Chương 24: New Abilities

Mirevale Town. The sun was just rising over the horizon. Kyle had just woken up and taken care of his hygiene. Hanging a towel next to the desk, he put on his clothes. He pulled on a simple linen shirt and dark trousers before fastening a sturdy leather belt around his waist. Over them, he wore a sleeveless leather jerkin reinforced with stitched hide, practical clothing commonly favored by adventurers and hunters alike. Finally, he strapped his sword to his waist and adjusted the worn boots on his feet.

Because he was always wearing his leather armor, this might be the first time since recovering his past life's memories that he has worn a leather jerkin. Using the mirror to carefully examine his looks, Kyle nodded in satisfaction. He was indeed very handsome.

'I might have to buy new clothes, though. This is the last clean and untorn set. I guess one of the unavoidable expenses of adventurers is clothes.' Traveling through forests and swamps and fighting monsters inevitably results in stained and torn clothes. He had already thrown several sets that couldn't be stitched or cleaned anymore. He walked to the wooden desk and picked up his money pouch.

"206 silver coins. This is the first time I have had such a large amount of money." Kyle muttered with a satisfied expression on his face. Most of it came from the loot from those gang members; adding the money he got from selling the weapons, the E-rank quest, and his original stash, he accumulated over 2 gold coins.

"With this money, I don't have to take quests for quite a while." Kyle pondered for a moment before deciding to spend the next period training. Besides, he's also a bit worried about the Bloody Hand gang. Although the proprietress said that he needn't worry, he decided to be cautious and keep a low profile for the next period. He could also gather information about them.

"I'll have to consider them as potential enemies and prepare plans to deal with them… Just in case," Kyle muttered. Taking one last look at the mirror, Kyle walked out of his room and down the stairs.

'The dining hall is quite empty; it seems that I woke up quite early today.' Kyle thought as he looked at the two people sitting at different tables.

"Good morning, Miss Hearth, the usual, please." Kyle waved at Marielle before sitting at an empty table.

"Coming right up!" Marielle's voice sounded from the kitchen. It didn't take long for her to walk out holding a tray in one hand and a book in another.

"Here you go, little Kyle. Your breakfast, and here's the thing you requested. It took me quite a while to find it." Marielle winked and said as she placed the tray and the book on the table.

"Enjoy~~" She said with a faint smile before walking back to the counter. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Kyle thanked her, then picked up the book with a look of interest. [Eye of Insight] That was the title of the book. Skimming through it, it contained many descriptions and illustrations about mana usage in order to strengthen dynamic vision.

'So, overall, it's a combat skill that enhances the range of sight and dynamic vision. It's a good observation-type skill.' He thought with a look of satisfaction. He immediately thought of many famous eye-type techniques that he could derive using this combat skill.

'However, this will have to wait until later. For now, I'll just learn [Eye of Insight] while evolving [Burst Step].' He confirmed before setting the book aside and eating his breakfast. When he passed by the counter as he headed outside, Marielle waved her hand and said,"Good luck on your adventures~~" Kyle nodded with a faint smile before walking out. Facing the gradually brightening streets and the increasing crowd, Kyle reaffirmed his goals before walking towards the town's gate. …………… Three months later.

On a grassland stretching to the horizon, behind a hill, Kyle stood with his eyes closed, hands hanging. He took a deep breath and suddenly… Disappeared. He reappeared on the other side of the hill, a hundred meters away, in less than a second. The grass beneath him barely dented, showcasing his exquisite control over his power.

"I have finally perfectly mastered the magical version of [Soru]," Kyle muttered with a look of satisfaction. It took him two months to develop the magical version of Soru and weeks of normal training to completely master it. Now, his explosive speed has nearly tripled, making it by far his most outstanding point. However, an issue arose; his reaction speed started to fall behind. Fortunately, he acquired just the thing to make up for it not long before.

[Eye of Insight] However, it had evolved now to [Clairvoyant Eyes (F)]. Kyle's eyes glowed with a faint blue light as mana coursed through them. The movements of the grass gradually slowed in his eyes. He could clearly see ants crawling on the ground nearly 100 meters away, their antennas occasionally twitching. Most importantly, when he focuses solely on one subject, he can see a faint, invisible shadow moving ahead of it. [Clairvoyant Eyes (F)] is his original creation.

Though inspired by many of his previous life's work, it's something he came up with on his own. It actually wasn't much better than [Eye of Insight] overall. Its enhancement effect on vision clarity, distance, and dynamic vision isn't much higher. That's why he was able to develop it in such a short period of time. However, it had one thing [Eye of Insight] didn't have. Precognition. He could look 0. 1 seconds into the future while using it. Though that might not seem like much, this ability could grow.

Through categorizing it into different levels, he can use his talent to evolve it to higher levels when needed. If [Clairvoyant Eyes (F)] could allow him to see 0. 1 seconds into the future, then [Clairvoyant Eyes (E)], he could see 0. 5. That's without mentioning the enhancement of vision, static and dynamic. At the (D) level, he would be able to see 1 second into the future, and so on.

Theoretically, this ability had no upper limit; he could continue developing higher levels if there were a need for it, from SS to SSS and even higher. This was the solution he found to developing higher-order abilities. Developing an extremely low-level variant of them, then training them to higher levels as the situation requires.

"[Clairvoyant Eyes (F)] is barely usable in battle for now. I'll continue developing it later." Kyle nodded before carefully sensing his mana core, then moving his legs around; they were a bit numb. Other problems that he didn't consider appeared after developing [Magic Soru]. The increased mana consumption and its strain on the body. Mana consumption had nearly doubled. Compared to [Burst Step], which he could use without worrying too much about consumption during combat.

[Phantom Step] required careful thought and measuring to use during battle. (I'm renaming [Magic Soru] to [Phantom Step]). However, the more glaring issue was the physical stress. This technique put much greater stress on the physique, especially the legs.

'I didn't think to take these issues into consideration while developing special abilities. I completely forgot that even the greatest abilities need a solid foundation, but it's not too late to realize it. The next step is clear.'

"I've spent long enough developing my abilities; it's time I focus on the basics. Physique, swordsmanship, and mana. Once my stats grow, the skill's drawback will disappear." Kyle muttered as he packed his parcel. Walking back to town, he patted his shriveled-up money pouch.

"It's also about time I resume taking quests," Kyle muttered bitterly.