Just when he thought that everything was already done, the Notification tab slapped him in the face with gold again. A free rare skill, and a fricking mastery on top of that?

  Yeah, count me in!

  His poor heart raced with exhilaration again after just calming down a minute ago, but he wouldn’t mind. It could stay like that for all he cared. A marathon once in a while wouldn’t hurt. How did he forget about the second mastery?

  Though, to do things differently this time, after clicking on the notification, Zalanir restricted his eyesight to the top of the screen only. Not every day that he got to pick two masteries in a row, so better treasured it while it lasted.

  [Mastery: Shadowweaver] — Uncommon: Where darkness looms, you excel. Drawing on the power of the unseen, a Shadowweaver is proficient in inflicting noxious status effects and causing mayhem to the battlefield.

  On level-up: +4 Mystique, +4 Awareness, +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +2 Free Points.

  Oh, this mastery wasn’t even on his expected list. Was this a reminder from the System for him to try something new, because he had nothing to do with shadow up until now?

  No, not entirely true. Maybe this was a callback to his time spending inside the bat cave, where he had nothing but darkness as a friend. Outside of sound magic, shadow or darkness could be the most relevant mastery when one thought about it.

  Though a corner of his mind replayed the scene of the black smoke wrecking the lair when he was possessed by the soul lion. Black smoke and shadow. Could very well be the same.

  Wait! Didn’t he have a new skill called black something? Where was it? Zalanir scrolled back the notification list until he found the little notification.

  You have gained the skill [Mark of the Black Mist] — Rare

  [Mark of the Black Mist] — Rare: Marks enemies (minor scaling with Awareness) with curses from the Black Mist, weakening them (small scaling with Mystique) for a duration (minor scaling with Level). Killing a marked target creates temporary resource bars (minor scaling with Endurance, Constitution, and Spirit) for a duration (minor scaling with Level), but failure to kill one after some time will put the skill on a long cooldown and damage the user based on the amount of curses given out.

  Essence: 28

  Mana cost: Very low

  Did he just get a new skill because of the soul lion? This explained the sensation of being empowered back then, and the fact that he could keep on “slaughtering” everyone despite receiving countless retaliations. He didn’t really pay this any attention, but yeah, his resources back then weren’t at the best level, as he had been fighting non-stop. So this skill was the reason.

  His mind jumped to the final moment at the cultist lair after reading the last part. There was a snap pain back there that took the consciousness out of him that he didn’t know the cause, but this skill just told him that it was the culprit. He didn’t like this part. Depending on the damage, he could be in trouble if using this skill unwisely.

  But outside of that, it was a good skill. He could theoretically fight forever as long as he kept on killing marked enemies, and that his resource expenditures didn’t surpass the temporary gains. Though the backlash then would have the potential to one shot him.

  Maybe he would focus more on the weakening part instead of the number of marks. Crippling some main targets could be good enough already.

  Not bad! A good skill with clear pros and cons.

  And it wasn’t just the skill itself. It was the fact that Zalanir had gained this skill from nowhere that made this the biggest value of this occurrence.

  So far, he had gained a new skill from reaching a milestone level, from picking up a new mastery, from an item, from the mysterious butterfly, and now from … casting it? He still needed to check what was really the cause, but the Essence Bar had just become so much more prevalent now.

  320 essences were a lot that he had forgotten about the restriction, but with this many methods of acquiring a skill, perhaps the time for him to debate on which skills to equip would come soon.

  Zalanir paused his assessment as a particular guest was about to invade his privacy. Not too stealthy, as his ears had caught the gentle meow way before an orange cat jumped on the window stool, and after examining him for a breath, strode toward his bed and whoosh! landed right onto his lap. It snugged its head to his belly and purred when he stroked its silk-like chin. Its tail waved from side to side under the observing eye of the moonlight.

  So, Shadowweaver, a mastery that was offered likely because of Mark of the Black Mist and some related events. The focus on status effects were intriguing, as he did use sound bolts a lot for its staggering feature.

  This could’ve been so good to complement the assassin mastery that he had passed up in the first ever mastery selection. There for sure existed a skill that allowed an assassin to fade into the shadows, or hindered enemy’s senses for the assassin to close the gap and strike from the unseen. Status effects could be a variety of effects for such a strike so that it could be like a serve plus one in tennis, except that it wasn’t to finish the point, but to allow the assassin to stop exposing themselves while still causing trouble to the enemy.

  Wouldn’t Hiina be the best for this? Her kunai and trap could be a good fit to inflict these effects. Poison, bleed, draining, etc., tons of effect which could be carried by a fast medium such as a kunai.

  But Zalanir had no such weapon, nor did he pick the assassin mastery, so this wasn’t really what he could choose unless there was no better choice. Which was very unlikely, as he was confident that he would get at least a soul-related mastery. It would be a crime if he got none after Soul Collection. Thus, he moved his attention down to the next offering.

  [Mastery: Saboteur] — Rare: Fortune endorses those who dares to experiment. In the wake of the explosive power, no fortress is too resilient, nor any treasure is too well hidden. If a boom can’t solve an issue, lots of booms will.

  On level-up: +6 Intelligence, +5 Awareness, +3 Constitution, +2 Endurance, +2 Spirit, +3 Free Points.

  A good old blowing-them-up style.

  Similar to Shadowweaver, it was hard to link this mastery to anything concrete that Zalanir had done, so he would just ignore the process for now. It could be that the System just wanted him to have a new option.

  The mastery was better than Shadowweaver from both a rarity standpoint and also its application. Just blew things up, and the problem would be shredded into pieces. If he had had this, he could’ve stopped the ritual just by throwing bombs into it from a safe distance. Wouldn’t need to risk himself with the charge and stuff.

  Explosive firepower all the way, though was there a bomb in this world? He had seen none so far. What would be stronger, a magical or bomb explosion? Hard to say. If only he knew how to make one, he could’ve been able to test this out.

  A good offering with lots of potential and fun, but he would love to see what else was on the menu first before deciding.

  A smile appeared on his face after seeing the next option, but then confusion made its way onto his mind. In a sense, it was what he was waiting for, but the wordings just sounded off.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  [Mastery: Soul Harvester] — Epic: A prominent soul container is the cornerstone for a Soul Harvester to build up their collection. While only being an adjusted version of a premier mastery, Soul Harvester still has access to a wide variety of tools to aid in combat. Unpredictable strengths and weaknesses depend on your ability.

  On level-up: +6 Awareness, +5 Spirit, +3 Intelligence, +3 Mystique, +3 Endurance, +3 Constitution, +2 Free Points.

  The epic rarity and the soul-related name signaled that this was the best option out of the three, as this was already the last one, but the mention of Soul Harvester being a mini version of something else didn’t bring joy to his ears.

  Did he fall short of the requirement in some areas? If so, what was? The lantern of Verizss’ia was 100% the soul container mentioned in the description, and he had no doubt that the one he got was overqualified, as even the System had given its acknowledgment in calling the lantern “one of the finest and never-seen-before creations in the universe.”

  He even captured the soul of an A-grade and completed the Self-Fulfillment Evolution — accident or not — so that had to be overqualified as well.

  A gentle nudge to his fingers from a ball of silky fur pulled him out of his analysis. “Sorry.” He resumed stroking the cordial cat after pausing his duty, which to his defense, he wasn’t even aware of.

  Too few souls? Could be. If only the two siblings were still there, he would’ve had five, or three if the System counted all of those in the lantern as one.

  He liked the last part about the unpredictability, as it synergized well with Prodigious Performer as both of the masteries mentioned it in the description. He had already picked the evolution, so if he didn’t double down on this now, it would feel like a betrayal.

  Perhaps he would be like a pokémon trainer, going around and catching souls. Where would the gym battles and Elite Four be?

  Chuckling to himself, Zalanir shook his head. Whatever. He confirmed his choice. As for the option of not picking a second mastery, it wasn’t even in his consideration, as not only was Soul Harvester at the same rarity as Prodigious Performer, it also opened up his skill choice in the future to take advantage of Soul Collection. That skill was bound to him forever, so he had to make use of it.

  But his power-up continued to no end, as another notification popped up right after the expected congratulation.

  Congratulations! You have successfully acquired [Mastery: Soul Harvester]

  Congratulations! You have gained the Title [Trailblazer] for picking the first ever Soul Harvester mastery. Your performance has invented a lite version of a premier mastery that has only ever been offered at B-grade. May your path continue to strike gold, and your footsteps monumental.

  Similar to just a moment ago when he locked in the Prodigious Performer mastery, as well as whenever he leveled up, an inflow of cool energy powered him up, leaving him a tad fresher.

  Zalanir embraced the cat, caressed its cheek with his, and threw it up in the air. The orange ball of fur bared its teeth, but then after the fourth time, it just gave up and let him do whatever he wanted.

  What is going on?

  He spammed the hell out of the notification until a new window came into view with the description of the Title.

  [Trailblazer]: The name says it all. This Title belongs to those who treads uncharted territory, who accomplishes the never-seen-before, who goes beyond their needs to enrich the universe’s wisdom. +10 all stats. +5% Awareness.

  Free stats! Hurray the System! Hurray the cutie!

  The cat yawned and stretched all four limbs out when it got thrown into the air again. Perhaps it was thinking that going here was the worst choice it had ever made.

  Now what was a Title? Zalanir found himself on a new tab named Fame when trying to get an explanation. He hadn’t poked the System for a description in a while, as it was kind of hit or miss for what information was provided. And indeed, it was no different this time.

  Titles are rewarded to those who deserve them for exceptional performance. Only one Title can be active at any time.

  Not too helpful, but still good to know. Guessed he would need to find out about this later.

  His Trailblazer Title stayed at the top of the tab, glowing in ocean hue. Below were two lines stating Universal Fame: 3 and Local Fame: 0. Not sure what these were, as the System gave no explanations, but the number 0 in Local Fame stuck out like a thorn. Maybe it had something to do with him being new to Yebin?

  But, the Title aside, didn’t the System message just basically admit that it created the Soul Harvester mastery for him alone? He took it all back. The part about being an adjusted version of a premier mastery was awesome, and thank God that he had picked this mastery.

  This was gold. He just cheated his way through this somehow and got a mastery that was supposed to be handled out only at later grades. The more he looked at this, the more he felt like his reckless attempt at the cultist lair was the best choice he had ever made since coming to this world.

  After letting this sink in, he turned to the last notification, one that he had ignored when picking the Prodigious Performer mastery. One more skill.

  You have gained the skill [Live for the crowd] — Rare

  [Live for the crowd] — Rare: The audience is your motivation. The bigger the crowd, the better you perform. Gain a bonus to all the stats if your actions entertained the observers.

  Essence: 24

  Mana cost: None

  A passive skill, and unlike Sound Sense, a boosting skill, on top of it. Free stats again? Zalanir felt like he had just made an enormous leap in power by getting to C-grade. What a major milestone!

  But unlike Trailblazer, where he knew exactly how many stats he got, this skill returned to the typical vagueness that the System liked again. The triggering condition was to “entertain” the crowd, but how could he know that? Or how could the System know that? By their expression? Or by them screaming out his name like in the fighting pit?

  There was also the type of passive-and-hidden engagers that mattered. He himself was a proof. When watching something, he hardly shouted or was on the edge of his seat — unless the stakes were high, or if Nadal was playing — but he still enjoyed the performance. He wouldn’t go to social media to show off his admiration to someone. Instead, he would just scroll and read on about what people think about a match, event, a new song, video, etc. In that case, would he get the buff?

  Looked like he would be in the System’s complete favor then. It designed this skill, didn’t it, so it would be lame if the System didn’t know the trigger to the skill?

  The skill itself was great, though. He could just equip and then forget about it entirely while still enjoying the benefits here and there.

  Not to mention a great name to top it off. Indeed, a performer would need a crowd, for if there was none, could one consider themselves as such?

  Zalanir pulled out the General tab again. It had been a while since he had paid this any attention. As for the two free points leftover from the last two levels of D-grade, and the new four free points he just got from the two new masteries, Zalanir distributed equally to Constitution and Spirit. More health never hurt, and more mana would help him speed up the feeding for the souls.

  Name: Zalanir Forthern

  Level: 50

  Race: [C] Human - Origin: ?

  Health Points (HP): 1940/1940

  Mana Points (MP): 2090/2090

  Stamina: 450/450

  Strength: 28

  Dexterity: 28

  Endurance: 31

  Constitution: 95

  Intelligence: 170

  Mystique: 171

  Awareness: 79

  Spirit: 124

  Free Points: 0

  Coins: 0

  His stats were still as skewed as ever, with Mystique alone already equaled the sum of the four physical attributes, but alas, at least they would grow passively now thanks to the bonus from Prodigious Performer.

  The winner was no doubt the four magical stats. With two masteries both focused on them, the gap would only continue to widen. Not that he minded, as those represented the path he was walking on.

  Seeing the numbers went up felt great. It showed that his efforts had paid off.

  The coin sitting at 0 was still a major turnoff, though. He had to find a job or a way to make money here in Yebin. Why was he also poor even after changing worlds?

  Dear the money God, please treat me well! Zalanir embraced the cat and tried to sleep. It didn’t reject him, so good boy!

  Hype aside and done, tomorrow was going to be a long day with the council and all.