About Talent

The barbecue stand emitted wisps of cooking smoke, and nearby storefronts were adorned with shimmering neon lights. A continuous flow of pedestrians filled the streets, chatting and laughing.

Surveying the surroundings, the ambiance was rich with the spirit of revelry.

As the two conversed, they placed their orders and sat at an open street corner, awaiting the proprietor to serve their dishes.

"Selling equipment and virtual items. I thought you were running an online store for someone!" Wang Kai couldn't help but mock. "After all that fuss, you've already entered the game?"

Jiang Han nodded, smiling. "Eternal has a powerful virtual reality experience, claiming to be the second world. The allure is irresistible; how could I not be tempted?"

"What's the name of the game?" Wang Kai asked. "I'll add you as a friend when we get back."

"Well..." Jiang Han hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Let's keep that confidential for now."

His current reputation was quite prominent, with many players wanting to eliminate him. While he trusted Wang Kai, he preferred not to reveal too much in the short term, just to be cautious.

"Quite mysterious," Wang Kai didn't take it to heart, but after some thought, he reminded, "Let me tell you, 'Eternal' is different from other games. You must treat NPCs as if they were real people; otherwise, progress will be difficult!"

He knew how treacherous the game could be. He suspected that Jiang Han might be stuck in the newbie village and hesitated to mention it, which was understandable.

Although he had confidence in Jiang Han's skills, in "Eternal," what mattered at the beginning wasn't just skill but also appealing to NPCs.

He realized this only on the second day of the game launch.

"Got it," Jiang Han agreed.

Since Daniel guessed that adventurers had the protection of the Goddess of Life, making them unafraid of death and promising to equip players unconditionally, Jiang Han never treated the indigenous people as formulaic NPCs.

Later, the two chatted about the game while enjoying their barbecue.

"Oh, right!"

At a certain moment, Wang Kai suddenly thought of something. Looking around to confirm no one was eavesdropping, he whispered, "Let me tell you a secret. It's said that in 'Eternal,' when a player's strength reaches a certain level, they can enter a mysterious realm."

A mysterious realm?

Jiang Han was slightly surprised, immediately asking, "What kind of realm?"

"I'm not sure exactly when the realm opens, but it should happen automatically when you reach a certain level," Wang Kai mysteriously explained. "The realm seems to be related to the adventurer's talent. Apparently, 'Eternal' doesn't like to grant talents to characters through simple luck and lottery draws; it determines talents' strength through trials."

"How do you know all this?" Jiang Han wondered.

Wang Kai's family was well-off, but he wasn't extraordinarily wealthy. It seemed unlikely he would have early access to such exclusive information.

"I told you, I joined a studio, and that studio has a lot of influence. We want to make a big impact in the game," Wang Kai patted his stomach, getting up. "Well, don't ask too much. Let's end our chat here for today; I need to go back to work."

"Sure."

Bidding farewell to Wang Kai, Jiang Han headed back, planning to complete the task and then try to extract information about talents from Daniel.

Back in his rented room, he put on the game helmet.

Online!

...

"Whoosh!"

Upon entering the game, Jiang Han opened his eyes to the familiar desolation.

Continue grinding!

With only two hundred demonic lizards left, he planned to finish them all tonight.

Holding the Wild Bison Sword, Jiang Han searched for respawn points. Fortunately, he had marked many locations before, saving him a lot of time searching for the demonic lizards.

During the grinding session, Dragon Soars Miles transferred fifty thousand, and Jiang Han revealed the hiding place of the equipment. The transaction was completed.

"Ding!~"

System prompt: Congratulations on completing the quest "Refine Yourself." You can now go to the Undead Mage Mentor Daniel to receive your quest rewards!

Until eleven at night, Jiang Han finally killed the full quota of 500 demonic lizards, returning to Daniel's healing spot with eager anticipation.

"Hmm?"

Sensing someone approaching, Daniel stood up, a surprised expression on his face. "I didn't expect you to complete the quest so quickly."

Quick?

I'm about to vomit from all this grinding!

Jiang Han couldn't help but internally complain. Seriously, he said solemnly, "Mentor, please reward me."

"..."

Seemingly taken aback by the straightforward request for a reward, Daniel's mouth twitched. "Rest assured, I won't mistreat my disciple."

"Ding!~"

System prompt: Congratulations on completing the quest. You have gained 25,000 experience points and a Storage Ring (Silver-grade)!

"Whoosh!"

The experience from the quest instantly filled Jiang Han's almost 80% experience bar, reaching level 17.

They even gave an item, and it's Silver-grade?!

Jiang Han quickly opened his inventory, finding a ring with a blue gem embedded in it. Simultaneously, the inventory space increased by a full twenty slots.

[Storage Ring](Silver-grade)

Introduction: A treasure that every powerful individual on the Continent of Eternity possesses. It allows for convenient retrieval or storage of items and equipment.

Effect: Increases inventory space by 20 slots

(Note: The Storage Ring is not considered equipment; it becomes effective when carried.)

Great stuff!

Jiang Han was delighted.

With the Storage Ring, his inventory space had greatly expanded. Now, when picking up equipment, he wouldn't need to worry too much. After all, thirty slots were more than sufficient for the early stages.

"Mentor, do you know anything about adventurer talents?" Jiang Han asked.

"Talents?" Daniel was momentarily puzzled, then realized, "Come to think of it, you adventurers have only just arrived in the Continent of Eternity, and talents haven't been obtained yet. It's normal for you to ask."

"Can you be more specific?" Jiang Han inquired.

Daniel's dark gold-level strength was quite powerful for early-game adventurers and could provide significant assistance.

"When your strength truly reaches the average level of the indigenous people, you will enter a unique realm. In that realm, you'll undergo a special trial. After the trial, you'll have approximately sixty minutes to choose the talent you desire," Daniel explained in detail. "These talents are like balloons, each with different colors. Once you've selected a talent you find satisfactory, you can choose to leave."

"You have sixty minutes to choose?" Jiang Han found it somewhat strange.

"Don't think it's a lot of time; in reality, most talents you encounter within those sixty minutes are quite ordinary," Daniel shook his head, continuing, "Most likely, you'll come across D, C-grade talents. My talent, for example, is C-grade, named 'Potion Enthusiast.' It gives me a small chance of getting double rewards when creating potions. The higher the potion's difficulty, the smaller the chance."

"..."

Jiang Han was left speechless.

"Do you find it disappointing? Well, expectations lead to greater

 disappointment. Initially, I also hoped for A or even S-grade talents. But reality will teach you how to face it," Daniel chuckled, indifferent. "I heard that the Sword God of the Light Camp has a talent called 'Sword Heart,' which boosts damage with sword-type weapons by 80%. Truly enviable!"

"Sword Heart belongs to what grade of talent?" Jiang Han asked, curious. 

Boosting the final damage by 80% was extremely powerful!

It meant that if the original damage was 1000, it would now be unconditionally raised to 1800. Moreover, the word "final" indicated that the damage could be increased again under the premise of a critical hit!

"No, it's SSS-grade!" Daniel shook his head, denying. "In the entire Continent of Eternity, holders of SSS-grade talents are extremely rare. S-grade talents are already the best, including the tiers of skills, from low to high, it's always been D, C, B, A, S, SSS... Don't think too much about it, the S-grade skill I gave you, 'Sinful Trample,' is already enough to make you a force to be reckoned with in one region."

"It's to benefit the region," Jiang Han corrected.