CHAPTER 66: RANK UP II

After ranking up, all his class skills had leveled up once—and some of them, thanks to him clearing the ultra-hard tier, had even leveled up twice—making him wonder what new effects had been unlocked under them now.

Rhys continued to laugh at all of them as he muttered, "Most already had ethereal effects... gods, what can I even gain from just one level up?" His gaze then shifted to the skills that had leveled up twice.

[ Rite of Awakening lvl : 3

Type : Active

– Unlocks dormant abilities in tamed ancient creatures, allowing them to evolve or gain new powers.

(New Effect) Can now also used on other beast, but the effectiveness is reduced by half.

Cost : Depends on Creature rarity level

cooldown : Once per creature ]

[ Skill : Legacy Bond Learned ]

[ Legacy Bond level 3

Type : Active

– Allows the tamer to borrow a skill from tamed ancient creatures for a unlimited time.

Only one skill can be copied and used at current level from each tamed beast.

(new Effect) User can now also copy 20% of any one stat from its tamed beast.

Cost : copied skill cost

cooldown : 24 hours ]

"Hmm, Legacy Bond surely gave a great new skill," Rhys muttered, deciding to save its use for later. For now, his attention shifted to the other two skills.

Predator’s Archive now had a far more vicious edge—it now deals 300% critical damage when attacked at the weak point now. The predatory nature of the skill was now sharper, hungrier.

Knowledge of the Unwritten had also undergone a profound transformation. Before, it allowed him to perfectly copy any skill he witnessed, using it as if it were his own. Now, at Level 3, it came with a shocking new facet—he could grant those copied skills to others. Whether for allies in dire need or for a more... experimental distribution, the power was his to decide.

Rhys smirked faintly, the possibilities beginning to take shape in his mind.

"Now... as for the new skills I’ve unlocked," he muttered. After all, every 30 levels granted a new class skill, and reaching level 139 meaning a chance for better skill one from reaching level 120 and other fro reaching rank 1, combinin g them a better skill.

The system notifications flickered into view:

[ Congratulations on reaching Rank 1 ]

[ A unique skill has formed from your class ]

[ Ashen Resurrection ] – Allows the user to resurrect an ancient beast from its ashes or any remaining part of its body, completely restoring the ancient beast.

Cost: 10 levels if the dead beast is of the same rank as the player, plus 10 levels for every rank above. Only 1 level if the beast is one rank—or many ranks—below the player.

Restriction: Twice per rank.

Current Charges: 4 (Two from Rank 0, two from Rank 1).

Rhys’s eyes widened slightly. "Damn... that’s a broken skill," he breathed with a grin.

Ancient beasts weren’t just strong—they were monsters among monsters. In their time, the world didn’t have ordinary mana, but Mana Essence, a purer, far more potent form of energy. And thanks to his bond with ancient creatures, Rhys now had access to it.

Mana Essence made beasts from that era vastly stronger than anything alive today. Take Puddle, for example—just a slime, yet stronger than most Legendary-ranked monsters of the current age. That was the power of the ancients.

Now, with Ashen Resurrection, he didn’t even need to find living ancient beasts. All he had to do was locate a body part—ashes, bones, scales—anything. That was infinitely easier.

He had gotten Puddle thanks to his game knowledge, and the Divine Moon Turtle through sheer luck. But could he always rely on luck? In the original book, Idonotfear—the player who originally held, or perhaps would later obtain, this special class—only had two ancient beasts: an Ancient Slime and an Ancient Serpent.

Rhys already planned to tame that serpent, which slept deep within the Plague Veil Valley in the Southern Kingdom of Eumaria, but it was a Rank 5 creature. His original plan was to wait until he reached Rank 5 himself.

Now? Plans had changed. With this skill, he could get any ancient beast as long as he had the remains.

"If I remember right... the Annaul World Auction has a lot of ancient beast parts," he murmured, a hungry gleam in his eyes. "If I buy them, I could turn my entire team into ancients."

He imagined it—him standing with an army of titans at his side. Even an ancient wyvern would be far superior to the dragons of today’s lower ranks. And if he managed to get an ancient dragon... well, that would be completely game-breaking.

The thought made his pulse quicken. His hands clenched, blood thrumming with excitement.

"Oh boy... I hit the jackpot," he whispered, the words slipping out with a dangerous smile.

He laughed out loud, making nearby tenants in the inn glance at each other in confusion—wondering what kind of lunatic they had for a neighbor, or what impossible treasure he had just found.

"Now, I guess I should let Mia get this class too," he murmured. He had always wanted her to have it, but without an Ancient Beast to fully bring out an Ancient Tamer’s true power, he couldn’t help her achieve it. But now, with Asher’s new skill, he could also aim for IDoNotFear. Once he acquired that class, he could work toward giving her an Ancient Beast as well—another solid step toward raising a future champion at his side.

"With Mia already with me, if I get IDoNotFear, I can gain another champion. That means two champions by my side. With that, my chances in any high-stakes battle will rise drastically," he mused, nodding as he checked the feel of the other unique skill he had from his other class—Akashic Ruler.

[ Akashic Save ]

Only works with the Akashic Cube of Infinity

Allows the owner to save any weekly skill generated by the Cube and reuse it later.

The player can store one skill per rank. Current saved skills: 2 — one from Rank 0 and one from Rank 1.

"Haha, another great skill," Rhys muttered, opening his Akashic Cube to check the new weekly skill.

Normally, the Cube grants one random skill every week — it could be anything from a Sword Saint’s ultimate technique to a simple Fireball. The skill lasts for one week only, then it’s replaced by a new one.

But with Akashic Save, Rhys can preserve the best two skills he’s received so far — one from each unlocked rank slot — and call on them any time, in place of the current weekly skill.

However, he can only have one skill active at a time: either the saved one or the current random one. The real power lies in letting the Cube roll out new skills each week, then saving the absolute best to build a personal arsenal over time.

"Now that I remember it the Akashic Cube will unlock a new effect at Rank 2," he said, as he examined it.

The Akashic Cube had Six effects in total — not assigned randomly but fixed. Currently, he only had the first one unlocked.

At Rank 2, it would give another effect, then one more at Rank 4, and so on each two ranks.

"I wonder if I’ll get the same ones as the main character... or something completely new," he murmured.

Rhys turned the Akashic Cube over in his hand one last time, its mirrored surfaces shifting with faint constellations of light.

Even dormant, it pulsed with a quiet presence—an awareness that seemed to be watching him back.

"Guess we’ll find out soon enough," he muttered.

He pressed the cube against his chest.

A ripple of pale-blue light spread outward, and the cube sank into him as if the flesh and air were nothing more than water.

There was no pain—only the deep, resonant thrum of power threading itself back into his soul.

After all its an Soul bound artifact that exist in his soul and not stored in his inventory.

"Now that I have this skill, making money will get much easier," Rhys mumbled as an idea formed in his mind. The Eyes of Ancients would allow him to see the exact potential and end state of any beast.

He could open a monster evaluation shop—charge customers based on their beast’s rarity and potential—and rake in a fortune.

"And with the Abomination Mask, my identity will remain hidden," Rhys smirked, already plotting.

But first... I need to either kill someone or steal their face, he thought. The mask could store six normal faces and two deep-fakes, and the latter were perfect for imitating people with powerful skills.

"I need to locate someone with a great class and copy them," he muttered, eyes narrowing with calculation.

"And most important," Rhys murmured, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, "I can also get the skin of a Demons and infilterate their world too..."

His mind wandered to the game lore—Demons, rare horrors in this world, creatures born of chaos and pure corruption. Anyone even suspected of being related to them was executed without mercy. No trial, no questions—just swift eradication.