Ray found himself in a white void, which surprised him. The voice that he had heard at the beginning of the trial filled his head.

“Initiating incarnate protocol. Analyzing participant’s constitution.

Strength- low.

Endurance - low.

Dexterity - average.

Intelligence - average.

Wisdom - average.

Generating spark based on attribute distribution. Successful, max distribution allowance requested. Failed. High distribution allowance requested. Failed. Average distribution allowance requested. Successful. 6 points awarded. Allocating spark attribute growth multipliers.

Strength - 0.5

Endurance - 0.5

Dexterity - 2

Intelligence - 2

Wisdom - 1.

Starting stats based on distribution

Strength 1

Endurance 1

Dexterity 8

Intelligence 8

Wisdom 4.

Beginning spark integration.”

Ray’s entire body tensed in pain as a small core formed within his chest.

“Integration successful. Welcome new user.”

Ray’s vision shifted, appearing in s small room with a table and two chairs, one occupied by a woman dressed in a plain white robe.

“Welcome. Please have a seat and we can get started.”

“Where am I? What was that voice that I just heard? What happened to my team and the trials?”

“Please take a seat, and I will answer all your questions to the best of my ability.”

Ray followed her instructions, hoping to get some answers about what had just happened to him.

“Now, to answer your questions, you are currently in a debriefing room for the trial. That voice belongs to the goddess responsible for the creation and maintenance of all sparks. Finally, you and your remaining friends have passed the trials and successfully obtained sparks. We can talk more about this later. But for now, please place your hand on this device.”

She said, holding out a small metal tablet. Ray complied, holding his hand out as he did not see any other option.

“Let's see here, average grade but still getting a multiplier in two stats. I would say impressive, but that seems to come at the cost of crippling your strength and endurance.”

The woman muttered to herself.

“Excuse me, but what does that mean?”

“Hmm? Oh, now that you have integrated a spark, you have access to the Incarnate system. This will allow you to gain levels and these levels ‌will boost your stats. You have a multiplier of 2 for your dexterity and intelligence, meaning that every time you gain one point in either stat you gain two instead. But for you, this came with a downside, as you will need 2 points per stat in strength and endurance.”

Ray looked puzzled.

“Here, this may assist with my explanation. Try thinking about the word status.” Ray followed the woman's advice and felt shocked when a floating screen appeared in front of him.

Status

Name: Ray

Leval: 1

Ascension: 0

Class: N/A

Mana: 40/40

Stamina: 10/10

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Stats

Strength 1

Endurance 1

Dexterity 8

Intelligence 8

Wisdom 4

Multipliers

Strength 0.5

Endurance 0.5

Dexterity 2

Intelligence 2

Wisdom 1.

Titles

N/A

“What is Ascension?”

Ray asked after reading over the screen.

“Ascension will come at level: 100 with each ascension becoming increasingly difficult. When you reach level 100 your level will reset to one and you will have the chance to obtain higher multipliers based on your accomplishments.”

Ray was taken aback by this statement. He had never heard of anyone in his clan achieving ascension before.

“Is ascension common? I have never heard of anyone achieving it within the forest of Carinthia.”

“No, most everyone will spend their lives somewhere between level 1 and 75 with level 60 likely being ‌a powerhouse in your forest. Only those who consistently push their limits will find themselves on the first step of ascension, and only the most talented among them will surpass it.” “Do you believe I could reach that level?”

She smiled warmly at him.

“I could not tell you. Nevertheless, be certain that you are acknowledged by the heavens. It is very rare to receive a multiplier without having ascended. Even if yours also came with an obstacle.

A loud dinging noise sounded out in the room.

“It looks like our time together is up, but if you do manage to ascend, travel to the south of the Carinthia until you find a town named Gramith and ask for Cynthia. Until we meet again, young incarnate.”

Ray’s vision shifted again, appearing back in the original room where he had gotten his daggers. He saw Erith, Ren, and Chio appear as well.

“Welcome back.”

Hearing the thin man's grinding voice, Ray turned around.

“I see that you have all obtained a spark on your own. You all may keep the weapons that you have chosen as a preliminary award.”

Ray was happy to hear that he could keep the daggers, as they had treated him well during the trials. The rest of the group seemed excited, except for Chio, who looked like he might be sick.

“Attention please.”

A deep voice sounded out over the room.

The rankings achieved during the trials and the accompanying rewards will be unveiled. First, second, and third will all receive one thousand gold coins and entrance to the Albrum Empire’s Spark Academy.”

The reward shocked Ray ten gold coins were enough to buy a pleasant house in his clan and he could not imagine what he could buy with one thousand

“fourth through tenth will receive 100 gold coins each and finally eleventh through one hundred will receive 10 gold coins. Without further ado, here are the rankings.”

The man waved his hand, and a screen appeared. He scanned the list, seeing Ren in the twelfth place. Then he saw Erith in 76th but his heart sank as he got further down until, in 99th, he saw his name. He yelled out in triumph.

I did it. I made it to the top one hundred. The clan will have a hard time calling me a burden now.

He thought to himself. Upon receiving their rewards, the team trailed the thin man as he exited the complex. It was dark out now despite it being early morning when they first left.

“Please form a line and close your eyes. I will teleport you all back to the Ashrend clan territory.”

As the group followed his instructions, Ray could not help but ask.

“Will we be able to teleport one day?”

“There is a possibility, but to do so you will need to either obtain a class that allows you to do so or reach a high enough level.”

The man responded before waving his hand and sending the group away. Ray opened his eyes to see that they were back in the forest they call home.

“Shall we?”

Erith asked, walking towards the entrance to their clan’s village. The group nodded, following behind her. As the village came into view, Ray could see the clan elder standing at the entrance waiting for them. He could not help but puff out his chest in defiance of the man as they closed the rest of the way to the gate and prepared to have a conversation with the elder.