The Surgeon’s Studio - Chapter 3: Skill Tree

For saving his girlfriend, Feng Shan was convicted of excessive self-defense and served a seven-year sentence.After his release from prison, he unexpectedly inherits an overseas estate, becoming a landlord in the Alaskan Arctic Circle.By day, he hunts, eats meat, and drinks a little wine; at night, he watches the aurora, grows vegetables in the world of ice and snow, and for fun, shows off some Witchcraft to the natives to blow their minds.Creating his own paradise within the Arctic Circle.

“You shall command… Legacy.”Charon thought he would grow up to be a hero, a savior, a shining light for all humans across the galaxy.But humanity is at war.Beset on all sides, their empire is standing only through the combined forces of technology and magic. Massive mechs were constructed, the fabled Colossus Machines, designed to defend the galaxy. The Mages were rallied, bringing forth elemental destruction.Yet it wasn't enough.Planets fell, their people enslaved to the enemies of mankind. Even the Colossus Machines, strong as they were, could not keep up.Charon was one of the orphans caught in the war effort, surviving through determination and courage, earning him the gaze of the God of Death.Gifted with a great and terrible power, the reviled element Soul, the dead around him suddenly become gateways into a realm thought lost to time. Through it, he can chain undead beasts to himself, forcing them to serve in his legions.He is sent into the River Acheron, the realm of the strongest undead, and is made to fight for his release. During this time, he attempts to uncover secret histories and advance his powers to master the undead.With these powers, he learns something new about magic and technology: He can fuse souls into the Colossus Machines, allowing the power of Death to run through their cores. They become warped, twisted machines of vengeance that earn malevolent abilities.They become strong enough to win a war.Magic and machine are mixed to create something more, something darker. An army fit for a master of magic, a general of legions, a conqueror of the stars...An Archon of Death.**WARNING**The story has a lot of nuance and subplots. If you like complex world-building and lore, you'll love this.He gets his power around chapter 5 or 6, and it then develops from there.DISCORD: https://discord.gg/BJ3DTumc29

Introduction 1:

Isaac has read a certain philosophy, studied a certain selection, watched Hou Hei, and even got into the life sciences where he was embarrassed to find a job without a doctorate!

He felt that he was a literate and thoughtful dragon!

Introduction 2:

Only by having your own thoughts can you give birth to your own divinity!

Those who can become gods are all great philosophers!

When Dr. Green Dragon discovered this essence, he began to rebuild his own scientific philosophy system outside the “good and evil” “camp”.

Will the gods go away because of this?

Is a new era coming?

- Description from novelbuddy

Kai’s life was small—coffee-stained mornings, cracked recipes, and a system in his head that tweaked toasters and dough like it was nothing. Then the sky shattered. Aliens—Skraiths, jagged and brutal—invaded, tearing his city apart with green-glowing weapons and relentless claws. Superhumans rose to fight back, fire and lightning blazing through the chaos, but Kai’s world crumbled with them.Hiding in his apartment, Kai stumbles on blood—human and alien, smeared on his wall after a superhuman battle. His system, once just a tinker’s tool, awakens, offering him a choice: mimic their powers, temporary and wild, through the blood itself. Desperate, he takes it—stealing pyrokinesis, then electrokinesis, then kinetic energy, each power burning through him, fading fast. But it’s not enough. Armed with a humming Skraith weapon and a body tougher from alien blood, Kai joins a ragtag crew of enhanced fighters—Liv, Rylan, Jace, and Tucker—scraping to survive in a warzone where every shadow hides death.As Skraiths swarm and the city burns, Kai’s system pushes him deeper, analyzing, integrating, crafting minor enhancements—durability, strength, sparks of power that could make him a target or a savior. Government factions, rogue scientists, and the aliens themselves start sniffing around, drawn to his strange tech and blood-stolen abilities. By the time Kai crafts his first super-powered enhancement—an artificial strength boost—he’s no longer just a tinkerer. He’s on the edge of something bigger, something dangerous, where blood and sparks could forge a hero—or break him entirely.In a world unraveling, Kai’s fight for survival becomes a desperate race to master his system, outrun the Skraiths, and confront the truth: the power he’s chasing might destroy him—or remake the world.