Chapter 59

Chapter 59: I Want to Be a Master of Survival

The next afternoon.

Following the suggestion of a maid, the aimless Lynn made his way to the training ground of Augusta Manor.

He was ready to stretch his stiff muscles after a long while and ponder his future upgrade path.

Although it was called a training ground, it was essentially a vast sandy area built in a corner beside the manor.

Scattered on the ground were numerous training scarecrows placed at intervals, and beside them stood racks filled with various wooden weapons.

There were one-handed swords resembling Scottish broadswords from his past life, curved sabers for mounted combat, realistic weighted spear-axes, and battle hammers, even a long-handled axe painted deep gray.

At that moment, a group of muscular men with bare chests were sweating it out in the training area, happily frolicking around.

These guys were all bodyguards of the Augusta family, some of whom were even Transcendents.

Since it wasn’t their turn for duty, they were here practicing their bodies.

Lynn didn’t greet them and instead found a secluded corner to focus on his own tasks.

He first opened his system.

At this moment, he possessed only 1 divine factor.

Generally speaking, a typical first-stage Transcendent can hold up to 4 divine factors in their body.

It wasn’t that too many factors would overload the body.

In reality, almost all Transcendents don’t feel like they’ve hit the limit for divine factors when they ascend to the next stage.

It’s just that these things are incredibly precious.

The only way to gain divine factors is by completing divine trials.

The problem is, even among Transcendents of the same faith and stage, the trials they receive aren’t necessarily the same.

Some get lucky and might have three or four trials, like Lynn’s previous self.

Others are less fortunate or lack a pure faith and might only have one trial, barely igniting 1 divine factor before having to ascend to the next stage.

This leads to wide disparities in the ability levels of Transcendents.

At the same stage, those with higher counts could easily be ten times stronger than those with fewer.

Yet, even so, in the entire thousand-year history of the Saint Roland Empire, no one has ever been reported to have reached the limit of divine factor capacity at any given stage, even including the rare eternal chosen ones.

And today, Lynn might just become that exceptional case.

Looking at his current 283 system points, Lynn took a deep breath.

“System, give me some points!”

【Do you wish to spend 80 system points to ignite 8 divine factors?】

“Yes.”

The next second, accompanied by eight blazing red lights bursting like the sun, a dazzling radiance once again illuminated Lynn’s previously barren inner world.

Yet he was still not satisfied; he mercilessly tapped the plus sign.

【The number of divine factors that can be contained at the current stage has reached the limit.】

Alright.

Lynn sighed.

His previous self could hold 4 divine factors at the first stage.

He spent a whole six months completing trials like “Promote teachings to a thousand people,” “Hunt down twenty cultists,” “Collect ten rare meteorite fragments,” just to barely reach that limit.

Yet now, Lynn managed to surpass that half-year effort in just three seconds.

It seemed that 9 divine factors were the upper limit a first-stage Transcendent could endure.

Lynn tried to manipulate the powerful Transcendent power within him, concentrating it in his fingertips.

With a hint of faint red light, he gently pressed his index finger against the nearby training post.

Moments later, a deep fingertip mark appeared on the rough tree bark.

Just as expected.

Lynn felt a rush of joy.

The reason he insisted on choosing to follow the Sorceress of the End was precisely for this.

Though abilities like corrosion and physical power could easily cause this effect, they were fundamentally different.

The latter merely resulted in violent changes under physical laws.

The former felt more like erasing a part of the concept of the training post.

The annihilation attribute, one of Ivyst’s innate powerful talents.

This attribute had top-tier destructive power and sustainability in the early stages.

In high stages, it became terrifyingly powerful.

According to the original text, it could even forcefully eliminate certain rules or concepts.

For example, temperature.

Ivyst had previously shown several means of lowering temperatures, which wasn’t a frost ability.

She merely erased the concept of “heat” around her.

Though Lynn currently couldn’t pull off such astonishing feats, he could still deliver a dimensional drop against other first-stage Transcendents.

If he could draw a power-based extraordinary ability, he would be set for liftoff.

Lynn thought silently.

But speaking of extraordinary abilities, he suddenly recalled another matter.

It seemed that those two skills could also be leveled up.

【Do you wish to spend 10 system points to upgrade Liars’ Devourer to the second stage?】

“Yes.”

【Level up successful!】

【Due to unknown factors, your original ability has undergone a new change.】

Oh? Lynn curiously opened the details.

【Name: Fraud Game】

【Stage: Second Stage】

【Effect: Based on retaining the Liars’ Devourer ability, each time the host lies, it will be considered the start of a game. If the lie succeeds, the game wins, and you will have a chance to temporarily steal one extraordinary ability from the opponent. The greater the level difference, the lower the success rate and duration of the theft.】

【Activation Condition: Must possess more than 8 divine factors.】

【Points required for upgrade: 90】

This skill seems a bit impressive?

Lynn fell into thought.

Moreover, he seemed to still retain the original ability of Liars’ Devourer.

That means these two can stack.

By using Liars’ Devourer to make his lie succeed, then the game judgment would follow through—that’s about right.

But thinking further, it’s not that outrageous.

After all, the success rate of Liars’ Devourer decreases as the opponent’s rank increases.

Using it against ordinary people, the success rate could be said to be a hundred percent. But against a first-stage Transcendent, that rate would drop to below a third.

The higher the rank, the harder it is for lies to succeed.

What’s more, even if a lie succeeds, it doesn’t guarantee the ability can be stolen from the opponent.

So in strict terms, it still relies on luck.

With that in mind, Lynn proceeded to level up the Thorn Crown.

However, this time the ability did not change, only its effect improved slightly.

【Name: Thorn Crown】

【Stage: Third Stage】

【Effect: Under this ability, you can accumulate the pain you feel and release it at double the strength.】

【Activation Condition: Must possess more than 6 divine factors.】

【Points required for upgrade: 150】

Not only did he gain a twofold enhancement, but the original requirement to feel double the pain also vanished.

Lynn felt quite satisfied with the current effect.

With 143 system points left, he could draw one more ability, but Lynn decided to hold off for now.

After all, his luck was notoriously terrible.

What if he ended up with another support or lame ability? He resolved to wait until things settled down and look for an ancient talisman to enhance his luck before drawing a new ability.

For now, Ivyst didn’t require any combat power from him; it was best to lay low and develop in secret.

Not long ago, he publicly claimed to have successfully accommodated a divine factor from the “Holy Awareness” faith that the princess provided him.

So nobody expected much from his combat power; they only saw him as a wise advisor.

Little did they know, this was exactly the effect Lynn wanted.

He aimed to become a master of survival!

After spending around ten minutes sorting out the system, Lynn turned his attention to the training post before him.

Thorn Crown, activate! Expecting this to unfold like the first time he activated Liars’ Devourer, with some strange visual of fate’s prisoner.

Unexpectedly, nothing happened.

Lynn felt a bit puzzled, but didn’t dwell on it too much.

“Bam!”

He punched the straw-wrapped section of the post.

A strong dull pain surged through him.

Then Lynn distinctly noticed that pain seemed to transform into some kind of energy, stored within him in a unique way, ready to be released at any time.

Currently, it appeared that the Thorn Crown was his only attacking ability.

So Lynn decided to pretend to be practicing while secretly storing some pain energy for self-protection.

With that thought, he began to pummel the post, one punch after another.

His original body’s physical quality wasn’t weak; after all, he had served in the military before—his muscles, while not bulging, packed an extraordinary amount of strength.

“Bam!”

“Bam!”

“Bam!”

Time flew by.

Before he knew it, the sun slowly began its descent, draping the sky in magnificent twilight.

Lynn’s forehead and body were soaked with sweat.

He had been working out there for an entire afternoon.

At this moment, his fists were swollen and bloodied, and even a light touch caused sharp, prickling pain.

Yet, this was the effect he wanted.

Feeling the growing energy of pain within him, Lynn was rather pleased.

He took out a potion he had prepared beforehand, uncorked it, and gently applied it to the surface of his fists.

With a refreshing sensation, the wounds began to visibly heal at an astounding rate.

He figured he’d call it a day.

He still had to attend a banquet hosted by Duke Tilius later tonight with that woman Ivyst, and he needed to take a shower and freshen up.

He truly couldn’t show up looking like this; she would definitely want to flay him alive.

With that in mind, Lynn wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to head back to the mansion.

But as he turned around, he discovered he had been surrounded by a group of people.

The bodyguards from the manor, who had been exercising just a moment ago on the sandy side, had somehow clustered behind him.

At a glance, most were ordinary folks, but several first and second-stage Transcendents were among them.

“What’s going on?”

Lynn glanced at them and asked.

“You’re the outsider who made Master Rhine hit a snag twice?” the lead bald man cracked his knuckles, “Practiced all afternoon, you need us to spar with you?”

Feeling their unkind gazes, Lynn chuckled.

“Sure!”