Edge woke up sometime later, surprised to discover that he was still alive.

When he groaned and opened his eyes, he saw that he was covered in burns from head to toe, along with generous amounts of his own blood. His whole body ached, and his head was pounding. He felt like he had been run over by a truck. Then it had backed up and run him over again for good measure.

He must have been straddling the verge of death for some time before regaining consciousness. Regeneration had automatically kicked in as his mana-pores drew in ambient magicytes from the environment, gradually healing him over time. If he had even one less point of Generation or Amplification, he doubted that he would have made it.

In the end, Edge’s efforts had been just enough to save him. The blast had nearly killed him outright, before the landing took its turn. But he’d survived both hits and hung on by a thread. While it felt like most of his organs had been damaged in one way or another, none of them had been destroyed outright. Holy shit. That was insanely close.

It would be a while before he regained enough magic to heal his wounds. But the bleeding had stopped, and his condition was slowly improving. Since moving seemed unwise, he stayed put, grappling with the intense emotions that arose from his close brush with death and hard-won victory.

That was when the full realization of what had happened washed over him. I did it. I actually fucking did it. I took out Warren the manslayer and lived to tell the tale. It’s too bad that I didn’t get anything from it other than that skill.

As his mind began to clear, Edge came to grasp two rather important facts. The first was that his Guide was flashing in the periphery of his vison, letting him know that he had a list of updates waiting to be read. The second was that his hands were full.

When he was able to appreciate the full implications of both details, a surge of adrenaline washed through him, shocking him back to full alertness. Not because he was afraid, but because he was excited. No. More than excited, so ecstatic that he wanted to howl. After all, he had just won the motherfucking fucking jackpot.

As it happened, Edge had been quite wrong in his initial assessment. He had, in fact, gained more from the fight than a single skill. He’d wound up with the best prize of them all.

Alight with the thrill that came from obtaining the biggest reward of his life, he looked down at his hands, which were filled with two pieces of Warren’s gear. In his left was a bright pink potion that occasionally flashed like voltage was running through it. A vial that he had reflexively removed from the man’s bandoleer just before entering his core.

While he was curious to know what it was, all such thoughts were driven from his mind when he saw what he was holding in his right.

Cradled between Edge’s battered fingers was Warren Ellington’s spellslinger. A special edition spellshot revolver that was famous on the feed. When he opened the cylinder and looked inside, he started to laugh. Oh, hell yes!

It was a best-case scenario. Sakura was only certain that three rounds were loaded, which meant that there could have been anywhere between zero and three spellshots left. But it turned out that all six chambers had been full at the start of the fight, leaving three still holding crystalized spells—likely the best of the bunch.

While Edge had no idea what skill they contained, they were certain to be rank-five or above. Far more lethal than any of his own abilities, at least in the short-term. Although it hurt like hell, he began to laugh. He couldn’t help it, he had just obtained the weapon of his dreams, and gained the power to punch way above his paygrade. An alternative to using [Overdrive] to take out dangerous prey or save his life in a jam.

If he wielded the spellslinger wisely, he might be able to use it to steal rare skills from beasts that would have been impossible to bring down without it. To deal with manslayers, jailbirds, and monsters far above his stage.

Which brought him right back to the other reason he was so excited that he was shaking. It stung like hell under the circumstances, but he was too electrified to care.

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He opened his menus and read the notifications for a second time, basking in the words that appeared on the screen. The pain was nothing compared to the joy he felt upon reaching the end of the list.

By conditioning your body, your Durability has increased by 1.

By conditioning your body, your Endurance has increased by 1.

The conditioning points were nice, but they were just the appetizer to the pile of gains they preceded.

You have accumulated sufficient experience to cycle-up your core. Your new cycle is [5].

You have accumulated sufficient experience to cycle-up your core. Your new cycle is [6].

You have accumulated sufficient experience to cycle-up your core. Your new cycle is [7].

You have nine attribute points awaiting allocation.

And then, most wonderful of all.

For defeating a cored opponent stage 2 or above, you have earned 1 Mortium.

For defeating a cored opponent holding Mortium, you have claimed it for your own.

You have earned 9 Mortium.

Ten Mortium and three cycles. That’s insane. Extraction must have killed him before the bomb went off.

Edge could only dream of what high-end magtech gear he could buy from Lilly’s exchange with that many lifecoins registered to his Guide. He could pick up another powerful weapon. A full set of armor. Maybe some of those awesome utility devices or more lifesaving implants.

He wasn’t sure that was how he wanted to spend them, although the temptation was nearly overwhelming. That Mortium would also let him steal five rare skills, which would add incredible power and versatility to his skillset.

It’s a good problem to have. I’ll think it over long and hard before I decide. Besides, I’m not sure that I want anyone to know that I took out Warren, even Lilly. At that point, I might as well scream that I’m wielding an unusual core.

While it was pleasant to consider his options, it was time for Edge to be going. He was still far too close to the site of the battle, and he wanted to get out of here before anyone else arrived. Before he was ready to head out, and deal with the world of pain that was sure to be involved in that process, there was one last notice that demanded his attention.

It was time to find out what skill he’d stolen half a heartbeat before being blasted across the grasslands.

You have Extracted the skill: Repel water [versatile] (uncommon, rank 3).

Digestion is complete.

Would you like to slot repel water now?

Luckily, the System had extended the deadline to make his decision while Edge was unconscious. But now he had to move fast, or he would lose the chance. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to keep such an odd skill, but there wasn’t a reason to say no. I may as well give it a shot.

When he confirmed his intentions, his awareness was drawn into his central chamber. He ran his gaze across the floating ball of water he had [Extracted] while Warren’s core was in the middle of being obliterated. When it flowed into his skill garden and locked into its socket, he was granted an instinctive sense of what it did.

The more that he thought about it, the more convinced Edge became that he had gotten something great after all. Repel water might not look like much at first glance, especially at rank-one. But there was a depth to it that he hadn’t grasped until that moment.

For starters, it was his first versatile skill. Many skills only had one specific function, like slash, leap, and all the rest. Versatile skills, on the other hand, were guided by intention and visualization. Each of them could perform a range of functions, making them useful in various situations.

For example, he could use repel water to fire water bullets or shove someone back, like Warren had done during their fight. At least in theory. It would likely take a lot of practice and several rank-ups before Edge could do it too. But that was just the start. He could also use the skill as an umbrella to keep the rain off his head, a shield to deflect water-based attacks, or a barrier to keep steam from scalding him. And that was just what he could come up with off the top of his head.

Moving on, the more specific that a skill was, the more power it contained. At a comparable rank, repel water would produce a greater effect than the manipulate water skill Rita had. The tradeoff was that it could only push water away from the user’s position, whereas her skill could push it, pull it, or cause it to take on a variety of shapes.

On top of everything else, repel water was almost ready to evolve. Absorbing even a single basic skill would do it. Apparently, Edge couldn’t start with a skill that was higher than rank-one, no matter how high it had been when he stole it. But it could come brimming over with experience.

He decided that he preferred it that way, since it would let him take full control over the direction of each skill’s development. Instead of being locked into whatever skillset its original owner had chosen, he would have the freedom to chart his own path.

Now that repel water was his to command, Edge’s mind was carried back to the outside world. He had been too focused on his gains to take a good look around, but now it was time to find out where in the hell he was.