Michael didn’t know why fate loved to play tricks on him, but—
He succeeded.
Barely, on the last attempt, and it wasn’t even because of mana.
He almost lost to chance.
However, since he had succeeded in the end, Michael was quite happy.
[Aurora Human – Disciple Rank Mage Lv. 25 (MAX)]
[Name: None]
[EXP: 563,345/1,021,752]
[Skills: Earth Dome {Intermediate Mastery}, Fire Spear {Intermediate Mastery}, Fire Jet {Intermediate Mastery}, Earth Wall {Intermediate Mastery}, Earth Spike {Intermediate Mastery}, Fireball {Intermediate Mastery}…]
[Master: Michael Norman]
Michael was momentarily blinded by the panel.
The first thing he noticed was the sheer range of skills the human mage possessed.
Though none had reached Advanced Mastery, there was a wide array of Intermediate and Basic Mastery spells.
“Should I say… as expected of a Commander-rank mage?”
It was an undeniable fact—the spell models used in the Aurora cultivation system were likely more advanced than the skills most Awakeners, at least the new ones, wielded.
After all, an Awakener didn’t need to study magic to grow stronger. Their skills naturally progressed alongside their mana, evolving in quality over time.
But this was a brute-force method.
Magic circles.
They were the formulas that structured spells—the foundation of true magic.
And those formulas?
They had advanced versions.
A Rank 1 mage in Aurora’s system could use Rank 1 Fireball spell and so could a Rank 2 mage, but even with precise manual control, there were still limitations.
However, with greater knowledge, one could modify the spell model—the magic circle—to cast the same Fireball spell but in a far more powerful form.
Awakeners could do this too.
In truth, the skills Michael had were all basic versions.
If he could learn how to modify them, his system panel would automatically update them—allowing him to cast both the old and new versions at will.
It was like upgrading a framework.
The more knowledge he accumulated and the stronger he became, the more he began to understand the fundamental differences between Awakeners and Cultivators.
Cultivators were incredibly powerful, and in some ways, they felt like supernaturals operating under heavier restrictions—as if their lives were set on hard mode compared to Awakeners.
Ironically, that very limitation was also their greatest strength.
But one thing puzzled Michael…
“Disciple rank?”
He felt as though he had stumbled upon a hidden truth about his own world.
To be honest, there were many things that confused him about the cultivation system of the real world and the Awakening system, but he had always assumed the answer was simple—Aurora’s Supernaturals had customized their power system.
After the recent chaos, Michael was even more convinced.
In fact, the cultivation system of Aurora and the Awakener system were strikingly similar, except the former had more divisions.
Why did level 4 cracks start spawning rank 2 monsters? Why were master-rank cultivators considered rank 2?
The common factor was clear—both had significant power upgrades and uniqueness once they reached ‘level 4.’
Levels 1 to 3 seemed to correspond to rank 1 in the Awakener system, while everything beyond level 4 better aligned with the higher ranks of Awakeners.
Did this mean that rank 1 to rank 3 cultivators weren’t actually weak, but only seemed so because they had been divided into separate tiers when they were supposed to be grouped together as a single realm?
And did this also mean that level 1 to 3 cracks were merely rank 1 cracks that had been further divided to match the cultivation system? Instead of calling them separate cracks, wouldn’t it make more sense to label them as low, mid, and high-rank 1 cracks?
Michael felt like he was onto something, but regardless, he wasn’t in the Land of Origin to ponder history.
“It seems that while there’s no race rank, this undead still follows the rank system… though with fewer restrictions.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Does this mean it can be leveled up infinitely?!”
Michael’s eyes widened in shock at the thought, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.
“Is this what it means to have no race rank? Or is this what it truly means to be a race?”
The human corpses he had obtained today had opened up an entirely new avenue of thought for him.
Michael turned to look at the undead mage.
Its tattered robes were dirty and damaged, its pale skin marred with battle scars.
Yet, despite everything—not even the prince’s last ‘beating’—nothing had managed to cripple it.
As Michael stared at the corpse, which looked eerily similar to a living human if you took away its white eyes, a sudden thought struck him.
“Who am I?”
Michael asked the undead, his heart pounding in his chest.
This was different.
Unlike monsters, the mage had once been an intelligent being before it died.
Would it remember anything? Could it still speak?
Though its body was dead, the energy responsible for its reanimation also sustained it…
Michael’s heartbeat quickened.
Then, suddenly—through their connection—he felt a wave of confusion from the undead.
The corpse tilted its head.
And as Michael felt its ‘gaze’ settle on him, a chill ran down his spine.
“That’s a lot of movement for a question,” Michael muttered, his tone serious.
In this situation, it translated to the uniqueness of his new undead.
Then, under Michael’s widened eyes…
“M-Master. Y-you are my m-master. Yes, you are my master.”
The voice was dry and raspy, but unmistakably real.
Michael’s body trembled slightly.
Just moments ago, in the real world, he had wished for an undead that could communicate.
He just never expected to get one this soon!
*****
A/N: First chapter for today! As I mentioned, my goal is to release at least three chapters daily throughout this month while also making up for the 13 owed chapters from last month’s event. I’ll make sure to catch up over the next few days, so please continue supporting in any way you can! Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire
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