"An item?" Caelusās interest was completely piqued.
"Yes. Itās in a challenge domain that has spawned in the Golden Eagle City."
"Someone entered the domain and lost the challenge, but he knew what the final prize was. It was an item."
"A rare item which allows one to gain talent skills."
"Oh?" Caelusās interest grew even further.
Talent skills were incredibly useful. So far, he had only gotten about two skills from each of his talents.
But if he got this item, he could unlock more? Isnāt that amazing?
For example, his Hollow Sun Authority might awaken entirely new talents. So would his Laser Manipulation talent, Tremor Authority, or perhaps even the Mage talent.
And in the future, he would most definitely acquire more talents. This item would come in handy.
"Where is it and how do I get there?" Caelus inquired.
He knew it was in the Golden Eagle City, but he didnāt know exactly where.
"Itās in District A, near the dungeon zones," Old Man Welt spoke. "There is a small chance that this is some forcefully formed game of the Middle Expanse."
"Alright. When do we head out?"
"As fast as you can," Old Man Welt replied. "We donāt know how it works. The faster you reach there, the better it will be."
"The challenge domain has a locking mechanism, so itās first come, first served. My news is still fresh, so major forces wonāt arrive for a few hours. This is the right time to strike."
Soon, Welt ended the call.
It could be said that he was very busy since the Null Players invaded the city and kidnapped the city lord and his daughter.
He and Rachel were also fighting outside the city at that time. They had been lured away by the Null Players to effectively target the city lord and gain access to the defensive formation.
But in the end, most of their ranks were eliminated by Caelus, and they were forced to retreat.
"Alright." Caelus turned to Sylvia. "What do you think?"
"Letās go. I want to unlock more skills related to my talent as well," Sylvia nodded.
Caelus nodded back. "Letās ascend to Silver II."
"Yes," Sylvia agreed.
But before that, they needed to recalibrate their mods. Unfortunately, they didnāt have any calibrators with them.
He called Welt again.
"Sure. I have some calibrators. Come by the Player Association."
Caelus and Sylvia did just that. They made a quick trip to the association and obtained three Mod Recalibrators each.
They returned and attuned to their powers. They soon gained an additional 50 to their combat scores.
[Combat Score: 6.09 (Gold I) -> 56.09 (Gold I)]
They both sat at a combat score above 50.
Before recalibration, the mod was still stuck at the state where Caelus only had a Silver combat score.
Now, having been recalibrated, the mod auto-detected his current rank and combat score. The ice giant would finally be useful in battle again.
"Hey, Caelus. I feel some discomfort," Sylvia said with a frown.
"Same, actually," Caelus replied.
They both felt bloated for some reason.
"Is this because we didnāt undergo the Gold Rank baptism?" Caelus clicked his tongue.
He realized his energy control was even thinner than before.
"But we should be able to reach Gold II combat score," Caelus suggested. "The feeling of discomfort aside, if we have overwhelming strength, we can still win."
Sylvia nodded. Caelus was right.
Then, they ascended.
[Ascension Initiated.]
[Rank: Silver I -> Silver II]
[Level: 1 (0/200)]
[Your Divine Halo, Fighting Spirit, and Chaos Ring are being recalibrated.]
[+100, +2, +50]
[Your Region Domain buff of +5 is active.]
[Your Chaos Faction buff of +11 is active.]
[+168 Combat Score]
[Level: 1 (0/200)]
[Combat Score: 56.09 (Gold I) -> 1.49 (Gold II)]
BOOM! BOOM!
The power of origin washed over Caelus as he brimmed with strength once again.
But the feeling of physical bloating increased even further.
"Should we recalibrate the mod again?" Caelus asked helplessly.
"We should. The Frost Monarch mod is useful. It can decrease our opponentās speed by 30% and also summon a giant that can do work for us," Sylvia nodded.
"Even if we feel more bloated and out of place, we should still be able to use our powers to an extent."
"Yeah." Caelus nodded.
They recalibrated.
[Combat Score: 1.49 (Gold II) -> 51.49 (Gold II)]
"Ugh."
Instead of feeling satisfied this time, Caelus flinched in deep discomfort.
It felt exactly like he had eaten a massive amount of food and there was no room left in his stomach.
"I feel like if my combat score increases any more right now, I will burst like a balloon." Caelusās lips twitched.
Sylvia also nodded in grim agreement.
They needed that Gold Rank baptism immediately, or else things would get really serious.
But just then, an idea struck Caelus.
"Canāt we use the faction Benefit Creator?" He blinked.
He had only rolled the gacha three times yesterday, spending 10 reputation points for each.
That meant he was now left with 1,125 points from the initial 1,155. He still had plenty left.
He wanted to see for himself whether it was possible or not.
He began rolling the wheel in anticipation. He received four more Custom Title Creators, and eventually, it landed on exactly what he wanted.
[You have obtained: Restricted Benefit Creator.]
[Condition: The total system cost of the created benefit cannot exceed 10,000 Reputation Points, or this ticket will become void.]
"Itās significantly better than before." Caelus smiled.
Then, he began typing in the benefit after some careful thought. This time, he made it much more restrictive.
[Benefit: When there is a player with Gold Rank combat score in the faction, the faction leader can allot a Gold Rank baptism to stabilize the golden force and optimize their combat score.]
[Ding! Assessing...]
Caelus watched the panel with a nervous gulp.
If this didnāt work, then he might have to completely stop using his extraction talent on beasts for a while.