Startled awake after a few hours of sleep, Lucas checked how much time he had left and was surprised to see that his overall time was higher than expected, showing 68 hours.

He couldn’t be sure, but it was plausible that he had slept for four hours, which meant his time in the waiting room had increased by 24 hours compared to the third floor. Previously, he had noticed that the increase was usually twelve hours from floor to floor.

“Will it increase by another 24 hours on the next floor, or will it go back to 12?” Lucas wondered.

He had a feeling that this added time was due to the increased difficulty after the fourth floor, which also matched the double amount of points he had received. This meant that on further floors, the increase might continue at 24 hours, or perhaps even more as he got closer to the top.

After exiting the bathtub and putting his clothes back on, Lucas decided to take a more careful tour around the apartment. He was feeling a bit nervous about the decisions he would have to make regarding his skill selection, and this was a good way to distract himself in the meantime.

The apartment wasn’t cluttered with furniture, but everything was very fancy, with a large couch in the living room and proper kitchen equipment filling the cabinets. The bedroom was also nice, resembling the regular hotel rooms he had stayed in on previous floors. However, it was in front of the totem that he spent most of his time.

Initially, Lucas believed it was a simplified version of the one in the Training Center, but after taking a closer look at the options, he realized it had many of the same features. The only limitations were the size of the training room, which was fixed, and the fact that the Tower naturally didn’t provide any teachers.

Nothing was free, however. Instead of money, the Tower charged points for its services, and Lucas was surprised to see his 84,500 points available in the corner of the screen. A bitter smile appeared on his face.

Considering that the difficulty had increased, a fully equipped training room might really come in handy to prepare for what was to come—the only problem being that he would be trading his future spoils to use it.

After poking around a bit, Lucas found that the prices weren’t too unreasonable; there were even a few cheap options for 50-100 points. Of course, even such small amounts required some consideration before spending, especially when it was unknown what they could be traded for later.

Sitting on the couch, Lucas decided it was time to make his skill selection. There was a lot to do during the 68 hours he had left, and he couldn’t keep postponing this decision, especially because he would need time to get familiar with his new skill, whatever it might be.

Realizing he hadn’t been exactly taught how to activate the skill selection, he simply voiced the thought. “I want to make my skill selection now.” As soon as he finished speaking, a list appeared in front of him, and he was very glad to see that this time there were five options:

Glass Bullet (Common) — Use magic to fire razor-sharp glass bullets that shatter on impact, causing devastating damage to your opponent’s body. Adds a minor bonus to the effect of Magic.

The first option was undoubtedly interesting, especially because it aligned with his class, but overall it wasn’t a significant upgrade from his fire shot. The only difference seemed to be that after the glass hit its target, it would produce further damage, likely due to the shards. However, even that wasn’t much different from the effects of his flames, which scorched the skin, so Lucas promptly decided to move on to the next option.

Illusory Footwork (Common) — A true pugilist never stays still, always on the move, adapting to the rhythm of the fight. With Illusory Footwork, you create deceptive movements that bewilder and disorient your opponents, making it harder for them to predict your next move.

This was fairly good and something he had expected to come across ever since fighting those annoying illusory moves of Faruk and his lackey. He had seen firsthand how useful that skill could be and could already imagine how well it would synergize with his high agility. Keeping it as a good option, Lucas moved his eyes to the next skill.

Elemental Affinity (Common) — You are one with the world; therefore, the basic elements surrounding you are almost a part of yourself. Allows the user to more easily manipulate basic elements to their purpose. May you and nature become one.

After reading the skill description, Lucas felt both excited and hesitant.

That skill definitely had something to do with the fact that he had done a lot of mana training lately, and it was initially an interesting one to take. It would probably take his mana manipulation—as far as elements were concerned—to another level

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This meant he would likely have a better shot at acquiring the water shield, as well as other elemental skills, if he had this elemental affinity.

This was mere speculation, of course. Lucas had little to no idea what this affinity business was about, and it was doubtful if it could be of any use in acquiring different skills. The possibility, however, was very alluring.

Since he wasn’t through with his options yet, Lucas decided to leave the decision for after he had read them all, and the next one was sure to sway his heart as well.

Glass Barrier (Uncommon) — While glass may seem fragile, it can be as strong as steel in the right hands. Summon a formidable glass barrier to defend against incoming attacks. This skill provides a bonus to Toughness when the shield is active.

Warning: The durability of the barrier is directly related to the user's Toughness and Magic stats.

Wow! That was a real shocker, and for many reasons. The first was the fact that it was of Uncommon rarity, unlike the others, clearly setting it apart.

The second had to be the fact that despite having "glass" in its name, this skill apparently had nothing to do with his bones. Well, at least not the ones inside his body… wait, was this “glass” made of the same material as his bones?

After thinking for a while, he reached the conclusion that it simply had to be, or it wouldn’t make sense for it to appear in his skill selection, since those were the only glass he had used. Besides, it fit his class description perfectly: “this class is heavily focused on bone manipulation.”

“I guess when I thought of bone manipulation, I never realized I could literally create bones out of nothing… or will this barrier be coming out of me?” The image was nothing but bizarre, so he moved on to the other perks of the skill.

Clearly, a barrier was something that would help him immensely. He had used a force-shield during the fourth floor, and it had been incredibly useful while it lasted, making him wonder if that experience had influenced the appearance of this skill now.

Of course, the fact that the glass barrier's resistance depended on his Toughness and Magic did lower its appeal somewhat, considering those were his lowest stats. His Toughness had received a significant boost with his latest achievement, reaching a respectable amount of 23. But he held no illusions that this would be enough to protect him when he was unable to dodge. At best, it would prevent him from dying for a short while.

Ultimately, even though it wasn’t immediately powerful, it was a skill that could improve as he continued to progress and enhance his Toughness and Magic. Besides, even a crappy shield is better than no shield, right?

Still, the most important aspect of the skill was definitely the visuals. Just how awesome would he look conjuring a glass shield mid-battle?

Pushing aside the glorious vision for a moment, Lucas moved on to the final skill in his selection and was even more impressed by what he found.

Glass Gate (Rare) — Conjure enchanted mirrors that serve as gateways, allowing you to teleport instantly from one mirror to another.

Warning: The range and number of mirrors you can create are determined by your proficiency and knowledge in spatial magic, as well as your Magic stat.

It was a flipping rare rarity skill! Even more bewildering was the description. If he understood it correctly, it would allow him to create portable portals and travel between them through space.

Now, he knew magic existed—he had even dabbled in it—but this was on a whole other level, like something straight out of a comic book. He had no idea what spatial magic even was. His imagination ran wild with possibilities before he managed to stop himself and actually think.

This skill was definitely related to his Glass Warrior class. Apparently, the element of glass was much more predominant than he had initially assumed. A mirror wasn’t exactly glass, but they were clearly related, and the very name of the skill gave it away. There was also the element of magic mixed in, likely connected to his many experiments on the field.

Beyond these aspects, however, he believed there was something even more relevant to the appearance of this skill in his selection: his heavy reliance on dodging during fights. After all, what’s better for dodging than actual teleportation?

Lucas felt torn looking at the skills in front of him. It seemed like the system was presenting him with a choice with those last two options. He had read before that the first skill picks would lay the foundation for how his skills and path would evolve after reaching level 100, so this was definitely not a decision to take lightly.

The first skill, though related to his class, was inferior to the others in his opinion, so he discarded it immediately. The second and the third were both highly useful, especially the Elemental Affinity, which could aid him in learning additional skills over time.

However, he had long decided to prioritize class-related skills above all else if given the option—at least until he laid the foundation for his future power. His reasoning was simple: he was profoundly aware of how any set-backs could prove fatal for people with unique classes due to treading an unknown path, and if he could get any help in that regard, he would take it.

So that left Glass Barrier and Glass Gate. Even though the rarity tipped the scales toward Glass Gate, rarity alone couldn’t be the deciding factor. This was a choice that could define his future, and the system made it clear: did he want to defend or dodge?

He hated more than anything feeling defenseless, powerless. It was a feeling he had known since he started walking, and even after the metamorphosis he underwent upon being transported to Ponos, he still felt the same when facing an attack.

He had definitely evolved since then, but his bones were still as fragile as ever when compared to the things in this world, and he would still break if he didn’t manage to get out of the way in time.

However, he had made a decision early on in this new world: he wouldn’t get anywhere thinking like a normal person. Sure, it was natural to want to correct his shortcomings—he was human, after all—but if he did only what was expected, he would end up ordinary. He needed to be bold.

If they catch me, I might break. But with a portal in my hands, it’ll be a heck of a lot harder to catch me, Lucas thought with a smile.

It was true, he knew absolutely nothing about spatial magic, and this would likely cause him some problems if he picked the skill blindly. But in the end, the skill was just too cool to pass up. Imagine being able to actually teleport through portals! Besides, the skill should come with a few insights on the matter, right?

Before his more reasonable self had time to reconsider, Lucas went ahead and picked the Rare rarity skill: Glass Gate.