Chapter 117: Legendary Skills

Back in the Vesperion Duchy, Malric was still staring at the floating golden screen in front of him. His heart began to pound like crazy against his ribs.

"Are you alright, Young Master?" Eliza, who was standing quietly by his side, noticed his frozen state. "Do you need any help?"

Malric didn’t take his eyes off the screen. "I’m fine. Actually, I am very fine right now," he replied, his voice strained with suppressed excitement. "I want to be alone. Please leave immediately, I have something incredibly important to do."

Lilith narrowed her eyes at him. "What is this? Why are you acting so suddenly—"

Before she could even finish her sentence, a swirling green summoning portal forcefully tore open directly beneath her feet.

"You—!" Lilith gasped, but before she could utter another word, she completely vanished from the room, forcefully unsummoned back to Malric’s soul space.

Malric briefly glanced at Eliza. Seeing the sudden disappearance of the fierce Ascended, the head maid instantly understood that something of utmost importance was happening.

She bowed deeply in silence, nodded her head, and swiftly left the room, closing the heavy doors behind her.

Now completely alone, Malric turned his full attention back to the golden text. The initial prompt dissolved, and the massive treasury categories materialized before him.

[Please choose one reward.]

[Reward Treasury]

[Skills]

[Weapons]

[Corpse Selection]

[Runic Inscriptions]

[Legacy Tower]

Malrik blinked at the screen.

What the hell is this?

Skills, weapons, corpses, runic inscriptions... and what the hell is a Legacy Tower supposed to be?

He stared at the list for several seconds.

"I’m supposed to choose one reward, and the System decides to put an entire treasury in front of me? Are these Arbiters seriously showing off their wealth to me, or what?"

Immediately after, another line of golden text materialized beneath the menu:

[You have been granted temporary access to the Treasury. You may preview the details of all contents within each vault before making your final decision.]

Malric almost stopped breathing when he saw the multitude of options and the new prompt.

Instead of the limited, blind choices he was accustomed to with the standard blue screens, this golden interface was entirely different. Normally, the System forced an Awakened to pick between two or three vague options, hoping for the best. But this... this was a literal treasury.

"I can even know everything before I choose?" Malric muttered, his heart pounding wildly against his ribs.

He took a deep, shaky breath, and tapped his finger against [Skills].

The golden interface rippled. Instead of showing full descriptions immediately, a massive, seemingly endless list of names cascaded down the screen.

[Opening Skill Vault...]

[Domain of the Ashen King (Legendary)]

[Abyssal Forge (Legendary)]

[Grasp of the Underworld (Legendary)]

[Death Substitution (Legendary)]

[March of the Silent Legion (Legendary)]

[Summon - The Nameless Executioner (Legendary)]

[Summon - Abyssal Bone Wyrm (Legendary)]

[Soul Stitching (Legendary)]

[Wraith’s Command (Legendary)]

[Curse of the Withered Sun (Legendary)]

[Necrotic Transmutation (Legendary)]

[Warden of the Dead (Legendary)]

[Grasp of the Abyss (Legendary)]

[Crimson Harvest (Legendary)]

[Breath of the Blight (Legendary)]

....

Malric’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

"What in the actual hell?!"

Malrik stared at the golden screen in disbelief.

"The highest-ranked skill I currently possess is only Epic. I’ve never even seen a Legendary skill in my entire life... and now they’re being laid out in front of me like a damn fast-food menu!"

He swallowed hard. He tapped on the first few that caught his attention, analyzing them at a blistering pace.

[Skill: Domain of the Ashen King]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Description:

Manifests a domain of death. Automatically reanimates an unlimited number of fallen corpses within the zone.

The reanimated entities are strictly restricted to your current rank and will completely turn to ash after 10 minutes.

Enemies inside the domain suffer continuous stamina drain.]

"A domain that raises an unlimited army for free?!" Malric exclaimed aloud, his voice echoing with sheer thrill.

His mind calculated the possibilities in a fraction of a second. An unlimited number... but they only last for ten minutes and can’t exceed my current rank.

This is truly a catastrophic skill, especially at the higher ranks. It would have been perfect for me if I were fighting opponents of the same rank.

Unfortunately, every opponent I’ve faced so far has been stronger than me.

He frantically scrolled down, looking for immediate offensive power. He expanded two summons.

[Skill: Summon - The Nameless Executioner]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Description: Summons THREE chain-bound executioners. Their combat power will always be ONE rank above the host. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 24 hours.]

[Skill: Summon - Abyssal Bone Wyrm]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Description: Reanimates the skeletal remains of THREE abyssal dragons. Their combat power will always be ONE rank above the host.

Duration: 10 minutes.

Cooldown: 24 hours.]

"Always one rank above me... and three of them?!" he practically yelled, unable to hide his shock.

His mind began calculating furiously.

These are somewhat similar to my [Soul Calling], but infinitely more practical for immediate combat. With [Soul Calling], I can only extract one soul every forty-five days.

These let me summon three devastating entities every single day!

But as he thought about it, he realized the distinct difference.

Technically speaking, the souls he extracted, like Lilith, were permanent. They could fight for him at any given time and were not restricted by a short ten-minute timer.

Each has its own unique pros and cons, he reasoned quickly. But in terms of raw, overwhelming firepower in a desperate situation... the Legendary skill is vastly superior.

Malrik continued browsing through the skills, and the list seemed to have no end. There were countless abilities, each more extraordinary than the last.

But what he needed most was something to make up for his greatest weakness—his fragile body as a mage.

He continued scrolling through the endless list, searching for a defensive skill, until another name caught his attention.

"This is insane..."

As long as he had even one summon nearby, a fatal blow would mean nothing. He could simply sacrifice it and escape death entirely.

"With enough summons, I’d have to be practically impossible to kill."

But deep down, Malrik knew that wasn’t entirely true.

Against powerful opponents whose battles could devastate thousands of kilometers of land, this skill alone wouldn’t be enough. If the enemy’s attack was powerful enough to obliterate everything in its path, both he and his entire army could be wiped out at once. There would be nothing left for him to substitute with.

"Still... it’s an incredible defensive skill."

Then, two skill names immediately caught his attention. He opened their descriptions.

[Skill: Abyssal Forge]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Description: Permanently sacrifice multiple undead to force an evolutionary breakthrough in a single summon, upgrading its stats and granting new traits.]

[Skill: Soul Stitching]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Description: Forcefully merge up to three undead into a temporary chimera that transcends their original rank. The chimera turns to ash when the effect ends.]