Chapter 265: High-Platinum

Kalon returned to Earth with the taste of cold island wind still in his mouth.

Him and Seraphina did not talk much longer after he had told her he helped the islands because they were friends.

It was not the entire truth. He had not known the sky Queen long enough yet to feel any obligation towards her.

However, she was a beautiful woman, and he hoped that would change.

On top of that, helping the islands was the right thing to do. Kalon’s soul would always gravitate towards doing such things.

...

The high-rise room settled around him. City light pushed through the glass in a thin grid.

He stood still long enough for the system to catch up, then the notifications arrived in a large stack.

「Quest Complete」

Defeat Vorren Shadewing

「Reward Received」

(SSS+) Inkbind Lash

He opened the skill at once.

「(SSS+) Inkbind Lash」

~ Type: Ink

~ Cooldown: 8 seconds

~ Mastery: 0%

~ shoot a living lash of ink from hand that can extend one-kilometer.

~ Enemies struck by the lash will have their systems removed temporarily.

~ Only one lash can be formed at a time, and can remain formed for one minute.

~ Upon 100% Mastery, skill upgrades to [REDACTED]

Kalon read the skill.

In short terms, the skill was broken.

If used by someone with only an ink affinity, it might not be as broken, since they would only be able to focus on using the lash.

However, for someone like Kalon, he could use the lash, remove the system of an enemy, and still have enough mana, skills, and affinities to obliterate them, and anyone else around at the same time.

The raw ink affinity finally had a proper outlet.

He flexed his hand once and felt the new route sit ready under the skin, dark and responsive.

Then the larger update hit.

「Rank Up」

Mid Platinum → High Platinum

The shift moved through him in a deep wave. Mana density rose. Recovery sat cleaner. The pressure of his presence in the room increased even while he stood still.

High Platinum was not just a small step in his progression. It took him towards the cusp of reaching diamond, the highest rank that any human had ever reached.

Kalon exhaled once and opened his full status.

[Kalon Manchester]

[Rank: High-Platinum]

[Health: 550]

[Mana: S-]

[Stamina: A+]

[Durability: S-]

[Strength: S-]

[Agility: S+]

[Physical Traits:]

— Steel Body

— Silver Blood

— Arcane Eyesight

— Minor Water Resistance

— Emberheart Physique

— Stonebone Constitution

— Tideborn Frame

— Frostvein Physique

— Growing Frame

— Increased Testosterone

— Infinite Elemental Adaptation

— Ascendant Perception

— Platinum Intuition

— Inksac Harbourer

[Mental Traits:]

— Radiant Soul

— Calm Mind

— Satisfied

— Umbral Mind

— Ascendant Perception

— Dreamwalker

「Active Skills」

﹂(SSS) Astral Counter

﹂(SSS) Crown of Heaven

﹂(SSS) Photon Slash

﹂(SSS) Ninefold Sunbreaker

﹂(SSS) Eternal Winter

﹂(SSS+) Shard of Itztla

﹂(SSS+) Absolute Mend

﹂(SSS+) Worldforge

﹂(SSS+) Dreamwalker

﹂(SSS+) Inkbind Lash

「Passive Skills」

﹂(SSS) Daily Blessing

﹂(SSS) Formidable Body

﹂(SSS) Deep Sea Pressure

﹂(SSS+) Black Sun Corpus

「Titles:」

﹂Bully Breaker

﹂Light Bringer

﹂Skill Merger

He read through it without rushing, taking in all of the glory.

Health at five-fifty. Mana and durability into S-. Agility already S+. The trait list had thickened again with Inksac Harbourer sitting beside the older physical changes.

The active skill list was getting long enough that he was struggling to keep track of his own skills now.

He did not fixate much on the attributes.

They would keep growing as long as he kept moving. That pattern had held from Steel all the way into Platinum. His attribute distribution would continue to progress at a relatively even rate.

What interested him more in that moment was the simple fact that a rank jump this size almost always opened map space.

He closed the combat screens and opened the planet list.

[Venduros]

— Highly Seducible Women: 32

— Threat Tier: D

— Main Conflict: Civil War

— Top Three Targets: Queen Vagnis, Princess Unestia, Princess Idium

[Cryos]

— Highly Seducible Women: 7

— Threat Tier: C+

— Main Conflict: Extremely Low Temperatures

— Top Three Targets: Governor Qyra, Headmaster Runa, Sifa

[Veylora]

— Highly Seducible Women: 178

— Threat Tier: B

— Main Conflict: Berry Pickers

— Top Three Targets: Priestess Nyphara, Matriarch Lirael, Berry-Picker Alomina

[Cupid]

— Highly Seducible Women: 2,140

— Threat Tier: A+

— Main Conflict: Tyrannical Rule

— Top Three Targets: Supreme Leader Poppy, War Commander Daisy, Lord Magus Olivia

[Delphinium]

— Highly Seducible Women: 1,089

— Threat Tier: A+

— Main Conflict: Collapsing Sky Islands

— Top Three Targets: Goddess Nut, Sky-Queen Seraphina, Cloud-Dancer Imani

[Thalassia]

— Highly Seducible Women: 643

— Threat Tier: E

— Main Conflict: The Sea is Alive

— Top Three Targets: Empress Abyssalia, Siren-Queen Vespera, Tide-Lady Coralia

[Nihros]

— Highly Seducible Women: 488

— Threat Tier: S-

— Main Conflict: True Names Control Reality

— Top Three Targets: True-Name Empress Kaelith, Silence-Witch Morrin, Unspoken Bride Ysolde

[Ancientos]

— Highly Seducible Women: 8910

— Threat Tier: S-

— Main Conflict: Giant Monster Threat

— Top Three Targets: Matron Velle, Saint Rhaza, Sovereign Nyssa

[New Planet: Gravemarch]

— Highly Seducible Women: 3,102

— Threat Tier: S-

— Main Conflict: Undead Apocalypse

— Top Three Targets: Bone-Empress Varkhara, Plague-Saint Lysara, Wraith-Queen Noctis

Kalon stopped on the last entry.

Gravemarch.

Undead Apocalypse. S- threat. Over three thousand seducible women and a top list that read like commanders of the dead.

A world already deep in collapse would be full of people who had survived by force. That meant they would be strong.

Strength meant that some of them would be worth contracting into his organisation, if he managed to form a relationship with them.

He hoped that once he reached diamond, it would require less than reaching stage ten to be able to bring aliens back to his home planet.

It would make growing his organisation much easier.

...

He sat on the edge of the bed and let the ideas settle in his head.

Caelum Spire still needed finishing on Delphinium. Thalassia still held Coralia and an ink path that had only just opened properly. Nihros and Ancientos sat at S- danger that had not been explored yet.

Gravemarch was another door on top of all that, darker than the rest, and useful in its own ways...

Kalon looked at the new planet one more time, intrigued, and already started measuring it as opportunity.