Frank had grown accustomed to his new life as a trusted official of Orn. He wasn't merely "Orn's servant"—far from it. His promotion had elevated him to the rank of an official under the High Class Soul Being known as Orn. His occupation glowed proudly in azure letters across his system window: Orn's Official.
Though his system hadn't undergone any dramatic changes, Frank still checked it regularly. In this new post he obtained, he was respected, not subjugated, and that distinction mattered. So with a calm breath, he spoke the word: "Status."
The familiar window shimmered into view:
[Status
Name: Franklin
Level: 2
Life: 90/100 ▼
Class: Half Soul Being
Attribute: Curse of Idleness
Skills: Average Gamer (B), Breathing (C), Hesitation (S), Idleness (SS), Drift (C), Meditation (E), Mining (F+)...
Occupation: Orn's Official]
Fifteen days had passed since his arrival, and in that time he had learned a new skill while also adapting to the rhythms of this strange world. Preparing for another day of work, he commanded the system to expand the skill description:
[Skill Description: Mining (F+) Lv 5 (Passive skill)
- Basic knowledge of certain minerals and metals in this world.
- Complete knowledge of all metals within Orn's mine.
Skill Consumption: -
Skill Cooldown: -]
At rank (F), the skill had granted him knowledge of Orn's mine alone. Now, at (F+), it extended to some of Darkovia's minerals and metals. The system seemed to hint that discovering new ores would raise the skill's rank further. Yet Frank noticed something peculiar: despite being passive, the skill carried placeholders for consumption and cooldown. He suspected that if Mining advanced far enough, it might demand resources or abilities to activate—a rarity among passive skills.
This uniqueness didn't impress him much. Mining hardly felt like a "special" path, and he preferred to keep the skill modestly ranked. Too high, and he risked earning a title like Miner, which he dreaded; too low, and he'd miss out on the skill benefits. For now, (F+) was a comfortable balance.
With a relaxed expression, Frank dismissed the Mining window and turned his attention to another skill that had recently shifted: Drift (C).
[Status
Skill Description: Drift(C)Lv 1 (Active skill)
You have a aura of death around you.
The land rejects you.
Natural forces are weary of you and consider you a plague.
You have a general idea of what drifting really means.
Benefits: You have mastery over controlling your body using your mind when this skill is activated.
Skill Duration: 15 minutes
Skill Consumption: A large amount of natural energy or there is a slight chance it can be activated if you are in a peak meditative state.
Skill Cooldown: 1 minute]
The active skill Drift had been a dilemma for Frank since the day he first laid eyes on it. He often wondered what the skill truly meant and how drifting worked. At times, he reflected on the theory of a car drifting around a bend—on how the driver gently controlled the chaos of a high speed car heading towards a long bend. He noticed that when a driver stepped on the break softly on regular intervals while controlling the steering to move the car gently along the bend and managing the pent up acceleration stored up, it was in effect a surrender to momentum rather than following the rules or pattern of a straight road that meant you had to choose whether you wanted to move forward or backward and whether it was left or right you moved.
However it was also unlike skidding, which was in essence what happened if a driver made a mistake and lost of control of the car and was proceeding to another direction, drifting was deliberate, a calculated dance with the road's will.
Yet Frank's skill was neither purely drifting nor skidding. It was a strange fusion of both—control intertwined with disorder, mastery balanced against surrender. It embodied paradox: chaos sharpened by intent. Unsure of how best to wield it, Frank resolved to seek guidance from those who had mastered the art, hoping to glean wisdom, techniques, and hidden truths that might unlock the full potential of Drift.
Finding a trusted confidant to teach him the concept of Drifting proved far more difficult than Frank had imagined. Though he was close friends with Orn, asking Orn such a question was far from ideal perhaps because, such a question was probably labelled as an "unmodest request" and even if Orn were willing, Frank doubted whether it was something one could simply ask—like asking someone to explain "how to walk." That idea was quickly abandoned.
Beyond Orn, there was no one else Frank could turn to. Though he was now an official, he lacked strong bonds with the other officials or soul beings. Soul beings rarely encouraged friendship; their nature was solitary, unlike humans who thrived on constant chatter and companionship. This left Frank isolated, with few he could trust.
Even Orn himself was not a safe option. Though Orn served as his medical examiner, he seemed more invested in researching Frank as a "new species" than in solving his problems. Frank feared that mentioning Drift would only spark Orn's curiosity further, perhaps leading him to abandon Frank entirely in pursuit of his theories. With a heavy heart, Frank realized he had only one person left to rely on—himself.
So he immersed himself in study. He reflected on everything he had gleaned about drifting, conducted countless failed experiments, and built and discarded theories until at last he shaped a working hypothesis. Over fifteen days, he discovered that drifting triggered in a trance state induced by meditation was fundamentally different from ordinary drifting. Though he failed to replicate meditation‑based drifting consistently, he managed to drift through other conditions.
The difference was striking. The first time he unlocked drifting through meditation—while escaping Sebastian—he found himself teleporting short distances, using a fragment of his meditative trance, rather than hovering above the ground like other soul beings. The reason remained a mystery, but the insight was invaluable. It revealed that drifting did not require interaction with the ground or reliance on friction. Instead, it seemed to draw upon and manipulate unseen natural forces.
From this, Frank forged his theory: to drift was not to move upon the earth, but to bend and command the forces that surrounded it. All that remained was to test this theory—and master it.