Awakening the Triad

Alexander sat down and wiped the grime from his screen, switching it on from sleep mode. Since he had been previously browsing the government site, it automatically loaded the page, and to his surprise, the very topmost pinned post contained exactly what he was looking for, so he clicked it.

[Title: The Comprehensive Mastery Guide by Kaiser: Analyzing the Three Stat Categories

Survivors,

I am Kaiser, providing a structured analysis on mastering the three integral stat categories: Potency, Vitality, and Acuity. In this waning epoch, understanding these facets is crucial for survival. As recognized by the government, my perspective on these matters is intended to elucidate, not entertain.

Mastering Potency: Aura Warriors

Aura Warriors harness internal energy into a semi-corporeal matter, demonstrating Potency. Breaking the human genetic limit at 5 points leads to Aura Warrior status. Control is key, and elemental affinities must align to manifest an Aura Color.

Utilize it methodically, not whimsically.

Mastering Vitality: Bastions

Bastions wield immense vitality and resilience. At 5 points in Vitality, surpass the human limit to reach Bastion status. A ward shields and aids regeneration. Such endurance requires discipline to maintain.

Mastering Acuity: Soul Masters

Soul Masters manipulate surroundings through thought and will. Acuity breaking 5 points grants initial Soul Master status. Understand, exploit, but never underestimate the potential ramifications of this mental domain.

Analyzing and Understanding the Human Status Universe-wide

Humanity boasts average Potency, poor Vitality, and exemplary Acuity. Our evolutionary trajectory emphasizes intelligence and the soul over physical attributes. Use this information as you will.

May the pursuit of mastery serve your survival. Adapt intelligently, not impulsively.]

[Community Discussion: Kaiser's Mastery Guide - Comments Section

1. Jacob Lowe: Kaiser's systematic breakdown offers insightful analysis. However, should we really trust the government's chosen guru in such dire times? Can anyone even verify this information?

2. Darcy Porter: I don't plan to throw blows or go anywhere near those dreadful monsters. It seems like Acuity is my best bet so that I can crush those vile things from a distance.

3. Esteban Ricardo De La Rosa Ramirez: Estoy interesado en cómo estas habilidades podrían ser aprovechadas para sobrevivir, ¿tiene Kaiser consejos para nosotros, los que hablamos español?

4. Lucy Kent: Kaiser, you've risen swiftly as the beacon of strength. How do you handle the pressure of being the government's poster child? They've constantly hyped you as the strongest, but what have you done to prove it?

5. Richard Banks: Hmph, power comes with a price. I bet this Kaiser fellow had been cultivated by the government at the expense of normal lives just to control what we think!

6. Julian Moore: Can we apply these stat categories and their mastery to technology? For example, adding Aura to guns and bullets or using Soul Mastery to fire weapons remotely - like snipers - from great distances without being there?

7. Derek Beck: All this talk about becoming the ultimate warrior feels like a superhero movie plot. This is the apocalypse, man, talk like an adult.

8. Quentin Jones: More importantly, can we use any techniques to boost this stuff? I've been reading those funny Chinese Martial Arts novels before the Apocalypse, and they had some wacky ideas, man. Maybe we can crouching tiger hidden dragon this stuff, lol?

9. Daquan James: Yo Kaiser, what if I don't wanna be a warrior but wanna max out my stats? Can I be a chill Soul Master and just vibe? I don't really like the killing and hunting, you feel me?

10. Keira Summers: Kaiser, if you're the so-called strongest, then why couldn't you protect all of us? Judging by these miraculous things you're saying, our army should be able to raze down enough beasts and save us all! Where are you guys when we need you?!]

Alexander only glanced at the top 10 comments and stopped reading them seriously after the twenties because it had devolved into a blame game as well as an argument between the 'it's the right thing to do' group and the 'law of the jungle' group.

Basically, the weak-minded and the edgelords.

Alexander was surprised, though, as this was his first time hearing about this Kaiser fellow. He checked more about him, reading introductions, seeing pictures as well as videos taken and uploaded to YouTube about him, which had 4 billion views already.

Alexander watched him silently, his eyes becoming darker as his expression became grave. He could tell, now more than ever before, that Kaiser was in a league of his own. Not even using his talent given by the Omega System, he likely had stats in the double digits if Alexander's guess was right.

This was a crazy thing to think about because Alexander obviously felt he had done well so far, especially in a domestic setting, to come this far. He acknowledged that he certainly was not the best in the world, but Kaiser's progress made him feel and understand the gap between him and those with factions and resources.

Alexander leaned back in his seat and sighed.

He took a cup of black tea from one of his death clones that had gone out to prepare it and drank slowly, thinking the entire time. His mind occasionally passed by yesternight, the pain he felt, the words he heard from these girls, and their cruelty to their captives, as well as his decision to slaughter Alan.

Unlike yesternight where Alexander felt heavy and winded, he felt refreshed after a night's sleep. Even thinking about it now made him feel a pang of sadness and regret towards Alan, but there was no overwhelming guilt nor trauma.

There was no self-blame nor self-hatred, and he didn't particularly feel evil, like his moral compass had skewed out of balance. Was this an effect of having higher Acuity, allowing him to rationalize things better and escape the influence of emotions?

Maybe, but no, that would be a cheap answer. Alexander had a clue of why, but he didn't actually believe it could make such a big difference to his mentality. However, he did remember one time when he was researching topics for his games; he encountered something he found interesting, which he planned to include in his next game.

It was a blog post by a relatively no-name blogger about morality and its relation with law and perception. To cut a long story short, the poster suggested that there was no such thing as a 'naturally kind' person because kindness as we knew it went contrary to nature's rules.

Rather, the reason we did good things was either for a reward or fear of consequence, but rather than focus on the rewards, he focused more on the relation with the fear of consequence.

The blogger harped on about the importance of law and its need to be very strict with enforcement because people only fear punishment in relation to bad actions. A person only felt bad about murder because he would be shunned by society and jailed for life or even killed himself.

Put a man in a situation where the law had no hold, and he would kill without remorse, no matter how 'normal' he was. This was why in most Apocalypse media and shows, people could easily do evil because the disappearance of consequences allowed them to perform acts that would otherwise have disgusted them.

Well, being in an actual Apocalypse right now, and thinking of what was going on with a bunch of high schoolers nearby, Alexander found it hard to refute this. Especially when he himself was so relaxed and chill about killing an innocent man in cold blood because he knew that no one would knock on his door for it.

Well, there was a group who would knock on his door for it, but they were not enforcers nor did they have any right to judge him. Currently, Alexander found, no one in the world seemed to be able to.

Only he could judge himself now.

This would remain true for now until he encountered someone who could suppress him with force and decide his fate.

The moment Alexander thought like this, his heart began to pound in his chest. He found that he extremely hated the idea of being 'shackled' once more and enjoyed this feeling of being 'free'.

He felt a hint of fear and trepidation at the thought of encountering someone with such power and realizing that, yes, he truly did crave power in the sense that he wanted to be able to take a set of actions and have to answer to no one for them.

Alexander finished his tea and got up, nodding to the death clones. With a clearer idea of what he wanted, he knew he would have to put in the work if he wanted this to be true. With his stats breaking through the superhuman limit, it was pointless to continue hunting domestic animals in the area that mutated.

He needed to find elites and above like the K-9, and those were either found in or near zoos or in the wild. This would require an extended trip from his home, but Alexander felt that it was madness to stay in one location and expect to progress in the apocalypse.

First things first, Alexander's eyes fell on the remaining 13 points and hesitated.

Before allocating them, he first called out to the power he knew he had, the Aura within his body. He raised a hand and manifested a semi-corporeal ball of translucent matter that was colored gold and dark grey.

Even without looking at its color and not even factoring its extreme weight, Alexander could tell that his affiliated element was that of metal. Thinking about how he was always in a city area and surrounded by technology, he did feel that it was normal to be metal element attuned.

Alexander played with his aura for a bit, manifesting weapons, armaments, and even fanciful things. If Alexander were to liken it to anything, Aura was more like the ability of the Green Lanterns, but much weaker.

He retracted his Aura and then concentrated, feeling his blood rush through his body and extend outward, forming a barrier area. This was the ability of the Bastions, and it was amazing.

Not only did Alexander feel like he was invincible as his skin was coated with a layer of invisible energy that protected him, but he could also extend this energy outwards to protect himself from larger threats.

Even better was his sheer control over his internal functions. Alexander was sure that if his defense were somehow breached and he was injured, unless his foe could destroy him in one hit, he could pretty much regenerate from anything, much like Wolverine or Deadpool!

Unfortunately, if his opponent's attack power was high, it would be futile to try and regen. Not to mention that regeneration burned a lot of energy and resources from his body, so it could not be kept up forever.

Alexander did not need to retract his bastion abilities because they worked passively and consumed a meager amount of energy per second, almost unnoticeable unless he was attacked.

Finally, he tested his Soul Master abilities. He instantly felt like the world around him had become open to him, and his mind pretty much soared outside his body for a short distance that covered only 5 meters around him in all directions.

It was like the fabled domains in manga, allowing one to perceive all around them without using their eyes. Alexander could even look at himself in the third person, and this was a marvelous feeling for him.

He found that within these 5 meters, he could easily affect anything within, be it matter or spirit, but anything outside of that caused him great strain depending on the distance.

However, there was a secret discovery that shocked Alexander. When he activated his domain, while he was limited to his range, he could also freely affect things in the range of his death clones!