[SKILL DESCRIPTION: Allows the user to summon heat from the volcano—Mount Etna. This heat can be used to deconstruct and reconstruct weapons. It can also be used to forged weapons into any shape the user desires. The heat produced is strong enough to melt through steel.]
I got a new skill? I didn't have time to worry about that since the Basilisk was propelling toward me. I barely staggered out of the way before his attack hit. Wasting no time, I lunged at the creature while activating my new skill. The description told me all I needed to know about it.
My hands glowed bright orange as a wave of heat energy coursed through them. The moment my hand touched the snake's silver armor, it began to melt through it like butter, revealing a layer of pink skin below. Without hesitation, I sank my hand through.
"Aaargh!" It let out a loud, high-pitched scream.
I plunged my hand deeper into the snake's scaled hide, feeling the resistance give way as I melted through flesh with savage ferocity. The creature writhed in agony, its massive body thrashing as I ripped away chunks of flesh like sagging sacks of meat.
His armor was nothing to me; my fist melted through it the moment it impacted his scales. Each blow was fueled by raw, unrelenting power. With every chunk of flesh I tore off, the creature squirmed more.
I savagely pulled him apart piece by piece, blood spraying in a crimson arc and dyeing the sand red as I continued my relentless assault. His anguished screams filled the air, but I was undeterred; with each brutal strike, he felt the weight of my power. I made sure of it.
I was so intoxicated with the taste of victory that I didn't even realize the pile of mess before me was dead until my system rang out. From the look of him he had been dead for a while. Blood was pouring through the gaping hole in his chest like a broken water valve. The foul scent of his charred flesh hug heavily in the air.
[DING!]
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED SUPREME GRADE MATERIAL]
[DING!]
[YOU HAVE GAINED 50 SKILL POINTS]
With the battle just over, I found the influx of information a little overwhelming. I had to take a moment to fully understand what was going on. I assumed the supreme-grade weapon the system was referring to was the snake's armor, a chunk of which I held in my hand.
[Would you like to craft a weapon from this material?]
I thought about the question for a while and then came up with a suitable answer.
"Can I craft new armor to replace the pieces on my suit that were damaged?"
[Yes, by combining the skills: Godly Craft and Tempered Heat, you can make an exact replica of the armor that was once on your suit from the Basilisk's scales.]
That made sense. Godly Craft allowed me to make weapons out of raw materials, and Tempered Heat managed the form the weapon took.
[Would you like to proceed?] [Y/N]
"Yes."
[DING!!]
[FORGING DURATION: 1 MONTH]
Huh? It will take a month to craft the armor?
[NOTE: THE FORGING DURATION CAN BE OFFSET BY SPENDING 50 SKILL POINTS. WILL YOU ACCEPT?] [Y/N]
I had a sinking feeling that this system was messing with me.
"Yes."
The Basilisk's scales began to emit a deep orange glow before they melted and attached themselves to my suit, just like the armor I wore before. It looked exactly the same, except for the runes etched in the steel.
That's when I started to notice something: the runes were similar to the ones on my knife, yes, but they were also familiar in another way…
"Tongue of the Gods."
It was the same language Luna told me about.
[CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE SKILL HEPHAESTUS' CLAIM.]
[SKILL DESCRIPTION: Allows the user to claim a weapon's skill as an attribute. This skill can be used in conjunction with Godly Craft to impart the newfound attribute onto a weapon.]
I managed to unlock a new skill that allowed me to steal a skill, and if I combined it with Godly Craft, I could embed that skill in a weapon as an attribute.
A few things stood out to me; for example, Hephaestus was the name of the god that the Basilisk mentioned. Was he the one who gifted me Tempered Heat before I was finished off by that serpent? Another thing that didn't fail to escape my notice the moment I read about this new skill. The Basilisk also had a skill.
I trailed the body of the dead beast until I reached its head. I approached the one eye that remained intact and activated my new skill as I touched it.
[DING!]
[You have claimed the skill Serpent's Gaze.]
I then used my other skill to impart this gift to one of my weapons—myself. My eyes went blurry for a second as I integrated the skill, but when my vision cleared, the world seemed different. I could see everything with perfect clarity—every grain of sand on the earth, the movements it made as it collapsed onto itself over and over again, to the point where I could predict every movement it made.
Just then, a dizzy spell set in, and I collapsed to the ground. It was the same thing that happened to the Basilisk—a sensory overload. My brain simply couldn't keep up with the sheer amount of information it was receiving. But it stands to reason that if I increased my intelligence, that wouldn't be the case anymore.
Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for now since I didn't have any points. This environment was too overly stimulating, and I began to faint. But just then, a swirl of golden energy surrounded me. I noted that it was the same as the one that had brought me here.
When I came to and opened my eyes, I noticed a group of men in black standing over me.
"Congratulations, Mockingbird. You've managed to pass the entrance exam for the Limitless Hero Academy," one of the men said in a robotic voice.
"That can't be right; we're only on day five. I've only been gone for a couple of hours."
"It's been two days since the exam ended," he replied. "Time moves faster inside the dungeon ruler's lair."
I took a look around to see the decaying bodies of dead beasts. But what really caught my attention was the state of the island. Even from the top of the mountain, I could still see the destruction that lay below. There were massive craters, and it seemed some sections of the island were completely leveled. The area was dense with smoke.
That's when I remembered Luna. Where was she, and what happened here? I decided to ask the men in front of me.
"What happened here?"
They proceeded to lift me up by the arm without saying a word, and at the same time, a gate opened up.
"We will now take you home now."