Second Genesis

Grey felt like his body was being filled to the brim, and then that energy started to spill out, flooding into his Resonant Frame. The complex lines and sigils started to appear in it as well, forming a complex sphere of dancing runes that aligned themselves into a simple circuit.

A flood of enlightenment shook Grey’s mind awake, his body feeling like it could truly sense Holy Energy for the first time.

But then something changed.

The pattern on his forehead began to glow. From a faded white tattoo, it became a bright gold. Then it began to sink into his body, taking a hold of his Resonant Frame as though to take control of it.

A surge of power shook him.

Grey frowned, feeling a slight discomfort for a moment, but then, like a dam of relief had been blown through, he exhaled as though something that had been holding him back was ripped away.

Grey sighed out a smile, but then his lip twitched as a foul smell began to waft out.

’Gross.’

Chi.

The sound of something shattering caught Grey’s attention and he looked down to find the jade band adding +100% to his stamina shatter.

It fell into two pieces, clattering to the ground before scattering to ash.

’What the hell...’

He tried to check his status screen, but for some reason he wasn’t allowed to at the moment. He could only grumble and hope that was because it had reached some sort of limit. If his Stamina didn’t go up a ton, there would be hell to pay.

Grey didn’t know how long the process took, but by the end of it he felt like he had just had a great night’s rest, a huge meal spread, and a nightcap.

But more importantly than all of that, when he swept his hand over his head out of habit, he felt a small bit of stubble.

Tears of joy filled his eyes. "Thank god. I really didn’t deserve to be bald."

He patted his chest in relief. "Alright. Can I check my status screen now?"

—

[Name: Grey Temolt]

[Name Affiliation: Disciple of Sir Trolley]

—

[Frame: Prometheus]

[Frame: Vampire Lord (Established Class)]

[Frame: Helion (Proving Class)]

[Frame: Last Paladin (Established Class)]

[Pending Quests: 2]

—

Stamina: 351/351

Sync Rate: 0.32%

Energy Reserve: 12,100.1/12,100.1

—

Sync Rate: N/A

Energy Reserve: N/A

—

Sync Rate: N/A

Energy Reserve: N/A

—

Sync Rate: N/A

Energy Reserve: N/A

—

STR: 76 (+40)(+100%) SPD: 104 (+100%)

DEX: 104 (+50)(+100%) INT: 61

END: 182 (+60)(+100%) PER: 73 (+50)

—

Harmonic Stats: N/A

Free Stat Points: 1397

—

Abilities:

Body

Resistances: Lv11 Iron Veil; Lv6 Helion Body; Lv11 Last Bulwark

Combat: Lv11 Heart Lance; Lv6 Solarbrand; Lv11 Last Sever

Enhancements: Lv11 Hemorrhagic Regeneration; Lv6 Solar Regeneration; Lv11 Last Vigil

Mind

Resistances: Lv8 Mental Fortitude; Lv11 Abyssal Anchor; Lv8 Center of Balance; Lv8 Living Dawn; Lv11 Last Endurance

Combat: Lv11 Void Gaze; Lv6 Helstorm; Lv11 Last Coronation

Enhancements: Lv11 Crimson Cognition; Lv3 Paladin Spirit; Lv6 Helion Resonance; Lv11 Last Sword

—

Grey was a bit surprised by what he saw. He expected to just get a bunch of Level 1 Abilities, but they started at Level 11, maybe because of how he performed, or maybe due to something else?

It shouldn’t have been possible for him to get to Established Class this easily. It had to be remembered that stats and Abilities went hand in hand.

The only reason his Vampire Lord Abilities reached Level 11 was because he had Blood’s blood to boost him. So, that should mean that something similar had happened this time as well.

’The Abilities have similar names, but it’s not identical either. The differences don’t feel substantial, though. It just feels like I have more control over the rhythm, I can time things better, sync them better... it made everything better overall, but there’s no fundamental change between the Abilities I know and what I have here.’

Grey nodded. That was good. He actually quite liked the stack of Holy Knight Abilities. These Last Paladin Abilities were just them but juiced up, and that could make them truly devastating.

He was far stronger now than he had been before, and most importantly, his hair was starting to grow back.

He grinned ear to ear.

His Stamina got a nice tick up too. His Epic item didn’t work to boost it anymore, but it had gone up by more than threefold to make up for it. That he could certainly live with.

But Grey still felt like he was missing something, and part of him wanted to say...

That’s it?

It felt wrong, almost like something was still being held back from him. He wondered what boost he had gotten for raising Last Paladin to Established. Was it a Core Sync breakthrough? In that case, what type of Frame was the Last Paladin and what sort of boost had he gotten?

’Is it Branching? Technically, there are eight Abilities in my Last Paladin Frame right now, not just six like the norm. So it would make sense for it to be a Branching Frame. But...’

Grey’s senses expanded and he was almost sure that Last Paladin was a Resonant Frame. The extra sense he received as a result of the breakthrough was so obvious it was almost like he had an extra pair of eyes observing everything around him from above.

It was in that enlightened state that he saw a notification he had missed in all the fanfare.

—

Rewards Received

>Call of the Last Paladin

>Core Sync Blessing

—

’Hm? What’s this supposed to be?’

Grey decided to pick the top, pressing his intention toward Call of the Last Paladin.

Almost instantly, his soul was ripped out of his body and the latter collapsed to the ground.

Grey watched his body hit the floor as he was yanked up and through the skies, his lip twitching continuously as he was pulled through the dome and out into the expanse.

’This better not be another challenge, I swear to god. REWARDS! They’re called REWARDS!’