Chapter 17: Devour
Sam couldn't help but be impressed by how deeply the principal had hidden himself, to the point where even Neo hadn't informed him.
Nevertheless, as long as the principal didn't show any hostility towards him, Sam didn't see it as a significant issue.
In a flashback...
Upon entering the office, Sam received a prompt from the World System.
[World System]
[Ding...]
[Your Talent: Copy [incomplete EX] has the urge to copy Talent: Ego [S]]
[Do you agree?]
[Yes/No]
The shock of the prompt jolted Sam, considering his Talent had never shown any signs of activity since awakening. Furthermore, his status panel provided no details about it.
Talent: Copy [incomplete EX]
-???
-???
Grade - Incomplete EX
The enigmatic introduction of his Talent left Sam in wonder.
Sam hesitated to agree and consulted Neo to confirm if it was the right course of action.
[Neo]
[Yes, host, it is indeed the right direction.]
[Every EX-grade Talent is akin to a single entity.]
[Your talent is also an EX grade, but it remains incomplete, requiring a consciousness and an appraising talent to reach completion.]
[Your talent may gain consciousness after devouring Talent: Ego [S]]
[Host, I advise you never to show any flaws before this person.]
Neo's assurance dissipated Sam's unnecessary worry, and he agreed to the copy.
As for Neo's last prompt, Sam decided to focus on it at another time.
[World System]
[Copying Talent: Ego [S] is in process]
[Please present near the target for 1 minute]
[Process 1%... 50%... 100%]
[Copy successful]
The process swiftly completed, and yet another prompt appeared, this time an outrageous one, although within an acceptable range as Neo explained the significance of fur related to it.
[Ding…]
[Talent: Copy [incomplete EX has the urge to devour Talent: Ego [S]]
[Do you agree?]
[Yes/No]
As soon as the prompts appeared, an unfamiliar voice startled me.
"Huh! Where am I?"
"Why do I feel this chill?"
"Eh! Who are you?"
I quickly realized that if my talent, Copy, was used to replicate another talent, it duplicated everything exactly.
The voice seemed to emanate from an unknown place.
The chill I felt could be attributed to the Devour property of my talent: Copy.
During that moment, I also recognized that the voice belonged to 'Ego,' so I decided to halt the devouring process and do it at home.
I caught a glimpse of details about the sacrifice requirement but refrained from reading further, fearing the principal might notice something off.
Although I was quite shocked, I knew the principal couldn't openly do anything to me, so my worry faded.
*Flashback Ends...*
*In the Present...*
His voice still echoed in my ears, I thought.
"Show ego details," I murmured, and a panel appeared.
Talent: Ego[S]
- It has the ability to boost all your stats 5 times for 30 minutes
- A single entity that gains consciousness through rank upgradation.
- Grade: S
- Upgrade Condition: Sacrifice the souls of 5 S-rank players.
"What an evil talent," I thought, recognizing its effect of boosting all stats by 5 times, making it an outrageous cheat.
"As for the sacrifice, I won't pretend to be a saint. If the condition applies, I'll do it too," I decided, as Copy was my main talent. The ego talent was of no consequence to me.
"Devour," I replied to the world system.
[Ding…]
[Talent: Copy [incomplete EX] processing devour of Talent: Ego S]]
[Devouring process 10%... 50%... 100%]
[Devour process completed]
[Ding...]
[Talent: Copy [Incomplete EX] has gained consciousness]
As soon as the process completed, Ego's voice vanished, and another inhumane voice echoed in my brain.
"Master, did you awaken me?"
"Yeah, and you are?" I asked."Master, I'm your talent consciousness," the voice came into my mind, and I exclaimed, "Oh."
But the voice continued, "Master, I need an appraising talent to help you distinguish different talents and determine if you should copy them or not."
"Alright," I agreed.
"Master, for now, I'll enter a dormant state to receive all knowledge related to this talent, and when the time comes, you'll know all the details," the talent replied before entering the dormant state.
"What," I exclaimed at the surprising response, realizing that today was truly a lucky day.
"Thank God," I thought, relieved that I had already reserved a high-grade talent for Copy to replicate.
After these events, I decided to examine the results of my chaos training.
"Neo, transport me to Diablo," I said.
"Master, we have cleared all 12 dungeons," Diablo humbly replied.
"Okay, let's farm as much as we can," I instructed every skeleton, and I began battling monsters to test the results of my chaos training.
A mass massacre of monsters in the dungeon ensued.
*Rip, monster! *
---
**Su Yanran's Perspective**
A villa, three to five times bigger than Sam's, came into view.
"Yaner, what's the matter?" A middle-aged man asked affectionately.
"Dad, I want to go to the dungeon," she replied.
Her father, Su Sen, questioned curiously, "Have you already practiced your profession's skill?"
"Yes, Dad. That's why I want to go to the dungeon," she said, pouting as she recalled the scene with Sam.
Her dad couldn't hide a smile, teasing her, "Is my princess eager for some competition?"
"Dad," she pouted, puffing her cheeks.
"Alright, alright, I understand. I'll make the arrangements, and your 'Federation Player' card will arrive in 30 minutes," her dad replied helplessly.
"Thanks, Dad, and I'll get ready," she replied before heading to her training room.
As she disappeared from her father's sight, he murmured, "Shadow," and two people appeared out of thin air.
"You are responsible for her protection, and you must gather any information about her that I'm unaware of," he said coldly.
Both men vanished as if they never existed.
---
**Back to Su Yanran's Perspective**
"I have everything prepared," she said, placing her necessary belongings into a storage ring.
"Sam, one day I'll defeat you," she murmured, determination sparking in her eyes.
But the moment passed, replaced by a blush as she recalled the mesmerizing scene, and she shouted, "Bastard, how dare you captivate me."