SSS-Rank Talent: Super Upgrade System
Chapter 101: What Next?

Chapter 101: What Next?

The waters of the lake churned, then slowly grew still. The god of the lake was dead.

The silence that descended upon the shore of Yang Lake was absolute, profound, and utterly terrifying.

The only sound was the hissing of the boiling water where the Abyssal Maw Leviathan’s colossal corpse now lay, its immense bulk displacing a significant portion of the lake.

The tidal wave it created crashed against the distant mountainsides before receding, leaving the valley floor soaked and steaming.

Daniel stood on the shore, his chest heaving, his body screaming in protest from his earlier injuries, but his eyes blazed with triumphant victory.

He had done it. He had faced down a suppressed Level 60, SS-Grade beast, a creature that had been marked in the Academy archives as a world-ending threat, and he had won.

The S-Grade Blade of The Night in his hand felt warm, thrumming with a quiet, deadly satisfaction.

Ayra and Lia, who had been watching from the relative safety of the treeline, slowly emerged, their faces masks of utter, slack-jawed disbelief.

They had seen Daniel fight. They knew he was a monster. But this... this was different. This was beyond monstrous.

This was the stuff of legends, of gods.

"You... you killed it," Ayra breathed, her voice a faint, awestruck whisper.

She looked at the massive, unmoving form in the lake, then back at Daniel. "You actually killed the giant, angry death-fish. With a pointy stick."

Lia just shook her head slowly, her calm grey eyes wide with a reverence that bordered on worship.

"That final strike, Daniel... the energy... it felt like reality itself buckled. What did you do?"

Before Daniel could answer, his Nexus Interface, which had been momentarily stunned into silence by the sheer scale of the event, erupted with a cascade of notifications, each one chiming with the golden, regal tone reserved for legendary achievements.

[Congratulations, Aspirant Daniel Vance! You have successfully slain the Suppressed Apex Predator of the Taiji Basin: The Abyssal Maw Leviathan (SS-Grade)!]

[You have been awarded a significant EXP Bonus for defeating a creature far exceeding your current level!]

[EXP Gained: 25,000!]

The raw experience points flooded into him, a tidal wave of pure power.

He felt his very being surge, breaking through level after level with a series of thunderous internal booms.

[You have reached Level 8! All Attributes +1! Free Attribute Points Gained: 5! Class Skill Point Gained: 1!]

[You have reached Level 9! All Attributes +1! Free Attribute Points Gained: 5! Class Skill Point Gained: 1!]

[You have reached Level 10! All Attributes +1! Free Attribute Points Gained: 5! Class Skill Point Gained: 1!]

He had leveled up three times in the span of a heartbeat, reaching the milestone of Level 10.

The influx of power was immense, healing his cracked ribs and internal injuries with a warm, potent rush.

But it wasn’t over. He stood over the colossal corpse of the Leviathan, the water around it boiling from its residual heat.

He extended his hand, the familiar, hungry hum of his SSS-Rank [Soul Assimilation] talent building to a crescendo.

"Time for the real prize," he murmured.

<Assimilate?> Yes.

It wasn’t a beam of energy; it was a flood, an overwhelming surge of ancient, dragon-like, and dark power that nearly drowned his senses.

His Tier 2 talent strained, absorbing the unfathomably vast essence of the SS-Grade beast.

[Soul Assimilation successful on Apex Creature: Abyssal Maw Leviathan (SS-Grade, Level 60)!]

[WARNING: Assimilating SS-Grade Apex Essence! Extreme Cognitive and Spiritual Load Detected! Adaptability Check Passed! Spirit Check Passed! SSS-Rank Talent processing at maximum capacity!]

[Gain: Strength +500, Vitality +600, Agility +350, Spirit +400, Adaptability +300!]

[Combat EXP Gained: 15,000!]

[New Skill Acquired: DRAGONIFICATION (S-Grade)!]

The attribute gains were staggering, a quantum leap that likely doubled his raw physical stats in an instant.

His body felt like it was forged from divine metal, his mind sharp and clear, his spirit vast. And the EXP... another 15,000 points on top of the kill bonus!

[You have reached Level 11! All Attributes +1! Free Attribute Points Gained: 5! Class Skill Point Gained: 1!]

[You have reached Level 12! All Attributes +1! Free Attribute Points Gained: 5! Class Skill Point Gained: 1!]

He had jumped five full levels from a single kill and assimilation, catapulting from Level 7 to Level 12 in a matter of minutes.

The sheer speed of his progression was beyond absurd; it was a fundamental violation of how the world was supposed to work.

He quickly checked his new S-Grade skill, the one that truly defined the essence of the beast he had just slain.

[Skill: Dragonification (S-Grade):] Active Transformation. User temporarily taps into the latent draconic bloodline, partially transforming their body.

In this state, scales manifest, drastically increasing physical and elemental resistance.

Strength and Vitality are massively amplified, and the user gains access to a minor [Abyssal Breath] attack.

The transformation is taxing and has a limited duration.

This was it. A true transformation skill, granting him the resilience and power of a dragon.

Combined with his S-Grade [Earthquake Colossus Form], he could become an almost unkillable engine of destruction.

Ayra and Lia approached cautiously, their expressions a mixture of awe and concern as they saw the faint motes of light still swirling around Daniel from the assimilation.

"Vance," Ayra said, her voice surprisingly steady. "You are... largely unharmed after fighting that... that thing. How?"

Daniel just smiled, flexing his hands, feeling the immense new power coursing through him.

He looked at his teammates, the two powerful women who had trusted him, fought alongside him, and even used his shoulder as a pillow.

"I told you," he said, his voice calm but ringing with an unshakable, newfound confidence. "I’m a fast learner."

He now had a total of 25 free attribute points and 5 class skill points to allocate, a war chest of potential that would redefine his capabilities yet again.

The Taiji Basin had been conquered. The question now was, what came next?

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