Seth didn't particularly care about the political ramifications. During this single week of relentless training alone, his combat power had doubled from its starting point. This was the direct effect of training so brutally that you repeatedly crippled yourself, forcing your body to adapt and grow stronger through constant reconstruction.
But he was mainly able to push himself this hard because his natural recovery capabilities had increased dramatically. As a Primal Human who had reached tier 1, he could heal completely from shattered bones in mere seconds, and even faster when he supplemented his natural healing with directed magical energy.
"You actually care about political matters?" Evelin asked, her voice completely emotionless and flat, clearly skeptical of his sudden interest.
"Not particularly," Seth admitted honestly, wiping sweat from his brow. "But since I've just reached my current training limit, I might as well start looking for new opportunities to increase my combat strength through other means. Can't make progress sitting around here."
"The limit of one's combat strength can only be increased through training alone twice between rank 1 and higher tiers," Evelin stated, reciting what was apparently common knowledge in this world. Her eyes studied him intently. "You're seriously expecting me to believe you've managed to increase your combat power by a factor of two in such a short span of time?"
She had a valid point. At the lower stages of development, ranking up and growing stronger was relatively straightforward and accessible. But as an individual's power increased, the difficulty of further advancement grew exponentially. Each subsequent gain required more effort, more resources, more time.
For Seth to claim he had doubled his combat power in just seven days—jumping from 350,000 all the way up to 700,000—well, it strained credibility to the breaking point.
But as Seth ignored her skeptical stare and turned to retrieve a towel, Evelin activated her analytical ability. Her eyes began glowing faintly as she examined his statistics directly.
What she saw left her genuinely shocked and struggling to comprehend the data before her. Seth's combat power had indeed reached 700,000, exactly as he'd claimed.
But how was such rapid progress even possible? And yet, when she considered it more carefully, all Seth had done for the entire week was train without ceasing, day and night.
She had never witnessed anyone willingly attempt to lift objects far beyond their capacity, deliberately shattering their own body in the process, only to continue immediately after healing. He forced his physical form to grow stronger through sheer, unrelenting punishment.
"Our King is wise and strategic," Evelin said, regaining her composure and returning to the original topic. "He has everything well in hand. If he requires your assistance with the diplomatic situation, he will inform you directly. Though I sincerely doubt that will be necessary."
Seth laughed lightly at her words, a knowing sound that suggested he understood the political dynamics at play better than she might have expected.
"Take me to the royal treasury," Seth said, his tone shifting to one of clear intent. "I want to select a skill from your collection."
After all, part of the Universe Oath the King had sworn included granting Seth access to choose any skill scroll or technique manual from their archives. Now he wanted to see exactly what an empire that had existed and accumulated knowledge for thousands of years had to offer someone of his ambitions.
Evelin's frown deepened, her displeasure at the situation evident in the tight set of her jaw. She didn't like this arrangement one bit. But the oath had been made, sworn before the universe itself, and there was no backing out now. With visible reluctance, she led the way through the winding corridors of the palace toward the royal treasury.
When they reached the massive reinforced doors, the guards stationed there recognized Evelin immediately and stepped aside without question, allowing both of them to pass through into the sanctum beyond. Seth stepped inside and paused, his eyes sweeping across the vast chamber to take in the incredible wealth accumulated before him.
The treasury was a monument to centuries of conquest, trade, and magical achievement. Growth-type items that could evolve alongside their wielder sat on velvet cushions. Ancient tomes containing rare and powerful spells lined entire sections of shelving.
Enchanted weapons glowed with barely contained power. The list of treasures seemed endless, each item representing knowledge, power, or wealth beyond measure.
"If you've never used a skill crystal before, how is your passive recovery capability so unnaturally high?" Evelin asked, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. The question had been burning in her mind since she'd witnessed his training methods.
"My race naturally increases my overall capabilities," Seth explained with a lazy, dismissive wave of his hand as he began walking toward a specific section of the treasury. "It gave me exceptional baseline abilities long before I ever began formal training."
He approached a carefully organized stack of S-tier skill crystals, each one glowing faintly with contained potential.
"Is there anything specific the King instructed you to steer me away from?" Seth asked casually, not even bothering to look back at her as he spoke.
Evelin's body stiffened slightly at the unexpected question, her carefully maintained composure cracking for just an instant. She hadn't expected to be caught so easily, hadn't anticipated that Seth would see through the subtle manipulation before it even began.
"I'll tell you this much," Seth continued, picking up one of the crystals and examining it closely, turning it over in his palm. "My senses are exceptionally sharp—sharp enough that I can perceive exactly what abilities a skill crystal is capable of granting me. There's no gamble involved for me, no risk of wasting my choice on something useless or incompatible."
He selected a particular crystal with a knowing smile.
The information flooded into his perception instantly: An S-tier skill crystal containing the ability called [Star Arrow], which would allow the user to channel the raw power of distant stars and rain that celestial energy down upon their enemies.
At level 5 mastery, this skill would enable the wielder to unite the power of multiple stars simultaneously, creating devastatingly powerful arrows that burned with the fury of nuclear fusion, responding instantly to the user's thoughts.
The description noted that this skill bypassed conventional durability entirely. Due to the overwhelming heat generated by the arrows, atomic bonds themselves broke down before the attack's full might. Unless a target possessed specific means to defend against such extreme temperatures, they would inevitably fall to this arrow's power.
"That's impossible," Evelin stated flatly, her voice carrying absolute certainty. "No one can see the specific ability contained within a skill crystal before using it. That's the entire reason most people are terrified of using them—the uncertainty, the risk of incompatibility."
Seth ignored her protest entirely, already moving on to examine other crystals in the collection, reading their contents as easily as one might read text on a page.
Another S-tier crystal caught his attention, this one containing the skill [Thought Arrow]—an arrow literally born from pure thought, allowing it to bypass most conventional forms of defense. Once manifested and fired, this arrow moved at extreme velocity, traveling at the literal speed of thought itself.
The only significant drawback was its relatively modest attack power compared to other S-tier abilities. However, at level 5 mastery, the user would need only a passing thought to create such an arrow, and those thoughts would gain the power to pierce directly into a target's mind, attacking consciousness itself.
He continued browsing, information flowing into his awareness with each crystal he examined.
Another S-tier crystal held the skill [Survival], an ability that allowed the user to harness their willpower to literally overcome death itself. It tempered one's will to such an extreme degree that no amount of physical pain could kill them.
The skill would enable someone to continue moving and fighting even when their body was completely unable to function, operating on sheer willpower alone. At its highest levels, this skill enhanced willpower to such an extraordinary scale that even if the user's heart and brain were both destroyed, they could continue existing through willpower alone, refusing to die until they chose to let go.
The crystal included a note indicating that this skill increased willpower through repeated trials of illusion, forcing the user to overcome increasingly impossible scenarios.
There were dozens upon dozens of skill crystals available, representing an enormous variety of abilities and approaches to power. Most people avoided using them entirely, paralyzed by the fear that they might receive a skill completely useless to their fighting style or goals, wasting their limited opportunities for growth.
Seth didn't care about most of the skills he examined, finding them either too specialized, too limited in application, or simply incompatible with his fighting style and goals. That was, until he discovered something that made him pause, a slow smile spreading across his face.
The S-tier crystal in his hand contained the skill [Thrive], an ability that embodied a simple but brutal philosophy: what doesn't kill you literally makes you stronger, though at the cost of experiencing exponentially increased pain. Every broken bone, every laceration, every injury of any kind would permanently enhance the user's capabilities.
As this skill leveled up, the amount of power gained from each instance of damage would increase proportionally. However, in return, the pain experienced would grow more intense as the user approached their absolute limits. If someone reached their maximum threshold and dared to keep this ability active despite the warnings, the chances of death became extremely high, as the body could simply give out under the overwhelming agony.