The Over-Break System

“Anyway, let’s take a look at what is happening with your Turning Point quest, EH? Uh, well, this is interesting.” Narrowing her eyes and rapidly pressing on her clipboard, Tobs made a sweeping motion toward Brance, and several notifications were triggered on his HUD.

-Analyzing contents of the Tribulation quest.-

-Analysis complete, during the previous quest, Host Brance Jetlensr entered a Memory Fragment conjured by one of the unclaimed Divinity Fragments stored within his Soul.-

-As such, by completing the quest, Host Brance Jetlensr has achieved complete assimilation of said Divinity Fragment and is recognized to have completed his Second Turning Point Quest.-

-Since this Turning Point quest had been Delayed and was initially meant to occur during the Tier-2 Advancement, it will not stop the Tier-3 Turning Point Quest.-

-Now distributing the rewards from the 2nd Turning Point Quest.-

-You have carried over all the knowledge about your HolyFire Affinity learned from the Memory Fragment of Michael Demiurgos.-

-You have received the Epic Ranked Blueprint for Michael’s Armor, the “Guiding Light Armor”.-

Brance raised his eyebrows as he read through the notifications Tobs had just sent his way, and once he was done, he looked down and processed the flood of information entering his mind.

Although he hadn’t had time to mess around with his HolyFire Affinity when he first entered his SOC, Brance noticed that even though his Affinity had grown more substantial, there was a gap in his memory. He had a vague feeling he was missing something.

But once he read the notification and the data streamed directly into his brain, Brance held up his hand, and a ball of HolyFire appeared instantly. That isn’t all; he soon realized that instead of having to will or coax the Mana Particles into existence, all it took was a simple thought due to his Affinity Evolving into a Manipulation.

To put it into simpler words, previously, when Brance used anything with Mana, it was as if he was asking for permission to borrow the particle’s power, whereas now, he was demanding them to move. This was the true essence behind Mana Manipulation.

However, after manifesting the ball of fire, Brance realized something that scared the shit out of him. He was no longer able to use any skills. When he tried activating a basic Affinity Skill, [Purifying Lance], the only reaction he got was that the ball of HolyFire in his palm flickered for a moment before dying out.

With fear in his eyes, he looked to Tobs for answers, and as if expecting this reaction, Tobs smiled bitterly.

“I know what you want to ask Brance…and there is no easy way to say this, but now that you have become a Tier-3 Existence, there has been a radical change in how Skills are manifested.” Giving Brance a sorrow-filled look, Tobs tapped her clipboard and swiped in his direction, triggering the notifications Brance dreaded would appear.

-Upon entering the Supernatural Stage, the Tutorial Aid, extended to every being, has been disabled.-

-You will no longer have the guiding hand of the System when using Abilities, Skills, or Affinity Skills.-

-It is up to you now to use everything you have learned to exert and trigger the power you have earned.-

The instant he heard Tobs read out the notifications in his mind, Brance stumbled backward as dread and panic washed over him. One of the biggest things Cynrik had adamantly warned about had come to pass.

For years, Cynrik had preached and explained that everyone in MyrkLys needed to learn how to wrangle control over their Mana and Skills from the System. He stated that although it was only a prediction and that he may just be acting overly cautious, everyone should be ready for it to happen at some point.

“All those times I brushed it off or felt the need to change the topic, I should have been listening. Cyn warned me, no, he warned everyone to prepare us, while I just chuckled and chalked it up to his paranoid delusions.” Brance mumbled as he took a seat on the ground before he fell over.

“I should have fucking known better than to doubt that fucking weeb brain of his. But it was because he was only using Anime and Novel logic that I passed it off as a joke.” Looking down at his shaking hands, Brance tried activating every skill he knew, only to receive zero results.

“Brance, I know you are freaking out, but you need to listen to me.” Crouching beside him and gently placing her hand on the top of his head to comfort her freaked-out Host, Tobs knew that what she had to say next would be detrimental if worded incorrectly.

Feeling the warmth from her hand and hearing the gentle tone in Tobs’ voice, Brance looked up at her.

“It is imperative that you understand what I have done for you previously to move past this and regain access to all your skills.” Reaching out and holding Brance’s wrist, she lifted his arm and pointed forward.

“Cynrik has explained it thousands of times to everyone, and you are no exception, but I will fill in the missing gaps.”

“CSH gives all systems the task of guiding and training every being in the Mortal Stage on how to use their abilities.”

“We do this by aiding the being in channeling, directing their Mana down the proper Circuit paths, and running it through the Runic Diagram that makeup skills.”

Brance tried to say something, but before he could, Tobs glared at him as if to say, ‘Let me finish,’ so he shut up and allowed her to continue speaking.

“Souls are both tangible and illusionary simultaneously, and every being born with one starts out like a blank piece of paper. Over time, that blank piece of paper is filled with information, such as your Status, Affinities, or Skills. Basically, it reflects everything that makes you, you.”

“Each time you learn or create a skill, a Runic Diagram is imprinted on your Soul. So, to activate said Skill or Ability, the Mana in your body must trace along this Diagram to generate the proper power necessary to manifest the skill.”

“Think of it like one of those images created from dots. When you connect the lines correctly, a picture is made; it is the same thing with skills. Once you push the Mana Particles correctly, the Runic Diagram is created, and the skill is generated.”

“I can only do what I am about to do one time for you, so how about we make it count, ok?” Smiling at Brance, Tobs removed her hand from his wrist and lightly ran her fingers over his eyelids to close them.

For a second, the world went dark, and even though he was confused, Brance trusted Tobs as much as he did Cynrik, so allowing her to do as she pleased, he soon felt her grip his wrist again with delicate fingers and didn’t offer any resistance.

“You have used every one of your skills thousands of times, you know what it feels like, but up until now, you have always had me do the hard part. Without me aiding you, you should still recognize what your skills look and feel like; all you need is that extra little…push.”

Suddenly Brance felt like he had been hit by a 10-ton truck as his vision exploded into an array of stars; only these stars weren’t celestial bodies, but instead many small intricately woven clusters of runes.

Brance didn’t need to think as his mind instinctively knew that each cluster, which appeared to be getting closer to him, represented each of his skills and abilities.

Feeling a sense of awe as he observed the Runic Diagrams, Brance noticed that some appeared to be glowing less brightly than others, like a low-power light bulb, while others were as bright as the sun.

Since she could read his mind, Tobs smiled faintly and explained what he was seeing.

“The brightness of a Runic Diagram represents how proficient you are in using it. For example, if you look at this one here….”

Suddenly one of the smaller yet brightest of the Diagrams moved ahead of the pack. As it progressed, it generated a tan afterimage, proof that it was one of Brance’s Terra Affinity skills. In fact, every Diagram was color-coded, representing which Affinity it used for activation.

“This is your [Stone Spike]. I don’t have to explain why this little guy is as bright as it is.”

“While the brightness of the Diagram represents proficiency, the size represents Tier, and the consistency of Runes represents how difficult it is to activate the skill. For example, if you look at this Diagram here, which is the one for your [Radient Tower], you can tell just how strong the skill is since it is densely packed with almost a hundred thousand runes.”

“Knowing about the Runic Diagrams is only half the battle, though. Because it takes three things to use a skill, the first is knowing and understanding the Diagram, the second is allocating the proper amount of Mana required for activation, and the final step is following the right channels, which in this case are your Mana Circuits and Veins.”

As if following Tobs’ words, the Diagrams moved out of the way, and a shadow version of Brance’s body appeared floating not far in front of him. This shadow body soon lit up like a Christmas tree with thousands of lines that reminded Brance of the models he had seen in Anatomy class.

However, instead of veins and arteries, the bright blue or green lines represented his Mana Circuits and Mana Veins. Next, without Tobs saying anything, most of the lines lost their brightness and turned grey, leaving only a few colored lines glowing.

“When you envision the Runic Diagram, due to your proficiency with a Skill or Ability, you will instinctively recognize which Veins or Circuits to follow with your Mana. Once you allocate the correct amount of Mana and push it through your body, only then will you be able to use the Skill or Ability you want.”

After saying the last bit, all the images faded away, leaving Brance in a world of darkness, causing him to open his eyes and look over at Tobs, who seemed pale and was panting as if she just ran a marathon.

Worried about her, Brance extended his arm and rubbed small circles on her back, which he usually does to calm Gabby down.

“Thank you, Tobs, it will take a bit of practice, but I should be able to handle it from here.” Giving her a warm smile of gratitude, Brance stood up, extended his right arm, narrowed his eyes, and envisioned everything he had learned.

Half a second later, hundreds of [Stone Spikes] manifested and shot off like rockets toward a mountain in the distance. Upon impact, the ground shook from the force of the multiple attacks, generating hundreds of craters on the surface of the mountain he had targeted.

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