Now Aron was officially a millionaire.

His eyes lit up instantly.

Standing up, he turned and began to walk toward the main road. But before leaving the alley completely, he paused and glanced over his shoulder...

"If anyone from your family tries to follow me or retaliate... the Soberto family won't need to exist anymore. You understand what I'm saying, right?"

Dravis gulped hard, still shivering on the cold ground. He had just faced that horrifying sword intent firsthand.

If a casual, un-enhanced swing was that powerful, he didn't even want to imagine what Aron's full strength looked like. Even though his father was a peak B-rank SIRE, dragging the family into a blood feud with a monster like Aron would be suicide.

Terrified for his life, Dravis nodded his swollen head frantically...

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully completed the mission.]

[The reward of 100 Free Attribute Points has been automatically allocated to your status window.]

As Aron was walking down the busy street toward the Sire Association, the crisp notification chimed in his mind.

His face and eyes immediately lit up. He rubbed his hands together in eager anticipation and commanded, "System, open my status panel!"

[Status Window

Name: Aron Argentine

Identity: Unknown

Rank: L

Attributes:

Strength: 250

Stamina: 150

Agility: 150

Spirit: 200

Mana: 250

Free Points: 100]

Without a second thought, Aron instructed, "System, allocate 50 points to Strength and 50 points to Mana."

His reasoning was simple. Now that he had acquired a high-tier, mana-dependent skill like the A-rank Flowing River Sword Technique, he desperately needed a deep mana pool to sustain those profound strikes in actual combat. And as for strength, who in their right mind wouldn't want more raw physical power?

The moment the points were assigned, a rush of warm, surging energy flooded his entire being from unknown void and started merging with his body.

As the newly generated mana swept through his body, Aron could physically feel his meridians expanding and purifying. His muscles tightened, packing with explosive, dense power down to the cellular level.

The sensation was absolutely intoxicating that he felt completely reborn.

With his Strength and Mana both hitting the 300-point milestone, the sheer density of his aura underwent a fundamental shift.

He had officially shattered the peak B-rank ceiling. In terms of raw, unadulterated stats, Aron had just crossed the threshold and stepped directly into the terrifying domain of an A-rank Sire.

Archeon City Sire Association,

Aron walked into the massive building situated on the busiest street in the city.

The Association was bustling with activity as newly awakened students and seasoned hunters filed in to register their skills and update their ranks...

The moment Aron stepped through the main doors, a tiny, floating skeleton materialized right in front of him.

It looked deceptively cute, but Aron knew perfectly well this little undead creature was anything but simple. Even the highest human authorities knew practically nothing about their true origins.

The little skeleton flew in circles around Aron, its hollow eye sockets widening in shock.

"Did you... did you just awaken another skill without my help?!" it asked, thoroughly dumbfounded.

This little skeleton was Aron's personal assistant, assigned to him by the mysterious Pillar of Light. It could only manifest physically when Aron was near the Pillar or within its direct area of influence.

Every awakened human possessed their own personal assistant, and none of them ever looked exactly alike. Their appearances varied drastically from person to person.

Over time, humanity had discovered a pattern. The physical manifestation of an assistant was always closely tied to the specific nature and attributes of the Sire's awakened skills.

The Sire Association had deliberately been built within the Pillar's radiance so people could easily access their assistants and manage their skills.

Aron grinned. "What? Surprised, aren't you?"

The little skeleton, still hovering in mid-air, managed to form a frown on its bony face and crossed its tiny arms. "You! You're hiding something from me!"

Aron purposefully avoided its gaze, nonchalantly scratching his cheek...

"Who, me?" he asked, pointing a finger at himself with an exaggerated look of confusion.

The skeleton squinted at him in deep scrutiny. "You know, the humans here are completely unaware of a certain secret... A secret only we assistants know about."

Aron immediately dropped the act, his expression turning serious. "What? What are you talking about?"

The skeleton hovered closer, its bony brow still furrowed, it's deel flamy eyes fixed on Aron as it stated,

"Only we assistants have the authority and capability to help a human awaken their skills. No matter how many skills a person awakens, it is always facilitated through us."

"So, my question is... how exactly did you awaken a new skill without my intervention?"

Aron rolled his eyes. He had genuinely thought the assistant was about to drop some earth-shattering, world-building lore. Instead, it was a secret that anyone with half a brain could have guessed.

He sneered playfully at the skeleton. "Why should I tell you? I awakened a skill because I'm talented, and that's all there is to it. Now move. I need to register it."

The skeleton looked at him with utter disgust for a second.

Then it suddenly shrank itself down even further and perched comfortably on Aron's shoulder.

"Owner, please stop hiding things from me. Tell me how you did it. I need to register your complete details to the 'pillar'."

Aron flashed a smug face. "Why should I tell you? Huh? Just register what you see."

In his past life, Aron had learned about something called the 'Hall of Light'. Every single assistant was bound by a rule to register the intricate details and growth of their assigned humans into this central hub. Even the slightest change in stats or skills had to be officially recorded.

The assistant frowned again but didn't press further. Instead, it manifested a tiny, ethereal notebook and a glowing pen, quietly scribbling down Aron's updated status.

Once a month, the massive Pillar of Light would project the official records from the Hall of Light into the sky for all to see. And humans also update the ranking in their database, according to the list.

It acted as a global leaderboard, proudly displaying the names of the top 10,000 rankers from all over the world.

Sires from every single nation were evaluated and broadcast on this list. Aron's country was a dominant force, occupying a massive portion of those coveted spots.

To have your name etched onto that projection meant you had reached the absolute pinnacle of human strength. These were the absolute titans of humanity, the undisputed 10,000 most powerful Sires on the entire planet.

Aron stepped into a line. When his turn finally came, the girl at the front desk didn't even lift her eyes from her screen.

"Registering for the first time, or filing a complaint?" she asked in a dull monotone.

She looked utterly bored handling the endless stream of people. In her experience, people came to this desk for only two reasons, to register their skills right after awakening, or to make a complaint.

Looking at her with a slightly confused expression, Aron replied, "Ah... actually, I want to re-evaluate my skill and stats."

The girl immediately looked up, her brows furrowing. "Are you sure you want a re-evaluation?"

Aron nodded with a simple smile.

The girl sighed. "To re-evaluate, you need to pay a processing fee of 100,000 Dragon Coins."

Aron's eyes widened instantly. "What?! 100,000? Are you guys robbers or what?"

The receptionist sighed again, her voice tinged with distinct annoyance.

"Do you have any idea how many people come in everyday wanting to re-evaluate? Everyone always thinks their skills were wrongly registered, or that their stats are secretly much higher than what the system recorded."

She gestured to the busy hall around them amd then at the list of rules of the Sire Association written in the wall...

"So, the Association made a rule. To get a re-evaluation, you must pay 100,000 Dragon Coins upfront to deter people from wasting our time. If you actually get a different result from the one originally provided by the Association, the money will be fully refunded to you. If not, we keep it."

Now Aron understood. Without hesitating, he pulled 100,000 Dragon Coins out of Dravis's space ring and dropped the massive sum right onto the reception desk.

The people waiting in line behind him gasped in shock.

Seeing the sheer amount of wealth casually tossed in front of her, the girl instantly stood up. Her bored attitude vanished completely, replaced by utter politeness.

"S-Sir! You just need to fill out your details here," she stammered respectfully, sliding a piece of paper toward him.

"There are a total of three people, including yourself, who will be going through the re-evaluation process today."

As Aron took the form, she immediately grabbed the stacks of money and began running them through a counting machine.

Aron quickly filled out the required details and handed the form back. Having just finished verifying the cash, she immediately typed his information into the system and handed him a small, metallic token.