Returning to his bed, Alex sat cross-legged and took a deep breath.
He sat down cross-legged, and took a deep, steadying breath. It was time to focus on his training. He couldn't let his changing body distract him anymore.
He called out in his mind, bringing up his system.
A sleek, dark-mode interface slid smoothly into his view, the sharp blue font glowing faintly in the air.
[ Name: Alex]
[ Age: 19/121]
[ Race: Human / Snake Demon Hybrid (Mutating)]
[ Feminization Progress: Phase 2/9 (Ecdysis) 5.3%]
[ Profession: Civilian (no level)]
[ Cultivation Level: F - Rank (+)]
[ Cultivation Technique: None]
[ Cultivation Aptitude: Good ]
[ Genes/ Talent: Ancient Naagin (Enchantress) (+), Recovery (+)]
[ Gene Abilities: Shedding, Feral Gaze, Empathic Resonance, Void Yin Constitution ]
[ Genetic Skills: Thermal Spirit Sight Lv-2, Serpentine Musculature Lv-2, Cold-Blood Optimization Lv-2, Scaled Dermis Lv-2, Pheromone Secretion Lv-2, Yin-Serpent Mana Circuit Lv-2]
[ Acquired Skills: Rank 1: Iron Body Foundation Art- Lv 1 (1/100), Rank 1: Flowing Spirit Sword Forms- Lv-1 (1/100)]
[ Source Power: 153 ]
He ignored the status window and the terrifying reminder of his feminization, navigating straight to his Acquired Skills area.
"Open Simulator," he commanded silently.
The screen shifted, opening up the simulation interface. It looked like a simple log page without any extra details.
He already knew how to use it from the memories that had been stuffed into his brain after the System Upgrade.
"Let's see how much of a genius I've become," Alex muttered confidently.
After his recent body changes and feeling his "Improved Aptitude," he felt like he could master anything in the blink of an eye.
He selected the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms and decided to run a quick trial to see how the simulator worked.
He invested just one point of Source Power.
[ Confirm Input: 1 point of Source Power?]
[ Yes/No ]
"Yes," Alex chose mentally. Soon, new lines of text began to appear on the simulator log page.
[ You invest one point of source power into the 'Rank 1: Flowing Spirit Sword Forms' to Cultivate and Evolve.]
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for one day. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your cultivation has made no progress, but you gained 3 points of sword proficiency. ]
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for five days. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your cultivation has made very slow progress. ]
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for ten days. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your cultivation has made very slow progress. ]
"That's it?" Alex thought. But before he could process the low numbers, his vision went completely dark.
His mind was violently pulled into a deep, blank mental space.
In the center of this void, a shadowy, phantom version of himself appeared, holding a standard wooden training sword.
As the simulation started, the phantom Alex began to move. It stepped forward, swinging the sword in a basic downward cleave.
Whoosh.
Then, the phantom reset and did the entire set of Sword Forms again.
And again. And again. Without any rest or stopping.
Because he only used 1 point of Source Power, the simulation finished at an extreme speed.
Alex's mind was flooded with the feeling of swinging the sword thousands of times.
He felt phantom blisters forming on his soft hands, the burn in his shoulder muscles, and the precise twisting angle of his wrists.
He watched as his stance slowly corrected itself, moving from clumsy and stiff to somewhat fluid and natural.
No matter how long he practiced, his stamina and mental state remained constant.
He could feel imaginary sweat dripping down his face as the ten days of non-stop practice rushed directly into his brain in just a few short minutes.
A bright flash pulled him out of the mental void.
Alex gasped for air, his real body sweating lightly as his brain processed all the new muscle memory.
He eagerly looked up at the floating blue screen, to check the results.
[ Simulation Complete! ]
[ Flowing Spirit Sword Forms Proficiency increased by: +21 ]
[ Current Proficiency: (21 / 100 ) (Lv 1: Entry level) ]
Alex blinked. He rubbed his eyes and read the prompt again.
"Wait... twenty-one?" he said aloud, his voice cracking slightly into a soft, airy pitch. "Only twenty-one points?"
He stared at the numbers in disbelief.
The shadow in the simulator practiced for ten whole days without rest, and he only increased his proficiency by 21 points?
He knew it would get harder to gain points because this was the real world, not a simple video game where you level up with every swing.
But even then!
"Damn it, I'm an idiot," he grumbled to himself. He was barely a quarter of the way to mastering the basics.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. The harsh reality dawned on him, and he slumped forward, resting his face in his pale, delicate hands.
But then he thought about it. It was just one point of Source Power.
Even if he needed to spend ten points or hundreds, it was still far better than working tirelessly for months in the real world just to gain the same amount of skill.
"Hey, I thought I had actually become some once-in-a-generation sword genius," he muttered.
The "Improved Aptitude" he felt recently simply fixed his starting point.
Before the Naagin bloodline mutated him, his talent for the sword or magic was absolute garbage.
Now? He was just normal. Barely passable.
If a real genius used 10 Source Power in the simulator, they probably would have mastered the basic forms completely.
But for Alex, it just gave him the foundational skills of a regular, hardworking apprentice.
'Well, even the good aptitude seemed to have further sub-divided, and I was still at a very low level,' Alex thought, stretching his aching shoulders, 'at least it's better than being completely useless.'
He stopped overthinking it and decided to run the simulator again.
Since there was no cooldown period, he didn't hold back. This time, without much hesitation, he spent 10 points of Source Power, the equivalent of 100 days of continuous simulation.
[ Confirm Input: 10 points of Source Power? ]
[ Yes/No ]
"Yes," Alex confirmed.
Instantly, the real world vanished again. The dark, endless void swallowed his consciousness.
This time, the phantom version of himself in the center of the void looked much clearer.
It wasn't just a blurry shadow anymore. Alex could clearly see the reflection of his real body.
He saw his own narrow waist, the soft flare of his hips, and the smooth, slender muscles of his arms holding the heavy wooden sword.
The 100-day simulation began.
[ You invest ten points of source power into the 'Rank 1: Flowing Spirit Sword Forms' to Cultivate and Evolve.]
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for one day. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your cultivation has made no progress, but you gained 2 points of sword proficiency. ]
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for five days. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your cultivation has made very slow progress.]
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for ten days. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your cultivation has made very slow progress. ]
Whoosh!
The phantom stepped forward, dropping its center of gravity.
Thanks to his Serpentine Musculature, the phantom's spine coiled and uncoiled with terrifying flexibility.
Slash. Thrust. Pivot. Deflect.
Because he spent 10 points, the mental download was incredibly intense.
Time moved at lightning speed, but his brain felt every single second of the brutal training.
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for 12 days. You felt a sudden inspiration, your cultivation has made a great progress and your skill Flowing Spirit Sword Forms successfully entered level 2. ]
Twenty days passed. Thirty days. Fifty days.
And data began to rapidly refresh on the simulator log at a frantic speed in real time.
It didn't even take a few minutes before it stopped.
Read up to chapter 103 ahead of others on Patreon/ Mountain Dusk Walker