Profession: [Mnemonic Anato Scribe]
Profession Tier: [F-]
Profession Talents:
> [Inscribe (F-)]
> [Decode (F-)]
> [Infuse (F-)]
—
Zarek looked at his Profession screen. Nothing seemed to have changed at all but two curious things, aside from the name change, of course.
First, any progress he had made on Inscribe, Decode, and Infuse had been reset.
Second, the ranking had likewise vanished, as though it had never been there.
But if there was one thing all of this confirmed, it was that his Profession and his Talent were inextricably linked.
This much should have been obvious before, but there was a difference between passively and somewhat conveniently knowing something, and truly understanding it.
A Challenge Hub would only give one reward. The fact Zarek's "one" reward seemed to be two spoke volumes about what was going on here.
He shouldn't be treating his Profession and his Talent as two separate entities, then. Instead, he should be using one to comprehend the other, and the other to build up the former. Together, they would be able to work to create something truly grand.
So then that got him thinking. Why did it feel like the Graft Ability of Axiograft stepped on the toes of Mnemonic Anato Scribe? In fact, Graft even sounded like an ability that was a step up from just Infusing a Matrix onto his body.
Why Infuse something temporary, when he could permanently Graft something?
Not only had Graft allowed Zarek to reattach his limbs—though at the cost of quite a bit of their power—it had also given him the chance to change \\[Tearing Gut].
\\[Tearing Gut] had mutated in a way that Zarek had yet to fully digest. Due to the A Class Eclipse Threat's Godsfall, there was a new sort of edge to the Godsfall Circulation Method. It was more aggressive in all the right ways, and Zarek was certain that he could get away with digesting things that were even more powerful now.
How had it happened? Axiograft sensed the circulation of \\[Tearing Gut], and then the A Class Eclipse Threat's Godsfall, and then—making use of a sixth sense Zarek didn't quite understand just yet—it evolved \\[Tearing Gut] so that it would be able to succeed faster.
Essentially, it was like Decode was used, but in a more abstract sense. Instead of Decoding something to understand what already existed, it extrapolated to create something that didn't exist yet, something strong enough to help Zarek survive his plight and digest energy that was far beyond him.
And yet, that was just the first level of what it did. Axiograft, despite only being F Class currently, also managed to incorporate some of the essence of the A Class Eclipse Threat's Godsfall as well. In fact, it was as though it had taken inspiration from the special Godsfall Intent to evolve \\[Tearing Gut].
That Godsfall Intent had the ability to suppress the world, to cull the laws and force them into submission. Now, \\[Tearing Gut] seemed to have gained a small portion of that ability too.
This greatly helped the digestion process. If energies that entered Zarek's stomach were ruthlessly suppressed first, their odds of rampaging or causing trouble in his body were next to zero.
There was only one conclusion to all of this…
This Talent was well and truly broken. All of this happened unconsciously and hardly with Zarek's input. This was the true value of a Talent—one that executed for you and did a great deal even if you didn't know what was happening. This was what separated the truest geniuses from, well… the sort of person Zarek had been forced to be before.
The Rebirth Talent was great, but the Time Godsfall Intent affinity didn't come until you died, and it only grew to be as strong as what Zarek was experiencing now after three deaths. Otherwise, it was worthless—not to mention the fact that every death made your Growth Potential worse.
This could be considered the first time Zarek well and truly had a broken Talent of his own. So he couldn't help but think… what would happen if he took this passive brokenness and added his own fingerprint to it?
The question was how. He still wasn't sure what divided his Talent and Profession. Though he knew they should be used together, if he didn't know exactly what was different about them, how would he maximize them?
But that was when he gained his A Class Essence Concentrating Vial, and an idea bloomed in his head.
Stepping toward the pool of Godsfall Droplets, Zarek bent down and slowly touched the barbs of the vial to the bloody surface. There was a pulse of light from it, and then a great amount of suction force was formed.
Zarek pulled back before the vial swallowed it all up. Though it seemed capable of doing that, Zarek was still experimenting, so now wasn't exactly the time to put all his ends in one basket.
Plus, he knew how these treasures worked. The more there was, the more time it would take to concentrate all of that into Concentrated Essence.
As expected, because he was quick, it only took a few seconds. He had taken barely a cupful.
The outer gaps of the vial quickly filled with the bloody liquid. Then, the light of small, intricate Matrices began to form.
A new suction came from the middle vial, the impurities of the bloody liquid being burnt to ash as a new, far more concentrated liquid took shape in the middle.
This one, however, wasn't red. It looked… green?
'Wind Godsfall Intent?'
Zarek's eyes flashed. This was fascinating. This vial was definitely a high Class treasure. It wasn't just concentrating Core Stats, but it seemed capable of pulling out the affinities within as well.
Drinking this wouldn't give you the Godsfall Intent, but it would help you become closer to it while it improved your stats.
For someone like Thalion, the change to affinity would be negligible. For Zarek, though? It would be huge.
However, Zarek didn't plan to drink it.