[Class Skill: Harvest]

[Description]: Allows the user to extract and devour the soul and blood essence of a target, converting them into nourishment for self or others.

[Functions]:

• Essence Extraction: Draw out blood essence as a concentrated source of vitality and energy.

• Soul Devouring: Consume the soul to restore spiritual reserves and reinforce the soul.

• External Nourishment: Transfer harvested energy to external targets.

• Memory Extraction: Absorb a target’s memories, experiences, and knowledge.

[Limitations]:

• Targets must be dead or unable to resist.

• Memory extraction is not guaranteed to be complete or coherent.

• Excessive or rapid consumption without refinement may cause instability or mental interference.

Michael raised an eyebrow as he read through the panel.

The description itself was not what caught his attention first.

"There’s no mastery level."

This was not the first time he had seen something like this, but it was rare. Extremely rare.

Most skills followed a clear structure. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and beyond. They could be trained, improved, and refined. This was one of the reasons awakeners still held an advantage over cultivators even when stats gained from leveling up started to lose their importance compared to the early stages.

The greatest advantage was still the rank advancement quest. All awakeners needed to do was polish their rank ability to its peak, raise their rank level to the peak to gain the qualifications to accept a quest, complete the quest, then advance.

It could not be called easy, but compared to cultivators it was considerably better. After all, just because a cultivator sought advancement did not mean they would find it. Awakeners still had a much better time, though with their own set of difficulties.

Michael leaned back slightly in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest as he thought.

Skills without mastery levels came with a different set of rules. Either their limits were tied directly to the user’s understanding, control, and application, which could count as an advantage depending on how one looked at it, or they carried inherent fixed limits.

Just like the Detect skill.

That skill could only reveal information on targets up to twenty levels above him. Anything beyond that was reduced to question marks, no matter how many times he used it.

He was unsure which category Harvest belonged to.

"Interesting."

Michael’s attention shifted back to the description itself.

"It’s a bit predatory."

But that was expected from a dark class.

Still, the skill reminded him of something familiar.

"Lily."

The moment the name surfaced, a connection formed in his mind. Lily’s law had the ability to absorb essence to strengthen herself. At a glance the two looked similar.

But Michael could tell they were not the same. Not quite.

His law allowed him to copy the abilities of his undead. If he wished, he could replicate Lily’s method through that. But this skill seemed structured differently. More systematic, perhaps.

Of course the difference might not be significant either. Neither he nor Lily had spent enough time with their laws to truly grasp their depth. Everything they had done so far was surface level. Their main advantage was the foundation that made them dominant compared to their peers.

There was still a long way to go.

Michael shook his head slightly.

"In any case it should be useful."

His gaze settled back on the panel.

Unfortunately there was nothing suitable nearby to test the skill on. There was Shojo, but that was a near-demigod existence. Michael’s expression turned slightly serious and he dismissed the thought immediately.

Using something like that for experimentation felt not just wasteful but dangerous. Even in death, a creature of that level was not something to treat lightly. One wrong step and whatever backlash came from it would not be trivial.

It was like how one could not be careless around a dead snake, as even minutes after death it could still poison someone through pure instinct.

Michael leaned back fully into the chair and closed his eyes briefly.

"I’ll wait a bit then. There’s no need to rush."

He felt it was better to test the skill on weaker targets first, grind up his proficiency, then gradually work upward.

There was also another reason. Michael planned to have Jester devour the consciousness of the dead Shojo.

The intelligence of strong creatures was no different from that of intelligent races. The main difference was their race. As a Legendary Stage creature, Michael felt Shojo should carry valuable memories.

Who knew, it might even have a treasure cave somewhere filled with numerous valuable things. A creature of this level should have lived for at least a few centuries, so the possibility was not unreasonable.

Through those memories Michael would also be able to determine whether there were any other dangerous beings or places within the Everlong Forest. He doubted anything more threatening than Shojo existed in that region, but it never hurt to be cautious.

The thought of treasures and valuable knowledge made Michael too restless to continue sitting quietly.

After placing his storage ring inside the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten, Michael in his Aurora body went to seek out Jester. Or rather, he made his way to the living room while using his connection with Jester to summon him there.

"You called for me, master?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Michael, who had been relaxing on the sofa with his head tilted back and eyes closed, brought them down to look at Jester. He had sensed the undead’s presence even before it spoke but only bothered to lift his head once it did.

What he saw next made his breath pause.

Jester was akin to a complete replica of Michael. His features were nearly identical, from the shape of his face to the structure of his jaw and nose, as though carved from the same mold, only slightly less matured making him look like a junior relative.

But there was a visible difference now.

Jester’s long hair, once a uniform jet black, now carried visible streaks of white woven through it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​