Chapter 76: The KP Problem

Fate Enforcer tactical analysis. The System’s warnings had been consistent. The Enforcers were conceptual entities. They didn’t exist in physical space. They operated on the level of laws and rules. They corrected anomalies by removing the source. Not killing. Removing. As if the target had never existed.

Stream two. Resource assessment. 224,900,000 EXP in the Bank. 53 Karma Points. Not enough for the Concept Override Token, which sat in the VIP Shop behind a 2,000 KP wall.

Stream three. Version 3.0 unlock conditions. The System had said the conditions were approaching but not met. There was a threshold. He didn’t know what it was. Version 2.0 had triggered when he won the Regional Tournament. Version 3.0 probably required something equivalent.

The problem with all three streams was the same. He didn’t have enough information.

He opened the System interface and navigated to the VIP Shop. The Concept Override Token sat there, locked, its icon greyed out.

╔══════════════════════════════╗

║ CONCEPT OVERRIDE TOKEN

║

║ Cost: 2,000 KP

║ Status: LOCKED

║

║ Effect: Allows the next Skill

║ Roll to breach the Conceptual

║ tier, bypassing physical rules.

║

║ Single use.

║

║ Note: Requires 2,000 KP

║ cumulative to purchase.

╚══════════════════════════════╝

Two thousand KP. He had fifty-three. The gap was 1,947 Karma Points.

At his old farming rate, maybe forty to fifty KP per day with the Pity Surge passive and a Pity Accelerator active. That was forty days. He had forty-six hours.

’The math doesn’t work. I can’t farm my way to the Concept Override Token before the Enforcers arrive.’

He leaned back on the crate and stared at the ceiling.

’So I need another path. Either I find a way to fight conceptual entities without the Token, or I find a way to trigger Version 3.0 before they get here.’

His INT 192 turned the problem over. Version 3.0’s Creation Tier might provide conceptual-level tools. Skill evolution at maximum proficiency could produce Conceptual variants. Weapon mastery at maximum could produce Concept-bound Armaments.

He had Severing Sword Aura at A-Rank. If he pushed it to maximum proficiency and it evolved, the evolution might breach into conceptual territory. But that required proficiency farming, and proficiency farming took time.

’Unless I use the EXP Bank to buy proficiency directly.’

He checked the EXP Shop. A new item he hadn’t explored before sat in the inventory.

╔══════════════════════════════╗

║ EXP SHOP

║

║ Minor Skill Evolution Catalyst

║ Cost: 500,000 EXP

║

║ Effect: Proficiency EXP gain

║ multiplied by 100 for 1 hour.

║ Target: Single selected Skill.

║ Duration: 60 minutes.

╚══════════════════════════════╝

Five hundred thousand EXP. He had two hundred twenty-four million.

He purchased it without hesitation.

[DING!]

[Item: Minor Skill Evolution Catalyst.]

[Cost: 500,000 EXP from Bank.]

[Target Skill: Severing Sword Aura (A-Rank).]

[Effect: Proficiency EXP gain x100 for 1 hour.]

[Duration: 60 minutes.]

[EXP Bank: 224,900,000 → 224,400,000.]

A hundred times proficiency gain for one hour. If he swung his sword for an hour straight, pooling the proficiency through Gambler’s Delay, he could potentially push Severing Sword Aura to maximum proficiency and trigger an evolution.

But he needed more than just a proficiency boost. He needed a multiplier on the proficiency pool itself. The last time he’d pooled a hundred swings and hit a 6,500x multiplier, Severing Sword Aura had evolved from Short-Sword Mastery. That was weeks ago. The Skill had been growing slowly since then through combat use, but it was nowhere near maximum.

An hour of pooled swings with a hundred-times catalyst and a decent multiplier could close the gap.

If he was unlucky, he’d waste an hour and the Pity Surge passive would give him a handful of KP for the garbage rolls.

Both outcomes were useful.

He stood. His cracked short-sword leaned against the wall by the door. The blade was chipped and stressed from the Colossus fight, the edge worn down to something barely sharper than a flat bar. But it was still a sword. And the System registered sword swings regardless of the blade’s condition.

He picked it up. The weight was familiar. The grip was worn smooth by weeks of use. His Clearwater resonance hummed faintly through the steel, the bone-level corrosion giving the blade a faint acidic gleam.

He checked Martha one more time. She was still sleeping. The golden glow of the Phoenix essence had faded entirely, leaving healthy skin and clear breathing. Leo hadn’t moved.

’I’ll be in the Warrens. If anyone comes, hide. If anyone asks, I’m not here.’

He opened the apartment door and stepped into the thirteenth level’s perpetual twilight.

The Warrens were closer than the surface. A maintenance shaft at the end of the corridor led down to the fourteenth level, where the Rank 3 monsters roamed. He needed a safe space to swing his sword for an hour without interruption.

The abandoned subway platform. The same one where he’d first discovered proficiency farming weeks ago. The tunnels around it were cleared, the local monster population thinned by his previous visits.

He descended through the maintenance shaft, his AGI 290 making the climb effortless. The air grew thicker, warmer, carrying the taste of battery acid and dimensional energy. The Warrens’ permanent twilight deepened around him.

The subway platform appeared ahead. Collapsed tunnel walls. Broken concrete. Rusted tracks. The space was open and empty. No monsters. No witnesses.

Perfect.

He activated Gambler’s Delay. Proficiency pool. Severing Sword Aura.

[DING!]

[Gambler’s Delay activated.]

[Pool: Severing Sword Aura proficiency.]

[Accumulating base proficiency EXP.]

[Release command: "Spin."]

[Minor Skill Evolution Catalyst: ACTIVE.]

[Proficiency gain multiplier: 100x.]

[Duration remaining: 59 minutes, 48 seconds.]

He planted his feet. Raised the sword. Began to swing.

Horizontal slash. Vertical slash. Thrust. Reverse grip slash. The basic forms he’d learned in the Academy’s combat classes, back when he was still pretending to be a weak E-Rank student with no Skills and no future.

Each swing took one second. The System registered each one.

[DING!]

[Swing 1: Proficiency +100. Pooled.]

[Swing 2: Proficiency +100. Pooled.]

[Swing 3: Proficiency +100. Pooled.]

The notifications blurred into background noise. Alvian fell into a rhythm. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. The sword cut through stale air, each movement precise, each form clean. His STR 530 made the blade’s weight irrelevant. His AGI 290 let him maintain the pace without fatigue. His VIT 855 meant he could do this for hours if needed.

Swing fifty. The catalyst’s multiplier was working.

[DING!]

[Swing 50: Proficiency +100. Pool: 5,000.]

Swing one hundred. His arms were warm. Not tired. Just warm. The familiar sensation of sustained physical effort.

[DING!]

[Swing 100: Proficiency +100. Pool: 10,000.]

[Minor Skill Evolution Catalyst: 40 minutes remaining.]

He continued. The Warrens were quiet around him. The only sounds were the whoosh of his blade and the soft chime of the System counting each swing.

Swing two hundred. Pool: 20,000.

Swing three hundred. Pool: 30,000.

His INT 192 ran calculations in the background. Severing Sword Aura’s current proficiency was approximately 45% of the A-Rank cap. To reach maximum, he needed roughly 55,000 more proficiency EXP. At 100 base proficiency per swing, that was 550 swings. Nine minutes of continuous work.

But he wasn’t going to stop at 550. He was going to push as far as the catalyst’s duration allowed. More pool meant more impact when the multiplier rolled. If he hit an Epic multiplier on a pool of 50,000 proficiency EXP, the result could push Severing Sword Aura past maximum and trigger an evolution.

Possibly into something conceptual.

Swing four hundred. Pool: 40,000.

His arms burned. Not from fatigue. From the Clearwater resonance in his bones, which hummed louder with each swing, responding to the sustained weapon use. The bone corrosion passive was activating, making his strikes slightly corrosive even without applying Clearwater Coating.

Swing five hundred. Pool: 50,000.

[DING!]

[Swing 500: Proficiency +100. Pool: 50,000.]

[Minor Skill Evolution Catalyst: 17 minutes remaining.]

[Severing Sword Aura proficiency: 95% of A-Rank cap.]

Five percent more. Five hundred more swings at base proficiency. Five more minutes of work.

He pushed. The rhythm accelerated. Not faster, just more precise. Each swing a perfect expression of form and force. The cracked short-sword hummed with each cut, the Clearwater resonance amplifying the blade’s effectiveness beyond what its physical condition should allow.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

Swing six hundred. Pool: 60,000. Proficiency: 96%.

Swing seven hundred. Pool: 70,000. Proficiency: 97%.

Swing eight hundred. Pool: 80,000. Proficiency: 98%.

[DING!]

[Swing 900: Proficiency +100. Pool: 90,000.]

[Severing Sword Aura proficiency: 99% of A-Rank cap.]

[Minor Skill Evolution Catalyst: 2 minutes remaining.]

One percent. One hundred swings. One minute.

Alvian swung with everything he had. Not faster. Just more focused. Each cut a declaration. Each form a statement. The Clearwater resonance peaked, the bone corrosion humming at a frequency that made the concrete around him vibrate.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

[DING!]

[Swing 1000: Proficiency +100. Pool: 100,000.]

[Severing Sword Aura proficiency: MAXIMUM.]

[Severing Sword Aura has reached maximum proficiency at A-Rank.]

[Evolution conditions: MET.]

[Minor Skill Evolution Catalyst: EXPIRED.]

[Proficiency multiplier: REMOVED.]

[Pool: 100,000 base proficiency EXP.]

[Gambler’s Delay: READY FOR RELEASE.]