Preparing For The Future (III): Unlocking a Sub-Trait

When Nehar opened his eyes again, he found himself in the world he knew. 

 'I am back…successfully…'

 Nehar chuckled lightly.

 'It was certainly a remarkable experience...and I don't have any plans to experience it again soon.'

 Nehar heard the notification chimes continuously since he opened his eyes again. 

 Thus he took a look.

 'There was a reward, right? For meeting the criteria of the Hidden Condition…'

 [System: The previous Reward for unlocking and fulfilling the Criteria for the Hidden Condition, which was on hold, will be given to you now. You've been rewarded with 2000 EXP points, 4000 TP, and 5 Skill Proficiency Points.]

 [System: Current EXP: 3400/4000]

 [System: TP Collected: 6065]

 [System: Unallocated Skill Proficiency Points: 05]

 [System Alert: Your Health and Mana Recovery has increased.]

 [System: Your Current Self HP Regeneration: +5/min (+300/min); Your Current Self MP Regeneration: +5/min (+300/min)]

 Seeing those notifications, Nehar's lips curled up in a smile.

 'More Skill Proficiency Points….EXP Points….and even TPs....and the Regeneration has also increased...'

 'So, I was right in my guess…'

 'The System has already found their traces….since it can't interfere directly…..it needs powerful warriors to stand up for it…'

 'If I go by this logic…then everything makes sense…this dagger…its previous owner from my past…and others too…'

 Nehar gripped the dagger in his right more tightly.

 'But, now I'm the owner of this killing machine…..so, I must become powerful so that I can continue to receive these benefits….'

 Nehar smirked devilishly. 

 The System was never fair to begin with.

 It simply didn't have the choice to be fair with everyone…..after all this world was for those who were the best in adaptation and showing their prowess.

 Nehar learned and realized this truth in his past life after so many years, wasting his precious opportunities to live a simple life even after getting awakened. 

 'This time, I'll take every single benefit to become stronger…no matter what.'

 'But shouldn't I receive the notification about the <Sub-Trait > by now?...Or something else was needed for it then?'

 Nehar thought in his mind.

 'Well, whatever…I will check it later.'

 "Add 1 Skill Proficiency Point to Dagger Throw."

 [System: You've added 1 Skill Proficiency Point to your Active Skill: Dagger Throw (Inferior). Skill Proficiency has increased by 50%. Current Skill Proficiency: 2/2]

 [System: You've gained more understanding of the Skill: Dagger Throw]

 [System Alert: Congratulations! You've leveled up your Third Active Skill: Dagger Throw (Common, Rank: D-)]

 [System: Active Skill: Dagger Throw (Common, Rank: D-); Current Level: 0; Current Skill Proficiency: 0/5]

 [System: Skill's Base Damage has increased. Current Base Damage: +55]

 [System: Your Active Skill: Dagger Throw's cool-down has decreased by 3 seconds. Current Cool-down: 42 seconds.]

 [System Alert: You've been rewarded with TP as you leveled up one of your Active Skills once more. TP Received: 100]

 [System: TP Collected: 6165]

 [System: Unallocated Skill Proficiency Points: 04]

 Nehar looked at the Skill's new description with satisfaction.

 'It's base damage has increased…and cool-down period has decreased…'

 'Although 5 seconds decrease is not that much…still it will help me in exchanging the Skills fast while battling…'

 At that moment, a System notification finally showed itself up…for which Nehar was actually waiting.

 [System Alert: You've shown exceptional talents till now while performing various Skills in battles. Through Battle and hardship, you've acquired many Skills. But your achievement doesn't end there. Not only you have earned various Active Skills (Minimum: 05) as a reward from the System, but you've also practiced them diligently and leveled them up to Common Rank – A Rank from where the True journey of a Combatant starts along with his various Skills.]

 [System Alert: Congratulations! You have unlocked your First <Sub-Trait: Novice Combatant>]

 [System Alert: Achievement Unlocked!!]

 [System: Achievement 02: The First One to Unlock a <Sub-Trait >. Reward: 3000 EXP, 6000 TP, +5 to All Stats, +10 Skill Proficiency Points.]

 [System Alert: Continue to Level up your <Sub-Trait > through continuous achievements. Good Luck!]

 [System: Current EXP: 6400]

 [System: Unallocated Stat Points: 0]

 [System: Unallocated Skill Proficiency Points: 14]

 [System: TP Collected: 12165]

 [System Alert: EXP Limits crossed for your Current Level]

 [System Alert: All of your Stats (including Passive Stats) have increased by 5 neglecting the Level Up barrier as you've started leveling up again!]

 Nehar was grinning ear to ear when the gentle golden light embraced him once more, indicating he was again leveling up.

 'Ah, now this can be called 'Flexing'…the System actually gave a sweet bonus for acquiring the <Sub-Trait >, though the <Sub-Trait > is currently at the lowest level…it's more than enough for now.'

 Nehar wasn't particularly shocked or impressed by the System when he saw the big rewards for his achievements.

 In his eyes, it was quite normal.

 Even in the past, he achieved more than this…these rewards were nothing but small appetizers to him.

 And for unlocking a <Sub-Trait >, these types of rewards were quite normal.

 Moreover, he was the first one in the whole Tutorial world to achieve this.

 On average, at least 50 million Participants are going to enter the 1st Tutorial, organized by the System.

 As for the rest of the people, either they will enter the Tutorial at a later date or they will be transferred to some lower developed world or some worse places as they didn't have many talents, to begin with.

 Becoming a prominent person in the System-controlled world was more than challenging.

 If this was an opportunity, it was not for everyone.

 This was the harsh reality. 

 Out of these 50 million or more Participants, Nehar was the only one to gain more than 5 Active Skills (Current Active Skills: 05 (06)) and was also able to upgrade them to Common Grade from their original Inferior Grade.

 How many people could have done that even before the start of the Tutorial?

 Nehar knew the answer.

 Not a single one.

 Not a single person was able to do that, even if they entered the Tutorial from some other world. 

 Recreating a Skill perfectly from memory, muscle reflexes, and past experiences and executing them with near-perfect accuracy was no small matter.

 Nehar had done that not for one or two Skills, but almost for every Skill that he currently has other than his Language Proficiency Skill.

 Thus, he wasn't shocked at all.

 After all, after coming to the past, he planned to become an Indescribable Powerhouse starting from the beginning. If he waited to become powerful later, it wouldn't bode well for his future.

 He knew becoming powerful like this would create many problems for him in the future, but he couldn't stop himself now.

 Thus, he started doing everything that he could to become more powerful so that he could handle any opposition in the future.

 'So only acquiring five Active Skills through battle wasn't the only criteria to obtain the initial <Novice Combatant> Sub-Trait…Upgrading all of them to Common Grade was required.'

 'Though, why is that?'

 'The <Shadow Steps> is far more powerful than my other Skills and the System also designated it as an Epic Grade Skill, so why wasn't that counted for the Sub-Trait?'

 Nehar thought silently while watching the notifications.

 Then he remembered something.

 'Oh…I see…it's entirely my fault. I thought about enticing that Administrator, Andrea with the <Shadow Steps> Skill and didn't save the Skill details in the System Database for future use then. After that the woman left and I was pulled into the Blood Domain and forgot about that matter altogether. No wonder, I didn't unlock another Achievement nor was the Skill showing in my Skill Panel…'

 Nehar laughed awkwardly.

 He had actually forgotten about this matter as a whole among all these.

 He commanded mentally that he wanted to save the Skill now.

 Before that, he received a notification about leveling up.

 [System Alert: You have leveled up!]

 [System: You have reached Level 5.]

 [System: You have received 3 free Stat Points and 5 free Skill Proficiency Points.]

 [System: Your Health and Mana has increased. Current HP: 380/380. Current MP: 325/325]

 [System Alert: As you still don't have a Class, you didn't receive the free Stat Points and Skill Proficiency Points for having a Class during Level up.]

 [System: Current EXP: 2400/6500]

 [System: Unallocated Stat Points: 03]

 [System: Unallocated Skill Proficiency Points: 19]

 [System: TP Collected: 12165]

 [System: Your Status Window has been updated.]

 Nehar was quite taken aback to see his Health and Mana at full bar.

 'Were not those regenerating much more slowly? What happened then ?'

 Then he found another three messages that he previously missed when he was in the Blood Domain.

 [System Alert: Your control over Mana has increased slightly. Skill Proficiency has increased for the Passive Skill: Mana Control (Inferior).]

 [System: Current Skill Proficiency: 16.97%, Current Skill Completion Rate: 3.25%]

 [System: Fatigue: 07]

 Nehar was shocked. 

 'Holy Shit…don't tell me it was all because I entered into that domain?'

 'Not only my Health and Mana bar are at full, but I also unlocked two new Stats and my Skill Proficiency for Mana Control has also increased?'

 He was left dumbstruck by this sudden development.

 He didn't notice the change after coming back into the outside world as he was busy with the other notifications and the matters about the Sub-Trait. 

 'Huh, increasing that Skill's Proficiency and Completion Rate was too hard…but it worked well for me.'

 'Should I try to enter the Blood Domain later actively?'

 'Nah, I don't think that would be possible. If that remnant spirit doesn't want me to enter, there's no way I'll be able to overpower him and enter there. Let's forget it for now.'

 Nehar didn't wait to check other System notifications or his other Skills at the moment.

 His Health and Mana at full for now and he has already reached Level 5…so, there's no need to worry more.

 In his hindsight, he located Amelia and Grace standing at some distance from him and watching him with rapt attention.

 'They must have seen the golden light enveloping me during level-ups and then Andrea too. Well, I'll explain to them later…now, it's time to finish this Quest, once and for all.'

 Tightening his grip on the Bloodkin's Dagger on his right hand and a normal sword on his left hand, Nehar rushed forward.

 He didn't assign any of his Stat Points or Skill Proficiency Points into any of his Stats or Skills anymore as that would be an overkill for those Level 0 Humans.

 [System: Quest: Eliminate Your Enemies (5/113)]

 [System: Quest: Remaining Time: 00:05:02]

 While rushing forward, he looked at the System screen that showed him the remaining time for the Quest completion.

 'Only 5 minutes left…hah, it's more than enough to kill the remaining 108 people who are still at Level 0. I'm really looking forward to it…'