CHAPTER 40: THE NIGHT BEFORE GOODBYE

—●『STATUS INTERFACE』●—

『Name』 → Rael Von Ashborn

『Classification』 → Human Variant

『Rank』 → F → F+

『Core』 → Bronze Core

『Core Affinity』 → Fire

『Nexus』 → Jester (Partial awakening)

『Nexus Potential』 → B+

『Flaw』 → Trickster’s Face

『Stat Matrix』

 ∟ STR → F→ F+

 ∟ AGI → F+ → E-

 ∟ VIT → F → F+

 ∟ END → F+ → E-

 ∟ INT → B+ → S+

 ∟ WIL → E

 ∟ LUCK → Unpredictable

 ∟ CHARM → S+

***

『Mana Reserve』 → 1500 / 1500

『Martial Technique』 → VoidPulse Martial Art (★ ★ ☆ Initial)

『Registered Skills』 → [Click to Expand]

『Class Quest』 → [!!!!!]

—●『STATUS CLOSED』●—

I scanned the window calmly.

Then squinted.

Wait. Since when was I F+ rank?

I had checked this damn thing just a few days back and I knew for a fact I hadn’t broken through. Most of my stats had been near the bottleneck, just shy of a rank-up.

All I needed was a nudge. But I didn’t get the usual warmth through my body when I broke through.

Did I break through right after I killed Bearlo... and was teleported to that stupid trickster?

Or maybe being in the presence of a god, even if he was a dead one, nudged my mana to breakthrough.

In any case, I wasn’t complaining.

Next, I checked my stats.

And man... were they disappointing.

Most of my them were still pitifully low—if I got into a staring contest with a goat, I would probably lose in raw strength and I wasn’t exaggerating. Goats in this world were something you wouldn’t wanna mess with.

But then... I noticed something.

My Intelligence stat had gone straight-up S+.

Now someone might be wondering, how is that possible? That’s gotta be rigged? Or accuse the system of simping for me because I’m blessed and obviously charming.

And if this were some Xianxia world, an ancient elder would be foaming at the mouth, muttering, "The heavens have chosen him!"

But it wasn’t the system favouring me. It was just... catching up.

Mental stats weren’t as fixed as physical ones. No amount of training could increase them as they weren’t measured in muscle or magic, instead they were measured by decisions, performance and composure under pressure.

So when I outplayed a crimson-furred rage beast in a forest full of death traps... Then held a calm conversation with a dead god?

The system noticed.

And somewhere in its cold, cosmic little heart, it realized:

B+ wasn’t doing me justice.

So, it elevated the rank of my Intelligence stat up to S+.

Did that make me smarter overnight? Nope.

It just meant I’d always been that smart.. or maybe even smarter. The system was just slowly catching up to my brilliance.

Moreover, intelligence didn’t boost mana or unlock superpowers in this world.

All it really does is help you win arguments and feel smug around dumb people.

Moving on, I decided to check my skills. Especially the newly acquired skill [Jester’s Assistant]

I focused on my skills as the detailed information appeared before me.

—

∟Jester’s Assistant →

Type: Passive

Rank: ???

Effect: Every jester needs an assistant—whether it’s to spread chaos on stage or to serve as a loyal butler behind the scenes. Bound by whimsy yet incapable of harming its master. You can see the growth of your assistant.

Assigned Assistant: Bearlo (Loyalty: 100%)

—

I didn’t bother checking the rest as I had already gone over them a few days ago when my [Ember Sense] hit four stars.

But that wasn’t important right now.

Because at this moment, all my attention was on this new skill... and my eyes widened.

Not because it was amazing but because of how stupidly normal it was.

After all that divine mumbo-jumbo, I had expected something flashy, maybe the ability to borrow Bearlo’s skills or something cool and dramatic.

But no.

Reality, in its usual petty fashion, decided to roll its eyes and spit on my expectations.

It was just a plain skill which basically said: "Congratulations! You now have an assistant. Go screw the world with one extra hand."

I sighed.

Tsk... So much for hoping it’d be something good.

As for Bearlo’s loyalty?

Yeah, not exactly shocking.

I mean, I was the one who saved him and his friends from the jaws of death...

...even if I was also the one who served them to death as the appetizer.

Yeah. Let’s... not dwell on that.

After skimming through the rest, only one thing was left to check—Bearlo’s abilities.

The skill supposedly let me view his status window... or at least that’s what I gathered from the line: "You can see the growth of your assistant."

So, I decided to test it out.

As soon as I focused on his name under the skill, a short status window appeared before me.

—●『STATUS INTERFACE』●—

『Name』 → Bearlo

『Classification』 → Mutated Alpha Bear

『Rank』 → E-

『Mana Reserve』 → 3000 / 3000

『Master』 → 『Rael Von Ashborn』

『Martial Technique』 → VoidPulse Steps ( ★ ★ ☆ Initial)

『Registered Skills』 → Busogan (???)

—

Bearlo’s Status was as plain as it went.

Unlike humans, demons or dragons, beasts didn’t have Nexuses or anything fancy like that.

They could rarely evolve into higher forms sure, but climbing ranks through mana refinement? Yeah, that was a pipe dream for most of them.

Only a rare few ever managed it... and somehow, it looked like Bearlo had become one of them.

Maybe because of the assistant bond.

Maybe he was always like this.

Who cares really?

Because either way, I just bagged an invaluable asset.

Feeling a little smug, my eyes wandered toward his martial techniques and registered skills...

And that’s when I regretted everything.

Two stars?

This bastard.

This furry bastard.

He had hit two stars in a martial technique that took me twenty entire fucking days to master.

It was no easy feat as even that sadistic bastard Razek praised me for it.

Martial arts were ranked in five tiers—Initial, Glimpse, Rooted, Resonance and Ascended. Each tier had three sub-levels, from one star to three.

And this fucking oversized bastard achieved two stars...

...without even knowing the "M" in Martial Arts.

Still, something felt off.

He hadn’t copied the whole martial art but just the stepping technique from my VoidPulse style.

Weird.

Maybe the answer is in his skill. After all, beasts rarely had any skills at all, let alone anything that looked... sophisticated.

Whatever that skill was, it definitely wasn’t normal.

I opened the details of the skill as a new window appeared before me.

__

∟Busogan →

Type: Passive

Rank: ???

Description: An ability born from the whims of a dead deity who awakened the hidden potential of a dormant beast.

Effect: Allows the user to copy one martial arts move per month, provided it is performed by an opponent of equal or higher rank.

The copied technique is inherited at the exact mastery level of the opponent and once acquired, the technique becomes frozen and cannot be improved or evolved by the user.

Note:Techniques copied through Busogan are bound to instinct, not understanding. They can be used... but never truly owned.

—

I didn’t say anything anymore and just flopped on my bed....

Now I am really tired.

This fucking fate was doing it on purpose.

Bearlo... someone who was a random beast a few days ago got a cool cheat that lets him copy martial arts like a freaking battle anime protagonist...

And what do I get?

A literal middle finger from this stupid world.

I swear, if I don’t get anything good even after my Nexus evolution... I’ll find the bastards behind my suffering...

...And shove this magnificent human invention right up.

With that final thought... I let sleep drag me into the void of temporary peace...

Because it would be my last peaceful sleep for at least a few days.

—

Author’s Note:

About "Busogan"

The name Busogan comes from a mix of inspirations:

"Buso" (martial/war) + "Gan" (eye/vision) = "Martial Eye" or "The Eye That Steals."