014. New skills?
When the nurse finally finished tending to his bruises and gave him the all-clear to leave the clinic, he didn't head out right away.
Instead, he lingered a while, then quietly made his way toward Seraphina's ward to check on her before leaving.
When he arrived, the room was quiet, save for the soft beeping of a nearby monitor. She remained unconscious, her breathing steady but shallow.
According to the nurse, the shock from witnessing the vortex had been too much for her, rendering her unresponsive since the incident.
"She's still asleep, huh," he murmured.
At that point, his eyes were drawn to the faint system tag hovering above Seraphina's head—it had cleared. The ominous red warning that had previously blinked with urgency, hinting at her potential death, was now gone. That could only mean one thing: he had successfully saved her.
That realization brought another thought to mind—he should have received system notifications for that.
Without hesitation, he pulled open the system menu. As always, his profile was the first to appear on the screen, neatly displayed with his current stats and attributes. But his attention quickly shifted to the small, pulsing icon in the top corner—notifications. It was glowing faintly, indicating multiple unchecked messages.
He tapped on it.
In an instant, the interface brightened, and a cascade of new notifications slid into view, the system's cold, efficient text filling the screen with updates.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
«Quest Complete: Protect the Threadbearer»
[Status Update]
◆Critical Outcome: AVERTED◆
Target: Seraphina
Threat Level: Fatal — Neutralized
Narrative Thread: Stabilized
[Reward Granted]
▸ +100 Narrative Points (NP) — Enables manipulation of future plot branches.
▸ +25 Cipher Points (CP) — Used to decrypt hidden abilities, locked lore entries, or concealed system functions.
«Narrative recalibration in progress... Please standby.»
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
◆SYSTEM UPDATE DETECTED◆
[New Functionality Unlocked]
► Sub-Skill Set Tree Activated
◆ Advanced specialization paths now accessible.
Synchronizing with core ability framework...]
He stared at the notification for a moment, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. The rewards this time were noticeably better—more points than he'd ever received before.
That meant more opportunities to put his skills to use, more freedom to maneuver, and fewer limitations holding him back. The possibilities were starting to open up.
Then he glanced down at the system update.
"Sub-Skill Tree? What the hell is that?"
He tapped on the update icon, and the screen flickered before settling into a long loading phase.
The progress bar inched forward slowly, a visual reminder that the system was at work behind the scenes. It took longer than usual, but eventually, the bar filled completely, and the update was complete.
Moments later, his system profile refreshed, now displaying several new details and functions he hadn't noticed before—quiet additions that hinted at deeper changes waiting to be explored.
«Criteria met, Sub-Skill Set Unlocked: Shadow Affinity – Elite Tier»
Each skill has 10 free passive uses. Unlocking costs listed below.
☆ Phasing Shadows – Chance to phase through attacks while in motion or darkness.
〔40 NP / 25 CP〕
☆ Abysscraft – Forges shadow weapons mid-battle. Fast, subtly drains the life of the opponent, and shape-shifting.
〔70 NP / 55 CP〕
☆ Nocturne Echo – After movement skills, delayed afterimage mimics last attack (30% power).
〔50 NP / 30 CP〕
☆ Umbral Husk – Once per battle, a shadow clone takes a fatal hit for you.
〔80 NP / 60 CP〕
☆ Gloombound – +25% speed and precision in shadow; weakened by bright light.
〔45 NP / 30 CP〕
☆ Eclipse Instinct – Near death, auto-dodge incoming projectiles or AoE once per minute.
〔60 NP / 40 CP〕
☆ Black Mirage – Illusions occasionally take hits instead of you when outnumbered.
〔55 NP / 35 CP〕
☆ Soulfade – Absorbs small damage into shadow realm, returns it as gradual healing.
〔50 NP / 35 CP〕
☆ Shadow Howl – Your presence disrupts enemy focus, reducing their accuracy.
〔40 NP / 25 CP〕
☆ Duskweaver – Stitches shadows into passive tendrils that trip or delay enemies.
〔65 NP / 45 CP〕
☆ Grave Pact – Shadow weapons deal more damage when allies fall nearby.
〔50 NP / 30 CP〕
☆ Nightdrinker – Standing in enemy shadow drains their stamina/focus.
〔55 NP / 40 CP〕
☆ Umbral Pulse – Shadow skills fill a pulse meter. When full, all stats boosted briefly.
〔70 NP / 50 CP〕
☆ Void Signature – Standing still in shadow nullifies detection skills and magic.
〔45 NP / 25 CP〕
☆ Netherlink – Clones/shadows share 10% stats. Their kills restore 2% HP/mana.
〔75 NP / 60 CP〕
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
«Sub-Skill Set Unlocked: Light Affinity – Elite Tier»
Each skill has 10 free passive uses. Unlocking costs listed below.
☆ Radiant Forge – Generates energy weapons that pierce armor and damage dark foes.
〔70 NP / 55 CP〕
☆ Solar Reprieve – In light, passively heals and cleanses negative effects.
〔40 NP / 25 CP〕
☆ Flash Brand – Strikes leave radiant burn that hinders enemy healing and casting.
〔50 NP / 35 CP〕
☆ Halo Step – Auto short-movement when outnumbered or flanked (10s cooldown).
〔65 NP / 40 CP〕
☆ Photonic Core – Light abilities charge a core that boosts damage when full.
〔60 NP / 45 CP〕
☆ Mirrorguard – 15% chance to reflect partial damage as light when guarding.
〔45 NP / 30 CP〕
☆ Aurora Instinct – Heightened senses detect stealth, traps, or assassins early.
〔55 NP / 40 CP〕
☆ Mana Sight – Detects hostile or killing intent passively, even through illusions.
〔60 NP / 45 CP〕
☆ Lumenstride – In lit areas, +15% evasion and crit chance while moving.
〔50 NP / 30 CP〕
☆ Sunbreaker's Vow – Every 3rd light-forged strike deals burst damage.
〔70 NP / 50 CP〕
☆ Dayborn Surge – Power scales with sunlight intensity, peaking at noon.
〔45 NP / 25 CP〕
☆ Flarewake – Dashes leave light trails that burn enemies on contact.
〔55 NP / 35 CP〕
☆ Divine Reserve – Idle mana slowly converts to health or stamina.
〔65 NP / 45 CP〕
☆ Eclipse Scorn – Resistance to dark abilities; weakens dark foes near you.
〔60 NP / 40 CP〕
☆ Sol Ascendant – Once per day, surviving a fatal hit triggers a burst of healing light and knockback.
〔80 NP / 60 CP〕
"Woah! This is awesome!" he gasped, low enough to not draw attention to himself.
"New skills... they're all free, and ones I can use frequently at that!" he murmured as he scrolled through the sub-skills.
Then he came across the skill from the earlier message he had back at the field.
"Soulfade? That's the same skill that saved us! What the hell was that though?!"
Then he read through the description, trying to understand its use in battles.
"So I'm guessing the flaming vortex got absorbed into the Shadow Realm? Nice!" He stroked his chin gently as he stared at the skill.
"Wait... is that why it asked me if I wanted to gradually heal myself?"
Then he logged out and pulled up the message from earlier.
[Stored damage available. Would you like to convert it into gradual healing?]
↳ ⟪Confirm⟫ / ⟪Reject⟫
"I guess there's only one way to find out."