Ran took a deep breath and pulled the Awakening Stone out of his pocket. The smooth, glowing stone rested in his palm, catching the last bits of daylight.
Randolf, Aurora, and Mia all leaned in closer across the wooden table. The entire base went quiet. Everyone was waiting to see what would happen. Since Ran was already Level 10, they all knew he should unlock two skills the moment his soul finally woke up.
"Are you ready, son?" Randolf asked, his voice low and serious.
"I'm ready," Ran said, nodding. He looked over at his little sister, who was bouncing slightly in her seat with excitement. "Once I finish my awakening and figure out how this works, we are going to try to awaken Mia next."
Mia's eyes went wide. "Really? Me too?"
"Yes, you too," Ran smiled. "Usually, people wait until they are fourteen. But because you already hit Level 10, your body is strong enough to handle the energy. We can wake up your innate martial soul early."
"Wow!" Mia clapped her hands.
"But let me go first," Ran added with a laugh.
Ran closed his eyes and gripped the Awakening Stone tightly with both hands. He cleared his mind, focusing all his energy on the center of his chest. Then, he channeled his thoughts directly into the stone.
The stone responded instantly. It grew freezing cold, then burning hot. Ran felt a heavy power surge out of the rock. The energy traveled up his fingers, rushed through his hands, and shot straight into his heart.
Before he could even gasp, Ran felt his consciousness get ripped away from his body.
Suddenly, Ran was standing in a place of absolute blackness. There was no ground, no sky, and no light. It was a completely empty space. For some unknown reason, Ran didn't feel any fear at all. The heavy darkness didn't scare him. Instead, he stood perfectly still, feeling a deep sense of waiting. He was eager to see what was hidden inside him.
Then, the darkness shifted. Two massive eyes suddenly snapped open in the middle of the empty space.
They were giant, old, and filled with a power so big that it made the air freeze. The eyes glared directly down at Ran, staring straight into his soul. Ran couldn't find the words to describe the feeling. It was an overwhelming pressure that felt like it could crush him into dust.
The giant eyes stared at him for exactly two seconds. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished. The pressure faded away, and the dark space collapsed.
Ran snapped his eyes open and took a sharp, ragged breath. He was back at the wooden table in the Private World. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his hands were shaking slightly.
"Ran! Are you okay?" Aurora asked, reaching out to touch his arm.
Before he could answer his mother, a loud, clear system notification rang out inside his head. A dark, see-through screen flickered to life right in front of his eyes.
> **[NOTIFICATION]**
> **Congratulations! You have successfully awakened a Chaos Mythical Martial Innate Soul.**
> * **Tier:** Mythical
> * **Primary Attribute:** Darkness
>
Ran stared at the screen, his heart pounding against his ribs. Mythical. He was hoping for a good martial innate soul, but this was beyond anything he had expected.
The system screen shifted, showing the details of the two skills he had unlocked for reaching Level 10.
> **[Unlocked Skills]**
> * **Chaos Armor (Active Skill):** When activated, a powerful armor made of pure chaos energy will cover your body. This skill massively increases your physical defense against all types of attacks.
> * **Chaos Power (Passive/Active Skill):** Allows you to naturally draw 5% of the raw Chaos Power from your surrounding area. You can shape this power into whatever you need:
> * Form an **Aura** around your body to greatly increase your physical strength.
> * **Infuse** the energy into weapons or tools to make them much stronger.
> * Add the **Chaos Property (Darkness)** to any attack, dealing extra destructive damage.
>
Ran stared at the two skills, a slow grin spreading across his face. The Chaos Armor gave him the ultimate defense he needed to stay alive, and the Chaos Power was incredibly flexible. Being able to boost his strength, improve his weapons, and add darkness damage with just 5% of the surrounding energy was crazy good.
"Ran?" Randolf leaned forward, looking at his son's smiling face. "What happened? What did you get?"
Ran looked up at his family, his eyes bright with excitement. "It worked," he said, his voice filled with happiness. "It worked better than I ever could have dreamed. Stand back a bit, let me show you."
His family took a few steps back. Ran focused his mind and called out the name of his new skill. "Chaos Armor."
Instantly, Ran's own shadow on the floor started to bubble like boiling water. The dark shadow leaped up his legs, wrapping around him like thick, black smoke. The smoke hardened quickly into solid, pitch-black metal plates. Dark chest armor formed, followed by shoulder guards and sharp arm braces. Glowing red lines lit up across the black metal, pulsing like hot lava. A dark, intimidating aura drifted off the armor, making the air around Ran feel heavy and cold.
"Whoa..." Mia whispered, hiding slightly behind her mother. Even Randolf looked shocked by the scary pressure coming from his son.
Seeing them a bit scared, Ran quickly canceled the skill. The dark armor turned back into smoke and sank back into his shadow. "Sorry," Ran chuckled. "It gives me amazing defense, but the aura is a little intense."
"It is incredible, son," Randolf said, finally breathing out.
"Okay, Mia, your turn," Ran said, handing his little sister the Awakening Stone. "Just focus your energy into it like I did."
Mia took the stone with shaking hands. She closed her eyes tight and squeezed it. Unlike Ran's dark and heavy awakening, Mia's was gentle. A warm, soft blue light glowed from the stone. The light wrapped around her, and a beautiful blue butterfly made of pure energy fluttered out of her chest, circling above her head.
A normal system screen popped up for her.
"I got a Butterfly Martial Innate Soul!" Mia cheered, jumping up and down. "It says it is a Rare tier!"
"That is amazing, sweetie," Aurora smiled, hugging her tight.
"Wait, look!" Mia pointed at the empty air in front of her. "I unlocked two skills just like Ran!"
Ran walked over, looking down at his sister. "Read them out, Mia. What do they do?"
Mia read from her screen, sounding out the words carefully. "The first one is an active skill called **Healing Dust**. It says my butterfly can drop shiny blue powder on someone, and it heals their cuts, bruises, and gives them a little bit of energy back."
"A healer," Randolf nodded, looking very proud. "That will always be useful. What is the second one?"
"It is another active skill called **Flutter Dodge**," Mia said, her eyes shining. "If something tries to hit me, I can use this to instantly teleport a few steps away. It also leaves behind a fake glowing butterfly to trick the enemy!"
Ran smiled at his sister. A healing skill and a clear escape skill were the perfect combination for a young girl. It would keep her safe. But his mind was already working. Rare tier was good, but he knew she would need better to survive what was coming. Before his own awakening, Ran had planned to find items and special methods to upgrade his own soul if it turned out weak. But now, since he hit the Mythical tier right off the bat, he didn't need those upgrades for himself.
*I will find a way to upgrade her soul,* Ran promised himself. *I will focus all those plans on helping Mia and Mom and Dad get stronger instead.*
Just as he was thinking this, a completely different chime sounded in Ran's head. It wasn't the normal system sound. This one was sharper, like a ringing bell.
A golden screen, entirely different from the normal blue and black ones, popped up in his vision. This was his Golden Finger—his unique system that only activated when he did something completely out of the ordinary.
> **[UNIQUE SYSTEM ACTIVATED]**
> **Judgment:** You have performed a unique action. Awakening a Mythical Innate Soul on your very first try is an extremely rare event in this world.
> **Reward:** 1x Rare Artifact Summon Ticket.
>
Ran stared at the golden ticket that appeared in his digital inventory. The rules were simple. Once he used this ticket, the system would pull one completely random Rare artifact out of thin air for him to keep.