"The fuck!.." Ian cursed as his eyes widened in surprise, looking at the system screen while still sitting on the infirmary bed.
'Ex, Legendary, and Myth-grade talents?'
[Talent Upgrade Card (Myth): Allows the user to upgrade a targeted talent to the level of Myth, the highest possible grade of talent. Valid Till: 19:18:35]
[Talent Upgrade Card (Legendary): Allows the user to upgrade a targeted talent to the level of Legendary, the second highest possible grade of talent and the 9th in the list of talents. Valid Till: 19:18:35]
[Talent Upgrade Card (Ex): Allows the user to upgrade a targeted talent to the level of Ex, the 8th highest level in the list of grades. Valid Till: 19:18:35]
Ian watched the description of all three cards with wide eyes. 'F to S... seven levels. Does this mean that these are the grades that come after S grade?'
In the world, the S grade is considered to be the highest grade of talent, though there are many texts in myths about heroes or ancient literature that hint at higher grades of talent, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
'Yeah, the S grade is the highest grade that's public knowledge...' If the news about talents higher than S grade existing comes out, it is sure to hit the headlines and can be considered the discovery of the century.
Ian was baffled by the info the system provided him about the undiscovered talent grades, but what shocked him even more was that these mystical cards could change the grade of any talents he used them on.
'Talent upgrade isn't a new thing. I'm pretty sure there is something about it that mages get to learn based on the books I've read...' Yeah, talent advancement is very rare but a known concept. Ian never imagined that just some cards provided by the system could do it, not to mention upgrade talents to the highest grade, an undiscovered grade.
His mouth hung agape at the revelation as he went through the description and his eyes finally landed on the countdown.
'Fuck, a time-limited item.' In the guidelines the system provided, he learned about various items, some of which were time-limited, meaning they expire after some time and self-delete.
This fact made Ian a little panicked but calmed down a bit seeing that there were still 19 hours left before the expiry, though he was not entirely relieved.
'Okay, so I have to find 3 talents to use these cards on before they expire!' Three cards, three top-grade talents... Ian couldn't let this chance go to waste, could he?
Higher-grade talents like S grade are very valued and rare in the world. The possessors of these talents are greatly valued as these talents grant them abilities so powerful and great that people can only look at them with envy.
Ian's innate talent is Map, as mentioned before. It is the talent Ian was born with and has inherited from his father, a D-rank talent, and also Ian's only talent.
"Should I upgrade it?"
Innate talents are something a person is born with and can be passed down through their bloodlines, so it means if Ian ever has any children far in the future, then it's possible for them to inherit it, unlike acquired abilities, which can't be inherited like this.
"First, let's count the pros and cons of upgrading Map."
'First, it can increase the quality of his lineage and make him and his future descendants possibly talented. That's one of the pros.'
'The second one is Map being an amazing talent with only the drawback of its short range of operation and not being related directly to combat, so by upgrading Map talent, Ian can increase his range and use it for greater purposes with better uses.'
'And that's all the pros, I guess. In cons, there is...'
"...I would lose an upgrade card."
Honestly, these upgrade cards are mind-blowing to Ian, and if used on the correct talents, he can get damn powerful. So, should he just waste these cards on a D-rank talent which has no direct combat benefit to him or any cheat-like powers? It would be a waste, in a sense, wouldn't it?
'Yeah, I shouldn't just waste these cards on any random talents and wait for some really nice talents to upgrade them, but... I don't think I have the luxury for it right now.'
'19 hours...' Since the moment the self-deletion of the system ended, the rewards were assigned to him with a 24-hour time limit to use them.
Now only 19 hours are left, so Ian has to find the talents to use these cards on within these hours.
"Finding talents isn't the problem here... or good talents." There are a lot of people in the world who possess talents, but the talents Ian considers useful aren't many. However, he can locate a few people who have the talents Ian really desires within these 19 hours.
'...But the cooldown condition for the copy.'
When reading about the copying ability of the system, Ian noted that there is a cooldown condition to copy the talents. The duration is not specifically mentioned, so Ian doesn't know how long the cooldown lasts.
'In the novels I read, for these kinds of abilities, the cooldowns can range from a few hours to a few minutes...' Ian frowned, realizing this. He doesn't know the cooldown time for the system, and if he copies a talent now and if the cooldown lasts for more than a day, how can he use the cards?
Trrrrinnnng!
As Ian contemplated, the school bell rang, indicating the end of school, breaking him out of his thoughts.
'...The school's finally over!' Ian thought as he was finally able to get out of the infirmary and use the system abilities which he was dying to check.
Getting up from his seat, Ian made his way out of the infirmary only to find a commotion happening in the distance. Loud noises echoed through the corridor as the school staff carried three badly injured people with numerous cut marks on their bodies and burnt skin, wearing tattered uniforms, to the infirmary in a hurry.
The blood-covered students looked in serious condition, their faces hardly recognizable as the school staff urged Jessica to perform first aid on the students.
[Earth Bending (B)]
[Master of Crimson Flames (S)]
[Metal Skin (C)]
"Aren't they?.."