[Ding! Your wish has been granted]
[A random reward is being generated…]
[Error….]
[Re-generating…]
[Ding! An appropriate skill has been selected!]
[You have acquired Skill: Concentration(?)]
[Would you like to see your skill details?]
[Yes/No]
"oh! I didn't know that there was a detail function in the status panel... That's unexpected"
According to the novel, Fade's system was capable of giving him information due to the appraisal skill he had.
But it seems that this status window, which everyone in this world has, is also capable of giving information but only about your own acquired skills and not about others.
"It's good enough, I guess... But let's get out of this place first; I will check the details later at the dormitory."
After fulfilling the wish, a portal appeared in the hall, clearly urging Rio to leave immediately.
Seeing this, Rio fell in thought:
"An SS ranker's essence is incredibly powerful; even in death, it maintains the ability to grant a single wish to one individual."
In the end, Rio walked fast and entered the portal without any hesitation. He doesn't want to be like Fade, who was forcefully thrown out and fell on his face, humiliated by the essence of a dead person.
"Remembering that, a smile appears on my face every time…that was an interesting thing that happened with Fade."
Indeed, even after fulfilling his first wish, Fade contemplated obtaining more. Given his existing system, he considered either resisting the old essence or perhaps absorbing it for his own benefit.
After all, he gains system points from the essence of dead creatures; if he had been able to absorb the vast essence of a former SS rank, he could have quickly advanced to B rank with all skills fully maxed out.
It could have given Fade a huge boost and made him strong enough to get rid of all those people who once humiliated him.
His intense desire for revenge made him think about it, so he decided to try this. Fade convinced Kira to walk out first and wait for him outside.
After Kira left, Fade began his work and instructed the system to absorb the essence.
However, unlike him, the system was not naive; it initially attempted to absorb a small amount out of caution, but the remaining 'Will' in the essence quickly realized that someone was attempting to harm it.
The essence of an SS rank is no joke, not to mention Fade was still quite low in rank at that time. The essence directly opened a portal under Fade's legs and threw him out.
Fade directly landed on the ground with his face towards the ground.
Being humiliated, he got angry and swore to destroy this place and all the sh*ts a normal protagonist does, cursing the essence and saying that he will absorb it one day.
After cursing, Fade walked away with Kira towards the dormitory.
But he didn't know that he had already angered Marik by trying to harm his friend's essence.
Although Marik could not come out personally to punish Fade, he was being bound by the treaty between the SS ranks to not enter other races's territories without permission.
Thus, Marik always sent his snake subordinates to punish Fade from time to time. Making huge trouble for Fade until the day Fade killed Marik and destroyed the Lake of Wishes, absorbing all the essence in it.
This is the result you get by offending a son of the heavens.
'Those snake subordinates were a real headache for Fade, though…. Not to mention some of them even targeted Fade's harem…. The biggest sin a villain can do against a protagonist!'
As Rio contemplated these thoughts, he exited the portal, finding himself back where he had stood prior to becoming ensnared in the illusion.
Rio didn't wait and ran as fast as he could; he went directly out of the forest.
He knew that the illusion could still take effect if he waited too long; Marik would capture him in his illusion again, and this time he would not be as friendly as the last time.
There's a high possibility that Marik will misunderstand him if he waits here for too long; he may think that Rio wants to get to that place once again.
"Let's not take unnecessary risks and get out of this god-forsaken place. It's not comfortable to be in someone's illusion for too long."
On the battlefield, illusion-based fighters are infamous for their ability to trap people in their illusions, which can have a detrimental effect on your brain due to their constant control over your thought process.
Due to these reasons, an illusionist is greeted by attacks from all sides, making it very dangerous for them to be on the battlefield without any guards around them.
When Rio walked out of the forest, it was already evening, and it was getting late.
So Rio decided to go straight to his dormitory room.
...
Academy, Boys Dorms, Rio's Room.
After taking a good bath, he lay down on his bed to review all the information and assess his gains from this theft trip.
[Name: Rio Flash]
[Class: Swordsman]
[Rank: C] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]
[HP: 2000/2000] [MP: 1400/1400]
[STR: 50/100] [SPE: 50/100] [AGI: 50/ 100] [DEF: 50/100] [INT: 50/100]
[Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]
[Techniques: Basic Swordsmanship(C), Elemental Sword Art(C)]
[Ultimate Skill: Concentration(?)]
[Skills: Body Strengthening(C-), Lightening Sword(C-), Sword Aura(D-), Handling(D-)]
[Passive Skills: True Immunity(X)]
[Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; your growth rate is terrifying, and you have unlimited potential!]
[Items: An Unknown Fragment (???)]
"Hmm, two new slots have been created; this concentration skill I got seems to be an Ultimate skill; that's a surprise."
Having an ultimate skill is extremely rare in this world.
Throughout human history, only a few people have been known to possess unique skills. Of course, Fade is an exception; at his peak, he had three ultimate skills that were overpowered.
But it didn't matter that much, because Fade rarely used them; after all, how can a protagonist show off?
If he directly uses all his strength to kill the opponent, he needs to pretend to be forced so to gain more and more attention from the world.
"Such a troublesome life…"
Shaking his head, Rio focused on the details of his skills. He hadn't seen the details of his skills since he got them, so he was eager to know the details.
After all, the more you know about yourself, the better you can perform in fights.
Rio concentrated his mind and imagined himself getting information on the skills
Soon enough, a notification from the window made him smile unconsciously:
[Generating skill information panel…]
[A separate panel has been created for skill information!]
[You can get information about any of your attributes here!]
[Would you like to open the panel?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes!"
Immediately, a blank panel opened in front of him. Rio was confused for a moment, then thought of something and concentrated on his technique section first:
[Basic Swordsmanship(C):
- A basic skill every swordsman has; it shows your understanding and mastery of swordsmanship. It is the easiest sword anyone can learn, yet the most necessary sword art to qualify as a true swordsman.
Generally, it can only be increased to a peak of D rank, but your sword potential has surpassed the general boundaries of basic swordsmanship.
Increases 25% extra damage to your opponents when using a sword to attack.]
[Elemental Sword Art(C):
- A unique sword art, created by an extremely strong swordsman, it combines several elements in the swordsmanship at the peak.
- It has several sword skills that have yet to be unlocked by you. The gradual increase in your understanding will help you to unlock more of its secrets.
- 40% extra damage in every attack when used.]
"This is quite detailed information on my skills; I am getting more and more interested in it now."
Next, Rio focused on his skills to check them out too…
[1. Body strengthening(C-):
- A basic skill every swordsman can acquire by training in basic sword arts.
- Generally, it can only be raised to D+, but your sword talent has surpassed these boundaries, giving you an even stronger body than normal.
- All body resistances, attack capabilities, auxiliary capabilities, and defensive capabilities increase by 45% when used.]
[2. Lightening Sword(C-):
- The first sword skill that can be unlocked when training elemental sword arts. It causes a precise and extremely fast sword attack with every strike when used, reduces sword weight, and increases movement speed.
- Damage and speed increased by 40% when used]
[3. Sword Aura(D-):
- A skill evolved from sword energy due to your sword talent.
- Can use elemental energies to concentrate on your sword, and elemental attacks like 'Fire Strike' can be used through this skill.]
[4. Handling(D-):
- The second unlocked skill of elemental sword art. Provides greater defense.
- A defense skill that can be used to defend an opponent's attacks and divert them in the wrong direction or toward the opponent.]
[True Immunity(X):
- A passive skill can help block unusual skills used to harm you.]
[Concentration(?):
- A skill with extreme potential.
- All the stats, reactions, and senses will be boosted by 2 times when used.
- It is still a half-complete skill; a second part is still needed to complete it.
- Required skill for completion:???]
Seeing the information about the skill concentration, Rio was already dumbfounded.
"2 times the stats, reactions, and senses? This is too overpowered!"
This small sentence means that once this skill is used, all the stats of Rio, like attack and defense, will be at 100 from 50 directly.
Even though its mana consumption seems high, and according to Rio's calculations, he can only use this skill for 5 minutes at most; it can already be considered a deadly weapon.
This skill not only enhances Rio's stats but also enhances his reactions and senses, enabling him to wield his sword with greater speed and accuracy.
Simply put, this skill is tailor-made for Rio and can boost his strength very high; even if it's just for five minutes, it's already so damn good.
You should consider the fact that only someone at the peak of A rank can have 100 stats, but Rio will be an exception to this limit from now on.
"But this last sentence confuses me a bit; this skill is already good enough, yet it says that it's not complete yet."
'I wonder when I will find the other half to complete this skill. Well, for now, let's check out the last and most-awaited thing that I always wanted to check out. Let's see.'
[An Unknown Fragment (???):
- ???
- ?? …Need more fragments…(1/???)…???]
"The heck is this? I never read anything about this in the novel; there was no explanation about this mysterious fragment in the novel. I wonder what this thing is for."
"It seems to need more fragments to get more information about it; that's such a headache; why does it feel like I am being dragged into some big problem having this thing with me?"
"Not to mention, I can't even throw it; this thing seems to have been stored in my soul space and can't be separated so easily."
Figuring out that he couldn't do anything about this, Rio just put it at the back of his mind and decided to fall asleep. It has been a long time since he had a peaceful sleep.
The incident at the islands and the encounter with Marik all took a huge toll on his body.
After closing his eyes, Rio fell asleep instantly.
In the morning the next day, while he was enjoying the beautiful sunrise standing near the window with a teacup in his hand, a peaceful start of a new chaos-filled event had come near already.
"The New Year is coming soon, with a new event along with it….. sigh~ can't an extra have a peaceful life.... Well, I am looking forward to it as always."
...
...
Author's Note.
On the demand of several readers, I decided to go with the skill option, leading Rio to a new journey by leaving an incomplete skill. Let's see where this leads Rio.
Thank you all for your support.