Chapter 88: SS-Rank Skill: Sigil of Ascendance

The announcement swept through the game world, reaching cities, wilderness outposts, dungeons, and territories where players were still struggling to advance their levels.

For a moment, the message seemed to hang over the entire server.

Then the reactions began.

Last night’s revelation had already shaken the player community.

The discovery that Unrivaled possessed a strength far beyond what anyone had expected had sparked endless arguments, speculation, and frantic attempts to catch up.

Now he had reached Level 40 first and completed his fourth class advancement.

For the players chasing the leaderboard, the announcement was a brutal reminder of the distance between them and the man at the top.

They weren’t merely falling behind.

They were competing on an entirely different level.

Kael paid little attention to the uproar he knew the announcement would cause. His focus remained on the notifications appearing before him, each one carrying information far more valuable than the reactions of strangers.

Level 40 reached.

Class Advancement complete: Beastlord Ascendant.

Attribute growth increased: Free points per level, 80 → 160.

Companion capacity increased: 5 → 6.

Class skill unlocked: Sigil of Ascendance.

New map unlocked: The Astral Spire.

His eyes moved down the list.

The increased attribute growth immediately caught his attention. His free attribute points per level had doubled, rising from 80 to 160.

It was the kind of improvement that would compound with every subsequent level, steadily widening the gap between him and players whose classes offered ordinary progression.

His companion capacity had also increased from five to six.

That meant another potential source of power, another companion whose abilities could contribute to his growing strength.

Given what Lyra had already demonstrated, the value of that additional slot was obvious.

Then there was the newly unlocked map.

The Astral Spire.

Kael committed the name to memory. He would investigate it when the time was right.

For now, another notification demanded his attention.

Primordial Bloodline integration continuing.

Current progress: 31%...

The percentage began climbing.

Kael watched the counter advance, his expression remaining composed even as the numbers continued to rise.

It passed thirty-two percent, then thirty-five, before finally reaching its destination.

Primordial Bloodline integration continuing.

Current progress: 40%.

Skyborn Bloodline has advanced.

A new panel unfolded beneath the message.

Bloodline Effect: Immune to control effects from any skill below SS-rank. Significantly increased resistance to control effects of SS-rank and above.

Kael’s gaze sharpened.

As expected, another class advancement had triggered further progress in his Primordial Bloodline.

Every time he had crossed one of these major thresholds, something new had emerged from the power hidden inside him.

This time, the reward wasn’t an increase to his raw attributes.At first glance, that might have made the ability seem less impressive than the others.

Anyone who understood high-level combat, however, would recognize its true value.

The greatest danger to a powerful player wasn’t always an enemy with superior attack power. Sometimes, the real threat was losing the ability to fight back.

A stun at the wrong moment. A silence that prevented a crucial skill from being activated. A binding effect that held someone in place while an entire enemy team concentrated its attacks.

In large-scale battles, a few seconds of crowd control could decide everything.Kael had witnessed it countless times during his first life.

Players with exceptional equipment and overwhelming attributes had been reduced to helpless spectators, trapped inside control chains while their opponents dismantled them.

Some had possessed enough strength to win the fight outright, yet never received the opportunity to use it.

The more competitive the battlefield became, the more important these abilities were.

Experienced players built entire equipment sets around control resistance, sacrificing valuable offensive bonuses simply to reduce the chance of being disabled at a critical moment.

Even then, resistance wasn’t a guarantee.

A well-timed skill could still land. A coordinated chain could still catch someone off guard. One mistake could turn an otherwise decisive victory into a humiliating defeat.

Kael had just removed most of that uncertainty.Any control skill below SS-rank would now fail against him outright.

No matter how carefully an enemy timed the attack, no matter how many lower-ranked control abilities they combined, the result would be the same.

Against him, they were useless.

SS-rank abilities and anything above them remained a threat, but such skills were extraordinarily rare at this stage of the game.

Only a handful existed across the entire server, and even those would face significantly greater resistance when used against him.

The implications were enormous.

Kael would no longer have to worry about being helplessly locked down by ordinary crowd-control combinations.

Enemies would need far more than good timing and a coordinated rotation of common skills to restrict his movements.

They would need something exceptional.And even then, success was no longer guaranteed.A faint smile touched his lips.

That was one less weakness for his enemies to exploit.Then he turned his attention to the final notification, the newly unlocked class skill.

Its name appeared in bold letters across the interface.

[SIGIL OF ASCENDANCE]

Skill Grade: SS

Effect: Binds a protective sigil within a companion’s body. Every kill that companion lands draws on the sigil, permanently increasing one chosen attribute by 0.01 points.

Restriction: Only one Sigil of Ascendance may be bound per companion. The chosen attribute is fixed permanently.

Mana Cost: 2,000

>Cooldown: None

Kael read the description once.

A slow, thoughtful smile spread across his face.

The skill didn’t offer an immediate burst of damage or a temporary increase to a companion’s attributes. Instead, it promised something far more valuable over the long term.

Permanent growth.

Every kill made by the chosen companion would increase one selected attribute by 0.01 points.

The individual gain might appear insignificant, but the effect had no cooldown and no stated limit on the number of kills that could contribute to its growth.

The only restriction was that each companion could carry a single sigil, with its chosen attribute locked in permanently.

That made the decision important.

Once the sigil was bound, there would be no changing its focus to suit a different situation.

The attribute would have to be selected with the companion’s role, strengths, and long-term potential in mind.

Kael’s eyes lingered on the final lines.Two thousand mana.No cooldown.

He already had companions capable of killing monsters far faster than ordinary players could manage.

If he chose the right target and allowed the sigil to accumulate power over time, the permanent gains could become substantial.

A hundred kills would mean one additional attribute point.A thousand would mean ten.

And the stronger his companions became, the more efficiently they could hunt, creating a cycle in which their growing power helped them acquire even more power.

It was a skill designed to reward patience and sustained growth.

For someone who understood the value of preparing for the distant future, it was an extraordinary reward.

Kael closed the notification panel, already considering which companion should receive the first sigil.

The decision would shape that companion’s development for the rest of its existence.

He wasn’t going to waste it.