The skill creation scroll was in fact less valuable for a new player. One needed a lot of knowledge about skills and their potential to make the best use of this. Comparatively, something that gave skill directly was more suited for low leveled players. This was the sole reason why both of Zyrus’s rewards were ranked at the rare grade.

  ‘I need a skill that utilizes abyss attribute.’

  Zyrus thought over his skills and authorities one by one. Shackles of nihility and Malediction were great at debuffing the enemies, while Radiance was a supportive skill that'd work well with his Balaur summoner class.

  He had balanced combat skills such as Poison Breath, Arcane Lance, Master of Sojutsu, and Spear Aura. The eye of Annihilation was perhaps the most mysterious among his skills. Not to mention its effects on observing the powers of origin, just the intelligence boost and enhancement in vision were top-notch abilities.

  As he had thought earlier, nothing could go wrong with more buff or debuff skills. Zyrus could create the most powerful skill by leveraging on his knowledge before regression, but would he do that? The answer was of course not.

  Zyrus didn’t plan to walk on the same path before his regression. This didn’t mean that he’d give up on all he had accumulated; quite the opposite in fact. What made him stand at the apex of humanity? What made him the monarch feared by all? There was no one answer for that, however, if he had to point a core factor then that would undoubtedly be Arcana.

  Arcana was about the pursuit of knowledge and truth of the universe. Power was never its goal, but rather, something that came along with the arcanists progressing on their path. Zyrus wanted a powerful skill, yet more than that he wanted to experiment with the new ideas he had.

  ‘I can work on speed, power burst, and long-range attack.’

  Speed would increase his overall damage output, while power burst and long-range attack were useful in different scenarios. Although he had spatial stab which could deal the highest damage to the enemy, it wasn’t something he could use on a regular basis. There were also the insights he had gained from Navrino and others such as the glemorax chief and even Camazotz not so long ago. They weren’t tangible enough to result in a skill, far from it. They were nothing but sparks, sparks that would come together under the system’s guidance to create what he sought.

  Before he started working on the new skill, Zyrus used 13 SP to raise his intelligence to 43. Having balanced stats was crucial for a steady foundation.

  A cooling sensation spread to every part of his body. The little bit of tiredness left his mind under the nourishment of the system’s power.

  ‘Phew…’

  Zyrus exhaled with satisfaction while lying down on the beach. He couldn’t feel the soft sand with his scales, but still, the sky was beautiful enough to calm his taut nerves. The sensation of increasing his intelligence was akin to waking from a good night’s sleep. With his relaxed mind he began brainstorming on the various ideas he had.

  Hours passed by as Zyrus shuffled through every aspect he had theorized. It was easy for him to create a skill that fulfilled any of the three requirements, namely speed, power burst, and long-range attack.

  But wouldn’t that be a waste? As long as he could think of a theory, it was only a matter of practice before the skill became complete and recognized by the sanctuary. He already had some individual skills that could be improved on such as Vector throw and Arcane lance.

  In the grand scheme of things, there were only two ways one could possess a truly powerful ability: You could either acquire a powerful skill and slowly understand it, or you could start by learning and create a skill that suited you the best.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Skills were hard to come by in the first place. Thus, most players were left with the second option. Even if they somehow learned a powerful skill, they’d have to learn its principles to showcase its full power.

  ‘There’s no such thing as the strongest skill.’ Zyrus knew the saying all too well.

  The morning sun raised its head on the horizon as he racked his brains to come up with a general idea. Crimson light was reflected on the rolling waves, bringing with it the gust of salty air. There was nothing special about the scene, it was mundane. Natural.

  When Zyrus gazed upon the vast ocean, he was struck with a sudden inspiration. An idea sparked in his head that could improve all three aspects. It was on a different spectrum compared to how he usually did things, which made it all the more interesting.

  ‘Let’s hope it works.’

  Zyrus opened the scroll in his hand with an excited face. With this rare scroll, there was a good chance that he could create the skill he had in mind.

  He used his mana as a bridge and poured in the ideas and spells models he had theorized into the scroll. It was like a sponge that absorbed all water until finally, it couldn’t take any more. This was when the transformation began.

  The scroll used his thoughts as a fuel and utilized the system’s authority to manifest his skill. It was a gamble, and fortunately, lady luck was having a pleasant morning.

  [Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Avatar]

  [Avatar (A-): Draw upon the world’s mana to execute your will.]

  [You have learned to integrate yourself with the surrounding mana. The greater your fusion, the more power you can wield]

  [Effects: All recovery rate +10%, further enhancements will depend on the environment and rate of fusion.]

  [Warning! There is a high risk that you'll be assimilated with the world and lose your will]

  “Fuck Yeah!” Zyrus clenched his fists in joy as he read the description. It had been a while since he was genuinely happy from creating something new.

  Just the 10% recovery rate was incredibly useful. Although Zyrus had yet to see the exact results of the skill, he knew for a fact that Avatar was just as useful as the Eye of Annihilation.

  As for the warning? He wasn’t the least bit worried about it. He was someone who dared to use the laws of void, so what was a mere fusion with world’s mana? If his will was so weak to be assimilated, then he would’ve died the moment he created the source of origin.

  If anything, it was the world’s mana that was at the risk of being erased by the laws of void.

  “Something good?”

  “Hah... it’s more than just ‘Good’, you’ll know when we go to the ocean,” Zyrus gave Ria a wide grin and told her to call the others.

  Now that he was done with the skills, it was time to delegate the tasks to others.

  Soon, everyone started moving towards the gathering spot. No one knew how or when, but a wooden sculpture of the bat had replaced the pole like totem. Under the descending dawn its eyes peered at the players who were gathered before the last Sylvarix.

  …

  “All right, since everyone is here, let’s get started. Please introduce yourselves to the rest,” Zyrus stood at the center of the gathering and beckoned the troll and ogre leaders.

  Both races were able to communicate after leveling up yesterday. It was only a matter of time before the goblins and rats gained the ability as well.

  “Good…morning…I…am..Druv'…galg… Bramble….fan-”

  “Strongfist.”

  “…”

  "..."

  “Ahem! So, Druv and, hm, Strongfist will be leading their respective races,” Zyrus cut off the troll who was still going on with his name and continued,

  “Humans will follow the same arrangement until I appoint someone to lead the archers, spearman, and the mages. I’ll be in charge of the 2000 monsters, rats, goblin riders, and specter scorpions, while the rest are under Ria’s direct command.”

  No one had any objections with this arrangement. He then discussed about how to distribute the forces at smaller units and how to efficiently collect the resources. There weren’t many differing opinions when it came to the crown holders who were sitting closest to him.

  Zyrus was well aware of their inexperience. Still, he stood patiently and listened to their thoughts. The fact that they were sitting on sand didn’t change the fact that those gathered here would become the cornerstone of his empire.

  Only when the sun rose above their heads did the meeting end. Rather than being mentally exhausted, each and every player was excited to play their part.

  “Come on folks, let’s get ourselves some good lunch.”

  *Rooar*

  *Grrowl*

  *Tweet*

  Zyrus led the monsters into the forest while others moved to do their own tasks. Everything was set into motion, and now, it was time to conquer this island and move on to the sea.

  For that was where their true challenge lay.