The Synthesis Bar itself wouldn't expose his activities, but purchasing a large quantity of identical items would eventually raise suspicion. Sumir felt he needed to come up with a plausible excuse for the purchases.
However, there was no rush.
He quickly got to work, feeding the nutrition meals into the Synthesis Bar, fusing them with intense focus! A golden light erupted from the process, illuminating everything around him as brightly as daylight!
About ten minutes later, the first batch of synthesis was completed!
Sumir received seventy-five portions of Nutritional Package, along with eight portions of Improved Nutritional Package, the latter being the result of a quality synthesis.
He quickly noticed a pattern: in order to trigger a quality synthesis, the final product had to be at least of gray-quality. Otherwise, after the 200 or so standard nutritional meals he'd synthesized earlier, he should have triggered some better-quality or even mutated results.
The Improved Nutritional Package and the regular Nutritional Package looked quite similar, except that the meat chunks inside the improved version were veined with streaks of blood, giving off a faint warmth and slight tremors.
Sumir quickly checked the attributes of the Improved Nutritional Package:
According to the item panel in the Synthesis Bar, consuming the Improved Nutritional Package would improve the efficiency of awakening innate talents. However, the upper limit for awakening innate talents still capped at B-level. It didn't reach the highest possible A-level!
But...
The Nutritional Package and the Improved Nutritional Package could still be further synthesized!
Sumir quickly performed another synthesis. He dragged two Nutritional Packages into the Synthesis Bar, and once again, golden light flashed.
In the end, the Nutritional Package completely shrank, leaving only a seemingly ordinary piece of dried meat.
Beast Flesh of the Bloodline
Type: Food
Tier: Non-Registered Players
Quality: Special
Description: A rare and precious beast flesh with rich nutrients.
Effect: Consuming it permanently reduces hidden injuries in the body at the Non-Registered Players stage, nourishes the body, and helps awaken more advanced innate talents, potentially raising innate talents up to B-level and providing a chance to awaken A-level innate talents.
"Fuck! Only a chance for A-level?!"
A spark of excitement flickered in Sumir's eyes, but there was also a touch of disappointment.
By all logic, if he could stabilize the awakening of B-level innate talents through the player trial, he would be set. With such an innate talent boost, he could marry Medis, gain abundant resources, and his future would be bright.
But the possibility of awakening the most powerful innate talents—who wouldn't be tempted by that?
"It's okay, I can still keep synthesizing."
Sumir once again synthesized another Beast Flesh of the Bloodline, hoping to merge the two pieces of beast meat in the Synthesis Bar for a new result.
Suddenly, a message popped up:
[Synthesize Failed. The Quality of the Synthesize Item Has Reached Its Maximum.]
[You Need to Upgrade Your Synthesis Bar Level. Current Level: Zero. Next Level Requirement: Host Must Become a Registered Player.]
Sumir's expression of excitement was instantly doused with cold water.
Huh?
No more synthesis?
Well... there was no need to panic. His disappointment lasted only for a brief moment.
Sumir still had plenty of Nutritional Packages left. He could gamble on triggering a Quality Synthesis, or even a Mutated Synthesis, or—at a 0.1% chance—an Enhanced Synthesis!
The cost of the Nutritional Packages was only around 1000 to 2000 dollars per batch. With a 0.1% chance of triggering an Enhanced Synthesis, he could try it 1,000 times. That would give him a decent chance of hitting it. The cost? Just around 2 million dollars!
Sumir was taken aback by the thought. Just a while ago, he was worried about his rent of a few hundred dollars. Now, he was planning for sums in the millions?
And he needed to gather that 2 million before the Player Trial in a month!
He had definitely gotten carried away.
"Let's continue with the synthesis." Sumir shook his head.
As for how to sell the synthesized resources, he'd think about that later. Worst case, he could always continue to rely on Medis and her connections, right?
Without wasting time, Sumir tossed another Nutritional Package into the Synthesis Bar. The eight Improved Nutritional Packages he'd obtained earlier also went in, hoping for better results.
He first synthesized the regular packages, and with each flash of golden light, the result was just another regular Beast Flesh of the Bloodline. It wasn't until after twenty or so attempts that the Improved Synthesis triggered, producing two new items.
Superior Beast Flesh of the Bloodline
Effect: Greatly increases the chances of awakening A-level innate talents.
When Sumir saw the words "greatly increases the chances" and "A-level innate talents" together, he could barely contain his excitement. He might just sleep better tonight.
But even that wasn't enough for him.
"At least a 1% chance should be enough to trigger something." he muttered, growing slightly impatient.
Luckily, when he placed the fourth-to-last batch of Nutritional Packages into the Synthesis Bar, a brilliant, explosive golden light flared.
[Congratulations! You have triggered Mutated Synthesis!]
A piece of meat, glistening emerald green like a gemstone, appeared.
The Synthesis Bar displayed the new item:
Amber Heart
Type: Food
Tier: Non-Registered Players
Quality: Special
Description: A special bloodmeal made from the heart of a bloodline spirit beast.
Effect: Consuming it will activate the player's primal energy. After consuming enough, when awakening innate talents, the player will awaken two innate talents at once.
Bad news.
The Mutated Synthesis item still wasn't enough to allow Sumir to reliably awaken A-level innate talents.
Good news, though: this item actually gave him the chance to awaken a second innate talent.
"My god!"
Sumir's breath immediately became heavy and ragged.
Double innate talents!
He'd never even heard of such a thing!
Only in novels or movies, where the protagonist gets some kind of cheat ability, does this kind of thing happen.
But now… his fantasy had turned into reality!?
"I have the chance to awaken dual innate talents!"
To put things into perspective, a player with innate talents has a massive strategic advantage over one without. If Sumir could awaken two innate talents, he'd have a huge lead over any player he faced.
The effects of Mutated Synthesis were insane!
Sumir couldn't help but marvel at the surprise it had given him.
"But… I'll need to consume a lot of Amber Hearts to stabilize the awakening of the second innate talent."
"I still need to make money and buy a massive amount of Nutritional Packages to Synthesize."
Sumir thought quickly, moving to Synthesize all of his remaining Nutritional Packages into Beast Flesh of the Bloodline, but no more Improved Synthesis or Mutated Synthesis triggered.
Next, he moved the Improved Nutritional Packages into the Synthesis Bar. The output of the Improved Nutritional Package was always the Superior Beast Flesh of the Bloodline.
Unfortunately, after four attempts, he still hadn't triggered any Improved Synthesis.
After all that effort, the most Sumir could expect was the likely awakening of A-level innate talents.
But he wasn't worried.
Sumir was confident.
Once the Nutritional Packages triggered the Enhanced Synthesis, the final product would definitely be a food item that would allow him to reliably awaken A-level innate talents.
And with the Amber Heart's effect…
"Double A-level innate talents!"
Sumir could barely even imagine it.
His stomach rumbled loudly.
Stopping his Synthesis, Sumir suddenly realized just how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten since leaving the training facility earlier that day.
Without hesitation, he swallowed an Amber Heart and followed it up with a piece of Beast Flesh of the Bloodline.
Two waves of intense, fiery energy surged from his stomach.
Sumir could vaguely sense something—a seed, growing within him under the influence of these two energies. It was forming, slowly curving inward, and starting to split in two.
A sudden clarity washed over him. The seed represented his innate talents!
As he focused, Sumir could feel the seed—once withered and dry—coming to life under the nourishment of the two energies.
Before, it was impossible for him to awaken B-level innate talents.
He'd been too poor for that.
His body had been deprived of proper nourishment, and in the training facility, he had forcibly tapped into his potential, strengthening his physique at the cost of injuring his foundational essence.
Even though Sumir had just turned 18 and was about to take the Player Trial, the best he could hope for was an E-level or F-level innate talent.
Fortunately, with the nourishment from the bloodline meat, Sumir's foundational essence seed was gradually recovering.
"Next, I'll eat all the Beast Flesh of the Bloodline to enhance my foundational power."
Sumir's thoughts were clear. Even if he triggered Enhanced Synthesis and obtained resources that could stabilize the awakening of his innate talents to A-level, he couldn't use them just yet.
First, he had to nourish the seed of his essence, bringing it to a level where it could support the awakening of B-level innate talents, with a chance to awaken A-level talents.
Then, he would use the enhanced resources to break through his potential limits once and for all.