Chapter 12: Inner skills

The first piece of information was about how to gain skills by using one's own body. Since the method differed from how Nova created the weapon, he concluded that it was a way to acquire an inner skill without the use of equipment. It also detailed how to use the newly gained skills, including how to control the energy within one’s body.

The other information was about a reset stone, which could be used to reset the difficulty and return to the starting point. Additionally, it described a type of stone that stored a massive quantity and high quality of energy.

It was also written about the logic behind how people could use skills. In short, most DNA is located in the cell nucleus of humans. The nucleus controlled and regulated the cell's activities, including growth, metabolism, and reproduction. The black creature inside was spreading another cell nucleus throughout the human body, one that could function differently from the original. Over time, it would even transform the original cell nucleus, adding functions to control energy, use skills, and much more.

For now, Nova focused on this information. He left the other details for later, as they required real action to achieve a maximum effect.

After reading the paper, Nova had an idea to leave a message right after the arrival portal, the portal where people first enter the next stage, to help those who would follow. From the thugs' note, it seemed that the person who shared the information only communicated it person to person. This person only offered general details rather than specifics, such as creature skills, the environment, how to defeat them, their weaknesses, and effective weapons to defeat them. People would have a hard time fighting the creatures, especially for the first time. So, Nova believed that leaving a message would help reduce the deaths caused by unexpected attacks from the creatures. As for whether anyone would read his message, Nova felt confident that it would be useful for those coming behind, given how quickly he'd moved through the stages himself. He also planned to use the reset stone to search for his family.

After Nova had fully recovered, he assessed his current situation. In his hand, he only had the head weapon. With only it, it would be difficult to fight the new alien creatures, especially since they could easily block Cyre’s attack.

This was exactly why Nova had hidden some information from the thugs. While he couldn’t conceal too much, as he knew it would affect his chances of survival, he had managed to keep a few things back. As a result, he had even received a sheet of paper from the leader.

Thus, Nova and Cyre began searching for the hidden information—the amoeba shield—hoping it hadn’t been placed inside the bag. It needed a few minutes before they could find the shield that could camouflage itself with the surroundings. The very shield that had caused them trouble before, and still did, would now become their lifeline.

…

Afterward, Nova tried to gain a skill from the ball creature’s remains, but failed—and so did Cyre.

They followed the instructions written on the paper note. It listed five methods for acquiring inner skills: injecting a creature’s blood, drinking a special liquid extracted from the creature (not its blood), inhaling a unique gas in certain stages, bathing one's own skin in the creature’s blood, and organ replacement through surgery. For now, a person could only acquire up to five inner skills. However, there was a chance—if lucky—to gain an additional special inner skill from any of the five methods. Sometimes, a person could receive a special inner skill just from their first interaction with the black eel-like creature.

This time, their only choice was to bathe in the creature’s blood. But they didn’t gain any skills. From the note, it seemed that some creatures were not compatible with certain people. In this case, the reset stone would be useful. They could return to an earlier stage and search for creatures that were compatible with them.

There was also a possibility that their failure was due to only trying the blood bath method. Unfortunately, they had no tools to attempt the other methods for now.

It was the same case when Nova had tried to create a weapon from the ball creature. He didn’t have the tools to craft one. The material was too flexible to be held properly. Previously, with the stretched-arm creature, he had been able to sharpen its wrinkled arm using his knife—but now, he had nothing.

For now, they had to fight with only the head weapon and the shield.

Thus, they explored the cavern cautiously, having decided to move on. Their goal was to find the stairs and reach the next stage as quickly as possible, hoping the next creature would provide them with a skill or weapon that didn’t require tools to craft.

…

After half an hour of exploration, they encountered another ball creature. This time, Nova didn’t let Cyre fight. He held the shield in one hand and the head weapon in the other. Leaping forward, he kept the camouflaged shield in front.

Since the shield only camouflaged what was behind it and wasn’t transparent, Nova left a small gap for his eyes to see through.

Bashing one incoming spike attack to the side, Nova kept advancing.

Another strike came, and he sidestepped it.

A surprise attack suddenly aimed for his head—he quickly tilted it, narrowly avoiding the blow. This time, Nova evaded smoothly. He had anticipated the possibility of surprise attacks based on his past experiences.

Nova likely received an extra spike attack because, to the creature, he appeared to be holding multiple weapons as he approached its attack range. In comparison, Cyre had only used two stretched arms to get close and strike.

Nova was even prepared for another attack after the surprise strike of three spikes. True to his prediction, another wave of surprise attacks followed. From the one-meter extended spike, a branch shot out, and from it, another spike emerged. Then another branch sprouted from that, followed by yet another spike—this branching happened three times in total.

To dodge them all, Nova used every muscle in his body—twisting, tilting his head, and rolling across the ground—to narrowly evade the three additional surprise attacks.

After successfully evading all the strikes, Nova swung the head weapon forward, its jaws clamping down and tearing into the creature—biting it to death and gouging out its flesh.

…

After this, Nova and Cyre continued exploring and fighting. Now that they knew the creature’s hidden tricks, although it was not easy, but Nova managed to win each fight. Taking breaks between fights, they eventually found the stairs within a day and immediately moved on to the next stage.

In the next stage, their fights were no different from the previous one: analyze the enemy's attack patterns and hidden abilities, then counter them accordingly. They gained their first skill here—from a squirrel-like alien found in the active volcanic mountain. Somehow, they managed to protect themselves from both the sudden lava eruptions and the flaming squirrel’s leaps.

They gained a new fire ability after bathing in the hot blood of the squirrels, protected by their energy. The skill they acquired was similar to the powers of the alien creatures. A white light would shine on the entire body when someone gained a skill. Additionally, massive amounts of energy would flow into the body, being absorbed by the person who gained the skill, thereby enhancing their power and energy capacity. All of this was written in the paper note."

With their newly gained ability, they could launch fireballs or maintain a fire sword, similar to the flame used in welding metal. However, the energy cost was massive. Once the energy was released—like gas escaping from a container—it quickly depleted.

The fire could also be spread over a wider area, though its attack power would decrease, while the energy cost remained just as high. This was completely different from body strengthening, which only consumed a small amount of energy.

After checking his new skill, Nova continued crossing the stages. However, after passing several stages, he realized his energy consumption was inefficient. He needed to rest much longer than he had planned if he wanted to use the skill in combat. Nova then decided to try absorbing the surrounding energy. He hadn’t attempted this before, as he had always felt his energy was full. There had been times when his energy ran out, but back then, with the green insect squirming and flickering inside him, he hadn't had the leeway to try.

It was difficult at first, but after trying multiple techniques that came to his mind, Nova eventually succeeded. By expanding and contracting his energy inside his body—compressing it tightly and then loosening it—he created a suction force through the many pores in his body. The faster the suction, the more painful it became for the user of the technique.

…

On top of a frozen lake, Nova and Cyre walked side by side.

“The battle became really annoying, big brother. We can only use a close range weapon. And the fire skill can only be used for a little time. I want the long arms before.” said Cyre, swinging Nova's hand back and forth.

“No, Cyre. I'll protect you, so you need to practice fighting in close range too. The weapon could break at any time, and just like before, it could be stolen.” said Nova, slipping behind Cyre's back and playing with her short hair.

“Also, I think the key to becoming strong in this strange alien world is by focusing on special skills. Based on the stories from people so far, there’s a leader alien, right? If we ever have to fight them, using other skills and equipment to support and enhance our special abilities would be the best strategy, I think. It’s a special skill they do not possess after all — a skill that differs for each individual. Especially if we can form a group of people whose skills complement and cover each other’s weaknesses—it wouldn’t just add to our power, it would multiply it by leaps and bounds,” said Nova. His hands moved faster as he played with Cyre’s hair.

“But since we’re still in the initial phase right now, we should train ourselves little by little at first. And since the equipment can break or be stolen, we can't rely on it completely. From now on, our main focus will be practicing inner skills only. I will limit it to three skill from now. Since we only have one skill right now, I’ll allow the use of two more pieces of equipment," added Nova, stopping his playful teasing of Cyre’s hair. He was satisfied after turning it into a complete mess.

“Also, I’ve successfully replenished the energy inside my body by absorbing the surrounding energy, Cyre. After I make it easier to use and painless, I’ll teach you how to do it too,” added Nova.

“Hooray! It’ll be fun from now on. I’ll be able to shoot anything, anytime I want, a lot of it!” said Cyre. Her hair was messy.

“Alright, what skill must we choose next?” asked Nova, turning to Cyre.