Essence flowed into Rook from his core, cleansing every cell. Neurons fired more effectively, his muscles swelled, and his finely sculpted body now radiated Gorgeous, powerful. The cost for such a physique was the immensely high cost to his essence. His reserves could be depleted in mere minutes.
"Essence depletion is deleted from my dictionary," Rook declared. "Come, you rat, I'll show you true pain." He launched his first attack on the rat. The rat could not detect the change in Rook and initially viewed him as no threat at all; it wanted to play with him.
The next instant, the punch from Rook sent the rat sprawling to the ground. "Hahaaa, see, rat? I told you," said Rook, overflowing with energy. Though once fearful of that beast of a rat, now it didn't intimidate them at all anymore. Whatever speed advantage it boasted of before plus its special skill really made no difference for a topped-up Rook.
The rat rose slowly to its feet, a burning madness in its eyes. It began gathering its essence for its special skill when Rook didn't give it a chance. Another fist came in, but now it was exuding an outer layer covering of his essence.
Essence was complex in this world; one could create armor out of it for defense or an aura for a weapon to make it sharper.He stumbled, his form wavering as Rook pounded him relentlessly.
Every punch Rook threw was backed up by some essence, glowing in all of his attacks to give added strength. The rat did its best to fight back at him, but it simply couldn't stand against the new power and finesse that Rook now crowned with.
The impact of their clash flattened the grass around them as the battle raged on. He struck relentlessly at Rook, each one eating further into his essence but inching him closer to victory. Cornered and desperate, the rat wanted to make its escape; however, this conditioned the speed and strength of Rook to be too much.
Finally, with a powerful uppercut, Rook sent the rat flying into the air. It landed several meters away, unmoving and blood dripping from its nose and ears as a sign of death.
Panting, Rook stood victorious, the essence still coursing through his veins but dangerously low. He knew he had to be careful with his remaining energy.
"That's what you get," Rook muttered, looking down at the dead rat. As its body slowly turned into golden essence, it dropped a dark grey gene crystal that popped into existence before him. A hoarse voice sounded in his head suddenly, "Host has obtained E rank gene crystal of Fanged Rat and unlocked the chance to obtain a system. Can I proceed?"
"Whaaat?" Rook's brain almost shut down from the shock. He had only read about systems in novels. The pocket world already felt like fiction and a dream to him, and getting a system was on a whole other level. It was like a golden finger, a power only protagonists wielded.
"Oh god, thanks for your beautiful grace on me," Rook started to pray but looked quite fervent. "From now onwards, I will visit your temple even though I came before for chocolate and cake…for food. I promise to behave good." He didn't let the opportunity slip away but agreed with what the voice desired. A holographic system panel showed up in front of him.
"Hey, where's that jiggle-jiggle dazzling light to welcome the almighty system?" Rook grumbled, less than impressed. He was expecting a fanfare to thunderous applause into the hall of system-wielding protagonists. "Hey, at least add some disco lights to it," Rook requested, feeling let down.
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The system panel added four small LED lights at the corners in response. "Nah, come back. I don't want these childish lights," Rook sighed, realizing how ridiculous his request sounded. He dismissed the light and turned only to the system itself.
The panel was sleek, with a clean interface flashing various tabs and options. Rook's eyes skimmed over the information as excitement bubbled within. He felt the mix of incredulity and elation. It was real. He really had a system.
Name: Rook
Essence Storage: 23 [ units of essence can be stored ]
Essence Strength: 4 [ units of essence can be used for a minute- Max]
Attack: 7
Agility: 6
Defence: 6
Gene Level: F
Gene Skills: None
Affinity: None
The first tab read, "Name: Rook." Simple enough. The next listed his affinities, what he was naturally good at and where he could improve. After that was "Essence Storage: 23 units," and "Essence Strength: 4 units." The balance was critical, preventing him from ever using more essence than he had on hand.
"Remaining stats are usual," grumbled Rook as he scrolled through the system panel. "What are these poor Attack and Agility stats? But what are these gene skills and these affinities? Can I get all of them?" Unfulfilled by some of the attributes, he gained a new interest in how things were turning out with the gene skills and affinities.
He glanced at the shiny gene crystal. Truly satisfied, though it cost much hardship to get it. He sat cross-legged on the grassy land, preparing to absorb its power.
"Now it's your turn, gene crystal," Rook said with a quiver in his voice, which still held much of the fear generated by previous pain. The gene crystal in his hand slowly started to melt into a deep greyish essence and entered into his chest, light pain caused. As the essence traveled through his veins, entered his cells, the pain began to increase. Rook spat blood as his body turned red, with essence flowing out of his pores.
The pain became unbearable, with molten lava coursing through his veins. His muscles tightened and spasmotic, with every nerve within him shrieking in agony. Rook's breathing was ragged at every gasp, his lungs searing with each inhale. His vision blurred as tears streamed down his face; he clenched his fists, the nails digging into the palms.
"Why does it hurt so much?" he groaned, his voice shaking. "Is this worth it?"
Every heartbeat seemed like a sledgehammer against the ribcage, the pounding echoing in the ears. His mind spun as he grappled with the battles of his consciousness while waves of pain crashed over him. Waves of change—the intensity of it—bled onto tides that threatened to tip him past the edge of his endurance.
"Just. hold on," he whispered, gritting his teeth. "It'll be over soon."
His face was wet with tears from the sharp pain. The essence was washing through the cells, making them have a better structure to hoard and utilize most of the energy and turning them into good conductors of the essence. This process was carried on for two to three hours.
Rook opened his eyes again and found himself on the land of grass, but this time, his clothes were soaked in blood. Everything seemed different to him. The world seemed so different now. Every cool breeze touching his skin calmed a peaceful sensation. The way he looked at the world changed since now he could see everything differently, even the existence of essence particles settling down around.
"Did my eyes get superpowers?" Rook was more than surprised to see this change in his vision. He stood up, and now his body felt lighter; his pace enhanced by a large amount. All these new features came free of charge, without using a single wisp of essence.
He breathed in deeply, the clarity and power of it all intoxicating. All that pain would be worthwhile. Every cell in his body seemed to muscles stimulate with energy. Rook balled his fists, the power surging through his body.
Rook checked his system panel as his face was filled with satisfying smile.
Name: Rook
Essence Storage: 39 [ units of essence can be stored ]
Essence Strength: 7 [ units of essence can be used for a minute- Max]
Attack: 15
Agility: 19
Defence: 14
Gene Level: E
Gene Skills: Agro Agility
Affinity: None