Tying his cape around his neck and adjusting it, Aaron played around for a short moment before getting serious again. He caught a few gazes in the hallway for doing so, but he was essentially a local celebrity by now, and the respect he had earned outweighed any judgment. In fact, a couple of people took notes, as if playing around with capes was the magic ingredient to completing trials.

  I can work with this.

  Thanks to the additional experience provided by the final trial stages, level 40 had come quicker than Aaron had expected. Nonetheless, he was quite interested to see what the System would offer him now that his Class Skill slots were all full, and collected Sooty immediately, and rushed through the hallway with the soot goblin and took a private instance of the dining hall.

  It was time to select a Skill.

  Seismic Clap [ Rare ] Want everyone and everything to know where you are? Well, pick this Skill! When activated, Seismic Clap sends a sudden burst of energy rippling outward that creates a powerful shockwave with seismic implications. It’s also quite loud.

  Skill Upgrade [ Relentless Scourge ] = [ Indomitable Nightmare ] [ Epic ] Unrelenting is an understatement for what you are. You have evolved from that into an unescapable nightmare that haunts your victims. When activated, the user’s movement speed is increased by 15%, damage reduction is increased by 10%, and the user gains resistance to any Skills that would prevent their movement.

  Skill Upgrade [ Gust Step ] = [ Spirit Jump ] [ Epic ] Don’t just soar through the air, fly. When activated, Spirit Jump uses small amounts of either mana or aether to propel the user at great speed through the air, sending them flying both faster and further than the original Gust Step.

  Soul Vortex [ Epic ] Imperceptible to most, this vortex swirls around you, providing a protective blanket of soul energy. Passively creates a vortex-fueled field around the user that can detect entities, both spiritual and living, whilst also providing additional identification qualities thanks to its spiritual nature, delving beyond the surface and probing beyond.

  Lightning Jab [ Epic ] This punch might not be the most powerful, but what it lacks in power, it makes up for in speed and lightning damage. When activated, the user can throw one of the fastest punches in the multiverse. Comes with additional lightning damage.

  Whistling, Aaron knew what he wanted, but also found himself in a little bit of a dilemma, as there were multiple Skills he wanted.

  “Skill rarities are not as good as they’ve been, but ye got some good options here, bossman. I think we all know what ye want, though.”

  “Tell me about it. Indomitable Nightmare might only increase speed by another five percent, but along with damage reduction? It’s just a downright better version of Relentless Scourge,” Aaron sighed.

  “Aye. And ye were using Gust Step quite a bit in ye duels. Spirit Jump might not be the best Skill, but considering how much ye use it… not a bad option.”

  Sooty wasn’t wrong. In fact, he didn’t know half of it. Aaron used the Skill repeatedly in every fight during his trials. Increasing his speed and how far he could fly would be a considerable boon. In fact, it was up there in utility as one of the better options he had been offered.

  But how could he just scroll past an opportunity to fill out his last Passive? Especially when the Skill was as juicy as it was.

  “Not gonna lie, bossman. Ole’ Sooty doesn’t know spirit powers very well. That said, Soul Vortex sounds powerful. Very powerful,” the soot goblin said, nodding thoughtfully. “Detection fields are one of those things that are just kind of standard for elites. Ye can only get so strong if all it takes is a dagger in the back to end ye.”

  “So you’re saying I should pick Soul Vortex?”

  “Aye, and I don’t think there’s a close second.”

  Aaron rubbed his chin as he thought. No matter what he chose, he would be replacing an old Skill for one of the new ones. Indomitable Nightmare and Spirit Jump were certainly tempting, but he could definitely understand Sooty’s reasoning on Soul Vortex. Plus, his own fighting style was often a Perception-focused one, so giving him a wider range of detection would only make him that much stronger.

  The only problem was that he would have to lose one of his Passive Skills to do it. And by that, he meant he would have to lose Blurred Image to do it, because there was zero chance he was swapping out Reverse Cycle Faux Core or Equal and Opposite.

  Wait, Equal and Opposite is a Passive Skill?

  He hadn’t really paid much attention to where it slotted in when he got it, but now that he finally had to decide between swapping Skills out, he found it extremely odd that it was a Passive Skill and not an Active Skill. It certainly didn’t function like a Passive Skill, and he definitely had to actively think about it to use it.

  He pushed those thoughts aside, though, since it didn’t matter at the moment, and returned to pondering his Skill selection. To take Soul Vortex, he would have to lose Blurred Image, which was a much bigger decision than a simple Skill upgrade. Then again, he had hardly noticed Blurred Image’s effects. When he selected it, he hoped it would be useful, but it honestly was barely noticeable with how slippery he already was.

  “You’re not wrong. This sucks. Dammit!” Aaron groaned. “I really wanted Spirit Jump, but there’s no way around it.”

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  “You’ll get another upgrade for Gust Step sooner or later if you keep using it…. Hopefully.”

  “You’re not helping Sooty.”

  “Didn’t know I was supposed to be ye moral support.”

  Aaron stared at him for a moment and then returned to his Skill selection.

  “Here goes nothing,” Aaron moped as he confirmed his selection and felt power both leave and enter him as Blurred Image was replaced by Soul Vortex.

  He wasn’t sad about the Skill, though. It did sound good. Very good. That’s why he had to pick it, after all. It was essentially a Skill version of his mana forcefield, something he had wanted for a while now. But there was little doubt it was even better than what he had expected to unlock. Being real Skill made it better to begin with, but being soul-related and using aether? Well, it fit his build better, but he also knew that spirits were able to delve past normal mortal barriers, and as such, he had a feeling the identification benefits would be much more useful than what mana could provide.

  It was just… he just knew how much he would make use of Spirit Jump, and so even though he knew he made the right decision, it was bittersweet.

  “Okay, done.”

  “What now, bossman?”

  “Decide what’s next, I suppose. Only got like a couple of weeks left. Better make the most of it. Besides, if I can get a few more titles before this is all done, it’d be foolish not to push every ounce of effort I can into doing so.”

  “Gotta point. Titles don’t come by so easily. The trials can create progenitors that go on to amazing things.”

  “Yep. Alright, time to work. Catch you around, Sooty.”

  Walking into the hallway, Aaron was soon accosted by a group of trial takers. Apparently, word had gotten out that he had beaten entire trials, and as the only other person to do so besides Mo’han, he got more attention than he wanted.

  But his focus drifted. Through the crowds, he spotted Darius, who huffed and snorted as their eyes caught for a second.

  The necromancer had been walking away from the trial dial, but when he spotted Aaron, he turned straight back to it, entering a trial only a short moment later as the fast-moving line reached the front.

  I’m not inspiring earth’s psychopaths to work even harder, am I?

  Scaring Darius to work harder wasn’t ideal, but it also meant that he was ahead of Darius, even if the necromaner was still at a higher level.

  The reality was that Darius had been given enough time to beat a trial by now, and the fact that he hadn’t meant that he was clearly struggling at least a little.

  Still, he wasn’t in a position to take his foot off the gas, Aaron knew. As long as he was as far behind other elites level-wise as he was, he was going to have to keep pushing himself.

  I need a break. A moment to myself. Hopefully, things won’t be so constantly hectic once the trials are over.

  Exhaling, he weaved his way through the crowd, thanking those who cheered him on, and giving basic ass advice to those who asked for it. He wasn’t here to waste time giving pointers, but he’d say some genetically useful words if pressed.

  The race toward the trial’s finish felt like a non-stop grind, but he couldn’t relax. If pushing himself to the very end resulted in even one more Title, then it was absolutely worth doing.

  With this thought, he decided to check out a few other trials and gauge how likely he was to be able to finish them in the quickly evaporating time.

  First, he jumped into the trial of magic and actually managed to beat another stage before getting stuck on the following one.

  Several hours passed without progress, and he decided to move on. He still needed to complete the last two stages of the Trial of the Challenger, and didn’t care enough about magic to risk getting stuck.

  It was purely a test to see how difficult the trials were. And he walked away with some experience and a rod of camouflage. The rod of camouflage could apparently be used in a settlement to camouflage it, which sounded pretty useful for the future. Being able to have a good night’s sleep would be nice, and he remembered what it was like to live under the stars as Elvanas. Constantly watching his back. Not to mention the powerful monsters that roamed the world beyond the trials.

  A shiver traced his spine, remembering his other life. The world was going to be dangerous, and having a secure camp would be far, far more valuable than he had thought prior to his elven experience.

  With that thought, he raced back to the trials without pause, threw himself into the Trial of Travels, and managed to blast through two stages over several hours before getting stuck for the rest of the day.

  For a moment, he had thought he’d push himself all the way through the eight stages, but toward the trial stage’s end, it had gotten impossibly hard. Perhaps he would have stood a chance at completing it with Spirit Jump, but he couldn’t linger on such distracting thoughts.

  Regardless, though, he doubted he would have been able to finish the trial with the remaining time he had. The Trial of Travels was getting extraordinarily hard for him, and he doubted anything but the fastest, and properly leveled trial takers would stand even the slightest chance of beating stages nine and ten.

  Still, he was rewarded with experience and two items. Speedster goggles, which provided some small stat bonuses, but not enough for Aaron to wear the ridiculous gear, especially not with his bleached hair. The look was a step too far, and he’d rather an ogre’s appearance over the comically large speedster goggles.

  However, the second item was more promising. He got a pair of Galactic Boots of the Messenger from completing the seventh stage, and they were a lot more impressive.

  Galactic Boots of the Messenger [ Epic - E grade ]

  Made for maximum speed by galactic messengers who cross the stars, relaying secrets to powerful entities across the multiverse.

  Provides: +10% Running Speed, +20 Strength, +20 Agility

  Aaron removed his tabi shoes and put on his new boots. It was a decent upgrade, but even with them, he still couldn’t break through the final leg of the stage, and spent several more hours hopelessly banging his head against the wall before he had to use every ounce of his willpower to pull himself away from it.

  And it still pissed him off. He was beyond grumpy, kicking at the ground as he walked the hallway, grumbling to himself.

  Giving up even when it made sense simply wasn’t his style, and doing so annoyed him to no end. But he had to be smart.

  No matter how much he wanted to stubbornly throw himself against the irritatingly hard trials until he found a means of overcoming them, he knew he had more important things to see finished.

  And so, he made his way back to the trial dial again, annoyance painfully written on his face.

  It was finally time for a reunion with his mentor. It was finally time to show her what he had been doing this entire time and how far he had come.

  As he made the final walk, his irritation melted away, and a mad grin took its place. It was impossible to remain grumpy knowing he was going to see Yendal again, even if she did terrify him to a degree.

  He knew he was going to get the ever-living shit beaten out of him countless times, and for some insane reason, he was looking forward to it.

  C’mon Yendal. Let’s see what you’ve got installed for me this time!

  He selected the goddess and slapped down on the dial.

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