SSS-Rank Talent: Super Upgrade System-Chapter 143: Choose Your Poison!

The massive combat arena of the Combat Techniques School fell silent, tension thick in the air.

The wager had been struck, the terms laid bare for all to hear.

The surrounding students, who had paused their brutal training regimens to eavesdrop, now stared at Daniel with a mixture of disbelief and uneasy curiosity.

A week to master an A-rank skill? It was an impossible boast, a fool’s errand.

They had seen geniuses spend half a year just to grasp the fundamentals of such complex arts.

Vice-Principal Travis Standen, his face a mask of fierce satisfaction, clapped his hands together with a sound like a small explosion.

"BOOM!"

The sound resonated through the hall, a punctuation mark on their audacious deal.

"Excellent!

I do love an aspirant with a spine, even if it’s about to be systematically rearranged during our... sparring sessions... next week!"

He grinned, a flash of white teeth in his scarred face.

"The Combat Techniques Collection Hall is that way. Choose your poison, Vance. I’ll be waiting, with great anticipation, for your inevitable failure."

Daniel simply gave a calm, polite nod.

"I look forward to claiming my big gift, Vice-Principal." With that, he turned and walked away, the weight of a hundred stunned stares following him like a physical cloak.

The Combat Techniques Collection Hall was less a library and more a sacred vault.

It was a vast, circular chamber of dark polished stone, the air cool and thick with the scent of old parchment and restrained power.

Thousands of skill books sat in glowing stasis fields along the curved walls, each representing a unique path of destruction or defense.

The silence here was profound, broken only by the faint, rhythmic hum of the stasis fields.

An old man, the hall’s curator, looked up from a large, leather-bound book as Daniel entered.

"Aspirant Vance," the old man rasped, his voice like dry leaves skittering across pavement.

"The Vice-Principal informed me of your... unusual arrangement. An A-rank assassin skill, is it? A bold choice.

Most who attempt such arts end up with more self-inflicted injuries than enemy kills. The archives are this way. Do try not to drool on the stasis fields."

Daniel followed the curator into a more secluded, heavily warded section of the hall.

Here, the skill books radiated a palpable energy, their latent power making the air thrum.

He browsed the holographic index, his eyes scanning the titles.

There was [Shadow Serpent Strike], a technique focused on fluid, venomous attacks. There was [Phantom Needle Art], a mastery of silent, ranged piercing strikes. And there was [Heartstopper Palm], a terrifying skill that promised to disrupt an opponent’s vital energies with a single, precise touch.

All were powerful, all were A-grade, but they didn’t quite fit the explosive, decisive style he was beginning to cultivate.

Then, he saw it. A skill book bound in what looked like dark, hardened magma rock, its title glowing with a flickering, orange light.

[Fire Trident Assault]

Grade: A

Description: A pure, high-burst assassin art. The user channels their own internal energy, infusing it with a fire attribute, into a piercing weapon or their own hand.

Allows for the execution of three instantaneous, consecutive stabs against a single target. Each stab carries a high chance for a critical hit, and the final strike is designed to pierce through moderate armor.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed. This was it. It was fast, it was direct, and it focused on burst damage.

More importantly, it had a fire attribute component. His S-Grade [Solar Flare Fist Art] had already granted him an innate, powerful affinity with fire and solar energies.

This skill wouldn’t just be learned, it would be supercharged by his existing abilities. The synergy was perfect.

"This one," Daniel said to the curator, pointing at the book.

The old man raised a single, skeptical eyebrow. "The Trident Assault, eh? Ambitious.

It requires a precise balance of speed and raw power. Most aspirants who try it either lack the speed to land all three hits, or lack the power to make them count.

Very well. The Vice-Principal’s orders are clear."

With a series of complex gestures, he deactivated the stasis field.

The book dropped onto the counter with a heavy, final sound.

Daniel took it, nodded politely to the curator, and turned to leave.

"Good luck with your... mastery, boy," the old man called after him. "The medical bay is two halls to the left. You’ll likely need it."

Daniel just smiled. He didn’t head for the training halls or his villa’s private gym.

He walked calmly back to the vehicle bay, the heavy skill book tucked under his arm.

He slid into the cockpit of his Voidshadow sport car, the engine starting with a deep, powerful hum.

This was his private forge, his silent sanctuary of evolution.

He placed the A-rank skill book on the passenger seat.

He didn’t open it. He didn’t need to. He simply placed his hand on the cover, his A-Grade gauntlets and wraps feeling like a natural extension of his will.

He closed his eyes, his mind reaching out, his SSS-Rank [Soul Assimilation] talent awakening like a hungry, ancient leviathan.

Assimilate. Enhance. Evolve.

The skill book began to glow with the brilliant, world-altering white light of Daniel’s talent.

The air inside the sealed cockpit crackled with energy. The car’s internal lights flickered violently, its advanced origin-power systems struggling to cope with the raw energy being manipulated just inches from its core.

A slight, barely noticeable tremor ran through the car’s chassis.

The knowledge from the book didn’t enter his mind as words or diagrams.

It flowed into him as pure concept, the essence of Trident Assault, every detail, energy path, and muscle movement.

His talent took this A-grade concept, digested it, and then began to viciously, beautifully, rewrite it.

It charged the concept with the blazing power of his Solar Flare, the precision of his Night Ranger instincts, and the raw strength of his immense attributes.

"BOOM!"

A soft surge of fiery power burst from the book, washing over Daniel.

The book didn’t crumble to dust, it faded, its essence fully absorbed.

As the light dimmed, Daniel sat in the quiet hum of his car, a new and formidable power anchoring itself deep within him.

His Nexus Interface chimed, the sound clear and triumphant.

[Soul Assimilation successful on Skill Concept: Fire Trident Assault (A-Grade)!]

[Skill Essence Reforged and Amplified by SSS-Grade Talent Synergy!]

[Skill Upgraded: Fire Trident Assault (A-Grade) has evolved into DANCE OF THE TRIDENT ASSAULT (S-Grade)!]

Daniel’s eyes snapped open, a slow, satisfying grin spreading across his face.

S-Grade. Of course. He eagerly checked the details, his heart hammering with anticipation.

[Skill: Dance of the Trident Assault (S-Grade)]

Description: A top-tier, high-burst assassination art that fuses lethal precision with the destructive power of solar fire. Upon activation, the user can perform five instantaneous, consecutive strikes against a single target.

First Stab: Deals 200% base damage, inflicts Searing Brand, minor fire damage over time.

Second Stab: Deals 250% base damage, infuses target with volatile fire energy.

Third Stab: Deals 300% base damage, detonates the infused volatile energy for a minor internal explosion.

Fourth Stab: Deals 350% base damage, with significantly increased armor-piercing capabilities.

Fifth Stab: The Reaping Blow. A guaranteed critical hit that deals 500% base damage and has a high chance to inflict the Soulscorch status effect, severely weakening the target’s spirit and regeneration.

Evolution Potential: This skill has the potential to evolve further with the assimilation of compatible high-tier assassination or fire-based concepts.

He let out a low whistle.

This wasn’t just an upgrade, it was a complete overhaul, transforming a basic three-hit combo into a five-stage display of destruction.

Five instantaneous strikes, each more devastating than the last, resulting in a guaranteed, soul-burning critical hit.

He imagined it in practice: activating [Twilight Phantom Step] to become an invisible blur, appearing behind a target, and unleashing the [Dance of the Fire Sickle] with his S-Grade Blade of The Night.

The sheer, overwhelming damage would be enough to obliterate most enemies before they even realized they were under attack.

"A week to master it, he said," Daniel chuckled to himself, the sound resonating in the quiet luxury of his car.

"I think I’ll give him a call this afternoon and tell him I’m ready for my big gift. I wonder what his face will look like."

The thought of Vice-Principal Travis Standen’s coming shock was almost as satisfying as the new S-Grade power pulsing through his veins.

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