System notes and point.....

The high-pressure spray of the shower sluiced away the sweat and tension, leaving Leo feeling clean and strangely buoyant.

He stepped out of the bathroom, his skin still steaming slightly, droplets tracing down defined lines of his muscles. A towel hung loosely around his shoulders. The chill of the room clashed with the heat lingering in his bones.

He moved toward his bed, limbs still heavy with fatigue. He let his body fall backward onto the mattress with a soft thud. His hair still damp, arms resting behind his head, eyes half-lidded as the ceiling came into view.

For a few minutes, he simply lay in silence, letting his thoughts drift. The buzzing hum of his Perception was a constant companion, now becoming a familiar, almost comforting presence.

It helped him sift through the day's residual data, the rhythms of the home-gym, the fleeting sensation of the new Bio-Electric Resonance Conditioning (BERC) skill, and the overwhelming influx of internal physiological data.

After a quiet interlude, Leo reached for his comms unit on the nightstand. He thumbed it on, the holographic display flickering to life, and called up his status.

[Status]

Name: Leo

Level: 2

Current Role: [None]

HP: 75/75

Strength: 12 | Agility: 15 | Endurance: 12 | Intelligence: 15 | Perception: 14

Skills: Basic combat sense Lv 8. | Bio-Electric Resonance Conditioning Lv 2.

Passives: Neural Efficiency Boost

Point: 1

Unique Energy Attribute: [Absent] | Occupation: [None]

Notes: ...

He looked at the BERC skill, considering the prospects and impact this skill was to have on him.

If it really was as he had guessed, where it was a sequential increase of attribute, then he really had to focus on it.

This skill is a very good foundational skill, giving an edge to anybody who learns it.

Because of that, he will really need to be careful of it and any other 'legendary' skills that he might create in the future.

He didn't want to stray-off the path he had chosen.

Moving his eyes, he focused on the last line. 'Notes: ...'

It was just three periods. An ellipsis. A blank space where information should be. And that bothered him.

And it also bothered him that he was bothered about the notes.

Yeah, because it was just a note with an ellipsis, yet it drew in much of his attention than he would care to admit.

Everyone knew about the notes of the System. They were never truly empty, from the most basic Level 1 civilian/pre-awakened to the highest-ranked Awakened, the 'Notes' section always contained something. 

It was usually just a one-line descriptor generated by the Universal System, a distillation of your System-perceived essence.

At least, that's what is said that a bigshot once said.

For him, it used to be "A nascent Awakened" then "A One-legged Awakened, optimizing for logistical efficiency." And after his last Level Up, it was "A Newbie with a Lv 8 Skill."

But now? Now it was just… dots. An unclosed thought.

Leo's mind, fueled by his hyperactive mind and increased perception,

Immediately began sifting through different types of information he had ever come across, pieces of System lore, every whispered theory, every obscure web novel forum thread he'd ever browsed, etc.

He came up with all kinds of explanations and conspiracy theories that he could think of. Including but not limited to:

The simplest explanation would be that the Universal System, even as vast and complex as it was, had a minor glitch. But everything else was working, so he just kept the idea.

Maybe the System did have something to say, but it was beyond his clearance. For some high-level Awakened, System Notes could contain classified data on unique abilities or rare phenomena.

What if the Universal System simply couldn't categorize or comprehend what was happening to him? Empty notes could also mean the System doesn't recognise and can't categorize you. A glitch.  But this was even more unbelievable, for something of that level to glitch, or not even be able to judge what was going on with him? Or worse, a threat. This theory usually came from paranoid Awakened who thought the System was sentient and judging them.

Or it could mean, maybe, some kind of hidden progression. A secret path, A pathway to something beyond the known Orders.

Or it could also mean the Universal System has been overridden. Maybe even by this sensation he had been feeling for a while.

 Hell, it could also be a hodgepodge of everything, coupled with ones he couldn't even begin to have cognition of right now.

He ran a hand through his damp hair, a faint headache beginning to throb behind his eyes from the sheer volume of internal processing. It was all so new, so complex.

Even with the Bio-cognitive synthesis, he felt overwhelmed.

The empty 'Notes' section was a riddle he wouldn't even have bothered about during normal times.

As his mind buzzed all and about, chasing each other in endless loops. His body was protesting, too.

The rigorous training, the constant data processing, the mental strain of Bio-Cognitive Synthesis running full tilt, after all, this was talking about him being in a constant state of sensing what his brain usually ignored, and it was taking its toll on him. Even with Neural Efficiency Boost, his brain needed rest.

Sigh!!

Looking at the comm unit in his hands, He said 'fuck it' and decided to go ahead with it. If he really died because he spied on something he was not supposed to, then he only hoped it would be swift and painless.

As a person with an endless curiosity towards what might be interesting and fun, even when it was dangerous, especially when he fully has the capacity to explore?

Him even holding on till now, he felt, was a testament to his strong will. 

So, he decided to focus all his perception on the comm unit in front of him.

There have been different and all kinds of speculations about where this system came from, with no one being able to convince the other that their own theory was correct.

But what could be agreed on is that the system comm unit is definitely an extension of a higher existence.

And Leo was betting on this, as an extension, he was not spying directly on whatever existence that might be, so his chance of survival was.....well, not low.

Thinking of this, even if he knew he was just deluding himself, as a human being, is that not normal?

As long as they have not yet personally experienced that kind of fear, they would be endlessly curious.

And even after that, if they live long enough for time to wash it all away?

Then expect it to be repeated.

Leo shifted all his perception to the system comm in his hands,

At first, all that came back was the same kind of wave that was usually released from all kinds of devices he had observed before.

'As expected of a higher existence,' He couldn't help but lament inwardly that the camouflage was really good.

But as the contact with his perception and the comm unit prolonged, he felt like he broke through some kind of layer, and what was behind the layer?

Nothing!

After breaking through the layer, his perception kept pouring in, but it came back with nothing.

It was like some kind of black-hole.

His perception just disappeared.

Leo moved the comm unit away and placed it on the nightstand beside his bed, his perception breaking contact with it.

Immediately, it returned to being like any other device that he could perceive.

"...."

He then fell back onto the mattress, his arms extending, hands sliding back to behind his head, letting out a long, quiet breath that seemed to carry the last remnants of tension. He lay there, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, the silence of the apartment a profound presence around him.

The silence wrapped around him. Not oppressive. Not comforting either. Just there.

Minutes passed like that. No thinking. No movement. Just existing.

"Ignorance really is bliss." Although he felt and saw nothing, but the pressure it brought was definitely more than he would have cared to admit.

Looking at the comm unit as the light went down, he rolled onto his side, pulling a blanket up. The hum of perception/Bio-Cognitive Synthesis softened, becoming a distant echo as exhaustion finally claimed him. He fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, his mind finally, mercifully, quiet.

Leo awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed. His body was loose, limber, all traces of fatigue gone. He felt as if his whole body hummed gently, quietly, with efficiency that spoke of optimal recovery. He sat up, swung his legs out of bed, and stretched. Every muscle responded perfectly, seamlessly, a testament to his body's accelerated healing and adaptation.

The morning would have been better if not because of what happened before he went to bed yesterday.

He stood beside his bed, looking at the comm unit on the stand. After letting out a sigh, he picked it up and ordered some high-nutrient food.

He was hungry, and he didn't feel like cooking or taking nutrient bars.

The system comm can be used for every other thing that a normal comm unit does, and even because it is more secure, impossible to imitate or even falsify identity, it has become the norm.

So even if he had misgivings, a hungry man has to eat.

After ordering, he navigated back to his status screen.

He still had that single Point available. One measly point. He knew how these worked, and there were guides on how to allocate points everywhere on the internet.

For every level gained, the Universal System granted one Attribute Point. These could be allocated to Core Attributes (Strength, Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, Perception) to boost raw physical or mental capabilities. Or, they could be used to upgrade Skills. Sometimes you could use them to unlock Paths or Occupations once your role was clear.

All in all, anything that appears on your status page, can be added.

Today, he needed to address the 'Point: 1' on his status. He'd intentionally held onto it, or rather, it is popular knowledge that all points gained from leveling up before first-order should be retained.

Considering the price-performance ratio of points, adding it to attributes can be the stupidest mistake you can ever make.

When the descent first happened, most who didn't have skills and added points to attributes were all collectively called waste and trash when they reached first-order.

Leo naturally wouldn't waste his points, so he kept it, but if this body tempering skill was how he thought it was, then it was worth adding points to it.

Bio-Electric Resonance Conditioning, a skill that possibly provides guaranteed attribute increases per level.

Yesterday, he was worried that he would act on impulse, so he postponed adding points to have time to calm down and think it through.

There were only 19 points before first-order; he didn't want to screw-up.

Leo decided to test it, nervously, he focused his intent on Bio-Electric Resonance Conditioning Lv 2, mentally trying to allocate his single point.

After the addition, Leo waited a while, but nothing happened.

"Fuck." He couldn't help but curse out.

 "I knew it, I shouldn't have added it to this skill." Points can be added to anything on the system panel, but whether it would be enough to cause a change is another matter.

But that is mostly after entering the first-order, before first-order, 1 point is usually enough for anything that can be shown on the panel.

If not because points gained before can't be used in the next order, no one would waste putting their points in anything at the pre-awakened level.

For any skill that could be levelled up (like his Basic Combat Sense), the cost to raise its level was typically 1 attribute point per level.

For example, to get Basic Combat Sense Lv 1 to Lv 2, it would cost 1 point. To go from Lv 8 to Lv 9, it would still cost 1 point. This was true for all skills before an Awakened reached First Order (Level 20).

Most Awakened, before hitting Level 20, would gain 19 attribute points from leveling. If they wanted to maximize a single skill (which usually capped at Lv 15 for basic skill before First Order, unless it was a specialized Occupation skill), they would need to invest 15 of those 19 points. It was a trade-off.

But BERC was different. It was only Level 2, and his single point wasn't enough to take it to the next level.

This wasn't a standard skill. This wasn't just a basic combat ability. It confirmed his suspicion: BERC was indeed a legendary skill, demanding a far higher investment of points than anything else at his level.

He sat on the bed, processing this. His mind worked furiously, going through the implications. A skill that gave guaranteed attribute increases, but demanded such a high point cost to level up. It was a paradox.

He already put in one point, and he still didn't know how many points it would take to get to level 3. But from what he could discern from the feedback after the points were added, it would most likely take another point to level it up.

That means, from Lv 3 to Lv 4, it would most likely take another 3 points.

"Woah." Going by that mechanics, you wouldn't be able to level up past level 6. To reach level 6 from level 1 would require a total of 15 points.

Nevertheless, it would grant a total of no less than 100 attribute point.