Forgemind: I Can Create Any Skill

The core pulsed in his palm like a second heart, dark-purple light swirling beneath its surface. Auther sat cross-legged, shirtless, in the heart of his underground vault. The air was thick with mana and the scent of metal and dust. He'd cleared this chamber, fortified it with scrap, runes, and trap layers. If anything came while he was vulnerable, they'd be skewered before they reached him.

This was it.

He placed the core on the floor before him and exhaled slowly, calming his mind. His breathing was steady, guided by Starwave Breathing. His mana circuits throbbed faintly beneath his skin, energized by Internal Fortification and Neural Reinforcement.

He activated Energy Activation.

The core trembled, then cracked with a sound like snapping bone. Purple light spilled out in writhing tendrils, and then mana surged toward him like a tidal wave.

His body tensed.

The first surge hit him like fire.

It wasn't pain—not at first.

It was heat. Pressure. Like something vast and ancient was trying to crawl into his bones.

His core—his personal reservoir of power—began to churn.

Then everything exploded.

A scream tore from his throat, raw and unrestrained. His muscles locked. His lungs refused to move. His veins ignited with white-hot agony.

He fell backward, convulsing. Blood leaked from his nose, ears, and eyes.

Every circuit in his body—his mana paths, his nerves—felt like they were being scoured by fire and ice simultaneously.

His vision flickered.

Then he saw it—not with his eyes, but with his mind.

A massive door of light.

Runes older than time carved into its surface. It loomed before him in the vast blackness of his inner world.

And behind it… power.

Not just mana. Not just energy.

A higher frequency of existence.

E-rank.

The gate would not open easily.

He had to break it.

He roared, pulling everything he had into one focused push—his will, his energy, his intent.

The core shattered completely, pouring the last of its condensed power into him.

And then—he broke through.

The door opened with a sound like thunder, and his consciousness was engulfed in light.

He saw visions—himself floating in space, stars around him, energy pouring from his hands like rivers. He saw monstrous beasts kneeling. He saw cities of fire, oceans of light, skies of dragons.

He saw what could be.

Then his eyes snapped open.

And he was back in the vault.

The world was quiet.

The pain was gone.

His body ached—but it wasn't weakness. It was… new.

He stood.

His balance was perfect.

Every breath he took felt deeper. Cleaner. His heart beat slower but heavier—stronger. His skin looked the same but felt more resistant, tighter across muscle that had become dense, compact, and honed like a blade.

His mana pool had tripled.

Not just in quantity—but in quality.

And most fascinating of all… his soul felt clearer. His thoughts sharper. The haze of fear, doubt, confusion that had lingered in the back of his mind since arriving in this world… was gone.

He opened his system window.

---

[Status Screen]

Name: Auther Finn

Race: Human

Rank: E1

Ability: Skill Creation (Unique)

Skills:

Fighting Mastery (F6)

Mana Edge (F5)

Burst Step (F5)

Phantom Echo (F4)

Lesser Flesh Knitting (F5)

Energy Activation (F6)

Starwave Breathing (F8)

Internal Fortification (F3)

Neural Reinforcement (F3)

Disrupting Pulse (F4)

Skill Points: 2

---

He stared at the screen for a long time.

E1.

He had done it.

He was no longer a mortal.

He had stepped beyond.

Auther clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling the raw density of his new body. Even standing still, power hummed beneath his skin. If a Rank F9 mutant faced him now, it would die in seconds.

He hadn't just grown stronger.

He'd changed.

It wasn't just physical.

He understood mana on a deeper level now. When he closed his eyes, he could feel the flow of ambient energy more acutely. He could sense variations in its texture, taste its density, instinctively understand its pathways.

This was what true evolution felt like.

But he also knew this was just the beginning.

E-rank was vast.

It would take him months to reach E9, maybe years—if he didn't die first.

The real monsters began to appear at E5 and above. That's where bloodlines awoke. Where other races showed their terrifying racial abilities.

He wasn't special to the world.

But he had a system.

And it was his.

He sat back down and opened Skill Creation.

He had two points—barely enough to do anything. But his mind had been chewing on a new idea.

He typed:

> Name: Kinetic Conversion

Description: "Convert physical movement or kinetic impacts into raw mana. Allows the user to recover a small fraction of mana through sustained motion or receiving non-lethal impacts."

Rank: F4

Cost: 27 SP

Too expensive.

But a good concept.

He saved it and moved on.

The next one was more realistic.

> Name: Mana Flow Optimization

Description: "A passive technique that reduces internal mana leakage and increases overall control by a small percentage. Lowers mana cost of basic skill activations by 2%."

Rank: F3

Cost: 10 SP

Much better.

A skill like this, stacked with Neural Reinforcement, would increase his skill usage time dramatically in extended battles.

He saved that idea too.

He would farm for it soon.

Then another thought hit him.

He opened a new file.

> Name: Mana Converter – External Absorption

Description: "Allows the user to temporarily convert mana from fallen monsters' cores into Skill Points instead of absorbing it as energy. Only activates on monsters at the user's rank or higher. Daily usage limit applies."

Rank: F9

Cost: 130 SP

He blinked.

Then smiled.

The system clearly didn't like being gamed.

This was its limit—its line in the sand.

Allowing even a fraction of a second point-generation method came with a steep price.

But… that didn't mean he couldn't try something different later.

If he could figure out how the point system functioned at its core—what rules it obeyed—maybe he could one day bend or rewrite them.

Skill Creation was infinite.

His potential was infinite.

All he had to do… was survive long enough.

He closed the system and stepped outside the vault.

Dawn was breaking.

The first true light he'd seen as an Awakened.

The world felt different.

Sharper.

The ruins no longer loomed like predators.

They felt like the first floor of a tower.

The base of a mountain.

He still had so far to climb.

But now… he could.