PROCESSING… System integrity check bypassed. Primary resource generation complete.
Frank’s first breath felt like it was dragged through shattered glass.
His chest rose, raw and unfamiliar, like his body had to remember how to function. His muscles spasmed, nerves firing out of sync. Everything burned—not just his flesh, but something deeper. Something wrong.
He wasn't dead.
He wasn’t sure he was alive either.
The system had done something.
And judging by how everything inside him felt like it was shifting, it hadn’t been a minor adjustment.
SYSTEM NOTICE User framework has been forcibly restructured. New parameters stabilized.
SYSTEM WARNING Administrative oversight requested. No response received. Proceeding without review.
Frank's fingers twitched. His vision swam, but it was there—fuzzy, flickering at the edges. He sucked in another breath. It felt wrong. Like the air itself had weight.
His body shouldn’t be functioning. He knew that. He’d seen the system messages. Negative HP. Zero resources. Pending deletion.
He'd been dead.
But here he was.
The system had rebuilt him.
And it had no fucking clue what he was now.
SYSTEM ALERT User classification: UNKNOWN. Standard parameters no longer apply.
Frank's gut twisted. Unknown?
He tried to sit up—pain snapped through him, nerves screaming as if his body didn’t know how to process movement anymore. He wasn’t healed. His wounds were still there, his body barely holding together. But something had changed.
Something fundamental.
His Status flickered to life, no longer the neatly organized display he’d grown familiar with.
----------------------------------------
STATUS UPDATE Health → Merged Stamina → Merged Mana → Merged New Primary Resource Generated User resource pool has been greatly increased to compensate.
----------------------------------------
His HP, Stamina, and Mana were gone.
No, not gone. Combined.
The system had collapsed all his primary resources into one.
A singular pool of energy, its value shifting slightly in real time, balancing itself like a living thing.
SYSTEM NOTICE New primary resource designated: [ ??? ]
Frank stared. No name. Just question marks.
What the hell was this?
His Aura still existed. His Earth Magic hadn’t vanished. His Regeneration still ticked, but now?
Now, he had no idea what it was pulling from.
SYSTEM WARNING Aura has met fusion criteria. Evolution pending.
SYSTEM NOTICE Aura + Earth Magic combination detected. Adapting user parameters…
A combination?
Frank barely processed it before the system locked up.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ERROR Critical threshold breached. Forced upgrade in progress.
----------------------------------------
Then, the pain came.
It was not normal pain.
It was like his entire body had become a raw nerve, exposed to something vast and unknowable.
His bones felt like they were being etched into something new. His flesh twisted—not breaking, not healing—becoming.
His Aura surged, no longer an invisible, passive effect. It breathed around him, a faint pulse in the air. The cavern walls reacted. Small tremors ran through the stone, like they were shifting with him.
Frank clenched his teeth, riding the agony.
This wasn’t just an upgrade. This was a full-blown system rewrite.
And then—
Everything snapped into place.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM NOTICE User restructuring complete. New parameters stabilized.
----------------------------------------
The world stopped shaking.
The unbearable weight lifted.
Frank exhaled.
For the first time since the fight began—
His heart started beating again.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING Administrative oversight requested. No response received. Proceeding without review.
----------------------------------------
Frank's fingers dug into the stone beneath him.
His whole body felt different.
Not just stronger. Not just tougher.
Something else.
He wasn't just a survivor anymore.
He was something new.
And the system had no idea what that meant.
SYSTEM NOTICE User classification remains: UNKNOWN. Standard parameters no longer apply.
Frank’s breath slowed.
His body still ached, but it wasn’t just pain anymore. It was awareness.
Every inch of his skin hummed with something unfamiliar. His muscles weren’t just sore—they felt responsive, like they were waiting for a command he didn’t understand yet.
He clenched his fist.
It wasn’t just strength.
It was something deeper.
STATUS UPDATE Primary Resource: [ ??? ] New system designation pending…
The cavern was silent except for his own ragged breathing.
And the system was still processing.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING User framework now exists outside standard scaling. Attempting recalibration…
Frank braced himself as a pulse went through his body.
His Aura surged outward.
This time? He felt it.
Not just as a passive force, not just as a background effect eating away at enemies.
It was a presence.
A weight in the air, responding to him directly.
He could feel the cavern walls. The crushed stone. The remnants of his own magic still laced in the shattered spikes.
For the first time since getting this ability—
He wasn’t just using Aura.
He was controlling it.
SYSTEM NOTICE Aura has evolved. New classification pending.
Frank exhaled sharply.
He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sure as hell wasn’t a bad thing.
Something shifted beneath him. A small tremor in the rock.
Instinctively, he focused.
And the stone stopped.
His heart skipped a beat.
That wasn’t Earth Magic.
That was Aura.
SYSTEM ALERT User abilities now interacting with environmental stability. Caution advised.
Frank swallowed.
The system wasn’t kidding.
This was bigger than just a stat increase.
His Aura was touching the world itself.
Was that part of the forced system restructure? Or was this just a side effect of whatever the hell he had become?
He needed information.
He pulled up his Status.
----------------------------------------
STATUS UPDATE Primary Resource: [ ??? ] (Unstable) Aura Classification: Pending Evolution Earth Magic Classification: Pending Evolution Passive Regeneration: Rate Increased New System Attributes Identified. Data Processing…
----------------------------------------
Frank stared.
This wasn’t just about surviving anymore.
The system had rewritten him at the foundational level.
He wasn’t even sure if the term “human” still applied.
SYSTEM WARNING User structure is now considered experimental. Stability testing in progress.
Oh, great.
He was an experiment.
Again.
Frank let out a bitter laugh, rubbing his temple.
He needed to move.
Sitting here waiting for the system to finish figuring him out wasn’t going to do anything.
First step—get up.
He braced his hands against the rock, pushing himself to his feet.
Pain spiked through him, but it wasn’t the same. It was lighter. Distant.
Like his body had adjusted to the damage, accepting it as part of his new baseline.
He checked his Status again.
STATUS Primary Resource: [ ??? ] (Stable: 67%)
That number was new.
A percentage.
So this wasn’t just an infinite well of power. It had limits.
Good to know.
Frank took another breath, rolling his shoulders. His Aura still pulsed, responding to his thoughts, but not draining the new resource pool.
That meant it wasn’t passive anymore.
It was something he could turn on and off.
He focused, willing it to dim.
The air stilled.
His breath caught.
SYSTEM NOTICE User now has manual control over Aura activation.
Frank grinned.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Finally.
He wasn’t just some walking radiation hazard anymore.
He had control.
And that?
That changed everything.
SYSTEM NOTICE User stabilization at 67%. Further adaptation required.
Frank flexed his fingers, rolling his shoulders.
Everything still felt… off. Not wrong. Just different.
His muscles weren’t just sore—they were efficient. He could feel them adjusting, shifting to support his movements before he even finished making them.
Like his body already knew what he needed before he did.
He wasn’t just recovering.
He was adapting.
SYSTEM ALERT New Biomechanics Detected. Strength-to-Effort Ratio Improved.
Frank frowned.
The hell did that mean?
He crouched slightly and pushed himself up—
And launched nearly six feet into the air.
His skull barely missed cracking into the cavern ceiling. He stumbled midair, instinctively adjusting his landing.
When his feet touched the ground, he barely felt the impact.
Frank stared at the stone beneath him.
That was not normal.
----------------------------------------
STATUS UPDATE User’s kinetic efficiency increased. Energy conservation applied to all movement.
----------------------------------------
He wasn’t stronger. He was more efficient.
Less wasted motion. Less wasted energy.
SYSTEM NOTICE User biomechanics now function at optimized levels. Previous movement restrictions lifted.
Frank exhaled.
That explained why he felt so light.
Like his own weight didn’t matter anymore.
His stamina hadn’t regenerated, but he still didn’t feel exhausted.
Even after burning through everything.
SYSTEM WARNING User has not restored resource pool. Recovery required before further optimization.
That made sense.
He wasn’t running on empty.
He was running on something else entirely.
Frank glanced toward the remnants of the Young Drake, its massive body slumped against the spikes, blood pooling across the cavern floor.
It was dead.
And dead things were resources.
He took a slow step toward it.
And felt something stir.
Deep in his chest.
Something hungry.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ALERT User parameters meet criteria for new ability adaptation. Evaluating available resources…
----------------------------------------
His fingers twitched.
What was this?
He reached out—
And the system reacted.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING New interaction detected. User qualifies for Resource Absorption.
----------------------------------------
Resource.
Frank’s stomach twisted.
Was it talking about the Drake?
His new Primary Resource Pool wasn’t regenerating naturally.
Which meant—
He had to fuel it himself.
Frank swallowed.
He could back away. Ignore it. Find another way to replenish himself.
But something told him there wasn’t another way.
This was what he was now.
He clenched his fist.
Then?
He accepted it.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM NOTICE User has accepted Resource Absorption ability. Initiating first absorption…
----------------------------------------
A pulse went through him.
The moment he willed it, something changed.
The blood pooling around the Drake moved.
Not physically—energetically.
It flowed toward him, unseen but felt.
Frank inhaled sharply as a rush of energy surged through his body.
It wasn’t warm. It wasn’t cold. It was raw power.
Something fundamental.
And his Primary Resource Pool—
It filled.
----------------------------------------
STATUS UPDATE Primary Resource: [ ??? ] 67% → 89% (Stabilized)
----------------------------------------
Frank exhaled, the sensation fading.
His body felt… whole.
Like he hadn’t just burned himself to the edge of death.
Like he was built for this.
His stomach clenched.
This was different from just eating to restore stamina.
This wasn’t about food.
This was about taking power itself.
And for the first time?
Frank understood exactly what he had become.
SYSTEM NOTICE User classification updated. New designation: [ Harbinger ]
SYSTEM NOTICE User classification updated: [Harbinger].
Frank flexed his fingers.
The system had just given him a name.
Not a class. Not a title.
A designation.
Something unique.
Something that shouldn’t exist.
SYSTEM WARNING User framework remains outside standard parameters. Further anomalies expected.
No shit.
Frank exhaled, stepping away from the Drake’s corpse. His Primary Resource Pool was stable, the deep, gnawing emptiness no longer pulling at his core.
For now.
But what the hell did Harbinger even mean?
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM NOTICE Harbinger: A being that thrives in transition. Neither bound by past limitations nor restricted by future constraints. A force of adaptation.
----------------------------------------
Frank’s jaw tightened.
A force of adaptation?
That sounded… ominous.
Or maybe just accurate.
He had already torn past the system’s limits once. Forced it to rewrite itself just to keep up.
And now?
He could feel it.
Every part of him was still changing.
SYSTEM ALERT User parameters remain unstable. System recalibration required.
Yeah, no kidding.
Frank clenched his fist.
He wasn’t the same as before.
The question was—what did that actually mean?
----------------------------------------
STATUS UPDATE Primary Resource: [ ??? ] 89% (Stable)
----------------------------------------
He took another breath.
His HP, Stamina, and Mana were gone.
Merged. Rewritten.
And now, he had one pool.
One limitless source.
But how did it work?
Frank focused, pulling up his Status.
----------------------------------------
STATUS Designation: Harbinger Primary Resource: 89% (Stable) Aura: Pending Evolution Earth Magic: Pending Fusion Blood Magic: Integrated Regeneration: Integrated
----------------------------------------
Pending evolution.
Pending fusion.
That meant it wasn’t done.
Frank grimaced.
He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
But whatever was happening?
It wasn’t stopping anytime soon.
SYSTEM NOTICE User framework adjusting to accommodate new primary resource.
A slow, deep pulse went through him.
Not pain. Not exhaustion.
Just… change.
A sense of something shifting at his core.
Something waking up.
SYSTEM WARNING External system functions remain disabled. User remains unclassified in system hierarchy.
Frank frowned.
That sounded a hell of a lot like: “We don’t know what to do with you.”
Which made two of them.
But there was one thing he did know.
SYSTEM NOTICE User framework remains in flux. Further adaptation in progress.
Frank exhaled slowly. His body still felt… off. Not broken. Not weak.
Just different.
Like a puzzle where half the pieces didn’t fit yet.
He pushed off the cavern wall, forcing himself upright. His limbs were sluggish, his balance slightly off. His body was adjusting.
That alone told him the system wasn’t done rewriting him.
SYSTEM WARNING Residual instability detected. User resource pool adjusting to new parameters.
It was like standing on a boat, except the boat was his body.
Everything inside him felt… shifted. His core, his energy, his very center of gravity.
And his Primary Resource?
Still there. Still stable.
STATUS UPDATE Primary Resource: 91% (Adapting)
At least he wasn’t bleeding out anymore. That was a win.
Frank took a cautious step forward, scanning the cavern. The Drake’s corpse remained impaled, its massive form slumped against the jagged spires of stone. The smell of blood, burned stone, and raw exhaustion hung thick in the air.
His battle had shaken this place to its foundation.
Cracks ran deep through the rock walls. Some of them were wider than his arm.
This place wasn’t going to last.
SYSTEM ALERT Structural integrity compromised. Collapse imminent.
No shit.
Frank clenched his fists. The last thing he needed was to die to a cave-in after all this.
But moving still felt wrong. Like his limbs weren’t responding quite how they should.
Like he had too much power in them now.
SYSTEM NOTICE User’s physical parameters are adapting to new primary resource function.
That explained it.
He wasn’t just healing.
He was rebuilding.
And the system was recalibrating him on the fly.
Frank rolled his shoulders, flexing his fingers. He could still move. Still fight. But until he got a handle on these changes, he’d be moving at half capacity.
Which meant he needed to leave. Now.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING Cave collapse estimated in 120 seconds.
Frank grimaced. Two minutes.
That was all he had.
He forced his legs into motion, pushing through the instability still clinging to his muscles. The ground rumbled beneath his feet, dust and loose pebbles raining down from the cavern ceiling.
The exit wasn’t far.
Just needed to reach it in time.
Frank broke into a run.
The world around him started to break.
SYSTEM ALERT Cave collapse imminent. User evacuation required.
Frank sprinted.
The cavern groaned like a dying beast, the walls splitting open as chunks of stone rained down around him. The ground lurched, cracks racing along the floor, eager to swallow him whole.
Every step felt wrong.
His muscles surged with power that didn’t quite fit yet. His balance wavered, like his body wasn’t calibrated for this kind of movement anymore.
SYSTEM NOTICE User’s neuromuscular coordination adjusting. Mobility may be impaired.
That was a problem.
He was too strong. Too fast. His steps overextended him. His reflexes fired too late. It was like trying to drive a car with faulty steering.
Frank gritted his teeth. No time to adjust. No time to think.
Just run.
The exit was in sight—a jagged opening leading to somewhere that wasn’t here. A sliver of darkness beyond the crumbling wreckage.
Just a few more feet.
Then the ceiling gave out.
SYSTEM WARNING Major debris impact detected. Brace for collision.
Frank dived forward.
Stone and dust roared down behind him, an avalanche of destruction swallowing the cavern in an instant. The shockwave hit first, slamming into him like a battering ram. His ears rang, his body rolled, tumbling into open space.
Then—
Silence.
For a moment, Frank just lay there.
The collapse was over.
The cave? Gone.
And he?
Still breathing.
SYSTEM NOTICE Evacuation successful. Structural collapse complete.
Frank exhaled, pushing himself onto unsteady legs. His entire body shook, both from exertion and from the lingering system adjustments.
But he was alive.
The system?
Still losing its shit.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING Primary resource framework unstable. User calibration required.
Frank clenched his jaw. He needed to get a handle on this.
But first?
He needed to figure out where the hell he was.
SYSTEM NOTICE User calibration in progress.
Frank staggered, his legs not quite right beneath him. His body felt off, like he’d been thrown into a new form and expected to just deal with it.
Because that’s exactly what happened.
The system had rewritten him.
His stats, his abilities—everything had changed.
He forced himself to stand still, sucking in deep, measured breaths. He needed to take inventory.
STATUS Primary Resource: [???] (Stable) Aura: Evolution Pending Earth Magic: Enhanced Blood Magic: Integrated Regeneration: Integrated System Classification: Undefined
Frank frowned.
That last part?
Not good.
SYSTEM WARNING User parameters exceed defined classification. New designation required.
His hands flexed, his fingers curling into a fist. He could feel the difference in his body now. The power running beneath his skin wasn’t HP, Stamina, or Mana anymore.
It was just one thing.
One resource.
It was his.
And the system?
Had no idea what to call him anymore.
Frank exhaled, his breath fogging slightly in the cool air of the cavern. He rolled his shoulders, letting the tension bleed out as the system continued its struggle to define him.
He wasn’t gonna wait for an answer.
He had a new goal.
Figure out what the hell he had become.
SYSTEM NOTICE New evolutionary pathway unlocked. Further data required for designation.
Frank grinned.
“Guess I’ll be the first to find out.”
STATUS Frank - Level 56
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CURRENT CONDITIONS User Framework: [Reconstructed] Primary Resource: [???] (Stable) Health, Stamina, Mana: [Merged] Aura Evolution: [Pending] Earth Magic: [Enhanced] Blood Magic: [Integrated] Regeneration: [Integrated] System Stability: [Fluctuating] Administrative Oversight: [No Response]
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM STATUS & ANOMALIES System Classification: [Undefined] User Designation: [Outside Standard Parameters] Resource Calculation: [Rewritten] Error Logs: 56,713 (Unresolved) Processing Requests: [Denied] User Status: [Active] - System Force-Stabilized
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ABILITIES & SKILLS Aura → [Evolution Pending] Earth Magic → [Enhanced] Blood Magic → [Integrated] Regeneration → [Integrated] Terraforming → [???] New Skill Qualifications: [Pending System Processing]