Lumina vanished, and the ocean stilled.
For several seconds, Kainen stood in the Aether Sea, watching twin shadow cores orbit above him like miniature bck holes, pulling ocean currents into elegant spirals. This was his soul now.
Two singurities quietly bend reality. "...Right," he muttered to himself, voice barely steady, the chill of realization prickling his skin. Then the system window appeared again.
==============================LEVEL UP AVAILABLE==============================Current Level: 3New Level Avaible: 4==============================
Kainen stared at it with his brow furrowed. "Level four." He let out a quiet breath, the release trembling with disbelief. "That shouldn't exist." He tried to make sense of it. Every public pyer database in Avarice said the same thing. The Eldoria region capped progression at level three. It was part of the game's early bance design—MGI had openly stated that the first major content expansion would eventually open higher tiers.
Except... He looked up at the twin cores again. Apparently, that rule no longer applied to him. Kainen rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, the weight of uncertainty pressing on his shoulders. "Well...If the system's offering." He reached out and tapped the window. The interface reacted in a flurry of particles expanding instantly.
==============================LEVEL UP CONFIRMED==============================Wizard – Level 4==============================
Another notification appeared beneath it.
==============================Hit Points Increased---------------------------------------------Current HP: 22==============================
Kainen nodded slightly.
"I'll take the extra survivability."
As he confirmed the level-up, a second panel opened, dispying the familiar stat sheet he had memorized years ago.
But seeing it now, standing inside the literal ocean of his own soul, made the numbers feel... dizzyingly real. Something in his chest tightened.
==============================CURRENT ATTRIBUTES--------------------------------------------
Strength: 10 (+0)Dexterity: 18 (+4)Constitution: 12 (+1)Intelligence: 18 (+4)Wisdom: 15 (+2)Charisma: 12 (+1)
==============================
Kainen studied the screen thoughtfully.
"Still the same," he murmured.
He had already received the +2 adjustment across all attributes earlier when the system corrected the anomaly during character creation. Apparently, whatever strange recalibration had occurred during the Soul Breach had simply carried that change forward.
Not that he was about to compin. Dexterity gave him mobility, reaction speed, and the physical precision needed to survive close encounters.
Intelligence was the real weapon. A wizard's entire existence revolved around that number, and an eighteen was already dangerously close to the ceiling most pyers could ever hope to reach. Which meant the decision in front of him wasn't about stats. He barely finished that thought before the next prompt appeared.
==============================
LEVEL 4 FEATURE AVAILABLE------------------------------------------------Choose one------------------------------------------------Ability Score Improvement--------------------------------------------- Feat==============================
Kainen leaned back slightly, folding his arms as the ocean rippled gently around his legs. "ASI would push Intelligence to twenty," he muttered. For most pyers, that was the obvious choice: max casting efficiency, higher save DC, stronger scaling. Pure numbers...
But Kainen had never been a purely statistical pyer. Numbers mattered, but control mattered more. His eyes drifted upward toward the twin singurities orbiting overhead. "Two cores," he thought to himself, "Double the energy, double the instability." If the system's expnation about his soul restructuring was even partially accurate, brute-force spellcasting would eventually become the least of his concerns. With that much Aether flowing through him, losing control during a spell channel would be far more dangerous than dealing slightly less damage. What he needed was stability, focus, and control.
As if sending his intentions, the system window shifted slightly.
==============================FEAT SELECTED---------------------------------------------War Caster==============================
A cascade of new information unfolded in front of him.
==============================War Caster – Benefits
Improved focus while channeling spellsAdvantage when maintaining concentration under damageAbility to cast spells in reaction during close combat
==============================
Kainen nodded slowly.
"Perfect."
A wizard that couldn't maintain concentration was a liability. Most higher-tier spells required sustained focus, and the moment someone cracked your concentration, the spell colpsed.
War Caster changed that equation. Relief and determination stirred in his gut.
It meant he could take hits and keep casting.
Or cast while someone was actively trying to break his arms.
"Much better."
With his new feature chosen, the next screen appeared almost seamlessly.
==============================
SPELL PREPARATION
==============================
Cantrips? Booming Bde? Create Bonfire? Fire Bolt? Shocking Grasp
==============================
1st Level? Catapult? Ice Knife? Shield
==============================
2nd Level? Cloud of Daggers? Hold Person? Misty Step? Shadow Bde? Shatter
==============================
Kainen read through the list slowly.
It seemed almost mundane after the cosmic insanity around him.
Fire.
Ice.
Force.
Movement.
Battlefield control.
A very banced wizard loadout.
Exactly the way he liked it. His gaze, however, paused briefly on one particur entry.
Shadow Bde. The spell that had saved his life more than once.
Then another entry caught his attention.
==============================
MANTLE ABILITY DETECTED--------------------------------------------
Cataclysm Engine
Status: Untrained
==============================
Kainen stared at it. "...Yeah." He scratched the side of his jaw.
"That's going to need some work." The description beneath the skill was vague. Almost suspiciously vague.
It mentioned converting Aether through the twin cores. Channeling energy through focused release. Scaling power based on avaible soul mass. Kainen exhaled slowly. "In other words," he muttered, anxiety twisting his words, "I have absolutely no idea how to use this thing." The system did not respond.
The ocean rippled quietly as if by design, and above him, the twin shadow cores continued their silent orbit, dragging thin rivers of Aether through their gravitational pull. Kainen closed the interface with a flick of his fingers. The windows dissolved into drifting particles of light. For a moment, he simply stood there, watching the impossible sky above him.
Level four.
Two soul cores.
A Mantle.
And apparently, the attention of a very enthusiastic system AI.
...A slightly strange one.
He frowned faintly, remembering the brief visual distortion that had fshed across the sky when she scanned him earlier. Probably just a rendering bug.
The thought didn't entirely convince him. A shadow of dread lingered beneath his logic. But it was the most logical expnation avaible. "...Well," he sighed.
"That escated quickly." The system returned one final time with a loud blip.
==============================Soul Reconstruction---------------------------------------------Time Remaining: 6 Days, 22 Hours==============================
Kainen looked up at the swirling Aether Sea one more time.
Then he sat down in the glowing water with a quiet spsh.
"Guess I've got some time to think."
