Monts later, the radiant light surrounding the Elder Tree began to fade.
The Elven Queen stepped forward at once, her face full of concern.
"Alice, what task did the Elder Tree assign to you?"
Alice’s expression remained calm, though a subtle trace of bitterness flickered in her eyes.
"The Star Upgrade Quest granted by the Elder Tree is classified as an SSS-tier difficulty task," she replied softly. "The first requirent is to collect ten rare skill books. The second is to complete ten Hell Mode underground labyrinths—and break the current fastest-clear records."
Hearing that, the Elven Queen let out a soft sigh of relief.
The Elven race had endured for tens of thousands of years. Their vaults contained stockpiles of rare items and treasures, enough to stack into mountains.
So what were ten rare skill books? Hardly an issue.
As for the second part—completing Hell Mode labyrinths? That wasn’t too worrying either.
The queen had personally overseen Alice’s training. She was well aware of the girl’s capabilities.
Hell Mode labyrinths were indeed difficult, but for Alice, they were manageable. Breaking the clear ti records? With a few elite elven warriors as backup, that too was well within reach.
"To think an SSS-tier Star Upgrade Quest would sound so... reasonable," the queen mused.
She had feared so impossible, world-ending requirent. But this? Manageable.
After a brief mont of thought, the queen spoke up with clarity and confidence.
"As for the skill books, feel free to search through the Elf Vault. It should have what you need. And regarding the Hell Mode labyrinths, you may choose your own team. Focus on clearing them as fast as you can."
"Alice, you are the hope of our people. I believe in you."
Alice nodded slightly, her expression unmoved by the encouragent.
Because deep down... she knew what she had just said only covered part of the quest.
She hadn’t told the queen the hardest requirent.
That was... to master two God Rank Skills.
Yes, she had access to the finest resources of the elven race. But even then, Alice knew perfectly well—God Rank Skills were divine authorities, not sothing mortals could easily obtain.
Not even the mighty Elf Vault contained books of that level.
In fact, Alice wasn’t even sure God Rank Skill books existed.
So how was she supposed to complete the quest?
Despair silently took root in her heart. She had no idea how to proceed.
If she relied solely on the strength of the elves, she might never complete the Star Upgrade in her lifeti.
But then again...
She wasn’t just the elven crown princess anymore.
She had another identity—the chosen Devotee of Crossbridge, the mysterious and awe-inspiring god who had appeared before her.
Perhaps she could ask Crossbridge to bestow upon her a God Rank Skill?
Granted, the request might be rejected... or worse, anger the deity. Perhaps it would even co at a great price.
But at this point—it was her only chance.
Maybe—just maybe—she didn’t even need to fully own the two God Rank Skills. If Crossbridge would allow her to borrow them temporarily, that might be enough to et the quest requirent.
If she showed true piety... and made enough offerings...
There was a chance.
Besides, Crossbridge didn’t strike her as an unreachable, wrathful god. On the contrary—he seed reasonable, perhaps even generous, compared to most deities.
That thought rekindled her hope.
In truth, the two tasks she’d ntioned earlier—collecting skill books and clearing dungeons—were only part of the quest.
But collecting rare skill books had an additional purpose.
She intended to use them as offerings for Crossbridge.
Just as she’d hoped, the Elven Queen didn’t question her motives and simply handed her the key to the Elf Vault.
"Alice, the Elf Vault is now under your care."
...
Castle Mington, Multiracial Comrce League
Manager Harry bowed respectfully as he handed a white card to Daniel.
"Lord Daniel, we’ve processed your goods at cost pricing. Your total earnings co to 80 million gold coins. This is your white-tier VIP card—please keep it safe."
Daniel gave a slight nod and stowed the card into his inventory space.
He had also just acquired a new weapon: a sleek, elegantly crafted shortbow.
He’d spent quite so ti browsing before selecting this particular bow. It wasn’t the most impressive in terms of raw stats—even though it was orange-grade.
100 Attack Power might be a huge boost for ordinary adventurers, but to Daniel? It barely moved the needle.
So why buy it?
Because this bow ca with sothing far more valuable: a special skill effect.
Normally, weapons didn’t co with any skills attached. Only extrely rare, enchanted equipnt might have a chance of carrying a passive or active skill.
This shortbow was one such exception.
[Star Chasing Bow]
[Bonus Stats: (omitted)]
[Effect: Star Chasing — When attacking, fires two additional phantom arrows, each dealing 60% of the original damage.]
That was what caught Daniel’s eye.
With his Stellar Flash ability already outputting over 600,000 damage, the two phantom arrows would each deal 360,000.
Which ant that a single shot, when combined, would deal 1.32 million total damage.
That was more than double the base output—ridiculously powerful.
Yes, the bow had been expensive. But it was worth every coin.
Grinning, Daniel summoned the Star Chasing Bow and began inspecting it closely.
What he didn’t expect... was for a prompt to appear the mont he held it in his hands:
[Would you like to max out this skill?]
"...???"
Max out what?
He hadn’t learned any new skills yet!
Daniel blinked, confused. Then realization dawned—and excitent followed.
He stared at the bow with a growing grin.
Up until now, he had been selective about which skills he learned.
That was because learning skills consud mind power.
There wasn’t any system prompt that warned about it, but Daniel could feel it.
The more skills he learned, the more his mind felt like it was being stretched thin.
It made sense.
A human couldn’t morize every book in existence, after all.
Mind power was finite. Skill slots were, essentially, limited.
But skills that ca from weapons? Completely different.
Those weren’t his. They were the weapon’s.
As long as he held the weapon, he had access to the skill. Let go, and it was gone—no strain on his mind power whatsoever.
That made such skills incredibly valuable.
They were "bonus" skills. No cost. No risk.
Just power.
Daniel’s heart raced at the thought.
If he could assemble a full gear set where every piece had an active skill?
That would an dozens of bonus abilities—all upgradeable—without any of the mind burden that ca with normal skill learning.
This bow? A godsend.
"Yes," Daniel said without hesitation.
[Star Chasing: When you launch an attack, three phantom arrows are fired alongside your primary arrow, each dealing 100% of the original damage.]
Perfect.
With this alone, Stellar Flash now fired four arrows, each doing full damage.
His total burst potential?
2.4 million.
Per shot.
And that was just the beginning.
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