"That's about enough." Victor was very pleased with Phantom Trajectory as it was.
Although he could keep upgrading, he had other important skills to think about right now.
That was Illusion Eye!
Because Illusion Eye had a scary-low upgrade success rate, he had to save some skill points for the worst case.
He took out the Clear Sky Stone, and his heart was still a bit uneasy.
He didn't know if, after using the Clear Sky Stone, it would be returned to him if the upgrade failed.
If not, Victor would really cry.
"Upgrade!" Victor clenched his teeth and chose to upgrade the skill "Illusion Eye."
[Consume 1,000 skill points... upgrade failed!]
"Damn it!" Victor let out a soft sigh and stared nervously at the Clear Sky Stone on the table.
Luckily, after about a minute, the Clear Sky Stone was still sitting there just fine, and Victor finally exhaled in relief.
Looks like the panel had a bit of a conscience and didn't swallow his most precious Clear Sky Stone.
"If that's the case, I'm at ease." With no more worry, Victor started a crazy round of upgrades.
[Consume 1,000 skill points... upgrade failed!]
[Consume 1,000 skill points... upgrade failed]
...
Unlike last time, this time every try cost Victor 1,000 skill points.
Failing eighty times would mean a whole day of AFK skill points going down the drain.
Even with Victor's big stash now, burning points like this still hurt.
When he reached the hundredth try, Victor finally heard a lovely chime.
[Consume 1,000 skill points, one Clear Sky Stone, upgrade successful.]
[Skill "Illusion Eye" upgrades to "Eye of Retrospection"]
"Eye of Retrospection?" Victor murmured the name, his body even trembling a little.
Even before checking what Eye of Retrospection could do, he could feel how strong it was.
After opening the skill details, Victor was completely stunned again.
[Skill: Eye of Retrospection (Level 3)]
[Type: Passive skill]
[Trait: Costs no mana.]
[Upgrade requirement: Spend 10,000 skill points, one level-40 beast heart.]
[Effect: Greatly boosts the user's senses and danger prediction. Once every 24h, you can cast "Retrospection" to roll the current scene back ten seconds (the original skill Illusion Eye is still kept).]
"Retrospection!" Victor repeated the word, excited.
It only rolls back ten seconds, but used well, it's still very strong.
"With this skill, I'll have one more edge when I face the Red Rebels."
Victor thought of this and took out the dossier Kane had given him on the Red Rebels' leader, then opened it.
After he opened it, there was only a thin sheet inside. Clearly, Kane and his people knew very little about that leader.
Victor picked up the yellow page stained with faint streaks of blood and read it carefully.
[Name: Jackson.]
[Position: Deputy commander of the Red Rebels' Northwest Division.]
[Level: 32.]
[Awakened class: Unknown.]
[Personality: Insidious and cunning, good at disguising himself (rumored).]
"That's... it?" Victor turned the paper over and over, but that was really all there was.
The info Kane gave him was only the basics: name, position, and level.
Right now, Victor didn't even know Jackson's awakened class or what skills he had.
"Kane really handed me a hot potato." Victor set the paper on the table and shook his head helplessly.
But at this point, even if he wanted to refuse Kane, he probably had no chance.
After all, the file was already opened. No matter what he said, Kane wouldn't let him back out.
"Who can give me more information?" Victor tapped the table lightly and sank into thought.
He went through everyone he knew, one by one, and realized almost none of them could offer anything useful.
The powerful people he knew were basically all from the Federal Government.
If they knew specifics about Jackson, there was no reason Kane wouldn't know too.
"Someone not tied to the Federal Government... Elena!" Victor slapped the table and said the name out loud.
As the Bonfire Society's saintess, Elena might have news about Jackson.
Though Victor had always tried to limit contact with Elena, to avoid tying himself to the Bonfire Society,
today he could ask her in the name of the Federal Government and keep it impersonal.
He could give Elena some payment afterward.
The awkward part was, Victor didn't have Elena's contact info.
So he went online to find the Bonfire Society's official website and dialed their phone number.
When the call connected, Victor cleared his throat and said politely, "Is this the Bonfire Society?"
A man on the other end laughed and said, "Yes. Are you looking to join?"
"No. I'm looking for your saintess." Victor knew it was awkward, but he had to say it anyway.
"Saintess?" The voice on the other end went cold at once.
But per the rules, he still didn't hang up. He just said in a low voice, "Sir, the saintess is very busy. Please don't disturb her."
"You tell her Victor is looking for her!" Victor said helplessly.
"Victor? Are you some high-ranking federal official? Or a genius from a top university?" came the scornful voice on the other end.
Just as Victor was feeling stuck, Elena's voice finally came through the line: "Victor? Is that you, Victor?"
Victor let out a breath of relief and said, "It's me, Elena. I'm sorry I can only reach you this way."
"It's fine. I'll send you my contact info in a bit." Elena sounded cheerful, maybe because Victor had called her first.
"By the way, did you call me... to talk about joining the Bonfire Society?" Elena asked, her voice full of hope.
Victor gave an awkward laugh, then explained, "Sorry, Elena. I called because I want to make a deal with you."
"A deal? Do we still need to talk about deals between us?" Elena said with a soft laugh.
Victor cleared his throat and said seriously, "Elena, this is really important. It's about the Red Rebels."
After he finished, Elena fell silent for a rare moment, then asked, "Why are you suddenly interested in them?"
Before Victor could answer, Elena spoke in a low voice, "Victor, I have to warn you. If the Red Rebels contact you, refuse at once. They're a bunch of lunatics. There's no benefit to joining them!"
"I know, Elena. I want you to help me investigate one of the Red Rebels' leaders," Victor said quickly, realizing she had misunderstood.
"A Red Rebels leader? Who? Jackson?" Elena asked.
"How did you know?" Victor froze. He hadn't expected Elena to say Jackson's name right away.
"Because he's near the underground city," Elena said. "If you're looking into a leader, I guess it's most likely him."
She paused, then asked in doubt, "Why are you investigating him? He's not easy to approach."
"How much do you know about him?" Victor asked at once.
From what Elena had said, Victor guessed she really did know things about Jackson.
"Quite a lot. But why are you asking?" Elena pressed.
On one hand, she was worried about Victor, thinking he planned to meet Jackson.
On the other hand, news about Jackson was internal to the Bonfire Society, and it didn't feel right to just say it outright.
"There is something, but I'm not really able to tell you. But don't worry, I will never do anything that betrays the Federal Government," Victor said with a hint of apology.
When Kane gave him this task, he had already told him how important it was.
So Victor couldn't leak it to anyone, not even his friends.
This was both to protect the Federal Government's interests and to protect Victor himself.
"Alright, Victor, I believe you." Elena nodded.
"Thank you, Elena." This time Victor's thanks was truly sincere; he hadn't expected Elena to trust him like this.
"What do you need? As long as I can provide it, I'll do my best," Victor asked.
"No need. Just think of it as you owing the Bonfire Society a favor." Elena's teasing voice came through.