Ul'Tra-el was a world that operated a little differently when it came to the laws that governed universes.
It came to the notice of the gods that this particular world had spiraled out of control, and a seed of destruction had been planted, linking it with dimensions beyond their reach, with beings that could even rival their power.
The universal gods then decided to cast the gateway aside, sending it to the lowest level of the reincarnation pathway. No soul should have been able to access it.
Northern didn't know it yet, but the most dreadful thing that could have ever happened to him was being born in this world. However, the most amazing thing was also that he received something from that god before the old lady goddess interrupted.
Talent awakening was the unique sequence of Ul'Tra-el, it wasn't like that in other worlds. Another thing that other worlds did not have was the voice of the world.
Ever since the beginning, Ul'Tra-el had always had a voice, unlike other worlds. Most worlds believed it to be the first world, it was quite untouchable to them.
It had been a beautiful place to live in until a seed of destruction was sown. This seed caused an anomaly in the space sequence of Ul'Tra-el, as other dimensions started leaking into it, pouring out monstrosities that even the gods feared.
Every being unfortunate enough to find themselves in this world was always blessed with a talent at a certain age, there were early bloomers, and also late bloomers.
There were several categories of triggers for talent awakening. Sometimes it could be a trauma, other times a new death experience, usually, it was when one officially became fifteen.
And in rare cases, it could happen as a result of a magnifying encounter with knowledge.
But those were extremely rare cases.
The beast soared through the air towards Northern, its wicked claws outstretched. Then with a thunder-like sound, another Shin appeared overhead, his sword lancing out in a vicious thrust.
Steel pierced the creature's hide and ripped free in a spray of violet blood. The beast staggered with a strangled roar, its foul blood forming a puddle on the ground
Shin arrived in front of it, flanked by his two clones. Their blades, glistening wetly in the dappled light, leveled unwaveringly at their wounded foe.
The beast's baleful eyes were wide, its tentacles writhing more warily now.
It was cornered, surrounded on three sides by Shin's unrelenting copies.
Those glinting swords formed a razor-sharp perimeter, promising swift death should the creature try to force through.
Still, cunningness glimmered in the beast's gaze as it watched Northern struggle to rise. The boy was vulnerable, oblivious to the danger around him as he sought to understand what was happening inside him.
Shin tracked the monster's focus, his stance coiling even tighter. "You're done here," he stated, no trace of his usual humor in the deadly tone.
The clones echoed his movements, weapons poised to mete out lethal punishment should the beast attempt to close in on Northern again.
Their swords wove patterns in the air, an intricate, threatening language that allowed no doubt of Shin's words. The beast wavered, then gathered itself with rippling muscles.
Shin's expression went flat, cold purpose emanating from those hardened features. "You are getting nowhere near my son!"
With an eerie synchrony, he and his duplicates exploded forward. Their blades carved ruthless lines, aiming to sever limbs and open arteries. The beast whipped its tentacles wildly, fending off strikes from all angles.
The young boy was still vulnerable, he didn't even know what was going on. He was overwhelmed by his problems. The flood of pain had washed away, leaving him with the aftermath— sore muscles.
He just wanted to stay in his current position and rest the day away. But it wasn't like he could.
He had failed to manifest a talent.
This was something he had looked forward to and it wasn't going to work out? What would happen to his dream of becoming a drifter?
His soul core wasn't forming...
But there was something else awakening inside of him.
'What is happening to me?' he wondered.
After his father had mentioned him awakening a high-rank talent, he had honestly thought about it too and considered that it wouldn't be bad. But all that was happening now was an anomaly he didn't even know how to deal with.
He couldn't form a soul core and simply put, he was talentless... but there was something else inside of him... The awakening of an ability...
What was he to make of this... amidst all of his musings, Northern felt so much fury welling up inside him.
Damn. He had to get up!!
Northern's head screamed at him. He was caught in a cruel contrast between what he should do and the horror that enslaved his mind at that moment.
Seeing his father desperately battling to protect him, Northern felt something stir deep within. He could no longer remain a vulnerable child lying vulnerable as Shin shed blood in his defense. Placing his palms on the ground, he hauled himself upright with newfound determination.
The beast seized an opening as one of Shin's clones slowed a fraction. Crashing its thick tail into his chest and sending Shin flying backward as he spat out blood.
Even as his other clone plunged his sword deep into its haunch, the creature's thick tentacles whipped out, catching and wriggling the other Shin around until it withered to dust.
The remaining clone desperately tried to avoid the frenzied assault, but soon fell beneath ruthless claws, shredded to wisps.
The original Shin struggled to rise, but the creature had already fixed its rapacious gaze upon Northern.
Gathering itself, muscles bunching, it sailed through the air toward its new prey.
Time seemed to slow, the beast descending as Shin poured his fading strength into a last-ditch sprint.
But deep down, he knew that it wasn't enough. Then an idea popped into his mind. Shin clenched the blade tightly and shouted:
"NORTHERN!!!"
The steel flashed as Shin hurled his sword with the last of his might.
Somehow Northern's hands closed around the hurtling hilt.
He braced himself as the creature fell upon him, and buried the sword deep into the soft muscle.
The force of the impact drove the blade through, completely impaling it as it landed awkwardly.
Blood sprayed the ground as Northern retreated warily. Shin placed himself once more between his son and the creature, though it finally seemed at death's door.
Yet, it continued to cling to life, eyes burning with feral defiance. The standoff stretched taut, seconds crawling by, until finally, slowly, the light in its gaze dimmed. With a shudder, the beast toppled sideways, and the battle was won.
Shin stood numb, stunned before crashing relief swept in. They had survived!
This was nothing short of a miracle!
He turned with a joyful expression, only to see Northern frozen. An unbelievable grin formed on his son's face as he scanned the amount of things that popped up before his eyes.
{System Notice}
{You have slain a calamity beast: Black Rogue}
{Your soul has absorbed the talent of the beast}
{You have gained +6 talent fragments}
Due to awakening, all [Nexus Blessings] will be converted to talent fragment
[Converting…]
[You have gained +944 talent fragments]
[Talent fragments: 950/1000]
[Talent fragments can be used to copy talent]
[Do you want to copy talent? Advanced Cloning(A-class)?]
Northern didn't even know if that was a question. Copy talents?
His head went blank for a second. He didn't know what was going on, but he was just going to do it anyway.
Besides, he was experiencing an even more overwhelming feeling.
With his own two hands, he had killed a monster! Of course, his father did most of the work, but the system counted it as his kill and said something about his soul absorbing the talent of the beast.
What exactly was that?
'I didn't think that beats could have talents too…'
Basically, in Ul'Tra-el, everything that had a soul, had a soul core and everything that had a soul core had a talent.
But the composition of human and monster talents were vastly different and the opposite of each other. It should be impossible for talent to be absorbed from a monster... only their soul essence could be absorbed and that was strictly only possible in a rift.
Killing monsters outside a rift was just like killing an animal. They were beings that had left the structure of their world and become a part of Ul'Tra-el.
Of course, their soul cores could be harvested and manually absorbed using different cultivation methods.
However, the system could not be wrong. It said his soul had absorbed the beast's talent. This gave way to another explanation.
The talents could have been broken down into talent fragments. Which could then be used to copy actual talents. Just like he was about to do right now.
Northern had completely forgotten the bitter feeling in his mouth after he discovered a few seconds ago that he was talentless.
He tried to think about what could have brought this change… 'that handsome man after my death probably had something to do with it... could he be the one that was referred to as Nexus?'
Northern didn't feel too good thinking that he might be playing into someone else's plan, but he would tackle these things one at a time.
First, he had to do this.
'Yes.'
He passed a mental command, accepting the option of copying the talent.
{System Notice}
{You have used 300 talent fragments}
Northern's mouth fell.
'So expensive…?'
He had already been making plans for all his talent fragments. First, he had to go and copy his mother's healing magic and then he wanted to strategically copy other talents that would give him enough strength to fight another beast.
If killing them was the only way to get talent fragments, he figured he'd be doing that a lot to become the world's strongest.
{System Notice}
{You have copied talent [Advanced Cloning (A-class)]}
Northern saw the panel and a wide grin parted his lips.
"Northern, are you okay…"
His father's breathing was rugged and the poor man looked a mess. He was sweating, with blood on his lower lip and jaw. His shirt was torn savagely with crude claw marks plastered to his skin, dripping crimson.
Just when Shin asked Northern, he saw something that made his entire pain disappear for a second, his eyes widening in shock.
"Northern…" His voice shook, he wasn't sure what exactly to say.
Northern smiled as he turned to himself. This was not a mirror image, it was a physical him that he could see and touch.
Snow white hair, blue eyes, pale and smooth skin… flawless in appearance. He looked like he had been supernaturally molded with the celestial sea, as something about his eyes reflected the endless serenity of the sea… and at the same time a strange and unreadable spark.
Northern looked proudly at his clone. This was the first talent he had copied, and he already had so much plan for it.
"Oh bless Eldech! …Northern! …You!"
Shin was appalled, so many thoughts ran through his head, but confusion shone on his face.
"You awakened?!! You awakened! My boy North has… cuh… cuh" He coughed out more blood.
Northern ran towards him, his clone turning to dust.
"Father… you should rest and I'll tend to your wounds."
Shin looked at his son as the young boy lowered him to the ground.
"Look at you acting all mature… Do you even know what herbs to pick?"
"Carum Opulifolius which has a light orange shape, I can find them beside waters; Chionanthus, the blood leave plant to stop your bleeding; while I crush some Carum Opulifolius, and if I can find some lemon tooth they will both be good as first aid, but since lemon tooth is a very rare plant, Carum Opulifolius is enough."
A smug expression showed on his face as he said this.
"Why am I even asking, you remember it all anyways…" Shin murmured inaudibly.
He looked at Northern and smiled.
"You awakened your talent… I'm so glad North. now all that's left is the call..." His face went dim.
Northern shook his head indifferently.
"Don't get your hopes up."
The man scoffed and looked at the dead monster.
"Don't forget to remove all its cores. I'm guessing three…"
Northern looked at the beast, aloof for a second or two.
'A three-core beast?'
Monsters both inside and outside the rifts had more than just one soul cores and were ranked according to the number of soul cores they had:
Fiend
Savage
Beast
Hellion
Maelstrom
Destroyer
Behemoth
Belial
Leviathan
Titan
Infernal
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Of course, soul cores were not the only determinant of a monster's might, there was also their classification based on their danger level.
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Hazard
Disaster
Calamity
Catastrophe
Devil
Abysmal
Apex
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"Hazard" represented a relatively minor monster that posed a limited danger. While "disaster" was a more dangerous monster but still natural to the habitat.
"Calamity" was a monster that brought grave misfortune, often terrorizing entire villages. "Catastrophe" and "devil" suggest unimaginably chaotic monsters capable of massive destruction.
"Abysmal" indicated a creature so horrifically evil its mere presence induced despair. And "apex" signified the ultimate monster— the peak predator against which no other could stand.
These danger levels were flexible and not stereotypic. It was not impossible for a fiend to become an apex-level monster, this was what made these creatures really unpredictable.
Northern and his father had fought and killed a calamity beast, this level of monster was enough to reign Chaoinon villages. Hundreds of soldiers would die trying to subdue the monster.
And they had just survived an encounter against something like that.
"Wow…" He whispered inaudibly and turned away.
He looked at his resting father again before heading towards the direction of the herbs.
They had really survived an impossible monstrosity. This was the beginning of Northern's life.
He was super excited as something had awakened inside of him. He didn't know what it was, but there was so much spark.