Seeing both girls walking ahead, ignoring him, Nolan could only refocus his attention on his character panel.
His strength had greatly increased.
But upon noticing that advancing from level 80 to 81 required ten times the Adventure EXP—an overwhelming 80,000 Adventure EXP—he couldn't help but sigh.
It was just like in the game: after reaching level 80, the resources required to continue leveling up grew exponentially.
What an unfriendly design.
Nolan sighed inwardly.
He looked at the new racial specialty that appeared after his level 80 breakthrough:
[Silicon-Based Ascension: Cells Transform Into Metal, Changing The Race To A Silicon-Based Lifeform. All Physical Attributes, Except For Mental Power, Receive A Tenfold Increase.]
As soon as he saw the first specialty, Nolan was deeply tempted.
A tenfold increase in attributes? If he chose this, he felt like he could even go head-to-head with the Adepti.
However, the idea of no longer being human was something he found difficult to accept.
Moreover, he wasn't sure if he'd still have physical sensations after becoming a metal being.
What if, in the future, when he was close to the girls, he found out he couldn't feel anything? He'd regret it forever.
No, he couldn't be swayed by such power that would make life meaningless!
Nolan quickly removed this option from his mind and looked at the second racial specialty:
[Elemental Immunity: Greatly Increases Elemental Energy Within The Body. Reduces The Damage From Elemental Attacks By A Percentage Equal To The User's Level. This Only Works Against Attacks From Weaker Opponents. The Effect Diminishes Against Stronger Enemies.]
Wow—no wonder this specialty appeared as part of the level 80 breakthrough! It could reduce damage from elemental attacks.
At level 80, if someone weaker than him attacked with elemental power, the damage would be reduced by 80%.
And if he faced an enemy stronger than himself...
Even if the reduction wouldn't be as high as 80%, the damage would still be significantly decreased. Overall, this was an extremely overpowered skill.
After all, this was Teyvat.
If elemental attacks became ineffective, wouldn't that render his enemies practically useless in front of him? They'd have no choice but to get beaten up!
Of course, before making a decision, he looked at the third specialty, just in case it suited him better.
[Genjustu: Mental power Increases Tenfold, Allowing The User To Create A Mental Illusion To Trap The Enemy's Consciousness.]
This specialty was also quite good.
However, after some thought, Nolan chose Elemental Immunity. Nothing was more important than personal safety.
After selecting "Elemental Immunity," he couldn't even tell how strong his defense had become.
His physical attributes were already impressive, and with the "Battery Body" increasing all resistances, he figured elemental attacks would barely have any effect on him.
At the same time, his "Harmony" specialty gained a new trait:
[Repairing Corrosion(Wear and Tear)]: Allows a person to maintain their original mindset, no matter how long they live, preventing them from being worn down by the passage of time.
This trait was also quite powerful, even though it wasn't immediately useful.
It had taken him over 70,000 Adventure EXP to go from level 70 to level 80, and now Nolan had around 89,000 Adventure EXP remaining.
That was only enough to level up once.
Since it didn't seem worth it, he decided to save the points for his skills instead.
The first skill was "Lumine's Sword Intent," which had already reached level 8, just two levels away from max level.
Adventure EXP - 17,000
Lumine's Sword Intent: Secret Art Technique Lv. 8 (0/8000) → Lumine's Sword Intent: Secret Art Technique Lv. 10 (Max Level)
After maxing out the skill, three enhancement options appeared.
Nolan thought carefully and chose a trait called "Sword Foundation."
[Sword Foundation: Uses "Lumine's Sword Intent" As The Base, Fusing With Other Skills To Absorb Their Strengths, Forging A Foundation For Swordsmanship. By Fusing Ten Skills Of The Same Level, It Can Evolve Into A Secret Art Level Skill.]
This trait allowed the fusion of non-sword skills as well.
Moreover, unlike the character panel, where a skill had to be maxed out to fuse, here any skill could be fused as long as it was learned.
So, by choosing this trait, he could save many Adventure EXP while also strengthening "Lumine's Sword Intent." Naturally, there was no reason not to pick it.
However, he still had to carefully consider which skills to fuse.
Next, Nolan spent 70,000 Adventure EXP to max out his level 5 Elemental Burst and Anemo Manipulation skills.
Although they didn't have any enhancement options, their effects greatly improved after reaching max level.
The downside was that he only had a little over 2,000 Adventure EXP left on his character panel.
❇❇❇
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: Lv. 80 (0/80,000)
Race: Human
Title: Honorary Knight
Innate Talent: Entangling Affection
Skills:
- Divine Generation Archery: Arcane Level Technique Lv. 1 (1/5000)
- Elemental Skill: Dandelion Shield Lv. 10 (Max Level)
- Elemental Burst: Windwheel Aster Barrier Lv. 10 (Max Level)
- Focus Technique Lv. 10 (Spirit Descent)
- Concealment Form: Secret Art Technique Lv. 10 (Domain)
- Lumine's Sword Intent: Secret Art Technique Lv. 10 (Sword Foundation)
- Anemo Manipulation Lv. 10 (Max Level)
- Wind Pressure Sword: Secret Art Technique Lv. 2 (0/2000)
- Arrow of World's Descent: Secret Art Technique Lv. 1 (1/1000)
- Hand-to-Hand Combat/Martial Arts Lv. 2 (0/200)
Specialties:
- Descender
- Maiden Savior
- Monster Slayer
- Abundant Life
- The Gospel of the Sky
- North Wind
- Spiritual Threads
- Harmony]
- Millennium Body
- Blue Vortex
- Battery Body
- Elemental Immunity
Adventure EXP: 2,573
❇❇❇
"Finally back home."
As soon as Paimon entered the house, she collapsed onto the couch.
"Is this your home?" Shenhe asked, her curiosity piqued as she glanced around the living room.
The decor was quite different from the Cloud Retainer's realm or the Jade Chamber where she usually stayed.
"Hehe, yes, that's right! Welcome to our home!" Paimon said with a cheerful smile.
"Shenhe, why don't you sit down? I'll get started on dinner," Lumine said, stretching and yawning as she noticed the sky outside was darkening.
Today had been exhausting. Participating in a battle of Archon-level intensity was a strain on both the mind and body. For the next few days, she just wanted to relax at home and put adventuring aside.
"Alright," Shenhe replied calmly, sitting down on the light blue sofa and, out of habit, began to meditate.
After all, there wasn't much to do while waiting, and since she wasn't good at small talk, meditation was the best option.
Meanwhile, Nolan, thinking of sitting down to rest, suddenly heard Fischl's voice in his mind.
"Foolish Attendant, have you returned home yet?" Fischl asked.
"Just got back," Nolan responded truthfully.
Immediately after he answered, he received a teleportation request from her. Once he accepted it, a blonde girl appeared before him in an instant.
Fischl looked at Nolan with joy, ready to throw her arms around him—until she noticed a girl with white hair sitting on the couch.
Confused, she asked:
"Who is she?"
---
(End of Chapter)