Chapter 82: The Eye’s New Benefit

His guess was right. It was indeed the Eyes of Origin, and its description had changed drastically.

[Eyes of Origin (Mythical) (Unawakened): These eyes can create illusions and greatly improve learning through observation. They allow the user to notice small details in movements and techniques, making mistakes easier to identify and correct. Further abilities remain undiscovered.]

"Good work," Edward suddenly said. "You’re ready to advance to D-Rank now."

"Wait, what?"

Nero stared at him in disbelief.

’Already? But I just got here!’

Was he hearing things? He had barely started training, yet Edward was already telling him he was ready for D-Rank.

’Are the Eyes of Origin really that powerful?’

"You’ve met the first requirement for advancing your Cellular Reservoir to D-Rank," Edward explained with a pleased expression.

Unlike other Talents, Cellular Reservoir was relatively simple to develop now that he had control over it.

The more Nero trained it, the stronger his cells became. Once they reached a certain level of maturity, he would meet the requirements for the next Rank.

However, meeting those requirements and actually advancing were two different things.

To break through, Nero would have to push his cells beyond their current limits.

When that happened, his existing cells would compress, and new cells would form, allowing his Cellular Reservoir to grow stronger.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

The process was somewhat similar to Mana Convergence, where an Awakener exhausted their mana and pushed their body beyond its normal limits to stir the mana in the atmosphere.

However, breaking through with Cellular Reservoir was much simpler.

Once the requirements were met, Nero only needed to push himself through intense physical activity and fully activate the cells throughout his body.

If he managed to surpass his previous limits, he would successfully advance to the next Rank and give birth to new cells that would generate energy.

The problem was actually reaching that point.

Some Awakeners spent weeks or even months searching for a suitable challenge that could force them beyond their limits.

Others, however, broke through naturally without even realizing it.

Those were the people considered exceptionally talented.

Cellular Reservoir had an advantage in this regard. Since it was a simple Talent with a supposedly low potential ceiling, its advancement requirements were much easier to fulfill. You just needed to push past your limits after training your body enough.

It was heavily dependent on the Power Index.

More powerful Talents, such as Lilly’s Destruction and Richard’s Light Talent, had their own specific requirements that needed to be met before advancing.

Still, the basic principle remained the same for everyone.

They had to develop their Talents and overcome the limitations of their current Rank.

Of course, truly talented individuals sometimes managed to skip that struggle entirely.

Lilly was a perfect example.

She had advanced to D-Rank after sleeping with Nero. Although Second Wind had played a part in her breakthrough, it also proved that she possessed enough natural talent to advance without deliberately pushing herself beyond her limits.

In other words, meeting the requirements was one thing.

Actually breaking through was another.

And thanks to the Eyes of Origin, Nero had already taken his first step toward D-Rank much sooner than expected.

Just then, Edward spoke again. "Don’t get all excited just because you managed to meet the requirement. You aren’t some once-in-a-lifetime heavenly talent. It’s simply because your Power Index is at 2.1. The only reason you didn’t meet the requirement until now was that you lacked control over your power."

"..." Nero’s lips twitched upon hearing this.

’This old man won’t even let me be happy for a bit?’

But he was right. Nero was already eligible. It was just that he had no idea how his power worked until now, and now he did.

"Alright. How am I going to push past my limits?"

Hearing this, Edward grinned. "With gates, of course."

"Gates?" Nero raised an eyebrow at his words. "Where are we going to find a gate?"

"Oh, there are plenty of gates in this place." Edward suddenly chuckled as he snapped his fingers.

The next moment, the air trembled as a gate appeared right beside them.

Nero took a step back in panic upon seeing this. "W... What?"

Did this old man just snap his fingers and summon a gate?

"Calm down. It’s not my ability," Edward explained with an amused look. "It’s some basic sealing power that prevents gates from popping up in my place. I just undid it."

"Is your power sealing-related?" Nero asked with innocent eyes.

"Maybe." Edward gave him a mysterious look. "Just focus on getting stronger. Don’t worry about my Talent."

Nero nodded. Since Edward didn’t want to mention it, he wouldn’t ask any further.

Then he looked back at Edward. "Old Man Edward, do you know how gates came to be?"

"The gates?" Edward narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. "You don’t need to worry about it right now."

"For you and humanity, gates are just an instrument to get stronger."

Then, as if thinking about something, Edward furrowed his brows and asked, "Is humanity capable of controlling gates yet?"

"Controlling?" Nero looked clueless. "Do you mean clearing gates? Yeah, we can do that."

Edward shook his head upon hearing this. "Never mind."

"Forget what I said. When you go back, just remember, all answers lie in the gates."

"Those who can control them will always be ahead."

Nero knitted his brows upon hearing this.

’All answers lie in the gates?’

For some reason, it reminded him of the angelic murals he had seen in the Red Gate.

Just what was so special about gates? They had always been something that troubled humanity since the dawn of the Cataclysm.

More importantly, his parents had gone missing inside these very gates.

Nero might not admit it, but his goal had always been to find his parents. He knew they were out there somewhere.

Every time he thought about it, it filled him with sadness.

He then turned toward Edward and spoke.

"My parents went missing inside one of these gates while fighting a demon," Nero said. "My goal is to find them one day."

Hearing this, Edward showed no reaction. "If you want to do that, you need to get stronger."

Nero nodded at his words.

Edward then gestured toward the gate. "Go in now. If you get injured or die inside, I won’t come to save you."

"So heartless."

Nero was speechless, but he sighed. He was ready to take down the monsters inside.

He had to do it. He had done it before, so he could do it again.

Without looking back, he entered the Gate. As soon as he did, the shadow from before reappeared.

"Lord, his eyes are not ordinary. Are you really going to let him die in there?"

"If it is his fate to die in the Gate, then who am I to change his fate?" Edward replied calmly. "I’m done trying to change fate. The more you struggle, the harder the world goes against you. I just want to retire in peace."

On the other side, as soon as Nero entered the Gate, a chill ran down his spine as his danger senses as a High Human flared up.

Something was coming his way and that too at an incredible speed.