Chapter 151: Seven-Star Release

[Seraphine Valcrest has sent you a Skill Book through the Exchange: Seven-Star Release.]

Seven-Star Release.

Seraphine’s greatest trump card. It drew out hidden potential, doubling a user’s attributes or increasing them several times over, depending on how many Stars were opened.

Without its dreadful backlash, the art could have stood among A-grade skills.

For Cassian, who could afford to drink Life Water as a refreshment, that drawback was much easier to handle.

What a gift.

With this, he was confident he could kill even a Level-70 Legendary monster. It was exactly the kind of skill that could save his life in an emergency.

One thing puzzled him, though. He opened a private conversation.

[Cassian Vale: Isn’t Seven-Star Release the signature skill of the Legendary Century King troop line? How did you find another book?]

It was very different from Moonlit Dominion. House Valcrest had created that art. A skill’s creator could produce books to pass it on, much as the creator of a troop line could produce its Building Blueprints.

Seven-Star Release had nothing to do with House Valcrest. Seraphine had obtained it by chance. Even Lyra and the other five relatives who had joined her did not know it.

[Seraphine Valcrest: I was lucky. An Absorption Stone dropped. I used it on myself and got this book.]

She did not mention that she had originally meant it for Lyra. Right now, Cassian seemed to be in the greatest danger.

Cassian marveled at her luck. He was hardly the only person finding opportunities in the Realm.

Absorption Stones were special items, as rare as sealing items. Used on a unit that did not resist, or could no longer resist, a stone produced a book for one randomly selected skill that unit knew.

[Cassian Vale: Thanks, kid. This is very useful to me.]

There was no reason to pretend otherwise with a friend.

The battlefield was dangerous for everyone. Seraphine had given him a skill that could save her own family’s lives. His importance to the Marches might justify that choice, but Cassian doubted he could have put a common cause ahead of those closest to him so easily.

[Seraphine Valcrest: You saved all of us last time. And I still haven’t paid you for that Life Water. Also, could you stop calling me kid? Aren’t you younger than me?]

Cassian laughed.

[Cassian Vale: If Darian can get away with it, why can’t I?]

[Seraphine Valcrest: Do you know how old he is? He never tells anyone. He just insists we call him big brother. And he’s the strongest of us, so nobody can argue.]

[Cassian Vale: You’ve been putting up with it this long. You might as well carry on. The same goes for me calling you kid.]

He sent her three bottles of Life Water from his carried supply as a return gift.

Life Essence was another matter. Too much was tied to that secret. He would consider it when a suitable opportunity came.

After closing the conversation, Cassian took out the new Skill Book and opened the Exchange.

He traded the book and eighteen million Aether for its complete Legendary version. The improved Seven-Star Release offered fifty percent greater effects, with the backlash reduced by half.

Cassian used the replacement book at once.

[Learned: Seven-Star Release.]

Crystal Seven descended from the sky.

"Lord, the survey within a hundred kilometers is complete. The nearest monsters are five kilometers east: a group of Skeleton Warriors led by a Death Knight."

Death Knights were Epic Undead troops, considered one of the best values among Epic lines.

The second floor was already proving its worth.

"Same tactics as before," Cassian ordered. "Seven, direct the hunt. Everyone else, split into groups."

As they moved out, he opened the second floor’s exchange list.

It offered far more than the first floor’s. The highest Quality available was Epic.

"No sealing items or Absorption Stones. Perhaps the third floor is where they offer Legendary rewards and special items."

He checked the requirement.

"Ten million Glory Points to reach the third floor. Can I get that many?"

Cassian put the list away and returned to hunting.

With Seven-Star Release available, he felt confident of facing any enemy he might meet.

A day and a half passed quickly.

Very few Lords had reached the second floor. In all that time, Cassian encountered only two Divine Lords. He dealt with both easily.

During the hunt, Corin Alder brought grim news to the Crown’s officers’ group.

Twenty-three War Lords from his Westmere Marches had been hunting together. A single Divine Lord had broken their force with ease. Only six had escaped. The rest were dead.

[Corin Alder: Be careful. He must be a Divine Scion. If I met him, I’d have to run too. Unless something unexpected happens, I fear he’ll take the Gold Battle Name.]

The Lords willing to enter Glory Battlefield were among their Marches’ strongest. Losing seventeen of them at once was a terrible blow to Westmere.

The others offered what comfort they could.

[Corin Alder: Remember his name. Neroth Thalor. If you see him, get out.]

[Darian Frost: A descendant of Thalor?]

Most of them had never heard the name.

[Nessa Fenwick: Who’s Thalor?]

Darian hesitated before replying.

[Darian Frost: One of the Divine Kings. An enemy powerful enough to force Lord Edran to build the Wall of the Void.]

The conversation went quiet with shock.

This was the first Cassian had heard of that connection. Being born into a great House certainly had its advantages. Darian knew things the rest of them had never even heard mentioned.

"If I beat the Divines and take the Gold Battle Name as a Human, my name will reach some very important people in the other races."

Cassian considered that for a moment.

"I should invite Darian over for some Dragon Tooth Rice when there’s time. Get him talking."

There was good news as well.

Darian, Elara, and all seven Valcrests had earned a million points and entered the second floor.

Nessa and her family had continued letting other races underestimate them. More than a dozen hostile Lords had paid for that mistake with their lives. Nessa had reached a million points too, but she knew her limits and stayed on the first floor.

Warnings about the Fenwick women were beginning to spread through the other races’ Channels.

Cassian checked his own score.

[Glory Points: 5,254,200]

"About two thirds of the time gone, and I’m only just past five million." He frowned. "Ten million for the third floor’s exchange list... I might make it. I might not."

A message arrived from Crystal Seven.

"Lord, I’ve found a burial ground a hundred kilometers away. I checked it in person. It’s a Dragon Tomb."