After been discharged from the hospital, Zack had to frame a shitty ass lie like as if he was sherlock homes, weaving tales that looked too true to believe and saying things like he had no idea or rather no clue why such a power-up came after awakening.
Alex believed his lies anyway, well he couldn't tell Alex that he awakened a system which felt like a fantasy, maybe not now later in the future.
Later that night
Zack lays on bed as he stares at the ceiling, the events from three days ago playing like a loop in his mind, the nightmare, the woman's smiling face in the face of death etched into his very being.
"So this is the new reality we're stepping into," he whispered to the dark room. The memory of the skin crawler's claws flashed before his eyes. "And most teenagers think becoming an Abilitan is just about adventure and glory beyond the walls. They have no idea." He shook his head, a bitter understanding settling in his chest. He had been shown the true cost of weakness, the raw, unfiltered danger that lurked in the forgotten lands. The lesson had been written in blood.
The cost of weakness and the danger that lurk beyond the walls in the forgotten lands and wilderness.
"Well now is the moment" and with a thought he summoned the system.
The golden holographic screen shimmered into existence silently before him.
[Now this is more like it. A simple, dignified mental command. Far better than shouting 'System, come out!' like some desperate, cringe-worthy protagonist.]
-___-
Zack blinked. The webnovels he'd skimmed never mentioned this. Systems were supposed to be cold, emotionless bundles of code. Not… whatever this sarcastic entity was.
[Do you wish to view and know more of the system and check the statues interface now]
[Yes or No]
"hell yeah" he clicked on Yes.
[Welcome to the Ability Evolution System, Zack. Primary function: to facilitate the copying and evolution of abilities as you see fit. Let's break some conventional limits, shall we?] the System introduced itself.
"You can't be serious," Zack muttered aloud, his heart skipping a beat. Copy abilities? Evolve them? It sounded like the plot of the most outrageous power-fantasy novel ever written.
[It is not a joke. This is precisely why you possess the innate ability to copy the abilities of others. I am merely the catalyst and framework.]
Zack felt dumbstruck. It was too good. It felt like a trap, a beautiful, impossible dream.
[Do you wish to view statues Window?] another pop up appeared.
[Yes or No] he clicked on Yes.
[A quick warning, bro: this might sting a bit. I need to create your full metaphysical database and synchronize your consciousness properly with my protocols. Deep scan incoming.]
"Huh? What does viewing my status have to do with pain?" Zack's confusion lasted half a second.
Then the pain arrived.
"ARGH!!" Zack groaned loud in pain as he held his head with both hands as felt an intense pain it felt like someone had stabbed a knife into his head.
"Damn you, you said it was going to hurt a little, is this the little you mean!!" He gritted his teeth in pain.
[Creating data base and synchronizing host...….20%....35%....40%....55%....69%....]
The percentage crawled upward as the pain continued, a brutal, clinical process. Zack saw flashes of light behind his closed eyelids, not memories, but raw data streams.
[75%....89%....95%...99%....100%]
[Database creation and synchronization complete]
"Huff…Huff…Huff…" Zack breathed out as the pain ceased and he regained himself.
"To hell you damn system what the hell was that!" Zack yelled at the System.
[You welcome]
-____-
Zack was speechless at the system's response.
"Just show me my damn status window already" Zack said impatiently.
Then a bigger holographic panel appeared before Zack as he was in awe.
[Name: Zack Grey Lyon]
[Age: 17 years old]
[Talent: Diamond]
[Abilities: All elemental manipulation: Fire (Golden Flames) , Ice, Water, Wind, Earth, Metal and Lighting (Purple variant) (X-rank), Ability copy (???), Locked: ç%&*"# (???) ]
[Ability class: All elemental manipulation (Elemental), Ability copy (Unknown)]
[Power rank: Energy absorption phase, Stage 1]
[Bloodline: Half-human, Half-mythical golden dragon]
[Physique: War god dragon physique]
[Power Modes (tap to check for more info)]
[Techniques: None]
[Evolution points (Ep): 0/1000]
[System's remark: Fairly good foundation but still disappointing]
"Man, this just looks like those status window in games except the stats are kinda different, I had expected to see speed, strength, intelligence, stamina and blah blah" Zack looked at his status window before with eyes that analyzed its contents.
[This is not a video game, bro. This is your ontological reality. Quantifying your existence with simple numbers would be an insult.]
"Yeah my bad" then his
"You got to be kidding me, so I awakened a freaking X rank Ability and an ability whose rank carries question marks, like what the helllll!!!" Zack almost yelled as he was shocked to the core and disbelief was written all over his face.
[Yes] The system affirmed
"I can't still believe this and there is even a third one!!" he was still in shock as he stared at the holographic screen before him. "But is it locked and why those weird signs" Zack squinted his eyes as he asked.
[You haven't met the criteria to unlock it, in short you aren't worthy of the ability yet]
The system answered
"Why?" Zack was puzzled.
[Classified]
"the hell!!" Zack was left in stupor, an ability whose name cannot be deciphered, its rank carrying question marks too and it was locked what kind of ability was it.
"System, show me info on ability copy" Zack requested.
[Ability: Copy]
[Description: A paradoxical authority. Allows the host to replicate the core ability matrix of any other being, regardless of its inherent rank, class, or complexity. The theoretical storage capacity for copied abilities has no defined upper limit but at your current level you can only store two abilities you copied.]
[Note: This ability operates on a cooldown cycle. A 48-hour interval is required between successful copies to ensure metaphysical stability and prevent host dissolution.]
"No way… This is a straight-up cheat!" Zack's eyes widened to saucers. "Copy any ability? No matter the rank? With no limit on how many I can hold?" The implications were universe-shattering.
"wait what the hell is Half-human, Half-mythical golden dragon bloodline and War god dragon physique, Whats all this?" Zack was thrown into confusion,
This wasn't in any textbook. Abilitan science spoke of genetics, of awakened gene sequences, not of… bloodlines.
[A Bloodline is a heritable metaphysical template. It is the legacy of power, memory, and fate inscribed upon the soul and body, passed down through generations. It is not merely DNA; it is ancestral magic made manifest, a contract with a mythic source that alters a bearer's fundamental nature]
[Your genetic and spiritual matrix is not purely human. A mythic template has been dormant. You are the inheritor of a Golden Dragon's Essence]
"WTF! What the hell is a golden dragon's essence" Zack was in utter confusion as none of this made any sense at all.
"Then what about the war god Physique?" He asked
[The War God-Dragon Physique is an active, evolving crucible of conflict. It represents the primal merger of two supreme archetypes of violence.
This Physique forges the bearer's very flesh, bone, and spirit into a sentient, scaling weapon system. you are the axiom that "the superior physique is the supreme technique]
The system explained.
Zack could only stare, his shock so complete it was numbing. War God-Dragon Physique. Half-Mythical Golden Dragon Bloodline. These terms felt ancient, heavier than history, completely alien to the modern, scientific understanding of Abilitans.
The explanations provided no comfort, only a yawning chasm of questions. They contradicted everything he thought he knew about himself, about the world.
At that moment, one terrifying, fundamental question eclipsed all others, rising from the depths of his being to hang in the silent dark of his room:
Who was he or rather what was he!