Chapter 16: Maturation Scale

Crack!!!

A twig snapped under Aiden's weight, the sound echoing through the stillness like a gunshot. It ripped through the haze clouding Aiden's mind, jolting him back to reality.

Quickly he tore his head away from the boar's neck, the metallic tang of blood heavy on his tongue. The world sharpened around him – the stench of blood, the mangled flesh of the boar, his own hands slick with blood.

He stared at the beast, a sizable portion of its flesh already devoured. A wave of shock washed over him – not from the grisly scene, but from the sheer amount he'd consumed. He knew his actions had been barbaric, a stark contrast to the civilized way he always ate back home. But there were no options here. Hunger had gnawed at him for days, leaving him with no choice. Besides, he didn't have any tools to cut the meat.

For the first time, however, a strange sense of freedom washed over him. In this harsh world, the limitations of his blindness on Earth seemed to fade. Here, there were no judging eyes, no social norms to follow, no fear of being seen as different. Back home, he always felt a vague sense of being watched.

Now, with half the boar devoured, a sense of fullness finally settled in his stomach. But it wasn't just physical satiety. Aiden felt a surge of energy, a renewed strength coursing through his veins. He felt stronger than before.

The reason for this change remained a mystery. Perhaps it was simply the first decent meal he had in days.

But amidst the confusion, a flicker of light caught his attention – a faint shimmering in the corner of his vision. It wasn't a new phenomenon. This strange screen, the one that had transported him here and responded to his thoughts.

The Unread notifications always appeared as highlighted areas at the corner of his vision, cleverly designed not to obstruct his limited sight – another quirk of this strange interface.

But pondering that was a luxury for later.

Now, the notification that had popped up during his feast demanded attention. It was a surprise he hadn't noticed it back then when he was consuming his meal.

With a thought, he accessed the screen. The first notification simply stated that it is the 3rd day of King Trial.

Time must have flown by judging by the amount of boar devoured.

The second notification, however, sent a jolt through him, erasing any doubts about his newfound strength.

[Human Bloodline Growth Accelerated!]

[+1 Strength (Maturation Attribute)]

[Hidden Bloodline Feature Discovered! (+)]

Aiden stared, unblinking, at the notification screen. He didn't understand what "Maturation Attribute" meant, but the free strength point was a welcome surprise.

A tiny plus sign pulsed next to the notification, beckoning him. Curiosity tugged at him, and he focused his mind on it.

The world shimmered, and a white screen materialized in his vision.

[In ancient times, before techniques for cultivating and harnessing life force to enhance the body existed, every race had a natural limit for growth and development. This limit was called the Maturation Scale.

Imagine the Maturation Scale as a bar representing the maximum potential for a being of a specific race. By diligently training their bodies, individuals could reach the full potential of their race, reflected by reaching the maximum points on the Maturation Scale. At this point, they would become the strongest of their kind.

There are two ways to gain Maturation Attributes, which represent the building blocks of your strength: consuming special, nutritious supplements or pushing your body to its limits through rigorous training.

Important Note: once your body surpasses the natural limitations of your race (the Maturation Scale), you can no longer gain Maturation Attributes.

To check your race's Maturation Scale, simply focus on your bloodline within the Status Screen.]

It took a moment for the information to settle in Aiden's mind.

He tried to simplify it in his mind– like how the strength of a person varies depending on their diet and training and there is a limit to how much they can push their body. This system measured the peak a race could reach.

Determined to learn more, he opened the Status Screen and found the bloodline section.

There was the Primordial Devil Bloodline in the bloodline section.

Aiden focused on it, and a notification popped up.

[Maturation Scale(Primordial Devil ???: ???( Inactive)]

[Requires: At Least 10% of Pure Primordial Devil ??? Bloodline needed to activate the Bloodline.]

A pang of disappointment lanced through him with a little confusion. This Primordial Devil bloodline wasn't pure enough to have an active Maturation Scale.

But then, Aiden memory sparked – the notification spoke of accelerated Human Bloodline growth, not the Primordial Devil one.

He shifted his focus to the section above Bloodline, finding "Human Bloodline." Focusing on it, another screen materialized.

[Maturation Scale (Human Race ): 10 (All Stats)(Activated).]

Aiden's face fell. This "Maturation Scale" for humans wasn't much to write home about.

From what he gathered, the Maturation Scale seemed like a limit on how strong his body could naturally become without the help of the leveling up system. Once he reached that limit, no more free maturation Attributes.

It meant he could only gain these free Maturation points until all his stats reached 10. Adding points from leveling up would actually hurt his chances of getting all the maturation points.

Adding points from leveling up would just cut him off early!

A pang of regret shot through him. Those four points he dumped into Vitality right after leveling up felt like a wasted opportunity. He'd lost out on four free attribute boosts, and now his Vitality was maxed out at 10, unable to gain any more free points in the vitality.

Aiden made a quick decision. He wouldn't use any level-up attributes points until all his stats reach 10.

He opened his Status Screen again, trying to figure out how many free points he could potentially get. But then he noticed something strange – his Spirit stat was already at 20. The notification said humans could only reach 10 points in all stats without leveling up, so why did his Spirit have double that?

Aiden frowned. This was another anomaly, and with no one around to ask, he had no choice but to push it aside for now.

Looking at the rest of his stats, he calculated that he could potentially gain 16 more free points if he pushed himself hard, maybe even by eating more of these creature's meat. Apparently, it was good for his body.

....