Akira's POV
The system upgrade happened at eleven in the evening. It was late even by the system's standards. Something I wasn't used to.
I had been on the fourth floor running the sword sequence, alone, the building mostly empty at this hour and the overhead lights on their after-hours setting. The screen appeared between one repetition and the next, materialising in the air in front of me with the quiet certainty it brought to all its deliveries.
[Internal Rank Advancement: Mid-B → High-B.]
[Note: Mana architecture has been significantly restructured. The host should allow a calibration period before field deployment.]
[Spirit Well mana activation: 20/100 Mana exploits required]
[HP: 56 points]
I read it before I felt it hit.
The previous advancements had been perceptible but they were subtle. It was kind of like the way a room changed when you moved the furniture. It all stayed in the same space but with a different arrangement. This was not that.
