Tatehan laughed, going over what the system had just shown him.

The wind. The rotation. The micro-gravitational anomaly. All those ridiculous, impossibly specific factors that had somehow aligned perfectly to keep him alive.

It was absurd.

That seemed to be the case with how people came out of near death experiences. Some factors were at play. Like someone surviving a car crash one might be like:

'If the car moved left instead of right, it would have hit that car that would have killed you.'

And that would be attributed to 'Luck', which it actually was.

Same in Tatehan's case, how the wind and rotation factor had contributed 19 percent of why he had survived. If only he would be able to get this sort of analysis for every near death situation that happened to him.

Or what if he could get this sort of analysis for just…random incidents. Like the reason they won the battle of the fortress or the reason he was able to defeat the Hexapod Mauler with Mub. Maybe the reason he was able to survive the fight with Kael or the fight with the first bruteneck he fought arriving on this planet.

He shrugged. He wasn't sure that would be possible. This was something rare and he was certain it wouldn't be happening again anytime soon.

This absurdly detailed analysis, as completely unnecessary as seemed, or daft even, was actually important maybe.

Perhaps the system was trying to show how little things being at play could save one's life, the rotation of the wind and stuffs like that.

No wonder there was usually a warning with time travel that changing even a random detail can cause great harm for lots of random people and change events or incidents that were meant to occur.

'Didn't cost me anything after all,' he thought, dismissing the notifications with a mental swipe.

But then another message appeared.

[Comprehending this analysis has granted you Knowledge points.]

[You have leveled up!]

Tatehan's eyes widened slightly as his status screen updated.

[HOST STATUS]

Name: Tatehan

Level: 9 [NEW!]

Species: Human (Enhanced)

Knowledge: 140/200 [+5]

Repair Points: 57/100

[ABILITIES]

• Gravity Manipulation - Level 10

• Regeneration (Partial) - Level 7

• Enhanced Durability - Level 2

• Heightened Perception - Level 4

[INVENTORY:]

[Shadow Goblin Cores: 54 total]

[Tri-Edge Shadow chakrams]

[Backpack]

[Armor]

[Novels]

[Shadow-Forged Blade]

[Kinetic Absorption Armor]

[Devastator Hand Cannon]

[Core from the Destroyed Fortress]

Tatehan smiled.

'Nice,' he thought.

Level 9. Just from understanding how he'd survived. The system really did reward knowledge in weird ways. Or maybe it was because of many other deeds that he had done, this capping it all.

———

Morning:

Tatehan stretched, feeling the last remnants of soreness fade from his muscles. His partial regeneration had been working overtime while he slept, and now, a full day after the fall, he felt almost back to normal.

Almost.

There was still a faint ache in his left shoulder, a reminder of the impact. But it was manageable and ignorable.

Seems he was now 90/100 percent healed.

He stood, rolling his shoulders experimentally, then headed for the door.

Tatehan found himself standing in the commander's office.

It was the first time he'd seen her since the mission. He'd passed out before she could visit him in the medical room, and by the time he'd woken up, she'd already left.

Now, she sat behind her desk, her expression unreadable as always. But there was something in her eyes, something Tatehan couldn't quite place. Pride? Relief? Concern?

Maybe all three.

"What you did was really brave," she said.

Tatehan shifted his weight slightly, uncomfortable with the praise.

"Just doing what needed to be done," he said.

The commander shook her head.

"No," she said firmly. "You sacrificed yourself to save this city. You fought a commander with super strength and flight, killed him in the air, and survived a fall that should have turned you into paste. That's not 'just doing what needed to be done.' That's... extraordinary."

Tatehan smiled faintly, unsure how to respond.

"Thanks?" he said, the word coming out almost like a question.

The commander stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor.

"And you're really strong!" she exclaimed, her usual stoic demeanor cracking as she began to gesture animatedly. "How did you survive that fall? It's blowing my mind! How did you not reduce to paste when you hit the ground?"

Tatehan's smile widened slightly.

He'd expected this question. Hell, everyone had been asking it: soldiers, medics, random people on the street. The footage of his fall had been broadcast across every screen in Waython Hollow.

Glad he was in his armor when he fell or he'd be very popular now and that wouldn't allow him the freedom of walking through the streets of the city as a free man.

"Gravity manipulation," he said simply, keeping his tone casual. "I reduced my weight right before I hit the ground. Made myself light enough that the impact didn't kill me."

The commander stared at him for a long moment, processing.

"You... made yourself lighter," she repeated slowly.

"Yeah," Tatehan said, shrugging. "It's one of the things I can do with the ability. Control gravity around me, or on me. I just... applied it to myself."

The commander nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful.

"That's... clever," she said. "I didn't know gravity manipulation could be used that way."

Tatehan tried to wave the matter off, hoping she'd drop it.

"It's not that complicated," he said. "Just... physics."

But the commander wasn't done.

"But..." she said, her brow furrowing. "But even if you reduced the impact, you were still badly injured when I saw you. Lyra told me you were unconscious for four hours. Your ribs were bruised, your shoulder was dislocated, you were bleeding internally."

She stepped closer, her eyes narrowing.

"And then I heard you ripped the bandages off and left the medical room. Just... walked out like it was nothing."

She paused, her gaze locked on his.

"And now you're fully healed. I mean, you're walking perfectly fine. You jogged here, didn't you?"

Tatehan's smile faltered slightly.

Shit.

The commander took another step forward.

"How?" she asked, her voice quiet but intense.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.