Michael lay on the cold floor of the training room, for a long while.
The raw, intoxicating feeling of power was a foreign sensation, a vibrant warmth that spread to the very tips of his fingers and toes.
Finally, he came to. Michael slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. There was no pain. His shattered ribs were whole, the deep, ugly bruises had vanished, and the exhaustion that had plagued him for years felt like a distant memory. He felt light, yet incredibly solid. His senses, once dull and muted, were now razor-sharp. He could hear the faint, high-frequency buzz of the room's overhead lights and see the microscopic scratches on the polished floor with impossible clarity.
This was the power of a Rank 2 Super Soldier. It wasn't just a title; it was a fundamental change to his very existence.
But was it real? After three years of stagnation and despair, this sudden miracle felt like a cruel dream. He fumbled to activate the wrist-mounted bio-monitor on his combat suit. The small screen flickered to life, its surface cracked from the beating. His heart hammered against his ribs as it ran a diagnostic. He stared, unblinking, as the text resolved itself.
`[User: Michael Azazel]`
`[Rank: 2 Super Soldier]`
`[Genetic Energy: 150/150]`
`[Status: Optimal]`
The number `2` glowed with a soft, steady light. A choked, hysterical laugh escaped Michael's lips. Tears streamed down his face, not of sadness, but of overwhelming, earth-shattering relief. The dam of his pent-up frustration and misery broke, and for the first time in years, he felt a genuine surge of hope. The system was real. The power was real. His life, from this moment forward, would never be the same.
After the wave of emotion passed, a quiet calm settled over him. He closed his eyes and focused inward, calling upon the system that now resided within his soul. A sleek, holographic interface materialized in his vision, a panel of light and data that only he could see. It was minimalist yet futuristic, its lines clean and its text sharp. As he explored its functions with his thoughts, he noticed a brightly glowing icon in the corner of the interface, pulsating gently like a digital heart.
`[You have a new item: Genesis Gift Package]`
His breath hitched. A gift package? For him? His hands trembled slightly as he mentally commanded the system to open it.
`[Opening Genesis Gift Package...]`
`[You have received: Perfected Genetic Matrix (God-Tier)]`
`[You have received: Aethelred's Primal Codex (Divine-Tier)]`
`[You have received: Standard-Issue Kinetic Induction Blade (Common-Grade)]`
Michael's eyes widened at the first two rewards. A god-tier matrix and a divine-tier codex were treasures that even the academy's director might not possess. These were items that could reshape the destiny of entire nations. But the third item, a standard-issue blade, felt almost comically out of place. It was the same cheap, mass-produced weapon given to every new student.
Before he could question it, the system chimed again.
`[10,000x Multiplier has detected a compatible cultivation-related item.]`
`[Applying multiplier to 'Standard-Issue Kinetic Induction Blade'...]`
A brilliant light erupted from the blade that had just appeared in his inventory. It began to hum, vibrating with an intensity that shook the very air around it. The blade's simple energy capacitors, designed for minimal output, overloaded instantly. But instead of exploding, they were reinforced and reshaped by an unseen force. The metal of the blade itself began to glow, its molecular structure rearranging into something far stronger, far deadlier. The hum intensified into a high-pitched shriek, and the light grew so bright that Michael had to shield his eyes.
When the light faded, the weapon that remained was no longer a common blade. It was a masterpiece of lethal engineering.
`[Upgrade Complete. You have obtained: High-Frequency Resonance Blade (Rare-Grade)]`
Michael stared in awe. The system's multiplier wasn't just active; it was passive. It could enhance not just his body, but his equipment.
He didn't waste another second. "System, integrate the Perfected Genetic Matrix."
`[Integrating Perfected Genetic Matrix...]`
A wave of warmth, far more gentle and profound than his first breakthrough, washed over him. It was not a violent flood but a deep, fundamental rewriting of his biological code. He felt his DNA unwinding and re-knitting itself into a perfect, flawless structure. His old, poor affinity for genetic energy—the very thing that had held him back—was purged and replaced with a conduit of unparalleled purity. The ambient energy of the world, once a faint whisper he could barely detect, was now a roaring symphony in his senses.
Next, he focused on the codex. As his mind touched upon it, a torrent of information flooded his brain. Complex diagrams of energy pathways, ancient runes, and profound cultivation theories that dwarfed the academy's public techniques filled his consciousness. He understood it all instantly, the system acting as a perfect translator.
With a new body and a new technique, he sat cross-legged on the floor and began to practice the Primal Codex.
This time, the result was even more cataclysmic. The combination of his god-tier genetic matrix, the superior cultivation manual, and the ever-present 10,000x multiplier created a perfect storm of power. The energy he drew from the world was no longer a tsunami; it was a focused, controlled vortex that spiraled directly into his core. His new Rank 2 barrier, which should have taken years of painstaking effort to overcome, didn't even stand a chance. It offered less resistance than a sheet of paper.
*BOOM!*
A second, more powerful shockwave of energy erupted from his body. If his first breakthrough had been about shattering a dam, this was about carving an entirely new, impossibly vast river. His cells didn't just absorb the power; they evolved. His strength, his speed, his very essence ascended to a new plane of existence. The world seemed to slow down around him as he was filled with a strength that felt truly limitless.
`[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully broken through to become a Rank 3 Super Soldier!]`
In the span of a single hour, Michael Azazel had gone from the academy's weakest laughingstock to a powerhouse that could rival its top students. And he was just getting started.