Chapter 261 : Skill Fusion?

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“In my opinion, you have several options to grow stronger,” Tian Long said. “You can continue down the path you’ve already chosen — but you’ll need to accelerate to catch up to the old monsters of the other races. Your physical and mental strength are lagging behind your energy and sword mastery. You’ll quickly hit a wall unless you address that.” She spoke with clear insight into Sora’s situation.

Sora nodded. ‘That was my plan anyway,’ he thought. ‘But without Kara to help forge my body, my physical growth has slowed too much. The methods I’ve been using are becoming less and less effective. And my mental power has started stagnating because I don't directly take part in battles anymore...’

“Alternatively, you could abandon that tedious path and follow the teachings of a superior entity. You’d progress at an incredible pace. But of course, there will be a price to pay,” Tian Long added, watching Sora’s expression closely.

“Pledging myself to some unknown entity and risking becoming its slave? Are you suggesting I take a Mythic Class? Do you think I’m insane?” Sora rolled his eyes.

Tian Long chuckled. “I figured as much. Those who crave the easy way usually jump at the chance. But you… that’s not your style.”

She paused briefly, then continued, “There is another method, though — one not many are aware of.”

That piqued Sora’s curiosity. He’d already explored the memories of countless players and tried hundreds of different ways to grow stronger.

“I’m listening…”

“I noticed something during our fight,” she said. “You’ve pushed an impressive number of skills to [Ultimate] level. [Speed], [Amplify], [Overlap], and others… But surely you’ve felt it — at this point, their effects aren’t enough anymore.”

Sora, knowing this wasn’t much of a secret, nodded. “You could say that.”

“There’s a way to make use of those high-level skills before they lose their relevance entirely.”

Sora was caught off guard by that comment and began thinking it over.

‘She hasn’t noticed that I’ve already abandoned those skills in favor of sword mastery… Is this the method she’s referring to?’

Although he was convinced he had guessed her meaning, he was surprised by what she said next.

“There’s an item that could help you make the most of them.” She conjured a small throne in the palm of her hand, and Sora immediately recognized it.

“That’s your throne? The one that kept making you stronger!” he asked.

Tian Long nodded with a proud smile on her face. “Yes. It can do many things — one of which is fusing high-level skills.”

Despite her enthusiasm, Sora struggled to feel surprised or impressed and started showing disappointment.

‘Skill fusion? I’ve done that thousands of times already… What would this throne change? And I’m already exploring countless other paths…’ he wondered.

He remained silent for a few seconds, showing his doubt and lack of interest toward the item in Tian Long’s hand.

She sighed. “You really are as clueless as you look. What I’m holding is a World Boss Core Item. It’s by far the most important thing in this version of the world.”

Cutting Sora off with a wave of her hand as he finally showed some interest, she added, “If you’re still curious, come back when you’ve gathered at least 10 [Ultimate]-level skills. Then I’ll show you what it’s really worth.”

Sora opened his profile and grimaced. All his skills were greyed out, lost in exchange for [Faith in the Sword].

‘There’s barely anything left…’

Recalling Shade’s similar experience, he considered his options.

‘If I want to get those skills back, I either have to recreate them one by one — which would take at least a few days — or absorb the memories of an Alter Ego who still has them and the corresponding mastery.’

‘The first option would mean re-learning everything from scratch. More time wasted.’

‘The second option avoids that. But either way, if I recover those skills, I’ll lose my sword mastery. And this path of the sword… it intrigues me. I want to explore it a little longer.’

After a few seconds of deliberation, he spoke up.
"I'm not sure I need your item right now. But… can you help friends fuse their skills?"

Tian Long frowned. “I told you earlier. I’m your mercenary, not your kingdom’s. I don’t like helping people who haven’t earned my respect.”

Sora smiled at that. “So as long as it’s for me, it’s fine?”

The dragon woman nodded.

Sora, sensing the potential of this new path opening before him, contacted several Alter Egos to begin experimenting with the skill fusion Tian Long had suggested.

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Five people lay on the ground, each in a pool of blood. None of them were dead, but they didn’t seem far from it.

“Triple Seven , why are you keeping those five around? We don’t need to tortu- help them anymore. They’re breaking faster with each experiment… They’re too weak,” Newtons said to his brother.

“You know they insisted on staying. We owe them that much — our research only got this far thanks to them. If they can survive the next stage, it’ll all have been worth it,” Triple Seven replied.

“Look at them... They’re done. I'm sure they won't survive another round,” Newtons said with a sad tone, but confident he was right.

On the ground, a young Asian woman was slowly getting up. She had regained consciousness a few moments earlier and had heard everything the two men said.

She rose and interrupted their conversation.

“We’ll see this through. No matter the cost.” Her gaze shifted toward a group of ten players standing several dozen meters away.

Triple Seven followed her eyes, then nodded.

“Asami, take Lionel and the others and get some rest. We’ll resume when everyone’s recovered.”

Asami nodded and walked toward a young man with bronze skin and braided hair. Worried about him, she felt reassured when she saw the steady rise and fall of his chest.

She helped him to his feet and carried him into a nearby tent. She laid him down on one of the five beds inside, then did the same for the other unconscious players. Exhausted, she finally collapsed onto her own bed.

‘Just how strong is he now, if even his clones feel omnipotent?’ she wondered, thinking of Sora.

‘Are they really clones? They feel so different from Ralph-Sora…’ She reminded herself for the hundredth time that Ralph had only been a temporary identity, but that name still clung to her memory.

Glancing at the others sleeping nearby, she sighed.

‘What a group of monsters. Lionel can become a god on Earth with a few eliminations. Sandrine is a top-tier telepath. Pedro’s quiet, but if he reaches the next level, he could help all of humanity.’

Looking at the bloodied body of the last warrior, a faint smile touched her lips.

‘Dae Stark… you might be the craziest of us all. All this just to meet Sora…’

‘What the hell am I doing with monsters like these? I was far from the strongest during that selection. Was I hand-picked? Did they only accept me out of nostalgia?’

Haunted by the feeling she didn’t belong, Asami couldn’t see what everyone else could — that she was the most extraordinary of them all.

No innate skill, no unique or supreme ability, and yet… she was the most resilient of the “five demons.”

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Ten people who had witnessed the bloody scene sat around a fire, discussing Asami and her new friends.

“She’s insane. She’s going to get herself killed — and take the five demons with her,” a short-haired blonde woman said angrily.

A man sitting next to her added, “Asami might survive the next stage, but Pedro and Lionel won’t.”

The woman growled and shook her head. “Why are they still pushing their bloodline levels? Isn’t SSS rank enough? Why not stop there?”

“Sally, you’ve seen how much they’ve grown these past few days. When the boss told them they could go a hundred times further with EX rank, their eyes lit up. They’re the top five out of more than a million players. After coming this far, they’re not going to back down. If we’d been chosen, we’d have done the same,” another woman replied.

Had he been there, Sora would have recognized her — Asia Sanogo, the African player who had mastered magic stacking like no other, and who had greatly inspired his research.

“Be grateful you even get to watch their training. Without your damage-transfer ability, you’d never have made it in here,” the man shot at Sally.

Sally fell silent and started sulking.

Asia nodded and gestured toward those seated around the fire. “We were gathered here because all ten of us have innate or supreme abilities focused on damage reduction, reflection, healing, or transforming damage into damage over time. And still, it’s not enough. Triple Seven's blood is so overwhelming that even with our help, the five always end up covered in blood.”

“And you didn’t even mention that most of the damage is redirected into the virtual space by Newtons… We’re only dealing with the leftover scraps of it,” someone added.

Sally, known in the group for being Lionel’s closest friend, spoke again.

“Asami has been leading the Five Demons from the start. The other four would follow her to the ends of the earth if she asked. I don’t care about that crazy woman — but I don’t want to see Lionel die. And I know it’s the same for all of you. You each have your own reasons for wanting them to make it out of this hell alive and in one piece.

Our powers were enough in the beginning, but our impact is fading. We have to get stronger — and there’s only one way to do that quickly.”

Sally stood up as she spoke, locking eyes with each of the other players one by one.

The others lifted their heads, understanding what she meant. Some looked away, hesitant. Others nodded and rose to their feet.

Asia was the fifth and last to stand, a smile playing on her lips.

“Well then… let’s go ask Triple Five to torture us,” she said, walking toward a tent a hundred meters away.

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