A new stream of notifications flooded his mind.


"Level 4 Spirit Wielder: Ether 49/50."


"Level 4 Spirit Wielder: Ether 50/50."


"Ding! Advancement initiated."


Liam's body surged with heat.


"Musculature reinforcing. Power increasing."


"Base strength output: 1000 lbs."


"Defense rating increased by 100 lbs."


"Constitution, Agility, Vision, and Hearing: Enhanced."


"Lung capacity expanded. Base breath-holding duration: +1 minute."


The notifications cascaded through his vision like a waterfall of blue light.


"Advancement Complete."


"Current Status: Level 5 Awakened. Ether: 0/70."


"Trait Unlocked: Blessing of Fortification."


"Available Enhancements: Iron Lungs I, Titan Strength IV, Teeth, Bladder."


"Beginning Ether Arts assimilation. Choose one: Iron Flesh or Demon Sinew."


Liam's brain scrambled to process the flood of data while a rotting, murderous Undead nightmare charged straight at him. He scanned the enhancement menu. Lungs, Muscles, Teeth... and Bladder?


Seriously? Liam thought. A super-bladder? What am I going to do, pee the monster to death?


He needed raw power. The Undead monstrosity wasn't going to wait for him to weigh the pros and cons of dental hygiene. Lung capacity was great for swimming, but useless in a sword fight. He had to double down on strength.


There was a catch, though. Liam had been terrified of stacking too many upgrades into his muscles. He'd worried that if he kept pumping up his biceps without reinforcing his bones or tendons, his body would tear itself apart under the strain. He had planned to diversify his stats next time he leveled up.


But plans go out the window when a zombie is trying to eat your face.


It was life or death. He had to kill the thing now and worry about exploding tendons later. Besides, he still had a reroll stored up.


Liam mentally slammed the button for Titan Strength IV.


Immediately, his skin crawled. It felt like a thousand snakes were wriggling beneath his dermis, knitting his fibers into steel cables.


"Titan Strength IV promoted to Titan Muscle Tier V. Bonus strength: +1200 lbs."


"Alert: Musculature has reached the physiological limit for current Level. Further enhancement locked."


The realization hit Liam instantly. The System wasn't trying to kill him; it had safety rails. He couldn't upgrade a body part beyond his current Level or his physical tolerance. Being a Level 5 Awakened meant his muscles capped out at Tier V.


Liam let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I was freaking out for nothing. The System stops me before I can rip my own body apart."


It made sense. If he'd been a bodybuilder before the apocalypse, maybe he would have hit his genetic limit sooner. But since he was just an average guy, his body's limit and his Level limit synced up perfectly.


Suddenly, a new prompt flashed gold.


"Talent 'Augmentation Favor' triggered! Bonus enhancement granted. Options: Iron Lungs I, Titan Muscle Tier V (Locked), Heart, Stomach Enhancement."


Liam's heart—his actual one—skipped a beat. Finally. The Heart upgrade.


But the Undead was already on top of him, smelling of grave soil and malice.


There was no time to select the second upgrade. Liam roared, gripping his machete with both hands. The new power surged through him, electric and terrifying.


His base strength was now a thousand pounds. Add the Titan Muscle bonus, and he was swinging with 2,200 pounds of force—over a ton of kinetic energy. That was a 500-pound jump from just moments ago.


He didn't just swing the blade; he unleashed a catastrophe.


It wasn't just his strength. Speed, stamina, reflexes, defense—everything had leveled up. Specifically, his Iron Skin had hardened, boosting his resistance from 500 to 600 pounds of force. He could now tank hits that would have previously crushed him.


With a furious shout, Liam swung his machete. The blade sliced through the air with a gale-force whoosh, moving faster than ever before.


The Undead didn't flinch. It raised its mutated, clawed hands to block, completely falling for the bait. Liam's slash was a feint. He had already triggered "Spider Climb," blurring to the creature's flank. He didn't hesitate. He drove his left fist, the "Fang of Gluttony," straight at the monster.


BANG.


The creature was faster than it looked. Just as Liam struck, the Undead triggered its own ability—a grotesque head-ejection attack. Its head launched forward on a gruesome stalk, slamming directly into Liam's incoming fist.


Four razor-sharp fangs from Liam's gauntlet punched straight into the monster's forehead.


Blood sprayed everywhere. The Undead let out a miserable, guttural roar and scrambled backward as if it had been tasered. Its head snapped back onto its shoulders, retracting to put distance between itself and Liam. The creature's face was paler than death, marred by four new, bloody holes oozing a mixture of gore and strange white matter.


Liam didn't chase it down immediately. Instead, he used the split-second lull in combat to spend his new upgrade point. He didn't hesitate—he chose the Heart.


He let out a long, shaky breath. He'd known for a while that his cardio was a bottleneck; in high-intensity fights, his heart hammered against his ribs like it was about to give out. The system had never offered a heart upgrade before. Finally, it had appeared.


System Alert: Heart Enhancement initiated. Acquired Apex Heart Tier I. Stamina doubled. Max power burst duration: 2 minutes. Apex Heart bonus: +3 minutes duration, +100 pounds of force.


Liam could feel the change instantly. His heart felt like a blazing fireball in his chest, pumping a relentless stream of energy through his veins. The fatigue vanished, replaced by a surge of raw power.