[Forging will consume a small amount of mana and is irreversible.]
"Confirm."
Without a sound, Ethan felt the three glowing orbs representing the talents being plucked from his consciousness and drawn into an invisible forge.
A strange sense of emptiness flashed through his mind, quickly replaced by a faint, warm tingling sensation.
[Forging Successful!]
[New Talent Obtained: Resilient Aura (B-rank)]
[Resilient Aura (B-rank): Reduce all incoming damage by 100 points. When you cast a spell, there is a 20% chance to gain a shield that absorbs (100 + Spell Power × 50%) damage for 300 seconds.]
Ethan frowned slightly.
Fusing three talents—including a B-rank one—only to get another B-rank talent.
It seemed quantity couldn't make up for quality.
Besides, he already had several defensive talents; this one was just average at best.
Refusing to give up, he turned his attention to the remaining three talents:
Gale Blade Barrage (A-rank), Frenzy (B-rank), and Weakness Mark (B-rank).
One A-rank plus two B-ranks—surely this would yield something good!
"Forge!"
His consciousness stirred again, and this time, the mental energy required was noticeably higher than before.
The three talent orbs glowed brighter than the previous set, emitting a faint hum as they were fed into the invisible forge.
Moments later, a brilliant blue light flared to life in his mind.
[Forging Successful!]
[New Talent Obtained: Hunter's Gaze (A-rank)]
[Hunter's Gaze (A-rank): Your attacks mark the target, increasing all damage they take by 20% (this effect stacks with other damage-increasing effects and lasts for 10 seconds). Your third attack against a marked target will transform into an unavoidable Hunter's Strike, dealing (Attack Power × 250%) True Damage.]
Ethan's eyes lit up with excitement.
This talent was far more valuable than the previous three combined!
Damage amplification, true damage, target locking—all with an extremely high damage multiplier.
It was a perfect fit for his current high stats!
It essentially took the best parts of Weakness Mark and Gale Blade Barrage and merged them into one powerful, reliable ability. It turned Weakness Mark's unreliable proc chance into a guaranteed buff and optimized Gale Blade Barrage's trigger condition into something far more controllable and potent.
As for Frenzy? It was probably just filler material.
"Not bad—this forging result is more than satisfactory."
Ethan nodded in approval.
Fusing six talents had netted him two new ones, and Hunter's Gaze, in particular, had enormous combat potential.
The remaining talents he had, while some were low-ranked, were all relatively useful.
Take Mana Efficiency (E-rank), for example: Reduce spell mana cost by 1 point.
It might seem trivial, but that 1-point reduction, combined with his Grace talent, allowed him to cast spells completely for free.
Without this talent, he would never have dared to spam his skills so recklessly.
With the talent forging done, Ethan's attention shifted back to the Coin of the Lord of Flesh's Favor.
Effect 3 still nagged at him like a thorn in his side.
His Grace talent needed Demon God's Power to level up, and encountering Demon God events meant walking a fine line between risk and reward.
"Can be activated by infusing it with Demon God's Power…"
Ethan muttered to himself.
"Do I still have any residual Demon God's Power left in me?"
He glanced at the progress bar of his Grace talent:
[Grace (Current Progress: 69%)]
"I wonder if I can reverse the progress bar to extract the Demon God's Power stored in it?"
Ethan experimented for a while, but he couldn't find a way to siphon the power from the progress bar.
"Forget it—I'll have to find another way."
He continued to rack his brain, thinking of places where Demon God's Power might linger.
"Ancheng?"
Major Frostburn had mentioned that a Demon God Apostle had appeared there twenty years ago, leaving large swathes of the original city as forbidden zones.
Surely those forbidden zones would still be saturated with residual Demon God's Power?
But the power level involved in Ancheng was far too high.
The original Apostle had been a Seventh-Tier powerhouse.
Even if the residual energy had weakened over time, it was still way beyond what he—an unranked nobody—could handle.
He would need to be at least Fifth-Tier to even consider setting foot there.
Ethan shook his head, putting the thought aside for now.
Exhaustion finally caught up with him, and he drifted off to sleep.
The next day.
A soft knock sounded on his door.
"Mr. Ethan, are you awake? Major Frostburn requests your presence at the command center again."
A soldier's voice came from outside.
Ethan tidied his appearance and followed the soldier back to the command center.
Pushing the door open, he noticed that the atmosphere in the conference room was even more solemn than the day before.
Major Kris was still present, but he was sitting slightly further down the table.
In the seat of honor sat a middle-aged man with the rank of Major General on his shoulders.
He had a stern, resolute face and sharp, piercing eyes. Even just sitting there, he exuded the imposing aura and iron will of a man who had held power for a long time.
The faint energy fluctuations emanating from his body pressed down on Ethan like an invisible weight.
This general's strength was unfathomable.
"Mr. Ethan, please have a seat."
Major Kris gestured to a chair.
"This is Major General Zhao Qiming, from the Eastern Theater Command Headquarters."
Ethan sat down, his posture neither servile nor overbearing. "General Zhao, Major Frostburn."
Major General Zhao Qiming's gaze landed on Ethan, sharp with scrutiny yet tinged with a hint of undisguised appreciation.
He cut straight to the chase:
"Mr. Ethan, Major Frostburn has already given me a detailed report on your situation."
"The merit your team has earned is extraordinary. Destroying a potential Demonic God Organ is a feat of immense significance, and the military will not let such distinguished service go unrewarded."
He paused for a moment, his voice steady and powerful:
"In recognition of your decisive role in this incident, we have prepared two reward options for you to choose from."