The world fell into chaos, continents ripped apart, and creatures evolved.

  —Records of the Golden Dawn

  Nick was lying on a cot of a government hospital, waiting for the doctor to arrive who, according to the nurse, was tending to other patients.

  As he was getting bored, he called out his status window. What he saw on the screen left his mouth agape.

  His brain malfunctioned as his eyes remained stuck on the floating characters. Unable to understand the cause of the change, until it all came down to him. Chaos Pearl. Yes. He came to that conclusion because he could no more see the assimilation percentage at the end of the status window.

  Who'd have thought the change would be this drastic? Rare or Unique rank would have been too good to be true. God’s blessing and what not. However, his Talent had turned straight into Mythical rank.

  “So, you’re the patient?” Nick was distracted when he heard a sweet voice.

  Hoisting his head, Nick found a girl of at most nineteen, towering over his head, clad in white apron of a doctor. From a badge pinned on her chest, he learned her name: Isabel Rylan.

  “Ah, yes, Madam Doctor,” Nick said with utmost respect after a moment of pause. “I'm him.”

  “I'm no doctor, boy,” Isabel smiled before proceeding. “I’m a healer.”

  “Healer?” Nick eyed the lady in surprise.

  No further explanation was given, though Nick understood what she meant. And as expected, a plant that exuded blue light manifested beside her. It had heart-shaped green leaves, twisted purple veins that snaked over them.

  Nick’s eyes shone with a strange glimmer and his Talent was activated on its own.

  Isabel eyed Nick and smiled, finding his shocked expression quite funny but also normal. Then she proceeded to check his wounds and gestured for the nurse to clean. After that, she waved her hand and the blue light started to spread out of the plant, covering his wounds.

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  Nick took a deep breath and calmed his beating heart. He eyed the last line and clicked on it, revealing new information in front of him.

  This time Nick was completely blown away. Not even bothering to look further. How many shocks had he gone through today? But no shock was greater than this one. Holy shit! he whispered.

  Isabel gave him an odd look, but for the moment, he couldn't care less about her. A scientist would work his ass off for years to discover an Evolution Path from Common to Uncommon. But with just a glance he knew five of them.

  “It's done,” Isabel's voice brought him back to his senses. “Let me know if I've left any wounds unattended.”

  Nick breathed and checked his body. An amazed look appeared in his eyes. His wounds were mostly healed. His head trauma had been patched. Only rough marks of wounds were left.

  “Thank you very much,” Nick said, gratefully. A confused look also surfaced over his face. A lady like her could work anywhere she wanted. What was she doing in a government hospital?

  "Once a month, I do voluntary work," she replied as if knowing his inner thoughts.

  Nick blinked and nodded in understanding. Before long Isabel left.

  Standing on the entrance of the hospital, Nick pondered briefly and walked towards his trashy coop of an apartment.

  Nick disliked three things in his life. One, eating alone, and another opening the door of a lonely house. What a terrible feeling it was. Whenever opening the door of his apartment, he felt as if the whole world was trying to crush him under its weight.

  And the last was his Talent. Obviously, now it wasn't in the list. He needed to find something else to fill the vacant place.

  Maybe he could add his apartment to the list. As soon as he opened the door, dust fell over him and a bat screeched, and began it's dance over his head in an unending loop.

  Nick sighed and used a net to catch the bat before sending it out of a window. After that he fell on the bed that made some really terrible sounds, in no time he was asleep. He was so fucking tired.

  When he opened his eyes it was already morning. He wiped his arse, brushed his teeth and took a long refreshing shower. Of course, he wasted as much water as he wanted, for he paid every month in gold coins.

  Then, he fried two stale breads over a gasoline stove. After consuming them, he packed a few things into his bag and walked out of his apartment.

  Nick eyed the rising sun and strolled towards the Town Plaza. Usually, if he wasn’t hunting, he was working in a construction building. Mostly. But due to his condition, the former options were excluded.

  For that matter, today he’d be an appraiser. That was his third profession, after hunter and labour, of course. A multitalent guy, indeed.

  T's crowded, Nick thought as he reached the plaza. Pushing through the throng of people, he arrived at the area where antique shops were situated.

  He observed the people sitting by the street. Weird looking objects lay in front of them and most of them were trash.

  The purpose of those items was to make the appraiser look mysterious. Without these weird shenanigans many people would not even come close to them. For Nick, it was bizzare as fuck.

  However, the demand of the profession was as such, so he removed the bag from his back and settled it down. Then, he rummaged through it, pulled out a mattress and his own collection of strange objects: a broken lantern, rusty rings, and dirty stones.

  Nick's eyes shone and a single word appeared above all the items: [Junk].

  Settling down on the mattress, Nick closed his eyes, and pretended to be meditating.

  Earning money wasn't an easy thing. There were three ways to earn it: killing, stealing, exchanging. Nick was into the third option, though he had also tried the second one a few times. He never thought about the first. He hoped he’d never have to. In a world he lived there humans die for riches as birds die for food.