Erie's Upgrade

The moment the class ended, Erie was the first to leave. He wanted to avoid any confrontation outside of the class. The rising argument before class had ended made it evident that something could've happened to him.

While walking down the hallway, Erie noticed flyers on the ground, stuffed in the trash can. Erie picked up the note and began reading what was on the flyer.

'Tournament in building four; if you want four Double-A Beast cores, you have one week to register by session four training fields. You'll know who to go to.'

Erie placed the flyer in his pocket; he continued the day as usual, and the split between the orphans and the students from the city was getting worse by the day. Erie noticed minor scuffles but ignored them because he didn't want to get involved.

Once the school day had ended, Erie noticed a flashing notification that constantly appeared in his system.

"System notification."

"Stat points are available; please allocate stat points."

Erie waved off the notification and told his system to allocate it for him before he made it home to end the night; another notification appeared in his vision, this time with a warning sign.

"Notification's full."

"User, please take time to read the notification."

"Warning: Thirty notifications available."

"Thirty?" Erie had a bad habit of not reading his notifications, so they tended to pile up this way. Once he arrived home, he noticed Jake and Gene standing in the kitchen, talking about something; he saw Gene with a flyer in his hand.

"We need to join! Me, you, and Erie can all be on the same team!" Jake stood quietly and listened. He didn't care about the competition but knew if Erie joined, so would he.

Erie walked into the room, sat on the large sofa, and tuned into the conversation. The notification signal constantly flashed in his vision, but he dismissed it again.

"Well, the flyer stated that we need four, right?" Erie chimed in on the conversation.

Gene turned around and answered Erie, "Yeah, but I believe we could win with just the three of us." Erie took the paper out of his pocket and read the rules out loud. One rule was for orphans and the city with the city.

"Who cares about the dumb rule? I don't even talk to them!" Gene yelled. "We should be able to partner with whom we want!" Gene began to explain to the group.

They continued the discussion for a while and didn't notice how long it had been. It was eleven after midnight. Before they ended the debate, Erie made a statement that bothered Jake and Gene.

"I think our fourth person should either be Lilly or Alex." When Erie mentions Lilly's name, Jake's eyes narrow and glew a dark emerald color, and the same happens when Erie mentions Alex. Gene's eyes turn from black to blue.

"Not a good idea," they both said in unison.

"Erie." Jake finally began to speak. "I don't like bugs."

Erie began to look around the room. "Huh? I don't see any spiders in here." He looked at Jake, confused about his statement. "Um... Do you need me to get it for you? If you show me where it's at, I can help."

Jake then frowned, and another Jake appeared in the kitchen while the one in front of him faded away slowly. "I hate bugs," he said again. He walked through his closed doors and he had gone to bed.

"What's his deal?" Erie asked Gene.

He placed his hand on Erie's shoulder and shook his head. "We both respect you a lot, Erie, but that Alex guy does not respect you. I would not place him on our team. Goodnight, bro. It's getting late."

Erie said goodnight to Gene and finally walked over to his room. Throughout the conversation, the system constantly flashed a red warning sign to remind him that his notifications were full. So, he finally sat in his bed in a meditative pose so he could focus. He then shut his eyes and began to check his system's screen.

"User: Erie Sunheart."

"Race: Sunlet."

"Level: 4."

"Experience points: 30 of 800."

Erie first checked out his initial experience points; he never noticed how far along he had come. Whenever the system displayed the experience points, he brushed them off and closed the notification. "Wow, I need 800 experience points to reach level five."

The numbers shocked him. After checking his initial interface, he decided to examine his stats.

"So what are my stats? Because I feel a lot faster than before."

"Speed: 18."

"Agility: 16."

"Strength: 10."

"Stamina: 16."

"Defense: 14."

The defense stat was new to him. "Perhaps I gained the defense stats when I evolved?" Erie was somewhat happy. He knew he was growing in strength, but it was at a fast pace.

"I hope no one notices me; the fact that I defeated that Malik kid under gravity says a lot. Or is he just that weak of a fighter?"

After he checked the stats, he checked his skill tree but noticed something was different. 'Mystic?'

"What is mystic, anyway?" he asked his system, which immediately answered.

"Mystic: an invasive enhancement skill. A potent skill that attaches itself to the user skill. Ability and energy reserves: Once Mystic is fully integrated, users must learn how to control energy output. The skill mystic automatically enhances user attributes. The enhancement depends on the level of 'Mystic."

"Additional information: Unable to identify."

***

"Mystic skill tree has been unlocked:

"Mystic Skill tree."

"Concentration

"Mystic aura."

Erie re-read the skill multiple times but didn't understand how it worked. He had never heard of an invasive enhancement skill. Did this mean he was sick? And what did the system mean by taking over his energy reserves?

He checked over half of the notifications, and most were just updates and congratulatory messages; he dismissed the messages for the final few. They were unanswered questions that he had forgotten about.

"Quest Level up to Level 5."

"Quest: Level up to Level 10."

"Well, I'm close to level Five," Erie thought out loud. "What will the system require me to do? It seems like it's not telling me this time."

Erie noticed a Yes or No prompt on one of his last notifications, and it was again about Mystic.

"Mystic has fully integrated into the host. Would you like to allow the mystic to be fully combined with energy reserves?"

"Yes."

He answered accidentally. A bright light flashed in Erie's vision for a split second, and the title popped up. Welcoming him to his new system name.

"Mystic System."

"This is corny; if anyone could see this, they would call me the 'mystic' Guy." While he was in thought, the last two tabs of his notifications began to show.

"Mystic Sun warrior skill tree."

"Mystic Sun Slash."

"Skill: Locked."

"Finally, I am done!" Erie said with a stretch, and he looked at his watch to see that it was 1:04 AM. "I need to sleep before I am tired in the morning."

As Erie drifted toward sleep, a strange sensation began to pull him under.

He felt weightless. Cool air brushed gently against his skin, like invisible fingers tracing the outline of his soul. The silence around him deepened—so deep it felt alive.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in his room anymore. He stood in a boundless void, surrounded by swirling lights—colors he couldn't name, shifting and bending like they were dancing to a rhythm.

"Hello!" Erie said softly. Where am I? " He began to walk around. He was walking forward, but it felt like he was in place. "Where am I?" he said louder. He began to feel the colors on his skin, and they swelled around him like a small vortex.

A moment later, his alarm went off. He woke up but didn't feel tired. He looked at his alarm and turned it off. "I feel energized today," he said out loud while stretching his arms.

"Download status of Ninjutsu: 100 Percent complete."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," he stated. "But why did it take so long to complete?"

Excited, Erie did not hesitate to open his new training set. "Okay! Now let's see what you got for me!"