One day later.
The morning sun rose, warm and indifferent, as if nothing in the world had changed.
At a luxurious villa situated in Letran City, a young man dressed in a casual shirt and shorts walked through the large gate.
Behind him, a pair of twins followed, looking at the villa with curiosity and excitement.
"Look, Leo… there's a garden there!"
Lia pulled Leo's hand, pointing at the right side of the villa.
A large garden unfolded in the open, glowing with a mellow green luster, with beautiful plants and flowers lining both sides.
"Yeah, it's pretty…"
Leo nodded slightly, restraining his excitement. He glanced at Zold's composed expression, feeling that he was still too childish.
'I have to be like Teacher!'
Seeing Leo's lackluster response, Lia grumpily clenched Leo's hand, causing the latter to wince in pain.
"Ow!"
"Dummy!"
Ignoring their childishness, Zold unlocked the doors of the villa with his key.
Click!
As the villa's interior unfolded before them, Leo and Lia's eyes shone.
"Is this where we'll live from now on…?"
"Wow…"
Zold entered inside, not sharing their excitement.
This luxurious high-end villa was merely one of his "benefits" as a designated Limit Individual.
His talk with the Mayor of Letran City yesterday reminded him of his privilege as a registered A-rank Ranker or a Limit Individual.
As a Limit Individual, he was given a villa in a major city, a large amount of money, and special privileges as the nation's top Awakener.
He originally didn't care for something so small, but since he adopted the twins, the small, scuffed condo unit was no longer enough for the three of them.
It wasn't just for the twins, but for his privacy as well.
"Go and choose your rooms on the second floor. Once you're done, go to the field outside. I'll teach you your first lesson."
Upon entering the villa, Zold briefly spoke to the twins.
'First lesson!'
Leo and Lia exchanged a glance, their faces lit with a mix of excitement and nervousness.
"Understood, teacher!"
Their voices synced up perfectly. Even the usually shy and timid Lia seemed excited for it.
Leaving behind Zold, the two of them quickly went up to the second floor.
"I'll check here!"
"O-okay!"
Hearing the twins' excited voices along the stairway, Zold sighed quietly.
He went ahead and explored the entire ground floor, his gaze lingering on each corner.
The villa itself had three floors, each spacious and tastefully luxurious.
The first floor housed the living hall, with a grand living room and a fully equipped kitchen tucked neatly to the side.
The second floor served as the family hall, where the main bedrooms and guest rooms opened onto wide corridors bathed in sunlight.
The third floor was an entertainment lounge, filled with various recreational facilities designed for both relaxation and amusement.
Outside the villa, a vast open field stretched to the left, perfect for training or games.
On the right lay a carefully tended garden.
At the back, a sparkling pool reflected the sunlight, ideal for late-night gatherings or quiet afternoon relaxation.
All in all, aside from finding the place too large for his liking, Zold was satisfied.
After exploring the ground floor, he went up and followed the twins to the second floor.
As the owner of the villa, his room was naturally the master room.
Zold walked over to the master room and entered inside.
The room was already furnished and had a balcony on the far left.
Click!
Closing the door from behind, he looked around the room for a moment.
But after a quick survey, he found no cameras or any recording devices.
Moreover, he also didn't feel anything odd. With his heightened senses, he was extremely sensitive to being watched or threatened.
So if there were any cameras, then he could tell right away.
After confirming this, he sat down on the queen-sized bed, making himself comfortable.
Since this villa was given by the government, it wasn't out of the question that they would employ methods to keep Awakeners in check.
In fact, the mayor even offered to hire employees for him, such as maids and guards. Even though it was a perfectly normal proposal, he knew that it was actually a trap.
Those maids and guards were probably going to be government plants, in charge of reporting his every move.
Zold was certain of that.
'Not surprising.'
A similar event occurred in his past life, and when it was discovered, it had caused an uproar among most Elite and Limit Individuals.
Ever since then, the government stopped all attempts to spy on high-ranked Awakeners.
However, that was in his past life.
At this point in time, the world was still adapting to the disasters, so everyone was still probing the limits of Awakeners.
"For employees… I'll just ask Maria."
Zold muttered out loud. Since Maria was rich, she probably knew more than him where to find reliable employees.
He brushed aside such thoughts for the moment and looked at his newly acquired skills and attributes.
Skills: [Prideful Flames], [Infernal Claws], [Odor Sensitivity], [High Jump], [Muscle Tightening], [Mountain Breaker], [Earthly Movement], [Extremely Tight Force], [Spiritual Lag], [Bloody Life], [Shadow Division], [Invisible Presence], [Shadow Movement], and [Onestab].
[Shadow Division], [Invisible Presence], [Shadow Movement], and [Onestab] were the skills he obtained from killing the Mother Arachnid.
[Shadow Division — Creates shadow clones of the user, each inheriting all of the user's abilities. The clone's power is halved, and for every additional clone, the power of all clones is proportionally reduced.]
[Shadow Movement — Allows the user to traverse between shadows within their line of sight. Spiritual energy proportionally increases with the distance. 2 seconds cooldown.]
[Invisible Presence — Erases the user's presence from perception, becoming effectively invisible in shadows or darkness. In broad daylight, the effect lasts a maximum of three minutes.]
[Onestab — Delivers a single, extremely lethal strike to the target, dealing quadruple the user's strength. If the target is struck from behind, a paralysis effect is applied. If the attack misses, the user suffers a spiritual recoil. 10 seconds cooldown.]
Zold's attention lingered in [Onestab].
All four were powerful and useful skills, but his goal has always been [Onestab].
This skill allows him to deal damage quadruple his strength.
As he grows stronger, this skill becomes more and more valuable.
"With this, getting the skills I need will be far easier… next is my attributes."
—
STRENGTH: 20.25
SPEED: 20.25
DEFENSE: 20.25
SPIRIT: 20.25
LUCK: 15
EVOLUTION POINTS: 10
—
His trip to the Lunarian Dark Jungle brought a substantial boost to his spiritual energy, doubling his four attributes.
With his current attributes, his body matched a Tier II Beast's attributes.
But still, it was far cry from a Tier III Beast's attributes.
"50 attributes should be the threshold before I can ascend to the Vital Spark stage."
Zold estimated in his mind.
That meant he needed to kill and absorb 5-6 Tier III Beasts.
He needs to quickly reach the Vital Spark stage before the upcoming Global Summit.
"Looks like I'll be busy these last few weeks…"
Zold exhaled lightly, his eyes hardening with resolve.
If he wanted to have any say in the Global Summit, he needed to be Vital Spark stage at minimum.
At that time, the other regressors should already have Vital Spark level of strength.
Unlike him, the other regressors had 'active talents' or talents with skills from the start.
An Awakener could increase their spiritual energy either through Spirit Orbs or understanding their talent deeper, in which case, it usually means deriving new skills from their talent or upgrading their current skills.
Since the other fourteen had already reached the limit of their talents in their previous life, they just needed to regain their previous skills, and they would ascend the Vital Spark stage naturally.
But since their strength had regressed significantly, they needed to adjust these skills to fit their current bodies.
But that could be solved with time alone.
But unlike them, Zold didn't have any skills from his talent.
His primary method of increasing his spiritual energy was through absorbing Spirit Orbs and understanding the skills he obtained from them.
So in the early stages, Zold was actually at a disadvantage.
While they just needed to readjust their skills, he needed to continuously absorb Spirit Orbs to keep up with their pace.
This was why he didn't dare look down on the other regressors.
Of course, it was still difficult to say who was truly in the advantage...
At least, with Zold's current abilities, he didn't think he was inferior to anyone.