Lucius' gaze fixed on the new glowing entries on his system screen.
[New Skills Unlocked!]
Rank: SSS
Description: Tear open a rift in space to teleport instantly to a chosen location within range. Range grows with proficiency. Can be used offensively to distort space.
Sub skill: Blink
Description: Teleport anywhere within five meters all around you at will.
Seeing the first skill alone, Lucius was left speechless by what he was seeing in front of him.
'Another SSS-ranked skill from my brand? It is too good to be true...' he gritted his teeth.
In this world where demons plague the cities and heroes protect society, brands were a form of power for the heroes.
A person marked with a brand grows under it, taking the traits of that brand, growing into heroes.
For a hero who awakened a brand like 'Blessing' can awaken skills that can make them do stuff like healing and buffing. And a person that awakens a brand like 'Light' can summon a ray of light from the sky to incinerate their enemies.
A lot of these brands were recorded in the hero agency under a special hero folder, and most were known to society. A brand that isn't known to society is either bad or unnatural, and he had never heard of his own before.
The Null Brand.
'Why did I never ask what my awakened brand is?' Lucius wondered, sitting on the ground and relaxing his back on the body of the creature he had just killed.
The more a hero levels up, the more powerful skills they attain. The maximum number of skills a hero can attain under their brand is five... and getting powerful skills along the way was natural.
'Heroes get stronger skills as they level up. If I can get two SSS-ranked skills at the start, what would I get later on?' Lucius smiled at his thoughts. He couldn't help but be excited for what was to come.
He swiped his screen, viewing the next skill. He was instantly taken aback, flabbergasted, shocked beyond measure.
[Embodiment of Disaster (Brand Skill)
Rank: SSS
Description: Grants absolute regeneration. Wounds heal rapidly by consuming mana. By devouring flesh and blood, the user can strengthen their body permanently. Increases resistance against toxins, curses, and debilitation.
Sub skill: Void Touch
Description: Anything you touch with this skill slowly but surely vanishes from existence.]
A smile slowly grew on Lucius' face as he saw the skill.
He covered his mouth with a palm. God knew that he wanted to laugh so loudly, but he didn't want his good fortune to turn against him.
As if that wasn't enough.
Suddenly, the system pulsed again.
[Devour has evolved!]
[Range extended. Consumption no longer requires physical contact.]
Lucius stood up, seeing the new skills. The pain he felt when he advanced, coming here beforehand—it had been beneficial so far.
Lucius extended a hand toward the scattered remains of the skeletal centipedes. The corpses twitched from every side of the cave, the bones rattled. Black smoke came out from them as if dragged by invisible chains, coming towards him.
"Devour."
All of a sudden, his palm turned pitch black, with glowing cracks on it.
The smoke howled, sounding like a fierce wind. One by one, the twelve corpses collapsed into black motes that streaked into Lucius' palm.
[You have obtained 12 Greed Cores.]
[You have absorbed +5 Strength.]
[You have absorbed +1 Agility.]
[All mana consumed +100 Mana.]
The sudden surge of raw strength made his body shudder. His sword arm pulsed with energy, veins burning with new vitality.
Lucius raised his chipped blade and swung it through the air. Whoosh! The stroke was clean, sharp, and deliberate. No longer the reckless swings of a vagabond clinging to life.
It was familiar, most of all.
~"You actually devoured its memories for this?"
The goddess' voice came to him once more, and he smiled.
"Of course. If I am to face others like it, I need its fighting skills."
There were many things Lucius had trained over his time as a person who worked a lot of various jobs. But he had never learned how to fight with weapons.
He remembered the shade scout's movements—the pride in every swing, the precision in every strike. He mimicked it, his blade dancing through the air with refined arcs. His stance shifted, stable and grounded.
Lucius smirked. "So this is what it means to fight like a knight."
The system chimed softly.
[Free points available: 6.]
[+4 Agility. +2 Strength.]
Lucius' body felt lighter, faster. The cave floor cracked under his step as if testing his newfound speed.
He turned toward the deeper passage of the cave. The glow of the purple stones stretched ahead, leading him into the next section.
Out of curiosity, he asked:
"Goddess, what are my chances of beating every section? Even with my lack of skills and lack of time?"
Lucius couldn't help but ask her this. To be honest, he already knew the answer.
~"I'm putting my belief in you to not die. So please, try your best to survive today. I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
Lucius smirked as he heard the almighty goddess begging him.
Instead of going into the next section of these connected caves, he decided to go back... back to where he started.
The goddess observed him from the black space, wondering where he was going.
'He's going back?' She frowned, looking at him through the projection.
Lucius went back to the same cave where he staged the knight to death. There were four centipede corpses lying on the ground randomly, and he stretched his hands out, making the cover turn black.
The black smoke arose from the bodies of the centipedes and rushed towards him, entering his hand.
[You have absorbed +1 Strength.]
[You have absorbed +30 Mana.]
"Only one point this time," Lucius mumbled, seeing that he had only managed to collect a single stat point from the four corpses.
Then again, he walked over to the cave where he started off.
...
Lucius was introduced to the cave filled with purple stones glittering faintly across the walls.
With a snap of his fingers, a black flame appeared over his palm. He grinned, the fire writhing like a living thing. Without hesitation, he thrust it forward.
The cave lit up in a wash of devouring black.
The eggs hissed and cracked as the abyssal fire crawled over them, snuffing out the faint lives struggling to hatch. The flames didn't burn—they consumed. Everything within reach was reduced to nothing, leaving only silence and the faint glow of the stones.
[You have slain a large number of creatures.]
[Abyssal Flames undead trait activated.]
[Creatures turned: 1/1000]
"What the...?"