"Status," I muttered, lying on the bed.
A soft ding echoed in my ears.
A transparent screen slowly materialized in front of me—floating in the air, weightless, silent.
Lines of glowing text shimmered across its surface, written in a language I understood instinctively.
I reached out to touch it.
My fingers passed straight through.
It had no substance. No warmth. No resistance.
Almost like it didn't exist in this dimension at all.
This was the Status Screen.
Every sentient being in this world had one.
Its purpose was simple:
To show you who you are—your strengths, weaknesses, stats, and potential.
No cheats. No overpowered gifts.
Just a reflection of your limits… and your possibilities.
No one truly knows where it came from or why it exists.
But there are theories.
The Elves believe it's the Blessing of the World Tree, a gift from nature's first will.
The scholars of the Empire call it Heaven's Principle, a natural law that governs life and growth.
The priests of the Holy Kingdom say it's the Blessing of Solari, the sun god, given to guide the righteous.
Others whisper that it's just a leftover mechanism from an ancient civilization lost to time.
Whatever it was… it worked.
And in a world where power decided your fate, it was more than useful—it was everything.
And the reason I used to swear at the author—a lot—was simple.
While every other character in the novel had a basic, standard Status Screen...
The protagonist?
He had something else entirely.
A System.
Not just a fancy interface—but a sentient, advanced version of the Status Screen.
Something leagues above anything this world had ever seen.
It talked.
It gave him quests.
It rewarded him with stats, skills, even rare items.
It pushed him beyond normal limits, helping him break barriers no one else could even touch.
And the worst part?
No one ever explained why he had it.
There was no backstory, no divine revelation, no ancient prophecy.
He just had it.
The author never gave a reason.
But it was clear—the System's sole purpose was to make Kaiden Reagers the strongest, the untouchable, the one destined to defeat the Demon King, the ultimate threat looming at the end of the story.
A cheat.
A divine script written in his favor.
Meanwhile, the rest of us?
We were just characters playing our roles.
Some to help him rise.
Some to fall so he could shine.
And I—Kael Thorne—was supposed to be one of the ones who fell.
Now erasing that though out of my mind i look toward my status
---
🞂 Status Screen 🞀
Name: Kael Thorne
Title(s): None
Potential: B+ (Dormant / Sealed)
Current Rank: F+
Trait(s): None
---
Affinity
Status: Analyzing ( ??? )
↳ Affinity not recognized.
↳ Potential interference detected... [Analysis Incomplete]
---
Attributes
Strength: F
Agility: F
Endurance: F+
Intelligence: F+
Mana Capacity: F
Luck: ?
---
Skills
Intermediate Swordsmanship – Mastery: 25%
Basic Mana Control – Mastery: 45%
Perfect Insight (Passive) – F Rank
↳ Enables instant memorization and flawless replication of any observed technique, spell, or movement.
Stoic Resolve (Passive) – F Rank
↳ Grants the ability to maintain composure, suppress emotions, and remain calm under pressure, masking any weakness or vulnerability from others
---
Spear Style: Imperial Fang of Thorne (2/8 Forms Mastered)
→ [I] Fang Unleashed – Mastery: Basic (75%)
→ [II] Fang Guard – Mastery: Basic (15%)
Looking at my stats, only one thought crossed my mind—weak.
Kael was really weak.
In this world, everyone awakened at the age of twelve. Now I was fourteen. Two whole years had passed... and I was still stuck at F+ rank.
Pathetic.
Even those at the very bottom usually climb at least one full rank in that time. But Kael? He hadn't moved an inch. No wonder he was treated like a disgrace in the Thorne family.
To give it context—when someone awakens, they always start at F-, the absolute lowest tier. From there, they progress through:
F → E → D → C → B → A → S → SS → SSS
Each major rank is divided into three sub-ranks: minus (-), base, and plus (+). F-, F, F+... then E-, and so on.
And SSS? That's the peak. The domain of monsters, legends, and those who shape the fate of nations.
I was stuck just barely above the starting line.My stats weren't just bad—they were barely passable.
No wonder they exiled me so easily. No second chances. No help. No hesitation.
In this world, only one thing mattered—power.
Absolute power.
And the Thorne family? They embodied that truth to the extreme. Ruthless, pragmatic, and obsessed with strength. It's that very mindset that made them overlords of the Human Federation. Even the other ruling families tread carefully around them.
But when their second son awakened with the worst potential...
They didn't hesitate. They cut me off—like a rotten branch, severed clean.
Cold. Calculated. Typical.
Power is everything in this world. And without it, I was nothing to them.
But the more I stared at the screen, the more confused I became.
Something was off.
This wasn't the typical status screen everyone in this world had. The standard one only displayed basic stats—Strength, Mana, maybe Affinity. Nothing more. No extra data. No unnecessary clutter.
But mine…
Mine had Titles, Traits, Skill Mastery Percentages, and something even stranger—
Sealed Potential.
What did that even mean?
Did it mean my potential wasn't actually B+? Was it higher? Hidden? Suppressed?
The original Kael's potential was B+, plain and static. He only became powerful after forging a contract with the Void Sovereign and gaining demonic powers. But now… before any such event, my potential was already marked as "Sealed."
Was this the author's doing? A twist I never reached in the original story?
Or… did me being here change something?
And then there was the Affinity section.
In the novel, Kael eventually wielded multiple affinities—fire, water, wind. Basic ones. That wasn't rare.
But his true power came from the Demonic Affinity granted by his contract with the Void Sovereign. That was what made him feared.
Yet now, mine said:
> "Affinity: Analyzing ( ??? ) – Interference Detected."
There was no mention of fire. Or water. Or anything elemental.
Just… interference. Error. Something unknown.
Was this a glitch?
Or a clue?
Even after thinking for a while, I couldn't find any solid answers about my status. So I shifted my focus—to something slightly more familiar. Affinity.
In this world, every individual could technically use multiple elements, regardless of their affinity.
But Affinity wasn't about limitation.
It was about alignment.
It showed which element your body, your mana core, and your very soul resonated with the most.
That was your foundation.
Your elemental nature.
An affinity meant that certain magic would come to you naturally—as easy as breathing.
Everything else? You'd have to chase it, bend it, and break yourself just to grasp it.
Take a Fire Affinity user, for example. They could still learn Earth or Wind magic.
But it would take more mana, more time, and far more mental strain.
Where a fire spell might cost them just 1 unit of mana, an Earth spell could take 5, maybe even 10.
With practice, those costs could drop—but never down to the level of their native element.
Now imagine casting Water magic—the elemental opposite of Fire.
That wasn't just hard.
It was damn near impossible.
That same simple spell?
It might take 100 mana units, maybe even 150, and still be unstable, wild, and prone to failure.
Like dragging a boulder up a cliff with your bare hands—blindfolded.
That's why affinity mattered so much.
It wasn't a prison.
It was a guidepost.
A path of least resistance, not the only road—but certainly the easiest.
And that was only for basic affinities—like Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind.
Then there were the rare ones.
Lightning. Ice. Metal. Poison. Shadow. Sound. Crystal.
Even Gravity. Space. Time.
Those? You couldn't just learn.
Without the innate affinity, your body wouldn't accept them.
No amount of mana or training could force it.
So then…
Why the hell did my status screen say this:
> Affinity
Status: Analyzing ( ??? )
↳ Affinity not recognized.
↳ Potential interference detected… [Analysis Incomplete]
Was my affinity too complex?
Too unstable?
Too… broken?
Or maybe—
Just maybe—
It was something this world didn't recognize yet.
Something beyond its current understanding.
And that possibility...
It scared me.
But it also excited me.
My eyes shifted toward the Skills section of the screen.
The first thing that stood out was Intermediate Swordsmanship.
It surprised me—no, it shocked me.
It was unusually high, considering how weak the rest of my stats were.
A 25% mastery… that meant I had already grasped a quarter of the techniques at this level.
If I reached 100%, I'd probably advance to Advanced Swordsmanship.
Not bad.
Then came Basic Mana Control.
Only 45%.
Not surprising, honestly. My Mana Capacity was at F rank, and Intelligence was just F+.
There wasn't much I could do with such limited mana flow and mental processing speed.
Still, something was better than nothing.
Then there were the Skills—two of them.
And both… were rare. Useful.
---
🞂 Stoic Resolve (Passive) – F Rank
Grants the ability to maintain composure, suppress emotions, and remain calm under pressure, masking any weakness or vulnerability from others.
—
To put it simply, it helped me act like everything was fine… even when I was falling apart inside.
It kept me from breaking down, from showing fear or doubt.
No matter how shattered I felt, my face wouldn't show it.
It was like wearing an unbreakable mask.
A mask I hadn't realized I was already using.
---
🞂 Perfect Insight (Passive) – F Rank
Enables instant memorization and flawless replication of any observed technique, spell, or movement.
—
Now this—this was powerful.
If I saw it once, I could remember it.
If I studied it enough, I could copy it.
Movements, sword strikes, footwork—magic too, probably.
Even if I couldn't use it yet, I'd have it stored, waiting until I was strong enough to unleash it.
The only downside?
Both skills were currently F rank.
Which probably meant they only worked on low-level techniques for now.
No divine spells or advanced martial styles… not yet, at least.
But that could change.
I also noticed something else in the skill list—something that made my chest tighten.
---
🞂 Spear Style: Imperial Fang of Thorne (2/8 Forms Mastered)
→ [I] Fang Unleashed – Mastery: Basic (75%)
→ [II] Fang Guard – Mastery: Basic (15%)
—
Of course. This was the signature sword style of House Thorne, passed down since the founding of the family.
Created by the very first Patriarch of our bloodline—Kael's ancestor.
The Imperial Fang wasn't just a spear style.
It was a symbol.
A testament to supremacy, bloodline pride, and absolute dominance.
Even Kael's father, a monstrous SS+ rank aura user, had only ever mastered seven of its forms.
And the eighth form?
It was a legend.
A forbidden technique known only to the founder.
Unreproducible since.
Kael… the original Kael… had only learned two forms.
That was as far as his potential would allow.
But I—
I had something he didn't.
Memory.
I had seen the forms. All of them.
Etched in my mind from watching the Patriarch during those long-ago training sessions.
I couldn't use them yet—my body simply wasn't strong enough.
But when I grew stronger…
When I unlocked the strength to wield them