Just before anger swallowed him up, Jayce bit his tongue and forced himself to calm down. He had seen Mize taunt people before, but he had still almost fallen into her trap. Mize was a noble as well as a fighter and she was very good at controlling her outward appearance. That condescending, playful attitude was just another weapon aimed at Jayce.

Although, Jayce wasn’t sure if she was riling him up because she wanted to grasp an advantage or because she thought it would be fun.

Thinking a little more, Jayce assessed his chances of winning. On paper, he held an enormous advantage. Assuming this was the Mize he knew, she was level 0 and her class was in some kind of limbo state. Jayce’s class levels combined totaled over 40, and even if that didn’t make him equivalent to someone at the second gate, it should be enough to overpower someone without a class. Despite knowing all of this, Jayce couldn’t help but feel uneasy when he looked over at his opponent.

Mize readied her javelin while Jayce aimed his rifle carefully. He held the initiative because of his ranged weapon’s speed, but Jayce had seen what that javelin could do. Once Mize threw it, he’d lose a limb at best and die instantly at worst. Just as he was about to fire, Mize’s round pupils shrank into reptilian slits and a mountain of pressure descended on Jayce. His muscles froze up and he couldn’t even breathe. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Mize prepared for a lethal throw.

Jayce remembered being hit by this ability before. It was back when he fought Mize’s sister, Liza. She had used her glare to stun Jayce for a moment before Mize charged in and took that pressure away from him. Just like that time, Jayce felt an overwhelming desire to prostrate himself before the owner of those golden eyes. Beneath the feelings of awe that were forced on him, fear and despair burned in his chest as well as a deep sense of frustration.

‘Am I going to lose just like that? Without even being able to move?’

Jayce’s eyes suddenly turned a deep scarlet. It was impossible for Jayce to manually activate abilities in his petrified state, but Bloodrage activated on its own. Like Mize had told him, if one’s class synergy was high enough, their abilities could be activated subconsciously. The increased aggressiveness from this skill allowed him to briefly regain control of his body. Using Keen Eyes to follow her movements, Jayce aimed Seeker at Mize’s throwing hand and fired.

The long black javelin was shot out of Mize’s hand just before she could throw it. Jayce took advantage of her surprise to condense an acceleration tag on Seeker’s barrel and activate one other ability before firing again.

Once she saw him aiming, Mize lowered her center of gravity and charged forward. Her protective artifact was polished to its limit, so she was confident about taking one of Seeker’s bullets. That confidence caused her to cry out in shock when the bullet tapped against her barrier and sent a shockwave that knocked against her very soul. Her eyes widened and her pupils returned to their normal state as she stumbled.

The other ability Jayce had used was Soul Strike. This Soul Forger ability allowed him to transform his next physical attack into an ethereal one. The effect of Soul Strike was more shocking than damaging, and its crowd control wasn’t nearly as powerful as Spirit Nail’s, but it was great at creating openings.

Jayce moved backwards while he continued to aim. Now that he had established ranged superiority, Jayce didn’t want to let Mize get in close. He could feel power gathering in his Bands of Freedom as he backpedaled, empowering his shield and quickening his movements.

A feeling of strain also assaulted him, but he was already used to this uncomfortable quality of the Bands of Freedom. Jayce imagined he wouldn’t be able to handle this squeezing feeling if he tried using a second grade 1 artifact on top of it. At least, not until he opened the first gate.

Jayce condensed a paralysis tag and fired again. Ten needles from Spirit Nail would end the fight, but Jayce didn’t have the leeway to use such a time-consuming strategy. He had decided to keep Mize at a distance with Seeker and his faster acting control abilities.

To Jayce’s surprise, the bullet empowered by Paralysis Tag ricocheted off Mize’s barrier without delivering its effects. At most, she’d only stumbled a little while a crack formed on her barrier. He hadn’t realized this while fighting in the Frozen Expanse, but Paralysis Tag’s effects weren’t ethereal and could be blocked by standard protective artifacts.

After taking another shot, Jayce grimaced as he watched Mize dodge while rushing towards him. At the end of the day, Jayce still wasn’t a perfect shot. His aim that time was a little wide, and Mize was predicting his movements as well. The bullet lightly scraped against Mize’s barrier and the distance between them was devoured by Mize’s quick footwork.

A long spear appeared in Mize’s hand and she thrust it forward. In response, Jayce leaned in and accepted the hit. He had encountered similar situations in the Frozen Expanse and learned a trick after being closed in on many times. Aside from his barrier, Jayce didn’t have any close-range defensive options. The best he could do was rush in and interrupt the timing of the attack, forcing it off course. At the same time, he could leverage Bloodrage’s pain resistance to counterattack.

The spear collided with Jayce’s chest, and even though it didn’t land where Mize had intended, the force shot straight through Jayce’s barrier and knocked the wind out of him. Seeker vanished and both Tiny Hammers appeared in Jayce’s hands. Before he could use them, a second spear thrust arrived like a bolt of lightning. Jayce’s barrier had cracked on the first strike and it shattered on the second.

‘She’s so fast even without any class abilities!? Also, even if it’s shoddy, that was a grade 1 barrier!’

Jayce was hurrying to fire, but Mize wasn’t done. Her second thrust smoothly transitioned into a swipe that sliced open the skin on Jayce’s left palm and knocked his pistol away.

Fortunately, Mize failed to strike again before Jayce’s right pistol roared into action. Mize’s already damaged barrier shattered under the assault of the six bullets, but Jayce was speechless when he saw black scales grow to cover her forearms like gauntlets. Their coverage left a lot to be desired, but Mize used her arms to protect her face and chest, blocking most of the bullets that weren’t stopped by her barrier.

‘Since when could she…?’ Jayce had never seen her grow scales before, so he couldn’t tell if this was an innate ability or part of the nightmare.

Just as he tried to step back, Jayce felt a tug on his left leg. He didn’t have time to look away, but he was almost positive that Mize’s tail was coiled around it. Having abandoned her spear while defending herself, Mize struck out with her scaled fists. Two heavy hits, a straight and an uppercut, nearly knocked Jayce senseless. Worst of all, Mize used her grip on Jayce’s leg to drag him to the ground.

Straddling him, Mize swung her small fists again and again. It looked like she wanted to beat him into a bloody pulp. He moved his right arm, trying to fire another shot with Tiny Hammer, but one of Mize’s hands snaked out and knocked the gun away. Jayce’s blood flowed out quickly, covering the surrounding floor and Mize’s body. The light in Jayce’s eyes was dim, but it hadn’t completely vanished.

Jayce had many regrets about this fight. Misusing Paralysis Tag, failing to take advantage of the Bands of Freedom’s momentum effect, missing that shot and allowing Mize to close the distance…All of these could have been avoided if he had more combat experience. There were also issues that came up because Jayce lacked certain things. Some of those things were fixable, such as his lack of close-range options or his inefficient movements, but there was a more fundamental issue that Jayce felt clearly with every punch that sank into his body. The Nexus system didn’t express a lifeform’s basic abilities, it only multiplied them. This meant that, unlike a standard RPG, one’s base never stopped being relevant in the Upper Bound.

“But that’s just one kind of advantage,” Jayce’s lips moved but he couldn’t hear if those words actually escaped his mouth. “If you’re 10x10, I might have a chance if I can be 1x100.”

Two bloodied hands shot out and gripped Mize’s wrists. After losing so much blood, Jayce was strong enough to hold her back.

“You used Flesh Control to accelerate your blood loss,” Mize observed in a calm tone. “Even though you don’t know about our physique, you made the right choice. A black salamander’s muscles excel at making quick and heavy snapping motions. That’s why many of us use spears. We’re relatively bad at contests of pure strength.”

Before Jayce could respond, Mize’s black tail shot forward and coiled itself around his throat.

“Well, this was a strange dream. I had fun, though.”

As she prepared to break his neck, Mize noticed that Jayce’s bloodied mouth had twisted into a mad grin. The blood that surrounded them suddenly came alive and plastered itself onto Mize. Seemingly realizing something, the young girl’s pupil’s shook and her breath caught in her throat. She tried and failed to free herself from Jayce’s death grip while her tail tightened around his throat. Ultimately, she was too late.

‘Mize once said that S-Rankers have life orders nearly as high as hers, which means she’s actually above them. SS-Rank, I guess? I don’t think I’ve met any race on Caelum that can compare to her yet. Even though I had twenty levels on her and multiple classes, things still turned out like this. I accept it. There really is an enormous difference between me and high-order races.’

A determined light shone in Jayce’s eyes as he felt something in his neck shatter.

‘This is the best I can do right now.’

Explosive Blood was activated, and Jayce’s world turned white.

When Jayce’s eyes fluttered open, he could just barely see a dark silver granule-covered ceiling through the darkness. He was back in Marin’s living room and it seemed to be the middle of the night. Jayce sat up in silence and patted himself down. To his surprise, there were no new wounds on his body. As for his old wounds, they had mostly healed while he slept. He sat there in a daze until a belated message from the system appeared in his head.

Congratulations, you have successfully opened the Gate of Acceptance.

Your life order has risen, and your energy channels have grown wider.

Your class level threshold has risen to 40.

As a reward for passing both stages, the ability you receive for opening this gate will be empowered.

You have gained an ability: Gate Ability – Essence Appraisal+.

Essence Appraisal+

Accept the world and the world will accept you. Because of this connection, you can sense how many gates a lifeform has opened. If the target’s life order is much lower than yours, you may receive more detailed information. If the target’s life order is much higher than yours, you won’t receive any information and your use of this ability might be discovered.

Note: As this ability is empowered, the life order thresholds will be much more lenient. It will also be harder for others to appraise you with this ability.

Opening and closing his fists, Jayce’s dazed expression slowly transformed into a wide grin.

“Heh, Hahaha…”

There were many benefits to opening gates. Raising one’s life order strengthened innate abilities and was an overall improvement to a lifeform. Unfortunately, this increase wouldn’t change one’s natural life order. By opening more gates, Jayce would become a stronger C-Ranked human while Mize would become a stronger SS-Ranked black salamander. Jayce’s life order might eventually eclipse Mize’s original life order, but Mize would always hold a fundamental advantage at equal levels.

Still, the prospect of becoming superhuman was very exciting.

Jayce checked himself out, but he didn’t feel very different. At most, he felt a little stronger and his mind felt sharper. Shrugging, Jayce wasn’t sure what he’d expected. He would have to keep an eye on his condition to see the subtle benefits of a higher life order.

Arguably the most important change was the improvement to his energy channels. These were the invisible limits that everyone had when using abilities or powering artifacts. Now that he had opened the first gate, Jayce could get more out of abilities with variable costs like Acceleration Tag, Keen Eyes and Flesh Control. He could also equip grade 1 artifacts like the Bands of Freedom without feeling any strain.

There was also the ability that every lifeform received for opening a gate. The value of Essence Appraisal and its empowered version were obvious, and they answered a question that Jayce had been mulling over.

“So that’s why Soest knew how many gates Weiss’s team had opened. Now that I think about it, Marin must have used Essence Appraisal on me when we first met. Is that why she also knew my life order?”

Jayce was slightly doubtful about that last part. From his instinctual understanding of Essence Appraisal, Marin shouldn’t have gotten any extra information with her B-Rank life order, even if she had opened the first gate.

“Whatever. Let’s look at the big picture for a second.”

Name: Jayce Parr

Race: Human (C-Rank)

Gates Unlocked: 1st

Gate Abilities: Essence Appraisal+

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[Classes]

Bloodrager: 20/40

Abilities: Bloodrage, Bloody Vitality, Flesh Control (Lesser), Explosive Blood

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Marksman: 18/40

Abilities: Keen Eye, Acceleration Tag, Paralysis Tag

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Soul Forger: 7/40

Abilities: Soul-Guided Forging, Sense Aspects (Area), Soul Strike (Lesser)

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[Energies]

Mental Energy Grade: F (35)

Mana Capacity Grade: E (45)

Vital Energy Grade: E (45)

Looking over his status, Jayce’s expression was neutral until he got to his Soul Forger class. For someone who barely knew anything about artifact refining, this class was very difficult to level up. Jayce resolved to make a few more things with Soul-Guided Forging when he had the chance. The issue of materials had been solved with the ‘payment’ he’d received from Weiss’s team. Unfortunately, the shoddy artifacts he made wouldn’t be very useful in combat and would be prone to breaking.

The silver lining in this situation was that, once Jayce was equipped with a full set of his own creations, his Soul Forger class would be the easiest to level up. This further cemented Jayce’s resolve to learn refining.

As an experiment, Jayce covered his own soul with his mental energy. He activated Soul-Guided Forging, but the ability failed a few seconds after it started. Confused, Jayce tried a few more times and came to a conclusion.

Technically, it was possible to use his own soul as a guide. The problem was that he couldn’t guide himself while surrendering his own soul. If Jayce could consciously complete the forging process from beginning to end and only use his soul for inspiration, then it would be possible. Jayce was very eager to do this because the inspiration from his own soul might create an artifact that was perfectly suited for him. For now, though, he could only be patient.

As for using another living person’s soul, that would be even more difficult. The process of wrapping a soul in mental energy and forcing it to submit was the same as holding someone’s life in his hands. Unless that person trusted him completely, they wouldn’t allow him to use their soul as a guide.

Shaking his head, Jayce calmed down and took the opportunity to review his fight with Mize. Their battle was short, but it wasn’t as one-sided as its final scene suggested. There were a couple points where Jayce came close to landing a decisive hit, but he’d ultimately failed to do so. Mize had been training herself from a very young age, and in terms of combat experience, she was very much his senior. When Jayce thought about that, he felt a little better about his loss. After realizing she was at a disadvantage in long-ranged combat, Mize had been able to cut off a lot of his options and force the battle into a range that suited her. If Jayce wanted to fight people with higher life orders, he would also need to learn how to leverage his advantages like that.

When he thought about the end of the battle, Jayce frowned a bit.

“Why did Mize say she was dreaming? That couldn’t have been the real her, right?”

From what he knew of the Upper Bound and the Nexus system, Jayce could neither confirm nor deny that possibility.

“If she hadn’t choked me, I might have been able to ask where she is…”

Jayce yawned and slumped back onto the couch. His numerous questions and concerns faded into the back of his mind. It was still night, and he was still very tired.