[Pickable items detected. Do you want to pick them up?]
"Yes."
[Ding! Successfully picked up: 3 ordinary physique crystals, 3 ordinary soul crystals, 3 ordinary swordsmanship crystals, 3 ordinary martial arts crystals, and 1 elite talent crystal. They have been stored in the portable inventory.]
"Talent crystal?"
The new item left Kairos Flint momentarily stunned.
He quickly retrieved the crystal from his portable inventory.
A string of text appeared in front of his eyes:
[Talent Crystal]: Upon consumption, increases your innate talent level. Similar crystals can be synthesized to create higher-level talent crystals.
"All talents? Does that mean it improves everything?"
Kairos pondered the possibility for a moment but soon shook off the thought. What really interested him now was the idea of synthesis.
The text mentioned that similar crystals could be combined to create more advanced ones.
Simple logic—1+1=2, maybe.
He was already aware of how the crystal levels worked. Even the ordinary ability crystals had significantly boosted his stats. So, if he could create a higher-tier crystal, the power increase would no doubt be massive.
"But how do I synthesize it?"
That was the problem. Kairos had no idea how to perform the synthesis mentioned in the description.
"Synthesis…" he muttered, holding four ordinary physique crystals in his hand.
He concentrated on them, visualizing the synthesis process.
Suddenly—
[Ding! Insufficient quantity for synthesis. Cannot proceed.]
The unexpected message left Kairos a bit disappointed.
It seemed that four crystals weren't enough—he needed more.
"If only I could see my own attribute values…"
He sighed internally.
As if responding to his wish, his system interface—his so-called "golden finger"—immediately displayed several rows of data:
[Host]: Kairos Flint
[Talent]: Civilian Level (0/10)
[Physique]: Civilian Level (2/10)
[Soul]: Civilian Level (2.1/10)
[Abilities]: Civilian-Level Martial Arts (2/10), Beginner Swordsmanship (0.2/10)
[Ability Crystals]:
Ordinary Physique Crystals ×4
Ordinary Soul Crystals ×3
Ordinary Swordsmanship Crystals ×3
Ordinary Martial Arts Crystals ×3
Elite Talent Crystal ×1
Now he could clearly see his own stats.
"This golden finger is really intuitive. But what does 'civilian level' actually mean? And what's the full progression path for swordsmanship?"
As expected, the golden finger responded immediately:
[Grading for Talent, Physique, and Soul]:
Weak → Civilian → Soldier → Sergeant → Lieutenant → Captain → General → Emperor → God
[Swordsmanship Levels]:
Novice → Beginner → Apprentice → Swordsman → Blade Master → Sword Specialist → Great Swordmaster → Supreme Swordsman → Sword Saint
Each of these ranks had nine internal levels, similar to the crystals.
From what Kairos could tell, both systems mirrored each other—just named differently for different categories.
"So my talent, physique, soul, martial arts, and swordsmanship are all at level 2?"
"That's way too weak… I'll need to power up. At the very least, I need to reach the 'Emperor' level."
Still, Kairos wasn't disheartened. After all, he had just traveled to this world. Being at the bottom rung was completely normal.
Even the third level, "Soldier," was already a noticeable improvement over his current state.
"Let's work on leveling up first."
With that thought, Kairos grabbed all the crystals except the physique ones, tossed them into his mouth, and swallowed.
He then checked his stats again.
After consuming the various ability and attribute crystals, his values visibly increased.
Most notably, his Talent attribute jumped directly from "Civilian" to "Soldier" level.
This confirmed something important—taking higher-tier crystals could instantly bump him up to their corresponding level. Otherwise, he'd need to eat multiple crystals of the same tier to slowly accumulate progress.
The decimal values, like 2.1 for his soul or 0.2 for swordsmanship, were probably the partial experience gains from lower-tier crystals.
Based on that, Kairos speculated the synthesis system worked on a decimal basis. Once you collected ten crystals of the same tier, they could be combined into a higher-level one.
That said, he still didn't know the practical advantage of synthesizing them.
Whether you consumed ten individual crystals or one synthesized crystal—it might end up being the same in the end.
But suddenly—footsteps.
Lots of them.
Kairos realized he didn't have time to dwell on theory.
Nami had already lured the second wave of pirates.
Reacting quickly, he tossed another physique crystal into his mouth. It melted instantly, boosting his strength and accelerating recovery from minor wounds and energy depletion.
"Hey pretty girl, where do you think you're running off to? Come on, be a good girl. We'll treat you real nice."
"Hiroshi, let me have her first. I haven't touched a woman in ages."
"Are you nuts? This girl is way better than that deck wench outside. I should go first."
"Shut it, both of you. Do I need to remind you about seniority? Respect your elders!"
"..."
Clearly, there were five pirates this time.
They entered the cabin, eyes locked on Nami. Not one of them paid any attention to their surroundings. Their expressions made their intentions obvious.
That's when Kairos struck.
He stepped out from behind the cover, holding a large sword in each hand, both taken from defeated pirates. Their bodies were tossed in the corner of the cabin, unnoticed by the newcomers.
With both arms swinging—SLASH!
Two blades came down simultaneously.
Both pirates were struck directly in the neck. Even if the wounds weren't instantly fatal, they were so critical the men couldn't even react.
Two down—just like that.
Kairos then pulled back his right-hand sword and charged at the other three.
While his swordsmanship was only at the beginner level, it gave him just enough of an edge. The rest was raw power, agility, and clean execution.
These pirates? Ordinary thugs.
SLASH! THUD! SLASH!
One by one, the remaining pirates crumpled.
Every last one who had followed Nami into the room… was now dead.
Five pirates taken out in a single engagement.
Each one potentially carrying ability crystals for Kairos to absorb and further strengthen himself.
This battle wasn't just a victory—it was another step forward in his evolution.