The walk back to the academy took twice as long as the walk out.
Arthur's ankle had decided it was done cooperating. Each step sent a sharp spike of pain up his leg. His hands were raw from the rope, palms bleeding where the hemp had scraped skin away. Dust covered him head to toe, mixing with sweat and the occasional smear of blood from scrapes he didn't remember getting.
He looked like he'd been through a war.
'Just your average casual weekend activity. Light rift diving. Very relaxing.'
The forest was quiet around him. Birds sang overhead, completely indifferent to his suffering. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in golden shafts that would have been beautiful if Arthur weren't too busy limping to appreciate them.
The skill core sat heavily in his pocket. He'd checked it three times already to make sure it was still there. The crystalline sphere pulsed with warmth through the fabric, a gentle rhythm like a heartbeat.
He'd stolen it, actually stolen it. Grabbed it and ran while an ancient rift collapsed around him.
'Lloyd would be so proud. Or horrified. Probably both.'
The Academy walls came into view through the trees. Arthur had never been so happy to see those defensive arrays glowing faintly in the afternoon sun.
He passed through the northwest gate. A guard glanced at him, raised an eyebrow at his condition, but didn't comment. Students came back from training exercises looking rough all the time.
The campus was busier than when he'd left. Small groups of students walked the paths. Voices drifted from the training centre. The quiet period was definitely ending.
Arthur kept his head down and made for his dorm. The fewer people who saw him like this, the better.
He climbed the stairs slowly, gripping the railing. By the time he reached the third floor, his legs were shaking. His room door had never looked so inviting.
Inside, Arthur locked the door and collapsed into his desk chair.
'Made it. Alive. Mostly intact. New personal record for not dying.'
He pulled the skill core from his pocket and held it up to the light.
Beautiful. The white crystal caught the sunlight streaming through his window, the golden threads inside seeming to move like living veins. The pulse was stronger now that he was holding it directly. Warm and insistent.
Arthur had read about skill integration in Arthur's memories. The process was straightforward. Break the core, absorb the energy.
Simple in theory.
He'd never actually done it before.
'Well. No time like the present. What's the worst that could happen?'
Arthur immediately regretted thinking that.
He held the core in both hands and squeezed.
The crystal resisted. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a hairline crack appeared across its surface. The golden threads inside flared bright.
The core shattered.
Not into pieces. Just... dissolved. The crystal became light, became energy, and that energy slammed into Arthur's chest like a physical blow.
He gasped.
The sensation was strange. Not painful exactly, but intense. Like drinking lightning. Like swallowing a thunderstorm. Energy flooded through his pathways, foreign and electric, seeking connections in his mana network.
Arthur's core pulsed. The white sphere below his sternum spun faster, pulling the skill's energy toward it. The foreign power fought for a moment, then integrated. Merged. Became part of him.
His system flickered at the edge of his vision.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: KINETIC ASSIMILATION]
The notification pulsed once, then faded.
Arthur sat there breathing hard. The strange sensation was fading, leaving behind something new. An awareness. Like gaining a new sense he'd never had before.
He could feel kinetic energy now. Not see it but feel it. The vibrations of footsteps in the hallway outside his room. The movement of air currents from his window. The tremor of his own heartbeat.
'Okay. That's weird. And kind of cool. Mostly weird.'
Arthur pulled up his full system display.
║ NOVA SYSTEM ║
NAME: Arthur Reinhart [Dual Soul - 42%]
AGE: 17
RACE: Human
CORE INFORMATION:
Rank: Middle Apprentice Core Colour: White Max Potential: Lower Master
AFFINITIES:
Lightning
MARTIAL ARTS:
Thunder Blade Style (Uncommon) Mastery: 35%
MAGIC SPELLS:
Lightning Bolt (Common) Mastery: 74% Spark Shield (Common) Mastery: 58%
SKILLS:
Kinetic Assimilation (Rare) Mastery: 0% Absorb kinetic energy from physical impacts. Store and release absorbed energy. Mana cost scales with stored energy.
TRAITS:
[???]
Arthur stared at the skill description.
'That's it? "Absorb and release?" Thanks, system. Super helpful. Very detailed.'
He focused on the skill entry, willing it to expand. Give more information. Explain how it actually worked.
Nothing. Just the same vague description.
'Of course. Why would anything be easy?'
Arthur stood up from his chair. His ankle protested immediately. He ignored it and moved to the centre of his small room, pushing his desk chair out of the way.
Time to experiment.
He activated the skill.
Mana drained from his core immediately. Not much, just a trickle, but constant. Like leaving a tap running. The drain was noticeable.
And nothing else happened.
Arthur stood there, skill active, waiting for some dramatic transformation. His body felt... different. More aware of motion. More sensitive to impact. But no visible change. No glowing aura or crackling energy.
'So it's subtle. Great. How do I test absorbing kinetic energy without hitting myself?'
Arthur looked around his room. Limited options. He could punch the wall, but that seemed stupid and would probably just hurt.
Then his eyes landed on his desk.
He walked over, skill still active, and slapped his palm down on the wooden surface. Hard.
The impact should have stung. Should have sent a jolt up his arm.
Instead, the kinetic energy just... disappeared. Absorbed. Arthur felt it flow into him, and it was converted into something his skill could store. A strange sensation like catching water in his hands.
And immediately, the mana drain increased. The stored energy demanded power to hold it.
'Okay. So I can absorb impacts. Now, how do I release it?'
Arthur focused on the stored energy. It sat in his chest, just below his core. A small pool of kinetic force waiting to be used.
He thrust his palm forward at the air.
The energy released.
A shockwave burst from his hand. Invisible but weak. The air rippled slightly. A few papers on his desk stirred, one sliding an inch across the wood.
Arthur's eyes widened.
'Holy shit. That actually worked.'
He stared at his hand.
'Although that was incredibly underwhelming. I slapped a desk and got a slight breeze. Terrifying. My enemies will be mildly inconvenienced.'
But it had worked. That was the important part. He'd absorbed kinetic energy and released it. The concept was proven, even if the execution was pathetic.
Arthur thought about it. He'd barely hit the desk. A light slap. Of course, the release would be weak. The skill converted what he absorbed. Weak input meant weak output.
'So I need to absorb stronger impacts. Get hit harder to hit back harder. That's... going to suck in practice.'
He tried again, this time slamming his palm down on the desk with real force. The impact stung even through the absorption. More energy flowed into storage. The mana drain increased noticeably.
Arthur thrust his palm forward again.
This time, the shockwave had weight behind it. Papers were scattered across the desk. His chair shifted slightly, legs scraping against the floor.
Better. Still not devastating, but an actual force.
The mana drain stopped. The stored energy was gone, released in that single blast.
Arthur was breathing harder than the brief experiment warranted. His core felt... not depleted, but strained. He'd been burning mana constantly for the last few minutes. Between keeping the skill active and storing energy, the drain added up fast.
'And I was barely storing anything. Just desk slaps. Imagine trying to absorb a real hit. A punch or a sword strike. The mana cost would be massive.'
Arthur pulled up his system again and checked his skill description. Still vague. Still unhelpful.
But he understood the basics now. Absorb impacts. Store the energy. Release it as a shockwave or through an attack.
The rest he'd have to figure out through practice.
'Lloyd never used this properly. Just got it and ignored it. What an absolute waste.'
Arthur leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. His body was one giant ache. His ankle was swelling. His hands were bleeding. He was covered in dust and probably had bruises forming in places he hadn't noticed yet.
And he had a rare skill that could change how he fought entirely.
Worth it.
Completely worth it.
Arthur sat there for another few minutes, just breathing. Letting the adrenaline fade. Letting his mana regenerate slowly.
Then he looked down at himself. At the blood and dust and general disaster that was his current state.
'Right. Probably should do something about this before an infection sets in. Or before my ankle swells to the size of a melon.'
The healer was going to have questions. Lots of questions. About where he'd been. What he'd been doing. Why he looked like he'd fought a building and lost.
Arthur would need a story. Something believable. Something that didn't involve "I broke into an ancient rift, stole a skill core, and barely escaped with my life."
'Training accident. Got too ambitious with sword forms and took a bad fall. Simple. Plausible. She'll lecture me, but she can't prove otherwise.'
Arthur stood slowly, testing his weight. His ankle held but screamed in protest.
Medical wing. Now.
Before this got worse.
He grabbed a clean shirt from his wardrobe and changed, leaving the dust-covered one in a pile. Washed his face and hands quickly in his small bathroom. The water in the basin turned brown with dirt.
Better. He still looked rough, but at least he didn't look like he'd crawled out of a collapsing rift.
Arthur left his room and headed for the medical wing. The walk across campus felt longer than usual. Every step on his injured ankle was a reminder that maybe charging into ancient trials alone wasn't his brightest idea.
'But I got the skill. So it wasn't my worst idea either.'
The medical wing came into view. Those familiar white stone walls and the glowing healing sigils above the entrance.
Arthur pushed through the doors.
Time to face the music.