One secret.
Greem Steelguard possessed one secret.
In the Steelguard family, having low talent grade was common. Actually, having adept talent was already a blessing, in a world where most humans were talentless, with no potential whatsoever regarding arcane arts.
Grade 2 talents would be considered 'assets', not to mention grade 3 talents like himself. In his generation, only the direct heir Arthur Steelguard, direct descendant of the current SupremeElder Arctarus Steelguard, possessed higher talent, grade 4 talent.
Besides talent grade, he possessed an edge, a secret.
His secret was simple.
He had picked up a ring from the sewers while playing as a kid.
This ring allowed him access to a series of perks, such as bodily analysis and talent store.
[Name: Greem Steelguard | Rank: Beginner Rank Acolyte (525 / 800 EXP)
Attributes:
Strength - 8 | Agility - 6 | Vitality - 9 | Spirit - 5
Talents: Grade 3 Adept Talent [B], Superior Knight Genetic Talent [D]
Talent Points: 180
Spells: Iron Skin [E]
Skills: Steelguard Swordsmanship [E]]
He had access to two resources.
Experience points, which was directly linked with his spirit and breakthroughs, which could only be raised through meditation and elixirs.
Talent points, which could be used to raise [Talents]. Each talent was ranked between rank E to rank S, from what he guessed so far. Or maybe it went even beyond that. To purchase talents, he needed to complete a set of actions. For example, he could only purchase the knight genetic talent after training under the family's master of arms Roland for one year straight and learning swordsmanship.
Upgrading the talent itself, from Knight Genetic Talent to Superior Knight Genetic Talent, cost him roughly 100 Talent Points. Different talents held different price evolutions. To upgrade his knight talent again, he needed 1000 Talent Points, which represented way too much for his current reserve. Instead, he was waiting for the right talent to come along so that he could spend it.
It was not like he did not have opportunities.
[Talent Store:
Cooking Talent (50 TP), Strategy (100 TP), Finances (100 TP), Botany (50 TP), ...]
Many miscellaneous talents had come up during his education, but none of them could raise his direct combat value. As a big territory, the Steelguard Adept family was in a constant state of war. Despite being only a teenager, Greem had already participated in more than a dozen battles already, as well as two long-lasting sieges. Such was the reality of acolytes. They were weapons to the family before human beings with feelings and thoughts. And Greem was well aware of that.
Talents and experience were complementary. Talents only raised his potential, his ceiling or speed of advancement. Whereas the more experience he had, the more spirit he had, and the stronger his spells would become. Similarly, the higher his knight talent became, the easier it was to raise his physical attributes through regular training.
Greem's thirst for survival was exactly what allowed him to survive his first battles, and accumulate enough merits to be taken as a disciple by the elder Nocturne. He had successfully raised his acolyte talent to grade 3, which was sufficient to be considered a regular "genius". As for his knight talent, it was naturally identified by his master as well, as a natural pre-disposition for the infamous body refinement path that was looked highly upon in the Steelguard Family, which had a history of body refinement.
Every move Greem did was calculated, following a precise and premeditated plan to optimize his odds of survival.