A temple stretched towards the cracked night sky. In just a few hours, a crushing defeat among hunters that will never be forgotten took place. The life force that seemed like an endless ocean was nowhere to be seen and all that remains of the battlefield, turned graveyard, was dry blood, the legacy of hunters new and old, and a man anyone would recognize as Lyn Cypher, the Streamline Guild's Extinguished Star.

Finally, it was his time to shine.

[The [Absorption] progress has reached 100%]

. . .

The unsettling darkness of the night greeted Lyn. Before anything, the System Notifications flashed in his face.

[New Skills have been obtained! To view list..]

[Your Status has been altered to reflect certain changes!]
[You've gained an Impossible Achievement]

[Rewards for defeating 'Husk Who Returns Home' granted]

"I can't believe it..." With a raspy voice, Lyn muttered feeling the aftereffects of the quickly acting pills.

Not once in his 5 years of being a hunter did Lyn ever think he'd see something so unimaginable. It felt like the last five years was all just a bad dream.
'Everything changes with this.'

"Leaving the best for last, lets see my rewards."

[Rewarded a 'Wish Stone' for completing an impossible feat!]

"A [Wish Stone]?" Never hearing of such a thing he continued bravely.
'Well I can certainly guess what it'll do.'

[Rewarded a '??? ' bow fragment!]

Again, without being able to hide his emotions, Lyn's face crumpled.

"To get nothing I can use immediately..." Dejectedly, he rolled off the ground.

Surprised, and suddenly feeling very defeated by the shockingly small loot pool for such a monster, Lyn cursed.
'What idiot would wait five years for some stone and piece of  a bow.. Some damn God of Luck couldn't even spare some sympathy.' 

It wasn't lost on him that he was that idiot.

Lyn raised himself up, knocking the dirt and dust off himself as he went. Staring at the Calamity's temple that stretched up into the unmoving crack in the sky, he was again in awe of the squid-like thing he just killed. Without warning a voice spoke up behind him.

"You have a harsh habit of criticizing those who have nothing to do with you."

Still feeling the effects of the pills, Lyn quickly turned to see what spoke to him, surprised that anyone was still alive on the battle field. The first thing he saw was an angelic beauty, with silk-like, cream-colored wings. Honestly, her glow wasn't very pleasing to his tired eyes.
'Was there anyone in the divisions like this? She looks.. childish.' Lyn questioned. How could anyone look like that and expect to be taken seriously? Wasn't there a limit to expression on the battle field?

Seeing her react with an annoyed expression seemingly to his thoughts he spoke up.

"You know you look-"

"Your thoughts are all over your face. Do I really appear that undignified to you?" The woman interrupted folding back her wings and transforming her gown into a white suit instead, and tying up her hair.

Lyn was surprised that she used [Mending] so easily, or at least some form of it he supposed. He decided against asking the annoyed, but formal angel for anything just yet, like fixing his ripped clothing.

 "Why are you here?" Lyn was also annoyed he had to pause his System Notification check for a moment, and wanted to keep the conversation short. The especially dignified woman only sighed and continued.

"Do you realize what you've done, Cypher? Surely you're an extraordinary individual for being able to withstand my mana's pressure but there is no way you could have killed that Calamity. We made sure of it."

"..?" with an obviously confused look Lyn maintained his silence. 'Who is we?' 

Scanning his face that was practically begging for context, the angel continued again, more irritated than before.

"Did the System tell you that you did something that was supposed to be 'Impossible'?" She asked, staring down at Lyn  like a divine inquisitor.

Remembering that unique phrase Lyn simply nodded as he really was a bad liar.

Still not hearing what she wanted she continued to prod
"Clearly it gave you something you want to keep so what was it?" The angel continued.

Lyn felt greedy enough to keep the stone he rightfully earned.
'If she doesn't know about the wish stone, then maybe this can go well for me.

Lyn, scared that he was found out so quickly, put on his best poker face, cleared his throat, and spoke.
"A.. fragment." At the very least, his voice didn't shake.

Staring deeply the angel waited for him to say anything else. Lyn carefully continued, the technique somehow working.

".. I still haven't checked my Status. If you would give me a moment I could-"

"No that's not necessary. I see now that there's nothing I can do." Giving up almost immediately, the angel swiftly destroyed the atmosphere she created.

'You got that from just a few words?' It was clear she was only putting in the minimum amount of effort.

Mistaking his apprehension to continue lying for fear, the angel quickly followed up.

"I'm not permitted to harm you in any way so don't concern yourself with that. No Higher Level beings have any interest in you as of right now. More so that you've fixed a problem even they couldn't. Of course restrictions have been applied but if its you, then perhaps you'll breakthrough anyway. You remember what it's like to be Level One right?" With that the angel quickly said all it had to and, in a flash of light, left as abruptly as it came, giving her farewell without waiting for a response.

'You remember what it's like to be Level one..?' Lyn quickly assessed the implications of what the angel had to say. He sat in silence while he thought about his predicament-

"Pfft!"

-And he couldn't contain his smile.

. . .

A Notification check later, Lyn began to notice things that were very off, for better and for worse.

Name: Lyn Cypher

Magic Type: Life Force
Skills: 
Special Items:
Race: Energy Being [Human-Based]

Level: 1

[You've clearly messed with something you shouldn't have. If you wanted to live a normal life, that is.]
---

[Due to certain restrictions your stats have been reset to Level 1]

STR: 5

DEX: 3

INT: 8

WIS: 4

VIT: ???

END: 10

'Is the God of Luck finally looking down kindly on me? I'll convert right now!'

Lyn could only be happy that he didn't necessarily lose anything in the process. However regardless of his Stats, his Status additions were truly unwelcome.

"An Energy Being, and.. Life Force type." Lyn was all too familiar with Life Force. Like a double-edged sword, it was a great blessing but an unreasonable curse. Unimaginable power granted to those who were lucky enough to wield, but a drain on their lifespan for every use.
'Even if my vitality is immeasurable, is it safe to test even one of my skills?'

Holding back his doubt, he tried his best to shake off the fear of the unknown.
'Energy beings should be researched further, maybe it's not something to be up in arms about, right?'

"Sigh.. Lets move on then." he said, ready to move on to the next bounty and fix his mood.

---

                                                                                               Spark Barrier [Reactive]

Creating a small domain around you, any foreign objects that enter are repelled by a reactive barrier. The barrier is only visible when collided with.

Nothing about the strength of the barrier, worrying. But at least there's no dimensional limit either.

 

                                                                                             [Beginners Construct]

Use your energy to make and maintain simple tools. It is recommended you create simpler geometric shapes, before mastering complicated weapons to further evolve this skill.

Hm like the Aura trait? Traits are monster specific characteristics. It was widely known however, that the aura trait could be learned as a passive skill. To specify it's the trait and not the skill, am I more monster like then?

 

                                                                                             Mana Burst [Reactive]

Release all your mana in one wave like motion. Applies [Paralysis] State to anyone touched by the wave. Extends as far a the user's domain by default.

He realized the amount of work that was still ahead of him even after bagging a huge prize, but he still couldn't be mad.

"No predefined limits. I suppose that's the beauty of these skills. Do I start with something simple, like geometric shapes then? At least [Domain] is a skill that is commonly created by magic users." His mind instantly started racing until he got to the end of his skills window.

[Due to certain restrictions you can only register three skills!]

"Another Level 1 restriction." Lyn was sure the angel didn't lie when she said no one was watching thoroughly, to just slap a few limits and then calling it a day could hardly be called work.

"Lastly there is this."
[You have received a 'Custom Voucher' from 'Angel Thuma']
[Note: One item, within reason, as a reward for your achievements. A fragment truly isn't suitable.]
"Who would have expected her to be so sweet. I'll have to keep track of this for later as well."

Then that should be all then. Finally on to new horizons. Without the energy to try any new skills, but the renewed vigor of a past warrior ready to begin his journey, Lyn moved with no worries for the first time in five years.

. . . 

It was a chaotic morning across the ACPP Headquarters. Chief Donnovan Rivers, an monster expert and high-class hunter prepared to have a close door, and pre-recorded news conference, to inform the people of what exactly happened last night, to some degree. Soon it will be uploaded to the government website and then the wildfire will start to spread.

"Haah, to leave out the most important part.. It would be just like the Awakening Scare five years back if the general public knew. Now is not the time for a witchhunt, so let's just hope our efforts are enough."

[10:15 AM]  Awakened Control and Protection Program Conference

"Good morning. Today we have our Chief of Staff Hunter Donnovan Rivers. He'll be discussing the potential risks of the Temple of the Calamity according to what information we've gathered, and second the extent of the ACPP's protocols to protect it's hunters and citizens."

"I.. have time for a few question from this crowds. This is an unprecedented event so while we at the ACCP understand the importance of keeping the public informed, keep in mind this will not go on for long."

"Mr. Rivers are there any updates on the status of the Calamity?"

The chief paused to think for a moment, then said "All traces of the Calamity are currently untraceable, or possibly even nonexistent. Due to the scale of the battle prior to graveyard's creation, further examination has not yet been deemed an appropriate course of action." 

"What does the unknown status of the Calamity mean for the citizens who still go unprotected in our cities?"

"An important factor to understand is that with what information we have, we can determine that the Calamity cannot leave it's domain. However it shows no signs of it's hostility. We are still early in our monitoring process, but that much we can be sure won't change unless something unorthodox happens. The people at home shall continue to remain safe from it's effects."

"How does the ACPP plan to compensate the families who lost loved ones during the descent of the Calamity?"

"As far is it's guidelines go, we can be sure that any memorabilia, weapons or artifacts deemed safe to be left in the hands.... of citizens will be delivered as soon as it is safe to do so." For a moment Donnovan trailed off of his sentences. Cutting his response short compared to his previous answers, he noticed someone who should not be in the crowd of reporters today. Dammit, a Warrior reporter. Are there really no other hands going up? Notorious for asking the hardest hitting questions, Rivers gave them the floor in order to get the most troubling person out of the way. 

"Mr. Rivers, if a future Calamity descended in a more populated area, could the ACPP really guarantee it could protect the lives of local hunters and citizens?"

No. No we can't, but that's just not something I can say...

"The ACPP is fortunately on it's way to containing this crisis. We can be sure to bring results that favor the protection of all hunters and citizens alike in the future and in the present. That's all for now, please. We have much work to do." 

'Lyn Cypher.. just where the hell did you disappear to?'

Lyn was needed to create a plan to fight against the Calamity. His monster expertise would be paramount to creating a second force that could handle it with certainty. 'Surely, if we just get all our minds on this we'll have a force that can truly fight a Calamity!' Rivers could only hope that this was something the Association could keep under their control.