I don't even remember the ride back to my apartment. I must have driven like a madman, constantly checking my rearview mirror as if hiding from prying eyes.
Once inside, I locked the heavy metal door, my heart still hammering against my ribs. I leaned against the cold steel, forcing myself to take a deep breath.
I leaned against the door and listened.
No footsteps in the hall. No knock. No voices.
Silence.
I walked straight to the bathroom and turned on the faucet—partly to wash my hands, partly to create noise. My eyes snapped to the mirror.
The mark was still there.
A clean-edged black symbol on the back of my hand, like ink injected under skin.
It wasn't a dream.
I rubbed it hard. Nothing came off. No pain either—just a faint warmth, like something sleeping under my flesh.
"What are you?" I whispered.
I touched the mark again.
Nothing.
No sparks. No voice in my head. No sudden enlightenment.
A cold fear crawled up my spine.
Is it a curse? A tracker? Did someone mark me?
Am I already in trouble?
I stared at it, waiting for my thoughts to settle.
And it was like the mark listened.
The air in front of my eyes shivered.
At first, it looked like a smear of broken runes—symbols twisting, folding, rearranging themselves as if they were trying to become readable. Then the distortion snapped into words I could understand, hovering just above my palm like a transparent screen.
A status panel.
[PHANTOM INHERITANCE ]
Inherited Identity: Aeron
Realm: Transcendent — Level 1 (Peak)
Talent/Ability: Wind Blade
Techniques: Wind Control (Basic), Microcurrent Manipulation (fine control of airflow), Edge Compression (condense wind into cutting force).
Remaining Time: 180 days 00:00:00
Activation: YES / NO
Note: Higher output increases time consumption.
I froze, staring at the floating text. Is this... my golden finger? The "cheat" I had given up on years ago?
I didn't know how to process this. My boring, predictable world was turning completely upside down. I hesitated, my eyes locked on the activation option. Should I do it? What if it was a trap?
But as I looked around my cramped, cheap apartment, a stark realisation hit me. I have absolutely nothing to lose.
Swallowing my fear, I mentally selected [ YES ].
The floating panel shattered into motes of black light that rushed straight into my chest. Suddenly, a violent rush of energy exploded within my veins.
It wasn't painful, but it was overwhelming. I felt my bones crack and subtly shift, my muscles tightening and reshaping themselves. The air in the room suddenly felt... alive.
I could sense every draft coming through the window cracks, every shift in air pressure, as if the wind itself had become an extension of my own nervous system.
I stumbled into the cramped bathroom and gripped the edges of the sink, staring into the mirror.
I gasped.
The person looking back at me wasn't me. It was a completely different man. He had sharp, aristocratic features, striking ash-grey hair, and piercing, icy-blue eyes that seemed to glow faintly in the dim bathroom light.
"Is this... me?"
My voice even sounded different—deeper, smoother. I touched my face. The skin felt real, the bone structure entirely foreign. This must be the man from the body bag.
I could feel a surging power resting just beneath my skin. The panel had called his talent Wind Blade. Following an instinct that didn't belong to me, I focused my intent on my index finger.
With a soft hiss, a concentrated layer of air wrapped around my fingertip, vibrating at such a high frequency it looked like a translucent, miniature buzzsaw.
I turned on the bathroom faucet. Staring at the stream of running water, I slowly swiped my glowing finger through it.
The water didn't splash. It split.
The hyper-compressed wind cleanly divided the stream of water in half, leaving a perfectly dry gap between the falling droplets before they hit the drain.
My jaw dropped. The realisation crashed into me. I was no longer an ordinary person. I was holding the power of a Transcendent.
With a thought, I summoned the panel again.
[PHANTOM INHERITANCE ]
Inherited Identity: Aeron
Talent/Ability: Wind Blade
Techniques: (unchanged)
Remaining Time: 179 days 23:58:41
Note: Output level affects time drain.
I could feel the energy pool within me. It felt vast, but finite. The six-month limit was real. The more I tapped into this Wind Blade, the faster the timer would burn out.
Furthermore, I could sense a mental switch—I could precisely control how much of the power I wanted to output, preserving its lifespan.
But the change in my identity... that was the real wildcard. I had become a totally different person. Aeron's power was wind manipulation, not shapeshifting. That meant this flawless physical disguise was the power of the Black Mark itself.
I mentally willed the mark to deactivate.
A wave of exhaustion hit me. The black energy receded from my veins, pulling the grey hair, the blue eyes, and the sharp wind away with it. I slumped against the sink, looking at the mirror.
My ordinary, unremarkable face stared back at me. No powers. Just a regular guy.
I looked down at my hands. With this ability, I could completely change my life. But my natural caution quickly took over. I absolutely did not want to put myself out to the world as a Transcendent. There were too many unknown factors.
What happens when the six months run out, and I lose my powers? If I made enemies, they would slaughter me the moment I became weak again.
Could I gain other abilities by touching other bodies? That was still a massive question mark.
For now, I needed to keep a low profile. I would only use Aeron's power and face in secret. I would find safe, low-risk ways to make money and improve my life from the shadows.
The world of Transcendents was dangerous, but as long as I played it smart, I could reap all the rewards without taking any of the risks.