As I caught my breath, my body finally gave out, and I collapsed to the ground, weighed down by exhaustion—both in my male form and in my female one.
Running at full speed in my female body had pushed it to the brink, while the adrenaline rush in my male form had drained my energy completely in just a short burst.
On top of that, the situation was far from reassuring, even though my mana reserve was nowhere near the red zone yet. If another horde of monsters showed up and we ended up cornered, I’d hardly have enough mana to deal with them. In the end, having a bigger mana pool didn’t mean it was infinite.
While I was still trying to steady my breathing, Oliver’s voice suddenly cut in beside me, filled with genuine concern: “Justin! Are you okay?”
I slowly turned to face him. His watchful eyes were filled with honest worry—which, to be fair, made me more uncomfortable than anything else. We’ve only known each other for a day, so why the hell is he being so friendly? I’ve never been good at dealing with people like that. And yet... surprisingly, I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would.
Maybe it’s the situation we’re in? Either way, I just gave a small nod and managed a faint smile. Oliver smiled back, like he understood exactly what I meant. Then he turned to Noa—my female body—and repeated the same questions without the slightest hesitation. I chose to ignore the interaction and focused instead on the notifications I had pushed aside while dealing with those giant rats. The most update n0vels are published on novel✦fire.net
But as I opened my interface, I was genuinely surprised—a flood of messages had piled up in front of me, forming a solid wall of unexpected information.
*You killed [Giant Rat – lvl 5] – Bonus EXP gained for killing a higher-level enemy. 10 SP earned*
*You killed [Giant Rat – lvl 2] – EXP gained. 4 SP earned*
*DING! Class: [Assassin] has reached level 5 – Stat points allocated*
I paused for a moment when I saw the notification about reaching level 5. I immediately remembered what my clone had said back in that white world—something about earning a new skill every five levels.
Still, his words had been vague, and I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant. Either way, this seemed like a good time to check my status and see if anything had changed.
Name: [Justin Davies & Noa Davies]
Class: [Assassin – lvl 5]
Unique Skill: [Dual Existence]
Class Skills: [Silent Steps (Common)] – [Precise Strike (Common)] – [Presence Detection (Common)] – [Identify (Common)] – [Multiracial Language (Unique)]
Profession Skills: N/A
Just like the message said, the first thing I noticed was that my class—Assassin—had hit level five. Overall, my stats were clearly better compared to when I started. Since each level grants a point, my health, which used to hover around 115, had gone up slightly. My mana, which had been around 225, had also increased.
It wasn’t a massive change, but it was progress nonetheless. A faint smile crept across my lips at the thought. At some point—without even realizing it—I’d started to accept all of this with a surprising level of calm.
Of course, it’s not like I preferred this over my old life—far from it. But even so, I couldn’t shake this strange feeling: every time I leveled up, I felt this raw, indescribable high—a kind of euphoria I’d never experienced before.
Maybe it’s a side effect of this new body... or maybe just my mind trying to find something enjoyable in all this chaos. Either way, I pushed those admittedly unsettling thoughts aside when a new message caught my attention, standing out from the rest with an intensity that made me straighten up.
*New skills available for the Assassin class*
I glanced at the screen and gave a mental nod to confirm. In the next instant, a new interface popped up in front of me.
At first glance, I recognized it as a list of skills—but honestly, they all looked painfully basic: [Basic Fist Technique (Common)], [Basic Shield Defense (Common)], [Basic Archery (Common)], [Basic Disarming (Common)], [Eagle Eye (Common)].
I frowned. None of this made sense. These were beginner-level skills, almost tutorial-grade, and what really puzzled me was the complete lack of anything actually assassin-related. Why were these the options being shown to me? I mean, why the hell would an assassin use a shield? That just doesn’t add up for someone whose entire focus is stealth and mobility.
A shield is heavy, obvious, and slows you down—everything an assassin is supposed to avoid. And to make things even weirder, the list of available skills even included archery. Archers usually aren’t exactly known for being stealthy melee assassins... so what exactly was this character trying to be?
As I scanned through the options in front of me, something off to the side caught my eye—a small, almost invisible bar. The moment I imagined dragging it down, as if by instinct, the bar slid smoothly downward.
To my surprise, three new skills appeared right afterward, popping up one after the other with a faint glow. I blinked, stunned for a moment. I honestly had no idea there were other skills beyond the initial five that had been displayed. It was like discovering a hidden passage in a place I thought I’d already fully explored.
In the end, I scrolled through the list calmly, examining each skill one by one. There were around 25 options total to choose from. But to be honest, none of them really grabbed me at first glance. Not that the skills were bad—far from it.
Considering they were all listed as Common, it would be unfair to expect anything too amazing. Still, out of all twenty-five, only three actually sparked some real interest. They were the only ones that stood out from the rest of the pretty average choices.
[Basic Poison (Common)] – Allows you to craft a weak poison using common ingredients, usable on weapons and projectiles. Slowly deteriorates the target’s health over time; useful in longer fights or against vulnerable enemies. Grants a small bonus based on poison type.
[Enhanced Senses – Basic (Common)] – Slightly improves sensory perception beyond normal human limits. Vision becomes sharper, hearing picks up subtle sounds, and smell becomes more precise—offering better awareness and quicker reaction times. Adds a small permanent bonus to Perception.
[Basic Tracking (Common)] – Beginner-level tracking skill, enabling you to follow traces like footprints, markings, or subtle environmental changes. Accuracy varies based on user experience and terrain conditions. Adds a small bonus to Perception and Agility while tracking.
In the end, I went with [Enhanced Senses Basic], since it seemed to fit better with my combat style and how I typically approach situations. I’ll admit, the idea of using poison has its appeal—it’s intriguing and has potential—but realistically, it just wouldn’t be that useful for me.
Considering my main skill, [Precise Strike], can take out nearly any enemy with a single blow as long as I haven’t been detected, poison would just end up being redundant most of the time.
Also, while this new skill might sound similar to [Presence Detection], they’re actually very different in how they work.
[Presence Detection] allows me to sense the position of nearby enemies—even if they’re hiding—while [Enhanced Senses Basic] works more like a sixth sense, heightening my awareness of everything around me. It sharpens my instincts to pick up on sounds, sights, touch, even the subtlest changes in the environment.
In other words, one skill alerts me to hostile presences, while the other refines how I perceive the world in general—keeping me on edge, like I’m always ready for danger. If I can manage to use both at the same time, I should be able to detect just about anything ahead of time—or at least, that’s the hope.
After selecting the skill, I waited for something to happen—maybe a sudden flash, a unique sound, or some kind of signal that the skill had been activated. But seconds ticked by in silence. After about two minutes with no noticeable changes, I furrowed my brow slightly.
Instinctively, I raised an eyebrow—my female body mimicking the expression almost perfectly, like a reflection. Just to be sure, I opened my skill list again.
Class Skills: [Silent Steps (Common)] – [Precise Strike (Common)] – [Enhanced Senses – Basic (Common)] – [Presence Detection (Common)] – [Identify (Common)] – [Multiracial Language (Unique)]
(Ah, there it is!) I thought, a bit surprised to see the skill list had grown.
The new skill stood out, its name glowing faintly like it wanted my attention. A satisfied smile appeared on both Justin and Noa’s faces. To anyone watching from the outside, the scene must’ve looked odd—two identical smiles forming at the exact same moment, like they were sharing a private thought.
I really need to get a handle on that... It’s way too weird. Anyway, after confirming the skill had been added successfully, I closed the panel and shifted my focus to something else.
The skill description read: “Adds a small permanent bonus to Perception” The phrase reminded me of the info shown when I first picked my class—all those promises of bonuses and improvements that felt vague at the time.
But this skill clearly stated it granted a direct boost to Perception. Just to be safe, I decided to check. I reopened my status screen, this time focusing on the Perception stat: Perception: 21. I froze for a second. Blinked, surprised.
(It used to be 16, right? So choosing this skill actually gave me 5 extra points? And it’s permanent too? I don’t know if I should be excited about how generous this system is... or suspicious) I thought, as an ironic smile crept across my lips—like even my own skepticism was getting a kick out of it.
I wasn’t entirely sure, but something told me Oliver had probably hit level 5 too—or was at least really close. After me, he’d taken down the most monsters during our little hunting trip.
Still, I didn’t fully understand how much stronger I’d gotten since reaching level 5. One thing was for sure, though: I was way more powerful than I’d been at the start, both in terms of raw strength and control over my skills. Pleased with my progress so far, I opened my status window again—this time focusing on my mana: Mana: 145/230.
If memory serves, the last time I checked it was around 115. Since I’ve been resting for about half an hour, the increase makes sense. Based on what I know about my regeneration rate, that value checks out.
(Alright, we’re probably safe for now... Should be fine to test the new skill) I thought, still wary, as I focused inward and mentally activated [Enhanced Senses Basic].
The moment I did, I felt a slight pull—as if something was being drained from my body. It was faint, almost unnoticeable, but this time I picked up on it more clearly—maybe because my mana was already low, making my body more sensitive to even minor loss. Becoming aware of that drain instantly put me on alert.
Then, a gentle wave of energy rippled through me. It was subtle, delicate, but real enough to let me know something had changed. My awareness began to stretch outward—distant sounds grew sharper.
Scents in the air gained definition—each one distinct, each carrying meaning. Even the movement of the air around me seemed to take on shape, like I could see it flowing between the spaces.
It felt like a veil had been lifted. The world, once flat and quiet, now pulsed with invisible layers, revealing details my dulled senses had missed before.
I can't deny that, at some point, the feeling became slightly uncomfortable. It was like my brain was being forced to process an insane amount of information every second—and the strangest part was that I was fully aware of it.
I could feel every synapse firing, every piece of data being sorted and slotted into place with almost superhuman precision. Theoretically, it should've given me a splitting headache, a growing pressure strong enough to knock out any normal person.
But somehow, it was like I had a cheat code built into me, something that let me use this ability for extended periods without suffering any of the side effects.
With that thought still echoing in my mind, I turned my gaze toward my male body. At the same time, my female body—like we were connected by some shared instinct—looked right back at me. A faint smile appeared on both faces—mirrors of the same consciousness, split between two bodies but perfectly in sync.