"Endspace, upgrade my title for me."
Luke was very interested in how his title would change. After all, Fearless’s bonus remained effective at any stage, and would only grow stronger the further he advanced.
Endspace’s treatment services truly were first-rate. He had just fought Shen Wulong in a life-or-death battle, yet he did not feel tired at all. So he decided to begin his enhancements immediately.
【Title upgrade complete. Pioneer, please review your new title.】
Luke opened his title panel. His original title, Fearless, had become... Brute.
The corner of Luke’s mouth twitched. He could only feel that Endspace held some malice toward him. It was not even trying to polish things up anymore, was it?
【Title: Brute】
Rating: A- (E- to SSS+)
Origin: This title originated in the derivative world Bleach and evolved after the Pioneer brute-forced a victory over Shen Wulong through supreme power in the Kengan world.
Effect: While this title is equipped, the Explorer’s Strength is fixed at +2 points. Additionally, during Strength checks, the Explorer receives a 20% priority bonus. This effect functions at any rank.
PS: Only when entering the derivative world Bleach, this title additionally grants the Explorer 1,000 base Reputation.
Comment: This time, I didn’t polish it up.
Luke ignored Endspace’s cheeky comment. Setting aside the title’s name, he was quite satisfied with its upgraded effects.
The attribute bonus had increased by one point. It did not seem particularly powerful at the moment, but the additional check effect was quite interesting.
Endspace actually provided Explorers with a combat-assistance system. For example, if he slashed an opponent and checked the battle information, he could see exactly how many points of damage he had inflicted. Luke simply did not care much about such things. He fought by instinct, so he had rarely looked at the battle reports.
Simply put, this Strength check was the judgment made when he and an opponent were competing physically. If someone with equal Strength crossed blades with him, they should originally have been deadlocked. But now, he could knock that person back, or even send their weapon flying from their hand.
Combined with the fact that his specialization abilities generally surpassed those of ordinary Explorers, if he encountered an Explorer whose attributes were close to his, his advantage in a direct confrontation would be amplified even further.
"Endspace, begin linking me with the Origin Seed’s power."
Luke submitted his request. This was the main event he had been looking forward to most.
【Beginning to load the power of the Spirit Seed: Origin for Pioneer No. 008...】
The instant he heard the voice, Luke’s vision went black, and an immense force seized him.
His consciousness seemed to drift through an endless void. Soul-wrenching wails echoed in his ears, while furious roars from beyond some distant world reached him, making both his body and soul tremble.
After an unknown amount of time, he slowly woke. Endspace’s notification sounded beside his ear.
【The power of the Spirit Seed: Origin has been loaded. Pioneer No. 008’s Spirit Seed tab has been unlocked. Please review it in your personal details.】
Luke sat up from the floor, his brows tightly furrowed. In that chaotic state just now, he seemed to have heard a familiar voice.
After washing his face in the bathroom to clear his head, he cast that inexplicable sense of oppression aside and began examining his new ability.
A new category had appeared in his personal menu: Spirit Seeds. There were nine empty slots in the category. At present, only the first slot contained any information, bearing two words—Origin.
Luke opened Origin and checked its details.
【Spirit Seed: Origin】
Spirit Seed Sequence: 1
Growth Stage: Not Sprouted
Cultivation Method: Nurture it with skills mastered by the Pioneer. The more numerous and more powerful the skills mastered, the more pronounced the nurturing effect.
Spirit Seed Ability: The Pioneer may select one active skill they currently possess and place it into a slot provided by the Origin Spirit Seed, converting it into a cost-free passive skill.
Current Number of Slots: 1
Current Cooldown for Switching Placed Skills: One natural day
Luke was initially stunned after reading the Origin Spirit Seed’s ability. Then overwhelming delight flooded him. It truly lived up to its unique, legendary status.
Turning an active skill into a cost-free passive skill—this ability was absurdly powerful. And that slot could be switched out. Against different mission worlds and different battlefield conditions, he could convert different active skills as needed.
For example, he could place Armament Haki in the Origin slot. That would grant him a permanent Armament Haki effect, allowing him to constantly maintain a state that combined offense and defense.
Or, if he acquired a skill that provided an attack-multiplier bonus, putting it in the slot would give him continuous damage amplification.
What pleased Luke even more was that this Spirit Seed apparently could still grow. Its current strength was not its final form.
He checked the details regarding cultivation. It was not that feeding skills to the Origin Seed would make those skills disappear. Rather, the Origin Seed would absorb the skills he had already mastered and gain growth from them. In essence, it was somewhat like feeding knowledge to the Origin Seed.
Put simply, the more abilities he mastered, and the stronger they were, the faster the Origin Seed could grow. A grown Origin Seed would unlock more slots, and its ability might improve as well.
Luke tried placing Armament Haki in the Origin slot, and he quickly felt the change.
To his surprise, after Armament Haki was converted into a passive ability, it became more flexible. For instance, he did not turn into the blackened figure he had imagined.
Even though Armament Haki now covered his entire body, his skin tone remained normal. This was the Origin Seed regulating the skill. If he wished, he could make the coloration of Armament Haki appear on his body again.
Luke sighed once more at how outrageously good his luck was. He had encountered such a rare Spirit Seed almost as soon as he entered Endspace.
But according to Endspace’s description, all nine great Spirit Seeds were unique. Who knew when he would next encounter another one?
Yes, after witnessing the Origin Spirit Seed’s power, Luke now intensely desired the other Spirit Seeds.
If he could collect all nine great Spirit Seeds and fill every slot in the Spirit Seed menu... what would happen?
The thought alone thrilled him.
Suppressing that unrealistic fantasy for now, Luke checked the details of the World Seed reward.
According to Endspace’s explanation, the World Seed was proof that he had conquered the Kengan world. After Endspace incorporated that world, it would no longer be open to other Explorers. Only he would have permission to enter the Kengan world for 1,000 Endspace Coins per day, whether for a vacation or anything else he wished to do.
Furthermore, because the world generated resources for Endspace, as the owner of the World Seed, Luke could collect rent from Endspace once after every mission world.
Based on the Kengan world’s current level, he could receive 14,000 Endspace Coins in rent each month. Unfortunately, Endspace had only just completed its incorporation, so he would not receive the money until next month.
After sorting through his rewards, Luke pushed open his door and prepared to head to the Enhancement Hall to complete his enhancements.
Having done this before, Luke easily made his way to the Enhancement Hall and picked a Venus flytrap that looked agreeable enough to swallow him.
【Pioneer No. 008, you have 13 free attribute points. Please allocate them.】
Luke had already decided how to allocate his attributes. Without hesitation, he chose Agility +4, Constitution +6, and Strength +3.
Some time later, the Venus flytrap spat him out. Without caring about the slime still covering his body, he began checking his new attributes.
【Pioneer No. 008, your unequipped attributes are as follows (including title bonuses):】
Constitution: 29 points (+6)
Strength: 25 points (+3 +1)
Agility: 24 points (+4)
Spirit: 27 points (+1)
Charm: 6 points
Luck: 1 point
The increase in his Spirit attribute was the result of training through his Spiritual Pressure cultivation method. And although he had allocated one more point to Agility, his Strength still exceeded it thanks to the Brute title’s bonus.
He had chosen to invest more in Constitution because of the [Secret Technique: Demon God] he had created. Once activated, it could massively boost his Strength and Agility. In his previous fight against Shen Wulong, his Constitution had been insufficient, so the secret technique had failed to display its full power.
[Secret Technique: Demon God] combined the abilities of [Possessing Spirit], [Fallen Demon], and Ghost ([Removal]). At its core, it dramatically unleashed the human body’s potential. If Raian used this skill, he would not display much more power than he did with his original Removal.
After all, Raian had limits as a human. When he used Removal normally, he was already fully unleashing his potential.
But Luke was different. He possessed the talent of Limiter Release. Honestly, even he could not say where the ceiling of his potential truly lay.
He only vaguely felt that as long as his Constitution could withstand it without breaking down, he could seemingly unleash his potential without limit.
Of course, as a martial artist, he would not always plan to settle fights by relying on a burst-state skill. His normal attributes were equally important, so he would not abandon Strength and Agility just to stack Constitution.
For now, his attribute balance was fairly even. In his normal state, he had both durability and damage. When facing a powerful enemy, activating Demon God could even push his Strength and Agility past the current limit for a first-rank Explorer, exceeding 30 points.
His battle against Shen Wulong had proven one thing: powerful mechanics could make someone invincible against those at the same rank, but powerful stats were just as important in a fight to the death.
He admitted that Shen Wulong surpassed him in specialization abilities and combat technique. But the one who had survived was him—not Shen Wulong.
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