Chapter 289 - 280: Cognition Level Up

Chapter 289: Chapter 280: Cognition Level Up

Lloyd peeked through a sliver of an eyelid. The reinforcements were still searching the area cautiously; it would take them a while to get over here. So he closed his eyes again, feigning death, and first allocated the 75 points he’d earned from leveling up.

points to [Rationality], 25 points to [Spiritual Power], 25 points to [Cognition]. Allocate!

[Ding! Allocation complete.]

[User: Lloyd]

[Status: Normal]

[Madness Value: 0/10,000, Cap: 26,000]

[Rationality: 260]

[Spiritual Power: 260]

[inspiration: 150]

[Cognition: 260]

[System: Twist LV4, Veto LV3]

’Ah, just look at it... These well-rounded Attributes, a perfect interpretation of the beauty of balance! This is my ultimate definition and interpretation of the concept of being all-rounded!’

As for that 150 points of [inspiration]...

’It was 140 before, but after facing off against the six-faced sculpture, it inexplicably rose by 10 points...’

’How should I put it... I gained 15 levels in one go. If you convert those 10 points of [inspiration], it’s more like 17 levels. It reminds me a little of using cheats in games back on Earth—just standing there while my level skyrockets.’

’But the difference is, in this life, I, Lloyd, did not cheat!’

But looking back now, that leveling process was really nerve-wracking.

’That Spiritual Contamination really did come crashing down in wave after wave. A single hit was a direct 10,000 points to my Madness Value. Luckily, the attacks weren’t too frequent—maybe because of the distance? Otherwise, I was worried the panel itself wouldn’t be able to take it.’

’Thankfully, the panel held up. Of course, I worked hard too. I relied on my level 6 [Dizziness Resistance] to hang on and not lose consciousness, and at the critical moment, I got help from those two forces. Otherwise, I’m afraid I would’ve had to check into a mental hospital...’

’Oh, no, I’d probably be admitted to floor -3 of Tower Nine.’

Lloyd even imagined the scene: Weiya, crying as she carried out his execution...

’That would be too horrible. Horrible in every sense, on every level...’

So if he had the choice again, he would much rather level up slowly and methodically every day than risk his life for it like he just did.

’Sigh... In the end, I’m still not strong enough, not hardworking enough. That’s why I was forced into such a pathetic situation...’

’It really is true: train hard in times of peace, or bleed hard in times of war. It seems I’ll have to be even more diligent after I get into Mizkakotok University!’

’After all, beings like ’Deities’ truly exist in this world...’ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

’No, that might not be accurate. It’s more like those lofty Deities are genuinely interested in this tiny little world.’

The thought of the powerful being behind the six-faced sculpture—something that could be considered an ’Evil God’s Offspring’—made Lloyd’s heart pound with lingering fear.

However, he didn’t have the mental energy to dwell on that creature at the moment, so he reined in his Thoughts and checked on his skill upgrades:

[Sufficient skill fragments acquired. Skill unlocked—Spatial Domination, LV1]

[Sufficient skill fragments acquired. Skill unlocked—Spiritual Tentacles, LV1]

[Sufficient skill fragments acquired. New Spiritual Power usage technique unlocked—Spiritual Energy Burst]

Aside from the minor notifications like ’Fragment +1’, these three were the important ones.

Lloyd first looked at the text descriptions for the two new skills—

[Spatial Domination (LV1)—A preliminary understanding and control over three-dimensional space. Allows for influence and interference within your Ability Domain over the space covered by your inspiration. Makes it easier to understand and perceive the concepts and mysteries of ’Space’. No upgrade method currently available.]

As usual, there was a line of small text below as a supplementary explanation:

"What you see and what you know is not necessarily what you comprehend, nor what you can reach."

Going by the text description alone, the skill didn’t seem like much. But that was just the panel’s usual ’laziness’. In reality, after a quick look at the detailed information about this skill that had bloomed in his mind, Lloyd could only think of two words to describe it:

Divine Skill!

A Divine Skill on par with [Dizziness Resistance]!

While it couldn’t yet let him teleport instantly, fetching objects from a distance was no problem.

While it couldn’t yet perform functions like ’Spatial Teleportation’ or ’Space Compression’, using it to find the gates of Mizkakotok University was no problem.

While it couldn’t yet chop Gojo Satoru in half, moving things like lead blocks, sharp knives, boiling water, and paraquat above someone’s head to drop on them was no problem.

While it couldn’t yet allow him to understand the principles and structure of an Alternate Space, speeding up his own learning and mastery of such knowledge was no problem.

This was an absolute Divine Skill, versatile enough for daily life, study, and combat.

Furthermore, it had an extremely high ceiling and incredible potential.

If I had to point out a single flaw...

’...it would probably be that not even the panel knows how to upgrade it...’

This made Lloyd wonder: where did all these skill fragments come from?

First off, the patterns scrawled on the wall by those lunatics were related to the second new skill, so he set that aside for now.

It also wasn’t imparted by the six-faced sculpture. That thing only spewed out pure Spiritual Contamination, without a shred of knowledge or a single fragment. It was just purely discontented, wanting to crush the three ants who dared disturb its ’refined’ amusement.

So, after thinking it through, Lloyd had reason to suspect he had absorbed the fragments for this skill when that Alternate Space shattered.

And because the source of the fragments was gone, the panel didn’t know how to upgrade it anymore.