Chapter 45: Chapter45-Telekinesis
[Sorry, Host, but that is not possible. Given your current rank, your body cannot handle the aftereffects of an Instant Death skill.]
Wait. What?
This had to be a mistake.
All my plans, everything I’d been imagining, collapsed in an instant. The vision of becoming the most powerful person in the universe crumbled before it even had a chance to take root.
I wasn’t giving up yet.
"What about Reality Warping?"
[Not possible.]
Damn it.
"Time Manipulation?"
[Not possible.]
"Wormholes? Regeneration?"
[Not possible.]
"What about..."
...
Every answer was the same.
It went on like that for several minutes. I kept rattling off skill names, one after another, each more desperate than the last. The system kept shutting me down without hesitation.
After five solid minutes of constant rejection, I finally gave up. I sank into the backseat like a corpse, completely deflated.
I was done. My heart couldn’t take any more.
I’d never been rejected this many times by anyone in my entire life. Not even in my previous one.
Rejections sucked.
I couldn’t help but think about those guys who got rejected by girls a thousand times and somehow kept going, kept trying with someone new.
How did they manage it?
I could barely handle a few rejections from a system, and they just brushed it off like it was nothing.
Those guys had to have hearts made of steel.
Eventually, I forced myself back on track.
There was one skill left worth asking about. Just one more attempt.
The skill I had in mind was risky. Extremely risky. Probably the hardest skill to master in existence.
Telekinesis.
It was one of the top ten rarest skills in the world, sitting right alongside Teleportation. Actually, it was even rarer than that. Based on what I remembered from Michael’s memories, Telekinesis only appeared in dungeons ranked SS or higher. That alone showed just how scarce it was.
Rarity wasn’t the real issue though. The real problem was mastery.
The skill was notoriously difficult to control. So difficult, in fact, that only one person in the entire world had managed to master it completely. He was a Dominator rank hunter now, famous across all of Ambrosia. The guildmaster of Blitzkrieg, the current number one ranked guild.
This was a massive gamble. If I took this skill, I’d either become insanely strong in the future or end up mediocre at best. There was no middle ground.
I really hoped for the former.
I took a breath and reached out to the system. "System, what about Telekinesis?"
Silence.
The system didn’t respond right away, and my stomach sank. Not another rejection. Please, not another one.
Then a screen flickered into view inside my mind.
[Host, analysis complete. Based on current calculations, acquiring the Telekinesis skill is feasible. Your body possesses sufficient tolerance to withstand the skill’s aftereffects. Conclusion: Telekinesis is a compatible skill option.]
Relief flooded through me the moment I read those words.
"Haa..."
Finally. One acceptance after endless rejections.
If this had been turned down too, I would’ve had no choice but to settle for something weaker. Something safer.
Then the system spoke again.
[Host, but one thing I must inform you: you cannot replace your Seer’s Eye skill with Telekinesis.]
I went rigid. "What? Why not? Why can’t I replace Seer’s Eye?"
[Sorry, Host. That is because there is a limitation on Skill Change Cards.]
My chest tightened. Don’t tell me it can’t replace high rank skills.
[No, Host, it is not like that. It simply cannot replace SSS rank skills.]
Damn it.
What the hell was going on today? Nothing was working the way I wanted it to.
I clenched my jaw. "Wait. Why didn’t you mention that earlier? When I first got the card, you said I could replace any skill I have with anything I want. Was that wrong? Did you lie?"
[Host, it was not wrong. I did not lie when I said you can replace any skill you have with anything you want using a Skill Change Card.]
"Then what’s the problem? Why can’t you replace my Seer’s Eye?"
[Host, it appears you misunderstood. I did not say I cannot replace your Seer’s Eye skill. I said you cannot do it right now because, given your current rank, your body is placing a limitation on the Skill Change Card. The limitation comes from you, not the card.]
Damn it.
The system was right. It never actually said the skill couldn’t be replaced. I’d made that assumption entirely on my own.
What an idiotic mistake.
So what were my options now?
If I couldn’t swap out Seer’s Eye, that left only one other skill I could replace. Teleportation.
Absolutely not. There was no way I was giving up Teleportation. It would be far too useful later on.
So then what?
An idea suddenly formed.
I reached out to the system. "System, will the Skill Change Card stay with me permanently? Can I use it later once I reach Iron rank? Can I keep it until then?"
That had to work. If I could hold onto the Triple Rank Upgrade Card indefinitely, then this upgraded version should follow the same logic.
If that was true, I could simply wait until I reached Iron rank, pick up some random low quality skill from a dungeon, and then replace that with Telekinesis instead. That way I’d keep Teleportation and still gain Telekinesis. Even if I failed to master Telekinesis down the line, I’d still have Teleportation as a backup. I wouldn’t be left mediocre.
It was a solid plan. It could actually work.
Just as the pieces started falling into place, the system responded.
[No, Host. The Skill Change Card will not remain with you once you ascend in rank. It is for limited time use only.]
My chest tightened. "You’re serious? Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?"
[Host, for this I apologize.]
Fuck your apology.
The apology didn’t help. It didn’t change a thing.
Fuck...
I muttered a few curses under my breath before forcing myself to calm down.
There was no other option now. I had to use the card immediately, or I’d lose it for good.
This really was turning into the worst day I’d had since arriving in this world.
I drew in a slow breath and committed.
"System, do it. Replace my Teleportation skill with Telekinesis."
A holographic screen appeared in front of me.
[Using the Skill Change Card!]
[Initiating!]
[Replacing the Host’s "Teleportation" skill with requested "Telekinesis"!]
[Processing...]
[2%... 23%... 60%... 81%... 94%... 100%]
[Congratulations, Host! Your S rank "Teleportation" has been successfully replaced by B rank "Telekinesis."]
"That’s not something worth congratulating."
I muttered the words while reading through the message on the virtual screen again.
Something felt off.
Why had I only received a B rank Telekinesis skill? I’d just replaced an S rank skill. By all logic, the replacement should have been S rank as well, right? Or was there something I was missing?
Before I could think it through, the system chimed in.
[Host, the reason you did not receive an S rank Telekinesis skill is because even at B rank, Telekinesis is comparable to S rank Teleportation in terms of overall strength.]
That caught me off guard for a moment.
Once the initial surprise wore off, though, it actually made sense. Telekinesis was known for being absurdly powerful even at lower ranks. Still, I hadn’t expected a B rank version to be on equal footing with S rank Teleportation right from the start.
Maybe today wasn’t turning out as badly as I thought.
I decided to check my character profile. "Character Profile."
A new screen loaded, showing all my current stats.
---
**Name:** Michael Frostburne
**Race:** Human
**Current Rank:** Bronze
**Current Level:** 10
**Title:** 0
**Progression to Iron Rank:** 10% (10/100 levels)
**Progression to Level 11:** 10% (5/50 essences)
**Total essences required:** (505/5000 essences)
**Potential:** 0
**Attributes:**
[Power]: Bronze
[Speed]: Bronze
[Spirit]: Bronze
[Recovery]: Bronze
Free Attribute Points: (8/20)
**Human Racial Abilities:**
- Notifications
- Quest
- Inventory
- Skills (2/2)
---
I tapped on the Skills option under Human Racial Abilities.
Another window popped up, listing my two current skills.
---
1] Seer’s Eye (SSS)
2] Telekinesis (B+)
---
I selected Telekinesis. A detailed description screen loaded, showing everything I needed to know about the skill.
---
(Telekinesis)
[Specific: Metal]
[Allows the user to manipulate metallic objects with mental force. Metal can be lifted, moved, pushed, pulled, or controlled remotely. The weight and precision of control depend on the user’s mental strength and skill mastery.]
[Duration: 3 hours a day.]
[Limitation: Can only lift 500 metallic objects at the same time.]
[After Effects: Depend on the user’s mental capacity.]
---
I read through it slowly, absorbing every detail. By the time I finished, a faint smile had worked its way onto my face.
Five hundred objects. That was better than I’d expected. I could already imagine myself controlling five hundred swords simultaneously, tearing through an Elite rank beast in a matter of seconds. This skill had serious potential.
The smile faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. Mastery was the real obstacle.
Telekinesis had a well-earned reputation for being one of the hardest skills to control, and I had no clue how many objects I could actually manage at my current level. Testing that would have to be the first thing I did once I returned to the mansion.
Realistically, I doubted I could handle more than five objects with my current mental capacity.
Maybe a few more if I got lucky, but controlling five swords at once seemed like a reasonable baseline.
Surely I couldn’t be worse than that, right?
***
