The attack on Gaius Trak sent a seismic tremor through the Lower Sector. The Obsidian Shield was not just powerful; they were vindictive. Gaius's pride had been wounded, and the fact that a seemingly worthless "Novice" had managed to get close and escape was deemed an unacceptable insult to his Apex-Tier status.
Viktor, however, was already deep in strategic concealment.
He didn't return to his and Elara's apartment for three days, using the time to consolidate his new power. He stayed in a forgotten maintenance sub-level beneath an abandoned railway station—a place so structurally unsound and polluted with latent radiation that no high-level cultivator would ever bother to check it.
The Special-Tier Engine
The sensation of the Aether Well talent was exhilarating. It felt less like a pool of energy and more like a miniature sun core, constantly pulling in and compressing ambient mana.
His old Novice Cultivation Talent had been like trying to fill a bucket with a leaky eye-dropper. The Aether Well was a siphon hose attached to an endless ocean.
Cultivation Time Check:
With the Novice Talent, advancing from Stage 1 to Stage 2 Warrior would have taken Viktor three to five months of dedicated cultivation.
With the Aether Well, Viktor achieved Stage 2 Warrior in the first twenty hours.
He deliberately kept his advancement slow enough to manage the internal pressure but fast enough to capitalize on the secret.
Day 1 of Concealment (Elapsed Cultivation):
Viktor closed his eyes and pushed his energy. The influx was massive. The bottleneck was his physical body, which was still Stage 1 and threatened to tear under the pressure of the accelerated mana absorption.
He leveraged the Top-Tier Healing Factor. The painful micro-tears and internal bruising caused by the rapid cultivation were instantly repaired, allowing him to push harder and faster than any normal cultivator could ever dream. The two passive talents worked in tandem: one providing limitless energy acquisition, the other providing limitless physical repair.
Result: Broke through to Stage 3 Warrior.
Day 3 of Concealment:
He returned to the apartment, looking exhausted but unharmed, maintaining the narrative that he was simply lying low after a difficult "job."
"They're looking for someone fast," Elara said, her eyes wide with worry as she watched the evening news projections—Gaius Trak's face dominating the screen, offering a reward for information on the "Novice scum."
"Let them look," Viktor said, his voice quiet. He knew they were searching for a Stage 1 Novice, reckless and lucky. They weren't looking for a secret Stage 5 Warrior currently cultivating with Special-Tier efficiency.
Maintaining the Façade
Viktor resumed his normal life, but with a crucial difference.
Work: He continued working his dead-end shifts at the processing plant, maintaining his public energy signature at the bare minimum of a struggling Stage 1 Warrior. He used a subtle technique, learned from his network scraping, to slightly dampen his released energy, making him appear even weaker.
Training: His intensive training moved to the deepest hours of the night. While Elara slept, Viktor would lock himself in the small closet, enter a deep meditative state, and furiously cultivate. The closet's thin walls and the loud city noise masked the minimal energy sounds of his cultivation.
Every three to four nights, his internal mana reached a saturation point, and he achieved another breakthrough.
Week 2 (9 Days After Replication):
Result: Broke through to Stage 6 Warrior.
The difference between Stage 1 and Stage 6 was staggering. He could now move faster than sound over short distances, and a simple punch could shatter reinforced concrete. He had surpassed Lyra and was rapidly approaching Gaius Trak's previous Stage 8 level, all in under two weeks.
Week 3 (16 Days After Replication):
Result: Broke through to Stage 8 Warrior.
He was now the equivalent of Gaius Trak, but possessing two far superior passive talents. He was a Stage 8 Warrior who could cultivate like a Special-Tier prodigy and heal like a Top-Tier immortal.
He was still wearing the mask of the weakling, but the pressure was building. He needed to prepare for the inevitable. The next major realm, Epic-Warrior, required more than just Mana saturation; it required a fundamental shift in perception and a deep understanding of combat energy flow.
This meant he needed a high-level Martial Skill.
His current Shadow Form was useless for serious combat. He needed something lethal, overwhelming, and utterly devastating.
He reviewed his plans for the next replication.
Target for Day 30:Cassian Reye, a notorious bounty hunter, known for his overwhelming and excessively bloody fighting style.
Public Talent:Apex-Tier Blood Rage (Increases strength and speed exponentially based on blood loss).
Hidden Talent (The Goal):Epic-Tier Martial Skill: Phantom Blade Barrage. (A lightning-fast, multi-strike attack skill that was so devastating it was banned by several local guilds.)
Acquiring an Epic-Tier skill would be the final piece of the puzzle to secure his dominance in the Warrior realm and propel him into the Epic-Warrior realm with an overwhelming victory record.
He stared at the calendar. 14 Days Remaining until his next Replication window.
"Gaius Trak," Viktor thought, running his newly strengthened fingers over the desk. "You were the first building block. Now it's time to start constructing the weapon."