Healing System

"Holy shit."

Those were the only words that went through Michael's mind as he gazed at the sight before him.

The amount of gold was something he could not even comprehend.

What he had seen back in the trial was chump change compared to this.

But sadly, he could not pocket every little thing, as there were some debts to be repaid, as well as general reconstruction, which he could only assume would cost a lot.

Aside from that, Michael spotted multiple swords, armor that nobody used, as well as some pills that he wanted to try.

After all, he had read a bunch of books about alchemy back when he was little, so to see an alchemical pill up close was pretty interesting.

Nonetheless, he only pocketed a few... hundred, leaving the rest for the other disciples who might need it.

As for him, it was time to do something he had been thinking of doing for a while now.

+---+

Name: Michael

Age: 14 years old

Race: Draconic ???

Affinity: Light [Supreme]; Darkness [Supreme] (LOCKED); Origin [???] (LOCKED)

Mana Purity: 657% -> 661%

Mana Core (1): Flow

Mana Core Rank (1): Tier 2@@novelbin@@

-:- 96% -> 100% Progress to next Tier -:-

Mana Core (2): Speech

Mana Core Rank (2): Tier 1

-:- 53% -> 60% Progress to next Tier -:-

Seraphim Progress: 1/7

Titles:

Ruthless Combatant: Raise all your stats by 1 Minor Rank when facing enemies at least 1 tier above you.

Being of Light: Increase the effectiveness of your Light affinity-based spells by 25%.

Bringer of Order: Increase mana absorption by 1000% when fighting a being who disrupts the balance of the universe.???

Stats:

HP: 56/100% / Regen 5% HP Per Hour

MP (1): 97/100% / Regen 10% MP Per Hour

MP (2): 100/100% / Regen 10% MP Per Hour

STR: Tier 2 [A-] (663) {Total = 1391} -> Tier 2 [S+] (996) {Total = 1724}

END: Tier 2 [A] (730) {Total = 1573} -> Tier 2 [S+] (975) {Total = 1818}

AGI: Tier 2 [A-] (688) {Total = 1508} -> Tier 2 [S+] (1000) {Total = 1820}

INT: Tier 2 [S+] (1000) {Total = 2090}

CHA: Tier 2 [D-] (208) {Total = 710} -> Tier 2 [D-] (249) {Total = 751}

Skills / [Skill Merging] / [Skill Sacrifice]

Passive Skills: Herald of Light [Advanced] [Passive]; Mirage of Light [Intermediate] [Passive]; Physical Enhancement [Intermediate] [Passive]; Eyes of the Healer [Intermediate] [Passive]; Hand-to-hand Combat [Beginner] [Passive]; Shooting Mastery [Beginner] [Passive]; Discipline [Basic] [Passive]; Heat Resistance [Basic] [Passive]; Cold Resistance [Basic] [Passive]

Active Skills: Sanctuary [Superior] [Active]; Purify [Superior] [Active]; Heavenly Judgment [Advanced] [Active]; Aegis of Light [Intermediate] [Active]; Piercing Light [Intermediate] [Active]; Sword of Light [Beginner] [Active]; Charm [Beginner] [Active]

+---+

His mana was finally ready to tier up.

'I want you to send me in—let me do the ascension or whatever,' Michael said while stretching.

However, the system's silence was slightly alarming.

'Is something wrong?'

[Not necessarily. It's just that... I can't find the file that would let you enter the ascension trial,] the system replied.

'File? Are you on a computer or something?' Michael asked with a raised brow.

[Kind of. Not important.] The system dodged his question. [On a brighter note... you can do the Hall of Reflection in a couple of months.]

'What about the actual trials? The yearly ones—when are they?'

[Hmm... due to the number of times the system has broken down and outside influence was involved, I'd say seven months is a good estimate.]

Michael sighed upon hearing that.

If that was really the case, then he could do nothing but wait to grow stronger.

Or, of course... 'Weave the thread.'

[You sure?] the system asked, surprised. [You should first get your shit sorted before attempting any huge power-ups.]

'I doubt it will be huge, considering you've mostly unlocked everything I can think of, but yeah, go for it,' Michael replied and steeled himself.

However, in the very next moment, the familiar pain of his mana thread being woven upward was felt.

Just this time, the pain was much greater—something he was not exactly expecting.

After all, it was only natural to feel less pain once one got stronger, but it seemed like this process was the opposite.

He didn't even want to imagine what pain he would feel once he wove the 15th or 16th threads.

Nonetheless, after what felt like a couple of hours, the process was finally over, and what greeted his sight was an interesting notification.

<Skill Synthesis Unlocked!>

<Skill Synthesis: Create new skills using the boundless mana you have>

'What? How does that work?' Michael raised his brow and groggily tried standing up.

But to his surprise—or frankly, lack of—he couldn't even move a muscle.

Soon, the system spoke. [I rushed it a bit, so you might feel a little more pain than usual, coupled with temporary paralysis as well.]

'Doesn't matter—I can just lift myself up with mana...' Michael said before attempting to do just that.

However, with only a single whisk of mana, he accidentally flung himself upward, shooting straight into the ceiling and splattering like a bug.

His arms broke, and his head felt like it had cracked.

But without even being able to draw a breath, everything healed in an instant.

'My healing increased... but most importantly, that new option...' Michael trailed off, opening his status screen again.

+---+

Name: Michael

Age: 14 years old

Race: Draconic ???

Affinity: Light [Supreme]; Darkness [Supreme] (LOCKED); Origin [???] (LOCKED)

Mana Purity: 661% -> 1000%

Mana Core (1): Flow

Mana Core Rank (1): Tier 2 -> Tier 3

-:- 100% -> 0% Progress to next Tier -:-

Mana Core (2): Speech

Mana Core Rank (2): Tier 1

-:- 53% -> 60% Progress to next Tier -:-

Seraphim Progress: 1/7

Titles:

Ruthless Combatant: Raise all your stats by 1 Minor Rank when facing enemies at least 1 tier above you.

Being of Light: Increase the effectiveness of your Light affinity-based spells by 25%.

Bringer of Order: Increase mana absorption by 1000% when fighting a being who disrupts the balance of the universe.???

Stats:

HP: 100/100% / Regen 5% HP Per Hour

MP (1): 99/100% / Regen 10% MP Per Hour

MP (2): 100/100% / Regen 10% MP Per Hour

Skills / [Skill Merging] / [Skill Sacrifice] / [Skill Synthesis]

+---+

'About damn time.' He heaved a relieved sigh.

He was still not the strongest, but this little strength gain was more than satisfactory.

After all, even if he had only gone up a single tier, his strength had increased drastically on its own—since he wasn't exactly restricted by tier itself.

Therefore, if he had to estimate, his strength was now around what it was when he used Sanctuary to beat Sect Leader Ji—which meant it had increased by nearly double or triple.

A Tier 6 might even be in his sights now.

But first of all, Michael wanted to use Skill Synthesis.

Clicking on the button, a pen appeared, along with some sort of golden paper right in front of him.

After a little bit of thought, he decided to scribble something—a sword.

Immediately, it manifested itself into letters, and soon, a new notification appeared.

<Skill: [Swordsmanship] [Beginner] [Passive] - Ready for acquisition>

<Cost: 1950% MP>

<Do you wish to proceed?>

'How will this work...?' Michael thought for a moment before letting out a sigh. 'It's a debt system, isn't it? Every single time I reach full mana, I'll have to give this thing payment until eventually, I can get a skill, right?'

[Pretty much. You can choose how much mana you want to give, but nonetheless, it will still take you a while to acquire that skill, even if it's the lowest ranked...]

[Pretty much, you can choose how much mana you want to give, but nonetheless, it will still take you a while to acquire that skill, even if it's the lowest-ranked one.] The system replied, and soon, he nodded before hitting accept.

Swordsmanship was a skill he wanted to acquire long ago, and if he had actual proficiency with swordsmanship, half of his issues would be solved.

Now all he needed to do was train, go into debt, make his sect great again, and lastly, complete Halls of Reflection as well as the trials.

'But this money... System, can you pocket some?' he asked reluctantly.

[Nope, you have enough money to not need to work for the rest of your life due to that inheritance chamber, so just go about your day and help your sect like the good disciple you are.]

'Fair enough...' Michael sighed and glanced behind him, into the distance where a few people were chattering about, and even further beyond, he could hear murmurs of the talk between Sect Leader Li and Sect Leader Ji.

"You are a fairly compliant old coot, you know that?" Sect leader Li teased, to which Sect leader Ji scoffed.

"I'm just righteously holding up my end of the deal, so please, sing these documents already, there are certain matters I must attend to soon."

"Very well, land acquisition, this is ours as well, and the title too, no objections?"

"None."

"Perfect, so let's..."

Michael stopped listening, bored by their conversation.

Nonetheless, it was about time he did some training.

'Just a couple months more...'