I Gain a God-Tier Talent Every Level

Chapter 574

Liora knew full well that this transaction was nowhere near as simple as it appeared.

Killing Yakathicta would demand an exorbitant price... and might very well cost her own life in the process.

"I can work with you to take down Yakathicta, but dealing with her cannot be built on the premise of sacrificing me."

"You must present a genuinely feasible plan. If I determine that the risks I would have to shoulder in it are untenable, I will not proceed until you offer one that truly works."

"Of course, under the terms of our deal, I will evaluate your plan with complete objectivity."

Liora stated her additional conditions.

The gray mist before her let out a soft chuckle. "Hehehe, as expected of a merchant. No matter the situation, you always put your own interests first."

"Wanting to become the October Moon without the slightest harm coming to you—isn’t that a little too optimistic?"

Liora smiled in response. "If becoming a Moon means losing my freedom, if it means I’m nothing more than a pawn to be used, then I’d rather not hold the title at all."

"The core prerequisite for any transaction is mutual benefit."

"If this brings me no advantage, why would I bother making a deal with you?"

Even though Egrimas was a Moon, Liora showed no deference.

Egrimas fell silent for a moment before replying, "Even I cannot guarantee my survival against Yakathicta. It would be a true life-or-death battle."

"But I can promise you this: if you die, I will certainly die alongside you."

"Therefore, I will do everything possible to devise a plan in which both of us survive."

Liora’s eyes narrowed slightly.

She naturally understood the lethal dangers of a Moon War... avoiding any cost was impossible.

"If you can make that guarantee, then the deal is on," Liora agreed.

"I assume you, my guest, have no particular desire for self-destruction either."

Egrimas: "Naturally."

Liora took another sip of tea. "In that case, let us formalize the transaction contract."

...

[Moonsea — Land of Seeing the Moon]

The tallest tower in the Land of Seeing the Moon was Loren’s Mage Tower. Even now, with Loren’s development, mages remained the cornerstone profession of the city.

Master had disappeared again.

Sigh.

Master was always coming and going in such a hurry. According to Sister Yuna, he constantly had monumental tasks waiting for him... as if the entire world depended on him to save it.

Haruto had always felt that this recent stretch of time was dreamlike.

Not long after he began forming memories, Boundless Mountain had been engulfed in endless war. Because of that, Haruto had matured far earlier than children from peaceful eras.

He had lived under the constant shadow of life-and-death crises since childhood.

And in the past few days.

In the span of a single month, he had endured the agony and despair of his entire city and clan being wiped out, only to be found by Kanzaki Rei, awaken a god-tier talent, and become the disciple of this overwhelmingly powerful being.

To Haruto, Kanzaki Rei was an existence so lofty he seemed untouchable.

It was said that Master was powerful enough to quell the monster upheavals across the Moonsea, that he could hunt eighth-tier monsters with ease and was strong enough to slaughter gods.

Every feat sounded like legend.

Yet even a Master this mighty always seemed burdened by worries. Haruto could not imagine what kind of troubles someone of such power had to face.

If he had even one ten-thousandth of Master’s strength back then, he should have been able to save everyone in the city.

He should have been able to save the warrior who died protecting him.

But now, as long as Kanzaki Rei was present,

everything felt safe. Everything felt reassuring.

...

Regarding origin magic and how it combined with his own god-tier talent and Focused Magic... Haruto had many questions.

Master possessed profound insight into magic. When he returned, Haruto would seize every moment to ask him properly.

Haruto braced his hands against the desk.

With a thought, he manipulated fire elements, writing and sketching across the fire-script paper as he refined the prototype for his second Focused Magic.

In truth, Haruto had another idea.

The mage’s path was to seek the answer to the origin. But could one walk the path in reverse? Instead of seeking the origin’s answer, make the origin itself become one’s answer—turn the question into the solution?

The notion was still vague.

It had even been dismissed as absurd by Loren’s court mages.

While Kanzaki Rei was away, other court mages had been guiding Haruto. The moment he voiced this idea, they were all visibly shocked.

It was fundamentally impossible. How could the origin become any individual’s answer?

Did he intend to create his own law while using magic, placing it on equal footing with the origin itself? And then have the origin interpret and validate his magic?

Pure fantasy.

A mere second-tier mage entertaining such ridiculous thoughts was far too delusional!

Still, out of respect for Kanzaki Rei, the mages only offered gentle advice.

Behind his back, however, they rendered harsher verdicts.

Shallow foundations, a castle in the sky. Having latched onto Kanzaki Rei, the boy refused to stay grounded and spent his days chasing daydreams.

While magic certainly required bold, unrestrained imagination, every idea still needed solid theory and practical grounding. Otherwise, excessive arrogance could easily lead one down a deviant path, or even cause magical deviation—one might never recover.

Haruto felt some uncertainty himself, unsure whether his line of thinking was correct.

But Master would surely provide clear guidance.

When he returned,

Haruto would share this idea with him.

He continued refining his concept on the paper. At that moment, the black crystal resting on the corner of the table cracked with a sharp snap, splitting cleanly in two.

Haruto’s head jerked up.

He stared toward the stone, eyes blank with shock.

...

Roughly two minutes later.

Several figures arrived at the Mage Tower one after another.

Luvia, Aelora, and Shumi had all returned at Haruto’s urgent summons.

"Haruto... you can’t just say things like that."

"Are you absolutely certain that the stone cracking carries this meaning?"

Haruto cradled the broken pieces in his hands.

He looked up at them with a dazed expression. "When Master Kanzaki Rei explained it to me, this was exactly what it meant... if the stone shatters, it signifies he has lost contact and his life or death is unknown."

"He said the worst possible outcome..."

Haruto shook his head involuntarily as he reached this point, as if he dared not speak the words aloud.

Shumi grew impatient. "Just say it already, meow!"

Haruto raised his fearful gaze to Shumi. "He... might be dead."

They had not known each other long, yet Haruto’s attachment to Kanzaki Rei ran deep. The man had pulled him from the depths of despair, granted him a second life, given him the chance to grow strong and take revenge.

He had given Haruto every last shred of hope.

Haruto refused to accept this reality no matter what.

BOOM!

A heavy crash thundered out!

The top of the Mage Tower suddenly exploded and shattered.

Luvia’s golden hair whipped backward as she drove a fist into the nearby wall!

Her eyes were bloodshot.

"That bastard! He disappeared for ten years, finally came back, and now he’s leaving us again."

Aelora frowned deeply. "The expedition campaign is about to begin... without him, with only our current combat strength..."

"I’m afraid we won’t be able to launch the crusade against the nest at all."

"Luvia, Shumi, I need to report this information back immediately."

Aelora’s emotional bond with Kanzaki Rei was not particularly deep. After a glance at the other two, she made her decision at once.

Shumi nodded to Aelora, who then shot off through the air.

The tower’s explosion had alarmed the entire Land of Seeing the Moon.

Powerful figures rose into the sky one after another.

Even Lothar left his throne and ascended.

One look revealed the furious Luvia.

"Kanzaki Rei has run into trouble."

He didn’t even need to ask.

An ominous premonition instantly formed in Lothar’s heart.

Loren’s safety now rested almost entirely on Kanzaki Rei’s protection.

If Kanzaki Rei were gone, it would be no blessing for Loren—it would be a catastrophe.

Luvia pressed a hand to her heart, her windblown golden hair slowly settling.

She needed to stay calm. She must not give in to anger...

After all, she was already a high-tier job-changer. The raging emotions subsided quickly. Luvia crouched down and placed both hands firmly on Haruto’s shoulders.

"Little Haruto."

"Your master is incredibly strong—the only one I’ve ever seen who possesses such unprecedented power."

"He is so strong that I don’t believe I could ever catch up to him in this lifetime."

"He still carries so many missions and so many promises he must fulfill. He could never die so easily."

"So don’t be afraid."

Haruto looked at Luvia as she comforted him. She was the one offering reassurance, yet tears were streaming down her face.

"That bastard..."

"He’s always like this—disappearing without a single word."

"The next time I see him, I’m going to beat the hell out of him first."

"But right now we have more important things to do. Haruto, you must work hard to grow stronger... perhaps you are the mage with the greatest potential in our era."

With Izparalt having ascended to godhood, forced to dwell alone within the divine kingdom and sealed away.

In this era where Kanzaki Rei had vanished.

Haruto, as the sole inheritor of Kanzaki Rei’s legacy, might truly be the only "strongest" mage still able to act in this world.

But everything hinged on whether Haruto could actually grow into that role.

No one knew whether this strange era would even grant him the time he needed to mature.

Yet if Kanzaki Rei were to vanish for another ten years...

If Izparalt still had not emerged from the divine kingdom, then Haruto would represent the future hope of all mages.

...

[Second Timeline]

Three days had passed since Ahekator began pursuing him.

During these three days,

Kanzaki Rei had gained a general understanding of this timeline’s situation.

Compared to his original timeline, this one could be called a peaceful timeline.

A... timeline without any Moons.

All twelve months were pure moons.

There were no monster upheavals. Everyone lived in peace. Dungeons and nests existed, but the monsters were weak. High-tier evolved monsters were virtually nonexistent.

After scouting around,

even the strongest seventh-tier dungeon had only a seventh-tier, two-evolution guardian.

The peace was almost unsettling.

It gave the feeling that one could do nothing at all and still easily live to a hundred years here.

If he stayed, it would fulfill his wish for a life free of worldly conflict...

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Kanzaki Rei stood before a furnace he had located, hammering the Supreme Luck Scepter with a fire hammer formed from Molten Firm Holy Flame.

Molten Firm Holy Flame could effortlessly melt any metal alloy.

To a blacksmith, this was no low-ranked trash flame—it was a true divine flame.

After forging the Supreme Luck Scepter previously, he had put it to immediate use.

His preparations had been too rushed.

Clang!

Kanzaki Rei struck again.

Behind him, Nahelkato sat on a long bench, quietly watching his back as he forged.

She did nothing else, simply observing in silence.

As the final hammer blow fell,

countless rays of light converged back into the Supreme Luck Scepter.

「Supreme Luck Scepter +3」

Kanzaki Rei’s primary blacksmith talent was 「God-Tier · Radiant Ascension.」

Each reinforcement multiplied the previous effects by ten times.

The required materials and methods for reinforcing the Supreme Luck Scepter were all recorded within the God-Tier Complete Forging Heart.

Nahelkato asked, "Are the materials I gathered sufficient?"

Kanzaki Rei smiled. "Yes, more than enough."

Level 5 Blacksmith: 「God-Tier · Radiant Ascension」「God-Tier · Complete Forging Heart」「God-Tier · Void Consumables」「God-Tier · Divine Artifact Construction」「God-Tier · True Martial」

After returning from the ten-year gap, the blacksmith class had risen two levels in succession. The Void Consumables talent allowed Kanzaki Rei to drastically reduce the materials needed for forging—requiring only one ten-thousandth of the original amount.

It also let him omit up to two core forging materials, though at least one core material was still required.

Otherwise, forging a divine artifact would not have gone so smoothly.

The limited materials Aelora had provided would never have been enough on their own. No matter what, the resources an eighth-tier warrior could obtain should not have sufficed to create a divine artifact that even ordinary gods would struggle to possess.

...

As for 「God-Tier · True Martial,」

it allowed him to temporarily extract a corresponding weapon directly from any person, magic, or combat technique. If drawn from a god, the weapon would rival a divine artifact.

Unfortunately...

he had been unable to use this ability against Ahekator.

The moment they met, he had already been completely suppressed.

Now, having arrived in Nahelkato’s second timeline, Kanzaki Rei had finally obtained the supplementary materials needed to reinforce the Supreme Luck Scepter.

+1 granted ten times the power, +2 a hundred times, +3 a thousand times.

Every effect of the current Supreme Luck Scepter was now a thousand times stronger than before. Simply holding it in his hand, he could feel vast torrents of fortune surging toward him.

Previously, the gathering of luck had been imperceptible.

Whoosh!

The instant the forging was completed, the clouds in the sky parted. A brilliant rain of colorful gems began to fall from above. Countless gems sparkled with dazzling light. In the previous timeline, each of these would have been considered rare treasures, even if not quite divine materials.

Kanzaki Rei sensed a terrifying vortex coalescing.

With each step he took,

the surrounding sea twisted into whirlpools. Seawater transformed into precious rare liquids. Those miraculous fluids capable of birthing souls and creating flesh shimmered brilliantly across the waves.

So this was what it felt like to be Yakathicta?

Gripping the luck scepter amplified a thousandfold, Kanzaki Rei suddenly felt that his own fortune had become comparable to that of the legendary Moon, Yakathicta.