The Place Where Everything Begins

[A/N: This will be the only chapter where I info-dump you guys about MC's entire Status Window.]

...

Forty-five hours later...

A young man in his early 20s lay on his back within a dark space situated in an unknown dimension created by the System...

The man wore a black combat suit that appeared to be hardened with a black dried substance.

At this moment, the man, Jeremy, was closing his eyes shut with a serene expression plastered on his face.

It seemed like the process of evolution was truly inhuman that even Jeremy couldn't help but lose consciousness.

Some seconds later, Jeremy's eyelids suddenly moved. Then he finally opened his eyes in a confused manner.

Afterward, Jeremy blinked his eyes two times to think about what had happened to him earlier...

'I survived...?

*Sigh...*

Jeremy sighed in relief and delight and thought further,

'It felt like an eternity...'

'The damned intervals were too much even for me to handle as after the last coldness disappeared, I simultaneously lost consciousness right away...'

'I don't even know before that being alive and well feels this good...'

Shaking his head slightly to discard those unpleasant thoughts away from his head, Jeremy struggled to stand up from the dark floor.

As his body had just undergone the evolution, Jeremy felt like his body was still a bit stiff, so he tried moving every limb of his body left and right.

Not long after, Jeremy's sluggish body started becoming faster and faster as he got used to his 'new' body at a fast rate.

Then...

*Sniff*

While moving and swinging his limbs left and right, Jeremy suddenly smelt something...

*Sniff* *Sniff*

Jeremy sniffed incessantly around him to find the source, subsequently thought to himself,

'What is this hellishly stinky smell? Wait... It comes from my body...?'

Right when Jeremy sniffed his own combat suit, he finally found the source of the smell.

Then Jeremy hurriedly took the combat suit off, intending to take a bath right here and now.

'Hmm? My body seems to be smaller... It even looks more well-toned than before. Are my muscles compressed as a side effect of evolving?'

It appeared that Jeremy realized his body muscles get more compressed or something of the sort as every part of his body looked to be smaller...

'!!!'

"Smaller!?"

Having mumbled the word out in a daze, Jeremy hurriedly pulled down his pants to check his little dragon...

*RRRIP*

It looked like Jeremy's was too hurried as he pulled the pants down with full force, causing it to rip into pieces.

Then...

*Sigh...*

Jeremy sighed in relief and thought to himself after seeing that his little dragon still looked the same as before,

'It's still the same size... I almost got a heart attack, damn it.'

Fortunately, it appeared that the 'compressed muscles' didn't include his 'baby'.

After thinking so, Jeremy brought out a small rectangular wooden object with a green button attached to the center out from his glove.

Then Jeremy placed the thing down on the dark floor and pressed the green button in the middle.

Simultaneously, the small object started expanding in size, changing itself into a public toilet.

Without further delay, Jeremy got inside to clean himself...

...

Twenty minutes later...

Jeremy finally finished his long shower from within the public toilet as he walked out from the inside with another black combat suit...

*Fwuu...*

'So refreshing; I feel like I'm more alive than ever; my every cell is filled with energy...'

Jeremy let out a long breath and thought to himself.

'Alright, it's time to check my new stats...'

'Status Window'

An extended interface promptly showed up before Jeremy,

...

Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

Race: Human (Unknown - Intermediate-Rank Organism)

Class: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of Class 1 Mage)

Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), The Undestined One (Rank 9 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), Unnatural Blender (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

Affinity:

- Fire (Common): 48.5%

- Darkness (Uncommon): 37.6%

- Space (Rare): 92.1%

- Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

Talent: Prodigy of Magic, Information Falser, Serenity of Magic, Sixth Sense

Trait: Objective

Skill:

- Mimic Voice (Mid Basic - Active Skill)

- Stealth (Mid Basic - Active Skill)

- Analyze (High Basic - Active Skill)

- Breathing Control (High Basic - Passive Skill)

- Calm Mind (High Basic - Passive Skill)

- Combo Strike (High Basic - Passive Skill)

- Footwork (High Basic - Passive Skill)

- Balancing Feats (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill)

- Greater Focus (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill)

- Ambidextrous (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill)

- Blurry Hands (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill)

- Inhuman Strength (High Intermediate - Passive Skill)

- Perfect Disguise (High Advance - Active Skill)

- Sixth Sense (High Advance - Passive Skill)

- Third Eye (High Advance - Active Skill)

Achievement:

1. For you, who is the fastest of your own kind to shed a mortal skin and become the first person to tread in a long and arduous path of truth-seeking. The System shall grant you the title of 'First Mage'.

2. For you, who is an unnatural existence of your own kind and has accomplished many unmatched achievements within the Tutorial. The System shall grant you the title of 'The Unnatural Blender'.

3. For you, who was born a Prodigy. For you, who is destined to be standing at the very top of the Universe's food chain. The System shall grant you the title of 'Prodigy Mage'.

4. For you, who overrides every existing record in Ortus history. For you, who has appeared out of nowhere and achieved unprecedented performances by outperforming and overcoming the destined fate of your own kind. The Universe itself shall grant you the title of 'The Undestined One'.

5. For you, who achieves the impossible. For you, who defies the Universe's rules. For you, who had reached the first substage of a Class 1 Mage within a mana-less world. For eternity, this attainment can never be duplicated by anyone; even the Gods feel helpless with its plausibility. It is thus considered an achievement that shall be chronicled at the highest level of Akashic Records forevermore. The Universe itself shall grant you the title of 'Mage of Origin'.

Mission: None

...

Upon seeing his new Status Window, Jeremy felt very surprised,

'My species is now 'Unknown', but it's a relief that I'm still a human as I've not evolved into something strange or grotesque...'

'Then, my affinities... Oh shit! All of them are enhanced!? Even my space elemental affinity has reached 92.1%, a never-before-seen level of affinity in other races except for the elemental race.'

'So, my affinity level has entered the same realm as the pure elemental race, huh...'

'If those gods knew that I could harness both mana and more than 90% of space elemental affinity, they would surely hunt me down at all cost.'

Having thought until this point, Jeremy shook his head slightly before looking further down his Status Window,

'Unexpectedly, I have two new talents, Serenity of Magic and Sixth Sense. So, advancing Heightened Senses to Sixth Sense will gain me an additional talent. Hmm... That's why those brawny guys of close combat pathways want the skill Heightened Senses so much...'

'Let's see...'

'My skills are mostly upgraded at least one rank... It should be due to my evolution because the last time I checked my skills, their ranks were lower than now. Especially the physical-related skills like Fast Hands and Surpassing Strength, they have just jumped one entire grade each. What a surprise...'

'Well, it looks like my physical-related skills now are even better than in my past life... After arriving at Ortus, I should consider seriously about going dual classes...'

'The last part is achievements... One, two, three, four, five... Alright, all five of them are there as expected.'

As Jeremy was going to dismiss the Status Window, he had suddenly thought of something,

'Oh wait, I haven't checked my newly upgraded skills' description yet...'

Having thought so, Jeremy promptly checked all his skills and talents at once...

...

Mimic Voice (Mid Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can adjust your voice as you wish for 7 minutes. (Cooldown 1 hour)

Stealth (Mid Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can lower your perceived presence for 7 minutes. (Cooldown 1 hour) [Caution: When used, the skill generates a slight darkness element upon the user's body.]

Analyze (High Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can see general information of objects and organisms. [Note: You will see more details if the item or organism belongs to you.]

Breathing Control (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost your breathing control by 19%.

Calm Mind (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the control over your mind, leading it to a state of serenity, tranquillity, and peace quicker by 17%.

Combo Strike (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the chances of your physical attacks being connected and linked with one another by 15%.

Footwork (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost your footwork's comprehensive capability and familiarity by 17%.

Balancing Symmetry (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost the control over your bodily movement's balance and counterbalance by 38%.

Greater Focus (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost your focus and concentration of your mind by 34%.

Ambidextrous (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost your hands' synchronization's comprehensive capability and familiarity by 31%.

Blurry Hands (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost your hands' dexterity and deftness by 35%.

Inhuman Strength (High Intermediate - Passive Skill): When you unleash a physical attack, your strike will be heavier and stronger by 38%.

Perfect Disguise (High Advance - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can perfectly copy another organism of your own kind without any drawback and partially transform yourself into another race if the body structure is not too far apart.

Sixth Sense (High Advance - Passive Skill): Boost your five senses by 100%, and you will have an additional talent, Sixth Sense.

Third Eye (High Advance - Active Skill): Upon activating, your eyes will see through the veil of space itself and be able to see into a very faraway distance. [Caution: Beware of the information overload.]

...

Prodigy of Magic (Talent - Passive): You can understand and comprehend magic-related stuff as easily as breathing.

Information Falser (Talent - Active): After being activated, you can project the preset Status Window for others to see. (Number of preset: 1)

Serenity of Magic (Talent - Passive): You can meditate longer and more efficiently by two times.

Sixth Sense (Talent - Passive): You gain an additional sense, the Sense of Perception.