The next morning, Rowan Ashford was awakened by the blinding sunlight.
Stretching lazily, he got up and walked to the lake to wash his face.
Then he shifted into Aquatic Form and dove into the water, quickly catching a fish for breakfast.
After eating and drinking his fill, a crow suddenly shot up from the oasis and circled overhead before flying toward the distant horizon.
With the wind rushing against his feathers, Rowan enjoyed the sensation immensely.
Then something caught his eye.
On the horizon lay a winding road that clearly looked man-made.
As he flew closer, he spotted several Jeeps driving along it.
“Jeeps?” Rowan narrowed his eyes.
“Looks like I’m still on Earth.
And probably in modern times too.” “The only question is where.” “I should go take a look.” Having made up his mind, he flapped his wings and headed toward the convoy.
As the distance closed, Rowan arrived directly above the vehicles.
“Military vehicles?” Looking down at the mounted machine guns and uniformed soldiers, he frowned.
“They look American.” “Did I end up in the U.S.?” “No, that doesn’t seem right.” “I don’t remember America having deserts this massive.” “Hmm…” “Desert plus Americans…” “That means I’m probably somewhere in the Middle East.” “One of the camel countries.” The region wasn’t exactly known for being peaceful.
And American soldiers weren’t exactly the easiest people to approach.
Still, now that he roughly knew where he was, things became much simpler.
“At my current speed, once I figure out the direction, I should be able to fly back to Silvara within a few hours.” With that thought, Rowan turned around, preparing to leave.
Then— A string of notifications suddenly exploded inside his head.
Ding!
Hello, Host.
Due to heavy traffic, I arrived late.
Ding!
Binding process initiated…
Ding!
The Super Invincible Ultimate Support Skill System has successfully bound to its host!
Ding!
Detected: Host possesses a max-level Druid character panel.
Initiating Level Breakthrough Service.
Beginning Skill Enhancement Process…
Ding!
Friendly reminder: After the breakthrough, all level restrictions will be removed!
Ding!
Optimization countdown: 168:00:00.
Ding!
Please note: During level breakthrough and skill enhancement, all skills will be unavailable.
Optimization begins in 10…
9…
8…
The barrage of notifications left Rowan momentarily stunned.
Then he caught the most important part.
“All skills will be unavailable?!” “OH SHIT!” His face immediately turned pale.
Without hesitation, he dove toward the ground.
What kind of lunatic system was this?!
Not only had it shown up late, but it had started upgrading his abilities without giving him any warning.
Did it not realize he was currently thousands of meters in the air?
If his Flight Form suddenly stopped working— Whether he’d die or not was debatable.
But ending up crippled was practically guaranteed.
The ground rushed toward him at terrifying speed.
Ten meters.
Nine.
Eight.
The countdown continued.
Just before the final second arrived, Rowan instantly canceled Flight Form and reverted to human form.
At the same time, he unleashed several instant-cast defensive spells on himself.
Mark of the Wild — Created a protective barrier, increasing defense and reducing incoming damage for one hour.
Barkskin — Hardened his skin like tree bark, greatly reducing damage for one hour.
Rejuvenation — Applied a healing effect that continuously restored vitality for one hour.
A moment later— BOOM!
Rowan slammed directly into a massive sand dune.
The force of impact turned him into a skipping stone.
He bounced several times across the sand in a series of graceful arcs before burying himself headfirst in another dune.
Several moments later, a filthy, sand-covered Rowan crawled out.
Thankfully, defensive buffs and healing effects already applied remained active despite his skills being disabled.
Thanks to the stack of buffs, he had only suffered minor injuries.
And Rejuvenation was already healing them.
“Ptui!
Ptui!
Ptui!” Rowan spat mouthfuls of sand onto the ground.
“You stupid system!
Get out here and explain yourself!” Ding!
Host, I am not a stupid system.
I am the Super Invincible Ultimate Support Skill System.
The voice sounded slightly offended.
“You’ve got the nerve to be offended?” Rowan roared.
“You almost killed me!” Ding!
My apologies.
I was about to be late, so I got a little rushed.
“…” Rowan’s eyelid twitched.
Eventually he took a deep breath.
“Forget it.
I’m alive.” “Now explain what exactly you are.” Ding!
Certainly, Host.
I am the Super Invincible Ultimate Support Skill System.
As the name suggests, I provide support abilities.
Rowan stared blankly.
“Listening to you is truly the same as listening to nothing.” “Explain it properly!” Ding!
I can enhance the abilities on your Druid panel.
“Enhance how?” Ding!
All support abilities will be upgraded.
Additionally, all offensive spells will be improved.
“Oh.” Rowan nodded.
“That’s actually pretty good.” “A lot of healing spells overlap anyway.” “This isn’t a game anymore.
I don’t need ten different versions of healing.” He didn’t pay much attention to the phrase improved offensive spells.
He simply assumed they would receive upgrades similar to the support abilities.
Summoning his status panel, he checked his current information.
Name: Rowan Ashford Age: 15 Race: Human Class: Druid (Optimizing — Super Invincible Ultimate Support Skill System) Mana Strength: 1 / ∞ Health: 100% Mana: 100% Class Skills: Enhancing…
Time Remaining: 167:49:25 “…” “…System.” “Get out here.” “Why is my level gone?” “And what the hell is Mana Strength?” The system immediately answered.
Ding!
Didn’t I already explain?
After the level breakthrough, all level restrictions will be removed.
The upper limits imposed by the Druid panel will also be unlocked.
From now on, skill usage will depend entirely on Mana Strength rather than character level.
Additionally, mana consumption will be greatly reduced.
Unless you continuously spam abilities for extended periods, you should rarely run out of mana.
Rowan scratched his head.
“Okay.” “But how am I supposed to know what my Mana Strength actually means?” The system paused dramatically.
Ding!
You’ll understand once the enhancement process is complete.
“…” “You’re really enjoying being mysterious, aren’t you?” Rowan sighed helplessly.
This system was incredibly vague.
Trying to get a straight answer out of it was harder than clearing a raid with random teammates.
Brushing the sand off his clothes, Rowan looked up at the blazing desert sun.
The heat beat down mercilessly.
His lips instantly began drying out again.
Then a horrifying realization struck him.
His expression froze.
“…Wait.” He slowly looked at the countdown.
167 hours remaining.
A second later, he exploded.
“HOLY SHIT!” “YOU STUPID SYSTEM!” “THIS OPTIMIZATION TAKES SEVEN DAYS?!” “YOU EXPECT ME TO SURVIVE IN A DESERT FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK WITHOUT MY SKILLS?!” “I WON’T LAST A SINGLE DAY!” At that moment, Rowan felt utterly numb.
Completely.
Absolutely.
Hopelessly numb.