Sebastian's fingers hovered in the air.
He exhaled slowly.
"System," he whispered.
A faint glow pulsed before him, and a translucent panel shimmered into view. It hovered like silver fire, its lines precise, humming faintly.
[ SYSTEM INTERFACE ]
Name: Sebastian Knight
Age: 16
Rank: Intermediate — Low Stage
Bloodline: SEALED
Potential: ???
Talent: Soul Resonance — Enhances mind, greatly increases mana capacity
Title: One Who Shouldn't Belong
You are someone bound outside the world's fate, as you are not truly part of it. Fate cannot exert dominion over you. Any attempt to enslave, bind, or control you through prophecies, curses, or soul seals automatically fails.
Attributes:
Strength — E+
Agility — E+
Endurance — E
Mana Capacity — D-
Will — D
Charm — A
Intelligence — S+
Luck — D
Affinity: Lightning, Time, Dimensional Dominion
Trait: ???
Skills:
Mana Sense — A
Heavy Strike — C
Basic Swordsmanship — E
Mana Control — D
Sebastian stared.
His chest tightened.
Bloodline — sealed.
He remembered what the old texts had said.
Bloodlines were rare. Extremely rare.
Only a handful in the entire world possessed one.
A gift from the gods, a mark of someone chosen.
It could appear randomly, skip generations, or move to another family entirely.
He clenched his fists.
The seal…
What would it take to unlock it?
And then his eyes landed on another line.
Potential: ???
His brows furrowed.
Why was it hidden?
Every person in Eden had measurable potential. Even if inaccurate, the system always classified it.
Novice. Expert. Royal.
But question marks?
He had never heard of such a thing.
His body, his bloodline, his affinities...
None of it made sense.
His mind raced.
Ranks… the hierarchy:
Novice → Intermediate → Advanced → Expert → Master → Grandmaster → Transcendent → Royal → Monarch
Each rank had three stages: Low, Mid, Peak.
He was currently at the lowest stage of Intermediate. At his age, it wasn't unheard of… but it wasn't common either.
Still…
Something about those question marks unsettled him more than any known rank could.
If his bloodline ever unsealed—
A shiver ran down his spine.
He looked through the other stats again.
Strength, Endurance, Mana…
All of them had increased because of the reawakening. Even though he had never opened the system before, he could feel the changes inside his body.
Intelligence… S+ …the highest among his stats.
Charm… A.
"I guess I'm good-looking," he muttered dryly.
Then his eyes stopped again.
Affinity… three?
Lightning was already rare enough.
Time…
And Dimensional Dominion…
He had never even heard of affinities like those before.
Trait… ???
Everything unknown. Everything waiting.
His pulse throbbed in his ears.
And then he remembered.
"Welcome back, 539."
The words echoed in his mind.
A voice.
From the other world.
From the lab.
From death.
He whispered, almost in disbelief,
"System… can you… speak?"
The interface pulsed softly.
And for the first time, he felt like he wasn't alone.