Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

Chapter 310 A Moment Of Respite, Research Cavern

Though the number of skills available to Kieran at Lv.50 wasn't anything amazing, with him only being limited to three, the rank of these skills was phenomenal! 

What he had obtained were two S Rank Actives and one S Rank Passive. 

From this, it was clear that rather than chase an incredible number of skills, the True Berserker Class sought quality instead.

One could accomplish more with a decent number of powerful skills compared to having a large number of weak skills. After all, the latter would be barely capable of even putting a dent in some of the truly monstrous foes that Kieran would have to face in the future.

Nevertheless, having skills with a high rank was not without its detriments. 

If Kieran wanted to purchase all of his Lv.50 skills, he'd require 150 SP. But if he did that, he'd have to wait quite a while before he could ever think of upgrading skills through spending SP.

Why? Because as of right now, he only held 160 SP. 

After purchasing the three skills, he'd be left with 10 SP, which was far from enough to upgrade any of his useful skills. 

However, after reading through the skills' descriptions, Kieran's apprehension was immediately washed away. 

'This class is truly broken as fuck. How much stronger does it wish for me to become? I'm not by any means against it, but I understand why Impulse was such a monstrous entity on the battlefield. It was likely because of these three abilities before me.'

After marveling at the skill descriptions for a few seconds, Kieran disabled the stream visuals, so such personal information wouldn't be leaked.

While it was fine for him to display their effects, letting their exact parameters leak was completely unacceptable. Not to mention that another injection of skills could be seen as Kieran acquiring additional trump cards that others couldn't account for. 

Even if it was general knowledge that after reaching Lv.50, everyone gained moderately powerful skills, how could they estimate the parameters of a Mythic Class?

That was highly unlikely, unless someone like Daedric exposed the weakness of a Mythic Class. Thankfully, that would require a level of pettiness that Kieran felt Daedric wouldn't stoop to. 

If he did perform such actions, Daedric would only be implicating himself.

When Bastion saw Kieran looking into space with a pensive expression, he looked at him with a meaningful smile.

"The boss has reached Lv.50! That means he has gained access to more skills. That also means we're in for a treat if he's open to revealing them this early on," Bastion exclaimed jubilantly.

Afterward, Bastion inhaled to calm his delight and canceled Indomitable Field, giving his Indomitable Pure Will some time to recuperate. In that last fight, he had consumed quite a bit to keep the field active while also executing a few exhausting skills.

"I'll think about it. It all depends on how difficult the boss ends up being. If I can refrain from using them, then I'll refrain from using them," Kieran responded.

At the same time, Kieran motioned with his hand, causing a string of notifications to appear.

?System: You have learned «Ruthless Valor».?

?System: You have learned «Baneful Cyclone».?

?System: You have learned «Destruction Cleave: Outbreak».?

150 SP vanished instantly because of that, but in place of that large amount of SP, Kieran gained access to skills that made him smile genuinely. Similar to Keiran, there were a few others in the party that had reached Lv.50.

However, the only difference was that, with them, their level continued until they reached Lv.52.

"Should we rest for a bit before we move along?" Khaos questioned, sheathing his blade by his waist. 

His respect for Kieran grew after witnessing how he could split his attention even in the presence of such a strong opponent.

This was naturally a sign of great disparity in their current power. At least, that rang true inside Zenith Online. 

Many strong players were limited by the sub-par VR equipment currently in circulation. Once they could correct this problem, Kieran understood that the real battle for supremacy would begin.

'Anyone with abilities surpassing mid-level Titled Ranker abilities will become gods amongst men, especially if they become Advanced Beings by the time refined VR Equipment is released. My every step until now is to prepare for this challenge, including the training of my teammates,' Kieran thought.

At that moment, Altair crossed Kieran's mind. 'I'm not sure what Altair's situation is currently like, but I'll undoubtedly reserve top-of-the-line VR Equipment for him. One of the things stopping him from perfecting his Darkness Excursion Steps is the inferior quality helmet. For that, we need deeper synchronization.'

This was especially true for individuals that developed, awakened, or inherited their H-COS. After all, its effects could be further accentuated with the help of refined VR Equipment.

Upon thinking about this matter for a moment, Kieran glanced in Khaos' direction and nodded. "Yeah, it'll be best for us to rest. Sera is feeling quite exhausted."

As he spoke, Kieran reached out and ruffled Sera's hair, making her giggle playfully. "You did well. I don't need to say much about your skill, but it continues to get better. Saving your teammates when it matters most."

"Ah! That's all thanks to Altair. He realized that specialized timing training could help me best. So, while in the training room, I used the reaction speed training differently," Sera exclaimed, gushing with excitement from Kieran's compliment.

She went on to recount her training experiences in his absence, which made Kieran nod in satisfaction several times. 'It seems I missed out on some bonding while inside the Ancient Rune Oasis, but that's fine. Them coming together is mostly to foster relationships amongst themselves, so that alone is enough to satisfy me.'

In regards to Sera's training, from what she had explained, Altair had her snap onto the incoming projectile. The faster she could perceive the signs that the projectile was about to appear, the less likely she was to be hit.

This translated to understanding the several combat indicators in the game, primarily those that revealed her teammates would be in trouble. 

After a few days of training that way, Altair had Sera act as if she could heal by entering the room with Bastion and emulate her heals when she felt Bastion was in trouble.

All this training was the reason she had exhausted her Mana Pool so greatly in battle. It was becoming instinct to her—an instinct to protect her precious friends when she could.

"Not just Sera, all of you have been training exceptionally hard. I presume our X-hancer stash is growing dangerously low?" Kieran asked out of nowhere.

"It is," Alice admitted with a nod. This was a matter that Dr. Riley had recently raised with her. Since there were several people to sustain, their current supply of X-hancers was inadequate.

Listening to their conversation, Khaos' ears perked up. Though their relationship was purely transactional, Khaos saw an opportunity in Kieran's predicament. "If it's X-hancers that you require, I have some that I'm willing to part with."

"Ah." Kieran turned toward Khaos, looking at his placid expression skeptically. 

A person like Khaos was one of the most difficult people to get a read on because his emotions and thoughts were displayed in his demeanor and visage.

"Though your offer is tempting, I've made it a rule of mine to not be indebted to Overlord and beyond guilds," Kieran answered, politely declining the offer.

However, Khaos was persistent and moved to clear up his suggestion. "You misunderstand. I'm saying that Advent has an abundance of unused low-grade X-hancers. I'm willing to sell you them at their market price since Advent has zero intentions of recruiting a large number of newbies."

"I see…" Kieran muttered, giving the matter a bit of thought. But instead of answering, he turned to Alice for advice. "What do you suggest?"

"Me? Hmm…" Alice pondered over the question silently. "From battling alongside Khaos, I can see he has a penchant for providing aid and protection. It may be a savior complex, but who knows? In any case, his intentions are genuine. I think it'd be worth accepting his offer."

"I see," Kieran muttered in response. 

Though Khaos offered to sell the X-hancers at market price, this gesture was a favor in and of itself. Unless one possessed the means to enter the markets of X-hancers, one would inevitably end up paying a marked-up price.

X-hancers at market price were reserved for agencies of exceptional renown, such as guilds, great armies, and powerful families.

"If you accept the offer, I can release up to 30% X-hancers. Then again, compared to the extremely low-quality ones, its numbers will be low and almost pitiful, numbering no more than 20," Khaos voiced.

'Twenty 30% X-hancers? Considering I'm the only one with a body strong enough to handle that concentration, the amount isn't as pitiful as Khaos assumed. But… considering that Advent is a guild with hundreds of thousands of members, that's understandable,' Kieran inwardly mused.

"As long as the price isn't too exorbitant, I'll accept the offer and buy what you can offload," Kieran said.

However, what Kieran didn't know was that Khaos made this move in preparation for the future. 

Due to the price hike of the Merchant Associations' items, more players began to supply the UCETS with coins for sale.

If Advent could generate enough liquid funds, perhaps Khaos could perform a mass fund injection. Then again, Khaos wasn't the only Guild Master with these thoughts, but his situation was the most unusual.

There weren't many guilds that'd have an unused stash of X-hancers kept private and secured. That's just how organized Khaos was. 

Not to mention, unlike Eclipse, which was controlled by shadowy board members, Khaos had the highest level of authority in Advent.

Upon finalizing their deal, enough time had passed for a large portion of Sera's Mana Fatigue to be washed away. With that, Kieran led the party through a pathway in a wall that opened after killing Moribun.

Unlike the earlier scenes which resembled a kind of mechanized laboratory, the setting changed into one befitting of an alchemist with vials and notes strewn about in a large rocky cavern, where the walls were covered in the leftover residue from several experiments.

?System: You have reached the «Mad Alchemist's Research Cavern».?