Liam closed the door behind him with a quiet thud and locked it out of habit. The hallway outside the room faded into silence, replaced by the muted hum of the inn's old timbers settling and the occasional creak of distant footsteps. The warm scent of oak and worn cloth lingered in the air. The room was modest—plain walls, a small desk, and the same bed where he'd rested before. But now, he had something new to confront.
He slipped the pouch of coins from his belt and stored it in his inventory with a quiet exhale. Then, with deliberate movements, he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed and reached inside again, retrieving the two objects he'd yet to examine since his return: the skill stone and the sheathed sword—the rewards from the hidden Easter egg.
His fingers curled around the smooth, faintly glowing skill stone. It was about the size of a plum, cut like a polished gem but with no identifiable runes or markings—just a soft internal shimmer, pulsing at a steady rhythm.
As he held it up, a system prompt materialized in the air before him:
[Item: Random Skill Generation Stone]
Use Condition: Crush in palm
Note: One-time use only.
Without hesitation, Liam closed his hand tightly around the stone and applied pressure.
Cracks spidered through its surface almost immediately, releasing a dull, pulsing warmth that surged through his palm. The light intensified, spreading rapidly up his wrist, then his forearm, shoulder, and across his entire body. Veins of white-gold light laced through his limbs like living branches of fire, illuminating his skin from within. It wasn't painful, but the sensation was overwhelming—like being submerged in warm water and electricity all at once.
His breathing slowed. His muscles stiffened briefly, then softened. For five long seconds, the warmth wrapped around every nerve and every sinew. His vision dimmed slightly around the edges, but the focus in his mind sharpened. And then—it ended.
The light faded without fanfare. The room returned to stillness. His hand opened automatically, revealing only dust and a light burn mark on his glove. He blinked, once. Twice.
He looked down at himself. No outward changes. No sudden strength. No burst of insight. But something had shifted.
He called up his status screen.
[Name: Liam Ashborn]
Age: 14
Grade: F
STR: F
INT: F+
CON: F
DEX: F+
MAG: F+
DEF: F
Skills:
[God-Given Luck: SSS]
[Sword Mastery: C]
Description: "Weaker than the maggots behind the stone in my garden."
(Note: He can't fight. He can't act. But somehow, the world refuses to let him die.)
"My stats increase by one point each".
The his eyes paused on the new entry. [Sword Mastery: C].
He leaned back against the bedpost, a slow breath escaping through his nose. "Sword Mastery... C rank?"
That wasn't a minor gain. For someone like him—Grade F, no foundation, no combat experience—receiving a combat skill of this level as a second skill wasn't just rare. It was nearly impossible. C-rank swordsmanship would typically take years to cultivate for someone of his standing, if they managed it at all.
"It's enough," he murmured, nodding to himself. "If I keep [God-Given Luck] quiet and let them see this instead... I can survive without drawing too much attention."
He knew the importance of restraint. Showing an SSS-ranked skill in public would make him a target for more than admiration. Greed, fear, politics—all of it would come crashing down.
Even in Elyndra, dual skill bearers were treated as anomalies. Dangerous ones.
Among humans, only Jasper Altheira—the second prince of the Altheiran Kingdom and one of the main protagonists—was known to wield two skills. One of them, [Limit Off], allowed him to ignore stat restrictions and grow indefinitely for limited time. The other, [Sword Grandmaster], was a pure-combat SS-ranked skill capable of overwhelming entire squads of trained knights.
Among non-humans, three stood apart: Beatrice Sylvarae, the Elven princess currently enrolled at the academy; a mysterious entity whose identity was never revealed in the game; and Mateo Chavez, a commoner swordsman from the kingdom of Veyrantis, whose second skill was said to manipulate sound itself.
Liam wasn't interested in becoming the fourth human on that list. He wasn't here to dominate. He just wanted to survive.
And if that meant hiding an SSS skill under the cover of a more believable C-rank combat art—so be it.
He turned his attention to the second item.
The sword.
It was long and slender, sheathed in a worn black scabbard wrapped in faded silver cord. There were no engravings. No jewels. Just a single metal tag near the hilt.
He unsheathed it slowly. The steel was pristine—no rust, no scratches, no nicks. The edge was sharp. The weight perfectly balanced. Something about it felt... aware.
The system prompt blinked into view.
[Clamp and Kneel]
Rank: Unknown (??)
Effect: Upon swinging the blade at a target, the target will be compelled to kneel and raise their hands to stop the strike. They cannot move from this posture until released by the user.
(Description: "Below heaven and above earth, I am the one and only invincible one.")
Liam's mouth fell open.
He stared at the text again, making sure he read it correctly. "Kneel... and stop the sword with their hands?"
He blinked. Then laughed once—short, sharp.
"No wonder no one shared what they got from the Easter egg," he muttered, shaking his head. "This is... broken."
Not powerful. Not rare. Broken.
He sheathed the blade again and leaned it carefully against the side of the desk.
His eyes drifted to the window. A pale dusk had begun to settle over Redfern Hollow, casting long shadows against the buildings and cobbled streets.
He sat there a while longer, letting the information settle in his mind. Slowly, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out another chocolate-flavored lollipop from his starter pack.
He unwrapped it without thought and placed it between his lips.
A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Let's see how long I can keep this quiet."