Barony of Desmond,
Damon reappeared inside his own house, at the exact spot he had disappeared from. Still kneeling, hands bloodied, he found himself on the cot.
"W-what?" The sudden shift in atmosphere startled him. Damon looked around cautiously, then let out a sigh of relief when he realized he was back in his own house.
"Agh…" His left hand—still bleeding—throbbed as he stared at the gruesome wound the monster had given him.
"That bastard…" Damon cursed, carefully examining the injury. "Hope it didn't give me any rabies…"
Trying to stay positive, he pushed himself up from the cot.
[Floor 1 Mission]: Kill Purple Monkey (1/1) — Completed
[Floor 1]: Cleared!
[Your level has risen.]
[Current Level: 1]
[Reward Acquired]
• Basic Roulette Spin x1 {Skill}
[Acquired General Skill: Unarmed Combat Lv. 1]
The system screen materialized in front of him, notifications chiming one after another.
Status Window
[Name]: Damon
[Talent]: Absolute Mastery {SSS}
[Level]: Lv. 1
[GeneralSkills]
• Enter Tower (1 Use / Day)
• Unarmed Combat Lv.1
[Strength]: 2
[Agility]: 2
[Defense]: 2
[Stamina]: 2
[Mana]: 1
With the level increase, all five of Damon's attributes had risen by one.
"Does this mean I'm twice as strong as before?" he wondered, testing his body. Yet, he felt no obvious change.
His appearance was the same—no added muscle, no sharper definition.
Deciding to check that later, Damon focused on the next notification.
'Unarmed Combat? Is this a system reward? If so, it should be under the reward list, but…'
Unarmed Combat
Level: 1/10
Represents the ability to fight without weapons, relying on the body's natural techniques such as striking, grappling, and control.
This skill wasn't something granted by the tower or the system. It was the result of Damon's own talent.
"Hah… giving me the skill after the fight's over? Is this really an SSS-rank ability?" Damon scoffed, unaware of just how abnormal this was.
General Skills were abilities recognized by the system and the towers. Knights trained day and night for months, yet even after awakening, many never obtained a Swordsman skill in their status.
Such skills could only be acquired through extremely brutal training or direct system rewards.
Learning—let alone creating—a skill was practically impossible. In the entire world, Damon might have been the only person capable of awakening new skills on his own at this stage.
General Skills were rare and difficult to obtain. Gaining one after only a few rounds of desperate fighting spoke volumes about how broken his talent truly was.
Unaware of these implications, Damon studied the skill description. He wanted to experiment with it, but the injury in his arm made that impossible for now.
His gaze paused on the level indicator.
Level: 1/10
"So the maximum is level ten?" Damon muttered. "After that, does it evolve… or just stop?"
Shaking his head, he dismissed the skill screen and turned his attention to the floor-clear reward.
The moment he selected it, another golden popup appeared. A roulette wheel formed before him, slowly spinning.
"So how do I start?" Damon clenched his hands, frowning—until the roulette reacted to his will and accelerated.
'I'm delaying first aid for this damn lottery. It better be worth it.'
He wanted to stop the bleeding immediately, but curiosity won out.
[Basic Mana Potion]
[Rejuvenation Potion]
[Basic Recovery Potion]
[General Skill: Basic Archery]
[General Skill: Truth Eyes]
[Fanged Sword]
Rewards flashed past as the pointer cycled again and again.
'Please… an item. A healing potion would be perfect,' Damon prayed, fingers crossed.
Sssssss~
The roulette spun at full speed before gradually slowing.
[Dwarven Hammer]
[General Skill: Mark of Vengeance]
[Potion of Vitality]
Tick… tick…
The pointer slowed, passing each reward—then stopped.
[General Skill: BasicHeal]
The pointer settled firmly on the general skill.
BasicHeal
Level: 1
A simple magic that soothes pain and mends minor wounds, restoring physical condition up to a certain point.
Invocation: "Basic Heal"
Cost: 0.1 Mana / second
Damon froze for a heartbeat—then crouched and sprang up in excitement.
"Woohoo!" he shouted, staring at the new skill. A healing spell. Not flashy like a fireball, but magic nonetheless—and a healing-type skill at that.
"Is this some kind of fucking plot armor?" he muttered.
He was in desperate need of medical care. In this backward world, medicine and health science were almost nonexistent.
A common cold could be fatal. Plagues were frequent. Sanitation and hygiene were concepts few cared about.
Clean first-aid materials were rare. Damon had been genuinely worried about how to treat his wound—but now, thanks to sheer luck, he could heal himself with magic.
"Let's try this out," he said, gripping his injured arm, palm pressed firmly against the bleeding wound.
"BasicHeal."
A soft white radiance tinged with gold bloomed from his hands.
The light enveloped his arm as a warm sensation flowed through it. The pain dulled, then faded.
The wound slowly closed as the healing accelerated. Blood stopped flowing, clotting followed, and after ten seconds the light vanished.
His mana reserves were completely drained. It would take time to recover.
"It worked…" Damon whispered, eyes wide. "It worked."
He wiped away the blood and looked down. The wound was nearly healed, clots sealing it shut. Faint scars remained, but there was no bleeding—no pain.
Damon let out a breath of relief and reached for a clean cloth, only to freeze as new notifications appeared.
[Basic Heal Lv.1 has leveled up]
[General Skill: Mana Manipulation Acquired]