MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

As Alex regained his consciousness, foreign information about various elementals occupied his mind for the next few seconds.

Alex learned about darkness, and it was not through information but by witnessing its various forms of manifestation, from the absence of light in a small room to the boundless darkness of the void of space.

He learned that death was not the end of life and that it was a cosmic principle woven into the fabric of existence responsible for the renewal and balance of all things.

Alex learned that decay was the natural consequence of the passage of time and the process by which all things, whether living or inanimate, return to the fundamental elements from which they emerged.

Alex learned the element of fire to be a dynamic force of creation and destruction that embodied the transformative power of energy and was a manifestation of the cosmic laws that govern change.

It was a refreshing and exciting experience as Alex experienced the nature and roles of various elements, and he understood them differently than he previously did, even though he knew all of the information.

But it was like what he knew was just knowledge, a theory at best, and experiencing those elements of nature firsthand was practical. 

The experience made Alex see the same knowledge differently and understand the elements more deeply, and it was a fascinating and enlightening experience.

After Alex completely came to his senses, he checked the Dragon monarch seal for any changes, and a new skill, named guidance, was unlocked.

The skill allowed Alex to experience the mysteries of various elements, and even though the understanding of the elements he would acquire would in no way be enough to make him swiftly reach the next stage of the elemental concept comprehension.

As each person perceived their element uniquely, however the experience from the skill would serve as a roadmap, showcasing possibilities and undoubtedly accelerating one's understanding, reducing the time required to progress.

Alex could only use the guidance skill once after reaching every certain milestone in concept comprehension, so for the time being, the skill was locked, but now he was recognized and could utilize the other two skills, which were of real value to him.

Now that everything was done, Alex wanted to leave the training chamber, get familiar with his new skills, check what the Devourer skill had to offer, and also check on Ricin and see how his little glutton was faring in the wild.

Alex also needed to test the Selective Refinement skill of the Red Gem to see if it could now fully cure an individual from the Devourer Curse.

But before all that, Alex wanted to see his new stats under the influence of his readjusted buffs from all his equipments as he saved it for the last, knowing the buffs would not be pretty.

'I was expecting worse,' Alex thought, with a smile, as he examined the updated status window.

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Player Name: Hidden One

Class: Abyssal Guardian

Race: Human/Ancient

Title: [Primate's Bane][Indomitable Ruler][Legend][Era Unveiler][Guest Noble][Mana Loved][Domain Ruler][Valiant Warrior][Battle Emperor][Chosen By Death][Archsage][Zenith Mortal][?????? Child]

Legacy: Darkness Ruler

Physique: Dark Ancient Physique.

LVL: 300

Rank: Fourth Rank

STATS

STR: 67,200. (30%+30%) AGI: 42000.

VIT: 67,200. (30%+30%) STA: 67,200. (30%+30%)

INT: 58,800. (30%+10%)

HP: 6.72_M/6.72_M

MP: 5.88_M/ 5.88_M

Unassigned stat points : 0

Hidden stats

Luck: ???

Charm: 93/???

Wisdom: 152/???

Reputation: 600_K.

Condition: Healthy

Weapons: [Umbris (???)↔ Legendary(???)]

Equipment: [Runic Custodian Set↔ Legendary]

[Ring of Valor ↔ Legendary][Ancient ??? Nexus↔ Unique [Mythical+]]

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✵✵Skills✵✵:

•-Class Skill:

[Weapon Summon][Reaper's Leeches][Shadow Doppelganger][Abyssal Lightning Storm][Malevolent Revitalization][Nullfire Meteor Shower][Arcane Trance][Summon Elemental][Umbral Tormentress][Abyssal Chimerabell][Air Walk][Arcane Parry][Death's Mirage][Summon Undead][Cloak of Emptiness]

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•-Physique Skill: [Eyes of the Ancient][Perfect Darkness Manipulation][Tenebrous Shard Enclave][Darkness Embrace][Nihility Purge][Devourer]

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Unique Skill: [Continental Teleportation][Astral World Projection][Superior Chaos Manipulation][Ruler Pride][Abyssal Resonance Spirit Art][Dragon Monarch Seal][Minor Soul Energy Manipulation]

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Battle Arts: 

Endless Void: [Phantom Walk Stage] [Mana Sense]

Nameless: [Sword Intent][Saber Intent]

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Elemental Resistances: [Perfect Fire Resistance][Perfect Ice Resistance][Perfect Poison Resistance][Perfect Death Resistance][Perfect Decay Resistance]

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•-Equipment Skill: [Time Weave][Temporal Beacon][Absorb][Morph][Weight Manipulation][Miasma Field][Rage Embodiment][Psychic Shield][Draconic Chimera Aegis][Life Siphoning Blade Aura][Blade Intent][Tenacity][Valor Blessing][Appraisal][Devour][Locate][Morph][Copy][Philosopher Library][Refinement][Material Refinement][Bloodline Refinement][Selective Refinement]

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•-Manually Learned Spells/Skills: [Chaos Wings][The Dark Sun][Abyssal Chains][Eclipse Dome][Corrosion Beam][Darkness Blast][Ebon Lance]

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Skills:

[Psychic Bastion][Endless Regeneration][Phantom Sword Flash][Darkness Veil Reaper Slash][Four Fold Dark Wave][Death Point][Reaper Slash][Darkness Slash][Four Fold Thrust][Overhead Slash][Weapon Throw]

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All the equipment had improved with new skills unlocked and previous ones getting strengthed, and every buff besides the one that boosted attributes was also enhanced.

As for why the buffs that increased the physical attributes were decreased instead of increasing, it was solely because of Alex's absurdly high stats that not even an early Fifth Rank individual who had refined a perfect elemental vessel should have.

The buffs on equipment were just a form of law blessings that worked because of the forge law runes carved on them, and even with the might of those blessings, they had limitations in place.

A normal individual with no gifts would have around 4000 points in all of his stats combined at the peak of the fifth Rank, while the most talented individuals with a bit of resources to spare, like adventurers, would have triple that number.

The best with special gifts and the best of resources and with the pursuit of reaching the pinnacle would have 10K or marginally above as their base stats because, after that, they hit a wall that, no matter how much treasure and elixirs they consume, would make it increasing their stats extremely hard with barely any progress.

If it was an average fourth Ranked individual with even five thousand points in each stat after the fourth Rank promotion, he would gain close to 100% buff from a good legendary item, but that percentage would decrease for someone with higher stats.

Alex had 42k stats points in each one, which was close to what most good peak Fifth Rank warriors had with the buffs from the best of weapons, so it was reasonable that buffs that his items could give were reduced significantly.

As for who could gain the full advantage of the absurdly high 500% or more buffs, that was nobody, but it didn't mean those buffs were just for show.

The buffs were fully functional and made each item of what quality it was, and they were made to give such absurdly high improvements that when strong individuals used the items, they received a decent buff even with the strong limitation placed by the worldly law.

Now happy with the stats, Alex checked the new skills that were unlocked in his armor and ring, namely the Draconic Chimera Aegis and Valor Blessing.

The first skill was a defensive skill, granting him a magic barrier, with the second being a passive that activated when his health fell below 20% and granted him boosted regeneration of health, mana, and stamina.

Alex thanked Lady Luculia for her help before saying goodbye and leaving the training chamber, where he was welcomed by Varon.

Alex informed Varon of his plan to see Ricin, but he swiftly informed that it was only possible if he was willing to end Ricin's training under his new master, and this state would stay for at least the next four months.

After hearing the ultimatum, Alex instantly knew that whatever training program Ricin was undergoing was not nice in any way, and seeing him meant he himself would end the training if he held even a bit of love for the innocent beast.

Alex understood that no matter how strong he could make Ricin, that little glutton would need to experience challenge and discipline to truly use his given opportunities and gifts.

So Alex took a few minutes to think if the current training program was necessary because when he picked Ricin as his beast companion, he had nothing besides his future knowledge and plans to make good use of it.

Alex planned to turn Ricin into a calamitous creature, but when he picked, it was simply to make him his ride so he could take him to places with no way to reach but the skies.

But now he had many resources at his disposal, and he had taken a liking to that little naive glutton who liked to eat and sleep.

So, it was difficult to decide whether he should educate Ricin in his own way or let him go through his current training program.

In the end, Alex decided to go with the latter option, comprehending it would be challenging to replicate an opportunity of training under someone admired by Varon and do so for six months.

Varon took Alex to the hunting ground to test his newly improved skills and get familiar with his strength, and he spent the next few hours doing just that.

Alex ended his session by hunting a named peak Fifth Rank wandering world Boss monster, to not only test his limitations but also to use the Devourer skill on its corpse to see what kind of results he could expect to receive from the strongest of creatures he was capable of killing.