Chapter 4: | Lack of Knowledge
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[You have successfully devoured]
• [Karkhold Mantislash.]
[You may devour one of the following.]
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• Stats
• Random Skills
• Select a Skill
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[You may now ascend.]
[Yes] / [No]
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Monster Core
• Tidecrush Pulse
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Passive Skills
• Barnacle Exo-Reinforcement
• Flow Reading Instinct
• Shell Reflex Layer
• War Claw Doctrine
• Crust Core Retaliation
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Active Skills
• Crimson Scissor Lunge
• Whirlpool Rake
• Claw-Torque Spiral
• Ironwave Splitter
• Reflex Guard Breaker
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Ascension Skills
• Mantis Cleave Form (Ascension I)
• Crushing Tides Dance (Ascension II)
• Aegis Shell Override (Ascension III)
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My gaze was fixated on three specific skills, and I couldn't help but ponder which one would serve me best.
Mantis Cleave Form seemed like a claw mutation, or something similar.
Then there was Crushing Tides Dance, based on its name, this skill would perhaps allow my attacks to be synchronized and more effective.
Lastly, there was a normal skill: War Claw Doctrine.
This skill, I surmised, would grant me fundamental knowledge about the usage of claws.
So, which one should I choose?
Another direct claw skill, a synchronization skill for more effective attacks, or one that would provide crucial insight and knowledge about claw usage?
Each option presented its own set of pros and cons.
Acquiring another raw claw skill would be beneficial, as I'd only need one more of its type to fuse it into an Ascension II skill.
However, Crushing Tides Dance, an Ascension II skill itself, would likely be the first of its kind I possessed.
To fuse it, I'd need to gather three more, making it a longer-term investment with no immediate necessity.
Then there was War Claw Doctrine, which I could instantly fuse with Ancestral Combat Wisdom to create a powerful Ascension I skill.
Currently, increasing my firepower was the undeniable best option.
But which path promised greater power: immediate strength, or foundational knowledge?
The choice weighed heavily.
If I chose another direct claw skill, my cutting power would certainly increase, but its full potential would be severely limited by my inherent lack of practical understanding.
Therefore, the most logical choice was to devour War Claw Doctrine.
It would grant me the essential knowledge needed to truly utilize my claws effectively, unlocking their deeper potential.
The decision was made.
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[You have successfully devoured a Skill.]
[You have gained.]
• War Claw Doctrine
[Aberrant Emperor Vessel would like to devour the skill]
[Yes] / [No]
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I allowed the Aberrant Emperor Vessel to do its work.
The moment I consented, a searing throb exploded behind my eyes, as if an entire library of combat knowledge was being forcefully hammered into my mind.
Waving my hand, I dragged the two skill icons into the designated fusion interface.
This should do.
I waited, a flicker of anticipation, then tapped Yes, watching as the system processed and the new hologram prepared to manifest.
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[Would you like to combine these skills?]
• † Ancestral Combat Wisdom + † War Claw Doctrine
[Yes] / [No]
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[Your skills have successfully fused]
[You have gained:]
• † Bloodscript Claw Memory [Ascension I - Passive]
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Then my hand waved again as a new hologram appeared before me.
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† Bloodscript Claw Memory [Ascension I – Passive]
Your claws inscribe memory into motion. Every strike is a lesson, every parry a prayer whispered by ancestors through sinew and bone. The art of battle isn't learned—it awakens. You adapt not over time, but on contact. Styles seen once are etched into your reflexes. Counters bloom mid-clash. Mistakes fade as you carve new truths with each engagement. You are a hybrid of every warrior who ever survived.
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It seemed all my worries had been for nothing.
Acquiring War Claw Doctrine was, indeed, the optimal choice.
With this new skill, I could now dissect any opponent's techniques the moment I witnessed them, instantly making those insights my own.
The ability to counter attacks after only a single observation was an impressive perk, truly.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply.
Memories, crisp and vivid, of every humanoid being I had encountered throughout my one year of existence resurfaced.
I reviewed their movements again and again: Liora's fluid strikes against Vinley, the terrifying precision of that damned bitch Ashin Sae Acoustine who'd nearly killed me, the brute efficiency of the Overseer's techniques.
Slowly, I settled into a lotus position, and began to analyze their techniques, striving to make them my own.
Hours bled into days, days into weeks, and weeks stretched into months.
My movements grew progressively more refined with every strike.
I would identify a flaw, fix it, strike again, only to uncover new imperfections.
It was a never-ending cycle, yet I found myself thriving in it.
My nerves throbbed with persistent pain, and my entire body was perpetually sore, a testament to the relentless effort.
Yet, through this grueling training, my body control had increased by a massive amount.
Slowly, methodically, I practiced my movements, jumping and striking again and again.
Then, in a single, fluid motion, my body vanished.
In the next instant, faint, jagged red claw markings materialized across the faces of a hundred different mountain peaks I had targeted for destruction.
I inhaled, a deep, centering breath, and whispered.
"Primeval Emperor – First form: Ruined Fury."
The power surged, yet the result was incomplete.
It was not the absolute penetration I desired.
For 'Ruined Fury,' I envisioned a strike so precise, so potent, that it could sever any metal in existence with just a nail.
I cracked my neck, a soft pop resonating in the silent expanse, then slowly walked toward the nearest grand mural.
Raising a single, extended nail, I activated the technique again.
"Primeval Emperor – First form: Ruined Fury."
My nail blurred.
My entire body, lower, upper, every muscle and bone, moved in perfect, in a devastating synchronization.
In a single, imperceptible split second, countless crimson lines spiderwebbed across the ancient mural.
A moment later, with a groan of tortured stone, it crumbled into dust and rubble, and my body descended smoothly onto the next floor, falling with the fragments of what once stood.
"It would be nice to have a truly powerful opponent this time,"
I mused, a hint of genuine anticipation in my voice.
Leaping effortlessly across the seabed, then bounding over the towering mountain peaks, my body cut through the oppressive currents with exhilarating ease.
I moved relentlessly towards the very center of this floor, where the grand murals lay.
A powerful aura thrummed through the currents, undeniably stronger than any Overseer I had yet encountered.
I couldn't help but smile at this promising discovery.
The world blurred around me as my body vanished, then reappeared hundreds of meters away in a single, colossal leap.
Monsters of Stage I or II were everywhere, locked in skirmishes for dominance, but they were utterly beneath my notice.
Their skills, I surmised, were likely nothing but trash.
Then, a sudden, concussive pain exploded in my head as my body was violently slammed into the ground, sent sprawling in a split second by the sheer force of a leg strike.
I licked my lips, tasting the metallic tang of the dungeon currents.
"Quite the voluptuous legs you have there, my lady. I wonder... how delicious you'd taste?"
She snorted, her gaze, sharp as winter ice, drilling into me.
"I thought a worthy opponent would arrive, something akin to Amara. But sadly, it's just a pervert."
Mila's beautiful features contorted with extreme disgust at the sight of the naked man before her, who, despite radiating the undeniable aura of an Emperor, had greeted her with such vile words.
Her hands clenched tight, her teeth grinding together, a soft, furious rasp.
Oblivious, I only licked my lips further.
"My, it seems I forgot to introduce myself, dear lady."
Posing dramatically like a classical marble statue, every line of my naked form deliberately accentuated, I extended a hand towards her, a mock bow.
"I am Alister von Fai. If you would be so kind as to share your name, dear lady, before I inevitably devour you."
Mila was utterly speechless.
She had never, in her entire existence, encountered a man so brazenly shameless.
This creature, no, Alister von Fai, stood before her, flaunting his nakedness as if it were the most natural thing in the world, before offering such a grotesque introduction.
Mila's stomach churned.
Her long-held disdain for men had never been this intense, not even when she was alive.
Her dainty lips parted to speak, but the man before her merely licked his lips again, a slow, deliberate motion that made her skin crawl.
"Tch."
She spat, forcing the words out.
"Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Mila San Alfallen."
I smiled, then chuckled.
"So your cute self is named Mila. What a beautiful name... and body you have. I wonder how interesting your Ascension skills are."