Harmonic Recall.
Zarek's grip on their necks tightened, pressing down until their arteries were blocked and black spots began to appear in their visions. However, he was focused on something completely different.
His Godsfall flowed through his body, trying to push past a blockage and compressing onto the bodies of the duo before him. But after a long while…
He shook his head.
The two lost consciousness and collapsed before Zarek, foaming at the mouth.
'Failed…'
Zarek shook his head. Controlling Godsfall was hard enough without his Intelligence Growth Potential changing once every few seconds.
It was fine when his Godsfall was just sitting in his body, but pulling on it required his Intelligence stat to be active, which in turn tapped into the volatility of this new Role of his.
Using Atom Link to try and make his other Talents work on inorganic items wasn't all that straightforward. There was a reason he still had plans to fuse them together.
It took a lot of focus and a reliance on many other factors. Marx's Intelligence and Charisma Growth Potentials were high to begin with, meaning his Godsfall control and sensory capabilities were off the charts.
Him being able to apply Atom Link to his Talent so quickly wasn't a surprise.
But it was also a matter of complexity as well. Marx's Talent just applied one effect, acutely, to an item. Zarek's needed to be far more adaptable and understanding of the situation.
The insights he gained from Atom Link weren't nearly as straightforward as Marx's.
The best example was actually Zade, who was struggling as well. It would take time before Zade could begin to apply Atom Link properly too.
Zarek took a breath and exhaled, looking down at the two unconscious men before him.
His previous thought was actually quite simple. If Harmonic Recall could help him understand the state of an item, and even backtrack to comprehend its past, then what if he used it on his own body?
If he had Harmonic Recall active perpetually while he fought, could he potentially use that insight to guess how his Core Growth Potentials would change ahead of time?
If he could synergize Harmonic Recall and his new Hero Candidate Role, could he then master Core Harmony much faster than he would otherwise and eliminate one of his biggest weaknesses?
Unfortunately… his Intelligence Talent was simply far too poor, and in the rare instances he did roll the dice and land on Marx's S-Class Intelligence Talent, it was too short to benefit from for long or give him enough lasting insight.
Maybe over time he'd be able to slowly piece those things together, but there'd almost always be an awkwardness that couldn't be made up with experience alone.
'Luckily, there's a potential solution waiting for me…'
There was another thing Zarek had realized as he fought. These little details might save his life one day, so he was paying as much attention to them as possible.
His Talents were almost like pillars anchoring his Growth Potential. The changes to his Charisma and Intelligence were actually far more controlled and narrow than the changes to his Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity.
At first, Zarek thought that this was just because the latter three needed to be activated far more often. But just now, he noticed something.
The rapid changes to his Intelligence Growth Potential just now were no less frequent, but the range was much narrower. And that range seemed to be more locked into the Class of Harmonic Recall.
Meaning… if he could get his hands on a higher-Class Intelligence Talent and use it, he might be able to lock his Intelligence into a higher range as well—at least for the duration the Talent was active.
And wasn't he already planning on targeting such a Talent?
'What an interesting Role…'
It was complicated, more complicated than anything Zarek had come across before. But the more complex it was, the more intrigued Zarek became.
Because complexity meant that there would be things to exploit, and that… that he very much liked doing.
As for the trouble that might come with a fourth Talent and its interference with his fusion. Well…
'One problem at a time.'
That was his motto.
Once you had the momentum from knocking down one issue... the second tended to come easier.
**
"Luke and Willis haven't returned, or sent any reports. Is the zombie that strong?"
A scout by the Pensare Corporation's main building frowned. They had to finish clearing up their area sooner rather than later. The only reason they had delayed in the first place was to try and lure GFI into helping them and then potentially springing a trap, but Global Fitness Incorporated had politely rejected their offering—citing concerns over their own region.
Because of this, Pensare had no choice but to move forward on their own, but the delay also allowed the Turned to ingrain themselves further in, making them even more difficult to expunge.
And now, their real allies—supposedly—hadn't come to aid, claiming that any attempt to do so would reveal their collaboration far too early.
Of course, this was actually true. But it was also a great annoyance, and it felt like a slap in the face. They had only put themselves in this situation for the sake of the wider group, but now they were using excuses to pull out of actually helping them at a critical moment.
They had already lost one of their elite teams to Zarek, so they were down good men, and had potentially just lost even more.
The scout shook his head.
One could imagine what it would mean for a scout, of all people, to have such in-depth information. The Pensare were running low on men—so much so that an elite like this had to just stand around and use their Talent in hopes that they could gain some small advantages in other ways.
What this scout didn't expect was for a bullet to split his skull just as he was gearing up to make a call.