Rain hammered the earth in torrents. The forest floor was slick with mud, roots, and blood from a recent wolf ambush. But Noah didn't stop.
His body ached—muscles torn, skin bruised, bones screaming for rest.
[Pushups Completed: 497/500][System Notice: Pain Tolerance Increasing. Micro-muscle tears regenerating at accelerated rate.][Hidden Trait Progress: 82%]
He gritted his teeth and dropped again.
Four hundred and ninety-eight.
Four hundred and ninety-nine.
"Just one more…"
He collapsed.
His arms buckled, face slamming into cold earth. He didn't move.
Not for several minutes.
Then, he growled.
A deep, primal sound.
The ground trembled slightly beneath him—not from power, but from refusal.
He rose.
Five hundred.
[Quest Objective Completed: Phase 1 of 3][Reward: Minor Stamina Boost | Cellular Efficiency +3%]
Noah was six now.
The village still saw him as the quiet kid. The one who always wandered alone, who stared at the moon like it was whispering secrets. Some of the other children mocked him behind his back.
But they stopped when he caught a falling axe with one hand.
Or when he ran faster than horses for a mile without breathing hard.
Still, he kept a low profile. Attention was currency in this world, and he hadn't earned enough yet.
What he had earned was something far more valuable.
[Trait Evolved: Relentless Body – Passive regeneration, pain suppression, and faster adaptation to physical trauma.]
His body wasn't just growing—it was mutating.
Quietly.
Efficiently.
Dangerously.
The Awakening Festival – Year 7
At the edge of the village, a towering stone obelisk stood—ancient, cracked, and covered in glyphs that pulsed faintly with spiritual light. Every child at the age of seven was brought before it to undergo Awakening.
Noah stood at the back of the line, expression unreadable.
He'd been preparing for this day for four years.
The other children laughed nervously, compared hopes, wished for Spirit Beasts or Elemental Affinities.
Noah was silent.
He knew how rigged the system was. The Awakening was controlled by inherited bloodlines, divine lineage, or sheer luck.
He had none of those.
But he had something they didn't.
The System.
[System Directive: Your body is ready. Stand on the Glyph Stone. Breathe slowly. Let the world see you.]
When his turn came, the elders didn't even look up. His name wasn't noble. His parents were farmers. The boy was lean, but nothing unusual. Forgettable.
He placed his hand on the stone.
Nothing happened.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
The elders sighed. "Another dull one—"
Then the ground cracked.
A low hum filled the air. Glyphs ignited in blood-red light. The obelisk screeched, trembling violently.
A whirlwind erupted from Noah's body, hurling dust and leaves across the square.
One elder fell from his chair. Another fainted.
[Awakening Successful: Chaos Core Detected.][Trait Revealed: Echo of the Dead – Absorbs combat experience from fallen enemies within 30 feet.][Hidden Stat Unlocked: Causality Drift]
Everyone stared at him.
But Noah didn't smile.
He simply turned and walked away.