After carefully reflecting on his performance, Daniel came to a startling conclusion:
If he had gone all out from the very beginning, he might've been able to clear the entire labyrinth in just around three seconds.
And if his skill damage was high enough—or if there were no cooldowns at all—he could potentially shave even more time off...
After defeating the final boss, Daniel's level finally reached 20.
Unfortunately, that meant he no longer had access to the Mournwood labyrinth.
If others knew what Daniel was thinking right now, they would probably erupt with outrage.
"Are you serious? The previous record-holders needed at least three to four minutes to clear that dungeon, and you're here complaining about a six-second run?"
"You're not satisfied?! You want it even faster?! Can you have a little shame!?"
Still, Daniel was fairly pleased with the result.
It wasn't a perfect run by his standards, but it was likely good enough to hold the record for quite some time.
After sorting out his thoughts, Daniel turned his attention to the treasure chest before him.
[Mournwood Supreme Treasure Chest: May contain rare items.]
"Open!"
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Concealment Potion, Spiritwood Staff (Lv.15), Elven Hood (Lv.15), Fine Copper Light Armor (Rare, Lv.15), The Infinite One: Tome of Mastery (Infinite Barrage), A-Rank Skill Book: Healing, Rare Item: Spatial Crystal... and 1000 gold coins.]
Jackpot!
A flash of excitement lit up Daniel's eyes.
Unlike the rare item he got last time, this time's reward—Spatial Crystal—was a true treasure. It wasn't just a pretty artifact; it actually expanded his inventory capacity.
Upon checking his current stats, Daniel noted that his base backpack only had 300 slots.
But the Spatial Crystal would add a full 100 more!
That meant a 33% increase in storage—instantly.
So far, having only completed two underground labyrinths, Daniel had barely filled half of his backpack.
But going forward, as the number of labyrinths he tackled increased, it was obvious that space would become more and more of a problem.
Without hesitation, he immediately used the Spatial Crystal.
With that done, he turned his attention to the most exciting prize of all: the Tome of Mastery.
Unlike regular skill books, the drop rate for Tomes of Mastery was absurdly low.
Even most people who had awakened a Talent might never find a Tome that matched their specific path.
As a result, these tomes were so rare they were practically priceless.
Even the weakest F-rank Talent, like Furniture Craftsman, could sell its corresponding Tome of Mastery for upwards of 500,000 gold coins!
As for S-rank Talents or above? A single Tome of Mastery could easily be worth astronomical sums.
There was a well-known story from over a decade ago about someone who happened to stumble upon a Tome of Mastery for an A-rank Talent. That one book had secured him a lifetime of wealth and luxury.
But the one Daniel just obtained?
It was beyond value.
Of course, there wasn't much point in trying to sell it for tens of billions of gold coins—because, as of now, Daniel was the only person in the human race known to possess the Talent: The Infinite One.
[Talent Specialization: Infinite Barrage]
Effect 1: All your skills no longer have a cooldown.
Effect 2: You can dual-wield staffs and cast multiple skills simultaneously.
"Holy crap!"
Daniel's eyes went wide in astonishment.
As expected of an SSS-rank Talent specialization—any single one of these effects could instantly outclass most entire Talents!
Let's start with Effect 1. No cooldowns.
That meant when Daniel tackled another underground labyrinth, he could immediately unleash multiple skills in rapid succession—compressing his clear time by several more seconds.
Effect 2, however, seemed... less impressive at first glance. With no cooldowns, casting skills one after another versus all at once didn't seem all that different.
But if it was truly useless, then why did the effect even exist?
Daniel pondered for a while but couldn't figure it out.
"Whatever," he muttered. "I'll look into it later when I have more time."
Having activated his specialization, Daniel next turned to the A-rank skill book.
His luck this time had been nothing short of phenomenal—an A-rank skill book was a rare find!
From experience, Daniel knew that A-rank skills—when fully upgraded—had the potential to evolve into SSS-rank!
He immediately used the book.
[A-rank Skill: Healing]
Effect: Each time you cast this skill, you recover some HP. (Base Heal: 500 + 50% Spell Power)
[Tip: This skill can be upgraded. Would you like to upgrade it now?]
Without hesitation, Daniel chose "Yes."
A burst of radiant light engulfed him, and when it faded—his eyes were gleaming with excitement.
[SSS-Rank Skill: Spring Rebirth]
Passive Effect: After taking damage, you automatically recover 80% of the damage dealt. Cooldown: 5 seconds. (Note: Cooldown removed due to Infinite Barrage)
Active Effect: Restores 1000 HP and boosts Spell Power by 100% for 60 seconds.
"What the—?!"
Daniel stared at Spring Rebirth in utter disbelief.
The active effect alone was already game-breaking—healing himself while doubling his Spell Power for a whole minute!
But it also had a passive?
Recovering 80% of any incoming damage?
That was basically equivalent to 80% damage reduction!
An ability that would let him shrug off almost any attack!
Originally, this kind of passive would come with a cooldown to balance it.
But thanks to his specialization—even that was gone!
Daniel had a gut feeling that with Spring Rebirth paired with Infinite Barrage, he might actually be able to go toe-to-toe with even God-tier Skills.
The active healing now seemed almost secondary. But if he ever found himself in a team setting in the future, it could be a great support skill for healing allies too.
After sorting through all his gains, Daniel exited the underground labyrinth voluntarily.
And the moment he appeared—every single person present, including Roderick, was stunned speechless!
From entry to exit, Daniel had spent no more than a dozen seconds inside the labyrinth.
That meant... the Dragon Glass Stele's record was real!
"Prince Daniel, were you specifically aiming to break the record?"
"Your Highness, how did you even do it? That's insane!"
"Would you like to rest a bit? My dormitory is very warm and comfortable!"
"I've seen enough. This year's Royal Academy intake is so strong, we might even surpass Lumen Sanctum Academy!"
"Wait, look!"
"What the hell?! Prince Daniel is entering the underground labyrinth again?!"
"Check the portal—wait a second—isn't that one for tier-1 late-stage only?! (Level 16–20)"
"Oh damn, that's one of the hardest labyrinths in our entire Royal Academy!"