13 13. Control

'No, no. I don't want to die.'

Trembling and panicking, Orion murmured to himself as he watched the skeleton giant approach them. Unaware that the trembling of the stones beneath his feet had intensified, the number and size of the stones had also increased.

They seemed on the verge of flying out at any moment, but something was preventing them from doing so.

At this moment, as the skeleton approached them, Orion noticed it gravitating towards Ryfin, who appeared to be the closest to it.

'Damn it.'

He cursed inwardly as he witnessed the scene, feeling powerless to intervene. In that moment, he harbored a deep resentment towards whoever had bestowed this power upon him.

Before long, the skeleton giant loomed in front of Ryfin, who seemed to have lost his composure, staring blankly at it.

Famir could only watch from the side as the skeleton approached Ryfin. His mind flooded with memories of Myla's death, which he still vividly remembered, blaming himself for it.

'No. Not Ryfin too.'

He screamed internally, attempting to move with all his strength, but to no avail. His body remained immobile, trapped by the increasing aura emitted by the skeleton as it closed the distance between them, making it even more difficult to move.

In despair, he watched as the skeleton raised its sword and brought it down toward Ryfin.

***

"NOOOOO!"

Orion, also witnessing the scene, screamed at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, it was as if a switch had been flipped. The stones at his feet, as well as the larger ones nearby, started trembling and began to float in the air. In no time, all of these stones, big and small, flew towards the skeleton like bullets through the air.

"Bam!"

The skeleton was bombarded with stones of various sizes, then hit by larger ones, causing its skeleton body to be blasted back and crash onto the other side of the wall.

Strangely, it appeared as though the stones had a mind of their own; they floated back and rammed into the skeleton as it attempted to stand up, shattering its bones.

Despite its efforts to stand up, the skeleton continued to be bombarded repeatedly until all its bones were shattered into fragments, rendering it unable to move.

Orion finally sighed in relief as he noticed the skeleton no longer attempted to stand up.

In that moment, he also came to understand something important about his powers.

'It seemed my power only responds to me when I feel negative emotions.'

***

As the lifeless skeleton fell, the oppressive aura lifted, and all three slumped to the ground, gasping for air. Waves of relief washed over them as they realized the immediate danger had passed, but the ordeal had taken its toll on them.

Exhausted and shaken, they lay on the ground, trying to catch their breath and process the harrowing experience. The tension that had gripped their bodies like a vise slowly dissipated, leaving them drained both physically and emotionally.

"You did a good job, Orion. Also, thanks for saving our lives here."

Famir thanked Orion once he had calmed down a little.

Orion nodded in acknowledgment, but he wasn't in a good mood. He couldn't shake the feeling that he would always have to be in despair to even use his powers on a regular basis.

'That's such a sh*t power.'

On the side, Ryfin also appeared to have calmed down, but his expression remained solemn. His furrowed brows suggested he was deep in thought, pondering something important.

"Ryfin, give me the spherical ball, I am going to upgrade myself too."

Orion requested the ball, intending to upgrade himself before figuring out how to use his powers without falling into despair.

Ryfin threw the ball to Orion, who caught it and headed toward a suitable location to undergo his upgrade.

"Don't go too far."

Famir reminded.

Orion nodded silently before disappearing from their sight.

***

He appeared at a location not far from them and sat down, addressing the system.

"Start the upgrade."

[Initiating Process. Upgrade starting in 3, 2, 1 and start.]

Intense pain overtook him as soon as he began the upgrade process. Like Famir, his body started to decompose, deconstruct, and reverse growth, but his head remained unchanged. Despite his efforts to hold back his scream, the pain became unbearable, and he finally let out a scream.

"Aaghhh!"

After a while, his body began to reconstruct itself, growing back to its regular size, and the pain gradually subsided. He knew then that he had successfully upgraded his rank.

He glanced at the spherical ball that had once held immense power to facilitate their upgrades, but now it lay in his hand as nothing more than a pile of dust.

At this time, a notification appeared in his vision.

[Congratulations on upgrading your level to bronze rank. Check your status for more information.]

'I feel so much stronger than before. It's like I am a new person all together.'

Sensing his strength, he checked his status.

'Status.'

[Name - Orion Darkwood

Rank - Bronze

Talent - Copy Curse - 1%

Curse - Null Body, Electrostatic Disruption

Strength - 10

Stamina - 10

Agility - 10

Perception - 10

Constitution - 10

Mana - Nil (Due to the host's curse—Null Body, host isn't able to feel any form of mana. Please check your curse for more information.)

Skills - Nil (Due to the host's curse —Null Body, host isn't be able to feel any form of mana. Therefore, the host is unable to use any skills. Please check your curse for more information.)]

Looking at his previously empty stats, which were now filled with 10, Orion found himself pondering something.

'If previously all my stats were 0—hence it appeared empty—then now all of them have been added by 10.'

But soon, he caught a glimpse of his talent, and to his surprise, he noticed a new addition: a 1% appeared beside his talent, "Copy Curse," which hadn't been there the last time he saw it.

'1%, what does it mean? Why has it suddenly appeared? The last time I checked my system, I am pretty sure, there wasn't anything like that.'

He pondered for a moment but couldn't make any sense of it at all.

Then he recalled what Famir had mentioned about asking the system questions regarding skills and how it had provided answers. Drawing upon that, he decided to do the same.

'System, what is the percentage beside my talent?'

In that moment, a voice sounded in his head.

[It represents your mastery over your talent. If it doesn't reach 10%, then you won't be able to upgrade to the next level—Iron rank. Similarly, to upgrade from iron rank to silver rank, you will have to have your talent at 20% mastery; otherwise, you can't upgrade.]

Orion understood now that the system explained to him.

'It seems I will have to increase the mastery of my talent, and seeing that it has increased to 1% on its own means it isn't difficult.'

He thought, attributing his increased mastery to his sudden outburst against the skeleton.

At that moment, another question arose in his mind.

'System, why has my system awakened so late compared to others?'

[Your body doesn't possess even a bit of mana, which was required to awaken the system. So, the system took an alternate route and awakened itself when you were in complete despair by using the power of your curse.]

Orion grasped the implication of what the system meant, but he still seemed puzzled about something.

'What is the power of the curse you said earlier?'

[I can't explain that. I can only explain things related to your status.]

'It seems I will have to find that myself.'

Sighing, he contemplated his next course of action.