Talent System (edited)

Ross looked at the two talents, marksmanship and melee combat. He quickly decided and put 20 points of the 45 points of proficiency he had just received on melee combat.

Swish!

The moment the proficiency in melee combat reached 100 points, a golden light flashed, and the label on the right side changed from adept level to professional level.

At the same time, Ross felt that his body had become much more flexible. In addition, a large number of fighting skills were imprinted in his mind and bones as if it inspired them.

"The remaining 25 points can be placed on the Neji Neji no Mi."

Ross looked to his third talent, Neji Neji no Mi, and slightly thought.

Neji Neji no Mi is not the ability enabled by the talent system. Instead, Ross got it by chance in a dangerous encounter. Due to the crisis of the situation, he could only gamble by eating it without knowing what the fruit's ability was.

And after eating that fruit, a huge branch labeled 'Neji Neji no Mi' added to the talent system's combat class tree.

The basic ability of this Devil Fruit is to distort all matter that the body touches. Even hard steel can be easily distorted into pieces.

It seems ordinary, but in the talent system, it has a powerful path of development!

There are several branches on this huge branch, such as distorting light, distorting gravity, distorting space, and even at its very top, there is an incredible ability... to distort time!

It also takes a lot of proficiency to fill out the Neji Neji no Mi talent fully.

Light Distortion: 100

Gravity Distortion: 300

Space Distortion: 600

Time Distortion: 1000

Unlike marksmanship and melee combat, these extended abilities are additional branches that cost-free talent points to activate and reach sufficient proficiency.

Because of this, he was getting a few free talent points after hunting Rhodes, which surprised Ross so much.

After counting the one free talent point that he didn't spare a long time ago and the one free talent point he gained from hunting Rhodes, Ross now has two free talent points.

Soon.

The remaining 25 points of proficiency are still spent by Ross on the Neji Neji no Mi. It will enhance any talent on the talent tree with proficiency. Moreover, if he can meet the 50 or 100, he will get a huge boost.

"Hunt another pirate of Rhodes' level and you'll be able to bring out the first branch talent of the Neji Neji no Mi."

After feeling that his control over Devil Fruit has improved by a large margin, Ross nodded, with a hint of hope in his eyes.

Light Distortion.

This branch talent seems to be of little use but has great exploits. For example, it can distort light to create illusions, diversions, and so on. It can even distort strong light and directly deprive the enemy's vision, which can be said to be one of the most powerful talents.

In the case of the Light Distortion ability, unless one has mastered the Kenbunshoku Haki, one has to be highly handicapped and limited.

"Kenbunshoku Haki..."

As soon as he thought of Kenbunshoku, Ross couldn't help but look upwards. There are also three talents at the top of the talent tree: Kenbunshoku, Busoshoku, and Haoshoku.

Only these three talents are now grayish, indicating that he has not yet reached the criteria for its activation. It may be that the free talent points are not enough or that the physical strength is not yet at the level of grasp the shoku Haki.

"Huh?"

And just as Ross glanced from the talent tree and intended to exit, he noticed, albeit with no intent, that one area of the talent had changed from gray to green.

Green means he can activate it.

"Marine Rokushiki... Did this talent become unlocked?"

There are six talents in that area, namely the Marine Rokushiki of Soru, Geppo, Rankyaku, Tekkai, Kami-e, and Shigan.

Two of them, Kami-e and Soru, have turned into bright green. The others, Geppo, Rankyaku, Tekkai, and Shigan, are still grayish.

"It should be that I have taken my melee combat points to the mastery level and met the activation required for Kami-e and Soru. It seems that, as I presumed, I need my physical strength to meet certain conditions or activate certain specific talents in order to unlock other talents."

After nodding secretly, Ross looked at the Kami-e and Soru for a while in thought.

To activate Soru and Kami-e, each requires one free talent point. He now has precisely two free talent points to activate both talents at the same time.

The problem is that such things as free talent points are not always available when hunting pirates. He pursued and killed four or five big pirates with a bounty of about 10 million in six months to get two free talent points.

Ultimately.

Ross decided to activate the ability of 'Soru' among the Marine Rokshiki at first.

Soru is a high-speed mobile body technique, while Kami-e is a dodging body technique. If he encounters any danger, he can completely escape with Soru first. He can't activate Kami-e in the process of escape.

There is a bit of free talent left in reserve to avoid the difficult situation of not activating the branch ability of Light Distortion after enough proficiency of Neji Neji no Mi.

Swish!

After putting the free talent points to the bright green shaved branch, the branch shimmered and abruptly turned golden. While at this same time, a surge of power rapidly poured into Ross's body.

Ross's eyes are tightly closed, and his eyes keep turning for just a few seconds. But for him, it's like three months of constant training for Soru.

When he opened his eyes, the pace of Soru was seared into his bones and mind.

Ross let out a breath and tried it at once.

"Soru!"

Ross's entire body seems to suddenly disappear, with a breakneck speed, rushed out with a single stroke. Ordinary people can't even see his moves path!

After having performed several Soru in a short time, Ross returned to the same spot. He panted slightly, and his eyes showed a pensive look.

"In the state of performing Soru, the speed is at least two or three times faster than the normal state. The physical effort is also several times more than in the normal state."

Overall, it is still quite good.

With an agility enhancement in his Versatile talent, he is fast in himself. Combined with Soru, pirates with a bounty of 20 million or less will not be able to react in front of his speed, probably!

"Phew, time to go."

Ross breathed steadily, grabbed Rhodes' head worth sixteen million berries, left the street, and soon came to the shore.

There were two ships docked on the shore. One was slightly larger, flying the pirate flag, and the other was somewhat smaller than it, Ross's ship.

The pirate ship is naturally the ship of the Machete Pirates. There were originally two Rhodes' men on board, but Ross had cleared out by hand when he came.

Snap!

Ross threw Rhodes' head onto his boat, jumped on board with a gentle leap, skilfully untied the ropes, hoisted the sail, and sailed away.

Lifestyle talent, the only point he makes is sailing. After all, this is the world of One Piece. It's hard to get around without knowing how to sail.