My Skills Can Evolve Infinitely in a Game-Like World

Chapter 2: Upgrading Skills

Before Aurelius could react, new words emerged.

"You have received a Mythical Class Token!"

"You have received 3 Skill Points!"

Information accompanied these words, rushing straight to Aurelius’ mind.

Something heavy landed neatly on his right hand.

As he struggled to move his head to look at it, he discovered it was a round token.

A complicated pattern composed of several eyes was depicted at its center, twisting together to create a single giant pupil.

At any other time, Aurelius might have wondered what the token was and how it had appeared.

But having obtained the information given by the System and digested the memories of this body, it was now clear to him.

"Awakeners..." he muttered this unfamiliar term under his breath.

Awakeners—individuals with superhuman abilities, ranging from ordinary and mundane to utterly incomprehensible.

Some among them could command the elements and launch fireballs with a wave of their hands. Others possessed incredible physical strength, able to shatter walls of stone with their bare hands.

Their abilities varied, depending heavily on their selected Class.

In gaming terms, a Class was akin to a Profession, with Classes like Mage, Priest, and Paladin being relatively common, albeit not as strict as one would expect.

To obtain a Class, a person had to either be born in a noble family or join one of the major churches or organizations.

Unfortunately, although Aurelius was the son of an Earl, his status and personality made it so that he had never obtained such an opportunity.

The inability to become an Awakener was one of the main reasons why he had become like this—a useless playboy with sex being the only thing on his mind.

Yet now, Aurelius was holding what his predecessor had always dreamed of: a Class Token.

According to the information he had received, this object could help him take up a Class.

And a Mythical Class at that!

Aurelius naturally had no idea what such a ranking represented. Yet the imposing name let him know it was far stronger than the [Elite] Vow Knight Class passed down by the Sol family and feared by ordinary Awakeners.

Sensing that his vitality was constantly being drained away with each passing second, Aurelius didn’t hesitate.

Following the instructions of the information, he clenched his fist with the final bits of his remaining power.

A faint crack echoed. The token first showed a fracture before shattering into pieces. The fragments transformed into specks of light and fell on him.

A warm current surged through Aurelius’ body.

He could feel that his very nature was being altered, as though he was changing species.

The words flashing in front of him only further reinforced that notion.

"Class Token has been activated! Selecting a suitable Mythical Class for the Player."

"Ding!"

"Mythical Class Selected: Arcanist!"

"Congratulations to the Player for taking up the Class—Arcanist."

The moment he read through the final sentence, Aurelius sensed the warm current rapidly fade away.

The pain surging through his body was alleviated. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, however, it returned.

Though less sharp and no longer as urgent, it rendered him unable to move.

’Is becoming an Awakener not enough to heal me fully?’

Aurelius was rather disappointed, but he knew it was somewhat expected.

The earlier mission had shown that Amanda was also an Awakener, and his death had not been a mere accident.

Most likely, it had been a part of some kind of advancement ritual.

Becoming an ordinary Awakener was clearly not enough to resolve the resulting side effects.

Despite this, Aurelius did not despair.

Having seen the light of hope at the end of the tunnel, he knew he had a chance to save himself.

Looking at the rewards prompt that was still hovering in his field of vision, he suddenly attempted something.

’System,’ he softly called inside his mind.

Unfortunately, his call had no effect. Nothing happened.

Aurelius grumbled.

But after sifting through his memories, he soon had another idea.

’Player Panel.’

As soon as that thought surfaced, the expected change finally occurred.

A relatively familiar interface appeared in front of him.

...

[Name: Aurelius Sol]

[Template: NPC (Common), Player]

[Title: None]

[Class: Arcanist]

[Rank: 1 / Level: 0/20 (0/100)]

[Base Stats:] Strength: 7, Agility: 9, Intelligence: 19, Vitality: 6, Luck: 10, Spirit: 190/190

[Skills: Spirit Bullet, Synthesis, Awakener’s Physique]

[Talents: Arcanist’s Heart]

[Reputation: 0]

[Skill Points: 3]

[EXP: 0]

...

The interface was lengthy but straightforward. Anyone who had ever played any games or read a webnovel could roughly understand what was going on.

Aurelius was no exception.

As for the parts he didn’t fully understand, he knew he had to wait for later.

At the moment, he would rather think of ways to save himself instead.

Immediately, his eyes focused on the second reward given by the Tutorial Mission.

Then, it moved toward his skills. More precisely, toward the Awakener’s Physique skill.

The other skills were new to him. However, Awakener’s Physique was a skill that nearly every Awakener would naturally obtain, and he was thus faintly familiar with it.

As Aurelius focused on it, its corresponding description appeared.

...

[Awakener’s Physique Lv1: Awakeners possess physical power surpassing ordinary humans.]

[Effects: Strength +3, Vitality +3, Agility +2]

...

The text made Aurelius speechless.

His Vitality was only at 6 at the moment.

If the effects of this skill were to be removed, it would instantly decrease to 3.

No wonder he had been so close to dying! If anything, it was a miracle he had managed to survive this far with a Vitality of 3.

Aurelius only briefly thought about this. Soon, his eyes lit up.

He noticed a (+) button flickering right beside the skill, as though it was tempting him to press it.

Without hesitation, Aurelius did.

The panel shook.

A moment later, it showed changes.

...

[Awakener’s Physique Lv2: Trained Awakeners possess physical power far surpassing ordinary humans.]

[Effects: Strength +5, Vitality +5, Agility +4]

...

The warm current reappeared.

As the pain grew fainter, Aurelius breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, seeing the (+) button floating there, he pressed on it once more.

A similar change soon occurred.

[Effects: Strength +7, Vitality +7, Agility +6]

Another warm current surged through him and spread through every inch of his body.

Under his eyes, his Vitality stat quickly climbed to 10.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps such a physique was enough to restrain the Advancement Ritual’s side effects, Aurelius felt the imaginary shackles binding him shatter.

The pain vanished. His severed nerves appeared to have been reconnected, and the connection between his mind and body reappeared.

A moment later, he discovered that he could move again.

And he did.

Feeling his body responding to his call and seeing his perspective finally change, Aurelius had the urge to burst into laughter.

Although he managed to restrain it, his face inevitably broke into a smile.

But only a split second later, that smile vanished.

The door suddenly opened. A pair of agile green eyes peeked from the gap and looked inside.

They first focused on Aurelius’ face. Almost instinctively, they traced down his naked body.

Their owner’s pupils shrank.

Her cheeks flushed crimson.

Then...

"Kyah!"

A powerful scream echoed.