Alaric groggily woke up on the hard mattress, blinking against the dim light filtering through the small window
He tried to sit up—
"Urgh—damn it." A sharp jolt tore through his ribs.
"Why the hell does it hurt this much?" he muttered, wincing as he clutched his side.
[Because host got beaten up.]
Alaric paused, then clicked his tongue.
"Thanks, genius. I figured that much."
He managed to stand, clutching his aching side. Every movement sent a dull throb through his ribs.
[Host is advised to rest.]
Alaric snorted and dropped back onto the edge of the bed.
"Tch. What a pathetic body," he muttered, glaring at his own hands. "Guess I've got a long road ahead."
Sigh!
He leaned back, staring at the cracked ceiling.
As he sat there, his breath slowly evening out, his mind wandered—back to yesterday.
To Caleb's flames, dancing on his fingertips.
To the pressure Selene exuded—like her mere gaze could crawl inside his head and tear it apart.
He shivered slightly.
"System," he called aloud, his voice low.
"How many paths are there that one can awaken?"
[There are five primary Essence Paths.]
Then a new panel popped out in front of him.
[ Essence Paths Overview ]
[1. Elemental– Harnesses the raw elements: fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, ice, and their advanced forms. Users manipulate nature's forces for offense, defense, or utility.]
[2. Body– Focuses on physical prowess.– Enhanced strength, durability, speed, and regeneration. The foundation for warriors.]
[3. Mind– Governs mental strength, illusions, psychic force, and control-type abilities. Allows users to disrupt, dominate, or deceive through sheer willpower.]
[4. Beast– Focuses on taming, bonding with, or transforming into magical beasts.]
[5. Soul– The rarest and most esoteric. Involves soul manipulation, spiritual pressure, memory erasure.]
Alaric stared at the glowing panel, eyes narrowing.
"This world's got real monsters… and I'm stuck at the bottom."
[Host is currently unawakened. Host's strength will drastically improve once Essence Path Awakening is achieved.]
"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, dragging a hand through his messy hair.
"One step at a time."
He rubbed the bruise beneath his eye.
"System," he muttered. "What was that rank next to Selene's Essence Path? I saw… something like A-rank?"
[Each Essence Path has a PathRank, which determines its inherent strength and potential. These are as follow:]
F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS
[Though Individual Ranking also follows the same pattern.]
F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS
[Whoever created this power system, seemed to be pretty much lazy to name both of them similarly.]
Alaric frowned. "So, what's the difference between an individual rank and the path's rank?"
[The Individual Rank is your power level as a being. The Path Rank is the strength of the Essence you've awakened.]
[For example: A C-rank Body Path user at D Rank will be significantly weaker than a B-rank Body Path user at the same Individual Rank.]
"So, the higher the path's rank, the stronger its base foundation." Alaric muttered, rubbing his chin.
[Precisely. Your bloodline also plays a major role in determining your Essence Path and its rank.]
[The stronger and purer the bloodline, the more powerful the awakened Essence.]
Alaric leaned back against the creaky bedframe, his eyes still half-lidded from exhaustion.
"System… how do I awaken my path?" he finally asked.
[Unfortunately, Host has already passed the natural Awakening Age.]
Alaric frowned. "What?"
[The standard age of Awakening lies between 12 to 16. Beyond that, a natural awakening becomes nearly impossible.]
His shoulders slumped. "So... I can't use magic?"
He looked away, his voice laced with disappointment. "That's a damn shame… I really wanted to. use it"
[While natural awakening is unlikely to happen, alternate methods do exist—though rare.]
[Awakening may still occur through extreme factors such as intense training, or life-and-death situations. However, even if successful, such awakenings are generally inferior to those achieved during the natural age.]
Alaric fell silent, absorbing the words.
Then, he muttered, "Can't you help me awaken then? I've got you, don't I?"
[Negative. Directly inducing an awakening would violate this world's natural laws. This system is bound to those laws. Interference would result in collapse of systemic balance.]
"Of course..." he sighed. The bed creaked again as he leaned forward, elbows on knees.
A flicker of helplessness washed over him.
[As an apology for being unable to aid in Awakening, please accept this.]
A faint shimmer appeared before him, materializing into a small, dark-blue vial. Its contents swirled like liquid starlight.
Alaric blinked. "...A potion?"
[A Regeneration Serum. It will accelerate recovery and improve cellular vitality temporarily.]
[Though I can't help you directly with awakening, I'll still make you stronger.]
Alaric smiled faintly.
"Thanks."
With no hesitation, he uncorked the vial and gulped it down.
A warm sensation flooded through his veins. The ache in his muscles dulled. His bruised ribs eased—but not completely.
Before he could comment, the system spoke again.
[It won't help you heal instantly; full recovery will draw suspicion, though this serum will increase the speed of your recovery.]
Alaric smirked, leaning back again. "You're not wrong. Even healing too fast could get me into more trouble..."
He closed his eyes and let out a long exhale.
Then with a tired groan, he pushed himself up from the bed.
He pulled off his torn, blood-stained shirt and let it fall to the floor.
His bruised body was mottled with purple splotches.
Then he spotted a cloth folded on the small wooden table.
Picking it up, he made his way to the wooden barrel in the corner, filled with still, slightly murky water.
He dipped the cloth in, wrung it out, and began wiping himself down.
The cold water stung at first, but it felt oddly refreshing.
Once done, he noticed a folded set of clean clothes resting on the chair beside the table—plain but neatly arranged.
"...Must've been that head maid, Lena," he muttered.
He dressed swiftly.
Adjusting the collar, he stepped out of the room.
The corridors were quiet, torches along the walls flickering in the early morning light that seeped through high windows.
His footsteps echoed as he passed through the hallway.
Eventually, he passed by the manor's inner garden and—
[Ding!]
A translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
Alaric squinted, reading the message.
His lips twitched.
"...Are you really a domination system?" he muttered, raising a brow.
Then sighed.
"Just what kind of perverted system did I end up with..."