Traveler: Derek Walker 26 - "Ability Awakening!?"
Sera had suddenly awakened. Her ability, Wild Hunter, boosted her agility and defense when she fought without weapons. The moment she awakened, Sera killed Gent in an instant. Even as a top-tier Sword Expert, Gent was nothing more than a snack for Sera's claws, now enhanced with 100% agility.
This wasn't the situation I'd planned at all, but it was an amazing turn of events.
Did extreme rage trigger her ability awakening? Or did she gain enlightenment in a life-or-death battle?
The fact that she'd awakened her ability was hugely important to me. The slaves I'd acquired all had powerful abilities, but most were locked away. If I could unlock them, my forces would skyrocket.
←Slave Management→
Sera
•Stats
Strength: 311 | Agility: 325 | Intelligence: 88 | Luck: 44
•Title
[Friend of the Night]
⇒Removes night vision restrictions at night.
•Attribute
[None]
•Ability
-Wild Hunter (C-grade)-
⇒When fighting without weapons equipped, agility increases by 100%, and physical damage received decreases by 30%.
←Slave Management→
Sera's stats were impressive. As a close-combat fighter, they were heavily skewed toward strength and agility, but both had broken past 300. Plus, with her ability, her effective agility exceeded 600.
Six hundred. Way beyond my own agility.
Maybe the Sera right now could even take on Luna.
A single C-grade ability ramps up her power this much. Unlocking abilities is key. Gotta ask Sera directly about this.
I stood up and brushed the dirt off my clothes. No movement stirred from the collapsed arena rubble, so it seemed my worries about a Sword Master-level powerhouse were unfounded.
"Master!!!"
Sera's voice boomed like thunder. The black mask distorted it strangely, but the raw emotion poured through undistorted. It showed just how much she valued me.
"You're alive!? But clearly..."
"I won't die to some weak-ass attack like that."
Gent's strike had been threatening enough, but I played it cool anyway. Posing in front of a woman is just male instinct.
Sera rushed over and checked me everywhere. The massive gash on my chest had healed without a trace, and the rest of me was fine. Only then did she relax.
"Sera. More importantly, I have a question. Didn't you just awaken your ability?"
"My ability? Oh! That weird power?"
Sera didn't seem to fully grasp the force she'd awakened. Made sense—there was no concept of "abilities" in the Solary World. Even for her, it must feel surreal.
"When I fought thinking of you, Master, some unknown power and knowledge flooded my mind. I don't really know how I did it. I probably couldn't do it again even if I tried."
Sure enough, Sera said she'd awakened it unconsciously. She wouldn't lie to me, so it had to be true.
In the end, I had one solid clue.
So, there's a trigger that can awaken abilities. Not sure if it's extreme rage or life-or-death combat, though.
I recalled my slaves' abilities. Luna with her SS-grade Weapon Master, Yeonji with her S-grade Diehard, and so on—tons of strong ones.
I'll dig deeper into this later.
With a clue in hand, I could experiment from there. Solid gain.
Once Gent was dealt with, a yellowish-brown armadillo emerged from the rubble of the collapsed arena. Crit looked utterly exhausted after triggering that massive quake.
"Using this much power without a spirit mage conduit is tiring. I wanna contract with Kelly ASAP."
"Hey, Crit. I almost died because you missed that guy."
I pointed at Gent's corpse. Crit didn't even glance at it.
"Oh, that lucky bastard who slipped away? I buried five stronger guys down there."
He floated lazily into the air with a bored expression. What he said casually was insane. If those five had surfaced, Sera and I would've had to run for it.
"I'm off to Kelly. Handle the aftermath yourself. She can't say no after this, right?"
"Of course."
"Gonna hole up like a dead rat for a while. Haven't rampaged in the human world like this in ages."
"Good work."
"Skip the thanks. Just honor the contract."
Crit vanished. Sera and I decided to pull out too. Mission accomplished.
[Quest cleared. Rewards: 1,000 bonus points and Synchronization Coupon.]
←Quest→
•Liberation
⇒Collapse the Bastrey Barony arena.
←Quest→
←Item→
•Synchronization Coupon (B-grade)
⇒Increases synchronization rate by 30% in one worldline.
*Synchronization rate cannot exceed 100%.
←Item→
The rewards matched the quest's difficulty. Especially that whopping 1,000 bonus points—an enormous haul.
I was always super cautious with bonus points. Past 100 stats, they only raised 1 point per 10 spent, so these could boost me by 100 total. No way to undo spending, so caution was key.
Can't have another powerhouse popping up like this. I already ran into Spicul—other legion commanders or the Four Heavenly Kings could show next. Smart investments secure the future.
I used the Synchronization Coupon right away. Solary World's sync was at 70%, so it'd hit exactly 100%.
[First time achieving 100% synchronization rate. Reward: Random Item Coupon (S-grade).]
Jackpot on top of jackpot with that S-grade random item coupon.
Holy shit! At least A-grade, maybe even SS!
My mouth watered. Massive bonus points and a random coupon. Now, investment strategy time.
Most reliable stats are strength and agility—gains show right away. But intelligence ain't bad either; it amps skill power.
My current stats:
←Status→
•Stats
Strength: 360 | Agility: 289 | Intelligence: 201 | Luck: 156
←Status→
Luck was the lowest. Unlike the others, its effects weren't obvious. Raising it didn't magically improve gacha pulls or anything.
But it has to do something. No way the status screen lists meaningless crap. Critical damage boost maybe?
After agonizing, I dumped into luck. Simple reasons: lowest stat I had, and unlike the rest, it barely grew on its own. Strength, agility, intelligence crept up via Power of Sex or training, but luck? Stuck.
Feels a bit wasteful, but... trust the gut.
←Status→
Strength: 360 | Agility: 289 | Intelligence: 201 | Luck: 256
←Status→
Luck shot straight to 256. Seeing the boost lifted my spirits.
Next, items. I activated the S-grade Random Item Coupon.
←Item→
•Fragment of Will (SS-grade)
⇒A small crystal orb. It delves into the user's thoughts and transforms into the most effective weapon. Once transformed, it won't change again until the user does. Weapon power scales with user's stats. Changes form if ownership changes; requires all stats 200+ to use.
*To one, it topples mountains; to another, it chases off wild dogs.
←Item→
"Nice!"
SS-grade item. I whooped in delight. Sera jumped beside me.
"Why the sudden freakout!?"
"Good stuff happened. Snagged a super powerful weapon!"
I pulled the new SS-grade item from my inventory. A perfectly spherical crystal orb, sized for two hands, exuding mystery. My ugly mug reflected in it.
"What's that?"
"A weapon I got from the hero's power."
Suddenly, the orb glowed. I stared, mesmerized. It was like it mirrored my imagination. Memories replayed rapidly inside: experiences, books I'd read, stories I'd heard. Felt like a time-lapse life review.
Then it froze on one image—a gun I'd seen online.
This is...
The orb shifted form. Luna gasped in surprise.
"The orb's changing so weirdly!"
It settled into the rifle from my memory—but not exactly. Same overall vibe, but details totally different.
I gripped it on reflex.
"Is that the new weapon? It looks... super weird."
The rifle was matte black. Structure mirrored a real-world assault rifle, no accessories, but weighed around 5kg—heavy. Weirdest part: no ammo.
Think I get how it works.
The moment I held it, usage instructions flooded my mind. I scanned for a target. Spotted a one-armed knight fleeing—the one Sera had disarmed earlier.
I aimed. Knew the basics in my head, but holding steady was tough. Shooting's harder than it looks.
Fire mana bullets.
I channeled mana. Felt it pool in the rifle. Pulled the trigger—mana bullet rocketed out, way faster than any arrow.
Pew!
It grazed the fleeing one-armed knight's side. I'd aimed for the head, but missed by a mile.