'He already knows I'm A-Rank? I feel like I missed out on a lot…'
Sol was still confused, thinking he would have to fight with his life on the line mere moments ago, but it was already over before it began. On top of that, Torben somehow knew he had ranked up, and he had no idea how that was possible.
'Well, since there's no danger, I guess there's no need to maintain this.'
With the threat of the Bliss Spider dealt with, he released his control over the [True Sight (Variant)] thread, which quickly shrank back down to its original size.
[Law technique [Visionary] has degraded to [True Sight (Variant)] Lv 5]
'So it's called [Visionary]... It could do much more than just break the hallucination, but it's not able to reach its full power because I forced it to temporarily evolve into a law technique. On top of that, it lost a level when it returned to normal. I'm sure if I had maintained it longer, I would have lost more levels in the process too.'
It was a rather heavy cost, but one he found worth it. Looking at it from a transactional perspective, he paid one level to temporarily gain a law technique, which was a fair price.
'Still, I should see if I can somehow mitigate the damage to the skill's tether so maybe I don't lose any levels in the process.'
Continuously aiming for improvement, he already set a new goal to add to the pile of many other objectives he had.
'Oh wait, I can see the system messages again!'
With access to the real system and not the fake hallucination one, he immediately opened the system message logs to check what he missed while he was trapped.
[Warning! Forceful evolution will lead to backlash!]
[Warning! Forceful evolution will lead to backlash!]
[Warning! Forceful evolution will lead to backlash!]
[Warning…]
The warning messages continued for a while until he saw a familiar prompt.
[Natural evolution detected!]
'So, was I or was I not supposed to do it this way?'
The system messages were conflicting. At first, it recommended that he stop, but then it suddenly decided it would work after he went ahead with it. From the experience and knowledge he acquired when he formed the connection, he realized that it was necessary to do this to comprehend the law technique. Luckily for him, he wasn't able to see these messages as they would have dissuaded him from continuing.
'Maybe it would be bad if I did it for any other skill except this one?'
He could see how that could be the case, given the nature of the law technique, and if possible, he didn't want to go through that again. Scrolling past the last message, he saw what he was looking for.
[Comprehended law technique [Lesser Channel Control] Lv 1!]
[[Lesser Channel Control] Lv 1: Law technique. Can see and control the channels of laws to a small extent to enhance, disable and erase channels. Strength, vitality, and agility increase by 160, and Intelligence and Wisdom by 260.]
Sol's eye twitched when he read the name.
'Lesser, huh… well, on the bright side, at least it means there's still a lot of room for growth. But for a law technique to be called lesser…'
He also noticed that it called what he normally referred to as tethers "channels" and considered adopting the official name but decided against it. He preferred the sound of "tethers" more.
Besides the name that slightly peeved him, the last part of the law technique's description left him slack-jawed.
'160 for strength, vitality, and agility and 260 for intelligence and wisdom… a total of 1000 attribute points…'
Immediately, he opened the status page to see for himself how it changed.
Name: Sol
Race: Human
Talents: [Siphoner], [Transformer]
Level: 120
Exp: 42,754,870/12,134,602,940
HP: 3634/4000
MP: 5200
Str: 120 (+280)
Vit: 120 (+280)
Agi: 120 (+280)
Int: 120 (+380)
Wis: 120 (+400)
Talent Skills:
[Siphon] Lv 6, [Analysis] Lv 9, [Aggregate] Lv EX, [Reinterpret] Lv EX
Siphoned Talents:
[Create Magic Hands] Lv MAX, [Impact Bubble] Lv 4, [Spectral Claw] Lv MAX, [Gigantify] Lv MAX
Passive Skills:
[Muffled Movements] Lv EX, [Reflect] Lv 6, [Basic Psychic Mastery] Lv 8, [Advanced Weapon Mastery] Lv 3, [Wild Hunt] Lv 2, [Invincible Body] Lv 9, [Perfect Balance] Lv 7, [Death Absorption] Lv MAX, [True Sight (Variant)] Lv 5, [Superior Mana Control] Lv 7, [Fortified Soul] Lv 2, [Novice Craftsman] Lv 6, [Battle Dance] Lv 8, [Nether Body] Lv MAX
Active Skills:
[Lesser Channel Control] Lv 1, [Phase Step] Lv 1, [Invisibility] Lv 9, [Terra Manipulation] Lv 9, [Burrow] Lv MAX, [Telepathy] Lv 3, [Unpassable Bulwark] Lv 8, [Advanced Elemental Magic (Variant)] Lv 1, [Overpower] Lv 7, [Weapon Empowerment (Variant)] Lv EX, [Piercing Lunge] Lv 8, [Mana Slash] Lv 6, [Polychromatism] Lv EX, [Mana Burst] Lv EX, [Repair] Lv 5, [Close Combat] Lv 5, [Vorpal Blade Rush] Lv 6, [Guided Bombardment] Lv 5, [Phoenix Dive] Lv 6, [Unarming Blow] Lv 5, [Phantasmal Rip and Tear] Lv MAX, [Death Sentence] Lv EX, [Umbral Domain] Lv EX
"It really is 1000 attribute points… just for comprehending a law technique…"
It was equivalent to 200 levels. [Perfect Balance] didn't even provide that many. It was no wonder A-Rankers were so powerful. While he couldn't say for certain if they all received 1000 total, just being around that number in raw attributes was enough to turn anyone into a powerhouse.
Sol took a deep breath and calmed himself. Even though he was excited to finally become an A-Ranker, there were still more benefits to gain. He knew Torben was waiting for him alongside everyone from the exploration team, but this was something he wouldn't forgive himself if he missed.
He closed his status page and moved his gaze to the Bliss Spider, completely frozen in ice.
'Now don't mind if I do…'