Zarek shuggled, wiggling toward his arm until he could just barely touch it.
The instant he did, he felt a flash. His eyes glowed, and he pulled on something deep within him.
He felt like he could see his arm in ways he had never been able to see it before.
'Well, hurry up and imprint and graft, then, dammit.'
Zarek's words seemed to be the final push, a wave of discomfort spreading from him as tendrils of flesh ripped through the protective barrier of Lurker's Godsfall to latch onto his arm.
It was a strange feeling, but after the discomfort, he sensed his pain fading.
Unfortunately, that only lasted a moment before he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
'No. Something is wrong.'
A foreign energy accompanied Zarek's arm. He recognized it immediately—the same energy that came from the Black Knight. The festering power from its blade strike was still present.
It rejected everything, pressing down onto Zarek's body with every intention of shredding him to pieces.
However, Zarek only grew more focused.
What did the first say? *Understand?*
Well, then—*understand*,.
It was a mistake on Zarek's part, he knew that. But just as he hardly reacted to the boy-man's betrayal, he also barely reacted when things went wrong this time.
His focus was solely on survival, and if that was what he was going to do, crying over spilled milk wasn't going to save his life. It would just waste precious time.
The intent in the Godsfall of the Black Knight was far beyond Zarek's. It was an A Class Intent of the Eclipse Grade. By comparison, Zarek's Lurker's Godsfall was only a C Class, having only broken through after the smallest push thanks to Marx's S Class Intelligent Growth Potential.
'I can't.'
Zarek reached this conclusion quickly. The Godsfall Intent was too powerful, and he had no foundation for it. Trying to graft it onto his body and latch onto it would only kill him.
In that case, he could only use it in another way.
It was only a sliver. He could do it.
With a thought, Zarek activated [Limit Break] and [Godsfall Eclipse Resonance].
'Wait. I can do that.'
Normally, [Tearing Gut] would be useless in this situation. But who said he had to graft the A Class Godsfall Intent into his arm? If he tried to graft it onto his stomach instead…
A spiraling might erupted from Zarek as his thoughts moved like the wind. He had only just gained the Talent, yet he was considering methods to use it that maybe even the system hadn't contemplated.
As he had said many times before, what decided the strength of a warrior was often how they managed to use the secondary and tertiary effects of their Skills and Talents. Only by understanding those ins and outs like the back of their hand could they truly become powerhouses.
Zarek shifted, gritting his teeth as he moved relative to his own leg. It was pinned beneath him, but after a few moments, he managed to shift enough to place it near the gaping wound just above his knee.
If he was going to do this, then he was going all out.
His understanding of [Tearing Gut] was already at its very limit. But this new Talent made his attunement with his own body even greater than it had been with the Anato Codex—and that SSS+ Class ability was already capable of making him a monster among men.
Now he would take that to another level entirely.
'Come on. Hold it together.'
Zarek's eyes flashed. He forgot the world entirely. If he couldn't do this, then it didn't matter what the boy-man was doing right now; he wouldn't be in a position to fight.
But if he could do this…
The spiraling force rooted itself, and the amber of Zarek's irises seemed to explode as he felt something deep stir within him.
As if by natural effect, the circulation of [Tearing Gut] shifted slightly. It was a minor change, yet…
Zarek could feel the circulating Godsfall in his gut turn a smoky red-black. When he exhaled, plumes of black escaped from his lips, and his teeth began to drip with saliva as a roaring hunger lurched within him.
'What just—.'
Zarek didn't have the time to think about it, as his Core Stats suddenly surged forward.
—
[Dexterity has shown great progress]
—
>[Dexterity: D]
-
>[Dexterity: D+]
-
>[Dexterity: DD]
-
>[Dexterity: DDD]
—
[Strength has shown great progress]
—
>[Strength: D+]
-
>[Strength: DD]
-
>[Strength: DDD]
—
[Intelligence has shown great progress]
—
>[Intelligence: D+]
-
>[Intelligence: DD]
-
>[Intelligence: DDD]
—
[Endurance has shown great progress]
—
>[Endurance: DD]
-
>[Endurance: DDD]
—
Zarek's eyes flashed, and his power boiled over, pushing [Limit Break] to its absolute limit.
'This isn't bad at all.'
He grinned from ear to ear.
BANG!
His pores seemed to open up, and his power rolled outward in waves as he completed a perfect Core Breakthrough into C Class Warrior. However, his energy was still spilling out, although it was stalled.
In the end, only his Intelligence managed to reach C, while his Axiograft had already advanced from F- to F in a single sitting.
—
Name: [Zarek Ashborn]
Role: [Hero Candidate]
Profession: [Mnemonic Anatomist Scribe]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: C-] <B+>
>[Dexterity: C-] <B>
>[Intelligence: C] <B>
>[Endurance: C-] <B>
>[Charisma: C-] <B+>
Talents:
>[Axiograft: F]
>>[Abilities: Graft]
[Understand, Imprint, and Graft]
>[Empty]
>[Empty]
>[Empty]
Skills:
>[C Class Scouting: C+] <C+>
…
Notes:
[—]
—
What was truly shocking about Axiograft, though, was that Zarek hardly felt like it had a limit. It had moved around an A Class Godsfall just now at only F- mastery, without even the slightest trouble. It was as if even Eclipse Threat Godsfall was just another chess piece for it to move around at will.
Zarek flexed his body, slowly standing to his feet. As he did so, his eyes narrowed.
'So that's your weakness…'
His leg and new arm felt about 10% weaker than they should be. And if he was right, that percentage had been far worse before his breakthrough.
If he wanted a perfect graft, he would have to increase his Mastery and try again. But…
One problem at a time.
Zarek's eyes slowly turned to the side, toward where he sensed the boy-man was still present, but for some reason, hadn't moved at all.