Chapter 15: Many new things

After that, they trained for several more days.

"Alright, I think this is enough. Our abilities had risen significantly — we were able to defeat all the creatures with minimal scratches for many consecutive weeks. Having fun and taking a break won't be a bad thing, right, Cyre?" said Nova.

"Really?" Cyre responded excitedly. She stopped jumping around with her monkey tail and slid down from the tree using her claws.

"Yeah. I'll make another guitar for you. What do you think about one shaped like a cute dinosaur?"

Cyre nodded, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

…

Nova had acquired nearly all the skills he desired, including a unique inner skill. Skills he considered suitable for all kinds of situations—something that could assist in daily life, yet be powerful enough to defeat even a boss-level alien.

The skills he chose to meet all of those criteria were fire, wind, special alien oil, and armor creation. He could only acquire four, because undergoing surgery was impossible at the moment. As for the equipment, he opted for legs that allowed him to walk on walls, and sometimes used legs that could lay trap bombs with each of its step. He mainly relied on the trap legs for a peaceful sleep.

There was a reason why he chose only a small number of equipment. First, he understood that the output and attack power of skills could surpass that of equipment. In many ways, skills were better than equipment. Aside from the weight that slowed down the user, equipment also required specific requirements and energy to achieve a similar output to skills.

For a middle-tier fighter with a long way to go before reaching the level of a Severer, Nova’s energy capacity was still too small. Using four skills and one piece of equipment was his current limit.

As for the equipment, it needed to evolve to a certain extent before it could absorb energy and produce higher attack output. If forced to absorb too much energy, the equipment risked breaking.

Thus, equipment would only be useful once it had evolved to some extent and the user's energy capacity was vast enough. For now, Nova could only use limited equipment.

In addition to all the reasons mentioned earlier, there were other reasons why Nova chose these four skills and one piece of equipment.

Normally, people would choose stronger skills, not common ones like water and fire. However, after Nova realized that stronger skills required massive energy costs, he built a skill set designed to enhance the power of other skills. This way, even with smaller costs, he could achieve attack power similar to that of the stronger skills.

A simple example would be a spreading fire solidifying into a thin, high-powered, sharp sword form, or fire combined with wind to create a stronger attack. Even when using two skills, the cost was much smaller, but the attack power was on par with that of stronger skills.

If Nova had chosen higher-cost skills, he would have been limited to using only two or three skills at most. With just two skills, Nova wouldn’t be able to build a synergistic skill set suitable for all kinds of situations, yet powerful enough to defeat even a boss-level alien. However, with smaller energy costs, even while using four skills and one piece of equipment, he still had some leeway to spare. Thus, he could even add another skill to further enhance his power.

With five skills in total, including his equipment, Nova also gained a special inner skill.

This special skill allowed him to generate a spherical field of energy that could be emitted from any part of his body. While it required training to master, being able to release it from anywhere—rather than just his hands—made it far more versatile and useful. The effect of the skill was to slow down anything that passed through the energy sphere. When Nova released the skill, the momentum of anything caught within it would be preserved and then resume its previous movement. Nova could release his skill at any time he wanted.

Nova’s body glowed orange when he acquired the skill, but he didn’t understand why it was considered a highest-grade skill. When he tested it on Cyre, she was able to break the sphere easily with her energy. It seemed to only work on things with weaker energy.

The only useful aspect of the skill was that it required almost no energy to use. But with how easily it could be broken, the skill felt practically useless.

Nova had the idea to compress his energy into the sphere day by day, then release it all at once to unleash an attack with extremely high power. However, this method could only be used once in a while, and if he missed, all that effort would be wasted. It didn’t feel like something worthy of being called an orange-grade skill.

…

Just as Nova had promised, they were resting—choosing a peaceful spot to play and have a picnic. They settled under a starry night sky beside a vast lake, where massive lotus plants floated gently on the surface. As always, before relaxing, Nova set explosion traps around the area to ensure their safety and enjoy some peace of mind.

Standing atop a massive lotus leaf, Nova pulled out cooking utensils and a few mugs from his bag. He and Cyre wanted to pick mugs that matched the starry night atmosphere, so he took out all the mugs they had managed to save, thanks to some spare space inside the bag.

One of the mugs had shining text on it. It was the mug that Nova had previously used to test his skill. He had chosen the wrong skill, that could illuminate the surroundings, but somehow he realized the light could be etched into something. So, he tried it on the mug.

The problem was that, despite having switched to a different skill by now, the mug still glowed. It seemed some skills could persist, even after they were no longer in use.

Nova then realized, recalling the moment when he changed his skills, that the amount of energy absorbed from the illuminating light was much smaller compared to other skills. It depended on whether the skill was an attack or a support skill. Support skills, like light that illuminates the surroundings, would provide only a small amount of energy, while attack skills like fire or wind would provide a massive amount of energy.

Nova started cooking after deciding which cup to use. He chose the shining cup for himself, which had the words "I am... Cool?" written on it, while Cyre got the mug with the rabbit picture.

The scent of Nova’s cooking attracted Cyre, who was playing on top of the lotus flower.

“You done, brother?” asked Cyre, peeking from behind the pink flower petals.

“I’m just starting,” replied Nova.

“Hey, big bro, show me how you combine those synergistic skills of yours! You said you can combine them in a cool way, so show me! I want to be able to do it too,” said Cyre, plucking the petals of the big lotus flower. She muttered as she plucked, “He will show me… He will not… He will show me…”

“I already showed you how I combine fire and wind, right?” replied Nova.

“No, you’re lying. There’s no way it was something so simple as that,” said Cyre, throwing a petal toward Nova.

“No, it’s too dangerous for you. Once I know you’re ready, I’ll teach you. I won’t show you now, since you lied and trained by yourself before. You even hurt your body until blood trickled from your mouth. Unlike before, which could heal with regenerative ability, this method of using skills can even cause an entire arm to explode if you’re not careful, or cut your hand in two. So, I won’t show you,” explained Nova.

Cyre hid her face behind the petals, her face drenched in sweat.

Meanwhile, Nova continued his cooking. He lit the wood beneath the wok with his fire skill. Then, using the oil from his skill, he fried the creature’s meat. While cooking, with his armor creation, he covered his hands so they wouldn’t get burned when touching the hot wok.

He then moved the food to the spot he had prepared. He had planned to use the telekinesis tool he usually relied on to lazily move things around, but it had gone missing. So instead, he attempted to use his own energy. He materialized his energy outside his body and tried to grab the plates and mugs with it. Somehow, he succeeded. Then, using his wind skill, he adjusted the food’s temperature to be just right for eating.

They enjoyed the night and ate to their hearts' content, talking and joking about whatever they wanted. Beneath the lotus leaves, fish-like creatures swam closer—only to explode, scattering flesh and blood around. Fireworks bloomed randomly under the water, brightening the surroundings of their serene picnic night.

….

Afterward, they found themselves in a pinch. They were on unstable ground that began to collapse, revealing magma below. It seemed they had gotten unlucky and ended up walking on top of a cavern inside a fire mountain.

It was here that they met a man who, due to Nova and Cyre’s actions, would later become known as the "Burst Brawler."

To make a long story short—because of the falling ground and the need to save others who were injured—Nova ended up carrying three people, his arms completely full. Cyre had one person slung over her back and another cradled in her arms.

With the ground collapsing beneath them, they had to move fast. Cyre enhanced her physical abilities multiple times by stacking skills through her unique ability. Meanwhile, Nova used his synergistic skills for the first time in this critical moment.

Using his armor creation skill, Nova crafted a nozzle on his foot. He channeled his oil skill into it, then ignited it with his fire skill. The specific oil he had chosen had an extremely high explosion rate when combined with fire. The result was a powerful propulsion that launched Nova forward at a speed matching Cyre’s—around sixty kilometers per hour.

But it was a different story for the man they had just met. He was carrying three people, yet he told Nova and Cyre that he didn’t have the same kind of mobility as them. It’s not like he was weak—his normal punches could scatter a creature’s flesh in one hit, unlike Nova and Cyre, who had to put their all into a single slash to kill. He just hadn’t built his skill set for high mobility.

Thus, with limited options and little time, Nova suggested he take the alien skill available in this stage—one that triggered an explosion whenever the user's blood came into contact with air. That meant he had to injure himself to activate the skill, and then even use explosion to propel himself forward.

As the collapsing ground drew closer and the lives of the four people hung in the balance, Nova made a desperate choice. Worried for their survival, he forcefully injected the alien blood into the man. Then, without waiting, Nova left him behind—intentionally creating pressure to push him into action. But he made sure to reduce his burden, asking Cyre to take one person off the guy’s hands.

Now, the guy had only two choices. He could run, leaving the two behind and saving only himself... or he could blow himself up, sacrificing his own safety to save them.

The guy decided to blow himself up and was badly injured in the process. He kept exploding himself whenever the falling ground caught up to him, then kept running the rest of the time.

They moved together until they reached the stairs. Blood trickled from his entire body. When they reached the next stage, he collapsed.

Nova and Cyre took care of him for a while until he healed. Afterward, the man decided to separate from them. According to the man, it seemed that he had his own goal.

…

In the next stage, they received an unexpected surprise. It was a small, white room, only fifty square meters in size. In the middle was a lectern with a screen in front of it.

On the screen was an explanation. The alien said that people had to decide now and choose their role. It was better to understand what suited them early and find the role that matched them during the process of fighting. Through fighting, people could learn what they were best at—and what they struggled with. However, it was important to remember that this was just guidance for future growth, after the ten Severers had already been chosen.

After saying all of that, the screen displayed information about alien evolution and jobs. At first, they weren’t sure if the screen was touchable. But Cyre went ahead and tapped it. A list of alien transformations appeared, each with a picture and explanation.

"Wait, aren't there too few?" said Cyre, swiping the screen. Another page appeared. "Yes, this is what was supposed to happen." Cyre swiped back the screen.

“Wow, look at this, Cyre—a dragon-like alien really exists!” said Nova excitedly. He pointed at a reptile-like alien with wings, a tail, and horns.

“How about this one?” Cyre pointed at a tentacle monster.

"Haha, we’d have hundreds of pieces of equipment to use if we choose that one," replied Nova.

"Let’s check the job part first," said Cyre, tapping the X button at the top right of the screen."

They were presented with a tree diagram, with only one column clearly visible while the others were blurred out. The column listed jobs such as biologist, botanist, chemist, engineer, warrior, blacksmith, and more. Then, whether by luck or misfortune, the screen glitched, revealing a glimpse of the cleared blurred words at the far end of the tree diagram. Nova and Cyre caught sight of some advanced jobs from it: breeder, alchemist, synthesizer, origin alter, star… and more.

“What the… breeder?” Nova and Cyre said simultaneously.

"It’s in a tamer-like sense, right? Or …" Nova trailed off mid-sentence.

"Or an alien farmer? In the sense of a livestock farmer, right?" added Cyre, finishing Nova's thought.

They then exchanged a quick glance at each other.