Alex—no, Kael—woke to the sensation of sunlight streaming through the dormitory window, warm against his face. For a moment, he lay still, disoriented by the absence of pain. Yesterday's agony felt like a distant nightmare, too intense to have been real.
But as consciousness fully returned, the memories crashed back with vivid clarity. The system notification. The choice to activate. The excruciating transformation that had torn through his body like liquid fire.
He sat up carefully, half-expecting his body to protest, but felt... different. Not painful, exactly, but fundamentally changed. His muscles responded with a fluidity he'd never experienced before, and there was an underlying sense of potential thrumming beneath his skin.
"You're awake." Gareth's voice came from across the room, flat and matter-of-fact. "How are you feeling?"
Alex turned to find his roommate at his desk, not looking up from his parchment. There were no obvious signs of concern or lost sleep—just Gareth's usual steady presence.
"I'm... fine," Alex said, testing his voice. It sounded normal, though he felt anything but. "What happened? After I..."
"You collapsed," Gareth said simply, his pen continuing to scratch across the page. "Started convulsing, then went completely rigid. Thought you were having some kind of seizure."
Alex waited for more, but Gareth seemed content to leave it at that. "And?"
"And you stopped. Went completely still." Gareth finally looked up, his earth-brown eyes steady and unreadable. "You've been unconscious for almost twelve hours. Breathing was normal, so I figured you'd wake up eventually."
Twelve hours. Alex's mind raced. The reclassification ceremony was today. This afternoon, he'd have to stand before another Classification Stone and somehow manage to appear harmless while hiding whatever the system had awakened within him.
"You didn't call for help?"
"You weren't dying," Gareth replied with a slight shrug. "And I'm not much for involving the infirmary in things that aren't their business. Figured you'd prefer to handle whatever this was yourself."
Alex studied his roommate's expression, but found nothing beyond practical indifference. It wasn't cruelty—just the same direct, no-nonsense approach Gareth applied to everything.
As Gareth returned to his morning routine, Alex closed his eyes and focused inward. Almost immediately, the familiar interface materialized in his vision, but it was different now—more stable, more integrated. Instead of the harsh notifications that had plagued him before, the display felt like a natural extension of his consciousness.
The status window appeared without effort:
[STATUS WINDOW]
[Name: Kael Ashford (Alexander Chen)]
[Age: 19]
[Level: 2]
[Exp: 500/2000]
[Rank: ???]
[HP: 100/100] [Strength: 10]
[Agility: 10] [Stamina: 10]
[Essence: 1823453/100]
[Available Stat Points: 5]
[Ability: Mimicry]
Alex's breath caught as he scanned the information, but his attention immediately fixed on one line that made his blood run cold. Essence: 1823453/100. The number was impossibly high—over eighteen million essence when the maximum displayed was only one hundred.
What the hell was essence? And where had that astronomical amount come from? The stat hadn't been there before the activation, he was certain of it. Alex stared at the number, a growing sense of unease settling in his stomach. That much essence couldn't be normal. It couldn't be safe.
Pushing the disturbing revelation aside for now, he focused on the ability name. Additional text materialized beneath it:
[Ability: Mimicry] Type: Unique *Description: Allows the user to copy and replicate the abilities of other awakened individuals through direct physical contact. Copied abilities are automatically amplified regardless of original user's strength.
Limitations: Requires skin-to-skin contact with target to copy their ability. Maximum concurrent stored abilities determined by available ability slots.
Special Note: This ability is classified as Unique-tier and will not register on standard Classification Stones.
Alex's heart hammered against his ribs. Not only could he copy abilities through simple touch, but they would be amplified to some unknown rank—represented by question marks that the system couldn't even properly display. The implications were staggering and terrifying in equal measure.
His attention was drawn to another line of text at the bottom of the display:
[Ability Slots: 0/1]
One slot. He could store and use one copied ability at a time, but only if he could make direct contact with other awakened individuals. The touch requirement made everything more complicated—and dangerous. How could he casually touch other students without raising suspicion?
And that essence number... Alex's mind raced through possibilities. Over eighteen million essence compared to a maximum of one hundred. Either the system was malfunctioning, or something had happened during his original awakening ceremony that had fundamentally altered him.
The implications were staggering. If he could touch other awakened individuals and copy their abilities at an amplified rank, he could potentially wield power that surpassed even the strongest known awakened. He was limited to one ability at a time for now, but perhaps that would change as he grew stronger. The system's warning echoed in his mind: this ability wouldn't register on Classification Stones. Which meant that during today's reclassification ceremony, he would still appear unclassified. He'd need to find a way to fake some kind of result, or convince everyone that he was simply a late bloomer with a weak ability.
The irony wasn't lost on him. In his previous life, he'd been murdered for his perceived weakness. Now, he possessed potentially the most dangerous ability he'd ever heard of, and he'd have to pretend to be weak all over again.
Alex glanced at the five available stat points. The system seemed to be treating this like some kind of game, but the pain he'd experienced yesterday proved that the changes were very real. Should he distribute the points now? Each stat was currently at 10, which he assumed was average for someone his age.
He decided to wait. Better to understand more about how the system worked before making permanent changes. Today's ceremony would be challenging enough without having to adjust to enhanced physical capabilities.
"Kael?" Gareth's voice interrupted his thoughts, still focused on his parchment. "You've been staring at nothing for the past few minutes."
Alex blinked, realizing he'd been completely absorbed in the status window. "Just thinking about the ceremony today."
"Right, your reclassification." Gareth's tone remained neutral, neither sympathetic nor dismissive. "You nervous?"
"Something like that." Alex stood and moved toward the washbasin, catching sight of himself in the small mirror above it. His reflection showed the same white hair that had appeared after the first ceremony, but now it seemed to catch the light differently—almost as if it possessed an inner luminescence.
As he washed his face, Alex's mind raced through possibilities. The ceremony would be observed by Academy officials. He needed to be prepared for anything.
More importantly, he needed to start thinking about how to use his new ability. Mimicry was only valuable if he could make contact with other awakened individuals. The Academy was full of students with various abilities—if he could discreetly touch them, he could begin building his collection.
But he'd have to be careful. Too much interest in other people's abilities would draw attention. And with his unique status, any unusual behavior would be scrutinized.
Alex dried his face and turned away from the mirror, his reflection showing a young man who appeared calm and composed. Inside, however, Alexander Chen was already planning. He'd died once because he'd been weak and unprepared. This time, he would be neither.
The reclassification ceremony would be his first real test. Not just of his ability to hide his true nature, but of his resolve to become someone who could survive in a world that had already killed him once.
As he prepared for the day ahead, one thought echoed through his mind: Knowledge is power. And power is survival.
Today, he would begin collecting both.
Alex was about to dismiss the status window when something caught his eye—a small tab at the bottom of the interface that he hadn't noticed before. His pulse quickened as he focused on it, and new text appeared:
[SKILLS]
The moment he concentrated on the word, the entire display shifted, revealing something that made him smile for the first time since his awakening