.
It was venom.
Invisible, scentless, deadly.
Poisonous Breath.
Interesting.
Dangerous.
Useful.
The world gained temperature.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Every living thing burned faintly in my sight.
Heat Source Sense.
If something lived…
I could find it.
My skin tingled.
Hardened.
A translucent layer formed instinctively over my body.
Not magic.
Biological.
Body Armor.
Adaptive.
Instant.
Something shifted inside me again.
I flicked my fingers.
A thread shot forward.
Sticky.
Elastic.
It wrapped around a stone and tore it from the ground.
Then another thread emerged.
Different.
Cold.
Sharper.
Metallic.
Steel Thread.
I sliced the stone with a flick.
Clean.
Silent.
Sound twisted.
A faint vibration escaped me.
The air itself distorted.
Ultrasonic Wave.
Repulsive.
Disruptive.
Deadly to anything relying on structure.
Then came hunger.
Not physical.
Spiritual.
Something reached out from my core.
I touched the ground.
Mana drained from it.
Life drained from it.
Not all of it.
Just enough.
Drain.
I stood still after that.
Letting everything settle.
Two percent.
And I already felt… dangerous.
Not explosively powerful.
Not overwhelmingly divine.
But lethal.
Subtle.
Efficient.
A predator growing in silence.
This wasn't a rush.
This was cultivation.
Slow.
Methodical.
Unstoppable.
I looked at the horizon of my realm.
Still waiting.
Still building.
Still alive.
"Two percent," I whispered.
"Plenty."
And for the first time…
I didn't feel impatient.