The Iron & Grit arena was located three stories beneath a dilapidated factory. The air in the underground tunnel was thick with the metallic tang of dried blood and stale sweat.
It was 10:30 PM.
Viktor, draped in a dark, hooded cloak to mask his intensified physique, pressed his back against the cold concrete of the service tunnel. His heart beat with a slow, powerful rhythm, a consequence of his grueling training. He clutched the single-use Mana Disruptor in his left hand. His right hand—the replication tool—was bare.
According to his observation, Gaius Trak was currently in the main pit, deeply immersed in creating a specialized training labyrinth of rapidly moving stone pillars for his Stage 5 Warriors. This required a massive, focused output of his Apex-Tier Stone Affinity.
Three guards flanked the mouth of the tunnel entrance, chatting carelessly. They were all Stage 3 Warriors, equipped with common Mid-Tier talents: two with Vibration Strike (for offense) and one with Steel Skin (for defense).
The timing had to be precise.
The Attack
Viktor didn't wait. Time was currency, and he couldn't afford a prolonged exchange.
He burst from the shadow, a silent, dark flash, activating the Mana Disruptor as he moved.
Fzzzt!
A low-frequency pulse of energy rippled outward. The effects were immediate on the low-level guards. The two Vibration Strike Warriors staggered, their hands momentarily tingling and useless. The Steel Skin Warrior's defensive aura flickered violently, losing coherence for a vital second.
Viktor didn't engage the stunned guards. He didn't have time. He used the second of confusion to execute a perfect Shadow Form, darting past the tunnel entrance and into the main, cavernous fighting pit.
The Target
Gaius Trak was enormous, a mountain of muscle encased in heavy guild armor. He stood in the center of the pit, his eyes closed in concentration, a faint gray aura of raw geological energy swirling around him. Massive stone columns were erupting and rearranging themselves across the arena floor in complex, rapid patterns.
Viktor located the nearest obstacle: a three-meter-high granite pillar currently retracting into the floor.
He timed his approach using the collapsing pillar for cover, making his trajectory erratic and unpredictable. Gaius Trak, even distracted, was a predator.
The moment Gaius sensed the intrusion, Viktor would be too close to stop.
At fifty feet, Gaius's eyes snapped open. The ground beneath him rumbled, and a colossal, spiked wall of basalt instantly shot up between them—the reactive defense of the Apex-Tier Stone Affinity.
"Novice filth!" Gaius roared, recognizing the insignificant energy signature. He didn't need to draw a weapon; the earth was his weapon.
Viktor didn't try to go around the wall. That would take too long.
He slammed his foot onto the retracting granite pillar, launching himself vertically toward the cavern ceiling. He rebounded off a steel support beam overhead, executing a complex geometric vector that brought him down, impossibly fast, over the spiked basalt wall.
He landed on the far side, skidding on the dust-covered concrete, mere feet from Gaius Trak's enormous back.
Gaius was already turning, his right hand condensing the air into a dense, fist-sized chunk of pressurized stone—a killing projectile.
But Viktor was already within arm's reach. This wasn't a fight; it was an assassination of a Talent.
Viktor threw his right arm out, a blur of motion refined by thirteen days of pain. His bare palm slapped against the cold metal of Gaius Trak's heavy armored shoulder, the skin-to-metal contact transmitting the necessary micro-vibration.
Contact confirmed.
Talent Acquisition Protocol Initiated.
In the fraction of a second the stone projectile formed in Gaius's hand, the System delivered the power.
ATTENTION: New Talent Detected.
Hostile Subject: Gaius Trak.
Talent A: Apex-Tier Stone Affinity. (Combat - Active)
Talent B: Special-Tier Cultivation Talent: The Aether Well. (Passive - Cultivation)
Systematic Replication Initiated.
Replicating...
Replication Complete.
New Talent Acquired: Special-Tier Cultivation Talent: The Aether Well.
Cooldown Initiated: 30 Days.
Overwhelming Victory (The Retreat)
The microsecond the replication was complete, Viktor pushed off Gaius's shoulder with all his might, propelling himself backward with the speed gained from his extensive physical conditioning.
Gaius's projectile shot past where Viktor's head had been, slamming into the concrete wall and disintegrating it in a cloud of dust. The sheer force of the Stage 8 Warrior talent was terrifying.
But Viktor had what he came for.
"You took something!" Gaius roared, his massive aura exploding outward in blind fury.
"I took nothing you'll ever miss," Viktor spat back.
The three guards, recovering from the disruptor pulse, were rushing in. Viktor didn't engage. Engaging would mean death. He activated Shadow Form and retreated into the chaos of the shifting stone pillars, running through the labyrinth Gaius had just created.
Gaius's roars of rage were muffled as Viktor burst back into the service tunnel. He was faster now, fueled by adrenaline and the sheer magnitude of his achievement. The guards outside were too late. He was gone, swallowed by the darkness of the service vents that crisscrossed the underbelly of Neo-Terra.
An hour later, safely tucked away in an abandoned pipe junction miles away, Viktor checked his status.
$$\text{STATUS}$$👤 STATUS: Viktor D. Harper
Cultivation Realm: Warrior (Stage 1 $\rightarrow$ Potential Accelerated)
Core Talent: Novice Cultivation $\rightarrow$ Special-Tier Cultivation Talent: The Aether Well (Passive - Cultivation)
Special Talent: Systematic Replication (Unique - Unranked)
Cooldown: 30 Days
Replicated Talents: 2
Replicated Talents:
1. Top-Tier Healing Factor (Passive - Defense)
2. Special-Tier Cultivation Talent: The Aether Well (Passive - Cultivation)
Martial Skills: Shadow Form (Novice)
Artifacts: None
He closed his eyes and inhaled. He could feel it. The change was profound, internal, and utterly overwhelming.
His tiny, Novice-level mana pool was instantly replaced by a vast, churning reservoir of pure energy. The ambient mana in the pipe junction—which he could barely sense before—was now being sucked into his core at an incredible, relentless pace.
He was still registered as a Stage 1 Warrior, but the quality of his energy was now Special-Tier. His cultivation speed had instantly jumped from the bottom 1% to the top 0.1% on Earth.
Gaius Trak and the Obsidian Shield would be mobilizing every resource to find the "Novice" who dared to assault one of their highest-ranking members. The city would be on high alert.
But Viktor didn't care. He had the Aether Well. The first step to true power wasn't fighting; it was cultivating. His enemies would be searching for a Stage 1 Novice while, in secret, he began an exponential ascent that would leave them all behind in the dust of the lower realms.
The true cultivation begins now.