Chapter 362: Growing Very Fast

After Dandara left, Priam was a little confused and turned toward Mirra. She merely snorted softly and shrugged.

Seeing the little girl’s reaction, Priam sighed softly. Mirra had only been alive for a few years, but her mental development didn’t follow humanoid standards; currently, her maturity was equivalent to that of a teenager.

Clearly, Mirra already understood some things.

Priam moved and sat down on the bed. Mirra settled into his lap, calmly resting her head against his chest; she soon closed her eyes, returning to her meditative state to absorb Ether.

Priam, on the other hand, turned his attention to his Nexus Seed.

[Absorb?] [Yes / No]

He quickly nodded, causing all 50 stored Celestial Marks to be absorbed one by one.

Previously, his intention had been to allow his allies to try to become Celestials. However, after obtaining the system’s new ability, he decided to absorb all the marks himself.

Why?

The main reason was the instinctive discomfort he felt at the thought of creating Celestials using those marks. Thinking about it carefully, his allies would gain a power tied to the Six Sovereigns and the laws of the Ur-World.

In the long run, this could cause him serious problems. The Sovereigns could use the marks to track his allies or even manipulate them against Priam.

He didn’t know whether his suspicions were well-founded, but he had no intention of taking the risk—especially now that he had found an excellent use for those marks.

The absorption began. Priam felt his Celestial Core pulse, emitting an even more intense aura.

[System Assimilation: +1%]

Each Celestial Mark increased the assimilation by exactly 1%, leaving Priam slightly disappointed.

However, when it reached 49%, the final Celestial Mark, which belonged to that Veteran-level Celestial, was consumed.

[System Assimilation: 100%]

That single Celestial Mark had given him more than 50%, leaving him delighted.

[Level 5 (UP)]

[New Innate Ability Acquired!]

[Create World Mage Celestials]

[You can create your own Initial-level Celestials, who will possess the same abilities as ordinary Celestials. However, your Secret World is still very weak. They will never evolve to a higher level without improvements to the world, and unlike ordinary Celestials who draw energy directly from the Ur-World, yours will use the power existing within your Secret World. Therefore, there will be a clear limit to how much they can use.]

[Celestial Marks possible to create: 12]

Priam read the information and felt his heart race. However, new windows appeared.

[Assimilation of acquired knowledge:]

[Type 1: 10%]

[Type 2: 20%]

[Type 7: 45%]

[Type 10: 10%]

[Type 12: 14%]

[Note: Type 1 and Type 2 represent the two Manifestations created by a single Sovereign. Types 3 and 4 represent another Sovereign, and so on, for a total of 12. Upon reaching 100%, you will receive the complete knowledge of one of the Manifestations.]

[+ 30,000 GP]

Priam swallowed hard, overwhelmed with excitement.

Type 7—which had reached 45%—had to be the knowledge obtained from the only Veteran-level Celestial he had killed. Just one kill had given him nearly half the bar! This meant that by killing a Specialist-level Celestial, he would probably obtain close to 100% in one go.

Even if he wasn’t lucky enough to find targets at advanced levels, absorbing Initial Celestial Marks in large quantities would eventually lead him to the same goal.

’Excellent. It really was worth absorbing them all. Now I can directly turn people into Celestials, and they won’t be chained to the Sovereigns’ power. Even though their power is limited by my Secret World, I won’t have to take any risks in the future. Besides... it’s only a matter of time before that place grows, making this limitation almost irrelevant.’

[Total: 55,000 Germination Points]

’And to top it all off, I even got more points to spend!’ Priam smiled excitedly.

[5 Purchasable Skills:]

[21,000 GP] [EX Training Amplifier]

[10,000 GP] [Random Treasure Box]

[10,000 GP] [Lost Divine-Class Magic Art]

[8,000 GP] [Perfect Energy Assimilation] [NEW]

[5,000 GP] [Power Rune Storage +1]

During that war, Priam had needed to continuously synthesize and use Power Runes at different moments. It was an unprecedented experience that showed him just how valuable it was to have an arsenal of runes prepared beforehand.

Although he could synthesize whatever he wanted in the heat of battle, he could only create one at a time. Having a diverse stockpile ready for use provided an absurd tactical advantage.

[5 Available Transcendental Knowledge:]

[2,000 GP] [Complete Ancient Art of One of Your Bloodlines]

[18,000 GP] [Combat Mastery] [Level: Divine]

[18,000 GP] [Natural Elements] [Level: Divine]

[25,000 GP] [Synthesis] [Level: Divine]

[9,000 GP] [Holy] [Level: Medium]

Priam pondered for a few moments before deciding what he wanted.

[21,000 GP] [EX Training Amplifier]

[10,000 GP] [Random Treasure Box]

[2,000 GP] [Complete Ancient Art of One of Your Bloodlines]

[18,000 GP] [Combat Mastery] [Level: Divine]

[Total: -51,000 GP]

[Confirm?] [Yes / No]

Priam confirmed the transaction. He had already realized that there was no point in accumulating advanced knowledge if he didn’t possess the EX Training Amplifier; otherwise, every new piece of knowledge would require months or years of exhaustive study.

Besides, he had just acquired a new Bloodline and needed its corresponding Ancient Art.

Finally, since he would still have a reasonable amount of points left, he decided to gamble on something he had never tried before. Back on Earth, he used to play many games that had some sort of luck-based system—even though he had absolutely no luck—which made him irresistibly inclined to test this Random Treasure Box.

Before finalizing the exchange, Priam channeled the God-Weaver race’s Bloodline and performed the Bloodline synthesis. He now officially possessed his fourth Bloodline.

With everything ready, he accepted the exchange of his points.

Since he only had one new Bloodline without an Ancient Art, the system didn’t even ask him to choose and immediately gave him the knowledge. Then...

[Random Treasure Box]

[Generating...]

[Branch of the Anamoor Sacred Tree]

[The only existing branch of the legendary tree that went extinct in the Ur-World. In the past, the tree flourished in special regions, nourishing the soil with extremely pure spiritual power and greatly blessing spiritual races, who revered it as a true deity.]

’Wait... the only existing one?’ Priam was startled by the peculiar detail in the description.

If it was the only specimen in the entire world, and it had just fallen into his hands... that meant it had belonged to someone... or was being kept somewhere inaccessible in the world. The system had simply taken it from somewhere and handed it to him.

’I genuinely hope it’s the second option. The last thing I need is to be labeled a thief and have someone powerful come after me because of this.’

His train of thought was interrupted when the space in front of him began to gently bend and distort.

It was as if a dimensional rift had appeared out of nowhere. Then, emerging from within it right before him, a branch approximately one and a half meters long appeared.

It didn’t have a single leaf, but its smooth, noble wood emanated a hypnotic silver glow, radiating an overwhelming spiritual vitality.

Priam extended his hand and grabbed it.

At that very instant... the little girl in his lap opened her eyes.

Mirra’s eyes widened in surprise, and she jumped to her feet.

"Oh?" Priam raised his eyebrows, instantly sensing a deep and harmonious connection between the nature energy and soul power engraved within the branch.

"Pry, Pry! What’s this? It’s so pretty!"

Mirra exclaimed in her crystal-clear voice, bubbling with excitement, staring at the branch with her little eyes shining with fascination.

Priam smiled slightly, remembering the system’s description. Mirra was from a half-spiritual race. Spiritual races benefited greatly from this tree, so its branch should be something incredible as well.

"It’s a gift for you," Priam said, placing it in her hands with a gentle look. "You’re growing so fast, and you’re still my greatest partner, always helping me with everything. The moment I saw this branch, I knew it had to be yours."

"YAAAAAY!!"

Mirra let out a squeal of pure ecstasy and lunged forward, hugging the sacred branch with all her strength.

The silver branch was larger than her tiny figure, but the girl held it against her chest as if she’d just received the most precious jewel in the universe. The wood’s spiritual energy resonated in perfect harmony with her, causing her own aura to shine in response.

She couldn’t even put what she was feeling into words. After a few seconds, she turned toward Priam and hugged him tightly.

Seeing the little girl’s overwhelming joy, Priam gently patted her head and sighed in satisfaction.

’It seems I should trust my Transcendental-level Wheel of Destiny more and more. When it comes to luck, things always seem to work out. I need to make more use of it in the future.’