From what Dante could tell, Strikx wasn't just powerful—it was almost dangerous.
The reason? Simple.
Just from completing a handful of seemingly useless missions, he already felt... different.
Faster.
Stronger.
He'd tested it too—throwing a few punches into the air that sliced through the wind like blades. He felt the difference in his bones.
So when Strikx handed him another opportunity to grow stronger, he didn't hesitate. Not for a second.
That morning, excitement danced in his veins like a volcano waiting to be erupt. He couldn't even eat. He just put on his usual black hoodie, slipped into a pair of plain jeans and canvas and locked the door behind him.
He was heading into the city.
---
"Wow…"
The words escaped him involuntarily as he stepped into Aurora. The city shimmered under the morning light like something pulled out of a dream—polished chrome, glowing lights, and towering spires that almost kissed the clouds.
It had changed. A lot.
Back when he still lived in the mansion, sights like these were just part of his everyday scenery. Now? They felt... alien.
Almost Distant.
Streamlined hovercars hummed softly above, weaving through designated airlanes like glowing fish in a current. Streets buzzed with energy—vendors peddling exotic tech, augmented reality ads flickering midair, and pedestrians dressed in modern armor or floating meters above ground.
Their was nothing but MAGICAL.
Yet despite all the marvels, Dante's smile slowly faded.
"Nothing's really changed," he muttered slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly.
His dull grey irises scanned the lively crowd—but he saw it. The subtle stiffness in some shoulders. The deadness behind forced smiles. A man in steel armor begged for attention beside a vendor stand, while a levitating woman strained to grab supplies far above, ignored by everyone below.
In this world, power meant everything.
You either had it—or you didn't.
The demarcation was just as simple.
The strong devoured the weak and the weak just waited to be devoured. That was the rule. And people like him… people labeled Incomplete? They were beneath notice.
There were only two types of people here:
Those who burnt, and the ones who got burned.
But that was the old Dante.
Yesterday's event had changed everything.
And now? With Strikx pulsing silently inside him, whispering promises of strength, Dante refused to be weak again.
He was going to prove everyone wrong.
---
He finally arrived at the grand building towering above the rest of Aurora—the City Library, aptly named Aurora as well.
It's size dwarfed the rest of the skyscrapers that surrounded it's vicinity.
Overall, it was stunning.
The entire structure was shaped like a massive open book, its "pages" curved upward to form the building's arch. At its heart glowed a rotating hologram of the city's emblem—three stars bound by a single ring.
"Now that's a design statement," Dante muttered.
The inside was even more breathtaking. Cool air greeted him. A soft golden glow lit the marble halls. People moved quietly, sliding into translucent pods shaped like cocoons. Dante noticed something odd: each pod was soundproof. He watched a woman yelling inside one—yet heard nothing.
He approached the receptionist, handed in his pass which had gotten on his way in and received a thin, glowing card in return.
A pod number was etched at the bottom.
---
His designated pod was nestled along the far wall.
"Looks small from the outside," he said, stepping inside—only to stop cold. "Whoa…"
Inside, the pod was massive. Three sleek chairs formed a circle around a floating, rectangular cube emitting a soft hum.
He sat down. Curious, he pressed his palm against the cube.
It flared to life.
> Neural link established.
Access to unrestricted library data granted.
Welcome, User.<
Dante blinked.
"Alright, this is actually insane."
Even Strikx chimed in, sounding—dare he say—impressed.
> [I must commend your people. This technology is high-tier.]
Dante scoffed. "Probably scavenged from that shipwreck years ago."
Still, he was here for one reason—to dig up anything on the system.
So he started.
He searched everything. The scrapyard. The sphere. Advanced AI. Alien tech. Dimensional relics. Nothing. Every article felt like filler—useless data with no real leads. His brows furrowed deeper with each passing hour.
At a point he even started reading about beast and the ship that had appeared with their coming.
Six hours in, his fingers ached. His head throbbed.
And suddenly a notification came in—
> [There is no record of Strikx in this library.]
"What?!" Dante's voice cracked in confusion. "What do you mean?!"
> [Within the first ten minutes, I hacked into the central server and scanned every bit database in this library...
The unrestricted section was a bit of a handful but it wasn't impossible]
> [There is nothing. Not a name. Not a trace.]
Dante's shoulders slumped. Six hours—wasted. He wanted to punch the glowing cube in front of him. Instead, he just screamed into the soundproof void.
"Seriously?! Why even send me here?! You're not even from this damn world!"
> [Host's heart rate is elevated. Advised: breathe.]
Dante growled, his body was almost seething in anger.
"This quest was impossible from the start—how the hell are humans supposed to keep tabs on something that fell from another galaxy?" Dante groaned "What were you even doing in the scrap land in the first place?"
He slumped into the chair, completely defeated.
> [BONUS MISSION COMPLETE]
You have leveled up.
Stat Points Awarded: 5.
New Skill Unlocked: Soundproo
Soundproof: Your voice can be selectively heard by a single target.
Cooldown: None.
Neva Cost: 2 per minute]
"…Wait. What?"
Before he could process, more messages flooded in.
> [Appraisal leveled up] X3
Appraisal can now identify all objects and beings up to one level above Host.
Cooldown: None.
Neva Cost: None]
Dante gawked at the notifications. He read them. Re-read them. Then, slowly, a grin crawled across his face.
"I… just leveled up from doing nothing?" " well not literally nothing!"
He tested [Appraisal] on the cube.
> [Name: Neural Connector
Class: A.
Efficiency: 80%]
He spun to the transparent wall of the pod and aimed the skill again.
> [Name: Diving Pod
Class: A.
Efficiency: 82%]
His eyes gleamed. Now for the real test. He remembered that the system had told him that he was unable appraise living matter.
He squinted at the nearest occupied pod.
> [Name: Maria Velvet]
[Type: C
[Ability: Telekinesis]
[A/N: The system refers to the 'code' as Type]
"Gotcha."
His grin widened.
Strikx wasn't just powerful—it was rewriting the rules.
To process an entire planetary library in under ten minutes? That wasn't magic.
That was something beyond what this world understood.
He glanced at his new skill, Soundproof, and snorted. "Kinda lame…"
Still, a win was a win.
He had new stat points. Upgraded appraisal. A useful location now mapped in his mind.
And the system had proven, once again, that it wasn't here to play fair.
He decided to allocate his stats points later in the night when he got back to his bunker, as for the [soundproof], he was going to wait until later before he found exactly what he was capable of.
"Time to go home," he said, pushing open the pod's door.
But this time, he walked out of the library a little taller—eyes sharp, heart steady.
For the first time in a long while, Dante wasn't just surviving.
He was ascending.