Malakai fell into a deep state of contemplation.
The panel hovered just in front of him, filled with words and symbols. He had never seen something like this before.
In this world, especially in his world, games and digital interfaces didn’t exist. Or at least, if they did, they never reached his desolate manor buried deep within the forest in the Sanguine Fortress.
Malakai had always lived simply. If he wasn’t training, he was reading. And if he wasn’t reading, he was resting. Aside from this, the only thing that took his time was the Sovereign’s sudden missions.
Still… somehow, without ever encountering such a thing in his life, he understood what he was looking at.
‘Me.’
It was him. Not just in name, but in essence. This was an interface that reflected the state of his body, everything it was, everything it could be.
And for reasons beyond logic, Malakai instinctively understood every line.
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Did anything appear in front of you?” Valentine asked curiously.
Malakai gave a simple nod.
Valentine tilted his head. “You’ll have to allow me to see it. I’m tethered to the essence, but I can’t interact with anything unless you give permission.”
Malakai turned toward him calmly. He didn’t trust the strange, chubby man, but he couldn’t deny that everything Valentine had said so far aligned with the current reality.
He’d answered every question Malakai had asked, and Malakai would like to believe, correctly.
And if he was to plan ahead, considering his goal… understanding everything properly was crucial.
He nodded once.
Valentine stepped closer, and the moment he did, the interface flickered, then suddenly became visible to him.
Valentine’s eyes bulged.
“What the hell…” he muttered.
“Is something wrong?”
Valentine didn’t respond at first. He stood there, shaking his head in disbelief.
“No… no, nothing,” he said eventually, but the final part slipped out in a low sound. “It’s just… so unfair.”
Malakai frowned. “The suspense is irritating.”
“Right, sorry—so…” Valentine took a breath, trying to compose himself. No more sorrys!
“What shocked me was your base stats.”
“What about them?”
“Can’t you see?” Valentine’s voice grew.
“They’re incredible! Those numbers next to each stat are the range for your current evolution stage. You’re still at the human stage, and those numbers represent the average range for humans.”
He pointed at the panel. “Strength, perception, even willpower, you’re already beyond the upper limit in all of them.”
Valentine let out a soft scoff. “When I first bonded… my stats were below average, and so the power-up was very subpar,” he muttered bitterly.
But Malakai didn’t care for his sentiment. Valentine’s words had triggered a realization, one that finally cracked the cold look on his face.
‘I haven’t even evolved yet.’
The thought was staggering. He hadn’t evolved yet! He had just realized this fact. The first stage of evolution was the Genesis stage, and to reach this stage one would have to awaken a node in the body.
But Malakai hadn’t done that yet!
A smile appeared on Malakai’s lips.
It was small. Quiet. But unmistakably a smile.
However, Valentine only froze.
It was clearly a smile, yet it felt wrong. Sinister, even.
Like watching a devil grin.
‘What kind of successor did the essence choose this time…’ he thought grimly. ‘This essence has the worst luck picking hosts…’
But Malakai didn’t notice. Or he just didn’t care.
He was still at the base level, Human. And yet his power had already neared those who had evolved.
That meant… his evolution would be something far beyond normal.
He turned to Valentine. “Explain what they all mean.”
He instinctively knew what they meant, but what good was Valentine if Malakai didn’t make use of him? And to Malakai, it was better to confirm from someone who had already walked the path before.
Valentine blinked, dragged out of his thoughts. “Right, right…”
He cleared his throat and looked at the panel again. “Well, the name and lineage are self-explanatory. You’re a direct descendant of the Sanguine Clan.”
Then his gaze paused.
He frowned. “You’ve got… interesting titles.”
Malakai’s voice was cold. “Ignore them.”
Valentine cleared his throat slightly and moved on. “R-right. Next is the Talent Grade. During my time, mine was like this too, unclassified. I’m not entirely sure what it means, but I believe it signifies limitless potential.”
Malakai didn’t respond, but his thoughts were racing.
‘He’s not completely wrong…’
Back in Valentine’s era, they were just starting, trying to figure things out. But centuries had passed since then. Humanity had evolved, learned, adapted.
Through relentless trial and error, they had developed paths of evolution that accurately measured growth, and more importantly, graded a person’s potential.
There were five recognized stages of evolution:
Genesis.
Node Formation.
Synergy.
Bloom.
Zenith.
But that only tracked progression, not potential.
Humanity’s talents, however, were ranked from D to S, with D signifying one would likely never move beyond Genesis, and S reserved for those destined to reach Zenith, the peak of human possibility. This was dependent on how well a person’s body responded to Vita.
So if his own talent was unclassified… then Malakai could only assume one thing.
‘My potential exceeds even that scale…’
He motioned for Valentine to continue.
The chubby man nodded. “Next we have Vita Stored. This is simply the total vita in your body. The first number shows how much live vita you currently have available, it’ll decrease or rise depending on use. The second number is your total storage limit.”
Malakai nodded. That much was obvious.
Seeing that he understood, Valentine moved on.
“Next is Vita Absorption Rate. While Vita Stored is about your total capacity, this one tells us how fast your body attracts and absorbs vita from your surroundings. Currently, you can absorb 1 vita point per second in high-density areas and about 0.7 in regular zones. This rate will drop significantly if the ambient vita is low.”
Malakai’s eyes narrowed slightly, then widened. A realization had just hit him that nearly made him smile. To think he had missed it before.
‘I can already absorb vita…’
It was a mind-blowing realization.
After evolving by awakening a node, an evolver’s body would become a living conduit, able to draw in vita from the air.
In the entire recorded history of the dome, no human had ever claimed to be able to do that without awakening, not one.
Except for Valentine.
And now… Malakai.