[Congratulations, John. You have reached Silver rank and unlocked some features of the Rune of New Beginning. Check them out.]
'Can you talk to me, Chuthulos, or is it just your voice?' John asked.
Naturally, he didn't get an answer. Instead, Yuna spoke.
"It seems you have no problem. You really broke through using that difficult method," Yuna wryly smiled. "You must have awakened a Soul Talent as well. Breaking through to Silver-rank using this method has a high chance of awakening a Soul Talent, depending on the resources consumed and the resulting Silver-rank Soul crystal's starting quality. Is it perfect like your bronze soul core?"
John and Yuna had formed the perfect Bronze-rank soul core in the academy, getting the value of 10 right off the bat. The same could be done for Silver-rank core, but it was tougher.
A perfect starting Silver-rank core would be 200/500 right after the breakthrough.
John could feel newfound power in himself, so he checked himself.
[John Wicked]
-Soul Rank: Silver
-Soul Talent: [ Can be chosen ]
-Stats:
— Strength: 10
— Defense: 10
— Speed: 9
— Soul Crystal: 200/500
-Pet Monster Space: [2/3]
—> Netherlord Glassblaze Lupine (Silver/Adult)
—> Abyssal Darkwind Eagle (Bronze/Prime)
—>
-Skills:
—> Inspect.
—> Evolution Pathways.
—> Genetic Pocket.
—> [ Choose a skill from three options ]
'Woah?' John was surprised. 'So Rune of New Beginning actually allows me to choose what I get instead of random.'
"My soul crystal is at a perfect start," John answered Yuna's question before he weakly smiled. "As for the Soul Talent, I didn't get it."
"You didn't?!" Yuna was startled. "I was sure the chances were fairly high for perfect cores, but whatever. You might awaken it down the line while progressing in Silver rank. After all, there's no way the resources you consumed didn't affect you."
"True," John nodded. "I might get it. Anyway, I'm off to rest for a bit in the shack."
"Yeah, I'll freshen up and have a bath. I'll also collect some ingredients with Rayray, so we'll make some food later."
"Alright."
Yuna left but went towards the nest house first to check on the eggs.
'The two variant ones will hatch soon, hehe. I can't wait.'
Meanwhile, John put Alfred into his soul space and went into his shack to check things thoroughly without any disturbance.
He opened the Rune of New Beginning and couldn't help but grin.
[Rune of New Beginning]
-Level 2
< Skills Unlocked >
—> Inspect.
—> Evolution Pathways.
—> Genetic Pocket.
—> [ Choose ]
< Features >
—> Storage [ 1000 cubic meters ]
—> Xhalthuun's Shop.
"Yes!" John clenched his fist, a big grin on his face.
He has Storage space to put things inside and a shop!
'The name sounds so eldritch.'
John first decided to choose his Soul Talent and new skill.
It seems that instead of a natural talent awakening process, the Rune of New Beginning intervened and created possible talent options for him to choose based on the resources and whatever other factors required for soul talent awakening.
As John focused on his status talent box, a pop-up appeared, giving him three options.
1. [Wind Edge Covenant ]: Allows the tamer to conjure a sharp wind blade by consuming 50% (100) of the tamer's soul energy. The blade's sharpness and wind-attributed potency are determined by the soul energy consumed.
2. [ Lifebloom Enchantment ]: Allows the tamer to enchant normal plants with the power of life by consuming soul energy. When consumed by people or monsters, they can heal injuries and recover stamina depending on the level of enchantment.
3. [ Thornbud Luminus ]: Allows the tamer to conjure a Thornbud, with its potency determined by consumed soul energy. A Thornbud can be planted as a trap anywhere on any surface, including water, lava, or any which has spirit power in it. With a thought from the tamer, the Thornbud can erupt into deadly spikes of variety, depending on the surface it was planted into.
'Woah, Soul Talents are awesome,' John's eyes couldn't help but light up as he read all three soul talents.
He wanted all of them, but unfortunately, he could only get one.
'Yeah, no. If I have to choose, it's easy,' John grinned and made his choice.
[Congratulations. You have successfully awakened your first Soul Talent—Lifebloom Enchantment.]
John had heard that soul talents were developable and upgradable, but he didn't know much about it.
In any case, he liked this soul talent because it increased his survival chances. Healing injuries and recovering stamina? Hell yeah.
'But there should be a resistance-based limit since it's an ingesting type. I have to experiment and check this talent's parameters later.'
'For now,' John rubbed his palms as his eyes went to the skill section. 'Time to choose a skill.'
He focused on the tab, and a pop-up soon appeared with the options.
[You can acquire all three skills eventually, as you will be allowed to choose one every time you rank up until you reach King-rank Tamer. Choose which skill you want first. Note that these three skills are special and will have more sub-skills and features in them.]
1. Monster Paradise: A realm that can be developed and grown by you, for monsters to live and thrive with their families.
2. Monster Mutation Evolab: A place where you will have the power to mutate monsters, quick cross-breeding, and much more with Geno Points.
3. Eldritch Gear Forge: A place to forge gears using Monsters' soul cores, Geno Points, and Eldritch Energy, which must be gathered by entering the Abyss Labyrinth. (Abyss Labyrinth will unlock when you reach King-rank.)
"…"
John's face turned blank before he shouted in his mind. 'Holy shit!'
He certainly wasn't expecting such crazy skills!
'I have to choose one. Third is out of the question since it's useless for me right now, so it's between the other two.'
However, he didn't need to rack his brain much after thinking rationally.
The best option was Monster Paradise.
He could already evolve monsters thanks to details from his Evolution Pathways skill. Not to mention that Pymon got a family, and that he could store Monsters inside a new world!
A separate world accessible only to him and monsters!
'Wait, I can enter inside, right? Or I'll be like a god overlooking the realm's development and stuff?'
John scratched his head. "It'd be a shame if I can't enter inside," he mumbled.
But whatever the case, his choice was final.
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new skill—Monster Paradise.]
[And Yes, John. You can enter inside, but other people with you can't.]
'Chuthulos?!'
[I am watching you, but don't ask me too many things. I risk getting detected by the gods of this world if I talk to you. Anyway, good luck and have fun.]