"..."
Loki's words made Reiger raise his hand and look at it.
His hands, still smeared with blood, mud, and dust, were visibly in a miserable state.
Yet it was these hands that had fought tirelessly for an entire day and night.
[No End in Sight]—the benefits that this skill had brought to him seemed much greater than Reiger had imagined.
And that was to be expected.
"Only by leveling up is there a certain chance to acquire developmental abilities, which means that those with developmental abilities must be at least Lv.2," Loki said casually, glancing at Reiger from the corner of his eye, "With such abilities, you've gained three of them in one go because of a skill, and they're all of the highest tier. How could the help they bring be anything but significant?"
Whether it's 'Healing Power,' 'Regeneration,' or 'Abnormal Resistance,' since they are akin to fundamental developmental abilities, there are stages of ability even if there's no proficiency progression to show it.
At the very least, there are I-tier stages, and at most, S-tier stages, just like the ten stages of the basic abilities.
And the effect of [No End in Sight] is to grant Reiger three developmental abilities, all of the highest tier.
What does that mean?
It means that the three developmental abilities Reiger got due to the skill's effect are all S-tier.
This is no small feat.
"I can't speak for other clans, but in our clan, not a single member has advanced their developmental abilities to D-tier; the highest is only E-tier," Loki divulged this secret.
"Yet you've started with three developmental abilities equivalent to the S-tier, and even when you acquire new developmental abilities in the future, your skill's effect will also raise those abilities' tiers."
This showed just how strong the effect of Reiger's [No End in Sight] was.
After all, the Loki clan is not just any ordinary clan; it's one of the strongest clans in Eulalia.
And Eulalia, possessing an underground city full of endless mysteries, teems with innumerable monsters for the slaughter and countless foes for the challenge. To reach the pinnacle there is to be amongst the strongest in the entire world.
That's why Eulalia is known as the center of the world.
The Loki clan could be described as a gathering of the mighty, even containing several top-ranked individuals whose fame spread across the world.
Compared to the ancient heroes who once drove the monsters back into the underground city and reclaimed dominion over the land for humankind, they were probably not much different.
Could there be a clearer testament to how astonishing Reiger's skill's effects were when even such a mighty group had no one who could raise their developmental abilities above E-tier?
If it were just the recently acquired 'Healing Power' and 'Regeneration,' there wouldn't have been such a remarkable effect that one could fight non-stop for an entire day and night without feeling tired.
But 'Healing Power' and 'Regeneration' being at the highest tier was a different story altogether.
"Right now, you have merely experienced the effects of 'Healing Power' and 'Regeneration,'" said Loki, "Wait until you descend further and encounter creatures that can inflict abnormal statuses, and you will realize that your 'Abnormal Resistance' is just as abnormal."
As Loki spoke, his mood seemed to improve somewhat.
"With the highest-tier 'Abnormal Resistance' ability, I would wager that unless it's a poison potent enough to kill a deity, there is probably no abnormal status in this world that could affect you."
Speaking of which, Loki couldn't help but recall another of Reiger's skills—[Self-redemption].
Setting aside the outrageous self-updating ability value effect for a moment, even just the other two effects were pretty outrageous.
Immunity to physical interference meant that no one could tamper with Reiger's body, be it through mysterious forces or trying to fool his perception, even if the main god himself had ill intentions with his Divine Blood.
Immunity to mental interference meant that any approach targeting memory and soul could be considered void, even charming or confusing.
Together with the highest-tier 'Abnormal Resistance,' these two effects were virtually unbeatable.
At least, Loki felt that there were very few methods left to defeat Reiger, who had these two skills, other than overcoming him with brute strength.
And yet, the skill also had a third effect that allowed positive external influences on the body and mind, which would normally not take effect, to work on Reiger.
This was outrageous.
However, such skills, in Loki's view, when compared to Reiger's first skill, their effects and importance might have to step back.
Thinking about the effects of that skill and recalling that Reiger had fought for an entire day and night, Loki's slender eyes suddenly opened a bit wider.
She kept silent for a while, then cast her gaze upon Reiger.
"Take off your shirt," Loki said abruptly.
"What?" Reiger, who had been thinking about his own matters, was taken aback.
Seeing this, Loki smirked.
"I'm very curious to see how much you've grown after a day and night's struggle," Loki stated, word by word.
"Let's update your ability values," she said.
Upon hearing this, excitement flickered in Reiger's normally calm eyes.
...
Updating ability values.
This was what every recipient of Divine Blood most looked forward to.
After having been through numerous adventures, engaged in various activities, and accumulated experience points, simply updating ability values would turn those experience points into substantive nourishment for growth and strength.
In this process, not only would one's basic abilities increase, but those who had undergone deeply memorable experiences might also awaken magic and skills or even acquire new magic and skills, thus greatly enhancing their personal strength.
Especially for those who had never possessed magic or skills before, what they looked forward to most with each ability value update was the chance that magic and skills would appear after the update.
Compared to them, Reiger was undoubtedly luckier.
He had just received Divine Blood, and magic had already appeared, and skills had come in a batch of three, a favor envied by many.
For an ordinary person, unless they were a genius with extraordinary potential, it would be normal not to have any magic or skills immediately after receiving Divine Blood.
They all anticipated the emergence of magic and skills with immense longing, craving the mysterious and extraordinary powers.
This was almost a universal stage for anyone graced with the blessing.
Reiger was not quite like that, but at this moment, his expectation was no less intense than that of others.
Because, aside from magic and skills, his basic abilities had never undergone growth or enhancement—whether in terms of physical fitness or combat power, he remained within the realm of an ordinary person.
In other words, Reiger had yet to experience extraordinary power.
In light of this, Reiger was also filled with anticipation for his first attribute update.
Under such circumstances, Loki began the update of Reiger's ability value, as he sat in front of her with his upper clothing removed.
The specific steps were almost the same as when Loki first graced Reiger with the blessing: she took out a needle, pricked her fingertip, touched her divine blood to Reiger's back, and with practiced motions, drew blood-red trajectories with her finger.
Loki first unlocked Reiger's ability values, causing a vermilion carving, akin to an engraved stele, to rapidly emerge on his bare back.
Subsequently, Loki squeezed out another drop of divine blood, letting it fall on Reiger's back, producing circular ripples that spread throughout the entire engraving.
From this step onwards, the actual replacement of ability values began.
The accumulated experience was extracted by the hands of the "god" and used as material to alter the foundations of growth.
New holy texts replaced the old ones and were inscribed onto Reiger's back.
As this process progressed, at a certain moment, Loki's eyes widened once more.
After a long while, Loki showed a face torn between crying and laughing.
"Fuck!"
The noble goddess suddenly burst out with a curse, startling Reiger.
"What's wrong?"
Reiger turned his head, looking at Loki with a puzzled expression.
"... Just take a look for yourself."
Loki, with a look of having her worldview shattered, impassively transferred Reiger's ability values into universal script on a piece of parchment and threw it to him.
Reiger took the parchment and saw his latest abilities.
...
Reiger Brillhaut
Lv.1
Strength: I0 → H184
Endurance: I0 → H177
Dexterity: I0 → G202
Agility: I0 → G215
Magic Power: I0
...
Magic and skills were not imprinted and translated, probably because there was no change.
But in the basic abilities section, Reiger's changes were drastic.
"Strength" and "Endurance" had both surpassed the I stage, entering the H stage.
"Dexterity" and "Agility" had even leapfrogged the H stage, advancing into the G stage.
"Magic Power" also remained unchanged, likely because Reiger hadn't used magic.
This relentless fight that lasted a day and a night resulted in Reiger's basic ability proficiency combining to increase by over 700.
"This fucking rate of growth!"
Loki exclaimed.
"I knew it, that 'Fool's Obsession' is definitely the most perverted skill!"
Loki was going insane.
There was no helping it.
As the chief deity of a great family, Loki had updated many members' ability values and had even dealt with quite a few perceived geniuses.
Moreover, Loki was quite well-informed, so she knew very well what the growth speed of a newbie who just received the blessing should be.
In such a short time of one day and one night, even the geniuses within the Loki family would initially only see an increase in proficiency by a few dozen points at a time.
An overall proficiency increase of more than 700, close to 800...?
Loki stared with her divine eyes, fixating intensely on that skill on Reiger's back.
...
"Fool's Obsession"
· Exceedingly enhances growth speed.
· Exceedingly raises growth limit.
· The deeper the obsession, the stronger the effect.
· Effect greatly increases when overcoming perilous situations.
...
Without a doubt, the reason for Reiger's abnormally high level of growth was all because of this skill.
A unique skill that Loki had never seen before, one that didn't exist to improve strength or provide aid, but to facilitate growth.
"Now, the heavens of Eulalia are going to change..."