Just like that, Zarek's strength had skyrocketed beyond the realms of reason. Every action he performed now was 10x more powerful, and his potential…
It was simply off the charts.
The best part? The damned roulette of Growth Potential had disappeared. He finally didn't have to spin a rolodex of Marx and his brothers' stats before he could figure out what was going on with his strength.
It seemed that as a reward for completing this Quest and getting rid of the Hero Candidate Title for a true Role, he had stepped into a new realm of potential entirely.
'A new Role, huh.'
There was a flicker in Zarek's eyes.
A Role, if described simply, was like having a permanent treasure attached to your body at all times. A treasure gave boosts to stats or access to a certain Skill at no cost. A Role was exactly like this.
Depending on the Role in question, the boosts were different. But they generally gave a boost to specific Growth Potentials, gave immediate increases to Core Stats in question, and provided a unique Skill Tree of sorts that could be unlocked depending on the progression of the Role.
Usually, the progression of a Role was decided by what Class you were in. And the earlier you gained a Role, the more room you had to allow it to flourish and grow as well.
Getting a Role at what was effectively F Class was unheard of. But Zarek wasn't actually sure if he counted as F Class right now.
Technically, your Class was decided by the average of all of your stats. If SSS was the number 9, and his other stats were counted as 1, then he was considered to be at a 3, or D Class right now. Well, technically 2.6, which was more like an Elite E Class.
However, whatever changes Ashborn Demon should have triggered didn't seem to actually be present. It was like nothing had happened.
[Ash Reborn] didn't evolve, [Ashen Gate] was still at F-, and all of his stats other than Charisma were still at F- as well.
'Unless…?'
Zarek blinked as he came to a realization. This wasn't a normal Role—it was a so-called Hero Spirit. It had just taken up such a weird position because it was his own. But technically speaking, it should have been under the category of a Hero Role, not an Ashborn Demon Role.
Which meant…
WHOOOSH!
Zarek's body suddenly changed as he grew an entire meter in height, his bones creaking, his flesh pulsing with power.
A radiant menace came off of him, his hair gliding through the waves formed of his aura with wild abandon.
Power coursed through his veins and his blood ran so hot it turned gold through him, making it look as though golden tattoos were etching themselves across his body.
'Wow…'
He felt that it had to be an illusion, and he couldn't keep this up for very long as he felt his Core Harmony suddenly plummet, making the issues with his Charisma all the more obvious. But…
This power was intoxicating.
—
Name: [Zarek Ashborn]
Role: [Ashborn Demon]
Profession: [Mnemonic Anato Scribe]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: D-] <SSS+>
>[Dexterity: D-] <SSS+>
>[Intelligence: D-] <SSS+>
>[Endurance: D-] <SSS+>
>[Charisma: SSS] <SSS+>
Talents:
>[Axiograft: B+]
>>[Abilities: Graft]
[Comprehend nature's secrets…]
>[Ashen Gate: F-] <SSS+>
>>[Abilities: Gate of Hell]
[Open the Gate of Hell…]
>[???]
>[Empty]This copy was generated from content at MV|LEMPYR.
Skills:
>[S Class Scouting: S] <S>
>[A Class Unholy Beacon: A+] <A+>
>[A Class Ash Reborn: A+] <A+>
…
Notes:
[—]
—
'Hm? What's that?'
Zarek noticed that there were question marks in his third Talent slot, which left him a bit confused.
Then he recalled something. Was this why Hero Candidate had given him an extra Talent Slot? Was it because activating a Hero Spirit would trigger a new Talent to be formed?
Then what Talent was this? There wasn't even the slightest explanation—it was so odd.
Was it because he wasn't connected to the system right now, so it couldn't perfect a task that was so complicated?
But he certainly could, no? He still had his S Class Scouting Skill right now and Axiograft. How could he not comprehend his own body?
He focused internally, pulling on the new unknown Talent slowly until it was forcefully unraveled.
—
Name: [Zarek Ashborn]Role: [Ashborn Demon]Profession: [Mnemonic Anato Scribe]
…
Talents:…
[Sands of Time: F-] <SSS+>
[Accumulate][Experience is your power. Accumulate data points over the course of battle, building a model of your opponent, and then crushing them beneath the streams of time.]
…
—
"Oh?"
Zarek grinned.
This wasn't a Talent he had had before like he thought it might be. But to think he would get his first Time-affinity-based Talent like this—and one that was so suited to him at that.
In fact, he felt that that was the point from the very start.
This Talent wasn't supposed to be a reflection of what he had before. Embodying the Hero Spirit was already enough for that. Instead, this Talent was supposed to reflect the core of what it meant to be Zarek.
And all things considered… there was no better method than this Sands of Time Talent.
What Zarek did best was read and react in battle. Now, he suddenly had a Talent that allowed him to do exactly that on a completely different level.
If he was correct, this Talent would basically allow him to read the future based on deductions from the past. Against an opponent he had seen through or had had several exchanges with, it would practically feel as though he was omnipotent.
And that was before considering the fact that when his Hero Spirit was active, while his Core Harmony went down, his actual strength shot through the roof.
All things being equal, he was easily 20x stronger right now, even factoring in the downregulation of Core Harmony back down to what seemed to be Focus Realms again.
Zarek suddenly began to deflate and his body returned to normal. The Sands of Time Talent disappeared once again, but now that Empty Slot had been greyed out, showing him that he couldn't put anything new into it even if he wanted to.
What Zarek didn't realize was that… tapping into his Hero Spirit's Talent shouldn't have been so easy.
The question marks had been there not because the system was distant in this place, but instead because his Mastery over Ashborn Demon wasn't high enough yet. Or, more accurately, his understanding of the Hero Role in general.
However, using Axiograft, he blasted through that issue with absolute ease.
It usually took years, even decades, before Hero Candidates could properly summon and use the powers of their Hero Spirits. By comparison, it took Zarek…
A few seconds?
It was safe to say that Axiograft… was simply on a level all to its own.
'Time to return.'
Zarek looked back toward the direction he had come, but then he grinned. Now that he understood what sort of world this was, was it even necessary to go through all the same issues?
He raised a leg and suddenly…
WHOOSH.
**
Zarek stumbled out, his head spinning a bit.
"Okay… maybe I should have worn some clothes first."
"What's that supposed to mean? Where have you been? Who are you naked for?"
Zarek coughed as the bombardment of questions from his lovely girlfriend fried his eardrums.
His Atom Link communication bracelets were supposed to work from anywhere. But it seemed that that plane was quite the exception. So, he had essentially disappeared for months with no communication.
It was no wonder she was worried.
"Listen, listen, it's an honest mistake. I just went into a… Godsfall Tear of sorts that cut off my communication from the outside world when I wasn't expecting it."
There was silence on the other line for a long while before he heard a snort.
"Sorry, sorry," Zarek chuckled. "So what has my lovely lady been up to? Miss me?"
"You sound happy." She replied.
Zarek was standing in the middle of a snowstorm, stark naked, but yes, you could say that he was actually quite happy right now. He had already been supremely confident after he got his hands on Axiograft, but now he felt it even more so.
—
[Endurance has shown great progress]
—
[Endurance: F-]
[Endurance: F]
--
Zarek's lip twitched before he could respond. He was just standing here in the cold—why did his stats just randomly go up?
After he realized what happened, he started laughing instead of answering Priya's question. Was this how broken an SSS+ Growth Potential was? Could he nap his way all the way to S Class?
"What are you laughing about?"
"Babe, how many months have passed since my promise?"
"… Four."
Zarek grinned. "Gimme a week. I'll be there in a jiffy."
An ancient scroll appeared and Zarek began to draw furiously. One [Angel Wing Flash] after another layered themselves onto his body, comprehensions that felt vague because his Charisma and Intelligence Growth Potentials were too low suddenly seeming all too obvious to him.
It was time to go all out.