Chapter 31: Absurd skills Alliance Headquarters, Super City 1 Leon was sitting at his desk, reading through some files while sipping coffee. A knock suddenly sounded at the door. "Come in," he said, eyes still fixed on the document. The door creaked open, and a middle-aged man walked in. Judging by his aura, he was clearly a high-level King. "Sir, Ethan Hunt just made a free purchase worth 130 billion credits," the man reported politely. At the mention of Ethan’s name, Leon finally looked up. These days, only Ethan’s name could pique his interest. The President was still in seclusion—no one knew when he’d come out—so Leon was effectively in charge of the entire Alliance. He was the leader of humanity now. "Oh? What did he purchase? Some kind of special weapon skill?" Leon asked, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity. "I heard he’s into swords. Did he buy Dimensional Slash or Annihilation?" The man waited politely for Leon to finish before replying, "No sir. He didn’t buy either of those." "He didn’t?" Leon raised an eyebrow. "Then what the hell did he buy that cost so much?" "He bought nine elemental skills, sir." Leon was genuinely stunned this time. Why the hell would he buy skills now? He’s only a level 9 warrior. Did he just grab them because they were free? He doesn’t seem like the naive type who’d waste such a golden chance on random stuff just to hoard for the future... He should know that free lunches don’t exist in this world. Or... could it be that he’s already— No, no, no. Can’t be. I just saw him yesterday—still a level 9 warrior. He only awakened six or seven days ago. Maybe he’s just having fun. Skills are things of fantacy to young people. Maybe he just wants to have a look. Yeah, that must be it. Leon nodded to himself, then glanced back at the man. "You may leave. Let me know if he buys anything... noticeable again." The man bowed and exited. Leon returned to his files, his expression calm once more. --- Three Hours Later, Ethan’s House Charles sat on the sofa, watching the excited young man in front of him. He was still dying to know what the hell Ethan had bought that cost 130 billion credits. But instead of opening the package, Ethan tore open the bag of food Charles had brought: two giant burgers, a pizza, and a mountain of fries. Without saying a word, Ethan started eating like Charles wasn’t even there. Charles’s face twitched. "Brat, at least offer some food to your guest." Ethan replied with his mouth full, "What guest? Aren’t you the delivery guy?" Charles twitched even more violently. But what could he say? He was the delivery guy. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Anyway, what did you buy this time?" "Elemental skills. Just to play around," Ethan replied, still not looking up. Charles’s face darkened. "You got a golden opportunity, and you bought useless things you can’t even use in the near future?" Ethan smirked. "How do you know I can’t use them soon?" Charles was speechless. Again. He had no comeback. This monster hit warrior level 9 in just five days after awakening. Who knows what else he could do? The minds of geniuses truly weren’t a realm he could understand. After a bit of small talk, Charles left. Ethan went to his room, practically vibrating with excitement. Infinite Comprehension had never disappointed him—and he had high hopes this time, too. He didn’t sit on the bed. Nope. He plopped down on the floor. Learning elemental skills could have weird side effects. No way he was risking his beloved bed—that thing cost a lot.He was a money lover through and through. He laid out nine scrolls—three elemental, five common. First up: the light-elemental skill Radiant Touch, a minor healing technique. --- [Ding! An elemental skill is detected. Comprehend?] Yes. [Ding! Radiant Touch upgraded to Healing.] --- No "Primordial" tag this time. Ethan blinked, a little disappointed. Then he checked the new skill. Healing: Can heal a person as long as a single drop of blood remains, within 10 hours. Required energy depends on injury severity. He froze. Wait... what? He read it again. Nope. He read it right. He could literally revive people within 10 hours if even a drop of blood remained. That wasn’t healing—that was straight-up resurrection. Sure, the energy cost would be massive, but his core was way larger than normal. That should help, right? ...Right? But deep down, he knew—reviving someone might still be beyond his reach for a long time, even if he became an Emperor. Still... this was god-tier potential. He just didn’t know when he’d be able to use it fully. Next up: the thunder-element skill Static Field. --- [Ding! A skill has been detected. Comprehend?] Yes. [Ding! Static Field is upgraded to Thunder Domain.] --- Thunder Domain: You can generate a domain of thunder. Maximum radius depends on martial realm and mental power. A domain. An actual elemental domain. Rose had a domain too, but that was her soul talent. Ethan? He just bought a crappy low-level skill and turned it into a domain. The world was truly unfair. But if the unfairness is in my favor, then it’s fine, he grinned. Next: metal-element skill Metal Shard Shot. --- [Ding! Metal Shard Shot is upgraded to Metal Creation.] --- Metal Creation: You can create anything using metal-elemental force. Anything,huh? Maybe a metal Rose? Ethan thought with perverted grin on his face. Time for the common skills now. These were supposed to be the real deal. --- [Ding! Energy Sense is upgraded to Spirit Sense.] --- 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂 Spirit Sense: Within your mental domain, you can detect anything with energy—its level and type. Simple description. But Ethan knew better. Nothing from Infinite Comprehension was ever simple. --- [Ding! Elemental Imprint is upgraded to Soul Imprint.] --- Soul Imprint: You can mark a person’s soul. If your mental energy exceeds theirs, you can enslave them. --- [Ding! Meditative Regeneration is upgraded to Regeneration.] --- Regeneration: Your body will regenerate even if only a single atom remains. --- [Ding! Battle Clone is upgraded to Clone.] --- Clone: You can create unlimited clones for unlimited time, as long as you have the energy. Clone power cannot exceed 5% of your own. All clones share your thoughts and can act independently. --- [Ding! Elemental Armor is upgraded to Armor.] --- Armor: Create full-body elemental armor with your own design. Increases defense by 5x your attributes. --- Ethan stared blankly. His soul was probably floating around in Rose’s bedroom or something. He only managed to say one word: "Fuck." No other word could describe what he was feeling. He was numb. These skills were insane. He was literally invincible—well, almost. Cough cough. Once he became an Emperor? Damn right he’d be invincible. Ocean Emperor? President Dragon? They could all go sit in a corner. No one could stop a pervert with perverted skills. And if the pervert is him—then that’s fine. He was bursting with excitement. He really wanted to go out and fight some monsters right now. But he held back. Tomorrow. He’d hit the wilderness and stay for three or four days. Maybe clear five to ten zones while he was at it. With that thought, he happily flopped into bed. --- Next Morning Ethan heard Elina and Jack chatting in the drawing room. They were back. With his Grandmaster strength and sky-high attributes, he could easily hear them from across the house. He pulled up his panel. --- [Master: Ethan Hunt] Physique: 69,440 Spirit: 69,440 Talent: Infinite Comprehension --- Seeing his attributes had doubled again, his mood instantly shot up. Time to go hunting.