After a while of standing still, He opened his status.
[Status]
Name: Leo
Level: 2
Current Role: [None]
HP: 75/75
Strength: 9 | Agility: 10 | Endurance: 9 | Intelligence: 9 | Perception: 10
Skills: Basic combat sense Lv. 8
Point: 1
Unique Energy Attribute: [Absent] | Occupation: [None]
Notes: A Newbie with a Lv 8 Skill.
"What the ...."
Leo's leg, which was lifted, couldn't help but stop in place.
He was somewhat surprised. His stats and skills had really gone up.
First was his attribute; they had gone way up, especially his Agility, which had gone up by three points.
But Agility does Control reaction speed, movement precision, flexibility, and fine-motor coordination.
And he did experience an increase in body coordination during his run, especially during the boss fight.
But stats do increase during dungeon runs.
So, it was surprising but not unexpected.
But his skills!!!
His skills that increased by two more levels since he last checked.
What's going on?
It should be when I was fighting the boss monster. But 5 levels in one dungeon run?
It is easier and faster to increase stats and skill in dungeons, but still, 5 Levels?
You have to know that he had only reached Lv.3 before he entered the dungeon, and that was after three years.
Even though he was not able to train at first due to his legs, but still.... He had encounters with monsters during his job as a portal, but he was only able to get it up to Lv.3
So, he was really surprised.
He did know that he had improved a lot during this dungeon run, but seeing the numbers, this intuitively was...
It was well known that most people don't have any skills before the first order.
But if you want to classify their combat experience and stuff, a level 15 expert would be around Lv.8 in fighting skills.
Taking a level 15 with a base of 15 attribute in the three physical attributes.
A base of 15 stats allows them to be in more control of their body, allowing them to have a fighting skill comparable to Lv5.
And here he was, a level 2 with a Lv.8 skill.
After staring at his comm unit for a while, he decided to get home before doing a deep dive on the reason.
He walked towards the Dungeon Access Hub, his prosthetic leg moving with effortless grace. The whirr-thunk was now integrated, so natural, he barely registered it. As he entered the polished halls of the hub, the stark contrast between the raw, ancient energy of the dungeon and the pristine, technological hum of Elda hit him.
A young attendant, the one who had scanned him earlier, looked up as he approached the exit gate. Her eyes scanned for the standard emergency return signal. Upon seeing none, she nodded at Leo while speaking:
"No injury, I see."
"Yeah, just roughed up a little," Leo said while also returning a nod.
"That's good for a first-time dungeon." She replied while operating on a Holo-Desk Console. Probably updating both the dungeon and his status.
"I guess," Leo replied while scanning his watch at the scanner by the exit. Then he bid goodbye to the attendant and made his way through the bustle ...
From the tutorial zone to the city.
The mag-lev ride back into the city center was different. He gazed out at the sprawling metropolis, the vertical farms shimmering, the mag-levs crisscrossing. It was a familiar sight, but now, he observed it with a new layer of detail. He could see and feel it was the same, yet it also felt different.
It wasn't something he could explain, or even articulate, but it was there, a silent hum beneath the surface of reality.
He couldn't help but feel drawn to it.
By the time he came back home, it was already dark. His father was already home, sitting on the couch. He looked up from a holographic newsfeed as Leo entered.
"You are back. How was the run?" his father asked, while moving towards the kitchen to warm up some meat stew.
"Smooth," Leo, who was busy on his comm, replied while slouching onto a chair.
....
"Alright, come over." After a few minutes, his father called him into the kitchen.
"Got some decent XP, I assume?" Stirring his own stew, his father tried to make some small talk.
"Enough for a Level Up," Leo admitted, while grabbing a bowl.
His father paused, a spoon halfway to his mouth.
"Just a level?"
"Yeah."
His father's brow couldn't help but climb a little, not knowing whether he should be happy or worried.
You have to know that Leo had been killing monsters for a while before even entering a dungeon, and when he first started, he would come back looking badly battered sometimes.
And even if dungeon break monsters only provide 1/10 Exp, it should have accumulated to a considerable amount.
But this dungeon run was only 'Enough for a level up'?
This meant that the amount of EXP that Leo needed to level up was much more than others at the same level.
"Well, that's good. Perhaps a low-tier party run next time?" His father said while resuming his food.
Leo looked up at his father before saying: "Perhaps." He could understand the underlying meaning behind it.
"You have to look for a reliable team when choosing."
"Yeah, I know."
"Need help with it?"
"I can handle it, don't worry."
"Alright then. Pay attention to your safety." His father paused for a while before saying.
After dinner, as his father retired to review more schematics, Leo returned to his own room.
He powered down his comms unit, needing to focus without external interference. He sat cross-legged on his floor, closing his eyes to meditate.
He had been feeling some kind of sensation ever since he came out of the dungeon today. At first, he thought it was because he'd levelled up.
But he had been on the Net and through the city, but still didn't quite get what was going on with him.
It was because of trying to understand that feeling that he had wandered the city and did not come home until after dark, which he rarely did.
After a while of silence, it felt as if he sank into his body. It felt as if his body was a vast, intricate network, processing data at an incredible speed. He could almost feel the blood flowing within his own flesh, the subtle movements of his blood, the electric impulses of his nerves, all operating with a newfound efficiency.
Ding!
He was awakened by the sound of his comm unit.
When he opened his eyes, he was stunned, because he saw that the sun was already up.
His brows couldn't help climbing up a little.
What...what just happened?
All he felt was that he had meditated for a while, yet the sun was already high up?
After a moment of silence, he picked up his comms. He had powered down the comms last night, and the only thing that could remain unaffected by that was the system.
[Status]
Name: Leo
Level: 2
Current Role: [None]
HP: 75/75
Strength: 9 | Agility: 12 | Endurance: 9 | Intelligence: 12 | Perception: 14
Skills: Basic combat sense Lv 8.
Passives: Neural Efficiency Boost
Point: 1
Unique Energy Attribute: [Absent] | Occupation: [None]
Notes: Realised a passive? Not bad.
Leo stared at the screen for a long time.
He had expected a slight shift in stats, maybe from some post-mission fatigue. But this? Two points in Agility, three in Intelligence, four in Perception? All while he was asleep?
No... not asleep.
He just meditated, but it felt more refreshing than taking a well-deserved nap after two straight days of sleep deprivation.
And that passive,
[Neural Efficiency Boost].
It hadn't appeared before he entered meditation. It was new, yet he knew what it was. Although new, it is as if it had always been there.
As if the realization of what he had been doing with his body and mind for years had finally reached a measurable threshold.
Leo moved his fingers in front of his face. Slowly.
It felt as if he could see the afterimages of motion, the fine tremble in the air molecules as his hand displaced them. His senses weren't stronger; it just felt like he could see deeper.
This wasn't about seeing more; it was more about understanding what he always overlooked.
He stood, stretching, letting his body settle naturally.
There was a lightness to his step, not because of improved strength, but because his muscles no longer fought themselves. Everything moved with intent. Everything responded with harmony.
Even his prosthetic leg, once slightly behind in response, now felt synced. Like the data from it was being processed faster.
He rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and walked to the small mirror above his dresser.
No visible change.
And yet... everything had changed.
What a passive.
But how did I... realise?
Yeah, how did I realise it?
Hmm.....
I can confirm that when I came out of the dungeon, or was it when I levelled up? There was a feeling where it felt like I could perceive more than usual, even within the same stats.
Until I came back and meditated and perceived my own body, before I realised the passive.
But where does the feeling come from?
Is it a specialty of a Solo Dungeon?
He had searched for a lot of info on Solo dungeons yesterday, but all he found was what had always been, what was there before.
He doesn't know if that was really all the info on it or if he just couldn't access higher info.
Arrgh! Leo couldn't help but run a hand through his head, feeling he might have a headache from overthinking.
Sigh!
He decided to go out and cool down. He washed his face, put on a hoodie, and walked out.
He noticed his father was not around, probably went to work.
He walked out of the house into the street.
Outside, the world buzzed as usual. Mag-trams glided a few inches above ground, vending drones zipped between buildings, and the lower-tier pedestrian network bustled with activity.
It was the same scene, yet different.
What was different? He couldn't exactly articulate.
To Leo, it felt like it all moved slower, because some of the things he wouldn't have been able to observe felt observable now.
He didn't even notice his footfall syncing to the pavement seams, or how he fluidly dodged impacts that might have happened from all the crowds around him.
He turned at a corner and took the elevator to one of the observation decks, the ones rarely visited except by bored tourists or workers on break.
There, he sat on the metal ledge, legs dangling, a can of cool fruit tonic in his hand. He popped it open, took a long sip, and exhaled.
The skyline was beautiful.
Not because it had changed.
But because he had, he felt he was receiving a different kind of information from the same sky he always saw.
He opened his status,
Nothing changed; it was still the same as after he woke up from meditation.
Yet there was something that he felt should have been expressed, yet it wasn't there.
Meaning nothing had changed.
But he felt it, since he came out of the dungeon, he had felt it.
At first, he thought it was because he levelled up, and that's how everyone felt after levelling.
But he had realised a passive because of this feeling, yet how, where, and why he could realise a passive because of this feeling? He had no idea.
But he wanted to know.
This thought seemed to have triggered something, and he felt something pop into his view, yet it felt like nothing was in his view.
This feeling disoriented his senses, that he almost slipped, but he reacted instinctively, grabbing the ledge and flipping back onto the platform.
He would have been a little amazed at his stunt, but his mind was preoccupied.
[Bio-Cognitive Synthesis: Your brain becomes a central biological processor, interpreting all sensory data into actionable insights. Decisions process faster, instincts align with thought, reducing delay, Etc.]
What in the seventh ***** is happening right now?