[Do you want to initiate the breakthrough from bronze to silver?]
[Y/N]
Stark clicked on Y.
[Very well, please break the stone now!]
The process was literally the same as last time: he clenched his fist with the stone inside, and it shattered inside his hand after enough pressure was put.
The runes around the stone glowed, and they began to fly around Stark, seeping into his body after a few seconds.
[Breakthrough passed smoothly, you have high potential!]
[Bronze -> Silver]
[Skill limit increased from 15 to 25!]
‘Alright,’ after doing this, Stark grabbed the [Sculk Necklace], the mythical item and only one that he could use, then put it around his neck.
A surge of power coursed through Stark’s body as the [Sculk Necklace] activated: the gem in the middle glowing intensely as the sculk liquid he hated so much formed around it.
[You are now able to use the necklace’s ability!]
‘Nice…’ Stark nodded, “And now…”
[Level 60 Reached: please pick a card]
Three magenta cards appeared in front of him.
‘Clone Frenzy,’ he summoned one of his clones, then instructed it to check out the back of the cards and point at the strongest looking one.
But…
“…” it just shrugged.
“You… can’t see?” Stark asked.
“…” the clone shook its head.
Which meant… that it was only the [Superior Clone] that was able to do that.
‘Interesting…’ Stark scratched his chin, ‘Well, anyway,’ he closed his eyes and quickly grabbed one of the cards at random.
And once he turned it… he saw the drawing of a + sign glowing in crimson light.
…
[Skill: Crimson Healing]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Description: You are now able to heal yourself using the power of your crimson aura, able to regain 20000HP in one go.]
[Note: One day cooldown and you can’t heal others]
…
“FUCKING FINALLY, HOLY SHIT!” Stark jumped in joy, he had finally gotten a healing skill.
He had almost died so many fucking times because his HP were way too low, even for a [Domination] user, and now… he could finally regain 20000 at once.
Of course, this was weak compared to the healing of all the others, for example Sora was able to heal upward to 50000HP and all status effects, even for others, while he was only able to do it for himself and for 20000HP.
But… Stark was a fighter, and being able to heal just ONE HP was enough for him as it could potentially save his life.
‘Alright, and last…’ he turned toward another panel.
And he was frankly excited.
[Skill Points: 24 Available]
Because…
He would finally be able to upgrade his skills!
…
[Skills:] Spatial Inventory; Class Wheel; Perception; Domination lv15; Focus lv15; Aura Smash lv10; Clone Frenzy lv15; Invincible Dodge lv10; Double Assault lv10; Crimson Spears lv1; Heaven’s Wrath lv5; Alchemist lv5; Potion Crafting lv5; Target Manipulation lv1; Dodge Control lv5; Crimson Ball Transmission lv1; EGO lv5; Crimson Purification lv1; Wielding Cross lv1; Crimson Healing lv1.
…
The amount of skills he had was starting to get out of hands, and Stark truly wondered how ANY of these people at the top remembered the skills they never used.
Or maybe… it was just that there was something he didn’t know about?
Somehow… he had a feeling that his intuition was right.
But for now, all he needed to do was upgrade his skills.
And for the first time, he didn’t hesitate for a single second.
‘Come to me, new perks!’
[You have upgraded ‘Domination’ to level 25 (Silver-Tier Max)!]
[You have upgraded ‘Focus’ to level 25 (Silver-Tier Max)!]
What else would he do but upgrade his most important skills, yes, even more important than [Heaven’s Wrath], [Double Assault] or even [Clone Frenzy].
And of course, as he passed two thresholds for those skills, it meant he would be getting two perks for each!
Or… that’s what he thought.
[From now on, skills reaching level 20 will require 10 skill points to get a new perk, meaning that once reaching level 20, the next perk you get will only be at level 30, 40, 50…]
And so that only meant one thing: he only got one perk from each skill as they had only crossed level 20, meaning that upgrading them to level 25 did increase their power, but no new perk was given.
‘Oh well… I think I’m starting to get it…’ the amount of perks he would get will probably decrease the more he upgrades his skills, meaning that this was one of the reasons people wouldn’t get confused with so many perks.
And so Stark began to read the new perks he was getting.
…
[Skill: Domination lv25]
[New Perk: Facial Camouflage]
[Description: You are now able to hide your face entirely using your aura, making it not entirely up to luck and emotions but now able to control it completely if you want to hide your identity.]
…
His perks for ‘Domination’ were this: protection shield at lv5, fear inflict at lv10 (pretty damn useless since all the opponents he fought were stronger…), dominated status at lv15 (this one was useful, but having it activate on an opponent is still hard), and finally… facial camouflage at level 20.
Upgrading [Domination] though wasn’t about perks… but simply about enhancing his aura since it became stronger after each level, which is why he didn’t even bother using its perks, and why they were pretty much all ‘passive’.
[Facial Camouflage] would be extremely useful in the future if he wants to hide or when he was in the academy, though.
But in the end, Stark just moved to the next perk.
…
[Skill: Focus lv25]
[New Perk: Target Set]
[Description: You can place a target on an opponent, thus allowing you to observe their movements better and have your crimson ‘eyes’ always following them, no matter what they do]
[Note: this skill will deactivate if the opponent is out of view or runs out of the range, you can set a target whenever you want, but only one at a time]
…
‘Fair…’ much like [Domination], [Focus]’s skills were mostly passive too except for ‘Time Vision’.
Nonetheless, these were his two most important skills, so he was kind of forced to upgrade them if he wanted to be stronger.
[Skill Points: 4 Available]
‘…’
Stark also knew exactly what to upgrade: he had underestimated that skill, but after it helped him many times during the trial, he knew he couldn’t afford to let it stay at its current level.
And that skill was…
[You have upgraded ‘Crimson Spears’ to level 5!]
Yes, it was [Aura Smash] but weaker and with spears instead of crimson fists, but they were still useful, being the ones that broke Warden’s first core and helped him win many battles because of the spears’ sheer speed.
Of course, another reason he upgraded it was because it had been level 1, meaning he had the perfect amount of skill points to allow himself to get a new perk.
And so…
…
[Skill: Crimson Spears lv5]
[New Perk: More Spears!]
[Description: Instead of only summoning three spears, you are now able to summon 5!]
…
Of course, he didn’t expect anything exceptional from the first upgrade of a skill since it was only [Rare] in rank, much like [Aura Smash], but it was still better than nothing.
And so right after doing everything he needed to do, his mind appeased as there was nothing to worry about…
“Memories Museum, come to me,” he mumbled, and the dark door appeared before him.
He still had around 7 hours of free time, so why wouldn’t he train and discover the power of his new perks, as well as his necklace?
He would need it for later… because that academy is going to be a true hell, much more than Stark anticipated.
