The transition back to the sterile reality of the simulation pod was instantaneous. The phantom sensation of biting cold was replaced by the neutral, climate-controlled air of the hall. The weight of his survival gear vanished, and the profound, world-breaking power of his true self flooded back into his being. The icons for his skills and talent flared back to life in his interface, a comforting, familiar presence. He was whole again.
The pod's hatch hissed open with a soft sigh. Alvian sat up, his eyes immediately falling to his right hand. The ring was there. It was no longer a simulation construct but a real, tangible item, a piece of data pulled from the scenario and solidified into his inventory. He slipped it onto his finger. It resized perfectly, a cool, smooth band of dark metal against his skin.
A magnificent, purple-bordered system panel materialized before him, detailing his prize.
┏━━━━━━━[ Epic Equipment Acquired ]━━━━━━━┓
│ Name: Klaus's Upgrade
│ Grade: Epic (Purple)
│ Type: Ring
│
│ Description: A ring forged from the crystallized love of a father for his daughter. It
│ carries a fragment of a protective soul, granting the wearer the power to push their
│ own abilities beyond their normal limits for a crucial moment.
│
│ ▷ Attribute Bonus: +5 to all stats (Strength, Speed, Physique, Energy).
│ ▷ Primary Ability: [Blessing] (Active) - The next skill you activate will have its primary
│ effect (duration, damage, healing, etc.) doubled. Cooldown: 12 hours.
│ ▷ Secondary Ability: [Klaus's Fury] (Active) - Unleash a condensed bolt of pure soul
│ energy at a target, dealing 200% of your Energy attribute as damage. Cooldown: 1 hour.
│
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
Alvian's mind, a supercomputer of tactical calculation, processed the information in an instant. The secondary damage skill was useful, a solid burst of damage for a character who currently lacked any. The passive stat boost was a welcome addition. But it was the primary ability, [Blessing], that made his breath catch in his throat.
'Double the effect…'
The implications were staggering, a cascade of world-breaking possibilities. His mind raced, calculating the synergies.
[Shadow Weave +2]'s duration was two minutes. With [Blessing], it would become four minutes of perfect, untouchable phantomhood. An eternity on the battlefield. Enough time to infiltrate the most heavily guarded fortress or assassinate an entire command structure before they even knew he was there.
What if he used it on a high-damage finishing move? The damage would be doubled. A critical strike could become a one-shot kill on a boss that would normally take a full party to defeat.
This ring wasn't just a piece of equipment; it was a strategic nuke. It was a force multiplier that, when combined with his [Super Upgrade System], created a feedback loop of terrifying potential. It was the perfect reward for a test of intellect—a tool that amplified his cunning, not just his brute strength.
"By the Founders…"
The choked whisper came from the attendant. She was standing a few feet away, her face pale, her eyes locked on the holographic results screen hovering over her console. The words "PERFECT CLEAR" and "UNPRECEDENTED SCORE" were blinking in bright, celebratory text.
"No one has ever… The highest score before this was a 'Superior' rating, achieved by Senior Student Seraphina three years ago," she murmured, more to herself than to him. "To achieve a 'Perfect' on a solo run… it's a statistical impossibility."
Before Alvian could respond, a familiar, manic voice crackled to life from a comms unit on the attendant's console.
"Is he done?! Did he break it?! Patch me through, woman, now!"
The attendant jumped, fumbling with the controls. A holographic projection of Professor Rogge flickered into existence beside the pod. His hair was even more chaotic than before, and there was a fresh scorch mark on his cheek, but his eyes were alight with the triumphant, gleeful fire of a scientist whose wildest hypothesis had just been proven correct.
"Aha! I knew it!" Rogge cackled, pointing a grimy finger at Alvian. "I knew it! The moment I saw your file, I said to myself, 'This one is different.' The system seals your power, so you use the one thing it can't touch: your mind! You didn't fight the storm, you tamed it! You built a fortress out of logic and will! Beautiful! Utterly, magnificently beautiful!"
He didn't even seem to notice the ring on Alvian's finger; he was far more interested in the methodology.
"The others, they see the simulation as a barrier," Rogge continued, pacing back and forth in his lab. "You saw it as a new set of tools. You have proven my primary thesis: a true anomaly doesn't just overcome the rules, it renders them irrelevant! This opens up so many new avenues for research!"
Alvian listened, his expression impassive. Rogge's excitement was a useful tool, a resource to be cultivated.
"Professor," Alvian cut in, his voice steady. "My current skill set is limited. I am an assassin with only one stealth skill. I need more offensive and defensive options."
Rogge stopped his pacing, his manic grin widening. "Of course! Of course! Your focus is perfect! Always on the next step, the next upgrade! Yes, your arsenal is pathetic. We need to rectify that immediately."
He waved a dismissive hand. "The standard Faction libraries are filled with common, boring techniques. You need something special. Something flawed. Something… un-upgradable."
A predatory gleam entered Rogge's eyes, the look of a collector who had just found the perfect place to display his rarest gem.
"There is a tome in the restricted archives. An A-Rank AOE ice spell called 'Frost Descent.' It has immense power, but it comes with a crippling drawback: it inflicts a percentage of its own damage back onto the caster. A powerful but suicidal art. The system has flagged it as fundamentally flawed, impossible to upgrade or fix. It's perfect for you."
The hook was laid. A powerful, flawed skill, locked away in a restricted library, deemed un-upgradable by the system itself. It was a challenge and an invitation, a piece of bait designed specifically for a creature like him.
Alvian looked at the new ring on his finger, then met Rogge's holographic gaze. A silent understanding passed between them. Rogge would provide the impossible puzzle. Alvian, with his SSS-Rank talent, would provide the impossible solution.
"I'll take it," Alvian said.
His time at the academy was just beginning, but his path was already forged. He would take the flawed, the broken, and the impossible, and under the divine authority of his system, he would reforge them into weapons of absolute, world-shattering power.
"I'll do it," Alvian said.
"Excellent!" Rogge beamed, already turning back to his workbench. "Now get out. I have a theory about infusing a captured demon's soul with anti-gravity runes and I need to concentrate. Don't bother me unless you've broken something truly expensive or discovered a fundamental flaw in the laws of reality."
"what?... I've heard that before"