At once, the ambient mana from the atmosphere surged into Damien's spiritual space like an unrelenting flood.
Boom!
A tremor ran through his body.
The ferocious wave of mana almost engulfed him entirely, its intensity far surpassing what he had anticipated.
Damien Harrier was startled.
"This is way too intense."
Though he had known his talent was leagues beyond ordinary geniuses, he had never imagined the sheer terror of absorbing ambient mana at such a scale.
The influx of energy pooled below the two floating marbles, forming a shimring liquid. Then, as if guided by an unseen force, the mana flowed out of his spiritual space, rging seamlessly with the blood coursing through his veins.
Pop! Pop!
A series of sharp, rhythmic cracks echoed from within his body, as though his very bones were being reforged.
Under the nourishnt of the relentless mana influx, the two marbles began to radiate a piercing light, their glow pulsating in sync with his body's transformation. As the minutes passed, the mana pool underwent a visible change.
It was no longer a colorless, watery substance.
Instead, it had taken on a grayish tint.
Damien lost track of ti, his entire being consud by the process of absorbing mana.
The night passed unknowingly.
By the ti he finally stopped cultivating, dawn had already broken.
He opened his eyes, disbelief flickering in his gaze.
In one night, he had broken through to the first rank.
Felix, the formidable defender of the South, had taken three to four months to reach this level with his "false talent."
His father, the ruler of the Valthorn Kingdom, had required more than a year.
Yet, Damien had achieved it in re hours.
As he exhaled slowly, he observed the gray mana pool, now fully replenished, swirling with power. The two marbles continued their relentless absorption, drawing mana at an unimaginable pace.
Curious to test his newfound strength, Damien strode toward the corner of the room, where a large rock slab rested. He clenched his fist and threw a casual punch.
Boom!
The impact left a deep fist imprint, several inches into the stone.
Damien's breath hitched.
His hands trembled as he stared at the rock.
This was real.
He had truly broken through to Iron Rank.
An Iron Rank martial artist with with gray mana pool.
A glint of relief flashed in Damien's eyes.
"There's hope."
Now, it was ti to uncover the true potential of his talent and soul weapon.
From his predecessor's mories, talents functioned almost like an additional limb for a warrior.
As he pondered this, his vision blurred montarily.
A translucent window flickered into existence.
---
[Level 1 Talent - Acceleration Domain (SSS-Grade)]
[Can accelerate certain things with yourself as the center.]
---
Damien's brows furrowed slightly.
He didn't fully understand the talent's capabilities, so he decided to activate it.
At the re thought, the white marble within his spiritual space pulsed, radiating an intense silver glow.
A barely perceptible aura enveloped his body.
Not entirely sure how to test it, he decided to throw a casual punch into the air.
Whoosh!
What was ant to be a slow, relaxed strike turned into a blur, his fist leaving a faint afterimage.
Damien's eyes widened.
He stared at his hand, then at the air in front of him.
This wasn't normal.
He knew his own strength better than anyone—he shouldn't be able to throw a punch that fast.
"Hmm..."
A sudden frown ford on his face.
He felt a faint, stinging sensation across his skin.
Looking down, he noticed small ruptures forming—his body wasn't accustod to such abrupt acceleration.
Tiny cracks filled his skin, faint streaks of red seeping through.
Yet, instead of concern, his eyes glead with curiosity.
"Accelerate everything... huh!"
A thought occurred to him.
His lips curled upwards as he willed his Acceleration Domain to act upon his healing abilities.
Under his watchful gaze, the tiny wounds shifted.
It was as if countless ants crawled beneath his skin, rearranging fibers, regenerating cells.
Within seconds, the cracks vanished, his skin restored completely.
[Ding! Skill unlocked...]
He heard a notification but right now Damien was too shaken to pay attention.
"Amazing..."
His voice was filled with awe.
For soone from Earth, such a feat was beyond comprehension—sothing only found in myths.
A storm of thoughts swirled in his mind.
If I can accelerate healing... can I accelerate aging as well?
Can I accelerate ti itself?
A shiver ran down his spine.
If that was possible, then his talent was truly... terrifying.
Taking a deep breath, he shook his head.
No—he needed control first.
Pushing his talent aside for now, he shifted his focus to his soul weapon.
Talent awakenings were rare, but not unheard of—thousands of youths had awakened theirs in sarith City.
But soul weapons?
He had never heard of them.
Damien took a deep breath and focused.
"Co out..."
A burst of light flared in front of him.
A tallic weight settled into his palms.
A familiar scent of gunpowder and tal filled the air.
Damien slowly raised his hands, his gaze locking onto the object he now held.
A handgun.
His breath stagnated.
He was very familiar with firearms.
Yet—he hadn't expected this.
His eyes flickered, waiting for an explanation window to appear.
Nothing.
The system remained silent.
Before he could contemplate further, hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Even without looking, he knew who it was.
Niomi.
The door burst open, revealing her panicked face.
Her breath was ragged, her usually composed deanor completely shattered.
"Husband—father-in-law...!"
Her voice cracked, and she broke into uncontrollable sobs.
Damien's face hardened.
His father, King Roosevelt Harrier, had left to handle the Blue Hamr soldiers who had been harassing Valthorn City's citizens.
A bad feeling settled in his chest.
Taking a steadying breath, he locked eyes with Niomi.
"Calm down, Niomi," he said, his voice firm. "Tell what happened to my father."
Her lips trembled.
Tears stread down her face as she tried to compose herself.
Damien clenched his fists.
Sothing had gone wrong.
And he was going to find out exactly what.
"Let's go.."
Without wasting any ti, Damien imdiately stord out of the room.
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