Chapter 25: Drill Sergeant Kiana.
[All of Creation] is a subskill of [Great Sage] that functions as a significantly nerfed form of omniscience. It allows the user to comprehend anything, provided they have a basic understanding of it, from simple muscle movements to complex phenomena like a supernova.
This skill offers near-infinite learning potential, as long as the user's mind can handle it—from acquiring basic knowledge to understanding the principles of quantum mechanics.
Huo Yuhao was determined to push this skill to its absolute limit. He knew how blood rings were formed and how to create them, so why not use the same knowledge to condense his own soul rings?
Why limit yourself to hunting soul beasts and gaining a subpar version of their skills when you can condense your own soul skill? It wouldn't be easy, but it was worth a try.
If Yuhao was to create an organization, he would need something that solidified his standing in the Douluo world. He traveled to Arenga to allow himself to grow without anyone interfering with his path to absolute power.
He had a certain idea that, if implemented correctly in Douluo Dalu, could monopolize the entire world like a true capitalist—but that would have to wait.
With the 『Skill Creation Essence』, it was only a matter of time before he stood among the powerhouses.
The first week of training was pure hell for Yuhao. When Kiana said she would train him until his legs shook, she really meant it. Huo Yun'er was very worried about him during this week, using her [Healing Flames] several times to heal him. With the [Complete Recovery Herb] and other OP plants in the Sage Garden, he recovered swiftly, but that wasn't the point.
Do you realize how serious it is for someone with [Infinite Regeneration], an innate skill of his [Monster Slime] martial soul, to require healing items to recover from training? Where did the cute Tuna go?
"She died when she saw her world perish countless times before her eyes, Yuhao. I won't make the same mistake again. I'll train you to become stronger than ever—stronger than me even—but you must work for it," said the Tuna.
He wholeheartedly believed in her. Absolute power. There is no such thing as absolute power; there will always be someone stronger somewhere in the universe. There will always be a sky above the sky, so Yuhao didn't deceive himself into thinking he would reach that level. All he had to do was walk his path and believe he would reach a satisfying end.
It was now the weekend; Kiana took mercy on him and gave him the day off. Her excuse was that training and rest go hand in hand. It was just his adaptability and [Slime Physique] that made him better at withstanding harsher training.
What was his training regime, you ask as you sip your tea while sitting on the couch? It was as follows:
He would do body training in the morning under increased gravity. Kiana, being the Herrscher of Finality, could use all the authorities of the previous Herrschers, meaning she could manipulate gravity as she wished. She would increase the pressure bit by bit as his body adapted to it. As for the exercises themselves, he followed the regime of the strongest Baldy in history.
After that, he would train both [Thread Manipulation] and [Illusion Manipulation] to enhance his control. Training [Illusion Manipulation] was by far the easiest, as he only needed to cast an illusion on himself. He wouldn't change his appearance or anything, but keeping the skill active at all times improved his control over it and lowered its energy consumption.
He also ventured out into the forest to earn some [Skill Points] while training his [Illusion Manipulation] skill. How? He would cast illusions on monsters, guiding them into other monsters' territories. The monsters would kill each other while he collected drop items and [Skill Points]. How efficient, Huo Yuhao.
And when he ventured into the forest, the world's consciousness threw multiple skills at him:
[Skill [Map] has been acquired.]
[Skill [All Range Detection] has been acquired.]
[Skill [Map]: It will show you the map of places you've visited once.]
[Skill [All Range Detection]: Allows you to detect presences.]
Of course, how could the [Essence of Skill Creation] allow its user to gain skills from other sources besides itself or Ellie?
『Notice! There exist multiple skills belonging to Huo Yuhao not granted by the Essence or Ellie.』
『Absorbing skills and title effects granted by the world's consciousness to turn them into skills granted by the Essence.』
『Absorption and skill creation complete.』
This is how Huo Yuhao discovered a loophole. He could perform certain actions that would grant him skills from the world's consciousness, and the [Essence of Skill Creation] would convert them into skills that belonged solely to him, without spending any of the skill points.
He would then use his [Skill Points] to create skills he had no knowledge of, such as martial arts, unique abilities, and resistances, gaining other skills through training. It was more cost-effective.
(AN: After all, I chose this world because of its cheats, you know. So, I'm going to make use of them. If I didn't use this world's resources, why did I bother traveling to it in the first place? I could have granted him the essence in Douluo Dalu and been done with it, but I dislike that plot. Let me know your thoughts.)
For example, he can get a [Cooking] from the world's consciousness by doing certain actions. He can do that and allow his essence to absorb it. But for something like [Primordial Runes] from [FATE]. They can't be created by doing certain action now, can they? And this is where the [Skill creation Essence] truly shines. By using certain amount of skill points he could gain skills that couldn't be acquired normally.
[Thread Manipulation] was a bit difficult to train. He couldn't just imagine forming threads in the fabric of space to cut his opponent and dismantle him like a certain king of curses. However, he managed to develop a technique using his threads.
He would create threads that rotated on themselves like a chainsaw to cut anything he desired. Since he could make the threads as thin and as tough as he wanted, he could practically cut anything in the physical world.
As a break from all that cutting, Kiana instructed him to start creating various clothing items and fabrics for use in crafting armor and such. He had a good reference point since the Sage of the House couldn't stop flexing, even when it came to clothes.
[Royal Silk Shirt: A very soft shirt made of the highest quality royal silk. Automatically adjusts size according to the body shape of the wearer. Maintains a comfortable temperature for the wearer. Immune to dirt. Contains an auto-repair function. Contractor: Huo Yuhao.]
[Royal Silk Pants: Very soft pants made of the highest quality royal silk. Automatically adjusts size according to the body shape of the wearer. Maintains a comfortable temperature for the wearer. Immune to dirt. Contains an auto-repair function. Contractor: Huo Yuhao.]
[Dragon God's Leather Shoes: Shoes made from the skin of a dragon god, the highest rank of the dragon species just below Genesis Dragon. Ignores environmental effects or features. No matter how much the wearer walks or runs, they won't get tired, and the shoes won't be damaged. The size changes to fit the wearer. Immune to dirt. Contractor: Huo Yuhao.]
"I mean, what can I say? The Sage really made some overpowered items. Like, seriously, mate, you used the skin of a dragon god to make a pair of shoes and not armor?" Yuhao wanted to punch someone in the face really badly.
'Imagine Gu Yuena sees that. I'm pretty sure the lady would lose her marbles, lol. Granted, dragon gods differ from universe to universe, but still,' he thought to himself as he began using the shirt and pants as reference materials for the threads he was making.
He still had a drop item from killing the [Hell Slime] that he could use in crafting clothing and armor:
[Hell Slime Jelly: An item made from the remains of a Hell Slime. It has 99.99% conductivity efficiency for magic.]
'Hmm, I have an idea, hehe.' You know something's wrong when he starts laughing like that.
Huo Yuhao summoned nanobots and commanded them to consume the [Hell Slime Jelly]. His nanobots could consume materials and gain their characteristics, so in theory, his nanobots could consume the Hell Slime Jelly and acquire its 99.99% energy conductivity.
Sure, the nanobots were already made of energy, so why would he need the 99.99% energy conductivity? Well, let's just say that all his constructs from the [Nanomancer] class now had 99.99% energy conductivity. Talk about a walking arsenal.
Imagine creating a fly fortress that consumes less energy than a normal household—now that's what we call innovative.
He used [Analytical Appraisal] and [All of Creation] to analyze the fabric of the [Royal Silk Shirt] and [Royal Silk Pants], and he succeeded in creating a fabric that could adjust to the wearer's measurements and had perfect temperature control. As for the [Dragon God's Leather Shoes], well, let's not talk about that for now.
That was the second part of his training. The last part was what Yuhao did when he slept at night. Kiana would bring his consciousness inside the stigma space for combat training and studying.
Aspiring to be a spear user, he requested to train with it first before moving on to other weapons like swords, staffs, bows, scythes, and daggers. He would max out the [True Martial Arts: 1] skill to its absolute limit.
Kiana created a combat simulation for him, allowing him to train as much as he liked. However, everything changed when he saw his first opponent.
The lady standing before him had a fair complexion, light blue eyes, and strawberry blonde hair that faded into light pink at the ends. She was wearing a slightly revealing battle suit that looked good on her as she gazed at him with calm eyes.
'Holy f#$k. This is Durandal, aka Bianka Ataegina, aka Kiana's sister. I'm going to face the full might of the strongest Valkyrie in [Schicksal],' he screamed inside his head. And who wouldn't? Don't let her appearance fool you—beneath that beautiful, delicate, and lovely exterior lies a complete monster.
It seems Kiana is really not holding back at all, and Yuhao was touched by her dedication.
'Okay, let's get started,' he said as he stepped into the ring with a projection of the [Absolute Spear] in his hands, twirling it from one side to the other.
The result? Complete defeat. He couldn't land a single blow on her. This continued throughout the entire week of training, but he never gave up because he saw real progress. He aspired to become a lucky lancer; a path that had never been reached before.
His [Eyes of Heaven] martial soul innate skills helped him in his training tremendously as he started to gain some confidence when using the spear.
His [True Martial Arts: 3] skill was working overtime during those combat simulations.
『Skill [True Martial Arts]: A state that can only be reached by those who have learned all weapon and hand-to-hand combat arts. You can master all weapons and hand-to-hand combat. 』
His hand-eye coordination improved steadily, his body adapted to stances and techniques as he practiced with Durandal, and his will was tempered again and again. He didn't use any other skills in the training, relying only on [Great Sage], [True Martial Arts], and his physical abilities.
The effort was fruitful. When he realized he was making progress in becoming a lucky spearman, he felt happiness from the bottom of his heart. So much so that he received an unexpected surprise.
(AN: Before you start saying "system this, system that," please refer to the introduction of the essence. The essences grant him skill points when he fulfills his desires, like eating a delicious meal, playing a good video game, and doing lewd stuff. So, he fulfilled his battle lust and gained skill points for it. As for the extra skill points, he got them from training illusion manipulation in the forest, remember?)
『Fulfilling battle lust +1000 skill points. 』
『Skill points: 19600. 』
'Hmm, I guess I'm a bit of a battle maniac. Well, all lancers were crazy in one way or another. Cú Chulainn literally went around challenging other heroic spirits left and right in every route he was summoned in the 5th Holy Grail War.'
'Such is the path of a lancer, sigh,' he thought as he stepped out of the combat simulation and walked toward Kiana.
Kiana, who had been watching the battle simulation, nodded at him and instructed him to go to the study after resting for a bit.
And that brings us to the last point of training—well, not exactly training, but studying. The stigma space contained all the knowledge of humanity from previous eras, and Yuhao, who had the [Nanomancer] class, was naturally interested in advanced technology.
He spent the remaining time trying to study and figure out what he could do with his nanobots, and the number of blueprints available to him made him drool a little. And that was Yuhao's training schedule for the past week. True spartan training, lads.
(Chapter 25 finished.)
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An:
Phew, this chapter is about 2.3k words without the author's note. It took longer than usual.
I have to say, trying to think of ways to train Huo Yuhao was exhausting. I'm attempting to implement an unusual idea that will require the use of [Great Sage]'s [All of Creation], which is why I refreshed your memory by putting it at the beginning of the chapter.
We will spend some skill points tomorrow to create some new assistance skills for his growth, and I'm happy to hear your suggestions.
Also, we've reached 60k words in this story, which is crazy, and we've received 20 reviews—YATTA! Thank you for the support. I'll try to set up a Patreon this weekend; let me know if you're interested.
Also, thanks to [VictorElderblood] and [DaoistsdqclZ] for sharing some waifu pics in the comment section; you're truly cultured individuals.
Anyhow, don't forget to comment on memes, share your thoughts, and, most importantly, post waifu pics.
That's all for now.
Bye.