Chapter 214

Rubbing his face, Ray decided to ignore the system’s cheekily annoying remark.

He had read novels in the past about main characters receiving sentient systems that possessed distinct personalities and essentially existed to pester their users.

At some point, the Tribrid had even imagined himself in the shoes of those fictional protagonists.

How would he react in such a bizarre situation?

How would he cope and survive the constant mental chatter?

For every child, being special was the ultimate dream; most fantasized about becoming heroes like the prestigious Vanguard Order.

And here Ray was... saddled with an irritable system that remained mostly silent unless explicitly asked a question.

He now had one annoying voice in his head, alongside another calmer and seemingly more sensible entity.

«Wait. Do you mean to imply that I’m not sensible?!» Bruce growled, his voice echoing through Ray’s mind with sudden ferocity.

’I don’t recall mentioning anybody’s name specifically while I was thinking, did I? So if you’ve decided that you aren’t sensible, who am I to dispute that fact?’ Ray chuckled loudly... in the privacy of his mind, of course.

«That does it. I am going to kill this brat, Elyon.»

«Ugh... I’m so tired of this,» Elyon sighed heavily, his voice weary from the constant internal bickering.

Ray decided to block out the arguing voices in his consciousness and focus on the next notification he wanted to inspect.

’Uh... show me the bloodline skill I just received. Then afterwards, display the system skill.’

[Blood Rush (Lv 1)]

[Description: Temporarily boosts host’s speed and strength by five percent for a set duration.]

[Time limit: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

’Okay. The increase isn’t such a huge number initially, but the prompt says it’s currently at level one, which means it has the potential to grow significantly higher later on.’ Ray paused for a moment, lost in deep contemplation.

’... The boost might not seem like much at first, but as I grow stronger, that percentage could become something monstrous in the future. Even a single point added to my attributes could shift the tide of a battle. Nice.’

[System Skill unlocked!]

[Name: Inspect (Lv 1)]

[Description: Allows Host to pull up extensive information on an object, human, or creature. Data includes name, grade, rank, and more.]

’I have been wondering when this would finally pop up. Guess it was scheduled to appear now.

This is something that would have saved me a massive amount of hassle for a while now. I really should have received this earlier. Tsk.’

Without any further hesitation, Ray lifted his head and stared in Kai’s direction with a small, knowing grin on his face.

’Inspect.’

A small, translucent screen immediately materialized in his vision, displaying a condensed bunch of information about his ally.

[Inspect Results]

[Name: Kai Larson]

[Age: 16]

[Race: Meta-Human]

[Grade: 6]

[Ability: Crystal]

’Damn. This is incredibly helpful and nice. Also; he is sixteen? Wow.’

He was just about to cast the skill on someone else when a sharp ding went off in his mind, drawing his attention to a different tab.

[Skill: Purification Pulse has leveled up.]

’Hm?’

Clicking on the notification, he decided to read exactly what the upgraded ability had to offer him now.

[Skill Name: Celestial Healing]

[Description: This skill allows the user to cleanse poisons and heal severe injuries for both the host and others. It can now regenerate smaller broken bones. Furthermore, the skill functions without the host requiring physical contact on himself.]

’Damn. This is helpful a ton. Now I don’t have to worry as much about a broken bone or two. This can really help solve that issue during a long fight.’

Turning his gaze toward his status tab again, a slight frown appeared on his face.

’My meta-force is unfortunately so low that I might not be of much use if we face another threat immediately.

And damn it! Why does the exp bar keep increasing with each level up? Soon enough, I might not even be able to level up again at this rate.’

He sighed deeply and was about to place his hands on his head to rub his temples when he suddenly recalled something vital.

Quickly looking up, he could see Van with his back pressed against a stone wall, breathing heavily and looking visibly exhausted.

"Hey, Van! Where are my cores?"

Ray’s sudden, loud shout startled the otherwise silent group as they all turned in his direction.

He couldn’t care less about the collective stares, especially as his best friend heaved a tired, long-suffering sigh.

Rising up, he sauntered over and placed four cores into Ray’s waiting hands.

He was about to turn away when Ray stopped him in his tracks.

"Here," The Tribrid said as he handed two cores over. "You killed these yourself."

Van stared at the items for a few seconds before a smile played on his lips.

He accepted the cores without any complaints before turning away, leaving Ray to continue whatever he was doing.

The moment Van left, the Tribrid looked at the two gleaming cores in his hands before digging into his pocket and pulling out three more.

This gave him five cores in total.

Without any hesitation whatsoever,

Crush—! Crack—! Shatter—!

One of the beast cores splintered under his immense strength, and he immediately absorbed the essence within.

[Your spark grows stronger....]

[+5 MF]

Crush—! Crack—! Shatter—!

[Your spark grows stronger....]

[+5 MF]

[Your spark grows stronger....]

[Your spark grows stronger....]

[Your spark grows stronger....]

Ray shattered all five cores, absorbing every bit of the essence to replenish and expand his meta-force pool.

"Show me," He whispered softly.

[MF: 25/80]

He beamed at the screen with visible relief.

’Not only did it increase my total pool, it also granted me points I could actually use. With twenty-five MF left after starting at zero, I can now perform Thunder Step once with two lightning strikes. Sigh....’

Staring at his palms, Ray squeezed them in and out for a few seconds as if he were still somewhat dazed.

Or maybe even drunk?

The sheer amount of power coursing through him—though not as massive as he would have anticipated after such a deadly evolution—was still significant.

It felt nice. Exhilarating. Intoxicating, even.

He felt almost drunk on this newfound strength.

More. He knew deep down he wanted more.

He needed to grow strong, and he needed to do it fast.

Who knew when the next challenge would arrive?

Who knew where it would even originate from?

Today, he had survived, but could he survive the next one?

.... More!

’But... what the hell is a Tribrid Adept?!’