106. Real talent (1)
“You have entered the waiting room on the 12th floor.”
After the conversation with the Iron Blood Lord, I returned to the waiting room and stood still with my eyes narrowed.
No matter how much I thought about it, it was because I couldn’t believe the story the Iron Blood Lord told me at the end.
-You have talent. Even that is a talent that can respond to your intense desire.
After consuming the interrogation ticket and obtaining more detailed information about the ordeal on the 12th floor.
The iron-blooded lord said that to me as I was about to return to the waiting room.
“…”
Talent.
This heaven-given quality that cannot be changed postnatally is classified into three in the world of hunters.
skill acquisition aptitude.
Ability to increase stats.
Characteristic flowering aptitude.
As he awakens as a being called a player, he has these three aptitudes, which are referred to as the three major qualities of a hunter.
Other than that, nothing counts as talent.
Physical abilities and combat senses can all be covered with skills or characteristics, and even combat skills can be acquired with skills.
Except for these three qualities, the rest are beyond talent.
It is a flaw that can never be compensated for, so it is called a talent, and it is determined by the limit of innate nature.
And…
‘I wasn’t born with any of them.’
Before entering the Tower of Trials, I was a player without those three qualities.
Skills have not been acquired, stats have not risen, and unique characteristics have not bloomed.
Except for the fact that he had just awakened, there was no element to be treated as a player.
But, do I have any talent?
It couldn’t be.
‘…The iron-blooded lord must be misunderstanding. I guess I have talent.’
If I had such a thing, I would have made a name for myself as a famous hunter even if I hadn’t come to the tower.
However, the reality was miserable, and it was only when I entered the tower that I acquired the talent, blooming aptitude, among the three major qualities.
Even that was possible because the tower was a reward for the tutorial ordeal and allowed its unique characteristics to bloom.
If you think about it based on that fact, it would be the right conclusion that I don’t have the slightest talent…
“….”
Up until now, the Iron-Blooded Lord had never said anything that would harm me.
Oddly enough, if it’s certainly not vain, I couldn’t figure out why they said I had talent.
I thought about it for a while, but the conclusion I came to was not much different from before.
To me, there is no such thing as talent, and it is that I have actually grown only with my own unique characteristics.
‘Even if I think about it more, I just get the same answer over and over again.’
So…
Now it was time to prepare for the ordeal on the 12th floor.
According to the information he found out by consuming one question ticket from the iron-blooded lord, the ordeal on the 12th floor was a fight with himself.
There was no analogy or anything about this.
Indeed, the ordeal on the twelfth floor was an ordeal in which the Tower had to win a duel against itself, which was cloned.
Shall we say that he is more like a doppelganger than the doppelganger he met on the third floor of the Tower of Trials?
It’s a fight against fakes who have the same unique characteristics, skills and stats as mine, but…
Even the range of self-replication does not stop there, and even experiences are additionally copied.
That means…
‘In a word, the cloned me will know all the strategies the current me will use.’
The iron-blooded lord even said that the cloned self copied even the talent.
It is also in the form of being able to utilize the talent that one does not even know oneself to the limit.
In the middle of battle, it is possible to realize the acquisition aptitude of a skill that you did not notice, or to acquire it, or to increase your stats while fighting.
‘If that happens, it will go up to a really terrible difficulty level.’
However, I had no skill acquisition aptitude, and even stat increase aptitude did not exist at all.
In the middle of battle, if the cloned self becomes stronger, there is no choice but to worry about what to do.
And Iron Blood Lord adds that only one item is duplicated, and even that item’s grade drops by -1.
‘Then it’s almost certain that I can’t overturn the superiority of the items, so I’ll win easily.’
It was natural to assume that the 12th floor trials would be relatively easy to overcome.
However, this ordeal was an opportunity to experience my own strength objectively.
Are you afraid of copying yourself and going up without doing anything?
It was no different from not being able to properly utilize this ordeal on the 12th floor.
It is foolish to say that it is easy to break the ordeal when it is possible to achieve growth such as objectification of combat ability and detailed skill use.
In order to pass the 12th floor trials like that, he would have climbed the tower on normal or easy difficulty instead of choosing hard difficulty in the first place.
‘This trial is an opportunity to see and improve one’s combat abilities more objectively.’
I immediately opened my inventory and took out the skill proficiency increase potions.
“Skill proficiency increase potion”
“Grade: C+”
“Special potion specially prepared by the tower for beings with skills.”
“When taken, one of the possessed skills can be arbitrarily increased by 10%.”
Catherine There were a total of three skill proficiency potions, including their share and handing them over to me.
Each skill increases by 10%, so in total, you can raise your skill by about 30%.
‘It’s not a bad choice to divide and distribute, but… it’s inefficient.’
Since the level of the skill proficiency potion is not that high, it would not be efficient if divided and distributed separately.
Under that judgment, I immediately opened the status window and thought about where to invest the skill proficiency potion.
“I took a skill proficiency increase potion (C+).” “
Select
a skill to increase your proficiency.”
“Magic operation.”
「Selection completed.」
「Challenger Seong-Yoon Han’s skill, ‘Magic Operation (A-)” proficiency increases by 10%.]
「Challenger Seong-Yoon Han’s skill, ‘Magic Operation (A-)’, proficiency increases by 10%… .」
「Challenger Han Seong-yoon’s skill ‘Magic Operation (A-)’ proficiency increased by 10%…」
This skill acquired while hunting the snake that eats the darkness that appeared in the 10th floor ordeal was quite important.
Sword Guinea and Sword Flame are, in the end, a kind of magic management technique.
Because it is this skill that is involved in the art of mana management.
‘If I raise my proficiency level and raise it to the level, I might be able to use new magic.’
Of course, I couldn’t raise the grade right away because I hadn’t attained enlightenment yet… but
I thought I could raise the grade somehow, whether it was obtaining more skill proficiency potions or acquiring enlightenment.
“…”
I quietly rolled my magic power away from my body and slowly lowered my body.
‘Certainly, it’s because my proficiency has gone up, so I’ve gotten a little better at mana management.’
And soon, I opened my eyes, satisfied that the operation of my magical power had become smoother.
「The level of mana management rises and the blooming aptitude of magical attributes is created.」
「By using the ‘Necklace of a follower who worships the thunder god (A)’, the magical properties of the lightning attribute will bloom.
」 The effect of the Thunder God’s Worshipers’ Necklace (A) has been activated.
Pajijik…!
Lightning flashed around the body, as if announcing that my magical qualities had blossomed.
I laughed in embarrassment at the unexpected flowering of magical properties.
‘No, the level of mana management went up like this…?’
I had completely forgotten that these items even existed.
If you hold it for a long time, your magical qualities will bloom, but you don’t know exactly when, so you didn’t pay attention.
However, as the level of mana management rose, the necklaces of followers who worshiped the thunder god were also greatly affected, and their magical properties bloomed.
“You are lucky. There’s nothing wrong with having magical properties.”
Of course, in order to properly use the magic trait, I had to spend quite a bit of time on my own.
‘For the time being, the fact that the magic trait has bloomed must be a satisfactory achievement.’
Contemplating what to do next, I was able to think of the reward from the 11th floor ordeal.
“Did you say it was an old proof mirror…?”
After thinking for a while, I took out the old proof mirror in a corner of my inventory.
Even if it had a negative value, it was the first semi-S class item I had acquired.
It seemed like it would be better to go and find out what kind of effect it had.
「An old mirror of proof」
「Rating: S-」
「A mirror that can only be received by a challenger who has properly completed the ordeal given by the god of proof.
」 You can activate ‘Thought’.」
“…What is it? Is this all?”
It was absurd.
This is what the breakthrough reward I got after working so hard…
I felt a bit discouraged, but soon I realized that what I saw wasn’t everything.
‘No, I’m not sure yet.’
There might be hidden phrases in the item, so I immediately activated the Fire Dragon’s Eye.
「The skill ‘Fire Dragon’s Eye’ is activated.」
And.
「…Only once for the first time, you can learn the skills embedded in ‘Residual Thoughts’.」 「…
However, at this time, the acquisition of skills embedded in the ‘Residual Thoughts’ cannot be determined by the user.」 「
… .The god of proof has changed some of the effects for a particular challenger.”
As expected, there was a hidden explanation text, so I was somewhat relieved.
‘I don’t know what kind of exclusive effect Residual Thoughts is, but considering that it even has an official name, it must be a pretty good ability.’
He even said that he could learn skills embedded in residual thoughts, so he was satisfied.
Like me, who can synthesize skills, the more skills I have, the wider my options are.
Even if he meets his cloned self in the ordeal on the 12th floor, that fact does not change.
Looking at the old proof mirror that looks like a hand mirror, I immediately injected my magic.
「The old Proof Mirror (S-) exclusive effect, “Residual Thoughts,” is activated.」
Next, I saw a blurry figure of a man passing by in the mirror.
The man I still can’t forget that I saw at the end of the ordeal on the 11th floor.
He was the one who tested the limits of my mental strength by causing a massacre in the mirror.
‘me…?’
Perhaps it is the residual thought that dwells in the old proof mirror…
“The effect ‘Residual thought’ exclusive to the old proof mirror (S-) is activated, and you randomly learn the skills embedded in the ‘residual thought’.”
Proof of Spirit Is it the future me I saw in
‘This is absurd…’
But soon, before I can think of it, the image of myself in the mirror disappears.
「Inherit the skill ‘Focus on Combat (A+)’」 「The
combat experience of residual thoughts dwells in the skill ‘Focus on Combat (A+)’」
「The combat experience of residual thoughts on the skill ‘Focus on Combat (A+)’ Your mastery increases by 11% while nestling.”
Only the calm system message remained.
“…”
I no longer saw myself in the mirror.
Despite injecting mana once more, it was no different from before.
Even this time, there was no word saying that the effect of the residual thought had been exhausted, and that it had been activated.
‘The god of proof changed some of the effects… Was it like this?’
I don’t know what the original diversion effect was, but this residual thought is undoubtedly mine.
It was also related to the future self I saw at the end of the 11th floor ordeal.
Because of that, I quietly looked in the mirror and thought.
“…”
Perhaps this is a kind of invitation from the God of Proof.
He is the god of proof who even left the word to come to the ‘Temple of Proof’ at the end.
He left an invitation in this form, hoping that I would come to his temple.
As if if you are curious about your future self, it would be good to visit at least once.
“It’s fun.”
For some reason, I know that the God of Proof is quite interested in me.
However, not knowing the other party’s purpose, he had no intention of responding to this invitation.
It could have been quite dangerous if he went directly to the temple as he had summoned from the tower to the realm of the gods by drastic means.
‘When I have enough strength… at least I have a means to fight the godhead, I’ll have to go.’
It was just an intuition, but it seemed that the correct answer was probably in ‘divine power’.
The followers of proof and the administrators also treated this sacred power in a special way.
To that extent, this divine power may have the ability to resist pseudo-gods or real gods.
‘I think I’ll have to find out about this divine power next time…’
Of course, no matter how much I try to move the divine power right now, it’s unsteady, so I couldn’t use it properly.
Then, I briefly opened the status window and checked the newly acquired skill.
『Skill – Combat Concentration (A+)』
『Proficiency – 11%』 『Description – Transcendental concentration
that allows you to concentrate to the limit in combat situations.』
Concentration can be raised up to 10 times, and if you maintain concentration beyond the limit, you will be accompanied by that amount of recoil.] Since it was a simple effect of
increasing concentration in battle, there was nothing to look into.
“It just happens to be a good situation.”
Even if it wasn’t, I would have been in a combat situation, but luckily, this skill came into my hands.
Originally, the use of skills can be found in various ways in actual combat.
「Will you accept the trial on the twelfth floor?」
Now it was time to challenge myself to fight.
