Apocalypse Baby

And notifications dropped one after the other like dominoes.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have reached Level 80]

[You now get the chance to choose between three skills.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have received 20 stat points]

[You have received 4 Powerstones.]

[Apocalypse Baby kicking in.]

[You have received an additional 20 stat points and 4 Powerstones.]

Alex blinked in confusion.

He had levelled up four times.?

How?

He hadn't fought a single monster since he left the tutorial, and although his clone may have killed a couple of monsters, maybe even a beast lord at this point, he hadn't dismissed any of them for the kill rewards to transfer to him.

So, how did he level up?

Alex's brow furrowed in curiosity.

Was I rewarded for killing Tharnok? Or maybe it's something else...

He then decides to check out his stats, maybe he will find answers there.

Name: Alex Knight

Rank: B

Title: Apocalypse Baby

Class: None

Level: 83

HP: 11,085

MP: 8000

Emi: 661/1200

[Stats]

Strength: 390 + 100

Agility: 400 + 100

Intelligence: 400 + 100

Vitality: 400 + 100

[Stat Points Available]: 8195

[Powerstones]: 54

[Skills]

Innate: [Exploding Touch {3}] [Spirit Body]

Passive: [Limitless Drive {1}] [Sixth Sense {1}] [Illusion Resistance {1}] [Discern*] [Eternal Flame Sovereign (0)] [Supreme Regeneration {2}] [Amplification (0)] [Fusion*]

Active:

[Echo of Annahiliation {3}] [Arcane Dominion {5}] [Void Slip {0}] [Void Shroud {0}] [Spectral Barrage {4}] [Titan God's Wrath {0}] [Godspeed Rampage {0}] [Void Gaze {0}][Omnigaze {5}] [Stone Face {0}] [Terra Phase {0}] [Dominius {0}] [Godhand {3}] [World Breaker {0}] [One Shot One Kill {0}] [Black Flame {0}] [Omniview {6}] [Surge {1}] [Doppelking {7}] [Regnum Dominion {0}] [Hellmarch {0}] [Imperium {0}] [Aerovale (0)] [Exsanguinate (1)] [Pain Mirror (1)] [Resurgence (1)] [Solar Judgement (3)] [Cryoforge (3)] [Metamass (2)] [Mimicry (1)]

Alex leaned forward slightly, eyes widening.

What the hell…

Every single one of his attributes had increased by a hundred points.

How? What had happened?

Then it hit him like a mental slap...

His awakening of Emi.

In the first selection, he had been subjected to an immense amount of pressure, which had forced a breakthrough.

And in that exact moment…

He'd awakened Emi.

It all clicked.

The sudden flood of power he'd felt—how his body had surged with energy like someone had flipped a switch?

Yeah. The numbers now glowing on his stat screen made total sense.

But that wasn't even the best part.

Because as Alex scanned down the list of his abilities, something new caught his eye.

The new skill that stood beside his only innate skill:

[Exploding Touch]

Alex tapped it to see what it was all about, and a description popped up.

Ding!

[As a result of being the fastest to awaken Emi, you have been granted an innate skill: [Spirit Body]

Spirit Body – Passively absorbs Emi from the environment without requiring meditation. While meditating, Emi's absorption is increased by 10X.

Alex's jaw tightened.

"No way…"

That meant he could cultivate without doing anything—literally. Just by standing there, he was getting stronger.

And when he did choose to meditate and focus on absorbing Emi, his absorption rate would be ten times faster.

"Okay… that's actually sick."

Broken even.

It explained how he'd leveled up so fast without lifting a finger.

While Adam explained Emi to Alex, he had mentioned that players gained levels by absorbing Emi, usually from defeated monsters, similar to EXP in video games.

This was how he had been levelling up in the tutorial.

But now, Alex was skipping the grind entirely.

His body was basically a walking Emi magnet, pulling power straight from the air.

And this air…

Alex took a slow, deep breath.

The VIP Combatant Zone was flooded with Emi—denser than anything he'd felt outside. It clung to his skin, seeped into his lungs, and pulsed through his veins like liquid lightning.

Just like the proctor said, this zone wasn't just a lounge, it was a recovery and relaxation zone.

Alex grinned to himself.

He was really glad he hadn't folded back in the first selection. Glad he'd endured the crushing weight, glad he'd forced his body to break through without the support of his skills.

Awakening was a game-changer.

He flipped back to his skill tab, ready to see if anything else had changed, and noticed that all of his skills now had glowing numbers beside them now.

[Skills]

Innate: [Exploding Touch {3}] [Spirit Body]

Passive: [Limitless Drive {1}] [Sixth Sense {1}] [Illusion Resistance {1}] [Discern] [Eternal Flame Sovereign (0)] [Supreme Regeneration {2}] [Fusion]

Active:

[Echo of Annahiliation {3}] [Arcane Dominion {5}] [Void Slip {0}] [Void Shroud {0}] [Spectral Barrage {4}] [Titan God's Wrath {0}] [Godspeed Rampage {0}] [Void Gaze {0}][Omnigaze {5}] [Stone Face {0}] [Terra Phase {0}] [Dominius {0}] [Godhand {3}] [World Breaker {0}] [One Shot One Kill {0}] [Black Flame {0}] [Omniview {6}] [Surge {1}] [Doppelking {7}] [Regnum Dominion {0}] [Hellmarch {0}] [Imperium {0}] [Aerovale (0)] [Exsanguinate (1)] [Pain Mirror (1)] [Resurgence (1)] [Solar Judgement (3)] [Cryoforge (3)] [Metamass (2)] [Mimicry (1)]

This was something new.

Alex, staring at the number, muttered:

"What does this mean?"

And a description popped up in response.

[Due to system upgrade, players now have proficiency points attached to the skills.]

[Proficiency Point: These points are gained through repeated use, and once they pass 100, the skill undergoes an upgrade.]

Alex's eyes lit up.

So this was how skill evolution would work without an Upgrade Stone. He had been curious as to how his skill would further evolve ever since trying to boost one of his S-Rank skills, and the system flat-out rejected it.

Now there were answers.

And it was to grind the ability over and over, and it would level up organically.

He just had to span it continuously.

Pretty easy.

Though not as easy as using an upgrade stone, but still.

Even with the few fights he had engaged in.

His proficiency was starting to rise, with the skill with the highest proficiency point being [Doppelking], which made sense as the skill was active as Alex stood.

[Omni gaze] and [Omniview] also had decent numbers, as he had used them a lot as well.

Literally all the skills he had used even briefly had increased by one or more, indicating that it was indeed true that you gain more proficiency points through repeated use.

"Rad," Alex whispered.

Then his attention shifted to something else.

Another passive skill.

Something new.

Alex tapped on the name with one finger.

[Fusion]