The echoing cracks of Soul Energy attacks, strengthened by countless red threads of divine energy, ring throughout the desert as I approach my teammates training.
None of them have their main weapons out, and no ranked-up buffs are activated; they're all fighting in their base human forms.
Reality bends beneath the desert ground, and even the air between their fists colliding distorts slightly before they make contact. It makes me momentarily question whether we're still inside a construct like the one I just left.
The energy waves from their punches and kicks ripple with even more force than they did when using everything they had against me in our spars just four days ago.
Once I glide down to the ground, they all stop what they're doing.
"What were those trees? I can't sense any energy coming off of them..." Fisher asks.
Abby interjects next. "More importantly, I can't sense any energy coming off of you... Are you still wearing that limiter? Was it a success or not?"
Lydia and Maria both look at me with sharp gazes, trying to figure out what's happened, but neither of them speaks up, as the others have asked the most important questions.
I nod and smile while walking closer.
"It was a success... so much so, that I don't think it's safe to release my full power in your presence. And yes, those trees absorb Divine Energy, so I wouldn't get too close to them. I'm actually not sure how to even dispose of them now."
The second these words leave my mouth, the Lich King chimes in.
"Four days... you awakened a True Core in four days...."
There is no change in expression on the empty black skeletal face, but I feel a ripple of emotions come off of the shadow summon that tells me he's surprised, scared, and full of genuine disbelief.
I smirk, then give them all a rundown on how it was done.
Given the fact that I'm using a purple-cored artifact and that the use of my Soul Energy imbued with my absorption's natural properties triggered this mutation, allowing me to become more and more resistant to the Green Threads; there's a low possibility that anyone else in the world is capable of such a feat.
My teammates are all impressed, but none of them ever doubted I'd be able to pull it off, even though there was no clear method outlined beforehand.
It's just another training session for us, but the Lich King can't seem to grasp this fact.
The fearful and awe-filled emotions stream out of the shadowy figure as he responds after my story is complete.
"I... am starting to understand why a Supreme like the Fallen One chose to soul bond with you. Maybe the events of the past, when this planet was connected to the system, were not so random after all. I never understood why such a weak world so far away from the source was chosen..."
The Lich King keeps murmuring to himself for a few seconds, but I have other things to ask that have been on my mind since the moment I awakened.
"How do I find out what my unique True Core's trait will be? You mentioned everyone's is different, right? I don't see any mention of it in my system text, and usually these things feel intuitive... but I don't feel any different other than the immense jump in pure power."
The Lich King looks up and shakes himself out of his deep thoughts to respond.
"If you don't know yet, it means it isn't a passive ability. You'll need to be in the heart of battle to awaken your True Core's Strength, or possibly it will awaken once the battle is over. Every being is unique; it is similar to a Soul Energy awakening—you will gain a power that reflects your being. It could be a divine weapon, it could be a new form, it... really could be anything. Given the accelerated nature of your awakening, I truly have no guesses as to what your True Core's hidden ability could be..."
After his words, we stand in silence. It makes me even more curious to know what kind of power I possibly have locked up inside my new core. I already feel like a demigod walking on a world that can't handle my power.
Even my teammates, who are the next four strongest beings on the entire continent right now, feel as though we're leagues apart.
I don't even know what to think. It's a combination of the immense rise in power and the built-up fatigue that has riddled my body and mind from 96 hours straight of tearing apart my body and channeling decades' worth of divine energy into my core.
I let out a long sigh, then open up my item storage to let a pile of orange fragments fall to the desert floor.
"Understood. I have quite a big day tomorrow... I'm heading back to the Crimson City to rest. I need to prepare myself to face the Apex Region's Director. In the meantime, you all need to get stronger in case other forces come here when I'm gone. I sense strong powers from the north and south. I don't know if they're friends or foes, so it's best we prepare for the worst."
It's clear I have a lot on my mind and would explain in detail if I thought it was important, so none of them pry, accepting the gems into their item boxes, and the Lich King immediately begins to explain the optimal way to awaken the orange core, not missing a chance to brag about the time he too awakened his orange core in a past life.
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It is a little annoying, but I can't argue with the results.
The realistic depiction of the yellow core compression really did help me awaken, and the strength that ripples off of the four of them makes the red cores they faced just two weeks ago seem like ants beneath their feet.
The dense gravity that emanates from each of them feels strong enough that I believe they could take out the orange insects that jumped from the dangling chains inside the construct if they used their full power. They're progressing very quickly, I just hope it's fast enough.
–
I make it back to the Crimson City, and once I enter the guildhall, Bri greets me with a long list of names with skills and pricing next to each of them.
We speak through telepathy while she brings me upstairs to her office.
"I was wondering when you'd make it back. I hope your training went well. A double told me you would be away for a few days."
While I respond and look down at the list, she motions for a few of her workers to leave the room and go fetch some citizens whose names are on the bottom of the list in another section.
"Yes, my training went perfectly. I'm glad to see the skill orb debut went as planned."
We both walk into her office and go over the numbers.
She shows me that all of the basic legendary swordsmanship, body hardening, buffs, dagger mastery, and common combat skills all sold out within the hour.
In addition to this, over 150 citizens applied to join the Crimson army. My double vetted them with the help of some of the squad leaders, and basic training has started for over 100 of the new recruits in the canyon of dungeons.
If they pass, they'll all be awarded elemental skills of their choosing.
"Very good... In that case, I'll farm another batch of identical skill orbs before heading out on another mission. I shouldn't be gone long this time," I reply out loud as Bri continues.
"There is even more good news; our skill acquisition plan looks like it has worked as well—"
A knock at the door interrupts her, but she smiles and gets up from her seat to walk over and open the door.
"Perfect timing."
In walks a craftsman leading two young men, a middle-aged man, and a young woman. They each look like normal villagers in non-expensive clothing, most likely working at some of the local shops and living a normal life.
I do a scan of each of them, and it comes back [Lv. 13] [Lv. 22] [Lv. 6][Lv. 42] while the craftsman working for Bri speaks up while walking in front of them.
"These are the three that have skills on the list you were looking for; we are still searching for the others."
Bri nods and crosses her arms.
"Thank you, you're dismissed."
He bows, then leaves the room, closing the door behind him as I read the lower portions of their status.
[Inspect]
[Appraisal]
[Conceal]
[Hush]
Four skills show up in my mind's eye, and I crack a smile.
"So you're here to trade your skills in for something better? -and there was a 50 gold bonus, wasn't there?"
They all nod nervously while I reach into my manifestation of a fake item box, pull out handfuls of gold, and let them float in the air with telekinesis while I count them out.
Then, I set them all down in front of each of them and ask another question.
"What skills do you want in return?"
The first young man with Inspect wants a legendary swordsmanship skill, and the friend beside him with Appraisal wants the same thing. They worked as traveling traders all throughout the dark continent because of their good eyes for items, but they want in on the action and have been dying to go into the canyons of dungeons to farm but haven't worked up the courage until now to make it happen.
The middle-aged man with Conceal is in a similar boat as the two younger men. He's worked as a barhand, physical labor helper, and bookkeeper all his life, and his skill in its basic form has been useless to him. Changing up your status when you have nothing to hide isn't the best perk. I make an exception and agree to give him an extreme earth magic skill so he can join a construction crew and earn a stable living.
Finally, the younger woman with the Hush skill doesn't have much use for it either. She's new to the city and just wants the money to live comfortably here. The young woman can't decide on what skill to choose, so I just tell her she can come by anytime and choose one free of charge once she's made her decision.
"Perfect. All of you, stand still. This may hurt a bit, but I'll heal you right after it's finished."
I activate lifesteal, making sure my limiter brings my power down to incredibly low levels, and drain their HP until I'm able to use my Soul Energy and Absorption Attribute to cover their bodies with dark red energy and take out a skill orb from each of them.
In the same moment, I share my mythic-grade Self Regeneration skill with them, as they have links of loyalty with me; and the moment the orbs leave their bodies, they're brought back up to full health.
We're all left standing in the room while the four blue orbs float above my hand.
I nod with a smile and shake each of their hands, then turn to Bri.
"Please, make our guests comfortable while I go retrieve the skills they've asked for. On the house, I want each of them to receive a blood-bonded weapon, armor, or unique piece in addition to the 50 gold reward. They have helped me much more than they even know."
I leave the guildhall and head to the canyon of dungeons immediately after Bri agrees to keep them company, then get to work.
Once inside the dungeons, I begin dungeon-walking to dozens of C and B grade dungeons, collecting the basic legendary grade combat skill orbs that will be needed for the weekly sale Bri hyped up last time.
Then once this is done, I stop inside a C-class volcanic high orc dungeon and hold one by the neck to force a body hardening skill orb into its mouth.
These monsters usually only have swordsmanship, extreme strength, and occasionally advanced fire magic.
However, the moment it swallows the orb, a new skill, legendary body hardening, appears on its status. I smirk and cut it down while whispering to myself, "It really works..."
Then dungeon walk a few hundred meters away to the next closest monster and force-feed it the Inspect skill I received from the young man less than an hour ago.
It appears on its status, and I crush the monster's head half a second later.
[Use Absorption]
Skill: Inspect
Upgrade: Mythic
[YES][NO]
I choose [YES] and dungeon walk to the next nearest High Orc with a wide grin to repeat the process.
[Use Absorption]
Skill: Appraisal
Upgrade: Mythic
[YES][NO]
[Use Absorption]
Skill: Conceal
Upgrade: Mythic
[YES][NO]
[Use Absorption]
Skill: Hush
Upgrade: Mythic
[YES][NO]
Less than a minute later, four skills on my status fully upgrade to mythic grade. These are ones I was dreading having to use hard-earned Proficiency Points to raise this high, but I just found a much easier way.
There are still more human-only skills to find, so as my city grows more, I'll continue to hunt for them; however, this was a huge success in my eyes.
I crush a teleport crystal to make my way back to the guildhall and present the requested skills to the guests who stayed with Bri.
The three of them that do accept consume the orbs in front of me, and their statuses change before my eyes.
All four of them leave with item boxes to store their money, and have many words of thanks to say to both of us as they exit the door with scheduled appointments to create blood-bonded items later this week.
I pour out about a hundred more orbs on Bri's desk once they leave, then put up a new and improved hush barrier while I make my way toward the door.
"That should be enough to keep the hype going for next week's limited unit sale. I'm off to relax for the rest of the day; I have an important meeting in the morning."