There is a saying White had once heard in his past life.

It goes:

_____

"You never know what you have until you’ve lost it."

_____

And now, sitting in the snow with both girls buried in his embrace, that quote came to mind.

He didn’t know if it was because they had had a hectic day, but both girls had fallen asleep, and on their faces was one of the sweetest smiles of relief White had ever seen on a human.

’I didn’t know I meant so much to the team...’

He thought quietly as a second pair of dark wings tore out from his back, and then he made them grow larger until they formed a massive tent of sorts.

After that, his body began to glow blue, increasing the temperature in the air just enough to banish the cold and provide warmth.

He tried to lower them softly to the ground, but they remained clinging to him even in sleep.

The act left White a bit confused.

Though he knew why Nova would be so attached to him.

She was in love with him, and that had been made clear enough the last time they met.

She had even said she would be waiting.

But Morgaine... to him, was just a friend, one who was so because of her very close relationship with Nova.

Yet why did she radiate the same feeling of comfort at his existence like Nova did?

This closeness felt a bit too close, and there was a worry of him taking advantage of Nova.

But seeing Nova equally snuggled to both her and him, he decided to simply let it be, remaining still with his eyes closed.

It was starting to be clear that their exhaustion wasn’t physical, but more emotional.

It felt best to let them remain as they were instead of taking them to their dorm rooms, not like he would have been able to get into their dorm rooms without waking them up to open the doors anyway.

His eyes closed again, trying to drift into sleep too, but no matter how White tried... he simply couldn’t.

His consciousness was always awake, always roaming, observing, and mapping the world hundreds of meters away in unison, preventing his brain from slowing down enough to sleep.

’So, I’ve lost the ability to sleep?’

He thought, and the panel flashed.

[I think you just haven’t learned yet to slow down your brain and stop it from being so alert. Perhaps with time...]

It said, and he understood.

With the free time he had now and being unable to sleep, he might as well put it to some use to understand himself better.

"Activate System Interface."

He ordered.

This time, when the true interface appeared, White was surprised.

It was as if the system interface had been upgraded.

The words were less like ordinary letters and more like runes, and the previously simple golden colour now carried a mix of shifting hues that continuously changed in appearance.

|| System Interface ||

|| Name: White Sinclaw ||

|| Age: 18 ||

"I’m 18 now..."

He had no idea, but considering he had been in slumber for half a year, that wasn’t much of a shock.

Continuing down the panel:

|| Race: Umbrawyr ||

"Umbrawyr?"

White pronounced it slowly.

There was no recollection whatsoever. He had never heard that word before.

But he did know one thing:

He was no longer human, nor a hybrid due to his genetic transplant.

He was now a completely unknown race.

|| Cultivation Type: Aether Pulse ||

|| Stage: Lumen Realm ||

’I’ve truly lost them...’

His Essence Cultivation energy that had reached the Meteor Stage had been lost.

Since the core was in his body and his body had died, he had essentially lost all trace of it.

The same was true for his werewolf genetic transplant.

With his body gone, his genetic cultivation was also lost.

’But how?’

’How come I can still use my Limitless skills?’

White mused, bewildered.

He had used the skill Limitless Interval to disperse the snow away from him.

But how could he have used it if he had already lost his core?

[It’s simple.]

The system said, drawing his attention, then continued.

[Your Limitless Bloodline was a copied skill you obtained by using the Ingrained Ability: Awakening Souls Copy.]

[It is not bonded to your core, but directly copied onto your soul.]

[Your body might have been destroyed, but your soul wasn’t.]

’But what of energy?’

White asked.

’A skill needs energy to be activated, and I no longer have a core. Activation should have been impossible.’

[That’s where your Aether Pulse energy comes in.]

[I don’t know the specifics, but your Aether Pulse energy is acting like an Essence Core, and is fully capable of running all of your Limitless skills.]

It explained, and White unconsciously drifted back to the panel.

|| Cultivation Type: Aether Pulse ||

|| Stage: Lumen Realm ||

He had no idea what this meant.

He had gained Aether Pulse from fusing with that Orb.

He didn’t have a manual at all on its cultivation, and had no idea what the Lumen Realm even represented.

’I need to go back to Commander Zoltan.’

The man had mentioned that the Orb came with a manual, though it was incomplete.

White needed everything he could get his hands on that held any chance of giving him answers, and the manual, even if incomplete, was a good place to start.

|| Level: 24 ||

|| EXP: 1,000/27,000 ||

His system level, however, remained unchanged, though White couldn’t say that was surprising.

Moving to the System Interface Stats tab, the changes were jaw-dropping.

[NEW STATS]

[Strength: 301 (+699)]

[Agility: 300 (+700)]

[Spirit: 300 (+700)]

[Combat Power: 2,334]

[Attribute Points: 0]

The sight of that petrified White.

He knew he had grown stronger with this new body, along with his soul and consciousness, combined with Aether Pulse.

But every one of his stats jumping from 300 to 1,000, and his combat power jumping three times beyond normal, was something he could never have predicted.

The System’s next words left him even more speechless.

[...]