The Over-Break System

“Yosh, that’s done, now I need to power level my Tamer class, hatch my Birbs, and we are good to go.” Cynrik cheerfully exclaimed as he punched his right palm with his left fist.

Soon, Cynrik had dumped hundreds of XP crystals out of his inventory, scattering them around himself, making him appear like an island surrounded by a sea of tiny crystals.

For the next few minutes, Cynrik entered a repetitive sequence of events where he would scoop up a handful of crystals, drain them of the XP stored within, crush the empty stones to powder, and move on to the next batch.

Once he hit the appropriate amount of XP in his Pool, only then did he begin siphoning it off to his Tamer Class.

-You have chosen to distribute 252,616 XP to your Sub-Class.-

-Are you sure you would like to assign this XP to your Sub-Class? (Y/N)-

-Your Tier-2 Tamer Class has leveled up-

-Your Distribution has increased by +0.2 INT, 0.2 MIND.-

-You have received two Stat points.-

-You have received two Skill points.-

-You have distributed the total amount of XP your Sub-Class can handle.-

– Your Tier-2 Tamer Class has reached the level cap of 35.-

-Current Primary Class Distribution upon leveling up, 7 INT, 7 MIND.-

-You have learned the Tier-0 Tamer Skill [Stat Share]-

-You have learned the Tier-0 Tamer Skill [Basic Nurture]-

“Hm, interesting, two more skills, and both of them are for buffing my birbs. Stat share seems to give 1% of my basic stats to a designated pet, while Basic Nurture allows me to distribute some of my XP from my Pool to either one of my pets.” Cynrik thought aloud as he read the two new skill descriptions and stood up.

“We can sideline that for the time being. I need to adjust to my increased stats, especially my DEX and AGI, which jumped massively….” Placing his hands on his hips, Cynrik looked up at the nodule positioned above the center of the room; this was the command receiver for the Dorm AI.

“Dorm AI, summon two Tier-3 Training Droids and set them to physical fighting mode.”

“Command Received, Summoning two Tier-3 Training droids, their stats are set to 1000 in all physical stats, be prepared for combat to begin in one minute.” The melodious voice of the Dorm AI was emitted from the several long speakers running the length of the training room, and the two closets housing droids opened simultaneously before the robots, as mentioned, made their way to the center of the room.

Rolling out his arms and shaking out both legs, Cynrik dropped into a combat stance and waited for his opponents to go active so he could test his newfound strength, and just before the timer counted down, he sent Brance over his Status profile, then got serious.

—

In the living room, Brance was still sitting on his couch apart from Gabby; however, now, there were a total of 7 perfectly cut opals resting neatly on the coffee table arm’s length away from him.

His destroyed-to-cut gem ratio was abysmal at the moment, with 32 opals turned to dust and only seven completed making Brance frustrated. However, when he received the notification from Cynrik detailing all his new stats and skills, Brance nearly sliced his finger off with the sharp chisel.

Wearing an angry frown, Brance threw down his tools and glared at the training room with [Mana Sight] active, but as soon as he did, Brance’s jaw dropped open.

Cynrik’s Mana Signature had grown by leaps and bounds, starting from his enlarged Codex to how the particles were distributed throughout his body. That wasn’t all; watching how quick his brother was bouncing between the two droids as he sparred with them; Brance couldn’t help but feel left behind.

Most of his gains came from hard work and training, whereas Cynrik seemed only to grow when he injured himself or jeopardized his life.

The contrast between them was something that most people couldn’t understand, but Brance knew that this was just Cynrik’s way of coping with things. He had always been self-destructive, especially back on Earth, but now he was rewarded for such behavior, allowing him to soar ahead of the rest of the party.

‘Damn it, Tobs, how close did he come to killing himself this time?’ Trying to calm down the storm of emotions he was experiencing, Brance turned to the only person who had seen everything.

-Retrospectively, not as close as after his last Turning Point quest, but closer than when you and he used the Over-Break mode as children. I would say the risk of death was relatively close to when he came in contact with the Chaos Affinity Gem Fragment, but not all the way there.-

-It is concerning that he seems to be falling into a pattern using the excuse that every time he is near death, he gets stronger; what did he call it again? Ah yes, a Zenkai Boost, and after some research, I have concluded as to why this power gain continuously happens.-

‘Are you saying there’s a legit reason, and it’s not just because he’s insane?’ Looking at the ceiling as if Tobs were floating there, Brance closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes in concern.

-Yes. Initially, I thought nothing of the fact that Host Cynrik seemed to get stronger after every life-threatening injury. However, once is lucky; two is rare, but for this surge of new power to happen three times indicated something more to the situation.-

-Upon further inspection, I understood it has to do with his Bloodline physique. As a warrior race known for their fierceness and resolve in battle, thousands of cases have been documented where members of the Æsir race have been on their deathbeds only to come back stronger than ever.-

‘Are you fucking kidding me? Doesn’t that mean that he’s practically a Saiyan? What kind of unfair bullshit is that? How am I supposed to keep up with his insane power-up speed?’ Feeling wronged, Brance collapsed onto the couch with dead eyes while looking in the direction of the training room.

-I don’t mean to burst your bubble here, but this only scratches the surface. Since you and Host Cynrik only have 10% of the Deity bloodline running through your veins, the effects of Race-specific traits are significantly diluted. So right now, Host Cynrik’s benefits are technically only 10% of what he would gain if he were 100% Æsir.-

‘Please tell me there is something extraordinary about my LightBringer Bloodline Tobs,’ Brance pleaded with a tiny shred of hope in his heart.

-Indeed, although not as powerful as your brother’s boost, you receive additional stat points, but at this time I have not found any specific trigger to the increased rewards you receive and only know it exists.-

‘Alright, that’s good enough for me; please try and locate the trigger mechanic so that I can abuse it the same way my idiotic brother seems to be doing.’ Exhaling in relief, Brance sat back up and was about to snatch up another opal when he heard Benny exhale loudly and fall over onto his face on the couch.

“Oh? Welcome back to reality, Benny; how was your trip into enlightenment?” Brance said with a smirk.

Almost four hours had passed since Benny began digesting the information loaded into the skill books. Therefore, Brance felt either there was too much information to sift through or Benny’s comprehension speed was slower than the rest.

After some thought, Brance decided it had to be because a vast amount of knowledge flowed into Benny’s brain, and he needed additional time to comprehend it all.

“Yeah, that was rough; how long was I out for?” Benny asked as he checked his Watcet and was astounded to realize how long it had taken him to deal with the massive flood of data being pushed into his brain.

“Longer than I expected, so how is it? Do you have a decent grasp on what you can do once you get your class?” Gabby, noticing her brother had finally come too, said while wearing a small smile.

“For the most part, I just wonder how difficult it will be…also, there is something I need to do first.” With that said, Benny retrieved two items from his inventory, a small reddish-orange gem and a platinum-colored box.

“Eh? Is that a Fire Affinity Gem?” Brance commented after seeing Benny put the box in his lap and grasp the gem in his right hand.

Benny didn’t respond with words but instead nodded before closing his eyes and absorbing the gem.

Standing up and walking over to sit beside Brance, Gabby watched with wide eyes as her brother acquired a new Affinity decisively.

A few minutes later, Benny’s hair began to change color as several new strands of deep orange highlights appeared among the shaggy chestnut color. When the gem finally crumbled into dust, signifying he had used all of the available charges, Benny opened his eyes and put on a tired smile.

The first charge had already given him the Fire Affinity. Still, he needed more, so he continuously burned all the charges held within the gem and absorbed every bit of Fire Mana from within, raising his control over the Affinity to Adept and its Tier to Tier-2.

“Part one down, now for the hard part.” Controlling his breathing and feeling the addition of Fire Mana in his Codex, Benny picked up the platinum-colored box from his lap and examined it thoroughly.

With a flick, he undid the latch and opened the lid, shooting off a fanfare of confetti, but Benny didn’t have the patients to deal with it and reached into the box to retrieve its contents.

The instant his fingers touched the item, he broke into a broad smile and sent a silent thank you to Yennifer, finally confirming what he understood from the knowledge he had gained over the last few hours.

Feeling the expectant gazes of Brance and Gabby, Benny retrieved a small dual-colored skill book and turned it around so they could read the cover, and while Gabby was confused at first, Brance took a sharp breath and stared at him with awe-filled eyes.

“Fucking Brilliant! Who’s idea was that?” Brance stated excitedly.

“Teacher Yennifer. I was initially confused when I got the Fire gem and believed it was bad luck. Still, after learning the new skills and seeing everything I would be dealing with, I had my suspicions that the box I got for the 500 kill reward on the final floor contained the last key.

“Once I learn this last bit, it could even be said that once I get this added into my stats, it will be the backbone for my Forging,” Benny said while speaking so fast that it was almost too hard to understand the words coming from his mouth.

“Uh, am I missing something here?” Looking between her boyfriend and brother with confusion, then back at the dual-colored shiny book in Benny’s hands, Gabby posed the question while feeling left out of the conversation.

“Gabby, aside from the fact that the book in Benny’s hands is Epic rank, think about what the title means.” Not wanting to laugh at Gabby, Brance gave her a nudge in the right direction.

Half a second later, Gabby’s eyes shot wide open as she made the connection Brance was trying to get her to.

“Holy crap…no way, is that an Epic Rank, Tier-3 Fusion Affinity Enlightenment Skill book?” Gabby asked in awe.

“Yep, and it’s for the Temperature Affinity; once I learn this, I will be able to freely adjust not only the metal temperature as I forge but also the surrounding temps, allowing me to create the perfect environment to optimize the items I make while smithing.”