Tyrius startled awake to find himself lying in bed once again. Reflexively, he cast his perception outward, searching for threats.

  To his immediate surprise, he could see all around him. The flood of information left him momentarily confused—until memory snapped into place and he remembered what had just happened.

  He tried to study everything in detail, but his mind began to scream from the strain, pressure building behind his eyes until he was forced to deactivate the skill. Tyrius knew keeping it active too long would likely knock him unconscious again. He had only triggered it out of habit—Arlac’s conditioning had made every morning a potential danger.

  Still, he was relieved it hadn’t incapacitated him this time.

  For the brief moment the skill was active, it had worked exactly as Arlac said it would. Tyrius could see in every direction. But his mind clearly wasn’t ready to fully handle it yet. That didn’t worry him. After his advancement—only days away—he knew he’d be able to wield it properly.

  A wide smile spread across his face. He had won the bet and would soon get his first taste of magic in this world. Things couldn’t be better.

  His musing was interrupted by the sound of a page turning from across the room. Looking over, he saw his master sitting opposite him, both feet kicked up on a desk, one crossed over the other as he leaned back on the rear legs of a simple wooden chair.

  “I never imagined you’d receive a body modification too,” Arlac said without looking up.

  “How do you know I got one?” Tyrius asked, sitting up.

  Arlac shrugged and casually gestured around Tyrius, his eyes never leaving the page. Tyrius looked back to where he’d been lying and caught sight of a black substance slowly fading into the bedding, as if it were dissipating into it.

  “What is that goop?” Tyrius asked, scrunching his nose and inching away from it.

  Another page turned. Arlac inhaled deeply, slipping into his mentoring tone.

  “That ‘goop’ is your body’s imperfections. It’s normal for your body to expel waste during tier advancements. The same can happen during body modifications.” He paused. “Be grateful we’re in my sanctuary. I’m cleaning it for you. The stuff smells awful and is difficult to remove.”

  Tyrius took a cautious sniff and immediately verified the claim, though the substance finished dissipating moments later.

  “Then how do you know it was a body modification?” Tyrius asked skeptically.

  “Because body modifications almost always leave permanent changes,” Arlac replied. “If I’d known it would happen, I would have warned you.”

  Tyrius’ muscles tightened.

  Warn? Why would he need to warn me?

  The chair creaked as Arlac settled further into it. Though his gaze remained on the book, Tyrius could feel the man’s amusement. He knew Arlac was watching him through whatever perception skill he possessed. Tyrius opened his mouth to speak, but Arlac continued.

  “Body modifications are exactly what they sound like—alterations to your body. They’re almost always beneficial, tuned to improve your path. But they’re permanent, whether internal or external.”

  Another page turned.

  “Some modifications are so extensive they’ve practically changed a person’s race. That makes them dangerous in certain situations—or at least undesirable. They’re also an indicator of strength. The more profound the change, the stronger the enhancement tends to be.”

  Arlac finally glanced up.

  “They also make you easier to identify. So be careful in the future if the words offer you another one.”

  There was a brief pause as the book closed, and his master finally looked back at Tyrius.

  “Luckily, yours turned out rather… appealing.”

  Arlac smirked, leaning back further into the chair, his eyes practically humming with amusement.

  “What do you me—?” Tyrius stammered, the implications freezing him mid-thought.

  He quickly tried to pull his arms out from beneath the blanket—but a mirror lazily floated toward the bed, stopping directly in front of him.

  Tyrius stared at his reflection—and froze.

  His skin glowed faintly, shifting with waves of prismatic light that rolled and swirled across his body in complex patterns and colors. Curious, he activated his [Spiritual Awareness] at the smallest possible degree and lightly studied the effect.

  The moment the skill engaged, the patterns accelerated and the colors intensified. He felt ambient mana rushing into him faster than ever before. His skin reacted in tandem, flowing with the energy being drawn deep inside him—feeding his new skill.

  He focused on the sensation and tried dialing it back. It resisted at first, but to his surprise, the prismatic waves dulled. As his skin slowly returned to a normal shade, his [Spiritual Awareness] sputtered and flickered before failing altogether.

  “Yes, I imagine you do,” Arlac replied. “You expelled quite a lot of impurities during the modification process. As such, your body should be stronger now.”

  He paused and looked back at Tyrius.

  Tyrius released his focus and let his body relax. It felt like discovering a new appendage—one he could command instinctively but didn’t yet fully understand. He had no sense of its limits or reach, and mastering it would take time.

  To his disappointment, even while relaxed, his skin still shimmered faintly. Beneath the surface, he could see the dim outlines of strange shapes, ever-shifting and just barely visible.

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  “What do you mean appealing?” Tyrius finally said, finishing his assessment of his new body.

  “I look like I’m covered in ever-changing tattoos. This is awful!”

  He stared at his reflection, conflicted. Arlac let out a deep laugh at the sight.

  “You’re probably still looking at it with your perception ability,” Arlac said. “What you’re seeing are merely echoes of mana. Enchanters use similar symbols to invoke magical effects when mana is pushed through them.”

  He turned another page.

  “This is simply a phenomenon tied to mana manifestation—except in your case, the patterns are almost imperceptible to lesser perception skills and completely invisible to normal eyes.”

  “You mean I might actually look normal?” Tyrius asked, lifting his gaze, hope blooming on his face.

  “Most perception abilities run passively by drawing a small amount of mana. I know you aren’t actively using yours, but I can still sense it’s active,” Arlac said. “Try fully stopping it and you’ll see. Though I wouldn’t call the result… normal.”

  He flashed the boy a mischievous smile.

  Tyrius sat up and turned his focus inward. He concentrated on the skill and quickly noticed the faint trickle of mana it was drawing from what he absorbed. He willed the flow to stop—and felt it cut off entirely.

  Opening his eyes, Tyrius immediately understood what Arlac meant. The strange shapes were gone, and his features looked sharper, more refined. His skin still carried a faint shimmer, but far subtler than before.

  He frowned at the sight. He didn’t love the idea of being permanently shiny—but Arlac was right. It did look… naturally appealing.

  Focusing again, Tyrius began dialing back his body’s pull. His frown slowly gave way to a small smile as the shimmer faded further, leaving only the barest hint behind.

  He nodded to himself. That would be good enough. At least he could still blend into a crowd if necessary.

  I’ll have to be even more careful about accepting body modifications in the future.

  Though he still didn’t know when he would ever see the world again—or if he would even get the chance.

  A loud thump echoed from the bedroom door before Metz’s massive shell shoved it open. The tortoise lumbered inside, his glowing eyes locking onto Tyrius as he picked up his pace.

  Ah, Tyrius. It is good to see you awake again. I daresay you were rather lucky with that modification. We’ve seen people change so drastically they hardly looked human anymore.

  Metz’s voice reverberated inside his head.

  “Hello, Metz!” Tyrius said warmly, ignoring the comment.

  The great reptile offered no reply, instead continuing into the room before settling beside Arlac.

  “Do body modifications work differently from skills?” Tyrius asked, turning back to his master. “I can control it, similar to how I control my perception.”

  “Though it is possible to evolve body modifications through training,” Arlac continued, “and doing so usually increases their benefits. However, the higher the tier of a modification, the more powerful it becomes—and the more profoundly your body is altered as a result.”

  Tyrius nodded.

  “What would happen if I evolved this one?”

  “Hard to say. Evolving body modifications is fairly uncommon,” Arlac replied. “In the few recorded cases we have, the changes tend to become more pronounced. In your case, you might glow—or shimmer more. But there’s no way to know for certain. Which is why, once again, you should be careful before accepting any future modifications.”

  Tyrius gave a more serious nod.

  “I will. I’m already immensely relieved if this is as bad as it gets,” he said, motioning to his faintly shimmering skin.

  “Bad?” Arlac echoed, letting out a short chuckle.

  “Body modifications aren’t all that uncommon. You’ll notice plenty of people have them. There’s nothing wrong with how yours turned out—I’d actually place it in the best category a modification can have on a human.”

  He glanced Tyrius over.

  “Most lower-end modifications only alter small things—hair color, proportions. Yours made you look noticeably brighter and shiny. And the fact that you can almost completely repress it after only a few minutes of experimentation makes it even more valuable.”

  Metz chose that moment to interject, his voice resonating in everyone’s mind.

  I have to agree, Tyrius. This adjustment has made you quite fetching. I have no doubt you’ll catch the eyes of many young maidens.

  Tyrius sighed, a note of reluctant acceptance slipping through. Maybe he had gotten luckier than he realized. He looked down at his hand again, turning it over as he subtly adjusted the pull, watching the changes respond.

  He was already eager to experiment with the modification further—on his own time.

  “Do you think this modification will affect how my Soul Well Ceremony goes?” Tyrius asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

  Arlac’s expression shifted at the question, becoming unreadable—a look Tyrius wasn’t used to seeing.

  “I think your Soul Well Ceremony will go splendidly,” Arlac said at last, his voice firm as he looked away.

  “Which reminds me—we should perform it immediately. Are you able?”

  There was a faint urgency beneath his excitement.

  Without waiting for an answer, Arlac was already on his feet, the chair squeaking loudly as it scraped against the wooden floor.

  Tyrius lingered a moment longer, staring at his hand—then finally looked up and nodded.

  “Come, then. Let’s go,” Arlac said, already moving toward the door.

  Tyrius scrambled out of bed and got dressed. This was the moment he’d been waiting for. He was beyond excited to finally infuse his soul with mana. Just as eager, he hoped to learn more about skills—questions Arlac had long avoided answering, but ones Tyrius knew would finally be addressed once he possessed mana of his own.

  Stepping outside, the midday sun blinded him for a moment. He realized he must have been unconscious far longer than he’d thought.

  “How long was I out?” he asked, trailing slightly behind Arlac as they headed toward the castle.

  “Five days,” Arlac replied, not slowing his pace.

  “Five days?!” Tyrius exclaimed. “That means I could have done the ceremony sooner! Why didn’t you wake me?”

  “We couldn’t,” Arlac said evenly. “Changes like tier advancement and body modifications take time. Body modifications are usually faster—but yours took longer than expected. You’re still unranked, after all. Who knows what rules apply.”

  He paused, just long enough to ensure Tyrius was still listening.

  “But don’t concern yourself with it. It won’t make a difference. In fact, I suspect everything will be in your favor. Missing a few days is nothing.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Tyrius protested. “You said sooner was better—that time wasted mattered.”

  “True enough,” Arlac replied. “But a handful of days will hardly matter to you now. At any rate—you’ll find out soon enough.”

  He glanced back with a smirk, catching Tyrius’ scowl.

  Tyrius had been surprised by how forthcoming Arlac had been this morning—but the man’s evasive answer didn’t surprise him in the slightest.

  “Why do you always have to be so vague?” Tyrius muttered, looking away.

  Arlac ignored the complaint and continued up the steps.

  Tyrius didn’t mind too much. His thoughts were already spiraling, filled with anticipation. He didn’t know how the ceremony worked—but he knew the outcome would be mana and skills of his own.

  A smirk crept onto his face. He was finally about to take his first true steps toward power in this world—something he’d been waiting for since the moment his soul had merged with another and her perspective of the world became his own.

  But that wasn’t all he was anticipating.

  No—he hadn’t forgotten. He’d won the bet. And the moment the ceremony was over, he intended to collect.