At the end of the day, the only thing that truly mattered... was strength!
Kaelen had a clear goal in mind now. He shifted his focus back to the Divine skill [Spark of Extinction] and activated it once more.
A loud snap of a finger.
A bright spark in the dark.
But nothing happened afterward.
No wildfire that erased the forest in an instant. No hailstorms that rained down, destroying everything in their path.
"Huh?" Kaelen was confused.
He had witnessed the power of a Legendary-tier Heavenly Retribution Skill Book and was expecting a grand display. So he spammed the skill multiple times, wondering if it was broken, when his surroundings caught his attention, and he abruptly stopped.
He could clearly remember spawning in a forest and returning to that spot straight from the galaxy, so why was he standing in a vast clearing in the middle of the forest, as though the trees had run away from him?
That was when it clicked with him. He finally understood the concept of the skill, and to test his theory, he focused on a tree and activated the skill.
It wasn’t loud or flashy... the tree was scorched to the ground in an instant, and its ashes were carried away by the wind.
He had unintentionally erased a part of the forest, because that was all the skill was about. Extinction.
As long as Kaelen was categorically stronger than or on par with the target, it didn’t matter who or what it was—it would be erased from reality by the Divine Spark of Extinction.
From a simple tree to a great mountain, as long as Kaelen focused on that single target... it would be gone.
[Spark of Extinction (Divine)]
Type: Active Skill (Single Target)
Description: The first spark that heralded the end of countless worlds.
Lock onto a single target within sight and ignite the Spark of Extinction, reducing the target to absolute nothingness. Matter, energy, soul, and existence itself are extinguished as though they had never been.
However, the Spark acknowledges only strength.
If the target’s total power exceeds the caster’s, the Spark will fail to ignite.
Anything weaker than the caster may be extinguished.
From a blade of grass...
To a mountain...
To a god.
Kaelen was thrilled beyond measure and couldn’t wait to actually test it on a real target.
He immediately picked out several nearby beasts and locked onto a group. In an instant, he was standing before the group of beasts, who looked to be in a standoff and were startled by Kaelen’s appearance. But the moment they saw it was a slime, he was ignored like a broken leaf caught in the wind.
"We’re all heavily injured, and fighting over a single Epic-tier loot item would only do us more harm than good. So why don’t we all back off and call it a day, huh?" the mamba said to the other two.
"Common? Did you just call an Epic-tier loot item common? Why don’t you let it go and walk off then!" the mountain lion hissed angrily.
"That’s right. The only way to settle this dispute is to give me the damn loot, and I’ll let you two leave with your lives intact," the gorilla sneered.
"Are you guys really fighting over an Epic-tier loot item?" Kaelen said, drawing the surprised gazes of the three beasts, as though they’d never seen a slime talk before. But Kaelen didn’t stop talking. "Why don’t you give it to me, and we can all call it a day, huh?" he asked with a smile.
The group’s expressions changed from surprise to amused disbelief.
"Do you have no fear in the presence of predators—"
Spark—
[You have killed the Black Mamba King.]
[10,000× Reward Multiplier Triggered...]
[You have received 60,000 Evolution Points.]
"What? Just 60k?" Kaelen mused to himself in dissatisfaction.
[You have received (1) Loot Bundle.]
[10,000× Reward Multiplier Triggered...]
[Quality or Quantity?]
"Quality!"
Kaelen didn’t hesitate to pull out the best gear from the Quality-enhanced loot bundle, which was only a Legendary-tier item, and waved it at the two remaining beasts, who were still in shock over where the mamba had suddenly disappeared to.
Their eyes widened with shock and greed, and the mountain lion immediately roared ferociously to intimidate the slime.
"Where did you get that from?! Give it to me, and I’ll spare your life—"
It was still talking when the gorilla suddenly shot forward like a cannon, intending to take the slime out in one hit and secure the Legendary-tier item.
"You’re mine—"
"Die."
Spark—
[You have killed the Terror of Death Valley.]
[10,000× Reward Multiplier Triggered...]
[You have received 80,000 Evolution Points.]
"Huh?" Kaelen mused in disbelief at the meager amount of Evolution Points he’d received again, when it clicked with him. He finally understood the mechanism.
The mountain lion was left stunned after witnessing the gorilla’s death and realizing it had died the same way as the mamba, at the hands of the unassuming slime.
Its eyes widened in terror as it stared at Kaelen, who was still waving the Legendary-tier item at it like bait on a fishhook.
"Y-You... you’re a powerful awakener, aren’t you?" the mountain lion came to the only possible conclusion.
She probably thought the skill Kaelen had used was his awakened Talent.
"I’ll pay you in gold or Evolution Points if you let me live."
"Oh... you’re pretty smart," Kaelen replied with a devious grin and stored the loot back in his inventory. "Sadly, I don’t think you have enough to make up for killing you right away."
"10 Evolution Points? 20 Evolution Points? Fifty Evolution Points? C’mon, name your price."
Kaelen was initially stunned, as that was the amount of Evolution Points any other person might receive for killing a Tier 3 beast. That offer would normally be accepted in an instant instead of risking it and losing everything.
Kaelen almost laughed. "Fine... 80,000 EP, and I’ll walk away."
"Are you crazy?! Who do you think would pay you that much for killing a Tier 3?!"
Actually, there’s someone... who’d pay way more for your head.
The 10,000× Reward Multiplier System.
But Kaelen didn’t say that, because even if the mountain lion were willing to pay such an outrageous amount, he wasn’t planning on letting it live.
The mountain lion seemed to come to that conclusion as well and immediately activated its Talent, hardening its fur into an impenetrable hide as it bolted for the trees.
All that didn’t matter to the Divine-tier Spark of Extinction skill, but Kaelen didn’t plan on using it now.
He sent several blade-whips out, intending to hunt the mountain lion and try to cut through its metallic fur before it could escape. But just as the first blade-whip came into contact with the mountain lion, it cut through its hide like a hot knife through butter, and a massive damage number floated overhead as the blade-whip tore a hole through its body, and it dropped dead.
"W-What was that?"
Kaelen was stunned. It was almost as if his damage had been amplified a hundredfold.
The 10,000× Reward System didn’t have that effect, but there was something Kaelen had completely forgotten to check out.
It wasn’t the Mythic Hidden Class from the dragon...
It was the Primordial Chaos Bloodline.