SSS Rank: Spellcraft Sovereign-Chapter 58: Upgrades

Stable. No flux at all.

’Alright,’ he thought. ’Either Gen owes someone favors, or he’s betting big.’

Lucen moved to the window. Wide pane. Real glass, not mana substitute. View looked over a rail line, low traffic. The kind of street that didn’t hear sirens unless someone really deserved it.

He checked the seams.

No rune tags. No alert glyphs. Just a simple locking sigil under the handle, basic, efficient. Not meant to spy.

He walked to the hallway.

Two doors.

The first was a bedroom. Queen-sized bed, still-wrapped mattress, folded blanket set on top. Nightstand. Wall glyph port next to the power node, clearly meant for system syncing or passive stat monitoring.

He narrowed his eyes at that. Didn’t touch it.

Second door: bathroom. Clean. No scent. Brand-new towels still had fold lines.

He turned, leaned against the doorframe, and let out a slow breath.

’Okay.’

He let his system flicker open.

[Status: Lucen Ivara – Level 7]

[EXP: 172 / 400]

[Mana: 112 / 112]

[Recovery: 2.1/sec]

[Spell Slots: 7 / 7]

Active Spells:

• Ignition Burst

• Shockweave Bolt

• Frost Spire

• Soundlash

• Piercing Flare

• Crater Bloom

• Cataclysm Vector

He closed it with a blink.

’Nothing exploded. Nothing bleeding. No one asking questions.’

Lucen walked back to the center of the apartment.

Stood still.

Just for a second.

No water drips. No loose mana leaks. No cat meowing from someone else’s floorboard.

He dropped onto the edge of the window seat and rested his head back against the glass.

Not comfortable. But quiet.

He let his hand drift into a half-drawn sigil pattern out of habit. Didn’t finish it.

Didn’t need to.

His system buzzed once, barely a flick.

Then silence.

Lucen stared at the ceiling.

’Let’s see how long this lasts.’

—

Lucen sat still for another minute.

Not long. Just enough to make sure nothing in the apartment moved that wasn’t supposed to.

Then he pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped Gen’s name.

No hesitation.

One ring.

Two.

Click.

"Miss me already?" Gen’s voice. Amused.

Lucen leaned forward, elbow on his knee. "Why’d you give me this place."

Straight. No filler.

Gen didn’t answer right away.

Lucen waited.

One second.

Two.

Gen said, "Thought you’d like a place where your ceiling doesn’t leak."

Lucen stared at the floor. "I’ve lived in worse."

"Yeah," Gen said. "That’s the problem."

Lucen dragged a hand through his hair. "So what do you want."

Gen’s tone stayed light. "Nothing right now."

"That’s a lie."

Another pause.

Then Gen said, "Okay. Little lie. Let’s call it... future investment."

Lucen let that sit.

He wasn’t angry. Not surprised. Just tired of waiting for the real sentence.

Gen kept talking. "You’re useful. I’m not stupid. This place? Call it prep. Not payment."

Lucen said nothing.

Gen filled the silence. "I saw what you did in the drift. You’re not C-rank. I’m not asking what you are. Not yet. I just want you stable, ready, and not getting stabbed in a hallway over mana dust."

Lucen said, "You planning to sell me."

"No."

"Exploit me."

"No."

"You sure."

"Yeah."

Lucen looked at the ceiling. "You’re either the best liar I’ve met or the first guy who plays chess with shadows and still thinks he’s the good one."

Gen laughed quietly. "Why not both."

Lucen hung up.

No goodbye.

He let the screen fade out.

His phone dropped onto the windowsill.

He stayed there, eyes open, not blinking.

’Prep. Not payment. Right.’

He leaned back against the glass again.

Didn’t close his eyes.

Didn’t trust it yet.

Not the room.

Not Gen.

Not the silence.

He just sat still and waited to see what moved first.

—

The system flicked open when he called it.

No flourish. No sound cue. Just a clean, silent pane across the edge of his vision.

[Status – Lucen Ivara]

Level: 7

Class: Spellcraft Sovereign (Hidden)

Public Display: Spell Tracer (C‑Rank)

EXP: 172 / 400

Mana: 112 / 112

Recovery Rate: 2.1/sec

Unspent Attribute Points: 8

Stats:

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 15

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 15

Control: 13

Focus: 15

Perception: 11

Luck: 7

He stared at the numbers.

Didn’t blink.

’Eight points. Not much. Not nothing either.’

His hand hovered over Intelligence first.

’Obvious. But predictable.’

Focus next.

’Too much and I burn out faster.’

Then Control.

He tapped +1 into Control. The system shifted. Not a full pulse, just a weight settling behind his ribs.

+1 into Focus.

Another shift.

’No dip yet. Mana channeling feels steady.’

He hesitated.

Looked at Perception.

+1.

The system flicked a new overlay, visual filters, sharper field readings, cleaner glyph edge tracking.

’Not bad.’

Three points gone.

Five left.

He gave one to Intelligence.

Mana flexed again. The kind that tingled behind the eyes. freēnovelkiss.com

Another to Endurance.

Not for show. Just insurance.

Three left.

He stared at Luck.

Didn’t move.

’Still not gambling.’

He gave the last three evenly. One each: Control, Focus, Perception.

The system pinged softly.

[Updated Attributes – Confirmed]

Lucen blinked the window away.

No glow. No visual cue.

Just... smoother threads. Glyphs would hold better now. Snap faster. No fray at the edges.

He leaned back, let his head touch the wall behind him.

’Nothing fancy. Just clean lines.’

He closed his eyes.

Didn’t sleep yet.

Just waited.

—

Lucen stood.

No prep. No ritual.

Just him and the wall across from the desk.

He lifted his hand.

Mana responded faster now. Tight curve, clean loop. No flicker. No static at the edge.

He narrowed his eyes and ran a single trace for [Ignition Burst].

The glyph lit before he finished blinking.

’That’s new.’

He didn’t fire it. Just held the sigil in place.

No drift. No edge-sag.

He tilted the arc, added a tight loop to test reaction time.

The spell adjusted instantly.

He let it fade and stepped back.

’Control’s clean. Focus too. No back-pull. Good.’

He flexed one hand and traced a line on the ground with a broken piece of chalk.

Started a loop, basic kinetic test. A circle, a triangle, a flow bend.

Mana surged. No lag. No error tolerance warning.

He pressed his palm to the center.

The sigil lit bright, even without activating a spell.

’Right. I don’t even need to try anymore. Just trigger and go.’

He stepped back again.

Drew another set, this time for [Soundlash].

The pulse formed before the last line hit.

He tapped the corner with two fingers.

The floor popped. Quick air displacement. Barely a real detonation.

He caught the feedback right away. Less strain in his wrist. No shoulder twinge.

’That used to sting.’

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢