One Last System

"What the fuck is this?" I whispered, stunned by sight.

A battlemage? Military mage? Cultivator?

Just where was the explanation of what each of those jobs meant?

Or was I supposed to pick randomly? Directed by which one sounded the coolest?

'Think, Arthur, think,' I urged myself.

I instantly discarded the cultivator and martial artists options.

It wasn't that I had anything against them... But I had a mental limit over how powerful one could get with their fists. And for a former nerd like me, between swinging my fists and casting powerful spells...

There was hardly any choice.

The problem started when choosing between a battlemage and a military mage.

The first one definitely sounded the coolest of the bunch...

'But I'm not in a game,' I thought, biting down on my lips.

As fun as it would be to become a god of war with the class-specific abilities of battlemage job...

Didn't that limit the scope of my actions by a massive degree?

Sure, using magic in a battle could come in handy, but wasn't the military option simply way more versatile?

'The military mage it is, then,' I thought, already aware of what would be my decision.

It didn't matter how long I would spend trying to decide. The allure of practicality and efficiency hidden behind the name of a military mage was just too great.

The selection window disappeared the second I made my decision, only to end up replaced by another window.

And from the looks of things, this window would become a constant addition to my ever-expanding system.

Main Job - Military Mage

Combined level: 30

***

Range: 10

Control: 10

Output: 10

Job Specific skills:

[Bolt - Allows the host to cast a bolt of pure magic at the target][Level 1 (0/100)]

[Warden - Allows the host to place a friendly totem boosting the host's statistics and providing passive defense][Level 1 (0/100)]

[Disturb -? Allows the host to forcibly break any action of the enemy, throwing them into a momentary state of disarray][Level 1 (0/1000)]

[Ultimate Spell][Mage's Tower - Allows host to erect a temporary mage's tower, significantly boosting his statistics in a designated area][Requires: Wardens x6]

Job Related skills:

[___]

***

'Now I have even more statistics to track,' I thought, slightly annoyed by the situation.

It was a challenge to constantly keep track of all the numbers I already had in my system... And now, this burden only increased.

'Well, if I can get stronger with this...' I thought, finishing up the assimilation of the second treasure.

[ALERT!]

A new window popped up before my eyes once again.

[Urgent Mission!]

[By unlocking the main class, the host is now in need of a massive source of energy. The amount of energy consumed in the next 24 hours will decide the full potential and grade of the job]

'Huh?' I shrugged in shock.

This was the first time in a long while since the system offered me any kind of quest.

Normally, it would be advance this, breakthrough that... Boring.

But now, a real mission appeared.

What's more, it explained its reason for existing, allowing me to understand what was actually going on.

'It seems that I need to do my best right away,' I thought, reaching out for the third and last treasure that the boss of the auction hall managed to obtain.

And without even a shred of hesitation, I pushed my hand into it.

Once again, my body filled with energy to its brim.

It felt just like before... but different at the same time.

The nearly bottomless pool of my current status allowed me to quite easily absorb the mana.

'Is this what she meant?' I suddenly recalled the words of the auction hall boss.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Then, I took a deep breath.

I sucked the treasure dry... and I didn't feel a damned thing.

'Right, what's the threshold?' I suddenly thought, opening my eyes.

And there it was. The status so ridiculous that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

***

Adolescent Enlightement (1 467 192/30 000 000)

{

Enlightenment: 472 111/10 000 000

Potential: 620 499/10 000 000

Drive: 374 582/10 000 000

}

***

'What even are those stats?' I asked, my strength leaving my body.

After consuming three treasures, all that my growth amounted to was... roughly three percent of the gauge?

'And here I thought it's going to be easy.'

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.

I ran out of cultivation resources.

A spear appeared in my hand as my eyes turned towards the nearby forest.

It was within reach of my hand. A place full of resources and cultivation cores.

'It won't hurt to test out my new skills,' I decided.

An excited smile formed on my lips.

I stepped outside of the formation before calling all of the stones to my pouch.

I prepared another formation with just a few swings of my brush.

It was of extremely poor quality... but it was easily replicable.

'Friendly totem, huh?' I thought, recalling the detail of my warden ability.

I laid down the last few strokes before focusing on a single stone in my hand.

'Warden,' I thought, wishing strongly for something to happen.

Right now, I had to establish a mental connection, the first experience of using my spells.

I pried the fingers of my hand open, releasing the formation stone.

It shone in a gentle, blue light as it rose in the air.

'Woah,' I nearly released a moan of surprise when the flow of magic around me changed.

I felt as if I stepped into a training array with just a single warden active.

A single thought appeared in my head.

'Can I make more?' I thought, grabbing another stone and repeating the procedure.

'FUCK!'

My head exploded in pain.

My brain rotted away under the intense agony that washed through it.

The symptom lasted only for a short moment, but it left me speechless.

'What the fuck did just happen?' I thought, startled by the event.

I then looked at my status window, hoping for an answer.

And it was right in my face this entire time.

My warden ability was still at first level!

'I know this is just a guess,' I shook my head and raised my eyes. 'But isn't this the most likely reason?'

Still, this wasn't the time for waiting.

A treasure of the higher realm barely made a dent in my current progress. And the clock on expanding my potential ticked.

Every second that I spent idling was a second wasted.

"Bolt," I whispered, raising my hand towards a nearby tree.

It was a weird experience.

A part of my mana followed my wish, expanding away from my extended arm.

In a single heartbeat, it gathered enough mana, formed it into a proper shape, and then shot it forward with a devastating force.

The tree that I aimed at ceased to exist.

'Was that...' I suddenly thought, somehow detecting a strange resonance.

My eyes moved towards my warden.

This test shot felt weird. Even after I shot it, right before leaving a certain distance away from me...

My bolt suddenly sharpened.

It all happened in the tiniest split of a second, but I was certain I saw it.

'So it works like that too,' I thought, taking a mental note of the event.

My senses tingled.

I turned my head to the side, kneeling down in the undergrowth.

There was a prey nearby.

A few seconds later, a middle-sized monster appeared between trees.

Just a few hours prior, it could be a match for me. But now, it was easy prey.

'Perfect, I thought. I then smiled as I looked at the beast.

The monster also looked at my face.

This cougar-like beast was ready.

'Disturb!'