The Devil’s Cage

Kieran decided to go with the Basic skills.

Just like what Starbeck had said, everything starts from the Basics, even a skyscraper needed a firm base to support its height.

Basic skills might seem normal but they were the prerequisites for advanced and high tier skills in addition to being the limitations of some items and equipment as well.

Of course, the important reason that drove Kieran to his decision was that he was not lacking offensive methods.

He acknowledged Starbeck’s ideology but he couldn’t deny Lawless’s suggestion either.

Attack is the best defense!

Dawn Force, Plague Force, Devil Force, Cardinal Sins Force, Saint Thorn Force that was core to his two hearts together with multiple offensive methods were already sufficient for him to deal with most problems.

After the decision was made, Kieran started a new round of enhancement.

[Detected Tracking as special rank skill….]

[Requirements remain unchanged!]

[Tracking, Musou to Transcendence, costs 60,000 Points, 2 Golden Skill Points. Yes/No?]

“Yes.”

[Name: Tracking (Transcendence)]

[Related Attribute: Intuition]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effect: You can use all kinds of tracks and traces to track down the target you are chasing!]

[Special Effect: Transcendence Trace Checking (As long as the trace exist, it will not escape your eyes)]

[Transcendence Option: Eye of Insight (While tracking targets within your sight, there is a small chance to locate the target’s weakness)]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Intuition A]

[Remark: Not only you can clearly sense special existences, but you can also even find the traces left behind by them!]

…

[Skill Tracking leveled up, related attribute increasing…]

[Intuition SSS → SSS+]

…

“Eye of Insight?” Kieran looked surprised.

He never thought a skill like [Tracking] would have a slightly offensive Transcendence Option; he originally thought it should be some ancillary option to boost his tracking even more.

But the offensive Transcendence Option was to Kieran’s liking even more, let alone Transcendence [Tracking] increasing his Intuition by 1.

Surprised, Kieran started to enhance other Basic skills.

He leveled Musou [Sharp Weapon, Dagger], [Sharp Weapon, Bow], [Evading], [Greatsword Blocking], [Explosive Weapon, Explosion] to Transcendence and it costs 200,000 Points and 5 Golden Skill Points altogether.

[Sharp Weapon, Dagger] and [Sharp Weapon, Bow] costs 35,000 Points and 1 Golden Skill Points respectively.

[Evading] costs 40,000 Points, 1 Golden Skill Points.

[Greatsword Blocking] costs 60,000 Points, 1 Golden Skill Points.

[Explosive Weapon, Explosion] costs 30,000 Points, 1 Golden Skill Points.

After Transcendence, all the skill effects were enhanced significantly.

[Name: Sharp Weapon, Dagger (Transcendence)]

[Related Attribute: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: When you wield a dagger, targets will feel chills. Increases damage by 80%]

[Special Effect: Transcendent Slicing (Has 30% chance to trigger Tendon Rip effect)]

[Transcendence Option: Silent Attack (When you attack with a dagger, the noise will be lowered to it’s minimal)]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Strength C, Agility C+, Constitution C+]

[Remark: You dagger is not only sharp but deadly!]

…

[Name: Sharp Weapon, Bow (Transcendence)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility, Intuition]

[Skill Type: Offensive]

[Effects: Your arrow is the grim reaper’s scythe, Increases damage by 50%]

[Special Effects: Transcendent Reload (When you reload an arrow, +5 Agility temporarily)]

[Transcendence Option: Arrow of Will (Your Strong I rank Spirit allows you to have extra +1 attack buff upon firing)]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: Strength C+, Agility C+, Intuition B-]

[Remarks: You are the grand master of sharpshooters!]

…

[Name: Evading (Transcendence)]

[Related Attribute: Agility]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: You will never fail to evade an attack during battle, Increases Evading by 80%]

[Special Effects: Transcendent Swift Steps (Your steps make you even nimbler, Increases Evading by 60%)]

[Transcendence Option: Ignore Weight (When your weight is less than 1/3 than your own, you can choose to ignore 1/2 of it. It won’t affect your evading effect and despite your weight reaching its maximum, you still have the usual 80% dodge]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Agility B-]

[Remark: Your attack is so slow, you can’t even hit my shadow!]

…

[Name: Greatsword Blocking (Transcendence)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Defense]

[Effect: Your sword is sturdier than your shield, increase defense by 80%]

[Special Effect: Transcendent Extra Block (After familiarizing yourself with the structure of a greatsword, whenever a block is successful, increase defense by an extra 60%]

[Transcendence Option: Iron Wall (Each successful block increases your defense level by 1 (Only self, excludes equipment but can be stacked)]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Strength C+, Agility C+, Constitution B-]

[Remark: You are an iron wall when wielding a greatsword!]

…

[Name: Explosive Weapon, Explosion (Transcendence)]

[Related Attribute: Strength, Agility]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: You know how to use homemade explosives, dynamite, grenades, and mines. Increase damage by 80%]

[Special Effect: Transcendent Throw (Astounding throwing technique that will shock your target, able to land explosives on your enemy in a smarter way)]

[Transcendence Option: Lock-On (Thrown explosives easily land on your enemies without making a sound in a 30-meter radius)]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Agility C-, Intuition C-]

[Remark: Explosion is art!]

…

Compared to the special skill [Tracking], the Basic skills obviously couldn’t raise Kieran’s attributes any more but enhancements in the skill itself and the respective Transcendence Options allowed Kieran to increase his power again,

When the transfer and synchronization process faded away, Kieran continued on to the remaining two skills.

Grand Master [Sharp Weapon, Dual Wield Heavy Arms] to Transcendence costs 80,000 Points, 2 Golden Skill Points.

Master [Sharp Weapon, Special Heavy Arms] to Transcendence costs 90,000 Points, 15 Skill Points, and 1 Golden Skill Points.

[Name: Sharp Weapon Dual Wield Heavy Arms (Transcendence)]

[Related Attribute: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: When you wield two heavy arms, you are the butcher of the battlefield. Stamina consumption +90%]

[Special Effect: Agility Compensation (Extensive training allows you to compensate your speed and nimbleness more. When you wield two heavy arms, Agility +2.0)]

[Transcendence Option: Overlay (When you attack a target with two heavy arms, Strength +3)]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Sharp Weapon, Heavy Arms (Grand Master)]

[Remark: Fierce attack costs more Stamina consumption so you have to take out your enemies faster than before.]

…

[Name: Sharp Weapon, Special Heavy Arms (Transcendence)]

[Related Attribute: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: No matter how weird the special heavy arms is, you can wield it like your own arm. Increase damage by 80%]

[Special Effect: Extra Boost (When using special heavy arms, Strength +4)]

[Transcendence Option: Suppression (Whenever hard contact with a target occurs, the target will have to undergo an authentication to your Strength. If the target fails, the target will receive Suppression damage worth the difference in Strength and induce extra Wounded status)]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Sharp Weapon, Heavy Arms (Grand Master)]

[Remark: This is only the basic usage!]

…

After the transfer and synchronization process, Kieran turned to his points tab.

[Points: 105,000; Skill Points: 77; Golden Skill Points: 1; Golden Attribute Points: 12]

The remaining Points, Skill Points, and Golden Skill Points would be enough for him to level up the yet to be obtained [Sharp Weapon, Special Sword Weapon] to Transcendence as well.

As for the remaining Golden Attribute Points, Kieran didn’t want to save it up anymore since there was a title dungeon coming right up.

He wanted to convert all of them into real strength to prepare him to face off against a strong foe.

The choice of attribute?

Spirit! It was a no brainer.

Not only because Kieran’s strongest attribute was Spirit, but as the dungeon entry number increased, Kieran realized the enemies he came across were more skilled in mental or spiritual attacks, like the Gods. If he didn’t have a strong enough Spirit attribute, a simple suppression from his foe would completely rob him of his battle capabilities.

Unless he gave up his way of excavating dungeon worlds, he would need his strong Spirit attribute as support.

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit ZZZ+ → V- (Pre-rank II)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit V- → V (Pre-rank II)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit V → V+ (Pre-rank II)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit V+ → VV- (Pre-rank II)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit VV- → VV (Pre-rank II)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit VV → VV+ (New rank II)

…

After spending 6 Golden Attribute Points continuously, Kieran’s Spirit successfully ranked up to rank II.

His mind instantly became clearer and calmer.

He could see the Origin Force in his body clearer now. He saw how his blood flowed out from the heart with Dawn Force as it slowly altered his organs, muscles, and bones. As Dawn Force was flowing in his body, the branding of the Transcendence level Basic skills on his bones were glowing lively as well.

More spots on his palm and feet were lit up.

Although before that great darkness and chaos, the light was still blurry and dim, Kieran believed as time went by, he could surely expel the darkness and chaos from his body.

After a deep breath, Kieran continued.

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit VV+ → VVV- (New rank II]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit VVV- → VVV (New rank II)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit VVV → VVV+ (Strong rank II)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit VVV+ → G- (Pre-rank III)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit G- → G (Pre-rank III)]

[Using Golden Attribute Points…]

[Spirit G → G+ (Pre-rank III)]

……

Another 6 more Golden Attribute Points were pumped into Spirit. Although his Spirit hadn’t really entered rank III, Kieran knew together with his talent, skills, and equipment, it was enough to reach rank III.

This time as his Spirit skyrocketed, it allowed Kieran to “see” his body clearer, especially the darkness and chaos in his brain.

Other than the original dangerous feeling, there was another sense of hatred and heaviness to it, like a mountain was pressed against his head or like shackles locking his body down.

Kieran twisted his neck in an unsettling way and exited that state.

Meanwhile, Starbeck beside him served him a cup of tea that he had prepared for a while.

Kieran thanked him before drinking it all.

[Drank Concise Tea, triggered attribute with a certain rate: Tranquility]

[Tranquility: It is easier for you to recover from exhaustion and messy thoughts, lasts 12 hours.]

…

[Tranquility] appeared as he drank the tea and it swiftly released Kieran from the unsettling state.

“The tea is nice,” Kieran praised.

It wasn’t a hypocritical comment but the one from the bottom of his heart.

His sincerity was captured by Starbeck’s sharp perception; he couldn’t help but smile shyly.

“Why I didn’t get any?”

When Lawless came over with the [Sharp Weapon, Special Sword Weapon]’s skill book, he saw the tea in Kieran’s hand and he turned to Starbeck.

Starbeck immediately hid behind Kieran and obviously Lawless was not going to get any.

“I bartered this for you. There are some points left.”

Lawless grunted before trading Kieran his items.

A [Sharp Weapon, Special Sword Weapon] and 15,000 Points.

After getting the skill book, Kieran directly learned it and leveled it up to Transcendence directly, which cost him 90,000 Points, 26 Skill Points, and 1 Golden Skill Point.

[Name: Sharp Weapon, Special Sword Weapon (Transcendence)]

[Related Attribute: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: You are not only skilled in using a soft blade, double edge blade, and other special sword weapons, you have an outstanding understanding of the weapons as well. Increases damage by 80%]

[Special Effect: Soft Blade Pro (When using a soft blade, increase damage by an extra 60%)]

[Transcendence Option: Finger Twist (You can control the soft blade that you wield with your will, able to deliver a surprise hit and have Lvl 2 Armor Penetration)]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Strength E, Agility C+]

[Remark: Soft blade is like a venomous snake and you are the best snake charmer.]

…

Sou!

Almost silently, [Burwell’s Slaughter] appeared before Kieran and carved out a blade net in the space in front Kieran. It was different than the common longsword intertwining, the blade net was much more unpredictable and stranger; it not only had horizontal slashing abilities, it could stab target at different angles as well.

The most astonishing part was, the stabbing didn’t even require Kieran to move his arm, all he needed to move was his wrist.

“More than I bargained for!”

Kieran commented after putting away the soft blade.

Then, he turned back to his points tab.

Golden Skill Points and Golden Attribute Points were depleted but he still had 30,000 Points and 51 Skill Points.

Other than keeping a part of it, Kieran traded the rest for all sorts of healing, restoration, and specific use potions.

After arranging his equipment and items again, he turned to Starbeck.

“Are you ready?” Kieran asked.

“Mm.” Starbeck nodded.

The next moment, the two of them vanished from the room.

Title dungeon, [Blade of the Daybreaker] has begun!