When the golden light swarmed Julius and Lian’s faces, pop-ups appeared on the former’s screen.
===
[Magic Multiplier Upgraded: 0.5x → 1.5x]
[Path Level UP!]
[Path: King Julius Level 2 → 3]
[All Path Features Unlocked]
[Name Change: Overall Number → Power Level]
[Class Upgrade: A → A+]
[Qi Rank Up: 2 →3]
Maldoro System Open Access Activated!
===
Huh? Julius was confused. He turned to Lian and saw her eyes blinking. Is she…
Lian turned to him. “What’s with all…these words. Gah.” She tumbled to the ground, holding her head. Julius ran up to her and checked her face.
“What do you see right now?”
“Activation…request.”
So, she is getting it too. Julius thought, then turned to Ling Wu, Skylar, and King Valtoris, who were on the ground dealing with similar side effects.
“Julius, do I do it?” Lian asked in a tone similar to a plea. It was painful to Julius’ ears.
“Yes. do it! Use your head to communicate.”
Lian gasped and clenched her eyes shut. Julius guided her to the chest, leaning her back to the edge. He sensed her internal qi was surging. Before checking others, he gave a little of his qi to her.
Afterward, he thrust his left palm out, performing telekinesis. He dragged all three next to him. Without a doubt, he told them to accept it. Like Lian, their internal qi rose.
Julius’ Maldoro System got a few more pop-ups after the other four accepted the activation.
===
[Anyone who participated in a Maldoro hotspot zone and event once will have the opportunity to utilize a personal system.]
[Party Buff Feature Added!]
[Base Stats Updated!]
[Class Level Benefits Added!]
[Click the tab for Updated Base Stats & New Features Information!]
===
Julius shared traces of his qi with the other three. King Valtoris got up and appeared less stressed compared to a moment ago.
“I don’t remember you got a headache when you had the system,” he said.
And Julius agreed. “Yeah. I didn’t. How are you feeling about seeing these words and frames following you?”
“Very weird. How the hell did you get used to this quickly?”
“I used to play video games. My eyes got used to it all. Rapid motion, and I still read the objectives just fine. To me, this is similar, so you’ll get the hang of it.”
King Valtoris raised his hand and articulated it around as if he had no sense of balance. Julius had to assure him that he was fine. No vision was lost. Skylar played video games before, so she adapted quickly. Ling Wu and Lian were in a similar boat with King Valtoris.
The two chests flew into the air. Yellow light shone through the frame, overwhelming them. EXP rained down to the ground, followed by a pile of gold and silver coins. He looked at everyone. “I’m not going to take all of these. You guys take some now.”
He guided Ling Wu and King Valtoris first. Then, Skylar and Lian, leaving Julius last.
“What’s the money for?” Skylar asked.
“I don’t know…They might tell me the details once I take a look at the tab.” Julius grabbed the last coins and EXP.
[Money: 1.5] + 8
The ground also vanished, and everyone’s feet were soaked again.
Most of the answers Julius was looking was behind the highlighted tab. He figured it was best to learn and read not at the wrecked spot near the coast. He told King Valtoris, Ling Wu, and Skylar to head to New Orleans first.
King Valtoris seized the two and teleported away.
“What’s even out there?”
“We’re about to find out,” Julius said, then ascended into the air.
20 Minutes Later
New Orleans, LA
Downtown was crowded at this time of hour. Bourbon Street was typical as ever during the night. Bars were open. People walking along the streets. There was a possibility the news hadn’t reached this area, or everyone in proximity was well aware and decided to ignore it and have a good time.
Julius and Lian walked through the crowd and traffic.
“Well, everyone is lively.”
Julius nodded. “The dungeon wreck could buy us some time to study the system. The hotel is booked.”
“Are we all meeting there?”
“Yep, it’s a week's stay, and our temporary place of operations while we are outside of Colemond.”
“In a public space? I thought we all agreed on something private for us…People will be at risk if we operate in public spaces. This isn’t Colemond,” Lian muttered.
Julius switched to telepathy. “I know, but I also want to protect this city. The more prepared and understanding of this city, the safer we can keep it than let it get ruined.”
“Let’s hope we have something prepared,” Lian responded, then turned off telepathy.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
“And here we are,” Julius muttered.
The two arrived at a four-star hotel on Bourbon Street. Entering the lobby, they walked around the beautiful, octagonal, tiered fountain. A lot of marble and stone work in the building. The space was wide and cool.
Julius and Lian were cleaned up before arriving at the hotel. Their clothes were restored, so both were walking in with battle robes, heading to the front desk. It was busy, so all eyes were on them. Fortunately, Solomon was there waiting. His qi was obvious to Julius.
“There you are…Good, you’re in disguise,” he muttered, handing the key cards to their rooms.
Lian looked at the card. “Are we in the same room or separate?”
“It’s two beds, so we got it taken care of.”
“Ok, and where is everyone else right now?”
“They’re at the pool upstairs. Relax and enjoy the amenities. We will all meet together at 4 AM.”
“Alright. See you, then.”
Solomon headed to the Jazz Playhouse, which was next to the lobby.
Julius and Lian went to their room.
===
Julius sat on his bed while Lian was fixing herself in the bathroom.
He had found a spare notebook in a drawer. Lying his back on the pillows, he opened the tab. Tons of information began pouring in.
===
[New Features Information!]
[Path: King Julius Level 3]
All Path Features:
Level Exclusive Perks - Every two levels, starting from Level 4, users will be gifted an exclusive skill or ability to boost their capabilities. Due to the nature of individuality, every user will have a unique set of experiences and perks. [All gained skills & abilities are randomized]
Inventory Expansion - Every level, the user’s total inventory space increases by ten percent. However, at every tenth level, the percentage increase rises to fifty percent.
Skill List - Access to your skills is now unlocked. Your total skill count will be reflected in the list. All details, skills, capabilities, and features are listed.
Qi Tree - Access to a catalog of boosts to enhance the user’s base stats, multipliers, and economic power.
---
===
After Julius read the four features, Lian came out in an oversized T-shirt and shorts.
“How do I look?” She asked.
“When did you decide to loosen up?’ Julius asked, smiling. “Beautifully comfortable.”
“Since I was with Skylar. There are too many options that I need to try out. And you are going to be my judge every time I do this.”
Julius put the notebook on his bed. “Woah woah. When did I become your judge? I’m not good with women’s styles, you know.”
“Oh, live up a little. If you’re going to be the leader of the people, you need to know everything.”
“So, you want me to turn into a fashion ambassador?”
Lian chuckled. “It’s not a bad deal. You got the entire Raal to tell.”
“You’re not wrong.” Julius brought back the tab to his interface, picking up his notebook. “By the way, these features are complementary.”
Lian hopped onto her bed, relaxing her legs and feet. “Ooh. How so?”
“It can give you a boost to what you already have. Imagine your darkness magic doubled, tripled, tenfold.”
“Julius…You knew I had accidentally destroyed a continent. What do you mean by doubling or a tenfold?”
Julius opened the qi tree feature. “Maldoro System meant it word by word. Open the Qi Tree feature. All those boosts you can get.” He opened it on his system.
Lian had gotten past the visual side of things. However, she hadn’t gotten used to the controls. Once Julius told her to use her mind like telepathy, it became easy. He waited until she opened the qi tree feature.
The two began to look through it, and the tree was humongous. There were hundreds of locked nodes in red, blue, green, and white. It was nice that despite the nodes being locked, Julius and Lian could access the details and what to expect.
“Maldoro made all of this?”
“Supposedly. It’s strange because all of this looks like a video game feature today, but Maldoro died thousands of years ago. That’s one of the few things I don’t get about him. What knowledge did he have?”
“Not only my stamina, but my qi and power get buffed from this,” Lian said, then turned to Julius. “So, you're telling me this thing has more than what I’ve ever done?”
Julius nodded. “Yes. Accidentally destroying a continent might be just a plaything in the system’s opinion.”
“Yinhai…That’s just crazy. Then what about everyone else? Will something similar happen to them if they have the system?”
“It looks like it,” Julius said, switching tabs to the other new features. “And I wonder what this team buff is all about.”
===
Party Buff Feature - Users of the Maldoro System can link with up to four other users, unlocking team-exclusive benefits. The main priority is synergy. Starting from Level 4, the team feature buff percentage increases 1% every level.
Teams Unlocked: 2
Create a Team? (Y / N)
[Team 1 Created!]
Anyone to add?
===
Julius added Lian, King Valtoris, Skylar, and Ling Wu to the team, filling the five slots. An alert popped up, and notifications were sent to the ones he added. “Did you get it?”
“Yeah, incredible…Done.”
“Hmm…So, now all of us five have a one percent boost until we disband the team.”
Lian leaned up on the bed. “One percent is a big deal. Imagine how King Valtoris would react to getting a one percent upgrade.”
“Gosh, he already beat me into a pulp before when I was still in the void. Not even a burst was used. That’s…just mind-boggling to me.”
“I don’t know what Maldoro’s intention was for making this, but hell no, I’m not going to miss out on this.”
Julius shared her remark, having the same opinion. He anticipated future and endless uncertainties, which he thought was a fun opportunity. A video game-like aesthetic brought excitement and something to look forward to. Because of that, he got out of bed. “Well, I need a drink and food. You coming?”
“Of course! You know the drill.” Lian switched her clothes for something more pleasant. She summoned straight black jeans, a white blazer, and obviously boots.
Julius just had a loose navy T-shirt, black Kaki pants, and kept his combat boots.
The two then exited the room. Both had their key cards in their pockets. They talked as they strolled to the elevator. When they got inside, Julius had something he wanted to know.
“Can you check your basic stats or information?”
“Is something wrong?”
“I want to know if it’s any different for someone with magic experience.”
“Ok, here it goes.”
===
[Name: Lian]
[Class: A]
[Power Level: 1,620,101]
[Skill Count: 486]
[Path: Dark Augusta Level 3]
[Magic Multipliers: 1.5x]
[Qi: Rank 3] [Boost: 0]
[Money: 12]
===
===
[Name: Julius]
[Class: A+]
[Power Level: 242,101]
[Skill Count: 79]
[Path: King Julius Level 3]
[Magic Multipliers: 1.5x]
[Qi: Rank 3] [Boost: 0]
[Money: 8.5]
===
“Ok, that’s even more confusing than I thought,” Julius commented. “Yinhai…Four hundred and eighty-six skills. That is insane. Hmm…You even got a Qi rank of level three.”
“I’ll tell you. I’m shocked too. It had every skill I learned before. Even all the way down to the academy days. And the level three, I don’t know. It's probably because of you that it gave me a rank three.”
Julius shrugged. “I don’t know either. This system has a lot of things but was also very vague.”
Ding!
The elevator door opened to bright lights and heavy foot traffic tapping on the tiles.
One head turn and returned into a facial disguise. They walked out and merged with the crowd, heading to an outdoor restaurant near the pool.
Hope for a peaceful munch.
