[Max's POV]
The receptionist's eyes went wide the moment I handed her a small crystal card.
A tip of 1000 Myth Coins.
She almost fainted.
I just smiled, thanked her for her help, and walked away.
---
After walking for a few minutes, I reached a towering silver building that gleamed under the moonlight.
[Silver Spire – Luxury Hotel (E–Rank District)]
"I'll stay here tonight," I murmured. "Let's see if their hospitality matches the price. Maybe I'll buy the place."
I booked a room for 900 Myth Coins, and only then did I understand why the potion shop's receptionist reacted the way she did earlier.
---
My room was on the 5th floor.
Luxurious — even more than what I had during my first year at the Ro'nark Mansion.
Every facility was top-tier.
I let out a breath, relaxing for the first time today. My clothes weren't stained with blood, but the faint metallic scent lingered. So, I sent them for laundry... only to realize I didn't have any extra clothes.
I leaned back in the bathtub, warm water rising around me.
Well... time to open the thing I've been waiting for the most.
"Open System Shop."
---
A brilliant blue light flared before me, expanding into a holographic interface that covered half the room.
[Mythic Shop]
[Player Max]
[Player Grade: Special]
[Tower ID: MY–TH–S05–UV23–M012–Ω09–SS∞.0]
[Soul Signature: ∞.000∞]
[CATEGORIES:]
[Weapons & Armaments]
[Armor & Artifacts]
[Potions & Elixirs]
[Skills]
[Summons & Familiars]
[Runes & Enchantments]
[Residences & Furnishings] (Locked till 50th Floor)
[Luxury & Vanity]
[Communications & Relay Devices]
[Contracts & Pacts]
[Special Offers]
---
I blinked in amazement. "This looks like a full-fledged shopping portal."
Then I asked, "Is there a delivery time or something like that?"
[Immediate Payment and Immediate Delivery]
A grin tugged at my lips. "Perfect."
Without wasting time, I navigated to the one tab that mattered most.
[Skills]
[Elemental Skills]
[Combat Skills]
[Mystic Skills]
[Miscellaneous]
---
"I'll start with Elemental Skills," I muttered.
According to the system, I needed a related essence or skill to awaken each Affinity.
E–Rank skills were priced around 700–1000 Myth Coins.
So I began browsing, selecting every element that caught my attention.
Fire. Water. Earth. Air. Sand. Sound. Metal. Space. Light. Shadow. Illusion. Nature. Ice. Blood. Lightning...
After nearly half an hour of searching, I finally found one related to the Time Element.
---
By the time I finished, my balance had dropped by 16,000 Myth Coins — with the Time skill alone costing 2,500 Myth Coins.
I didn't really need Combat or Mystic Skills, but I browsed through them anyway. Nothing stood out.
Then I moved to Miscellaneous and instantly bought two skills — Perception and Analyse.
My Perception was already high due to my detection spell, but I lacked detailed information analysis. If I fused the two properly, maybe I could create a powerful ocular skill.
---
Steam drifted across the room as I stepped out of the bath.
Dinner was delivered soon after — expertly cooked and perfectly seasoned.
After the day's exhaustion, that meal tasted divine.
Once done, I sat on the bed and took out the skill books one by one.
Then, the Multiplying and Fusion Process began.
---
One by one, the books merged, pulsing with vibrant light.
I forged every Elemental Skill up to EX Rank — mana constraints didn't apply to me, and such high-tier abilities would help me maintain combat fluidity.
When it was over, sixteen glowing tomes hovered before me, each radiating the color of its element.
My strong soul nullified any skill limitation, so I decided to do everything here — to ascend fast and never stop at every few floors for preparation.
Within minutes, I absorbed all of them.
A soft hum echoed through my body, and I felt it — a metaphorical lock breaking inside me.
All elemental affinities awakened.
I opened my previously empty skill tab...
And what appeared left me stunned.
---
[Skills:]
---
[Agni Mandate] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Fire
• Type: Dominion / Burst / Control
• Description: Flame answers without fuel and heat obeys without source; wildfires halt mid-roar and relight only when permitted. Thermals ladder at your gesture, from ember-warm to star-white, while hostile fire bows to be kindled or quenched.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Your word is ignition."
---
[Mare Sovereignty] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Water
• Type: Dominion / Terrain / Pressure
• Description: Rivers reverse midcurrent, tides hold their breath, and rain routes bead-by-bead around your silhouette. Abyssal pressure softens like silk in your grasp as seas and skywater fold into one will.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "All waters are one body—yours."
---
[Ventus Edict] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Air
• Type: Dominion / Mobility / Anti-Projectile
• Description: Atmosphere becomes an instrument—winds spool to thread or hammer, and vacuums open and close like doors only you can key. Stormfronts split at your step, and every projectile must cross your sky at your pleasure.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "The world holds its breath until you release it."
---
[Terra Dominion] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Earth
• Type: Dominion / Fortify / Seismic
• Description: Stone grains align, and mountains accept reshaping like wet clay; fault lines rise to bridges or sleep as bedrock on your word. The ground buckles or bears, adjudicating gravity's loyalties at your signal.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Land takes orders."
---
[Indra Judicium] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Lightning
• Type: Dominion / Strike / EM-Control
• Description: Charge gathers where you gaze, arcs stitch the sky on command, and thunder waits to speak until given the line. Circuits confess, and storms revise their maps so every bolt knows your name.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Verdict delivered at light-speed."
---
[Glacial Throne] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Ice
• Type: Dominion / Terrain / Suppression
• Description: Breath freezes mid-syllable and hangs awaiting sculpt; permafrost grows at marching speed to pave your dominion. Heat is taxed to zero by decree as glaciers pivot like chess pieces across your board.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Cold wears the crown."
---
[Lux Apotheosis] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Light
• Type: Dominion / Shield / Beam
• Description: Noon bends into spears while shadows peel back like paint; reflections adopt only the truths you allow. Halo-shields braid faster than arrows arrive, and falsehoods burn off like fog at noon.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Radiance is blade and bulwark."
---
[Umbra Veil] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Shadow
• Type: Dominion / Stealth / Gate
• Description: Darkness becomes pathway and prison—silhouettes erase on arrival, and distances fold between pools of night. Torches gutter politely as fear blooms where your shadow chooses to take root.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Step between heartbeats of light."
---
[Nemus Crown] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Nature
• Type: Dominion / Summon / Growth
• Description: Seeds wake in chorus, roots ratchet through stone without fracture, and canopies close ranks on command. Predator, pollen, and pasture march to your appointed season across the battlefield.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "You set the season."
---
[Metallum Aegis] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Metal
• Type: Dominion / Forge / Barrier
• Description: Grain structure retunes live; blades change purpose mid-air, and shields drink arrow-storms whole. Magnetism redraws lanes of war beneath every footfall as armor seals or sheds at a thought.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Steel learns your language."
---
[Harena Seal] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Sand/Dust
• Type: Dominion / Vision / Flow
• Description: Dunes stand at attention and march in ranks; mirage scripts ink the sky to blind armies. Every grain chooses flight or fuse at your whim as deserts pour uphill, then vitrify into perfect walls.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "Write in wind and glass."
---
[Sonus Authority] (Rank: EX)
• Element: Sound
• Type: Dominion / Control / Burst
• Description: Hush falls where you point, and echoes knot into hammers that strike without mass. A single note unthreads shields, seals oaths, and carries your words to chosen ears through storm and steel.
• Mana Cost: Extremely High
• Remark: "The world listens—or is silent."
---
To be continued...
======================
[AN: Please comment about names of Skills, if you like, dislike or have any different names to suggest.