Chapter 10: First Awakening Mid Grade

[6,000 Sovereign Points Have Been Used! Physique, Mind, and Aura Have Been Raised to First Awakening High Grade.]

Kren felt the changes ripple through his body with an intensity far more powerful than the first time. His attributes were among the cheapest things to improve, though the cost had climbed by a factor of five — 5,000 to raise his Aura, and 500 each for Physique and Mind.

This meant he now carried the physical, mental, and Aura qualities of someone at First Awakening High Grade. He was still technically Low Grade in cultivation, which meant advancing further would only build on top of what he already had. Whether that made him two or three times stronger than any other First Awakening Low Grade tribesman, he couldn’t say for certain. But he’d find out one way or another.

[10,000 Sovereign Points Have Been Used! Your Wind Affinity Has Advanced from Low to Mid Grade!]

A small gust of wind kicked up around him, swirling through his clothes and lifting dead leaves and dirt that scattered across his body. Kren frowned, annoyed by the spray of grit, but astounded by the connection underneath it. The wind rushed past him with a tangibility he hadn’t felt before — like he could reach out and sink his fingers straight through the current of air, the same way someone might part a stream of water.

He needed to test his summon spell the moment he was done here. He wanted to see exactly how much stronger the spirits of the wind had become, and this was as good a chance as any to test the others too. He turned his attention to the next line.

[10,000 Sovereign Points Have Been Used! Your Aura Spell, Spirits of the Wind, Has Reached Mid Grade! You Can Now Summon Two Spirits at Once.]

Kren gasped as his mind turned over on itself, Aura pressing against its own confines. A stream of knowledge, impressions, and understanding about the spell flooded through him — experience of what it could become, and how he might make it truly his own. This had been King Gamade’s most famous battle spell, the one that made him one of the finest generals to ever serve under the Zar Draconic Emperor. But the insight wasn’t handed down to replace Kren’s own understanding — it was meant to impress upon him the true potential of what he’d been given. And that was when he finally understood, with some measure of clarity, what this kingdom crest actually was.

He couldn’t be certain, but it felt like a vessel. A receptacle holding the knowledge and experience of every past N’kora king. The arts and spells within it hadn’t been gifted by the crest itself — they’d been created by the kings who once held it, then passed down through the bloodline. And at certain thresholds of mastery, a spell or art would offer up its creator’s insight to help the current bearer understand it more deeply.

[10,000 Sovereign Points Have Been Used! Your Cultivation Has Advanced from First Awakening Low Grade to First Awakening Mid Grade! The Cost of Advancing Your Attributes Has Been Reduced.]

The memory of reclaiming the crest, of regaining access to cultivation, was still fresh in Kren’s mind. But nothing compared to what advancing a full grade felt like. Aura surged through his body with a fury, sinking into organ and tissue alike, saturating and reinforcing everything it touched. Whatever raising his attributes had done, advancing his cultivation solidified it — strengthened the foundation and built higher on top of it. Judging by how he felt now, it wasn’t far-fetched to think he could match a First Awakening tribesman at Ascension grade. Maybe even trade blows with something at Aura Awakening.

Kren shook his head. Arrogance would get him killed. This system hadn’t been properly tested yet — the last fight had been Bernice and Aki keeping him alive, not him standing on his own. A real fight, against a real equal, could go very differently. Still, he found himself itching to find out.

Kren let out a contented sigh as the changes finally settled, leaving him feeling new. Fresh. Stronger. He shifted his gaze to his updated status page.

SYSTEM STATUS

Name: Kren N’kora Blackmane

Cultivation: First Awakening — Mid Grade (50,000 SP)

Bloodline: Black Lion — Low Grade (10,000 SP)

Inner Beast: Royal Black Lion

ATTRIBUTES: First Awakening

• Physique: High Grade (2,500 → 500 SP)

• Mind: High Grade (2,500 → 500 SP)

• Aura: High Grade (25,000 → 5,000 SP)

KNOWLEDGE:

• Military Arts: Low Grade (1,000 SP)

• Agricultural Arts: Low Grade (1,000 SP)

• Crafting Arts: Low Grade (1,000 SP)

• Commerce Arts: Low Grade (1,000 SP)

• Medical Arts: Low Grade (1,000 SP)

• Love Making: Low Grade (1,000 SP)

AFFINITIES

• Wind: Mid Grade (50,000 SP)

• Earth: Low Grade (10,000 SP)

• Darkness: Low Grade (10,000 SP)

TECHNIQUES

• Aura Arts: None

• Aura Spells:

1. Summoning: Spirits of the Wind (North, East, South, West) — Mid Grade (50,000 SP)

BLOODLINE TRAITS

• Pride Bond: Dormant

• Feline Sovereignty: Active

SOVEREIGN POINTS: 10,000

Just ten thousand points left. Kren felt reasonably satisfied with that, though he hoped he’d find a way to earn more soon. He decided to hold onto the remainder in case of emergency — his bloodline grade hadn’t changed yet, and improving it would take his entire point total to move even a fraction. He didn’t want to risk needing those points later and finding them already spent.

Still, there was something about watching your own strength laid out plainly in front of you like this. Whatever this system actually was, Kren was starting to understand its appeal. But it was time to test these gains — time to see just how much stronger this spell of his had truly become.

[Summon: Spirit of the East Wind]

A swift gust tore through the forest. Bernice appeared instantly at Kren’s side, eyes already scanning for a threat. The same green corona of wind that had wrapped around his right wrist the first time he’d summoned it pulsed once, then contracted.

It flowed around his hand and settled into a blazing black tattoo threaded with green highlights — a series of concentric spirals that reminded Kren of storm clouds, or of the way wind might look if it ever chose to hold still long enough to be seen. The tattoo pulsed against his skin, once, twice, and the same awareness of the spirit’s presence returned to him — sharper now, far stronger than before.

Bernice shot him a questioning look. Kren ignored her in favor of testing his improved spell.

He raised his hand, pointing two fingers toward the deeper stretch of forest. A crescent blade of wind bloomed around his fingertips, no bigger than a coin, spinning lazily in place. With a thought, it spun faster, then shot forward — a low buzzing hum filling the air as the blade swelled in size the farther it traveled from his hand.

Bernice’s eyes widened as she watched it go, watched it seem to drink in the surrounding air as it flew, using that mass to grow larger with every meter — carving cleanly through every tree unlucky enough to stand in its path. Her narrowed gaze tracked the blade’s full arc, measuring its power, its reach. Then she turned to Kren and set a hand on his shoulder. It took her only a second to register the change in him.

"You’ve advanced," she said. Kren shrugged her hand off.

"Yeah. Having the crest seems to be helping with my cultivation." The lie slid out smoothly. He studied the trail of splintered trees the attack had left behind, then glanced down at the tattoo on his hand as Bernice voiced her assessment.

"That attack traveled well over fifteen meters, with a blast radius of three. That’s powerful enough to give even me pause — not to mention the sheer amount of Aura I can feel radiating off you. You’re carrying nearly as much as a First Awakening High Grade cultivator, if not more. My king... are you some kind of prodigy?"

Kren blinked twice. "Yeah. Let’s just go with that."

"If you can cause this much damage, there’s no reason to wait for nightfall. We’re moving up the timeline — I’ll send word to Aki. We go into the village now and find a boat home." Bernice turned to lead the way, then paused and looked back at him. "It’s about time you got blooded. I do hope you prove as much a prodigy at killing as you have at cultivating, because with what’s coming for us, you’re going to have to kill to survive. Prepare yourself."