The Grandmaster stage, System Rewards, Choices (1)

< Ding! Congratulations on completing the Breakthrough Quest...>

Karsha read the notification with a happy smile. He then deactivated the domain skill and started blinking back to the safe zone, but not before storing the sixteen bodies and cores in his spiritual space ring.

Once he was far enough and out of the Danger and Average zones, Karsha activated the domain again and sat down. The domain had grown stronger than it was a few days ago, so since he was now in a zone where only Tier 1 monsters dominated, he felt safer. Thanks to the domain, he managed to clear a one-kilometer radius of a safe area.

He then turned back to the system notifications and started reading through them.

< Congratulations, you have passed the Grandmaster promotion test successfully with an SSE rating >

[Reason] = The host has shown an excellent understanding and control of his skills, creating four Variations and merging two Variations to form a more powerful skill. Also, the host completed the test in less than ten seconds.

< Ding! Congratulations, you will receive four categories of rewards for completing the test with an SSE rating >

< SSE reward categories: Level Up Rewards, Passive rewards, Active rewards, and System Rewards >

< Level Up Rewards >

< Congratulations, you have advanced to Level 1 Grandmaster stage >

[ Reward 1 ] - All stats are multiples by 3. Additionally, +100 Stat points have been added to all stats and +200,000 points have been added to Mana

[ Reward 2 ] - 1,000 Skill Points, 100,000 Killer Points, 1,000 Attribute Points, and 200,000 Exp have been awarded to the host.

[ Reward 3 ] - All skills have received a one-tier upgrade.

"Holy smokes, this is wonderful! I feel even more powerful now. This is just great," Karsha laughed wholeheartedly, his excitement palpable. He hadn't expected to be this fortunate. With his stats multiplied by three, his overall attack power would be on par with a Peak Tier 6.

However, that was just for the time being. With the system capable of adding points to his stats whenever there is space, he could further boost his stats, increasing his attack power to new levels.

Then comes his second reward, which is even more amazing. Not only does he receive a staggering amount of skill points, but he has also obtained enough Killer points to buy more amazing items from the store.

"I will check out the store later. For now, I need to focus on getting even stronger within a few days." Being someone who understands the need to be prepared, Karsha refrains from accessing the store now and instead plans on training and finding ways to best utilize the store.

With the few things he has already bought from the system, he knows the system store holds the key to many of the problems he will face in the future. It's better to save up Killer Points now and use them when needed.

As for the third reward, he would soon discover just how much stronger the domain had become. With both the Water Domain and Ever Freezing Ice Domain, along with Lightning Strike, upgraded to Tier 7, their newfound strength would soar to new heights.

"This is good. Let's see what else the system has for me."

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< Passive Rewards >

[ Select two out of the five skills listed below ]

[ Sword Intent ] - Coat your swords with an aura that increases damage output. All sword attacks are enhanced by 150%.

Note: The host must learn how to channel the sword aura manually before the full 150% will take effect.

[ Harden ] - The host's defense will double whenever the host advances in realms.

[ Rapid Regenerate ] - The host's HP will regenerate at 5% per second.

[ Illusion Gaze ] - Gain 40% resistance against illusion attacks.

[ Humor ] - Using appropriate words, you can successfully defuse about 80% of hostile situations.

"I mean, seriously. Who wants to have a peaceful talk with their enemy who is trying to kill me?" The humor passive skill is indeed great. But Karsha is not here to have a peaceful talk with the ten savages.

His main objective is to obtain their venom, and there is no way he can achieve that through peaceful negotiation. The humor passive ability cannot assist him in his impending clash with the ten overlords.

Then there is the illusion gaze. With 40% resistance against illusion attacks, the chances of him getting caught in an illusion can be reduced by 40%, meaning he has to focus only on the remaining 60%. Although it might not seem like much, an illusion is dangerous, especially if caught mid-battle.

However, with 40% resistance against it, the wielder will just have to have strong enough mental strength to deal with the rest. It's a great passive ability, but what Karsha needs now is an offensive ability, so he lets go of this one.

However, he didn't hesitate when he saw the Rapid Regenerate. The ability to regenerate HP at a rate of 5% per second is something he needs right now. He has the Death Scripture's first volume that requires HP instead of Mana to activate.

While the scriptures require a percentage instead of a direct figure to activate, Karsha knows that the higher his HP pool, the more powerful the damage output. Someone with an HP pool of 200,000, using 90% of it to activate the 9th chapter, will have a higher damage output than someone with an HP pool of just 100,000.

With the rapid regeneration, if Karsha is not under constant assault from an opponent, with his HP pool full, using the scripture will unleash its full might. The Rapid Regenerate is the perfect ability for him right about now.

It's just 5%, but with only 20 seconds required, he will be able to regenerate his HP back to its full capacity in no time. He ignored the Harden ability and picked Sword Intent.

He needs all the buffs he can get, and since he can get a 150% buff even though he hasn't yet mastered Sword Intent (aura), it sounds like a great ability.

Once he was done picking the [Sword Intent] and [Rapid Regenerate], he moved to the third category.

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< Active Rewards >

[ Select three out of Six Active Skills Listed ]

[ Berserker Fury: A ] (Tier 5) - Sacrifice 50% of your HP points and gain a 170% increase in attack power for 10 Minutes.

[ Cooldown: 10 Hours ]

[ Rage Swordsman: A ] (Tier 5) - Engage in relentless Close combat and for every 10 minutes in battle, there will be a 50% increase in attack power and a 20% increase in defense.

[ Rapid Counterattack: A ] (Tier 5) - When in close combat, for every successful Critical hit, you will get a 90% chance to land another critical hit in rapid succession.

[ Rage Whirlpool: A ] (Tier 5) - Using Mana, create a chaotic sword whirlpool that inflicts damages based on the amount of Mana pumped into the skill.

[ Asura Slash: A ] (Tier 5) - Using Mana, engulf your sword with Asura dark flames that inflict continuous damage from the flames left burning on the targets.

[ Death Move: S ] (Tier 5) - Sacrifice 90% of your HP and MP and unleash an attack that has a 90% chance to deal a killing blow. There is no cooldown.

"Damn it, system, why do you have to make things so difficult," Karsha cursed as he began going through the skills again.

The Berserker Fury is a powerful ability to have. Just like his passive ability, Berserker Rage, which grants him a 150% upgrade in all stats, Berserker Fury focuses on attack power. The higher the attack power, the more the damage output.

But that's not all. Because this is an active ability, Karsha can cheat the universe by using Berserker Rage first to elevate his stats, and then when all stats rise to a new height, he will sacrifice 50% HP, making the output even more robust.

And since the damage output is determined by how much HP is sacrificed into the attack, the temporarily elevated HP will make Berserker Fury raise the attack power to the next level. In short, Berserker Fury and Berserker Rage are a perfect match that shouldn't be separated.

Then there is the Rage Swordsman skill that grants a 50% buff on attack power and 20% in defense when engaged in close combat for 10 minutes. All he has to do is engage in combat for 10 minutes, and his attack power will level up by 50%, and even his defense will also get a boost.

The Rapid Counterattack is also a good skill. With a 90% chance to land a critical strike, Karsha can utilize that moment and use a powerful skill to land a killing blow.

For instance, should he manage to trigger that 90% chance, he can employ the Death Move skill, which has a 90% chance of dealing a killing blow. The combination of the two skills is just as perfect as Berserker Fury and Berserker Rage.

The Rage Whirlpool is perhaps the skill he would need in large-scale battles. With the ability to create a chaotic whirlpool of swords, he can easily kill multiple targets due to the countless swords that will keep shooting at the targets.

It may not be the strongest, but in large-scale battles, it will probably be the only skill that can handle that much horde. It's an Area of Effect type of skill that will make anyone kill for it, but Karsha just ignored it and picked his best three.

Although Karsha wanted all six skills, he was limited to only three. And since he would be facing Behemoth very soon, he knew the power buff skills would come in handy. Therefore, he picked [Berserker Fury], [Death Move], and finally [Rage Swordsman].

With the combination of Berserker Fury and Berserker Rage, he could become overpowered and might even be able to bridge the gap between him and the Overlords.

< Ding! Congratulations, you have been awarded by the system for completing the Breakthrough quest. >

< System Rewards >