Chapter 108: Rewards (2)

Chapter 105

Had he ever seen or heard of a Level 1 warrior breaking through to Level 6, coming within an inch of Level 7, in barely four hours?

The answer was no.

He had never heard of anything remotely similar, and he doubted that ordinary warriors could accomplish such a feat under normal circumstances. Even talented individuals would need time to grow stronger, accumulate experience, and gradually improve their abilities. Progression was a process that couldn’t simply be rushed without reason.

Yet Orion had advanced through five levels in a few hours.

And that wasn’t even the most extraordinary part of his situation.

Putting his rapid progression aside, had he ever heard of a Level 5 warrior possessing enough power to crush an S-Grade Level 20 monster? Not just an ordinary monster, either, but a dungeon boss that had evolved into S-Grade and gained a significant increase in strength.

Had he ever heard of a warrior at such a low level overcoming an opponent whose level and rank should have placed it far beyond his reach?

The answer was still no.

Yet that was exactly what Orion had accomplished.

He had fought the Webfiend Lord, faced its increasingly dangerous attacks, and ultimately defeated it. The difference between their levels should have made the battle overwhelmingly unfavorable for him, but his abilities had allowed him to bridge that gap and emerge victorious.

And all of it was possible because of his newly reawakened talent.

Orion’s thoughts gradually returned to the abilities that had made his victory possible. His Origin State incorporated Origin Multiplication, Origin Eyes, and Origin Mind, three abilities that worked together to give him a level of combat strength that far exceeded what his current level suggested.

Origin Multiplication increased his attributes according to his level, while Origin Eyes allowed him to perceive and analyze information that would otherwise have remained beyond his understanding. Origin Mind, on the other hand, gave him extraordinary control over his thoughts and actions, allowing him to utilize his abilities with remarkable efficiency.

Together, they formed a combination that made Orion’s combat potential extraordinarily difficult to measure by ordinary standards.

Despite being a Basic Level 6 warrior, he possessed enough power to crush a peak Elite-Level warrior. The gap between his current level and the strength he could bring to bear was so great that anyone judging him solely by his level would arrive at a completely misleading conclusion.

And all of that was thanks to his newly reawakened talent, which Orion believed had something to do with this so-called Origin.

The word alone seemed to carry an immense weight.

He had a vague feeling that he had once possessed the slightest inkling of what the Origin was, as though some fragment of knowledge had existed somewhere in the depths of his mind. Unfortunately, whatever that understanding might have been was now beyond his reach. He couldn’t grasp it clearly enough to form a proper explanation, and every attempt to think about it only left him with more questions.

What exactly was the Origin?

Why was his newly reawakened talent connected to it?

And what made it so powerful that even his system appeared to operate according to standards far beyond those of the world around him?

Orion had no answers to any of those questions.

For now, the only thing he knew with absolute certainty was that the Origin was insanely powerful. Whatever its true nature might be, the abilities it had granted him were already enough to place him far beyond what his current level should have allowed.

And if this was only the beginning, Orion couldn’t help wondering what he might become as he continued to grow stronger.

Before he could dwell on those thoughts for too long, his attention shifted to another system message that had appeared beside the notification announcing his Special Reward. Unlike the earlier messages, this one contained a specific condition regarding the reward he had just obtained.

Note: The Host cannot receive another Special Reward by killing an opponent 15 levels above him or lower. To obtain another Special Reward, the Host must slay an opponent who is at least 20 levels above him. Good luck!

Orion’s eyes sparkled with a mixture of disbelief and excitement as he read the message.

So, the requirements had increased.

He couldn’t receive another Special Reward by defeating an opponent fifteen levels above him or lower. If he wanted to obtain another one, he would have to find and defeat an opponent at least twenty levels higher than himself.

That was certainly a much more demanding condition.

Nevertheless, Orion wasn’t particularly discouraged. If anything, the message made him even more interested in the possibilities that lay ahead. After all, he had just received an S-Rank Skill Book from the Special Reward, and the thought of obtaining another reward of similar value was enough to make him look forward to the challenge.

There was also an important detail worth considering.

The drop rate of an S-Rank Skill Book inside a dungeon was approximately one in several million. Outside a dungeon, during a dungeon break like the one happening now, the odds were considerably better, rising to around one in a million.

Even with that improvement, the probability remained ridiculously low.

It was an indication of just how rare S-Rank Skill Books truly were. Countless warriors could spend years exploring dungeons, fighting monsters, and risking their lives without ever obtaining one. Even if they encountered numerous treasures along the way, the chances of finding a skill book of this rank remained incredibly slim.

And yet, if Orion obtained a Special Reward under the conditions established by his system, receiving an S-Rank Skill Book was practically guaranteed.

That was what made the reward system so appealing.

Instead of relying entirely on luck and hoping that a dungeon would produce a treasure with an extraordinarily low drop rate, Orion could pursue a specific condition and receive a reward that would otherwise be exceedingly difficult to obtain.

Of course, finding an opponent at least twenty levels above him and defeating it wouldn’t be easy. The difference in level alone could represent an enormous gap in strength, and he couldn’t simply assume that every powerful enemy would be as manageable as the Webfiend Lord had been.

Still, the possibility was worth keeping in mind.

Orion was already looking forward to obtaining another Special Reward, especially now that he had seen what the system was capable of granting him.

After all, S-Rank skills were invaluable to a massive degree. They were infinitely harder to obtain than A-Rank skills and those below them, and the difference in the power they could provide was just as significant. Even an exceptional A-Rank skill would struggle to compare with the advantages offered by a well-suited S-Rank ability.

The gap wasn’t merely a matter of rarity. It was also a matter of what those skills could accomplish.

An S-Rank skill could provide capabilities that lower-ranked abilities simply couldn’t match, granting its user an advantage that might determine the outcome of a battle against a stronger opponent.

To put things into perspective, Orion wouldn’t have been able to maneuver through the dungeon boss’s web forest as effectively without Flash. The boss had filled the battlefield with countless webs, creating a miniature forest of dangerous strands that could restrict his movements and attack him from multiple directions.

Without Flash, Orion wouldn’t have been able to move through that environment with the same speed, react to incoming threats as effectively, or exploit openings before they disappeared. The skill had given him the speed necessary to navigate the boss’s attacks and create opportunities that would otherwise have been far more difficult to obtain.

Without it, killing the dungeon boss as quickly as he had would have been considerably harder.

That was the power of an S-Rank skill.

It was genuinely legendary, and its contribution to Orion’s victory was undeniable. His other abilities had certainly played important roles, but Flash had provided a crucial advantage that allowed him to put those strengths to effective use.

And now, after obtaining Flash only a short time ago, he was already getting his hands on another S-Rank Skill Book.

The prospect was enough to make Orion’s anticipation grow.

He wondered what kind of ability Genesis Silk would grant him and how it might complement his existing skills. Given the rank of the book, there was little doubt that it would possess considerable potential, although he would have to examine it properly before making any assumptions about its actual capabilities.

Rather than waste any more time wondering, Orion decided to inspect his reward.

With a simple pull of his intent, he summoned the skill book from the system’s storage. The next moment, a shimmering book appeared in his hand, its dark, silvery cover reflecting the surrounding light with a faint metallic sheen.

The book looked unusual, its surface carrying a subtle shimmer that made it stand out from an ordinary volume. Orion held it before him, examining its appearance briefly before turning his attention to the information the system could provide.

He initiated a scan.

Scan...

Scanning...

Scan completed.

The process finished shortly afterward, and the results were displayed on Orion’s system screen.

Skill Name: Genesis Silk

Rank: S