CHAPTER 49: REVELATION

From directly above, hanging on a branch that hadn’t made a single sound when he landed, Lanz’s voice came out in a perfectly flat monotone.

"Bo."

Lanz released the branch he had been hanging from, dropping straight toward the wolf without hesitation.

Mid-fall, his grip on the sword shifted, and for the first time, he decided to test the skill that had been sitting unused in his arsenal.

The familiar system chime rang in his ears.

[Crimson Slash — Activated.]

The blade ignited instantly, a molten red glow flooding along its length until it looked like it could burn through anything it touched.

This wasn’t some dull, dark crimson either — it was a vivid, aggressive red that demanded attention, the kind that made the air around it feel charged.

Energy flared from the edge in a sweeping crescent, far too over-the-top for the casual way he swung it.

With a single, deliberate motion, he brought the sword down in one smooth arc. The air split with a sharp cutting roar and the ground shook as the skill tore forward.

The wolf never even had the chance to make a sound.

The fiery crescent cleaved straight through it without slowing, carving a clean path as if the creature had never been there to begin with.

Half a second later, the corpse hit the ground with a heavy thud, now split into two very clean, very separate pieces that almost looked like they’d been prepared for display.

Lanz stared for a moment, blinking slowly as his brain caught up.

"...The fck?!" he muttered, his tone a mix of shock and regret. "I should’ve used this sh*t against that f*cking Leaper!" The thought that he could have used this sh*t to maybe break through its exoskeleton was almost insulting.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, the system chimed in with a satisfying, rhythmic series of notifications, each one stacking neatly over the other.

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[EXP +7]

[USER PROFILE: ZERO

Level: 13 →14

EXP: 74 / 140]

A wide grin spread across his face as he pumped a fist into the air. "Let’s go!!"

Not content to just stand there, he burst into motion, running a quick lap around the area like the upgrade had given him an instant caffeine boost.

Spotting the nearest tree, he darted toward it, climbed halfway up with questionable grace, and launched himself back down.

He landed with a ridiculous flourish, one knee bent, one hand braced on the ground, and his head tilted just enough to make it look like he’d practiced the pose in a mirror.

"Damn, leveling up feels good, both mentally and physically," Lanz said, exhaling with exaggerated satisfaction as if the air itself tasted better now.

"Let’s see... what do I get at level fifteen..." He flicked his hand, pulling up the system menu and scanning the next milestone.

[Next Reward: Special Loot Box]

"...A loot box? That’s new," he muttered, tilting his head slightly. His mind was ready to wander down the rabbit hole of wondering what the hell a "special" loot box could actually contain, but his attention shifted as soon as the notification for his current reward popped up.

[Reward: +10 Stat Points to a chosen stat]

"Oh-ho-ho, now we’re talking," he said, a grin already tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Ten free stat points wasn’t something to brush off, and the fact that he could dump them all into one area made it even better.

His thoughts immediately jumped between Strength, Agility, and Vitality, bouncing around like he was drafting some sort of half-serious battle plan.

"Where should I put it..." Lanz muttered, staring at the stat menu like it was some kind of moral dilemma. "I really want to dump it all into INT... but STR is the move. Ugh. Fine. I’ll just throw the three extra points I already had into INT and call it a day."

He tapped the selections without hesitation, finalizing the distribution.

STR: 10 → 20

INT: 11→ 14

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Derived Stat — MANA: 65 / 70]

For a moment, he admired the numbers like they were some sort of personal achievement badge.

But as his eyes scanned the display, something caught his attention — something that didn’t line up with how things normally worked.

He leaned in slightly, squinting. "...Wait. Did I... use mana?"

It wasn’t a question he asked often, mostly because he never had any reason to. Up until now, Lanz hadn’t given much thought to his mana meter.

It had always been one of those things that just sat there, unmoving, no matter how many times he swung his sword or used a skill.

His abilities had never consumed mana, even when they looked flashy enough to warrant it.

But Crimson Slash had been different. It had actually shaved off a bit of his mana pool, and that alone was enough to make him pause.

Frowning, he opened the skill menu and pulled up Crimson Slash.

He read through the skill’s description, scrolling down until he reached the bottom, where the reason was finally stated.

[Tier 2 Skill: 5 Mana to use.]

There it was — plain as day. A mana cost.

His brow furrowed in curiosity, and he quickly flipped over to one of his other favorites, Phantom Stride. Scanning the description, he spotted the difference almost immediately.

[Tier 1 Skill: No mana required to use. Consumes stamina instead.]

He leaned back slightly, staring at the menu.

All this time, every flashy move he’d pulled had been eating into his stamina, not his mana.

And now, suddenly, Tier 2 skills were tapping into his mana instead of wearing down his body.

The gears started turning. "So my body handles the basic stuff... and mana’s for the bigger, nastier things," he muttered, almost impressed with himself for figuring it out, even though the system had literally spelled it out for him.

A grin spread across his face as he jabbed a finger toward the floating menu.

"This is a revelation!" he exclaimed.

End of Chapter 49.

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ALT SYSTEM — USER PROFILE: ZERO

Level: 14

EXP: 74 / 140

Next Reward: Special Loot Box

Global System Tracking: DISABLED

World Rank Association: UNLINKED

Stats:

STR: 20 | AGI: 10 (Affinity) | VIT: 5 | DEX: 5 | INT: 14 | WIS: 5

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Derived Stat — MANA: 65 / 70]

Skills:

[Crimson Slash Lv. 1]

[Phantom Stride Lv. 2]

[Instinctive Blade Lv.1]

[Predictive Guard Lv.1]

[Skill Fusion Menu: Active]

[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]

[Developer Node – Fusion Core Anchor: Active]

[Skill Slot Available — Unassigned]

Equipment:

Aged Blade Fragment (??? Rarity) (Bound)

Training Ring (+1 VIT)

Bag :)