Chapter 4: Upgrading Aura

Arriving back home, just outside a huge mansion, the guards at the gate immediately opened it.

"Welcome back, young master," the two guards said, bowing deeply as he only nodded in response.

When he entered the mansion, the inside felt eerily empty. There was no one around, and the place seemed completely isolated, leaving him with no one to play or talk with.

He closed his eyes, remembering the days when his parents used to play with him when he was only five years old. Those moments were warm and full of laughter, but everything changed because of a certain family rules that he could never understand.

He had no idea what those rules meant, yet after one day of fainting in his room, in just a brief moment after waking up, he found himself living here.

The two security guards outside were the same personnel who had stayed by his side until he turned eighteen.

He knew they had some kind of connection to his family, though he never fully understood what it was.

When he was younger, he had begged and cried for half a month, hoping they would tell him the truth. One of them eventually explained a little, but not everything, just enough to give him a small sense of hope.

"You will meet them again, young master. Just live on," one of them had said.

With those words, he tried his best to keep going. He trained and pushed himself, dreaming of becoming strong enough to surprise his family if they ever reunited.

But when he reached fifteen, that dream shattered. When he learned the painful truth, he was talentless.

It was something he couldn't accept. After receiving that news, he isolated himself from everyone.

Yet because of the guards' promise that as long as he lived, he would one day meet his parents, he held on to that hope and decided to live only for that reason.

Talentless or not, he knew his parents would still love him no matter what. But now that he had awakened, those dark thoughts slowly began to fade away.

He walked through the long hallway of his large home. There were many rooms, each were full of silience and emptiness, until he finally reached one with a door made of metal.

When he opened it, he was greeted by the sight of a white room. Inside the white room, it looked much like a gym.

There were treadmills, weight lifts, and even punching bags. But the most noticeable thing that drew his attention was a strange-looking machine placed at the center.

"Hmm, let's test what really changed," he muttered, cracking his knuckles as he walked toward the machine.

Then he stopped in front of him is something out of a sci-fi movie, the machine had a circular platform with a metallic base.

It has two robotic arms extending from the sides, each holding a sensor at the end. Above the platform, there's a small, holographic display that shows real-time data.

And in the center of its two robotic arms, there was a circular force field. Gathering power in his hands, he first closed his eyes and focused the mana into his fist.

When he opened his eyes, a sharp whistling sound filled the air as he threw his punch.

His fist struck the target, and he expected it to shake or at least cause some kind of explosion. But to his surprise, nothing happened, it didn't even move an inch.

[141P]

Seeing that the number went over 141, he was shocked and amazed at the same time.

"So this is the difference between an awakened and an unawakened person. The gap is so huge," he said, staring at his hands in disbelief.

Before his awakening, he was never lazy. Every day before going to school and even after classes ended, he trained hard.

He lifted weights, jogged, exercised, and did everything he could to strengthen his body. Yet back then, the maximum power he could produce was only around 31P.

If you think that the number is a bit too slow, that's when you're wrong. For the record an average male can throws about 14P and for a professional boxer they can only reached about 34P.

Talk about a massive improvement, "F class rank in one go, what a surprise. Now what's left is purchasing some skills," he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Before, he couldn't practice any skills. Even if he had bought one, it would have been useless since every skill required mana, and he had none. Because of that, he never bothered spending his money on them.

But now things were different. He finally had mana, and it seemed like the right time to get one. However, before doing that, he remembered that after completing the earlier objective given by that woman, he had received another upgrade capsule.

Calling out the system panel, the same familiar options appeared before his eyes.

[Please choose on what you want to evolve: Self | Aura]

Without any second thoughts, he immediately clicked on 'Self,' knowing that Aura was a skill and upgrading it now wouldn't be wise.

The reason because his base strenght was far more important.

"I wonder if I can reach E rank in one g—" he couldn't finish his words as the panel suddenly popped up before him.

[Do you want to add, Upgrade Capsule +1 in self?]

[0/5] -> [1/5]

[Yes or No]

"What? Hey, debauchery system, why is there a progress bar now?" he asked, frowning as he tried to figure out what was happening.

[Because the upgrade capsule you used is too low, host. You are currently at the first level, and to upgrade directly to the second level, you need an upgrade capsule of level 2.]

Hearing the system's explanation, Leonardo was left confused even more.

"Didn't I already reach level 2? What do you mean I need to upgrade to level 2? I thought the awakened with a value of 1 was just an error, but it actually wasn't?"

[It's not, host. To be precise, before you raised your level, you were still at level 0. With the help of that capsule, your level automatically increased to level 1.]

"What the, so I'm just lucky then?" he said scratching his head.

[Not really in my perspective] – the system replied.

…

After understanding his situation, he decided not to use his upgrade capsule on the progress bar since it still had other potential uses.

He clicked "No," and as he looked at the other options, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wait, if I started at zero, doesn't that mean my special skill, 'Aura,' isn't fully awakened yet?" he thought aloud.

Considering this possibility, he decided to test it. When he selected Aura, no option appeared asking whether to proceed or not, confirming that his guess was indeed correct.

['Aura Evolved' into 'Supreme's Will']

…

Special skill: Supreme's Will

Type: Internal Skill

Origin: The One

Mana Cost: 0

Description: Supreme's will reflects the host will, the stronger the will the powerful the skill will be. It can kill, knocked out, and even traumatized an opponent.

New effect: You can imbue your will to your body or to a weapon, enhancing durability and destructiveness.

…

Then he felt a sudden wave of refreshment wash over him, not physically but mentally. It was as if his very soul was being cleansed by an unknown force.

[+170 Spirit]

The system notification snapped him out of his daze, "So that refreshing feeling was from the Spirit attribute. Does it also refer to willpower? Hmm, is it the same thing, or just a coincidence?" he muttered, thinking deeply.

The system gave no response, so he simply shrugged it off. Whatever was coming would come eventually, and this wasn't something worth overthinking.

Returning to the punching machine, he took a deep breath and activated his special skill, 'Supreme Will.' His hand began to emit crackling sparks that looked like lightning.

It wasn't real lightning though. It was as if his arm was being enveloped by an unseen force. He could feel a tremendous power building up within him, the strength in his arm multiplying with every heartbeat.

Then, with a single throw — Bang!

A deafening sound echoed through the room, but it wasn't the machine that made it. The air itself had burst apart, creating a sonic boom.

When he looked at the screen, his eyes widened in disbelief at the result displayed before him.