"Fuck," Dean exclaimed as he washed his eyes in panic as if he'd fallen face first into muddy waters and had dirt stuck in his eyes now.
He definitely couldn't unsee what he'd seen, but at least maybe the water could wash away the underlying disgust.
"No hermit's eyes indoors," he gave himself a mental note as he lifted his head from the sink.
Turning off the tap, he picked a dry cloth from a nearby rack and cleansed his face.
Coincidentally, he looked directly at the mirror just above the sink. His dark eyes now had a small violet glint but when he looked even closer, he noticed the scars on his lips and jawline. Byproduct of being a trouble maker.
He sighed before reaching for the knob of the door.
Opening the door to the bathroom slowly, he stuck his head out first, then looked from left to right at the speed of light.
Seeing there was no one there. He sighed in deep relief and moved out towards his room with slow, gentle, and deliberate steps.
Merely a few meters from the bathroom, he noticed a presence behind him. His expression darkened.
'Anyone but Yuki,' he prayed in his heart.
Nessa had stopped at the entrance to the toilet. She just stood there, rubbing her eyes softly as if she were making sure what she was seeing was real.
"Big bro….are you okay?"
Forced to halt suddenly, Dean turned to face Nessa. Composing himself.
"Why are you awake at this time?" he asked in a calm voice. Ignoring her question.
Nessa opened the door to the toilet as she entered while replying.
"I have to pee,"
"Ohh.. he responded, "Okay," while he proceeded to his room after ensuring she had finished peeing.
"Goodnight, Nessa."
"Goo—nigh," Nessa managed between yawns.
<><><>
Dean was back in his room, but this time, he faced opposite the direction he was staring at earlier.
'System,' he called again with a thought, as a set of blue translucent screens appeared again.
He was getting acquainted with most of the abilities that the System provided and hoped to at least understand the theoretical applications before he gets a chance at practical utilization if he stuck to his decision to attend the re-evaluation.
He skimmed through Hermit's eyes again and couldn't help but shiver slightly as the echoes of Yuki's body ran through his mind again.
"Damn," he cursed his insistent mind when he saw the best perk he never knew he needed.
"What do we have here?" he asked with an actual interest in his voice.
The screen immediately expanded to fully detail the perk as if the system could tell he wanted to know more.
[Perk Active—Sage Circuit]
[Description: Sage circuit is the epitome of perfect internal energy mastery for a summoner]
[Active effects: Your Verge Essence consumption during battle is nearly zero.]
[Active effects: You gain resistance to corruption or intrusion of foreign verge into your body.]
[Passive effects: Your body attains an innate regulation that enhances your resistance to poison, curses, and the toll of environmental verge pressure.]
Dean read through with understanding. This perk wasn't fancy like hermit's eyes.
It didn't grant more powers but incredible efficiency in using the tiny verge reserves he had as an Aspirant Tier 3.
As a fighter, he knew the subtle difference energy and stamina retention played in order to win in any battle situation.
This was the cheat code. The ability to control Verge. The very source of energy that governs this world, so precisely that it would feel like he wasn't using any at all.
Dean sat with eyes still wide open, fantasizing about what he could barely understand, but that was exactly what pulled him.
He could easily grab the concept of verge essence or simply just verge because it was something as important as oxygen in this world.
In a world where familiars were involved in day-to-day activities. Knowledge of verge was the first thing taught in schools, even from a tender age.
After exploring a few more things on the system, Dean could feel his eyes shutting off slowly.
It was time to rest after a long day. He lay down face first on his pillow, and before he knew it, sleep took him to the world of dreams where the mist extended its roots.
<><><>
The two days before the re-evaluation ran past like thieves sprinting in the dark of night.
On the first day after the letter, Dean said he needed time to train. Ying allowed him to have it, so he avoided all house chores, much to Yuki's annoyance.
Dean spent the first day experimenting with the slime and his other common class familiars. When he got to utilizing the common class familiars, he realized they weren't all that bad. Their skills were poor, but they were for strategy and not raw power.
The slime, on the other hand, literally made it a mission not to act like every other familiar. It didn't speak, but it was unusually perceptive to whatever Dean was doing as if it was copying him too.
It also manages to stretch unusually large. The skill Free form: Morph as Dean named it, was a situation of getting exactly what you ordered and not needing refunds.
Dean also tried some physical "activities" on the slime. He stabbed it once with a kitchen knife. Much to his surprise, the knife sank into the slime and disappeared.
It was only about an hour later, it returned the knife back to reality but instead of destroying it or damaging it.
The blade gave a faint hum, as though its edges had become sharper and it felt weightless, as if someone had reforged it into the perfect shape.
By day two, Dean had learned a few critical things about the system and his slime familiar. Which were his focus.
He also learned that he could use channelling on his other common class familiars but not on the slime.
For better understanding, he couldn't use channelling to take one of the slime's innate skills or perks. Just what it copies or evolves.
This caused him to re-strategize his approach of using the slime in battle after all its trigger of copy wasn't that straightforward.
But in the end, the slime was still the best thing in his arsenal other than his own fighting prowess, which aligned very well with this body.
Although the system said he couldn't do anything about it at the moment, he still felt pained as he couldn't channel the slime's perk to enlarge and reduce its size without any visible limit.
This one thing would have been his way to actively hide from Yuki and her problems. She'd been watching him like a hawk since he'd dodged house chores.
The system also rewarded him generously for his two days of active experimentation. He amassed enough experience points and when the notification appeared.
[You have ranked up from Aspirant Tier 4 --> Aspirant Tier 5]
He felt like every parent who managed to send their kid to med school and saw them practicing.
Yeah he was pretty proud of himself. He'd pushed up by two tiers with no experience points to spare. But that was a small price to pay.
The system rewarded him for improving his bond with his familiars, as it kept reminding him to discover the names of his Common class familiars and give his slime familiar a name of its own.
'All in due time,' Dean thought.
<><><>
By the time the third morning arrived, Dean had a clearer vision of what he was working with.
He woke up to panels invading his privacy.
[Reminder]
[Today is your re-evaluation trial]
Dean yawned as he got up scratching his balls lazily.
"Since when did you become a fucking alarm?"
A/N: C'mon don't be a ghost reader, if you're enjoying the story, add to Library and support with Powerstones.
P.S: I need the P.Stones to gain more traction. Help a Author. Thank you...