In few hours

At once, the ambient mana from the atmosphere surged into Damien's spiritual space like an unrelenting flood.

Boom!

A tremor ran through his body.

The ferocious wave of mana almost engulfed him entirely, its intensity far surpassing what he had anticipated.

Damien Harrier was startled.

"This is way too intense."

Though he had known his talent was leagues beyond ordinary geniuses, he had never imagined the sheer terror of absorbing ambient mana at such a scale.

The influx of energy pooled below the two floating marbles, forming a shimmering liquid. Then, as if guided by an unseen force, the mana flowed out of his spiritual space, merging seamlessly with the blood coursing through his veins.

Pop! Pop!

A series of sharp, rhythmic cracks echoed from within his body, as though his very bones were being reforged.

Under the nourishment of the relentless mana influx, the two marbles began to radiate a piercing light, their glow pulsating in sync with his body's transformation. As the minutes passed, the mana pool underwent a visible change.

It was no longer a colorless, watery substance.

Instead, it had taken on a grayish tint.

Damien lost track of time, his entire being consumed by the process of absorbing mana.

The night passed unknowingly.

By the time he finally stopped cultivating, dawn had already broken.

He opened his eyes, disbelief flickering in his gaze.

In one night, he had broken through to the first rank.

Felix, the formidable defender of the South, had taken three to four months to reach this level with his "false talent."

His father, the ruler of the Valthorn Kingdom, had required more than a year.

Yet, Damien had achieved it in mere hours.

As he exhaled slowly, he observed the gray mana pool, now fully replenished, swirling with power. The two marbles continued their relentless absorption, drawing mana at an unimaginable pace.

Curious to test his newfound strength, Damien strode toward the corner of the room, where a large rock slab rested. He clenched his fist and threw a casual punch.

Boom!

The impact left a deep fist imprint, several inches into the stone.

Damien's breath hitched.

His hands trembled as he stared at the rock.

This was real.

He had truly broken through to Iron Rank.

An Iron Rank martial artist with with gray mana pool.

A glint of relief flashed in Damien's eyes.

"There's hope."

Now, it was time to uncover the true potential of his talent and soul weapon.

From his predecessor's memories, talents functioned almost like an additional limb for a warrior.

As he pondered this, his vision blurred momentarily.

A translucent window flickered into existence.

---

[Level 1 Talent - Acceleration Domain (SSS-Grade)]

[Can accelerate certain things with yourself as the center.]

---

Damien's brows furrowed slightly.

He didn't fully understand the talent's capabilities, so he decided to activate it.

At the mere thought, the white marble within his spiritual space pulsed, radiating an intense silver glow.

A barely perceptible aura enveloped his body.

Not entirely sure how to test it, he decided to throw a casual punch into the air.

Whoosh!

What was meant to be a slow, relaxed strike turned into a blur, his fist leaving a faint afterimage.

Damien's eyes widened.

He stared at his hand, then at the air in front of him.

This wasn't normal.

He knew his own strength better than anyone—he shouldn't be able to throw a punch that fast.

"Hmm..."

A sudden frown formed on his face.

He felt a faint, stinging sensation across his skin.

Looking down, he noticed small ruptures forming—his body wasn't accustomed to such abrupt acceleration.

Tiny cracks filled his skin, faint streaks of red seeping through.

Yet, instead of concern, his eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"Accelerate everything... huh!"

A thought occurred to him.

His lips curled upwards as he willed his Acceleration Domain to act upon his healing abilities.

Under his watchful gaze, the tiny wounds shifted.

It was as if countless ants crawled beneath his skin, rearranging fibers, regenerating cells.

Within seconds, the cracks vanished, his skin restored completely.

[Ding! Skill unlocked...]

He heard a notification but right now Damien was too shaken to pay attention.

"Amazing..."

His voice was filled with awe.

For someone from Earth, such a feat was beyond comprehension—something only found in myths.

A storm of thoughts swirled in his mind.

If I can accelerate healing… can I accelerate aging as well?

Can I accelerate time itself?

A shiver ran down his spine.

If that was possible, then his talent was truly... terrifying.

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head.

No—he needed control first.

Pushing his talent aside for now, he shifted his focus to his soul weapon.

Talent awakenings were rare, but not unheard of—thousands of youths had awakened theirs in Mesarith City.

But soul weapons?

He had never heard of them.

Damien took a deep breath and focused.

"Come out..."

A burst of light flared in front of him.

A metallic weight settled into his palms.

A familiar scent of gunpowder and metal filled the air.

Damien slowly raised his hands, his gaze locking onto the object he now held.

A handgun.

His breath stagnated.

He was very familiar with firearms.

Yet—he hadn't expected this.

His eyes flickered, waiting for an explanation window to appear.

And as expected another glowing appeared in front of him.

[Soul Weapon: Epoch Breaker

Grade: ???, a Divine tresure of mysterious Origin].

[Available skill: Temporal Displacement Shot.

A single bullet that exists outside linear time.

When fired, the shooter chooses:

Rewind Shot — travels 5 seconds into the past

Fast-Forward Shot — travels 5 seconds into the future.

Note-Currentlly unusable].

[Evolve Epoch Breaker to unlock new skills].

Reading the description, Damien eyes widened in disbelief.

His mind failing to comprehend how something like this was possible.

Before he could contemplate further, hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway.

Even without looking, he knew who it was.

Niomi.

The door burst open, revealing her panicked face.

Her breath was ragged, her usually composed demeanor completely shattered.

"Husband—father-in-law...!"

Her voice cracked, and she broke into uncontrollable sobs.

Damien's face hardened.

His father, King Roosevelt Harrier, had left to handle the Blue Hammer soldiers who had been harassing Valthorn City's citizens.

A bad feeling settled in his chest.

Taking a steadying breath, he locked eyes with Niomi.

"Calm down, Niomi," he said, his voice firm. "Tell me what happened to my father."

Her lips trembled.

Tears streamed down her face as she tried to compose herself.

Damien clenched his fists.

Something had gone wrong.

And he was going to find out exactly what.

"Let's go.."

Without wasting any time, Damien immediately stormed out of the room.