The silence stretched for a long moment, not because they didn't know what to say, but rather, they were too shocked to vocalize it.

The reason for their confusion was instantly clear, though, as the System displayed the truth to everyone present.

{Player Nexus}

{Mutant Level: 5}

Aria was the first to break the silence, disbelief etched in her eyes. "But you look... you look different!" she stuttered.

"Different?" Akhil paused, staring down at his own hands.

His characteristic dark green skin was completely gone, replaced by smooth, pale white skin.

"H-huh?!" He stared at his own hands, startled.

'What is this... How did this happen?' Akhil thought to himself, just as confused as everyone else.

"Just how many abilities do you have? At this point, I'm rather jealous. Is this the trait of all Level Five Mutants? Or perhaps just a few select ones like yourself?" Langdon's voice came from the side, successfully dragging everyone's attention back to him.

The realization quickly struck Akhil: 'An ability!'

He hadn't checked the System notification after he killed the Beast Titan. He knew that killing a Titan would yield massive rewards, but he had been so absorbed by the tragic moment that he had completely ignored the messages! A sudden, new ability made perfect sense.

Akhil quickly accessed the System notifications he had missed.

{You have leveled up...}

That was the first of many messages.

{You have leveled up...}

Akhil stared at the long list. He had leveled up by a whopping extra 60 levels! This pushed him up to Level 95 (Basic). At this moment, he had left all other players firmly in the dust.

'It's no wonder I don't feel so tired after sleeping for such a short time,' Akhil thought. He had spent hours strategizing after the humans left the previous night and had slept late. He was surprised he woke up so early, let alone feeling this energetic.

{You have gained 60 stat points, and you can allocate them to any of your stats!}

Akhil decided to leave the stats for later and shifted his gaze down to the main notification that had caught his attention.

{New ability unlocked: Avatar}

{Ability type: Passive}

{Ability description: By thinking of a beast or species that you've absorbed their blood, this ability allows you to take the form of any beast or species that you've assimilated. In this form, you can seamlessly use the abilities they had while alive.}

Akhil looked at the description. 'So now I can take the form of every beast I've assimilated their genes?'

It was a phenomenal skill! Previously, after becoming an Orc, he had tried transforming into other species whose blood essence he had absorbed, but it never worked. Moreover, since most of his kills were beasts with innate abilities tied to their physical forms, he couldn't use those powers effectively in his Orc body. With this, he could take the required form and use the abilities as he wished!

'But how did I become a human?... Could it be because I was thinking about it too much?'

That was the only possible explanation. The skill was passive. He had spent half the night wrestling with the moral trauma of killing the Beast Titan, and the little girl's image still haunted him. The passive ability must have simply activated based on his powerful subconscious thoughts, turning him into the species he was reflecting upon.

"Can you reverse it? Or is the ability permanent?" Aria asked, dragging him out of his thoughts. Akhil could see the worry mixed with a sense of genuine fear on the faces of all the Orcs.

Her words snapped him out of his daze. "I'll have to return to the Orc form, or they'll feel insecure around me," he understood.

"Yes, I should be able to do that," Akhil said calmly. With a mere thought, his body visibly began changing. His dark green skin returned, and sharp, pointy canines reappeared by the sides of his mouth.

Everyone stared at him in awe as he completed the transformation.

"Well, they were right when they said you were full of surprises," Langdon observed, clapping slowly. "I'm not surprised that you were able to defeat the Beast Titan alone. After all, you've done it before, too."

Langdon's words instantly caught Akhil's attention. He turned abruptly, throwing a sharp, suspicious glance at the boy.

"You were a beta tester as well?"

"Well, you didn't expect to be the only one, did you?" Langdon asked back with a casual shrug. "However, I wasn't in the Northern Coast in the game, so things here are pretty new to me, but of course... I heard of Player Nexus." Langdon said this with calm admiration.

"And honestly, you didn't disappoint me one bit."

'Someone planned for the Orcs to be in this place and set them up... Was it him?' Akhil's suspicion deepened. "Seems you changed your name from the one you used in the test program."

"Oh, my name in the game? You'd probably remember me as Tenkin."

'Tenkin? That name...' That was the name of the highest-ranked player from the Southern Coast in the Beta.

"You were the highest-ranking player from the Southern Coast?"

"Correct. I am Tenkin," Langdon confirmed.

Akhil frowned. 'Using a popular name to hide? Sounds like he's the one that's been pulling the strings.' Every second they spoke, Akhil grew more distrustful of the figure before him.

"Why did you—"

Just before Akhil's words could be completed, a figure ran straight out of the forest, stumbling toward the camp, covered in blood.

"J, what happened?!" Aria yelled in alarm as she caught a clear view of his face.

J dropped to the ground on one knee as he reached the settlement, his spear falling with a metallic clank. He knelt, catching his breath, bright red blood covering half his face.

Groaning in pain, he raised his gaze toward Akhil. Seeing Langdon, a wave of pure anger burned bright in J's eyes, but he ignored the human.

"The humans... they attacked us again!"

"What?!" Aria roared, her fury absolute.

Akhil, on the other hand, didn't react with a sound. His cold, steady gaze simply shifted, locking onto Langdon.

{A/N: The month is wrapping up, and we are aiming to hit a major milestone: 100+ Golden Tickets! I humbly ask for your support to help us reach this goal. Every contribution is greatly appreciated! If achieved, we will release 2 extra bonus chapters at the start of next month!}

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.