SYSTEM INTEGRATION SELECTION- COMMON (1):

  OPTION 1: EMPOWERED STRIKE (ACTIVE)- UTILIZE THE INTERNAL POWER OF THE BODY TO INCREASE THE POWER OF YOUR NEXT ATTACK; COST: VARIABLE SP/STRIKE - ADDITIONAL SP LEADS TO ADDITIONAL POWER

  OPTION 2: TAUNT (ACTIVE)- MOST WANT TO AVOID THE ATTENTION OF THE ENEMY, BUT YOU DEMAND IT; CONCENTRATE THE ANGER AND ATTENTION OF A SINGLE TARGET ON YOU COST: 30 SP/USE

  OPTION 3: MAGIC MISSILE (ACTIVE)- USE A CONDENSED BALL OF LOW-LEVEL MANA TO FORM A PROJECTILE; REFLECTS THE AFFINITY OF THE USER; COST: 25 MP/USE

  NOTE: ABILITY TO MANIPULATE MANA REQUIRED FOR USE

  OPTION 4: IDENTIFY (ACTIVE)- VIEW YOUR TARGET AND SEE THE TRUTH; REVEAL THE NAME, RACE, LEVEL, AND BASIC DESCRIPTION OF TARGET ENTITY OR OBJECT; TARGETS HAVE A CHANCE OF NOTICING THEY’VE BEEN TARGETTED; COST 15 MP/USE

  Right away, Atlas could tell that this choice would be harder than the first. Each skill looked incredibly tempting, though having to consider the mana and stamina usage of each made it much harder to pick one. He did eliminate Identify right away for the same reason he’d eliminated View. His gut told him there would be another chance, and he should take the opportunities available to him that wouldn’t be seen again or something he could replicate himself.

  With that in mind, he threw out Magic Missile as well. It only confirmed his belief that he could learn mana manipulation on his own, and Atlas was willing to bet that he could make more than just magic missiles if he could figure it out. Unfortunately, that still left him having to choose between Taunt and Identify. Given the choice, he did the most logical thing he could think of.

  He listened to his gut and chose Taunt. He couldn’t explain why, but a feeling deep down, an instinctual rumble deeper than his heart and mind, told him Taunt would be extremely useful to him going forward. As he selected it, he felt a shiver run up his spine, and the skill clicked into place somewhere inside, finding resonance with… something. The feeling passed as fast as it came, but Atlas knew he made the right choice.

  He turned his attention to the rare options interested to see what could be so different between skills separated by two whole grades. His eyes widened as he realized just how big that difference could be.

  SYSTEM INTEGRATION SELECTION- RARE (1):

  OPTION 1: RULER’S DIGNITY (ACTIVE)- A TRUE RULER DOES NOT NEED TO ASK THEIR SUBJECTS TO KNEEL, THEIR MERE PRESENCE FORCES THEM TO DO SO NATURALLY, AND THEIR ENEMIES CANNOT EVEN MUSTER THE STRENGTH TO DO THAT MUCH, INSTEAD FALLING PROSTRATE BEFORE A GOD SUCH AS THEM. AT THE SAME TIME, THEIR RAW CHARISMA BOOSTS THE MORALE OF THEIR TROOPS, DRIVING THEM FORWARD TO BATTLE WITHOUT FEAR; NOTICED BY GODS, YOU TAKE THE FIRST STEP, AND YOUR AURA HAS TAKEN ON HEAVENLY INFLUENCE; ALL ALLIES HAVE A CHANCE TO GAIN THE “MORALE BOOST” BUFF WHILE WITHIN YOUR AURA; ALL ENEMIES HAVE A CHANCE TO GAIN THE “STYMIED TREASON” DEBUFF WHILE WITHIN YOUR AURA; EFFECT AND CHANCE SCALES OFF OF INTELLIGENCE; COST: 50 MP/SEC

  OPTION 2: HEALING DEFIANCE (PASSIVE)- BEING DEFIANT INEVITABLY LEADS TO PUNISHMENT, AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO INVITE SUCH PUNISHMENT, IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO RECOVER TO LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES… OR MAKE THEM ALL OVER AGAIN; YOU REJECTED THE CORRUPTING POWER OF THE TAINTED WITH IMPRESSIVE DEFIANCE, AND YOU EVEN REJECTED A GODDESS’S OFFER OF POWER. SOMEHOW, YOU SURVIVED BOTH AND NOW YOU WILL RECOVER FAR FASTER FROM WOUNDS DURING SUCH FOOLISH ACTIONS; FIGHTING ENEMIES OF HIGHER LEVEL WILL INCREASE REGENERATION RATE; EFFECT SCALES ON WILLPOWER; MAX LEVEL SCALING- 50 LEVELS ABOVE

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Atlas barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping to the ground at the skills. First of all, the names! Ruler’s Dignity and Healing Defiance sounded so much cooler than Magic Missile and Weapons Mastery. Even the effects held incredible potential. The only downside that Atlas could see with the two rare skills was the ambiguous nature of the chances mentioned in Ruler’s Dignity and the increase in regeneration rate in Healing Defiance. The skills also pointed out a need to build a skillset around certain stats.

  Even with the unknowns, Atlas had to force himself to wait before selecting Ruler’s Dignity for the buffs and debuffs alone when he remembered the strange aura that had appeared around his body three times now, two of which had been in the last twenty-four hours. Each time, the aura had affected the world and people around him in ways he still didn’t fully understand, almost killing Jason when his powers first awakened. If he could learn to control that power, would Ruler’s Dignity possibly work against that or prevent him from learning how to do it at all?

  When he looked back at the two skills again, Atlas realized he hadn’t noticed the main difference between the two with him at that moment. Ruler’s Dignity scaled off of his intelligence stat while Healing Defiance scaled off of Willpower, which had a ten percent increase, meaning the latter would grow stronger far faster if he made sure to add a few stats to it. It also read as Ruler’s Dignity worked best against enemies that were at a lower level while Healing Defiance would benefit against stronger opponents, where Atlas had more interest and needed more assistance. At least, that’s how Atlas’s gut told him it would work, so he selected Healing Defiance and watched as its counterpart grayed out on the list.

  Seeing as there were no higher-level enemies around him, nothing happened, and Atlas moved on to the final non-specialty skill selection: epic grade. He scrolled down on the notification to begin reading the options, only to stop and stare at the first, and only, option.

  SYSTEM INTEGRATION SELECTION- EPIC (1):

  OPTION 1: ANALYZE AND ASSESS (ACTIVE)- AN IDENTIFYING SKILL, A BASIC TOOLS OF ANY MULTIVERSAL CITIZEN, AND AN OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR ANY NEWLY INTEGRATED WORLD VANGUARD WHO ISN’T A FOOL; REVEALS THE (DESCRIPTION LOCKED; MUST BE IDENTIFIED TO BE UNLOCKED; COST: (DESCRIPTION LOCKED)

  Atlas couldn’t suppress the chuckle the singular option caused. It seemed the System was now forcing him to choose an Identifying skill, tired of him passing them by. He somehow didn’t feel any surprise at the outcome, with the System having pushed Identifying skills in the first two selections, though the sass in the description raised more than a few questions. It wasn’t wrong in any way, so rather than waste any more time, he selected the skill.

  THE EYES THAT SEE BEYOND THE THREADS TAKES EFFECT: (EPIC) ANALYZE AND ASSESS EVOLVES TO (LEGENDARY) SEEING BEYOND THE TRUTH

  (LEGENDARY) SEEING BEYOND THE TRUTH (ACTIVE) - THE BEYOND IS A REALM OF BURIED TRUTHS, REVEALED FALSEHOODS, AND FORGOTTEN PASTS. THE THREADS OF KARMIC CONNECTION LEAD THE PATH TO SUCH STRANGE REALMS AND REVELATIONS. YOU HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO CONNECT WITH BOTH AND SURVIVE, AND IT HAS LEFT YOU CHANGED. GO FORTH AND CONSUME KNOWLEDGE NO LONGER HIDDEN FROM YOU; TARGETS HAVE THEIR NAME, LEVEL (IF SENTIENT), GRADE(IF ITEM), AND DESCRIPTION REVEALED; PIERCES ALL IDENTITY-ALTERING MAGIC, SKILLS, AND ITEMS; HAS A CHANCE TO REVEAL HIDDEN SECRETS, STRENGTHS, AND WEAKNESSES OF TARGET; EFFECTS AND CHANCE SCALES WITH WILLPOWER AND LEVEL OF TARGET; COST: 50 MP/SEC

  Atlas seriously considered jumping in the air with joy at the skill he’d just received. It told him just about everything that a skill could with him being at level one. Not only that, but it was another skill that scaled with his willpower, just like Healing Defiance. However, the best part about the skill was that it could reveal the secrets of whatever he scanned, and for Atlas, who had always found secrets far more annoying than the rest of his peers, that was perfect. That he could potentially see the weaknesses of whomever he scanned was just the cherry on top. His ability had already more than made it worth the choice, and Atlas couldn’t wait to see what he could do with the skill in the future.