25 New power and Level up

Erik woke up later that night with a slight migraine. Whatever the System did, changed his brain crystal at a level Erik couldn't even comprehend.

It was like having your body rebooted after too many days in bed. Still, it only took him about five minutes to return to working order.

He got out of bed, or better, his couch, and started contemplating his changes. He could sense a vague feeling like he knew how to do something but couldn't quite get what it was.

"Status," Erik said out loud, and then the usual bluish window appeared before him.

(A.N: Look at the status screen page in the auxiliary volume, press CTRL+F, and input CHAPTER 25 to see the status screen.)

He first noticed that he had a hundred and ninety Experience points, meaning he only had to make his last daily quest to get to level two.

He already knew what he wanted to spend his attribute points on, strength. By making new neural links, he could naturally improve his strength and other stats; that was true. It was also true that, in the long run, that was bound to be a bad choice, but now he felt compelled due to the bullying.

However, the choice was not as bad as one could think. It was true that what Erik really lacked was mana, but increasing the physical stats was equally important. If he only improved his energy, he was bound to become a glass cannon since his physical stats were still at rock bottom.

What was the point of having the power to blast a city into smithereens if a random dude from the street could appear before him in two seconds and cut his throat before he did it? Without strength and dexterity, he was bound to be a sitting duck.

Since he released Logan's and his friends' video of them setting the bathroom on fire, he was having a little peace, but he couldn't say how long that would last.

Moreover, in less than three months, he had to go to military school, where things would be much more complicated. They would learn how to fight there, and he couldn't risk being every student's practice target. He didn't want such a life anymore.

The second thing the young man noticed was his new power: Sharpening.

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-Sharpening (Eσ1D-Ranked)

(Makes the target sharper according to the quantity of mana imbued into the item or body part)

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According to the description, it allowed him to make things sharper, meaning that he could make any item a weapon. That was going to be helpful; however, the power was only D-ranked. Yet, it wasn't bad considering the source.

The problem was that he didn't know how to use a weapon. Other kids usually learned martial arts or used specific weapons since they were kids, but he didn't have the money to do so, and fighting with a pencil wasn't the coolest thing out there.

Luckily he had the System. If he could learn training exercises by downloading videos and books, what could stop him from doing the same with sword manuals and the like?

The problem was that if things worked as they did with the training exercises, he still needed to learn to perform all those moves. Knowing what to do was one thing, but knowing HOW to do it was another.

Though, there were multiple things that the young man had to do during a single day: go to school, work, develop the neural links, make the daily quests, and now even train with weapons or martial arts. His schedule was full already, so he had to find a solution to his job problem; he needed money.

<Should I use the System to hack into an ATM?> he thought, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

<No… If I do that, I must justify where the money came from. I could do it a couple of times if I'm in a worse situation, but for now, I better avoid doing this…>

"I don't have to choose now…" The young man said out loud. "Now, how do I use this power? The System stated that I can make things sharper, including body parts, apparently..."

Erik grabbed a pencil from his backpack; it was made of wood and had an orange and black coloration.

The young man didn't know how to use his new power yet. Usually, people knew how to use brain crystal powers innately, but this was anything but natural, so Erik had to learn how to use it.

Though the key was imbuing mana into the object, Erik did precisely that. He focused on the mana his brain crystal power could harness, feeling it travel from his brain to his fingers, and willed it to go into the item.

The kid started feeling a tingle travel through his brain and his hand. After that, he noticed that a thin coat of mana surrounded the pencil; it was like feeling a magnetic field around it.

Then, without knowing why, he thought to sharpen the pen. Suddenly, the mana around the item thinned and made a sharp edge.

"Ah, I get it now."

Erik observed the pencil as if observing a strange animal; he didn't use a lot of mana to coat it, so he guessed it wasn't a lot sharp.

"Let's check this out." Erik then grabbed another object. It was a piece of wood he used to keep his door open during summer to cool down the room.

Then Erik slashed at the wood with the pencil. The move left a two centimeters deep gash inside the material. Erik couldn't help but smile when he saw the result.

"Incredible; with this, I will be able to defend myself. I only hope this power will be a sufficient deterrent. The only problem now is to tell the teachers about this. What would they do once they find out? They will definitely test the power, but I already know it has a D rank on the Jorm scale, so it is a pretty useful power."

Erik contemplated on what to do. Since he had to reveal his power, why not do so in a dramatic way? He only needed the right opportunity, and it couldn't be simpler. He only needed to provoke Logan. However, there was another reason why he decided to take such a drastic approach. Vengeance.

Maybe his was naive thinking, but if he showed he awakened in front of everyone, maybe they would start to stay away from him. Showing he could beat Logan, in his mind, would make the other think he would retaliate. After all, Logan was the worst but not the only one who bullied him.

<Time to make my last daily quest and go to bed.>

The young man then trained as usual. When he trained enough for the quest to be completed, a new notification appeared before Erik's view.

[LEVEL UP.]

The young man smiled widely and raised his hands above his head as if he had just accomplished some incredible feat.

However, he still had to allocate his attribute points and start training to make new neural links. Despite being sweaty, the kid sat on the couch; there was only a thought in his mind.

<System, show me the status.>