This was it. The moment Landen was waiting for… the Abilities tab. He opened the tab and was instantly disappointed. The only thing he saw was another tab that read:
Abilities ||
|| [ Sword (+1) ] || [ Fist (+1) ]
None
"...There's nothing here."
Bob blinked. "Of course, there isn't, you haven't learned any abilities yet."
Landed smirked.
He saw the [ Sword (+1) ] tab and opened it.
Suddenly, the entire area was filled with flying books, each with its unique colors and sizes. He was able to read the titles clearly.
"These are all the abilities you may choose from," Bob said.
Landen was amazed. "There must be thousands of them."
"2,483 to be exact."
"And I can pick any skills I want?"
"Well… actually… no."
Landen's smile dropped.
"You selected the sword as your primary specialization. So—" Hundreds of books shot away in every direction. "—you're left with 168 abilities to choose from."
"Okay, so now I can pick any ability I want."
"Correct, but with some limitations."
"Of course."
"The abilities are divided into ranks from D to S," Bob explained. "You have 15 points to spend, and each rank costs a different number of points. The higher the rank, the more it costs."
Landen noticed that each book displayed both a rank and a number indicating its cost. D-Class abilities cost 1 point, C-Class cost 2, B-Class cost 3, A-Class cost 4, and S-Class cost 5.
With 15 points to spend, he quickly realized he had options. He could pick one ability from each rank—D through S—for a total of five skills, maximizing variety. Or, if he wanted stronger abilities, he could spend all his points on three S-Class skills and call it a day.
This reminded him of a special game mode he used to play, where all character abilities were placed into a shared pool. Players could mix and match different abilities onto their character, creating unique builds. Some combinations worked far better than others, and if you knew what you were doing, you could create a setup that made your character practically unstoppable.
"In addition to the points limitation," Bob continued, "there is the limitation of your Soul Energy."
"Come again?"
Bob snapped his finger, and the menu in front of him changed. The title was labelled
DANTIAN POOL
It showed two meter bars. The first bar was labelled
|| Dark Energy (50DE) | Soul Energy (25SE) | Light Energy (50LE) ||
And the second bar was labelled;
|| Celestial Energy (1CE) ||
"You have something called a Dantian," Bob explained. "It exists at the core of your body, and what you're seeing now is its current state."
He gestured toward the display. "There are two bars. The first one shows three types of energy: Dark, Soul, and Light."
"Let's start with Soul Energy. This determines how many abilities you can have at once. Think of it like storage space. Right now, you have 25 SE, which means you could equip one ability that costs 25 SE, or multiple smaller ones that add up to 25. But you can't use any single ability that exceeds that limit."
He then pointed to the other values in the same bar. "Next is Dark and Light Energy. You can think of these like mana in a game. Abilities consume different amounts of Dark and Light Energy when used."
Finally, he motioned to the second bar. "The first three energies are common to everyone in this world. But the second bar is unique to you. That's Celestial Energy, a fragment of my power."
"Yeah, but only one point of it," Landen said.
"Correct. Any more than that, your body would explode. Or would you like to test if you can handle more?" Bob pointed his finger at Landen.
"No, no… one is enough," he said, raising his hands.
"You won't be able to do anything with that power yet, but you will in the future. Just know that the power is there, and it is your job to grow it."
Landen looked at one of the D-Class books and saw that it required 25 Soul Energy (SE). It also required 15 Light Energy (LE) and 10 Dark Energy (DE). This meant that he could only use the D-Class ability twice, and his energy would be completely depleted. If a D-Class ability already required 25SE, then all other abilities had to require more, meaning he wouldn't even be able to use it. At the same time, having an ability that he could only use once didn't make sense either.
He looked around some more and saw a book that caught his interest. A D-Class passive ability book.
"Oh? There are passive abilities?" he said, surprised.
In Legends of Heroes, some of the best heroes are because of their passive abilities. They're so strong because they don't require any energy to activate.
He scanned the area for the passive ability that he wanted and found it. His eyes went wide.
"I can't believe this," he said.
The title read, "Critical Damage. D-Class, 1 point."
When he touched the book and details of the skill were revealed on a screen in front of him.
His eyes went wide at what he saw.
|| Ability: Critical Damage
|| Details: All physical attacks have a 15% chance to deal 200% of the total Physical Attack Power. ||
Level 1: 15% @ 200%Level 2: 17% @ 225%Level 3: 20% @ 250%Level 4: 22% @ 275%Level 5: 25% @ 300%
He tried to hide his face so that Bob couldn't see his surprised expression.
It must have been a mistake to place this as a D-Rank ability.
There was one out of seven chances that an attack would deal 200% damage. On top of that, the skill can be leveled up, increasing the damage as well as the probability to crit. This should have been at least A-Rank.
"I pick this as my first ability," he said.
Suddenly, as soon as he said the words, the book opened, and his eyes fell into a trance. As he stared at the flying pages, all the other ability books around swirled into a light and disappeared into his head. The room became silent, and Landen had finished learning the ability. Landen looked around, dazed. Then he saw it in the system.
Abilities ||
|| [ Sword ] || [ Fist (+1) ]
|| Critical Damage: Level 1 ||
Suddenly, the world around him dimmed and began to tremble.
"What's happening?" Landen asked.
"Unfortunately, our time here has come to an end. When you gave me a human name, you forced me to take human form. That transformation consumed a great deal of power, and I can no longer sustain this space."
Bob's body began to fade.
"Wait! You haven't provided me with any orders."
Bob paused.
"I'll make this quick," he said.
"As I told you before, I am a son of the Creator—but I am not the only one. My brother and I were once entrusted with the care of this universe. We were meant to maintain it, to preserve its balance. But things changed."
His voice darkened slightly.
"One thing led to another, and now my brother believes the only solution is to destroy everything and begin again. He has tried once before, but fortunately, I managed to stop him."
He paused, as if remembering something far too old, his body flicking, nearly fading away.
"After millions of years of waiting, he is ready to try again. And like me, he has chosen a knight—someone from this world."
"That person—"
His gaze sharpened.
"—must be killed. And you are the one who will do it."
The weight of the words settled for a moment before he continued.
"If you fail, you will be the one who dies. Now go. Do whatever it takes to grow stronger, because the day will come whether you are ready or not."
Landen tried to speak, but the shock left him momentarily speechless. He watched in silence as Bob disappeared, and his vision faded into complete darkness. The abyss—and Bob with it—vanished entirely.
When his senses returned, Landen found himself back in the real world, sitting inside a janitor's closet.
"What do I do now?" He asked himself.
Right away, the system replied. "Return to the auditorium."
Landen was startled by the system's voice. He had forgotten that it was with him.
"That place is Aegis Vanguard Military Academy. There, you will train, adapt, and learn how to properly use your abilities."
Landen slowly processed the words, the pieces clicking together one by one. The strange registration, the overwhelming presence of power, the system interface—none of it had been random. This wasn't just an introduction or a transfer into a new world.
It was a starting line.
And suddenly, he understood why Bob had brought him here.
Heading back to the auditorium for the first-year orientation, Landen saw that only a few people remained, speaking with a lady at the registration table.
He could hear their voices, but he couldn't understand what they were saying.
"System."
"Yes?"
"Can you translate this language into English?"
"Umm… yes, I believe I may be able to do so. Allow me a moment to see what may be done."
Landed waited for a few seconds. Then suddenly the words of the people in front of him mumbled and then—
"...You're all set," the lady said to the student. "Thank you. Next in line."
Landen walked up and smiled. "All right, I can finally understand you, strange people. Can you understand me?"
The lady glared at him, clearly exhausted. She had already spent the entire day dealing with hundreds of students and just wanted to go home.
"Yes, kid, I can." The lady glared at him. "Scan your ID tag," she said, pointing to his wrist.
"Oh, is that what this is?" he said, scanning it over her machine.
She rolled her eyes.
Beep.
The machine processed.
"Mr. Mifaso Latido."
Landen waved his hands dismissively. "No, that's not my name. They got it wrong."
"Okay, then what is it?"
He paused and pondered for a second. He was in a new world now—he could be anyone he wanted to be.
He opened the system menu and saw his name and the edit option.
[Name: Landen Thorne]
[Edit]
Delete… delete… delete…
"Hello?" the lady said, annoyed.
It was the last damn kid, and he had to be this idiot. What the hell is he thinking?
"Hey, kid, wake up. Are you there?"
Landen's eyes flickered.
A few seconds later, he finally made eye contact with the lady. "I'm back," he said.
"Yeah, you spaced out for a minute there."
"Okay, my name is…"
He paused again.
"Oh my god… kid, the suspense is killing me."
Wait for it…
…
"Landen Knight," he finally blurted out.
"Okay, Landen Knight," she said, typing his name in, then handed him a school uniform. "There you go, Mr. Knight. Welcome to Aegis Vanguard Military Academy."