SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 352 Spirit Art Manual. Moon's Manual...

Chapter 352  Spirit Art Manual. Moon’s Manual…

“Think of it like this. Your acupoint is an ancient well left behind by a previous civilization. The water inside it is immensely valuable. But to access that water, you wouldn’t simply climb down with your bare hands, would you?”

Moon shook his head. “You would need the right tools. Like the older civilization, a rope, a bucket, a mechanism to draw the water out more efficiently.”

“Exactly.” Tom nodded. “The Spirit Art Manual is that mechanism. It allows us to take certain percentages of our skills and place them inside each acupoint as a foundation. The fragments of those skills become a base structure that spiritual energy can flow through and amplify.”

He held up a hand.

“As humans, we are limited. We can only learn skills granted by our class, or skills gained through comprehension, evolution, or the River of Paths. No human is ever going to accumulate eighty-nine skills to fill every acupoint individually. It’s simply not possible. So to cover this weakness, humans created Spirit Art Manuals that allow us to split existing skills into smaller fragments and plant them across multiple acupoints. This way, even with a limited number of skills, every acupoint has a functioning base.”

Moon listened in silence, but his heart began to hammer in his chest. It was so loud he was afraid Tom would hear it, or worse, feel it through his aura. Moon forced himself to calm down, somehow steadying his heart and keeping his expression perfectly neutral.

‘That means I wouldn’t need a Spirit Art Manual.’

Where others had to compensate for their limited number of skills by splitting them into fragments and distributing the pieces across their acupoints, Moon didn’t need to do any of that. He had twenty-two skills and that number was only going to grow in the future.

He could place a whole skill into every single acupoint. Unlike others who needed to place fragments, diluted pieces that stretched thin to cover the gaps. A complete, undivided skill sitting in each one, gathering spiritual energy at higher capacity.

The possibilities made his head spin. If fragments of skills were the standard, and whole skills were stronger than fragments, then Moon’s acupoints would each carry a foundation that no Spirit Art Manual could ever replicate.

His potential compared to other Evolvers, compared to Surpassers, compared to Ascenders, was boundless.

Moon swallowed the excitement and kept his voice measured.

“Does the rank of the skill matter when placing it in an acupoint? Does a higher-ranked skill make the acupoint stronger?”

Tom nodded. “Only natural. Higher-ranked skills like Rare or Epic produce stronger fragments, and they allow the acupoint to store more spiritual energy. The difference isn’t enormous at the individual level, but at the highest tiers of power, every small advantage compounds. It all adds up.”

Moon nodded calmly, as if the answer was merely interesting rather than the most important thing he had heard all day.

As someone with dozens of Epic-Rank skills and a Legendary-Rank skill, Moon knew that this was the cherry on the cake. The skills he was placing were among the highest ranks in existence. Every acupoint he filled would carry a foundation that most Evolvers couldn’t match even if they split their best skill across all of theirs.

And he had a Legendary-Rank skill on top of it. A rank, according to his knowledge, nobody in the sanctuaries had even heard of yet.

Moon didn’t dare imagine what would happen when he placed that one into an acupoint. He kept his face calm and composed.

Tom reached into his storage ring and produced a small book. It was thin, bound in pale leather, with the words “Fair Rank Spirit Art” embossed on the cover in silver lettering. He placed it on the table and slid it toward Moon.

“This is yours.”

Moon took the book and stored it in his ring for later appraisal.

The regional manager, who had been sitting quietly throughout the entire conversation, stood up and placed a long case on the table. He opened it and revealed a staff resting on a bed of dark velvet.

“This is the C-Rank Elemental Staff that was promised to you upon your evolution.” The manager said. “It offers high affinity to all four basic elements. The staff is highly durable, and it can also double as a combat staff for close-range defense if the situation calls for it.”

Moon picked it up. The staff was lighter than he expected, and the crystal at its core shone with four distinct colors swirling around each other. Red, blue, green, and white, each representing one of the basic elements. Instantly, Moon could tell that the craftsmanship was excellent.

“Thank you.” Moon nodded to the manager and stored the staff in his ring. He would examine it properly later when he had the time to test it.

Tom clapped his hands together once and stood up from his chair.

“Alright, that’s everything. Now get out of here.” He said, waving Moon toward the door with a shooing motion. “You’ve got a tournament in just over a week and you’re sitting here chatting with two old men instead of training. Go open some acupoints, beat up some spirits, and make sure you don’t embarrass me out there.”

He pointed a thick finger at Moon.

“I didn’t invest in you so you could come in second place. Now go.”

Moon allowed himself a small smile. “See you another time.”

He turned and walked out of the room.

After Moon walked out of the room, the regional manager turned towards Tom.

“You’re really betting a lot on that kid, Tom. Our group only receives two passes every tournament.” He said, his arms crossed. “That second pass you provided him. A pseudo-Five Star Evolver in our Group could have used it to skip the preliminaries and focus on pushing through to true Five Star by the end of the tournament.

 This way, our chances of winning the tournament with our ace will increase sharply. Instead, you handed it to a fresh Evolver who hasn’t even opened his second acupoint. How will he be able to compete with First Star Evolvers, let alone Fourth, or Fifth Star Evolvers.”

Tom turned toward him with a small, sly smirk that sat on his face.

“Old friend, this kid has potential that rivals even the Second Sanctuary Monster.” He said it plainly. “I believe that given a week of training and a little more time, he could do rather well in the tournament. Perhaps win it.”

The regional manager’s face contorted in shock. He stared at Tom like the man had lost his mind.

“You’re saying he has the potential of the renowned Light Swordsman?” His voice dropped. “That monster broke every record since he was young. Every evaluation, every benchmark, every milestone, he shattered them all before anyone his age even came close. I haven’t seen anything from this kid that puts him anywhere near that level. He hasn’t even reached the Light Swordsman’s average score as a fresh Evolver.”

Tom said nothing for a long moment. He turned back toward the window, his hands clasped behind his back, watching the city stretch out below.

“We’ll see.”

***