"I tried to ge, to give the Hales a ce, and it is w… somewhat. I always khey were good people — after all, who else would take in a kid like me — but now I truly see it. They will never repce the void left by my parents, but they don't o. I just have to accept their help and stop looking baothing good is waiting for me back there."

  ~ Third entry, Leo's journal

  Twenty-seven days and thirteen hours. Not even a month to get to Nick, Lily, and Leo's foster parents. The deadlines Leo had faced as a uy student or as a reporter for the loews couldn't pare to this race against time.

  Back then, Leo knew what he was doing; even if the deadline was catg up to him, he never gave up because it was something he had practiced for years. But now? Now Leo was going in almost pletely blind, guided by a System that provided him with the bare minimum of information.

  Out of the frying pan into the fire. Leo sighed, pig up two small rocks and tossing them oeway's ptform at random.

  The pebbles cttered against the mysterious material, boung a few times before finally stoppio the gate. The ptform remained unged even after the small intrusion, and so Leo took a step forward.

  No matter how much Leo wao turn away and tinue his main task with renewed vigor, he at least had to iigate the gate further. He might not get the ce to study it iure, depending on what would e from it.

  As a result, Leo pced his foot on the dark material without making a sound. The grouh his feet was as hard as any other ordinary rock. Even with all of the violet lines, it was fwless, like a finely cut and polished stone.

  Leo held his breath as he stopped before one of the thick pilrs that made up the gate. Hand shakily raising towards the dark surface, he gasped and jerked the limb away. Somehow, a surge of fn Esseried to force itself into Leo's body even after a siouch.

  Leo quickly reized the energy as the same powerful Essence he drained from every Voidling he killed. Only here, the Pure Void Essence was wilder, trying to attack him after a single tact. Weird, it has never dohat before...

  Leo shook his head and took a moment to just walk around the Gateway, sing it from top to bottom with his eyes and 'Identify'.

  Even then, he didn't dare to touch the structure again with unprotected skin. Maybe if Leo had more trol over his own Essehere would be something else he could do, but for now, a simple iigation was just fine for him. Not that he found anything helpful anyway.

  "If you could tell me just a bit more. Anything that isn't just a warning," Leo muttered, reading the description of the Pary Gateway once again.

  Dismissing the information, Leo sighed as he turned away from the alien structure and began walking in the same dire he had previously chosen. There was nothi here for him, and it was high time to move on.

  However, even as Leo wahrough the wheat fields, his mind couldn't give up the new mystery of the Void Gates.

  Thousands of those objects sprouted up around the world, adding to the chaos that had takehe Earth. And the less said about the prospect of beings other than Voidlings passing through the gates, the better. Even more to prepare for.

  And once again, I'm trying to drown myself in all the ivity I muster… Lily would be proud of me. Leo snorted and tried to force himself to think about something that really needed his attention.

  Stealth.

  Leo had to fix this skill before venturing into the city. The abomination he called stealth had little to no hope of shielding him from Voidlings lurking around every er. Against one or two low-leveled Cursed Humans, it might work well enough. But what if Leo entered more types of monsters during his journey with enough intelligeo see through his trick?

  Yeah. Let's get to work.

  The protective barrier sprang ieh just a thought, all imperfes now clear as day. Leo lessened his hold on the Essend smiled when the skill didn't fade away.

  Once again, Leo focused on the holes in the barrier. Uhe st time, he slowly filled each of them, giving every gap a moment to adjust to the reestablished flow of Essence. Sometimes Leo had to fight his energy for trol. Still, it ook lohan a few seds to make it obedient again.

  As Leo worked, his walking speed almost slowed to a crawl, and he did not try to speed up his pace. The skill's improvement was too signifit to throw his focus somewhere it wasn't needed.

  Alright, one problem dowhought, sing the entire ability for every fw in the density of the barrier. Two to go.

  There were plenty of these irregurities. Pces where the yer of Essence was almost ent or became so thick that Leo had to wonder how the skill still worked.

  He poked those spots, trying to uand how to fix this new problem. Filling holes was ohing, but adding or removing Essehat had already formed a skill was another. F additional energy across the thin yer simply destabilized the ability, and any attempt to stop the flow of power resulted ih disappearing pletely.

  Su oute always forced Leo to take a few deep breaths unless he wao dey his progress even more. Starting from the beginning could get old very quickly, and he wouldn't mind pung something hard.

  In the end, Leo found the perfect solution to his problem just when a road leading to the easterrao the city appeared on the horizon. For another few minutes, his body walked on autopilot as his mind activated stealth again, ready to finish the job.

  Like each time, Leo started by filling every hole before exeg his new pn.

  Instead of pushing more Esseo the ots, Leo slowly transferred the excess energy from the thicker pces to even out the entire barrier.

  With each fw fixed, he could sense more and more of Essence's movement within the barrier. Leo came to a halt after the st damaged yer was removed, noting the ck of any sound around him other than the mild breeze rustling through the wheat.

  Wait a sed. Leo frowned as he took aep, the usual thud of his feet against the ground missing once again. Is that what you're capable of? He thought as he felt around the barrier, which was only a step away from being repaired.

  Leo sat on the ground and closed his eyes. Stealth required less Essend time to form with each adjustment, and it now muted the sound Leo produced. What else could it do if the Essen the filled gaps acted like the rest of the barrier?

  it truly be so simple?

  Even now, with more points in Mind, Leo could barely feel the Essence of the enviro, much less use it. heless, it didn't mean there was no way to achieve the same thing the skill did during its formation.

  Legs crossed, Leo once more utilized his previous trick. Only this time, he exged Esseween two pces, tightly iwining the Essehat imitated the enviro's energy with Essence Leo used to fill the gaps.

  The new energy could no lhe previously formed barrier as it was forced to adapt by the overwhelming pressure from every side. Leo grinned as the crimson spots slowly disappeared from the skill, gradually developing a perfect — at least for now — ability.

  Leo gasped whe imperfe faded away, his body bending forward as the barrier squeezed his body and disappeared. No matter how much Leo wao pin about being manhandled by his skill, he couldn't stop the first genuine smile from f. Not after a notification appeared before his eyes.

  gratutions, your Stealth evolved.

  True Stealth (Unon):With practid hard work, the shortings of basic stealth were removed. Now you truly walk among your enemies as Essence guides you on your way. But beware that nothing is ever perfect.Effects:Advanced ability capable of shielding you with a strong yer of trolled Essence. When activated, your Essence signature will be harder to detect, while your st and any sounds you make will be hidden. The efficy of this skill is depe on your Mind and Grace.

  Instead of being led by instincts, the knowledge of how to properly form the skill from the get-go rushed inside Leo's mind. The smile on his face widened as he finally uood everything about his ability. Eve about opening his Esseo the enviro so it could gain the required properties seemed obvious now.

  Standing up, Leo called out the True Stealth and shivered as the barrier surrounded his body. He felt around its edges, searg for the usual imperfes, but found none.

  "It worked," Leo muttered, only for the sound to never leave his mouth. It truly did.

  A bit over a day had passed, and Leo somehow mao force a skill to evolve by gaining meager trol over energy he had never used. What more could he aplish with more trol? With more time?

  Leo stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder. The pain faded into the background as Leo walked, his head spinning with all the ideas given to him by the simple evolution of a skill.

  Maybe there really is a ce to survive this shit.

  Uhe road Leo crossed before, this one barely had enough space to let tass o each other. Not really that surprising, as the road didn't lead anywhere essential, and no one cared enough to repce it with somethier.

  And so the road remained in its current state, full of holes and faded markings. Additionally, the road got worse with every mile further into the east. Barely anyone used it; thus, Leo only met two Voidlings on his way back to the city.

  The first one never noticed him as Leo plunged a dagger is head, and the sed was howling inside aurned car by the road. Not even a challe this point. Although Leo knew he would get his ce as soon as he noticed a building that sighe official entrao Wolford.

  It was a simple petrol station with three pumps, a store, and a small parking lot on the side. At first gnothing special, but most citizens of Wolford knew better, including Leo. With a unique name of "Fill me", the local petrol station had the best prices iire Wolford. Even people from the opposite side of the city drove here to refill.

  As a result, Leo wasn't surprised to see over a dozen Voidlings strolling throughout the area, with cars aba every turn. Some vehicles were crushed on the side of the road, while most were parked i or near a pump.

  From here, Leo had options to choose from. He could either go around the petrol station aer a small residential area that stood o the industrial part of Wolford, Leo's inal target. Or he could approach the small store from the bad kill a few Voidlings.

  No more running from a winuation. I have to take some risks if I want to grow stronger, and this is a perfect opportunity. Leo nodded, his eyes never leaving the station. Besides, I might be able to kill a bit more than just a few. He added as one Crystalized Essence slipped into his hand.

  Leo retreated into the wheat fields and moved, croug all the way towards a pce where the farmnds met with the back of the petrol station.

  With the shop hiding the rest of the station from Leo's sight, he quickly sed the area and grabbed the dagger from his waistline. He had to get to the shop's backdoor, and thankfully only one Voidling decided to guard the back of the petrol station.

  The True Stealth formed around his skin, and Leo moved, the only car — a yellow sedan — in the back being his first cover. He peeked over the vehicle's mask, searg for the lone monster.

  Still there, good. Leo noted as he watched the Voidling iigate the shop's wall just a few feet away from the backdoor.

  A short, soundless run was all it took t the moo the ground, a dagger pierg its brain. Cws followed soon after, and the body turned into dust as Leo approached the closed door.

  Cursed Human (LVL: 2) sin | Experience awarded | 1 Ether gained

  Leo gripped the handle and twisted, praying to whoever was listening to grant him this small mercy. The lock clicked, and Leo sighed as the door opened without a sound.

  Leo gave the small office a brief gnd saw that it was indeed devoid of any surprises that might jump out at any moment. However, one could never be sure with the few boxes and lockers standing in the er, so Leo examined everything he saw. Just in case.

  Nodding, Leo closed the lid of the st box. No surprises, indeed. Now for the part of the pn.

  He opehe door to the tral part of the shop and hid behind one of the shelves with dies, a quiet screech reag his ears. Leo smiled slightly as he looked over the shelf and noticed only two voidling mulliween the shelves.

  Like the oside, they, too, met a quid as Leo snuck behind them and reheir brains useless with one blow.

  Part two finished. Leo smirked and moved to drain the victims and grab whatever valuable items he could find without alerting the Voidlings outside. After only some dry food was added to his backpack, it was time to start the third and st portion of the pn.

  Leo stopped in front of the entrao the shop and took a deep breath. Fingers and cws gripped the edges of the sliding doors as his eyes closed. It is now or he st opportunity to stop before everything goes to hell.

  Eyes opening, Leo gazed at the creatures walking outside, weaving around the pumps and the damaged cars. He could leave, and every rational part of Leo's mind screamed at him to do just that. But should he really listen?

  No. This wasn't the same world. The rules had ged, and Leo had already uood that after the events of the st twenty-four hours. He had to fight, get stronger as fast as possible because that was the only ce of survival. Be it Leo's or his family.

  Leo shook his head. Yeah, running away was never an option, huh? Adapt or die, Leo. Adapt or die.

  Taking a deep breath, Leo yanked, snapping the doors open with a bang.