Nicholas rose from the bed and made his way to the adjoining bathroom.
His legs were steady now although the first few steps still carried a whisper of weakness but nothing like the collapse three days ago.
Progress was progress.
He pushed the bathroom door open and stopped the moment his eyes caught the reflection in the mirror.
His smile widened into something almost ridiculous. Pure, unfiltered glee.
'There he is.'
Over the past few days, despite the pain wrecking through his body like a never-ending earthquake, he had made sure to drag himself to this mirror. Every single day.
Even when moving felt like punishment.
Priorities were priorities.
He had to say... He was handsome.
He had a strong facial structure with defined cheekbones that could probably cut glass.
A very small, barely visible but well-maintained goatee that added just enough maturity to offset how young he looked.
Well, he was young anyway… he wasn't even 18 years yet.
But for whatever reason he had a goatee and even then, he looked young… Like annoyingly young.
But he didn't mind… Why?
He was handsome.
He had no visible scars, scratches or blemishes and his skin was annoyingly clear, the kind of clear that made people suspect he was using expensive creams when really, he was just genetically blessed.
Even he would have been suspicious if he didn't have his memory.
The same went for his chest… Because of previous Nicholas ridiculous training he had an athletic build with broad shoulders that tapered down to a lean waist.
And the hair.
It was thick, dark and voluminous.
A wild, windswept mess of curly chaos that looked either completely intentional or completely accidental—and somehow worked perfectly either way.
'Yes,' Nicholas thought, tilting his head left, then right, then grinning at his own reflection like an idiot in love. 'I am fucking handsome.'
He sat down slowly into the bathtub and began washing himself.
Yes, there were maids and they were paid to help with exactly this kind of thing, but he didn't feel like calling them.
So, he did it himself.
Once his body was properly scrubbed and the tub was drained of all the used water.
Then he refilled it with warm water this time and then he added the medicinal bath liquid that Auntie Penny had created.
The moment it touched the water; the bathroom filled with the scent of herbs and something vaguely minty.
His skin tingled where the liquid touched it causing the ache in his bones softened to another degree.
'She really is a miracle worker.'
He leaned back, closed his eyes, and let his mind drift to more important things.
The first thing he checked was his second Soul Ability.
~
[Name: Pride]
[Grade: S]
[Description: Become an embodiment of your pride.]
~
Nicholas stared at the words in his mind, 'Become an embodiment of your pride.'
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
To advance an ability… at least in the lower ranks, you only had one real option: use it and use it again.
Repetition, consistency and grinding until your soul learned the shape of the power and stretched to fit more of it.
That was where the issue was… he truly didn't know how to use Pride.
It wasn't like Adapt, where he just had to actively push his body toward something.
Pride on the other hand was just there.
Now if he remained stuck at Rank F until he figured out how to improve Pride? That would be disastrous.
For him and his plans.
The thing about Rank F, E, and even D was simple: they were basically just enhanced humans with abilities.
Rank F was barely stronger than a regular person. Sure, you could punch a little harder and run a little longer but a regular human with enough skill and a knife could still ruin your day.
Rank E was several times stronger, faster and tougher but even then, regular bullets could still kill you.
Rank D had a better chance. They could tank a regular bullet if you were lucky and prepared. But bigger weapons and energy weapons? Those would still kill you.
It wasn't until Rank B that even people with weaker bodies could start ignoring conventional weapons.
But that did not mean the lower ranks were weak… their abilities gave them an edge.
His eyes moved to the first Soul Ability.
~
[Name: Adapt]
[Grade: S]
[Description: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.]
~
Nicholas frowned at the writing in his mind.
Now that he could see it personally… really see it, not just read about it in a novel, he finally understood why the protagonist had always found the system to be... incomplete.
It wasn't incomplete in the sense that it was unfinished…
No, It was incomplete because it was shattered.
Like someone had ripped a chunk out of it and never bothered to put it back.
One thing that readers of Shattered Realm had always debated was how vague and obscure the descriptions of abilities seemed to be.
Usually, if an ability wasn't very descriptive, the owner had to test it out themselves carefully.
It was the kind of patience that most ability users simply didn't possess.
There were confirmed cases of people pushing their abilities beyond their limits and killing themselves in the process.
One such example would be if the previous Nicholas had tried to tank a fire blast on his first attempt thinking he could adapt to it instantly.
He would have been turned to ashes on the spot.
At first, Nicholas had assumed the vague descriptions were just the author being mysterious. Or trying to keep readers guessing. Or simply lazy.
Now?... He wasn't so sure.
Unfortunately, the nature of the system was never explored further in the novel or the games for that matter.
None of the storylines touched it, probably because the protagonist died in two to five years… way before anyone ever reached the point of questioning the foundations of reality.
'In fact,' Nicholas thought, sinking deeper into the warm, herb-scented water, 'now that I think about it... a lot of mysteries were never explored.'
What exactly was the Shattered Realm?
Where did the Fallen come from?
What happened to the gods?
And—most importantly—what happened to the system to leave it in its current, fractured state?
So many questions.
So many potential answers.
'This world,' Nicholas smiled, his eyes still closed, the steam curling around his face like a lover's embrace, 'is going to be so much fun.'