0013. Parameters and looming danger

"Huh, why me?" Maya protested, crossing her arms.

Jessica smirked and pointed toward the center of the camp, where a crowd was forming around the campfire for breakfast. "Are you going to fetch breakfast instead?"

Maya glanced at the gathering, her eyes narrowing as she noticed Roni already dressed and heading to the campfire. With a resigned sigh, she muttered, "Alright, but bring my share too."

Jessica chuckled knowingly. "I knew how lazy you are." Without another word, she headed off to grab their meals.

Maya turned her attention to Nile, her expression turning serious. "Listen carefully—I'm not going to repeat myself."

She leaned forward slightly, her voice steady as she began explaining. "The first 15 characters with a capital letter in between are your ASD's unique ID. Never forget it."

Nile nodded, his focus unwavering as Maya continued. "Next, we have the parameters. The first is your body's mana holding capacity. For beginners like you, this value is usually in decimals. Then, there's the limit value for mana capacity, which is always set at 10 points. That's the threshold you need to reach to complete Stage 1 of Level 1."

Nile interjected eagerly, "Mine says 0.07! Is that good or bad?"

Maya's expression hardened. "First of all, stop exposing your specifications so casually. While revealing your mana stats isn't a huge deal, never, ever expose your spirit specifications. Understand?"

Nile blinked, taken aback by her sharp tone. "Huh? Can't I even tell Mama about it?"

Maya sighed, her voice softening slightly. "It's not about who you tell—it's about whether you can trust them completely. You're still green, Nile. You might not realize it now, but power tempts people. I've heard of even the closest family members betraying each other over it."

Swallowing hard, Nile nodded silently.

Maya resumed her explanation. "Now, about the last two parameters. The first is your spiritual energy capacity. It usually ranges from a decimal value to 100. There's no universal limit because spiritual energy grows naturally with your spirit sea. As it expands, this capacity increases automatically.

"However," she added, her tone growing stern, "there are dangerous private methods to increase it artificially. Don't even think about trying those without proper guidance and approval from the authorities."

Nile listened intently as she continued. "The second is your spirit imprint capacity. Everyone is born with a unique spirit imprint in their spirit sea. The capacity for this is fixed at 10 for everyone."

Nile opened his mouth to ask something, but Maya cut him off with a wave of her hand. "If you have more questions, ask your teacher."

At that moment, Jessica returned, carrying two plates of food. She handed one to Maya before sitting down beside her and digging into her meal.

Maya accepted the plate with a smirk. "Thanks, breakfast runner."

Jessica shot her a look but didn't reply, savoring her food instead.

"Where's mine?" Nile asked, looking at Jessica expectantly.

Jessica glanced at him with a smirk. "You didn't ask me to bring it. Go eat with Uncle Sam."

Feeling aggrieved, Nile stood up but hesitated. "Jessica, Maya said that everyone awakened usually has a spirit imprint. Is it possible for someone to have a decimal value for their imprint capacity?"

Jessica's expression shifted as she considered his question. "Well," she began, "research shows that in rare cases, when someone is exceptionally fortunate, they might awaken unique ability patterns. These patterns can merge with the first spirit imprint, creating a hibernating egg. In those cases, the imprint value can drop below 1. But..." Her tone suddenly grew serious. "Don't tell me your spirit imprint value is below 1."

"Stop scaring him, Jessica," Maya interjected, rolling her eyes. "That's just a theoretical concept from the early days of island hunting.

"Don't worry, Nile. This is one of the greatest mysteries researchers have been trying to solve for over 12,000 years. There were rumors about a breakthrough in the Rain Empire, one of the Three Empires. At a press conference, they showcased a slime that was supposed to be the result of a successful experiment. Can you believe it? That slime died right in the middle of the conference!" Maya burst into laughter.

Jessica gave Nile a small, reassuring smile, though a glint of realization flickered in her eyes. "Listen, Nile. In all these millennia, countless legal and illegal experiments have been conducted by the Three Empires, the Seven Kingdoms, and the Twelve Nations. None of them succeeded. So don't overthink this. Go eat before you miss breakfast."

Relieved, Nile nodded and jogged toward Uncle Sam's table.

As soon as he was out of earshot, the lightheartedness vanished from both Jessica's and Maya's faces.

Maya's gaze followed Nile as she spoke. "We need to make sure he's the one who leaks it, if at all. If the authorities find out he has a decimal imprint value, we're all in danger."

Jessica's voice was firm but calm. "Don't worry. I'll make him understand never to reveal it, even by mistake. Besides, I think he's just one of those rare cases with a transparent imprint that wasn't detected during the first binding. Once his spirit recovers, we'll have him recheck his ASD screen. By now, it should have fully assimilated and detected the imprint. If it hasn't..." She paused, her voice growing grim. "Then we're in for a tough time."

Maya crossed her arms, worry etched across her face. "Just make sure to confirm it. And let's hope it's an attributeless imprint rather than one of those mutations that researchers hunt for experiments."

Jessica nodded, her expression unreadable.

---

Meanwhile, Nile reached Uncle Sam, where his portion of food was already served.

"Come, Nile, come!" Uncle Sam called warmly. "Jessica told me you stabilized your ASD screen. That's impressive! Most kids your age in school take ten to fifteen days to do that."

"Stop praising him, Sam," a voice interrupted.

Nile turned to see a scholarly elder approaching. Uncle Sam immediately stood, showing his respect. Seeing this, Nile also rose from his mat.

"Hah! Senior, I thought you were still with the ladies," Uncle Sam greeted with a grin.

The elder chuckled, settling onto Uncle Sam's stool. "It's been so many years since you graduated from the village school, yet you still remember to show proper respect. Moments like these make me certain I made the right decision in becoming a teacher after retirement."

Uncle Sam brought another portion of food for the elder before sitting back down beside Nile.

As the three ate, Uncle Sam and the old scholar chatted, their words mingling with the dim light of the early morning stars. Nile listened quietly, enjoying his meal and the comforting company.