Primordial Awakening: I Can Evolve My Skills Infinitely

[Congratulations to the "Primordial" for being the first being in history to complete the "Seventh Layer" and killing the Layer Boss: Zareth, The Forgotten One.]

"Huh," Sam muttered, staring at the glowing panel floating in front of him with a blank expression, "Luckily... it didn't show my name."

On Earth, it would have.

Back then, when system notifications appeared, they would broadcast his name for everyone to see.

But here, it only revealed his title.

It didn't say "first human" either. It said "first being."

That simple choice of words was a shield.

It concealed his race and identity, from the endless eyes watching.

That way, people knew the primordial was moving in the shadows and growing stronger, while also making sure to hide who he was.

Sam felt satisfied with that.

If there was one thing he wanted more than power, it was the ability to choose when to reveal himself.

His gaze drifted away from the panel and settled on Zareth's body.

The corpse of the Forgotten One lay broken across the ground.

His head, severed cleanly by the black blade that had descended from above, had rolled several feet away, lifeless eyes staring at nothing.

Sam stared at it in silence.

'Was it the ten beings who killed him? Or something else entirely?'

The memory of that moment was sharp.

And the fact something could attack Zareth and instantly kill him from who knows where made Sam uneasy.

He let out a slow breath and watched as the remnants of Zareth's power began to fade.

The artifacts once adorning the Forgotten One's body shimmered faintly, their glow weakening, until they dissolved into nothingness.

Even his corpse carried no trace of usable loot.

That struck Sam as odd.

"Huh," he muttered, rubbing his chin, "I guess since I killed all the others, there aren't any artifacts left to claim. And since Zareth's powers were those of the other Forsaken Lords, I can't get anything from him either."

He still had the other items beside the artifacts of the forsaken lords, but still... That was disappointing.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed something rising above the corpse: Zareth's spirit.

It lingered, dark and heavy, refusing to disperse right away.

Sam narrowed his eyes. He didn't even want to try.

He had already learned his lesson with Varkhaz.

When he tried to use the [Primordial Spirit] skill on that one, he had been instantly rejected.

The backlash had hurled him across the battlefield, his body rattled by the sheer force of the refusal.

[Who knows… maybe this will work this time =)]

Sam glanced at the panel, then at the spirit, and sighed.

His three spirit slots were already filled by the [Forgotten Flying Sentinels], but that didn't matter much.

To be honest, the [Primordial Spirit] skill was probably the most useless skill Sam had at the moment.

There were two reasons why.

The first was that his growth far outpaced the usefulness of the spirits he captured.

By the time he acquired one, it was already obsolete against the enemies he faced.

Even with boosts from his affinities, they died quickly and contributed little.

The second was even worse.

The spirits that mattered, the ones belonging to truly powerful beings, always rejected him.

Their hatred and their will burned too fiercely for him to overcome.

He walked toward Zareth's spirit anyway.

The dark silhouette loomed above the corpse, wavering like a flame.

Sam reached out, just grazing its surface—

Fwish! BOOM!

A massive shockwave erupted, throwing him backward across the floor like a ragdoll.

The violent rejection left the air trembling.

[Too bad.]

Sam groaned and dragged himself upright, dusting himself off.

"I knew this would happen, and I still fell for it because of you."

[I'm literally you, don't blame me.]

"True."

The spirit began to fade, its form unraveling into smoke.

Sam accepted the failure without much frustration. He had expected it.

But just before the last of Zareth vanished, something made him stop.

For the first time, he saw it. Zareth's real face.

Not the one hidden behind Jevil's mask.

The mask had shattered with his death, revealing a visage half ruined, as if carved from broken stone.

The left side of his face was jagged and eroded.

Only the right side remained whole, one pale eye glimmering faintly as it fixed on Sam.

His cracked lips twitched, then curved upward into a grin.

"Good luck, Primordial."

That was all he said. Then the spirit dissolved into nothing, gone forever.

Sam exhaled slowly, watching the last fragments scatter.

He didn't need anything more from these beings.

They were obstacles. And obstacles were meant to be destroyed.

That was all there was to it.

He had been brought into this world believing he would just be an extra, someone on the sidelines.

Yet here he was, walking a path none had walked before.

In the distance, a portal shimmered into existence. His way out.

But Sam didn't move toward it right away. He knew what waited beyond.

Crowds of awakeners were waiting to catch a glimpse of whoever emerged from the layer.

They were all desperate for a clue about the Primordial.

Sam had no intention of revealing himself so easily. He would wait.

[Do you not see? We are strong enough to eliminate them all now =)]

"Sure," Sam muttered with a shrug, "But Zareth said there are seven missions. And since this was only the first, I have no idea what comes next."

That was the real concern.

Once all seven missions were completed, which was almost impossible according to the ten colossal beings from before, then he would be able to head to the last realm.

And whatever lay there… it didn't want him to know.

Zareth hadn't even been able to speak a single word of warning before he was struck down.

Sam stayed where he was, waiting quietly—

Ding!

A crisp notification cut through the silence.

[You have completed your Master Rank advancement task 2/2: Complete the first mission of the "Upper" realm by yourself.]

[Performance Rating: SSS.]

Sam blinked, then let out a long breath.

'Finally.'

Ding!

[Congratulations to Sam Walker for advancing to Ascendant Rank!]

The words glowed brightly before him.

Most of the awakeners here were already peak Forsaken rank, many preparing for their next evolution.

Yet he was only now reaching Ascendant. Even so, he was certain.

Even at Ascendant, he was the strongest awakener in the Upper Realm.

The thought stirred a question in his mind.

If he was already this strong now, just how powerful would he become at the peak of Forsaken rank? Or beyond that?

And what about the other Primordials? If they were anything like him, what heights had they already reached?

'And if so... how the fuck were they killed.'

His musing was interrupted by another sound.

Ding!

[It seems like you have managed to defeat all seven forsaken lords, Primordial.]

[A feat showing that you are truly one of our kind.]

"...?"

Sam frowned. This was new.

Normally, after clearing a milestone, he would be given a choice of rewards from his affinities.

Then he would unlock his next one. But this… this was something else.

Ding!

[As a reward for your efforts, and for showing me that our determination is still just as strong... you have been granted x3 "Skill Tier Advancement Scrolls"]

"Huh?"

A new panel unfolded.

---

[Skill Tier Advancement Scrolls]

[Rank: Forsaken+]

[Description: Can be used on a forsaken-rank skill to evolve it to "Tier 2", and thus unlock the rest of the ranks.]

[Hell-Mode Analysis: Our reward for all our efforts =)]

---

Sam's eyes widened.

"Holy shit… this is insane."

He had been wondering how to evolve his skills to Tier 2 beside the [Time] affinity's reward, so that he could finally use [Primordial Evolution] on them.

Now he had the answer.

This was far better than any artifact or item he could have claimed from Zareth.

Whoever was sending these messages remained a mystery, but Sam didn't dwell on it.

There was no point searching for answers that weren't ready to be revealed.

Instead, his attention lingered on the item rank, as it was obviously different than even the strongest item he saw in his previous world.

"Forsaken+," he muttered, "I guess that must be the rank after forsaken, meaning there's 3 more left to discover."

He would use them soon, but for now he checked out the rest.

More panels appeared, glowing with fresh choices.

Sam looked at them in order, calmly.

The next one was the familiar screen.

[Make your choice, Primordial.]

"Here it is," Sam murmured, lips curling into a grin.

---

[Choose between 3 skills (Shadow Affinity)]

[Gain +10 stats to your Strength, Agility, and Constitution, and +20 to your Soul (Void Affinity)]

[Gain no skill now, but instead you must fill the "Hatred Bar" before reaching Level 5 to gain an extremely powerful skill (Hatred Bar)]

---

Sam's eyes narrowed as he considered.

"I guess the [Time] affinity is just like the [Chaos] one. It only is available at level 5, with the reward coming after the advancement task."

That was fine. It didn't bother him much.

One of the things he looked forward to the most was the choice he would have to make between three abilities of the [Time] affinity.

For now, though, he had plenty to go through already.

[You have a bad feeling about all of this.]

[As if what awaits you next will shatter your determination once and for all.]

Sam read the words in silence.

Then he let out a long sigh, "That's why I need to get stronger."