Chapter 95: Breakthrough from Iron to Bronze
[Do you want to initiate the breakthrough from iron to bronze?]
[Y/N]
'Heh… sure I guess,' he didn't see any reason not to do that as he had already finished his training for now, and had acquired the reward for his quest.
He clicked on the Y option, and suddenly…
[Very well, please break the stone now!]
"Alright," he shrugged, then clenched the fist with the stone inside of it, putting more and more pressure until eventually…
~BAM~
It shattered inside his hand.
The runes around the [Breakthrough Stone] were glowing, and as soon as he broke it, they immediately began to fly around Stark.
For a moment, he was surrounded by small glowing motes of power, dancing around him in an intricate ballet.
They began to slowly but surely disintegrate as they sipped inside of Stark's body.
And after only a few seconds… the stone and its runes had completely disappeared.
[Breakthrough passed smoothly, you have high potential!]
[Iron → Bronze]
[Skill limit increased from 10 to 15!]
When you tried to breakthrough using a stone that isn't at your rank, or if you try without being at the required level, the breakthrough stone would just shatter and be wasted, and it is said that the breakthrough process can vary from person to person, some struggle, while others do it easily.
In the end, it is all based on talent and skills, and if the stone itself while merging with your aura feels like you deserve it.
And in Stark's case, there was no denying the stone wasn't going to let him have a hard time.
Especially with [Chosen One] as his talent…
'Well, time to upgrade my skills, then,' he smiled as he mumbled 'status window'.
…
[Level:] 25
[Health:] 9700/9700
[Bloodline:] Human
[Classes:] Domination; Alchemist
[Talent:] Chosen one
[Attributes:] Strength 1024; Speed 1129; Mind/Soul 1273; Stamina 891; Defense 946
[Skills:] Spatial Inventory; Class Wheel; Perception; Domination lv10; Focus lv5; Aura Smash lv6; Clone Frenzy lv5; Invincible Dodge lv2; Double Assault lv3; Crimson Spears lv1; Heaven's Wrath lv1; Alchemist lv1; Potion Crafting lv1
…
[Skill Points: 6 Available]
This was actually becoming much more difficult to decide which skill he would need to upgrade.
'Rich people must have it easy… they just have to buy [Skill Level Candies] to get everything at the max…' he sighed.
But he had already an idea of what he wanted to upgrade.
Now that his skill level limit was set at 15, it meant that he could upgrade [Domination] even more, giving him more aura and more perks.
'Yeah, that's a good idea,' he nodded and reached out his hand to click on the domination skill while thinking of using 5 skill points.
[Talent: CHOSEN ONE, ACTIVATED!]
But… his talent suddenly activated, and Stark tripped on something invisible, almost as if the universe didn't want him to do that
~FWISH~
His hand moved slightly to the right, and it ended up clicking on… [FOCUS]!
[You have upgraded 'Focus' to level 10!]
'WHAT THE FUCK?' Stark's eyes widened.
There was no way his talent had activated just to fuck him over like that, right?
Upgrading [Domination] was a much better idea than [Focus], and although that skill was also good, he didn't plan to upgrade it for a while…
'I-Is there a way to go back…?'
[No.]
"WELL FUCK YOU THEN!"
[You have upgraded 'Double Assault' to level 4!]
He had wasted 5 precious skill points on focus, and decided to use his remaining one on [Double Assault] since it would soon reach level 5 anyway.
…
[Skill: Focus lv10 (Iron tier-Max)]
[Description: Your focus is unwavering, and all the attacks that come at you seem very slow when you analyze them well, time is now your friend, and it will support you in your journey!]
[New Perk: Able to sense danger when passing through a space, and also able to sense traps and ambushes!]
…
'Heh…' Stark couldn't deny that it was an interesting perk, as now no traps could work on him, but he honestly believed upgrading [Domination] was such a better option than this.
He knew he couldn't undo it now, so he tried to focus on the positive side - maybe there was a reason his talent had steered him towards enhancing his Focus skill.
[Chosen One's] second perk had two events when activating: to cause something bad/a problem to its host, or… to help them out, much like with the TP pearl in the Secret Rift.
What if it was one of those beneficial things, he couldn't know.
Deciding that he didn't want to waste any more time inside the memories museum and wanting to go back to the real world, Stark headed toward the black door that was located at the entrance of the museum's hall.
It had been a week since he had seen the sun, but even after all this exercise, Stark couldn't deny he felt great, almost after a long session at the gym and knowing you did a lot to improve even though you were tired.
He put his hand on the dark handle, ready to twist it and go back to his hotel room.
But the exact moment he did that…
[Focus, ACTIVATED!]
His skill activated, and Stark's eyes widened, a vortex of aura in them as he could feel that something was wrong.
[New Perk: Able to sense danger when passing through a space, and also able to sense traps and ambushes!]
The surrounding air crackled with energy as Stark's senses sharpened, his focus honed to a razor's edge.
His instincts screamed something at him.
And that message was very clear…
"There are people waiting for you on the other side, and they don't have good intentions."
'Is this why… the talent forced me to upgrade focus?' this seemed logical as the timing was way too good.
Was it plot armor? Or his talent was really just trying to help him once in a while?
In all cases, he knew there were people waiting for him in his hotel room.
[They are much, MUCH stronger than you are, though… =)]
Stark could stay inside the Memory Museum for as long as he wanted, his food still enough to survive two additional weeks.
But no… he didn't want to be forced to hide.
And more than anything, he wanted to know what they wanted from him.
"CLONE FRENZY!" he summoned one of his clones beside him, and sent it to open the door, this was to trick the ones looking for him.
'You want to play… let's play…' Stark didn't know anything for now, but he wouldn't let himself be taken out.