Jay stood still with Phuroth's blood splattered over the veil of invisible protecting his face.
A grim look took over his eyes. He contemplated where Urzo's confidence and calmness stemmed from.
The last time they met, the other party was lost without resistance and vengefully vowed to inflict 100 times the pain he experienced from losing two Possession Seeds.
Jay noticed his enemy's eyes no longer held the same hatred and instead looked as if he found a treasure.
"Don't tell me he already reached Stage-4 Mastery!" Jay widened his eyes at the sudden realisation.
Chips fell into place with the new realisation. It made sense why Urzo was willing to self-detonate one of his Possession Seeds.
Jay recollected the information he knew about Urzo's Innate Talent, .
(Grade-9) (Variant Category)
- Able to leech 1/10th of Life Energy obtained by the possessed lifeforms.
- Max. number of Possession Seeds at Stage-3 : 100
Innate Exclusive Skills: , , .
{Author Note: I have added further details on each of the above Innate Exclusive Skills at the end of the chapter. If you wish to skip them, feel free to do so without worrying you would miss anything. I will make sure to give a brief on each of these Innate Exclusive skills when the story calls for them.}
Upon reaching Stage-4 Mastery, Urzo could use a thousand Possession Seeds, ten times more than before.
Losing one Possession Seed wasn't a substantial loss to him anymore.
Moreover, the trump cards Jay used during his fight with Plasma Predator were revealed to Urzo.
Jay had long known of Phuroth being possessed, but he wanted to wait and see how it plays out, but little did he expect a Monster Invasion.
If Urzo hadn't witnessed the power displayed by Jay, he would have amassed an army to battle it over with Jay when the barrier between Trial Regions disappear after Day-20.
Once Jay takes his enemy by surprise and overwhelms him, it would have ended in a victory.
All that was no longer a possibility. Urzo would drag it out till the end of the Alpha Program and covertly spread his Possession Seeds.
With his ability to leech off 10% Life Energy obtained by the 1000 Possession Seed carriers, he could level up without lifting a finger.
If he reaches Stage-5 Mastery and obtains 10,000 carriers, no one can match his level-up speed, not even Jay.
Then, it would only be a matter of time before he becomes an even bigger menace.
Jay stood still, staring at the dead Phuroth for a whole dozen seconds, and not a single one interrupted him.
The first thing Jay did after finishing his train of thought was ask the crippled Horned Beetle, "Once you agree, there is no going back."
Seeing the other party agree with a weak nod, Jay walked closer before granting him a Minor ORIGIN SIGIL.
Before long, Pompa's Innate Talent grade went up by one, reaching Grade-9.
(Grade-9) (Variant Category)
- The base Health Regeneration speed receives a permanent 45 times amplification.
- As long as the brain isn't critically damaged, cognitive abilities remain unhindered despite losing every other body part.
- If the User's body loses more than 25% or experiences damage to the fatal organs, the amplification will be used to regenerate the lost body parts. During this duration, the Health Regeneration speed temporarily returns to normal.
Innate Exclusive Skills: , , .
- Burns away Health to proportionately boost the Strength and Endurance of the User. The percentage of Health burned is proportional to the increment in the User's base Strength and Endurance attributes for a maximum of 150%. {↑ 50%}
Duration: 45 minutes. {↑ 5 mins}
Cooldown: 90 minutes. {↓ 30 mins}
- For a limited duration, the User's Health remains at its brim unless the entirety of it depletes in one go.
Duration: (Base Vitality/10) =~ 10 minutes
Cooldown: 8 hrs {↓ 2 hrs}
(After the skill's effect ends, User's Health will be halved for half the Cooldown duration =~ 4 hrs)
- Automatically activates when the User's Health hits '0' and recovers them to peak physical condition.
Cooldown: 18 hours. {↓ 6 hrs}
Jay felt the sudden surge of vibrancy as his base Health Regeneration speed skyrocketed to 45 times from before.
The cavity in his shoulder began to fill up as bones and muscle fibres wriggled into existence rapidly in seconds.
He couldn't help but be impressed by the passive regeneration speed. It was something extremely helpful in large-scale battle scenarios.
Jay went through the new Innate Talent's exclusive skills and noticed the improved durations and reduced cooldowns.
Not only did it increase his survivability, but it also added a stat buff to his collection. Jay believed gathering similar supporting Innate Talents would be the key to dealing with any situation he might land in.
His gaze shifted to the Centaurides, Vral, who lost both her hind legs.
If Jay could get hands on her Innate Talent, that would be a huge plus for him, but seeing the other party hesitant and fearful, he didn't approach her.
If not, she could only wait for Teir-4 Evolution or find herself a Tier-4 healing ability user.
Many realised Jay could make other's Innate Talents stronger, and it wouldn't be long before everyone came to learn of it.
A few linked the subservient behaviour of Atlans and Lycanthropes to being unable to disobey Jay's commands and most likely losing their freedom in exchange for more power.
To all who viewed it as such, it looked no different to a deal with the devil.
Jay didn't try convincing anyone and let their misconceptions remain unresolved.
As for Vral, who was among those few sceptical ones, Jay instead had Halbor do her a favour.
It was to craft Vral a pair of mechanical prosthetic limbs so she could walk again.
If not, she could only wait for Teir-4 Evolution or find herself a Tier-4 healing ability user.
Jay didn't stress over exposing the ability of ORIGIN SIGILS anymore.
He would undoubtedly feel a pinch when the news spreads all over the Trial World, and suspicions rise about whether he could improve someone's Innate Talent to Grade-10 as that would only spell trouble for Jay.
Even if he were to somehow keep the information under wraps, his enemy, Urzo, would most likely spread it and use that to his advantage.
Since it was bound to be exposed, Jay felt there was no point in keeping it low. On a positive note, everyone would only assume his Innate Talent could upgrade others' abilities and share those abilities with himself.
As long as the fact that he could loot anyone's Innate Talent and stats remained hidden, that was good enough for Jay.
Allows the User to create a contract on any dictated terms, and as long as the other party consents to the contract, it can be used as a medium to implant Possession Seeds on them covertly.
- Requires 10 Life Energy to create a Grade higher-1 Possession Contract Scroll. It costs ten times more for each higher grade.
Allows the User to create a set of 3 absolute commandments for the Possession Seed carriers to follow unconditionally.
- The Possession Commandments couldn't be used to inflict self-harm on the Possession Seed carriers.
Allows the User to take over the body of any Possession Seed carrier for a short duration every day.
Cost: 90 Spirit Energy.
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