Zeras opened his eyes, and what greeted him first was the flickering rays of light from the chandelier.
He sat up from the ground, and all of a sudden, a terrible odor infiltrated his nostrils, making him pinch them together, disgust written over his face.
Looking for the source of the odor, he saw a dark, muddy paste around him mixed in with blood, and he jumped up to his feet, running towards the bathroom.
Taking a shower, he properly flushed off the dark paste and blood, after which he felt more alive than ever.
Wrapping himself up wth a towel, he returned to the room.
The floor was still covered in dark impurities and blood, so he quickly went to work.
-- -- --
20 minutes later...
Zeras stood there with a vacuum cleaner in hand as he stared at the now sparkling room.
Inhaling deeply in relief whilst closing his eyes, he immediately snapped it open.
'The air...there's something different about the air.'
Closing his eyes and concentrating, he saw different multi-colored particles drifting in the air, and he was shocked speechless.
"Just what are these? Mana?"
Never had Zeras felt the surroundings so beautiful.
There were different colors of particles, red, blue, brown, golden, green, and dark, drifting around the air, and some even past his skin.
A glint of excitement flashed through his eyes, as this could only mean one thing: his awakening was a success.
Immediately sitting cross-legged, Zeras sent his consciousness to his Mana core, and he was shocked by what he saw.
In the previously dark place, a bright star hovered at the center, radiating a powerful dark glow.
The dark lights were like beams piercing through the darkness, creating a strange phenomenon of the darkness being illuminated by a beam of dark light.
He looked deeper at his Mana core and noticed that only a quarter of the core was radiating the dark light.
The remaining didn't radiate anything and instead looked dull, but he didn't feel distressed by that.
This was just the way things were supposed to go.
One would only be called awakened if one could sense Mana in the environment.
To become an early star rank awakened, one would have at least a quarter[1/4] of his or her core filled up with Mana.
2/4 means Middle Star rank, 3/4 means Late Star rank, and 4/4 means Peak Star rank or Pseudo Meteor rank.
Looking at his ore, it was already filled to a quarter, confirming that he truly was now at the Early Star rank stage.
Zeras exited from the space, his heart began pounding loudly in expectation.
When one stepped into the Early Star rank stage.
They will awaken a new ability.
In fact, every Major rank breakthrough will result in the awakening of a new genetic ability.
'Activate System Interface,'
He thought quietly, and the panel appeared with the notifications:
[Congratulations, a source of power has been created for Host Human Gene.]
[Host Human Gene 'Absolute Morph Gene' has been upgraded from an F-grade to an E-grade gene.]
[Host genetic ability 'Morph' has been upgraded.]
[Genes]
-Absolute Morph Gene. [E-grade]
Status: [Upgradable]
Ability to change the entire body structure to the Host's Imagination.
[Gene Skills]
>>BioMorph- Level 1
• Doppleganger Morphing: Grants the ability of the host to take the appearance of other beings.
Zera's jaw dropped as he stared at the panel.
To take the appearance of others!?
"System, is this...is this true?"
He asked, just to confirm.
[It is. ]
[The host has awakened a new genetic ability of his human genome, which is Biomorph.]
[This genetic ability grants Host the ability to change his appearance to that of others.]
[But there are very great limitations, such as massive amounts of energy required and the target physiological difference to the host, which might make mimicry difficult, so don't get too excited.]
The system replied, quelling his excitement.
Zeras ignored the grumpy AI, moving to the bathroom and standing before the mirror.
He closed his eyes as he tried to imagine a person he could shapeshift into.
The Base Head he fought with immediately appeared in his head as Zeras imprinted the memory of the man's face into his head and willed to transform.
An unbelievable thing occurred as he slowly witnessed his face changing.
Rounder puffy cheeks, small beards growing out of his chin.
His body slowly increased as he became even more chubby, his height slowly growing to around 1.8 meters.
Now standing in front of the mirror was a chubby, dark-haired man with a beard.
Zeras touched his face, and even the beard and everything were real.
"This...This..."
"Hehehehehe!"
A peal of devilish laughter rang out in the bathroom.
"With the power to Shapeshift into others' appearances. Just what kind of mischief could I really get into?"
Zeras stood there for some time appreciating the fat contours of his body when a notification suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Mana core: 0/40]
[Energy points:10/65]
"What the!?"