Awakening a 10,000x Skill Proficiency Multiplier in the Apocalypse

The Imperial Magic Academy was a ridiculously clean place. It was a massive campus of white marble and floating crystal towers. To the thousands of rich kids and high-tier NPCs walking its halls, it was a paradise.

But to Sebastian, it looked like a freshly polished tomb.

He stood silently in the shadow of a towering archway. He wore his long black leather coat and the plain white half-mask that covered his upper face. He was fully embracing his new alias, ”Raven.” He looked like an edgy assassin roleplayer, making him completely invisible in a game filled with teenagers trying to look dangerous.

A few feet away, Valerie was holding court.

She was back in her element. Dressed in her flowing azure silk robes and clutching her carved oak staff, the Arcane Valkyrie played the role of the spoiled and untouchable aristocrat flawlessly. A crowd of low-level nobles and eager beta testers had already formed a circle around her. They were laughing at her polite but incredibly condescending jokes.

”I just don’t understand why the basic dormitories don’t come with a dedicated enchanting forge,” Valerie sighed dramatically as she waved a manicured hand. ”How do the peasants even function?”

A chorus of agreeable murmurs echoed from the crowd. Sebastian rolled his eyes beneath his mask. She was definitely good at this.

”Make way! Move it, you basic trash!”

The crowd abruptly parted. A tall and incredibly smug-looking player strode through the gap. He wore robes of deep crimson woven with actual threads of liquid fire that shifted as he moved. His blond hair was perfectly styled, and he carried a staff topped with a violently burning ruby.

[Player Identified: Drake]

[Level: 22 - Fire Mage]

[Title: Son of the Duke]

Drake was the absolute apex predator of the Academy’s social food chain. He was a high-tier NPC with a bloated ego and a ridiculously overpowered elemental affinity.

He stopped directly in front of Valerie and flashed a smile that was entirely too white.

”Well, well. I thought I smelled cheap perfume,” Drake sneered, though his eyes raked up and down her silk robes with obvious hunger. ”You must be the new transfer. Valerie, right? I’m Drake. Top of the combat leaderboards. I usually don’t associate with freshmen, but I might make an exception for you. If you’re lucky.”

Valerie looked at him like he had just stepped in dog feces and tracked it onto her carpet.

”I’m afraid my schedule is entirely booked,” Valerie said, her voice dripping with ice. ”I don’t have the time to tutor remedial students.”

The surrounding crowd collectively gasped. You didn’t talk to Drake like that. Not unless you wanted your avatar turned into a pile of ashes!

Drake’s smile vanished. His face flushed a violent and angry red. The flames on his robes flared up, radiating a wave of oppressive heat.

”Listen here, you stuck-up little bitch,” Drake hissed as he stepped entirely into her personal space. He reached out and aggressively grabbed her wrist, his fingers burning hot enough to singe her silk sleeve. ”In this Academy, you do what I say. You think you’re special? I’ll burn that pretty face right off your...”

CRACK!

The sound was as loud as a gunshot in the quiet courtyard.

Sebastian hadn’t yelled. He hadn’t announced his presence at all. He had simply toggled his [Void Walk], phased through the crowd, materialized directly beside Drake, and chopped his hand down onto the Mage’s extended forearm.

With his physical strength heavily boosted by the real-world synchronization, the blow was devastating. Drake’s bones shattered instantly. The forearm bent backward at a horrifying and unnatural ninety-degree angle.

”AGGGHHHH! FUCK!” Drake shrieked. His voice cracked an octave as he dropped to his knees, cradling his ruined arm.

Sebastian stood between the screaming noble and Valerie. He casually adjusted the cuffs of his black leather coat. His deadpan and uncaring eyes stared down at the writhing Mage.

”Personal space, man,” Sebastian said mildly. ”Learn the concept.”

”My arm! You broke my fucking arm!” Drake wailed as spit flew from his lips. He glared up at Sebastian, his eyes wide with unhinged fury. ”Do you know who I am?! I challenge you! A death duel! Right here! Right fucking now! I’m going to melt the flesh off your bones!”

The system recognized the formal challenge. A massive and glowing red ring materialized on the marble courtyard, enclosing Sebastian and the sobbing and enraged Drake.

[System Prompt: Death Duel Initiated!]

[Combatants: Raven vs. Drake]

[Warning: Anti-PK Safe Zone protocols have been temporarily disabled within the ring.]

The crowd scrambled backward, practically climbing over each other to get out of the splash zone.

Valerie gave Sebastian a tired look. ”Try not to make a mess,” she muttered before stepping outside the glowing red barrier.

Drake staggered to his feet. He pulled a high-tier health potion from his inventory with his good hand and shattered it against his chest. A burst of healing magic forcefully snapped his broken bones back into place. He breathed heavily, his face twisted in absolute malice.

”You’re dead, you masked freak,” Drake roared. He raised his staff. The ruby at the tip ignited with a terrifying and blinding light. The ambient temperature in the courtyard skyrocketed. The marble beneath his boots began to blacken and crack.

”Die! HELLFIRE!”

Drake didn’t hold back at all. He bypassed all his standard spells and went straight for his ultimate attack. A massive and roaring torrent of liquid and super-heated flame erupted from his staff. It wasn’t a fireball. It was a tidal wave of pure and concentrated incineration aimed directly at Sebastian’s chest.

Sebastian didn’t dodge. He just sighed.

He opened his inventory and pulled out a dirt-cheap and damp little pamphlet he had bought for three copper coins in the slums.

[Basic Water Shield]

He crushed the pamphlet in his fist.

[Action Registered: Cast Basic Water Shield]

[Nexus Glitch Activated: Proficiency x10,000]

The beautiful and system-breaking cascade of blue notifications flooded his vision.

[Basic Water Shield leveled up to 10/10! Max Level Reached!]

[Evolution Requirement Met. Basic Water Shield evolves to Tier 1: Aqua Barrier!]

[Proficiency Overflow Detected! Aqua Barrier leveled up to 10/10!]

[Evolution Requirement Met. Aqua Barrier evolves to Tier 3: Tidal Aegis!]

[Proficiency Overflow Detected! Tidal Aegis leveled up to 10/10!]

[WARNING: Concept Threshold Breached. Reflective Law Unlocked.]

[Tidal Aegis evolves to Conceptual Law: Water Mirror.]

Sebastian didn’t feel a rush of moisture. He felt the cold and hard mathematical certainty of absolute reflection.

He casually raised his right hand, palm facing the incoming tsunami of fire.

”Mirror,” he commanded lazily.

FWOOSH!

A perfectly smooth and two-dimensional plane of hyper-condensed water materialized inches from his fingertips. It didn’t look like a shield. It looked like a sheet of pure liquid glass.

The roaring Hellfire hit the Water Mirror.

There was no explosion. There was no steam. The conceptual law of the shield simply absorbed the kinetic and thermal energy of the attack, multiplied it by two, and politely returned it to the sender.

VROOOOM!

The Hellfire bounced off the mirror. It expanded to twice its original size, shifting from a bright orange to a terrifying and blinding blue-white heat. It shot back across the arena at the speed of light.

Drake didn’t even have time to blink.

The reflected blue Hellfire washed over him. The heat was so absolute and so catastrophically high that his high-tier fire-resistant robes instantly vaporized into ash.

”AHHHHHHHH!”

It was a gurgling and wet scream of pure agony. The fire didn’t just burn him. It melted him! The skin on Drake’s face bubbled and sloughed off his skull like hot wax sliding down a candle. His perfectly styled hair ignited and vanished in a puff of smoke. The fat beneath his skin rendered and dripped onto the marble floor.

SIZZLE.

Because it was a Death Duel, the system allowed the damage to render fully before dropping his HP to zero.

The blue fire dissipated, leaving behind a horrifying and whimpering mess of charred and blackened flesh. Drake collapsed onto the scorched marble. His body was a smoking ruin of third-degree burns and exposed melted muscle. He was alive, barely, thanks to a passive survival perk, but he was permanently disfigured.

The courtyard was dead silent.

Sebastian lowered his hand. The Water Mirror vanished into the ether. He walked calmly over to the twitching and unrecognizable lump of meat that used to be the top student.

”Looks like you’re the one who needs a tutor,” Sebastian said flatly.

He didn’t finish him off. He just turned his back, ignoring the terrified and awe-struck stares of the student body, and walked out of the dueling ring. He had established dominance. Nobody was going to bother them again.