Chapter 385 — SS Talent

The skin broke easily, releasing juice that tasted sweet.

His teeth tore through the flesh, swallowing chunks, barely chewing, just consuming as fast as possible.

Heat spread from his stomach, intense like fire running through his veins, through his bones and through the very core of what made him an awakener.

His talent was being rewritten, cell by cell and gene by gene.

The limitations that had defined his potential were dissolving, being replaced by something greater.

Damian’s eyes closed as the transformation took hold.

His body processed the fruit for some time, each second feeling like hours, the heat building and building until it felt like he’d burn from the inside out.

Then it stopped and the heat faded.

Damian’s eyes opened.

And they seemed brighter somehow, more alive, the crimson more vivid.

"Status."

The screen materialized in front of him.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Name: Damian Valcor

Age: 16

Rank: B

Talent: S → SS

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Damian stared at the talent line.

S → SS

’SS rank talent!’

The thought settled over him slowly, the weight of it sinking in.

’I’m finally at the best talent level in the world... just below Elizabeth and Luna.’

Only two people he knew possessed SSS rank talent.

Everyone else, even the most exceptional awakeners, topped out at SS.

And now he was among them.

’This changes everything... I can push to SS rank now... Maybe even beyond.’

His hand clenched into a fist.

’I need to–’ He tried to stand, preparing to run before the elves could track him.

"You disgusting low life."

The voice came from directly behind him.

Damian’s body moved on instinct, trying to turn, trying to react–

BOOOOOM

But extreme force slammed into his back like a meteor impact, launched him forward and sent him tumbling through the air.

He crashed through two trees before slamming into a third hard enough to crack ribs.

CRACK CRACK CRACK

Pain exploded through his chest and entire body as blood filled his mouth.

He hit the ground hard, gasping for air that wouldn’t come.

His vision swam as footsteps approached, slow and deliberate.

Kethran walked toward him, both swords drawn, his body glowing with power.

"It was you, wasn’t it?"

His voice came out cold and controlled, each word precise despite the fury radiating from his body.

"The one who killed my warriors... The one who stole the Princess’s treasure."

Damian forced himself to stand, as blood ran from his mouth and dripped onto the ground.

His face showed confusion as he played the part.

"An... elf? What are elves doing in the human world?"

Kethran’s face twisted, disgust and rage mixing together.

"Drop the act, human low life."

He stopped directly in front of Damian, looking down at him like something scraped off his boot.

"The likes of you are always like this. Lying! Deceitful! Cunning! Honorless!"

His voice dripped with contempt, each word laced with centuries of ingrained superiority.

"You wear masks and hide in the shadows! You use cowardly skills to steal what doesn’t belong to you! You attack from ambush rather than facing enemies with honor!"

He took another step closer.

"You humans pretend to have codes, pretend to be civilized and pretend to understand nobility."

His lip curled.

"But beneath the pretense, you’re all the same! Beasts in human skin! Creatures driven by greed and selfishness with no concept of true honor!"

Kethran’s grip on his swords tightened.

"That treasure was meant for the Princess. A gift negotiated through proper diplomatic channels. And you– YOU– dare to steal it like some common thief?"

He looked Damian up and down, disgust radiating from every pore.

"You’re not even worth the effort of killing. But I’ll enjoy watching you beg before the end."

Damian’s hand moved to his spatial ring.

His axe materialized, but before he could even grip it properly–

BOOM

Kethran kept his swords away and moved with pure physical speed.

His fist crashed into Damian’s jaw.

CRACK

Damian’s head snapped sideways, blood and teeth spraying.

’What the fuck?!’

The impact felt different from every A ranker he’d fought before.

He staggered, tried to bring his axe up–

BAM

Kethran’s boot caught him in the ribs, right where they were already cracked.

The impact lifted Damian off his feet, sending him flying backward.

He hit the ground rolling, and came up coughing blood.

’Fast... Too fucking fast! This isn’t like the A rankers who attacked Elizabeth. This guy... his physical stats are way higher.’

Kethran didn’t give him time to recover.

He closed the distance in two steps.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Three punches landed before Damian could even raise his axe on his stomach, chest and face.

Each impact felt like being hit by a sledgehammer wrapped in steel.

Blood poured from Damian’s nose, his vision swimming.

He swung his axe desperately, but Kethran leaned back an inch and let the blade pass his face, his expression bored.

Then grabbed Damian’s wrist and twisted.

CRACK

The bone broke, fingers going nerveless and the axe fell from his grip.

Kethran’s knee came up, drove into Damian’s stomach with enough force to fold him in half.

BAM

Air exploded from Damian’s lungs.

He couldn’t breathe or think, just pain and the taste of blood.

Kethran released his wrist and backhanded him across the face.

SLAP

Damian spun, hit the ground face-first, dirt mixing with blood in his mouth.

Kethran’s voice came from above, carrying genuine curiosity beneath the contempt.

"Interesting... Your physical stats are way stronger for a B ranker... Around 600 perhaps? Maybe even higher?"

He crouched down, looking at Damian’s broken form.

"It’s my first time seeing a human at B rank with stats in that range. Most humans at your rank barely reach 400."

His eyes narrowed.

"But stats alone don’t determine combat ability, human."

He stood back up.

"Your Body Control is what? B-? Maybe C+?"

A cold smile crossed his face.

"Mine is A+. Do you understand what that means? Every movement I make is optimized and every strike carries maximum efficiency."

He kicked Damian in the ribs.

CRACK

"You have the raw power, but not the refinement to use it properly."

’Can’t match him... Not like this... Need–’

"Obsidian Hide."

Damian’s Aura responded immediately, viscous black substance emerging from his pores, spreading across his skin, hardening into jagged armor.

Aura Magnification: 2×

Power flooded his body, doubling his strength, his speed, his reserves.

The Obsidian Hide enhanced his defense and physical power even further.

He pushed himself up, grabbed his fallen axe with his good hand.

Kethran watched with mild interest.

"Oh? Some kind of defensive skill? And magnification on top of it?"

He tilted his head.

"You have some fight left."

Damian lunged, axe swinging with magnified force behind obsidian-armored muscles.

CLANG

Kethran materialized his swords again and blocked it with one sword, though this time his arm moved slightly from the impact.

"Better... The armor adds some force."

His other blade came around.

SLASH

The sword struck the Obsidian Hide covering Damian’s chest.

CRACK

The armor shattered like glass, pieces falling away as the blade cut through to flesh beneath and blood sprayed.

’It broke through so easily?!’

Damian staggered but kept moving and attacking, axe blurring with desperation.