My Life Changed with the Unlimited System

After finishing his meal, Ethan stood up from his seat and placed the tray back where it belonged. He had taken only a few bites, more out of habit than hunger.

His mind had been too busy thinking, watching, and planning.

There were still two hours before the next training session. He figured he'd use the time to return to his room and rest, maybe go over what he had learned and seen so far.

"If only I can access their resource center... I believe my Intelligence points will skyrocket," he muttered.

To his surprise, when he was fighting Bamba, his Charisma points increased by a lot, too. He believed it was all due to his golden aura.

But the truth was, the way he displayed and integrated his combat skills into a unique one, and then how he had landed a hit on Bamba, were where most of the points came from.

He willed the stats panel to appear in front of him.

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Attributes:

Strength: 705 Speed: 705 Endurance: 705 Intelligence: 1205 Charisma: 1005

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'More than 100 points increased? That's awesome,' he thought. 'If I show that I'm able to use all four elements, I believe it will easily hit 5000 points.'

He let out a light chuckle at the thought. He didn't mind that because the hallway outside the cafeteria was quiet. Just a few trainees walking by, lost in their own thoughts.

Ethan was halfway down the corridor when he heard a voice.

"Ethan."

He turned.

Helena stood a few steps behind him, dressed in a gray research suit with a tablet in one hand. Her hair was tied up neatly, and as always, she looked calm and focused.

"Hey," Ethan said, surprised. "Didn't expect to see you here."

She gave him a small smile. "Neither did you expect to be this excited, right?"

Ethan blinked. Then chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Was it that obvious?"

"Very," she said, amused. "I can almost hear your thoughts from here. No one to talk to. Bored out of your mind. No access to social media. No tech distractions."

"Well, yeah," Ethan admitted. "It's been a quiet few hours."

Helena nodded once, then motioned for him to follow her.

"Follow me. We're heading to a meeting room."

"What for?"

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

"Alright, then." Ethan didn't ask more. He just followed.

It felt good to have someone actually speak to him like a real person. Even if it was for a meeting, at least it wasn't another round of silence or drills.

They stopped in front of a small room with a sliding door. Helena tapped her ID on the panel, and the door opened.

Inside, two people were already waiting.

Maya, seated at the far end, had her arms crossed and her eyes locked on him the moment he entered. Next to her sat Luciano, tapping on a device.

Ethan stepped inside, unsure what this was about.

Helena closed the door behind them.

Something told Ethan this wasn't just a casual chat.

Luciano looked up from his device and gave Ethan a nod.

"Have a seat, Ethan."

Ethan sat down quietly, eyes shifting between Maya, Helena, and Luciano. The room wasn't tense, but it definitely wasn't casual either.

Luciano leaned back slightly in his chair, folding his hands on the table.

"So," he began, a small smile tugging at his lips, "how was your first training as a Nemesis operative?"

Ethan let out a slow breath, unsure if he should answer seriously or joke about it.

"It was… intense," he said finally. "Woke up before sunrise, ran until my legs went numb, then fought an instructor who could probably crush me with one hand."

Luciano chuckled. "Sounds about right."

Helena was already typing something on her tablet, not interrupting.

Maya, meanwhile, kept watching Ethan. Not coldly, but focused. Like she was trying to read past his answer.

Luciano tilted his head. "And how do you feel about it?"

Ethan thought for a moment.

"Tired," he said. "But I get it. If Nemesis wants the best, the process can't be easy."

Luciano nodded slowly, the smile still there but fading just a little.

"Good. Because it won't get easier."

Luciano leaned back and gave Ethan a look that was part amused, part serious.

"By the way," he said, "Bamba scolded me."

Ethan blinked. "What? Why?"

Luciano laughed. A short, genuine laugh that made Ethan feel like he had just asked the right question.

"Well," Luciano said, still smiling, "he said we gave him a false report."

Ethan's eyes lit up in sudden realization. He let out a small laugh of his own.

"Oh," he said. "You guys are the ones who said I'm a Middle Four-Star."

Maya, who had been quiet, finally smiled. "Yes. We did report that."

Then her smile faded just a little. "But the weirdest part is… your aura. It reads as a Lower One-Star."

Ethan turned to her, eyebrows raised. "Come on, Maya. You were there with Mark. You helped train me. You taught me how to form my core. Of course, I'm a Lower One-Star."

Maya looked at him for a moment. Her face changed, just slightly. A flicker of confusion passed through her.

"I forgot about that," she said. "But still… how did your evaluation show Middle Four-Star?"

Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but Luciano cut in.

"No," he said. "The real question is, how were you able to injure Bamba?"

That made the room go quiet again.

Ethan stared at both of them.

He scratched the back of his head, unsure what to say.

"I… don't know," he admitted. "I really don't. I don't understand this power either."

He looked down at his hands.

"It just… happened."

Helena had been quiet the whole time, just watching.

But after a while, she spoke.

"Well," she said, "you are the twelfth person in the world's recorded history to have formed a Golden Core."

Ethan looked up at her, surprised.

Helena continued, "The last person before you was named Raegan Voss. He came from one of the Ancient Families. That was over two hundred years ago."

Luciano let out a soft whistle. "That long, huh?"

Helena nodded. "Golden Ascendants don't usually reveal much about themselves. But one thing they all agreed on—they could fight against someone two full ranks above their level. And now, they've all reached the top. The strongest of the strong."

Ethan leaned back in his chair, letting the information sink in.

Only twelve.

In the entire world.

He was one of them.

That hit differently.

Then something came to his mind. A question that had been bugging him since he formed his core.

He looked at Helena.

"Did any of them ever share how they managed to stage up?" he asked.

The room went quiet again.

Helena's eyes met his. She seemed to understand exactly why he was asking.

"Are you having trouble staging up?" she asked softly.

Ethan gave a small nod. "Yeah. I know it's only been a few days since I became an Ascendant. But with the kind of progress I've made… I thought I'd be a Low One-Star by now."

Luciano and Maya glanced at each other, unsure of how to respond. So they stayed quiet and let Helena handle it.

She looked at Ethan with a thoughtful expression.

"I'm not completely sure," she said. "But maybe… your strength and elemental mastery both need to reach a certain level before your stage can rise."

She tapped her tablet once, pulling up some data.

"Right now, your physical strength is comparable to a Higher Three-Star. That's impressive on its own. But your elemental force and control are closer to a Middle Four-Star. The reason we wrote that you're as strong as a Middle Four-Star is because most Ascendants rely on their elemental power during battle."

Luciano chuckled and leaned forward.

"Well, that turned out to be a lucky mistake. If Bamba had lowered himself to a Higher Three-Star instead… You might've knocked him out."

Everyone laughed, including Maya.

Even Ethan cracked a small smile.

But inside, his mind was still working.

He kept thinking about what Helena said.

'What are the numbers I need to hit? What does the system really require for the next stage?'

He didn't have the answers yet.

But he knew one thing.

He was going to find out.

Luciano looked at Ethan and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry too much about stages and ranks," he said. "With what you've shown so far, people might still look down on you... But they won't be able to beat you. At least not those Vanguards in your batch."

Ethan nodded slowly. The words helped a little.

"Actually," he said, "I have another question."

Luciano gestured with a hand. "Go ahead."

"How long will I be here?"

Luciano glanced at Helena, then at Maya.

Maya spoke first. "Well, we need you to be able to train and function as part of a unit before we go on the mission to rescue Mark. That's why we sent you into training. But we didn't officially enroll you into the academy."

Ethan raised his eyebrows. "Wait… you mean the people I've been training with are actual academy students?"

Helena nodded. "Yes. Everyone there is considered a Junior Operative. They're part of the main academy."

Ethan paused. There was something else that had been bothering him.

"Hold on a second," he said. "I saw a few of them who are already at the Four-Star rank. That girl—Maria—she's a Middle Four-Star. That means she's just a few stages behind all of you."

The moment the words left his mouth, all three of them—Luciano, Helena, and Maya—looked at him sharply.

Maya leaned forward a little. "How do you know our rank?"

Ethan froze.

He hadn't meant to say that. Not out loud.

"Errr…" He tried to think of something. "Am I… not supposed to know?"

Helena studied him for a moment, then answered calmly.

"No. It's rare for someone at the Lower One-Star level—or even below our rank—to be able to sense power that clearly. So no, you're not supposed to know."

Ethan gave a sheepish shrug and said nothing more.

Luciano laughed. "Come on, Ethan. How much more unique can a Golden Ascendant be? You're already showing signs that you're stronger than the rest."

Maya nodded slightly. "You're not just rare. You might actually be different from the rest of the twelve."

That thought sat in the air for a moment.

None of them said it out loud, but they were all thinking the same thing.

If Ethan could already perform like this while still at the Lower One-Star stage...

Then, once he reached even just two ranks below the other Golden Ascendants...

He might be able to defeat all of them.