NOVEL WEB 9 – Talent Awakening
Genji sent his thoughts into his card and got a response. Room 408. When he entered the room, he noticed that the room had round walls rather than the rectangular ones that normal rooms have. He walked in and allowed the door to close behind him. The walls of this room resemble an egg. The only flat part of the room is the floor that he is sitting on.
"What a strange design," he thought.
He opened his profile page and found a new button with the words "Activate talent."
When he clicked on it, he was met with a prompt.
[Activate talent?]
"Yes," he confirmed.
[Scanning achievements. 3 possible paths found. Pick one.]
- Shadow Energy: Based on your behavior of hiding in the dark to launch a lethal attack.
- Martial Energy: Based on your frontal combat abilities.
- Blood Energy: Based on the massacre you had conducted.
Judging by the names and behaviors that the talents are based on, Genji has a decent idea of what each choice represents. The first means he stays an assassin. The second means he converts to a warrior and the third sounds like it has something to do with killing. Although he doesn't know the details of each choice, he knows which path he wants to follow.
"Shadow Energy," he said without hesitation.
[Confirm?]
"Yes," he said firmly.
As soon as he agreed, the walls started rotating. Each layer of the eggshell room disconnected from the others and started spinning around him. Each layer spun at different speeds and in different directions. It was quite a headache trying to follow them, so Genji didn't. He closed his eyes and listened to the clanking of gears around him.
Then the walls started accelerating. The gears got louder. Runes started lighting up. The faster the layers spun, the louder the sound. Soon, Genji started becoming dizzy from the volume. Then everything became quiet. Genji opened his eyes to see what happened, but all he saw was white. The room had disappeared but the floor remained. It's like the void, but white. Genji looked around in confusion.
What had happened? In his mindless observation, he noticed a black dot in the distance. He turned to focus on it as it was the only thing in this white space. As he stared at it, the dot got bigger. It's like he's approaching it at a rapid rate. Yet in contrast to his feeling, he can tell the floor isn't moving. Instead, he feels weightless. Maybe the dot is approaching him at a fast rate?
Genji tried to turn his head away to confirm the truth, but his head didn't obey.
"What's going on? Did I lose control of my body? But I can still move my hands. So what is happening?"
Ultimately, the dot had replaced everything in his sight. All the white had receded and a pitch darkness had superseded it. This darkness reminds him of the void, but at the same time, not. It's different. While the void was calm and empty, this darkness had a sinister feel to it.
It's as if it was hiding something. Some unknown predator stalking its prey, unknown to all and unnoticeable by anyone in this domain. Facing this feeling, Genji was calm. At least his mind was. It's like a serenity in the emptiness, unshaken by all.
In contrast, his body was different. Cold sweat rolled down his back and soaked his clothes. His muscles started spasming. His instincts started screaming at him. Screaming to run. Run and never turn back. This is not something he wants to get involved in. But his body remained frozen.
No matter how much his instinct screamed at him, he stayed motionless. There was some kind of allure to all this. Something that attracted him to keep watching. Soon, his patience was awarded. There was a movement in this blackness. Something darker than the space around him.
His eyes saw nothing, but his heart felt it. Something had definitely moved in this twilight zone. It felt like the darkest of blacks in this realm. Like the origin of this dark world.
As he was trying to find the source of this feeling, the hair on his body stood up. Something had triggered this involuntary response. Something was watching him. Genji was sure he came face-to-face with this being. The being that's observing him. To see if he's worthy of this power.
At this thought, Genji smiled. Worthiness? Who cares. I've already died once, twice. Then Genji laughed.
"What does a third time matter? I will move on regardless of success or failure. It's not like I have any regrets."
This was a sudden sentence. So sudden and unexpected that it interested the being in the darkness. As if acknowledging Genji, two giant orbs of pure darkness appeared in his senses. It's hard to tell anything apart from this blackness, but Genji's sure the creature had opened its eyes. When one stared into the abyss, the abyss stares back. That's the feeling he has right now.
Then Genji blinked. He looked around and realized he was back in the strengthening room again. It's like everything was an illusion, but Genji was confident it wasn't.
[Shadow Energy talent has been activated. Please figure out the details by yourself.]
Genji felt something unfamiliar in him. It flowed around his body in a slow way, but methodical way. It's a new feeling. Genji tried controlling the new sensation and felt a part exit his fingers. A strand of black energy formed in the middle of his palms. It had the same feeling as the abyss he had seen. Genji clenched his hand and dispersed the strand. He can play around with it later, but for now, he wants to use his attribute points.
The first thing he added was his strength and constitution so that he can equip [Muramasa].
con: 5 -> 8
str: 4 -> 8
points: 18 -> 11
The room started spinning again. This time, with a lower intensity than before. Over the next few minutes, Genji felt his body changing. His muscles got stronger and his breathing got simpler. It was a noticeable change. Looking at the remaining points, Genji decided to add 3 points to his intelligence and special stat. Since his special stat is at 0, he wants to see if anything unique will happen.
When the process finished, he tried to sense what had changed, but other than the increased energy inside him, he didn't feel anything else.
"Weird. Does the special stat not affect the body? If so, then what is it used for?"
Genji decided that until he figured out what the stat did, he will stop adding points to it. Right now, he has powerful equipment and techniques so he can afford to waste a few points on exploring his stats, but that might not be true in the future. Genji doesn't know where he stands relative to others, but it's never a good idea to become complacent.
Looking at his points, Genji added the remaining to his dexterity because his fighting style is built on speed and quick changes. By the end of this session, this is his current stats:
[Status]
Username: Enigma
Talent: Shadow Energy
Rank: Nightmare
Health: 400/400 (increased by 150)
Energy: 68/70 (increased by 30)
Constitution: 5 -> 8
Strength: 4 -> 8
Dexterity: 6 -> 11
Intelligence: 4 -> 7
Special: 0 -> 3
From a glance, there doesn't seem to be that big of a change, but you need to remember that his total stats before was only 19 points. We can ignore the intelligence stat because he never used it before. At first, Genji thought the energy stat was related to his stamina, but it was later disproven when it never decreased. Because of this, Genji assumed this was a different type of energy in him. Now that he has awakened his talent, he realized it was something like mana in RPGs. Some classes use it for their abilities, but other classes don't need it.
So if we only calculate based on his physical stats, he has 15 points when he performed his first trial. Now, he has 27 points in his physical stats. Almost double. Genji is someone that can squeeze the most out of every stat point. Just for comparison, he's confident he can fight 4 of his prior selves. Once he gets used to this power spike, the number will only go up.
At this thought, Genji left the room and inquired for a place to train his new body.
[Pay 3000 coins to expand your personal room?]
"Yes," Genji considered this a worthwhile investment. By the pattern of things so far, he will be strengthening his body a lot so having a private place to let him adopt is preferred. In the short term, he will lose some income, but he would take that any day over revealing his abilities. The danger of an assassin is their element of surprise after all.
When Genji returned to his room, he realized a new door has appeared in his apartment. He opened it and came to an open room with nothing in it.
"It's like a warehouse."
Genji then spent another 500 points to change the room to a field layout with a few trees scattered around the perimeter. For Genji, there's something calming about training in nature.
The next day, Genji left his room to wander around the realm. Right now, he has 10,000 coins that he can spend. From the information the realm gave him, he has a few days in the realm before he returns to reality to rest. After that, it will be time for his first world.
He entered the commercial district and looked at the items on the stalls of other people. Many of them are way out of his budget and insanely powerful. Genji suspects these are mid-game level items as the stat points they provided were insane. Some examples include a necklace that gave up to +8 strength if the right conditions are met. That's as much strength as he has currently!
Of course, his budget didn't even allow him to look at them. Genji didn't worry as he was confident he will one day be the one selling powerful equipment. Ignoring the powerful items, Genji walked over to the zone for the beginner members. He looked around and settled on a few items that he fancied.
"How much for these two books?"
The vendor fell into thought and quoted his price.
"2000 for the first, 5000 for the second."
"Too much. How about 6000 for both?"
"Deal."
Genji paid for the two knowledge books and decided to use them.
[You have learned: First Aid in Combat]
[You have learned: Encyclopedia of poisons (Beginner level)]
A raging headache assaulted him as a massive amount of foreign knowledge assaulted him. He chose these two books because he felt they would be a big help to him. The first book was to allow him to take care of any injuries he might sustain in combat. Genji saw how much taking care of his wounds had helped him so he would be a fool to not pick this up, especially when he plans to enter combat a lot in the future.
Think about it. You finally kill your opponent but you later die from your wounds. Isn't that a dumb way to go when you could have prevented it with some first aid? Although Genji doesn't know the effects of a high constitution, he would rather be safe than dead.
As for the second book, he's an assassin. Since his last world, he realized that he doesn't have many options if he gets put into another world that is restricted to cold weapons. If he had access to some poisons, he could have killed the lords and his guards easily. Just sneak in and mix some poison and wha-la, they're all dead. In case that happens, Genji wants to know how to mix some poisons by himself.
As for the rest of his coins, Genji plans on stocking up on some consumables like gauze, healing balms, first aid supplies, some food pills, and other survival items. Overall, a little of everything related to his survival. As for weapons like guns and grenades, those are high-luxury items for beginners. A simple pistol can cost up to 6000, excluding ammo. As for grenades, those can go for 3000 per unit. Just not a good use of his points at this time.
[Healing Balm]
Rating: common
Effect: Heal 20 hp upon use and 2 hp/sec over the next 10 seconds
[Gauze]
Rating: common
Effect: Slows down the bleeding in an area
[Food pill]
Rating: common
Description: Calorie-dense food with all the nutrients to keep you moving. Produced by the alchemists of the 78th branch.
As Genji was walking back to his room, he realized something.
"Hey, EverRealm. Why is there no perk for the Nightmare rank?"
Genji waited a few seconds, but there was no response. Can't say he was surprised, but he had hoped something would happen. How advantageous would it be if gets an additional perk?
Genji returned to the training room and started performing high-difficulty movements. He dashed at a tree and ran up a few meters before kicking off it and doing multiple spins midair. As he was about to fall flat on his face, he reorientated himself to land with a roll. Then he measured the distance he had traveled.
5 meters. Much further than before. Just by this feat, Genji estimates his body to be in the realm of superhumans. Nothing too strong like Superman, but definitely outside the boundaries of a normal person.
After that, he decided to explore the applications of his talent. Since it's an energy, it must be used for something. The first thing he tried was shooting it out like a spell. It barely traveled 3 meters before dissipating.
"Since it's not meant for projectile attacks, then what about melee?"
Genji tried to channel the energy around his body, but this was way harder to control. After a few tries, he eventually managed to coat his arm with the energy. He gave a training dummy a hard punch. It leaned back before swinging back to its initial position. Genji frowned. Don't misunderstand. Infusing energy did increase the force. The only problem was it seemed very weak for the amount of energy he inputted.
A 20% increase for 10 points of energy. At his current stats, he can only use the attack a few times before he runs out of energy. Even if he considers when he has higher stat points, he won't be able to use the attack in prolonged fights. A mere 20% increase? He's seen skills with higher multipliers and fewer energy costs.
That's not even considering how impractical the attack was. If he can get close enough to use this attack, he might at well use his daggers. Just slit their throat or something. It's way more efficient and deadly. Why would he waste time winding his arm back when a small touch can cut them?
Wait, cut? At that thought, Genji tried to channel his energy into his daggers. Although the difficulty of this was way higher, the results of this were more than worthy of the efforts. His daggers glided through the air with no resistance. Not even airflow. And the best part? There was no sound either. It was a perfectly silent strike. Genji stared at this in surprise.
Then he checked the energy consumption. 2 points per second. A decent rate, but Genji can deal with it by channeling the energy only when he needed it.
"That's good, but I feel like I'm missing something."
As if answering him, EverRealm gave him a prompt.
[After much deliberation, the perk of Nightmare rank has been determined.]
[You have obtained the custom growth equipment Shroud of Terror]
[Shroud of Terror]
Rating: Legendary
Defense: 28
Durability: 150/150
Prerequisites: Bound to Enigma.
Effects:
- Growth(passive): After every world, this equipment will grow with you.
- Hidden(passive): increase stealth by 100%
- Swift Movement(active): Double movement speed for 5 seconds. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Lightweight (active): reduce the effects of gravity by 50% for 30 seconds. Cooldown of 30 minutes.
- Essence of Terror(passive): The more you kill, the stronger this cloak makes you. Each kill will permanently increase the maximum energy you possess. The increase is dependent on the strength of the creature. Ineffective for creatures significantly weaker than you. Now show them why you're called a Nightmare.
Description: This cloak is dedicated to Nightmare Enigma, a terror to all.
Genji's eyes widened at these stats. This is one of the craziest pieces of equipment he has seen. It's a legendary rating! In his wandering, Genji found out a few things. One of them is that the legendary rating doesn't show up easily. Those that do are sold for a sky-high price in the auction house. We're talking millions of Ever coins!
The skills justify this price point. Let's ignore the passive effects for now. Just the active effects are something else. One of them lowers his weight, allowing him to survive falls from devastating heights. That or he can pair it with the other skill and gain an insane boost in speed.
Although Genji doesn't know the total bonus of combining decreased weight and speed, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it will be fast. It's just a question of how fast and if Genji can control the speed.
After that, there is the last skill. It perfectly makes up for the weakness of his talent. In the future, Genji can imagine himself having an unnatural amount of energy points. Who knows what he can do with that?
Lastly, there's the description. He's never seen anything like it before. Normally, each skill has a brief description of its effects, but this skill is different. It's like EverRealm was taking careful attention to explain it to him.
As his shock receded, Genji had a small epiphany.
"That's it! Stealth! It's been there the whole time! Shadow energy. Of course. What else is it used for?"
Genji controlled the energy to circulate around his body. Faster and faster. When it reached a certain speed, Genji's presence started to fade. Eventually, the only indication of him was the image of him. All other traces had disappeared. Like his dagger, he made no sound when moving. If people weren't careful, they might completely miss him.
"This is the perfect ability for an assassin. And it doesn't require much energy to sustain. I bet there is more to this ability than I thought."