Ainen ignored the screech and checked the blessing he had received.

But he could already feel the Water Manipulation skill ingrained in him, carrying comprehension that was far stronger than his Fire Manipulation.

'Let's see.' Ainen eagerly looked at the blessings.

[Blessings of Paniro]

— Water Manipulation SSS-rank.

— Innate Talent: Dragon of Ocean.

— Arcane Enchant: Super Fortified Magic Core.

— Life Enchant: Super Fortified Blood Flow.

'So the reason I'm feeling absurdly stronger is thanks to these two enchants?' Ainen blinked.

[Arcane Enchant: Super Fortified Magic Core]

Enchant level: 1 [0/1000]

Effect:

— Arcane and Mana +100%.

— Omni-elemental resistance +500.

"Wait, what? I'm getting such a boost in stats directly?!" Ainen was dumbfounded.

He quickly checked the other enchant.

[Life Enchant: Super Fortified Blood Flow]

Enchant level: 1 [0/1000]

Effect:

— Vitality, Strength, and Stamina +100%.

— Blunt, Slash, and Stab resistance +500.

'Damn.' Ainen was speechless.

He then checked the new Innate Talent.

[Innate Talent: Dragon of Ocean]

Rank: SSS

Effect:

— +100% to all stats within water.

— No monsters living in the water will harm you unless you provoke or antagonize them.

— A dragon will be born.

Ainen tilted his head. "What's with that last effect? A true dragon will be born?"

"I don't get it."

Lord Black took a deep breath, calming down from seeing the absurd blessing, and said, "If I'm not wrong, a dragon will be born from your magic eventually, supported by the goddess's power. I don't know when, but I think this innate talent will accumulate experience, and when the time is right, the dragon will be born."

"Sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to that." Ainen chuckled.

"But what I don't get is, what's the deal with the enchants? It says 0/1000, but it doesn't specify what."

Suddenly, the statue glowed, and a hazy avatar appeared.

"I will tell you what you need, Ainen!"

Ainen was startled and jumped back.

"This… are you Goddess Paniro?"

"Indeed, I am. Dear Ainen."

Ainen could see her smiling widely.

"Now then, to tell you how to level up your enchants, it is very simple. You just have to prepare food and call my name. I'll take the food, and you'll get progress. The more delicious the food, the more experience you will get."

'…' Lord Black.

Ainen laughed. "That's awesome. I'll be doing that from now on."

"Daily, right?" the Goddess blinked, her tone filled with anticipation.

"Of course. I'll prepare a feast for you daily." Ainen grinned.

"Wonderful!"

…

After leaving the temple, Ainen continued to hunt monsters.

With the enchants, he was more powerful than ever and had an easy time hunting.

He even roamed around sneakily to look for Lord-rank monsters between levels 351 to 400, as he could kill them without much trouble as well.

"This is crazy." Ainen looked at his arms in disbelief.

'That's the power of SS-rank Manipulation. Once you reach SS-rank in any elemental manipulation, you can start refining your body with the said element. This is a one-time process, and once you finish it fully, you can freely turn your body into that element's energy form.'

Ainen's eyes shone.

'And the power of an SSS-rank elemental manipulation is the passive formation of an elemental domain. Within it, your control, efficiency, and power of skills with that element's attribute increase massively.'

Lord Black sighed in amazement. 'With the blessing, you already have SSS-rank Water Manipulation. You can technically kill even a peak Lord-rank monster as long as you completely master SSS-rank Water Manipulation.'

Ainen grinned widely. "Then let's start."

"First, I'll refine my body completely and then work on getting the domain."

"I also need to create solid skills in Water now." Ainen's brain whirled. "I already have Wind, so I can combine Water and Wind to create Ice, too, right?"

'Indeed. You can do much more than that. You already have Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. From these four, you can create multiple advanced elements like Sand, Ice, Glass, Magma, Wood, Mist, Steam, Metal, and so on.'

"Damn, right! But I'll do this in preferential order." Ainen chuckled. "I'll start with Ice and Magma once I'm done mastering my SSS-rank Water."

And so, Ainen lost himself in the fun of getting stronger.

Time passed as several hours went by quickly.

In the end, Ainen returned at night, around 9 o'clock.

He hunted thousands, collected tons of resources, and progressively killed low-level Lord-ranks while playing tag with high-level ones. Then he started hunting high-level and peak Lord-rank monsters as well.

The utterly crazy power of his domain was the reason he could slay them.

Within the domain, all of his Water-attribute skills had their potency increased by 500%!

A freaking 500%!

He was one-shotting Lord-rank monsters!

Ainen didn't reveal his current power level to Dylan and the others, but Runoin could feel a shift and looked at him multiple times, trying to measure him as everyone sat at the table to eat the feast he had cooked.

But he was stronger than Runoin now, so she had no chance to see through him.

However, Yelvina and Lilian sensed Ainen's surge in power. They sat down next to him in their miniature forms and started eating while talking.

'Ainen, you got strong… this feels like the power Emperors usually have,' Yelvina said.

'He feels stronger than me already… what is going on?' Lilian was curious.

Yelvina and Lilian were mentally healed thanks to the company and positivity, but really, the main contributor was Ainen and his food.

The heavenly taste of his dishes was enough to cleanse their mental chaos and give them clarity, reinforcing their faith in Ainen's kindness and the hope he gave them.

They now believed they were going to be fixed.

'You got me,' Ainen chuckled. 'Yep, let me show you.'

Ainen shared the details of the blessing he had received with them, but he didn't share it with the others.

He wanted to keep it a secret — a surprise for later.

'T-This…'

'This blessing from a higher being! Why is it so powerful for you?'

'Ainen, what exactly did you do to get this?'

Ainen grinned. 'Why don't you guess?'

Yelvina and Lilian looked at each other, then at the food on the table.

'Food?' both of them said simultaneously.

'Bingo!'