BXBX NOVEL Chapter 85: The First Gold-Quality Skill
[Effect: After activating this skill, it gathers stellar power to unleash a highly powerful piercing strike, ignoring 80% of the opponent\'s defense.]
"Holy crap! There\'s a plus sign!!"
Doesn\'t this mean his first gold-quality skill is about to be born?
At first, Sterl didn\'t react when he saw the panel for Star Point Finger. But then he realized with excitement that the potential of this skill, inherited from the Star Race, was so high that it could be upgraded all the way to gold quality!
In an instant, Sterl was overwhelmed with excitement.
He didn\'t know much about gold-quality skills before. He simply thought they were just one level higher than purple. But after many adventures and from bits and pieces he heard, he came to know that gold-quality skills and purple-quality skills were on completely different levels! They involved legendary powers!
Such skills required a rare resource known as "Legend Points," which could only be obtained by third-class players at level 130 or above!
This showed just how terrifying gold-quality skills were!
Coincidentally, Sterl had Legend Points—two of them, to be exact. Wasn\'t this a jackpot?!
He hadn\'t been this excited in a long time. He was almost breathless with anticipation…
The last time Sterl was this thrilled was when he first got his cheat ability, looking forward to using points to enhance his talents.
He felt fortunate. Thankfully, he hadn\'t used today\'s points to further boost his arcane skill. Sterl had decided to first max out his proficiency at the current level before adding more points, to better benefit from the enhancements.
Because of this, he upgraded Star Point Finger first. This meant that tomorrow he could wield a gold-quality skill.
To endure the agonizing wait for the gold-quality skill to arrive, Sterl chose to meditate and train his arcane skill. After reaching E-rank, it became harder to improve his Star Soul proficiency. He spent the entire day and only increased his proficiency by about 100 points.
The next day, when Sterl was invited to attend the second banquet of the Divine Mountain Empire, he seemed quite distracted, his mind filled with thoughts of the gold-quality skill…
Sterl kept checking the countdown for his cheat ability.
"When will the points refresh…?"
"Can it be any faster?"
"Um… Mr. David?" Nearby, Faye approached with a plate of desserts in her hands.
Having both wanted to build a good relationship, they were now quite familiar with each other.
In the presence of many people, the socially anxious Faye chose to approach Sterl, finding it less awkward.
In her mental space, Felicia looked on with a gratified expression. All my hard work paid off. The shy kid finally took the initiative!
Seeing a beautiful girl approaching with delight, even the preoccupied Sterl couldn\'t help but smile warmly.
However, before he could say anything, an unexpected change occurred!
At the center of the banquet, near a lavish long table, several princes were in discussion. "Originally, we planned to let the warriors from the other world leave after yesterday\'s banquet."
"But now we have to find excuses to keep them here."
"Where on earth did our elder brother go?"
Beside them stood a massive cabinet made entirely of pure gold, which contained the extra champion reward meant for Sterl—an arcane skill: [Mountain].
However, without the presence of the eldest prince, the other princes couldn\'t open the golden cabinet unless they resorted to forceful methods. They had no choice but to stall for time, waiting for the return of the eldest prince.
While the princes were growing increasingly anxious, the fourth prince suddenly leaped aside with extreme vigilance. He then threw a crystal, creating a shield that protected the golden cabinet holding the arcane skill.
""Who goes there? How dare you!" he roared furiously, while the others present were still clueless about what had provoked him.
The next second, streaks of dark purple marks appeared in the high sky of the consciousness space. It was as if the heavens were weeping, with dark purple rain falling down.
Many players were caught off guard and were hit by the raindrops.
"What is this stuff?!"
"Aargh!!"
"My arm! My skin!"
They screamed in excruciating pain, as if enduring some horrific torture.
"What\'s going on?" Sterl frowned slightly. He couldn\'t dodge the pervasive rain even with his teleportation, so he ignited flames in his hands.
He intended to use the Fire of Mars to evaporate the raindrops around him.
But before Sterl could act, Faye had already summoned a water barrier, shielding him and several other players nearby.
Sterl remained calm outwardly, though he was puzzled inside. As an expert, he couldn\'t just ask questions randomly.
Fortunately, other players started shouting excitedly, "What\'s happening? Isn\'t the consciousness space supposed to be absolutely safe? Who\'s behind this?"
Faye\'s expression shifted. She seemed to enter a strange state, and her tone changed as she spoke, "This appears to be a special ritual that invades the consciousness space. These purple raindrops have altered the rules here."
"Now the consciousness space might be just like other places in [Transcendence]."
"What do you mean, just like other places?" Many players were confused.
Some quick-witted players cried out in horror, "If the consciousness space is like other places…"
"Does that mean we can\'t revive?"
"We could actually die?"
No sooner had they spoken than someone countered, "That\'s impossible! We\'re just using our consciousness to move in the consciousness space. Our physical bodies are still outside. How could dying here mean we actually die?"
However, they didn\'t need others to refute them. Soon, they covered their mouths in terror.
Players, no matter where they were, were using their consciousness to play [Transcendence]!
This was a game world!
"This situation is very similar to the Netherworld Rain mentioned in the ancient texts I once read."
"After the Netherworld Rain is activated, all healing and resurrection effects within a large area become nullified."
"Don\'t have any illusions. If we die now, the [Transcendence] system will instantly destroy our game characters." Faye said calmly.
In an instant, the atmosphere in the room became tense.
The players all looked grim, and even the now-composed Faye felt extremely frustrated!
The Netherworld Rain itself was already disgusting enough, but it was clear that initiating such a ritual came at a great cost.
The person who summoned this rain must be seeking something.
And targeting all the players and NPCs present right from the start clearly meant they had ill intentions!
Sterl furrowed his brows in deep thought, his eyes lingering on the golden cabinet guarded by the princes.
He recalled seeing the description of the [Mountain] arcane skill in the contribution shop. It mentioned that several countries had once gone to war with the Divine Mountain Empire for this arcane skill.
And now, for some reason, the Divine Mountain Empire had chosen to bring out [Mountain] when recruiting these otherworldly players.
So, it seemed quite normal for some trouble to arise.
The only question was… the Divine Mountain Empire should be well aware of the allure of [Mountain]. To prevent any leaks, they even used the highly secure consciousness space.
Why hadn\'t they been attacked yet? Could there be a traitor?
Of course, it was also possible that this attack had nothing to do with the [Mountain] arcane skill.
Sterl, without any mental pressure, casually speculated.
At that moment, as the dark purple raindrops continued to fall, a spatial rift opened. Several figures slowly emerged.
Leading them was a middle-aged man in dark purple heavy armor, wielding a long spear, with a stern expression. Upon his appearance, most of the players were still confused.
But many of the NPCs present, especially the princes, looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"Constantine, what are you doing here?"
"Are you insane??"
"This is an act of provocation from the Atlantic Empire towards our Divine Mountain Empire. Can I consider this a declaration of war?!" The fourth prince, who held two powerful experts, once again took the lead, stepping forward and shouting excitedly.
However, his face was flushed, and sweat dripped continuously, indicating that while he appeared imposing, he was actually terrified.
Constantine was a recently risen young general of the Atlantic Empire, with third-class strength and immense power! According to legend, he had successfully learned an arcane skill and was preparing to break into the legendary realm.
It\'s worth mentioning that the rules for NPCs to increase their strength were similar to those for players. For instance, to reach the legendary level, they also needed the combination of a gold-quality skill, an arcane skill, and legend points.
However, NPCs couldn\'t grind for levels by killing monsters. Instead, they could gain substantial experience by participating in significant events, which they could then refine through meditation to level up.
Additionally, NPCs had an extra enhancement system—[Fortune]!