Gusion wasn't sure what kind of mechanism this was. Although this outward-firing skill had become a passive, it wasn't the ideal state he'd envisioned—the kind that would coil around his body and let him fire endlessly.
Instead, it had turned into a passive that could be toggled on or off, just like most passives. The moment he activated the Red Flame Cannon kiddo spell passive, he could manually release it once.
This was different from the unlimited Red Flame Cannon state he'd originally imagined, and the passive's activation switch had a 2-second cooldown, which left Gusion somewhat dissatisfied.
He'd guessed this was likely because the Origin Spirit Seed's growth level was insufficient. That theory was now confirmed: as soon as he slotted the Red Flame Cannon, its cooldown dropped to 1 second.
If the Origin Spirit Seed could continue to sprout and grow, perhaps the skill's cooldown would eventually disappear and merge with his body, becoming the true passive he desired.
Of course, Gusion was only doing comparison experiments. In actual combat, he didn't intend to slot the Red Flame Cannon; instead, he'd choose one of his high-consumption kido spells that would normally drain him with a single use—such as the defensive bakudō #1 "Splitting Void".
Depending on the battlefield, Gusion might also choose to slot a Kaido. He'd tested before, and guessed that because Kaido was meant for self-repair, it could be perfectly converted into a passive ability.
When Kaido was slotted, it became a passive akin to rapid regeneration, which was very useful in tough battles.
However, Gusion previously only had a single slot, which he prioritized for Armament Haki. After all, Armament Haki provided both offense and defense, and with its high defense, he usually didn't suffer serious injuries.
"Not enough slots..."
Gusion muttered to himself, feeling more and more that the Origin Spirit Seed didn't provide enough slots—so many good skills, and he wanted to cram them all in.
Unfortunately, there were only two slots for now, and the cooldown for swapping skills was very long, making it impossible to switch freely in combat. Most of the time, he had to use the abilities he'd allocated in advance.
At this moment, Gusion was sitting on his bed catching up on anime. He naturally used the breathing technique he'd learned from Demon Slayer while simultaneously cultivating with his spiritual pressure training method. He had no choice—he'd just used Red Flame Cannon to test cooldown changes, so he'd have to wait until tomorrow to use the spiritual pressure training method.
…
The next morning, Gusion finished his all-night anime marathon. Because spiritual pressure training was also a kind of meditation, he didn't feel particularly tired.
[The items you consigned as a Pioneer have been successfully sold. Please collect your End Coins from your mailbox.]
He hadn't even eaten breakfast yet when Gusion received a prompt from End Space.
He checked his mailbox—all the items he'd listed had sold. He'd refused a few haggling emails, so everything had sold at the original price.
That netted him another 63,000 End Coins, making him flush with cash again. Counting his previous savings, he now had over 140,000 End Coins.
After washing up, Gusion sent a request to End Space.
[End Space, please enhance my Armament Haki.]
His Armament Haki was currently level 12; upgrading to level 13 required 2,800 End Coins and 5 Small Inheritance Crystals, and each subsequent upgrade cost 400 more End Coins per level.
He upgraded three times in a row, spending a total of 9,600 End Coins and using up all his Small Inheritance Crystals.
After reaching level 15, Gusion felt Armament Haki had hit another limit. When he asked the End Space, he learned that further upgrades would require Medium Inheritance Crystals instead.
He could clearly sense that his Armament Haki had reached its limit in its current domain—without a qualitative breakthrough, its power wouldn't increase any further.
He tried to deduce and mimic Ryuo as he'd seen in the Wano Arc but failed. Maybe it was because there's a difference between anime and reality; without seeing how the power worked firsthand, it was hard to break through just by imagination and imitation.
Still, Gusion didn't give up—he felt he was close to the trick. Regular practice wouldn't go to waste; once he broke through, his Armament Haki would level up rapidly.
Having upgraded such an important passive skill for battle, Gusion turned off the TV and went to browse the trading market.
Maybe his luck stat had increased, because he quickly found something that suited him.
The first item was a pair of boots—footwear equipment. The vendor was probably from an adventure group offloading goods; their stall had all kinds of stuff.
[Cloud-Step Boots]
Origin: Native World #339185
Rarity: Legendary
Equipment Type: Footwear
Durability: 200/200
Toughness: 39
Requirements: 35 Agility, 35 Spirit
Details: Crafted by legendary artisan Miersis, made from cloud silkworm thread and floating cotton. While worn, the covered parts gain strong physical and magical resistance.
Skill 1: Riding the Wind (Passive): Reduces air resistance by 50% while moving.
Skill 2: Treading on Clouds (Passive): Reduces gravity's effect by 80%. This passive can be toggled at any time, with no cooldown.
Skill 3: Piercing Clouds (Active): Consumes some soul energy, allowing the Pioneer to blink instantly within 50 meters of their line of sight. Cooldown: 60 minutes.
Rating: 330
Evaluation: Ride the wind, walk upon the clouds.
[]
End Space's evaluation was unusually serious, but that wasn't what attracted Gusion. He simply thought the boots' abilities suited a solo player like him.
The overall rating wasn't high for Legendary gear, and many explorers might not need such functionality—but Gusion could make use of all three skills.
First, because he'd mastered advanced Shunpo and Thunder Breathing, his full-speed bursts were extremely fast. This created problems: the faster he went, the greater the air resistance, which limited his speed and drained stamina faster.
So Riding the Wind was a top-tier passive for him. In fact, anyone with high speed would love it, but among second-tier explorers, few had his level of speed.
The second skill, Treading on Clouds, was also mostly useless to others. Reducing gravity wouldn't let them float; at best, it'd slow falls and reduce impact. But for Gusion, it was different.
In the Bleach world, Shunpo allowed stepping on air, but only by creating spirit particle footholds.
With his current spiritual pressure, that was taxing, so most Shinigami ran on the ground; only officers or above could step on air in battle.
With the Cloud-Step Boots, he'd need only a little soul energy to create footholds, letting him achieve step in the air—essentially, he'd gain a semi-flight ability.
Gaining the ability to step in the air was a huge tactical advantage.
As for the last skill, Piercing Clouds, that was even more precious—a blink with a long cooldown, but a single blink at a critical moment could save his life or win a battle.
All in all, this was an excellent piece of gear for regular second-tier explorers, so the vendor asked for a steep price: 70,000 End Coins.
"Fifty thousand. I'll take it."
Gusion tried to haggle. According to the market, a Legendary piece was worth 30,000–100,000; boots weren't a main weapon, so it was a bit pricey.
"No way. That's my lowest price."
The vendor shook his head.
"Piercing Clouds is a strong skill, but this is just footwear. Its overall value isn't that high, and not many people can afford Legendary gear. How long have you been trying to sell it?"
Gusion explained and then countered. He'd observed the market; Legendary Gear was elite among second-tier explorers, but few could use it.
The last time he'd seen Snow Wind, the second-ranked in the second-tier arena, she was a guild leader with a full set of Legendary gear. Ordinary explorers couldn't afford it.
Seventy thousand could buy a good main weapon. Big adventure groups would prefer shields or spell over boots.
This kind of gear only appealed to two types: wealthy guild leaders or powerful soloists like Gusion.
There weren't many such buyers, and each had different needs—so the chance of selling these boots at a high price was slim.
Sure enough, the vendor looked uncomfortable. "Fifty thousand isn't enough."
He was in charge of sales for the Mammoth Adventure Group. They wanted to sell the boots for cash to buy a new shield for their main tank. He knew Gusion's point was valid; he'd been trying to sell for a week, and few showed interest—even fewer after hearing the price.
"Fifty-five thousand. That's my final offer."
Gusion said plainly.
The vendor hesitated. Their group was about to enter a new world in a week—they couldn't keep holding onto inventory.
"One moment."
He turned away, seemingly to consult with his team. After a while, a giant over two meters tall strode over. The vendor stood up respectfully. "Leader."
The big man was bare-chested, draped in animal hide, with a hearty smile. He looked at Gusion. "How about this? Join our group, and the boots are yours."
Gusion was briefly stunned but shook his head. "I'm not planning to join a group for now."
Offering a Legendary piece to recruit him showed real sincerity. But as a Pioneer, Gusion had personal quests he couldn't share with teammates; he wasn't suited for team actions.
If he ever needed a group, he'd make his own, just to get the group skills.
"Haha, I guessed right—you're a lone wolf."
The big man wasn't upset, just laughed. "No problem, let's be friends. Fifty-five thousand, Little Wolf, go ahead with the deal."
The vendor picked up the boots and traded with Gusion, who paid without further haggling.
"I'm Titan. What should I call you, friend?"
"Mazuko," Gusion replied with his End Space nickname—few used their real names here.
He was about to leave, but Titan stopped him, making him a bit puzzled.
"Mazuko, you seem like a strong soloist. Are you interested in a ranged weapon?"
Titan explained.