Gasp!

With a desperate gasp, followed by a coughing fit, Lucas finally awoke. Each powerful cough ejected black grimy blood, bits of organs, and bones. His entire body shuttered in pain as he almost passed out again due to his own rapid coughing.

With an inhuman degree of willpower, he willed himself to stop coughing. His muscles tightened and contracted in ways that made it impossible to move.

After a few minutes, his body had finally settled down. He focused his perception on himself and immediately felt a blinding pain in his skull. With clenched teeth, Lucas pushed through. He had to understand his current situation or death would be his only outcome.

Within him, his ever changing core still moved and flexed rapidly. With each transformation it sent a faint pulse of energy between the beetle core within him and the Life energy revolving around his core.

The small amount of Life energy he had didn't just rotate in a perfect cycle anymore. It vibrated and crisscrossed in vibrant patterns all around his core. Lucas couldn't afford to pay attention to this change as he willed the Life energy to heal himself.

The Life energy obediently followed his command, gently flowing throughout his broken body in an effort to fix it. He clenched his teeth so hard they almost cracked as he was forced to stop.

"Argggh…"

As his Life energy tried to heal his numerous injuries, he felt his marrow burn and his blood boil. His wounds refused to heal as they writhed with sharp hisses. Black ooze followed as he pushed harder. Whatever the domain lord had done to him, ordinary healing wouldn't cut it. At least not any time soon.

So for more than thirty minutes, Lucas would attempt to heal himself, stop due to the extreme pain before restarting the process all over again.

By the end of it, his appendages and tails had healed enough for basic movements. Since his Life energy was now spent, he groggily stood up only to collapse back to the floor in pain.

On his third attempt, Lucas finally stood and used his blurry senses to navigate toward the tree men's village. At its center he could see the ever radiant domain core sitting there tranquilly, its branches waving at him. Its ethereal melody was now soothing to his mind and body.

Lucas gingerly hobbled forward, every soft step leaving a deep impression on the black dust covering the ground. It took him almost an hour to crawl all the way to the domain core. He collapsed near its trunk as he passed out once more.

An indeterminate amount of time later, he jolted awake once more. His body had naturally healed quite a bit, yet he was still far from a 100%. Spreading his [Spirit Sense], it barely spread for a hundred meters before a sharp migraine forced him to stop.

With that single sensory pulse Lucas understood two things, he could tell there was nothing within the immediate vicinity except for the domain core much to his relief and his Mind while still fractured was in much better shape than before.

'Seems my luck has finally turned around a bit.'

Lucas thought in relief as he peered into himself. To his surprise, a considerable amount of Life energy revolved around his core. Its rapid circulation assisted his natural healing processes.

'Why did its circulation change? Does it have to do with how I applied my life energy in that final exchange against the domain lord?'

Lucas thought idly, as he directed the energy to heal himself. The searing pain forced him to shelve his thoughts for now as he focused on the task at hand.

Four hours later, his body was in fighting condition, if just barely. He could finally speak without feeling like he was being ripped to shreds from within.

Lucas sat beneath the domain core and opened his eyes to take in the world around him once more. Due to the recent events, the Yggorin village had become a ghost town. Its hut-like tree looked quite desolate due to the silence and emptiness. Outside the entrance, the cavern floor was caked in black dust. The only remnant of the great battle.

With a deep sigh, Lucas' eyes became unfocused as he fell into thought.

'I did it… I won… I am the strongest... But for how long?'

He could tell there was more to this world than just the cavern. Those humanoids with advanced energy weapons were obviously not from within the cavern.

With two being dead, Lucas thought it was just a matter of time before more showed up. Since he didn't have the liberty to consider such threats previously he ignored it, but now…

"We'll go through this one step at a time. Right, Crash?"

Crash let out a barely audible hum of affirmation. It seemed fusing with Lucas had taken quite a lot out of the immaterial goofball this time. Lucas felt rather worried about it but had no clue on how to help it. He defiantly shook his head and almost barked at himself,

"One step at a time. First check our notifications then plan ahead. Crash will be fine."

Lucas summoned the series of notifications he had received. He read them intently as he stifled any disheartening thoughts.

{Congratulations, [Mimicry] has evolved into [Adaptive Resonance]. Well done!}

{Congratulations, [Quest], Evolve or improve [Mimicry] beyond level 5 has been completed. Information packet on Skills now available.}

{Congratulations, special [Quest] —Conquer the domain core— completed!}

{Requirements met, Achievement – [Notable Combatant] has evolved into [Skilled Combatant]. Well done!}

{Requirements met,Achievement acquired – [Sonic Boom]. Good job!}

"Still no level up from all those kills… it seems I'm missing something vital, but what?"

Lucas wracked his brain trying to figure out the underlying issue. With his level and two of his attributes capped, he had much less room to grow in power. And given how vast of a difference one attribute point made, he dreaded the day he would face a level six opponent while he was still at level five.

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"Wiki, what's the issue here? Why am I not leveling up?"

Wiki indifferent responded the same as before.

{You currently don't have access to such knowledge.}

Having expected this Lucas just sighed and requested something more productive.

"Activate the Skills information packet Wiki."

{Certainly.}

As usual, Lucas was hit with a migraine. This time it hammered in his brain like a jackhammer.

Almost causing him to black out. He held on with a quiet groan and asked his questions through gritted teeth.

"What is a skill?"

{A skill is any unnatural ability possessed by a life form that requires a rudimentary understanding of at least one Attribute to perform.}

"Could you explain again… like I'm a five year old?"

With infinite patience, Wiki neutrally complied,

{Of course Lucas. Alright, imagine you have a toy car. Normally, you have to push it to make it move. But what if you had a special button that made it zoom forward by itself? That button is called a Skill. It lets the toy car do something extra and special that it wouldn't normally do on its own.

Now, to use that button properly, you need to understand how the car works a little bit. If you just press it randomly, the car might crash or implode on itself.

But if you learn how to steer while pressing the button, you can make it go exactly where you want and even do usually impossible things. Like driving upside down.}

Lucas easily grasped the concept but another question stood out to him.

"How come I already had Skills from the start? I had no understanding of my Attributes previously."

{You are an unnatural Lifeform, Lucas. Your existence itself spits in the face of linear logic. And due to the Arbiter's Will, you were granted certain… privileges.}

Lucas raised an eyebrow at that.

"So… I should have spawned in with no skills?"

{Yes.}

Lucas smiled at that which rapidly evolved into a restrained laugh.

"Hahahahaha, seriously? I would have been so screwed. I guess my luck is not that bad after all. So can you now give me descriptions of my skills now?"

{Yes, Lucas.}

"Nice!"

Lucas' tails wagged excitedly as he paid attention to Wiki.

{[Guide] – A special skill handed to a chosen few by the Will of the Arbiter. Its main function is assisting its host in accomplishing their goals.

[Leech] – A predatory ability that allows the user to extract Life force and biomass from a target through sustained contact.

[Adaptive Resonance] – An advanced ability that lets the user attune themselves to external influences, allowing synchronization with environmental conditions, foreign energies, or even hostile forces.

[Spirit Sense] – A sensory skill that allows the user to sense various forms of Spirit energy in the environment.}

Listening to the definitions, Lucas nodded thoughtfully. Apart from the newest skill—[Adaptive Resonance]—he had more or less figured out what his skills did. If anything, he felt like Wiki was holding out on some details as usual. Lucas proceeded to ask his next question, not really expecting an answer.

"So how do I enhance/evolve my skills?"

To his surprise and joy, Wiki gave a lengthy response.

{You can enhance a skill by adding an extra function to it, removing a flaw, or by simply making it more efficient. Skill evolution on the other hand directly alters the skills framework and adds to its previous effects, usually at least.}

"Ohh, so that's why I can still easily alter my form even though [Mimicry] is no longer available?"

{Yes.}

"Nice. So which is better? Skill evolution or skill enhancement?"

{It is entirely subjective and situational.}

Lucas hmmed as he shared a similar view. With that out of the way, he proceeded to ask many more questions. Predictably, the vast majority of them went unanswered and for the answered few, he received just one word responses.

After exhausting all the questions he could think of, Lucas moved on to his Achievements. His tails rubbed together in anticipation as he opened [Skilled Combatant] first.

{[Skilled Combatant]: You have defeated an opponent who outclassed you in every physical aspect. Victory is not always about strength—it is about control, precision, and knowing when to strike. Reward: +2 Attribute points.}

Lucas smiled ecstatic, he hadn't expected much but he got two whole points! With this, Mind could reach the 4 points mark. Barely containing himself, he turned his attention to his next Achievement.

{[Sonic Boom]: You have broken the sound barrier, moving at a speed that defies ordinary perception. The air itself splits before you and the sound of your motion chases after you. Reward: Trait Unlocked – [Beyond the Flesh]

[Beyond the Flesh] Your movements are no longer entirely bound by the limitations of mere biology. While physical strain still applies, physical laws which restrict your motion are slightly mitigated, allowing for greater efficiency at extreme speeds.}

"Interesting, so this is why it felt so much easier to move as the fight went on. Hell yeah, I wonder what I will get if I go even faster!"

Already calculating a few more applications of [Adaptive Resonance], [Beyond flesh], and the final Rune he had not drawn, Lucas spotted a massive grin. His pupils danced and flickered like fireworks. His tails kicked up small whirlwinds as they wagged like propellers.

"Crash…"

Crash snapped him out of his daydream by bringing up the one thing he hadn't checked out yet. Lucas chuckled a little embarrassed as he said,

"I was getting to it."

"(◔_◔) (¬_¬)"

Lucas smiled softly and said,

"Get well soon buddy. Now, let's address the elephant in the room. Status"

——— [STATUS] Name: Lucas Maverick Species: Mimic Tier: 0 Level: 5

Essence: Freedom

Achievements: [Anomaly], [Daredevil],[Skilled Combatant],[Amateur Runist] ,[Sonic Boom].

Traits: [Daring Mind],[Beyond the Flesh], [Runic intuition].

Attributes: •Physique: 3(5) •Spirit: 5 •Mind: 2(+)

Skills: •Guide [Special] •Adaptive Resonance – [Level 1] •Leech – [Level 5] •Spirit sense – [Level 5]

Attribute points: 2

[Quest]: … ———

"Hmm… why is my Physique showing three points with the five is in brackets? Is it due to my weakened state? That's a little concerning…"

If this was a permanent problem, Lucas would be in serious trouble. His primary Attribute for combat was Physique, losing such a significant amount had virtually crippled him.

"No… it's fine. When my injuries heal, I will be in tip top shape."

After putting his mind at ease, he placed his two points in Mind. Expecting the worst, he braces himself for a brain melting experience but it never came. What he did notice however, was his thoughts felt… louder?

He could feel something being fed to his Mind steadily but he could not trace it at all. There was no physical change taking place within him or externally. It was all immaterial.

As the process went on, his thoughts became more pronounced, his memories became clearer than ever. He cycled through his entire life multiple times just as he laid there for hours. He didn't absorb every detail from his memories but that's simply because he didn't want to.

Suddenly, the process was over. Lucas felt an unprecedented clarity of thought and one thing immediately stuck out to him.

Ever since he laid beneath the mysterious domain core, it has been gently reaching out towards his mind. Its reach wasn't forceful in any way, it was like a child curious about a new pet. Unlike a child though, its "touch" seeped in directly to Lucas Psyche.

Lucas calmly opened the reward screen for the "Conquer a domain core" [Quest] and clicked yes. The fantastical tree's power flooded into his being and everything went blank.

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