After his third awakening, Gregory didn’t seem much different from usual.
Cedric Blackwell asked, “How do you feel now?”
“A bit weak,” Gregory Blackwell frowned, seriously saying, “Among the SS-grade talents I know of, this one is relatively weak.”
Hearing this, everyone present couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
Cedric Blackwell, still not giving up, pressed, “How weak?”
“Weaker than Joseph.”
It was clear that among SS-grade talents, Joseph’s was already at the lowest tier, unless his talent also underwent a second or even third awakening.
Without holding back, Professor Gregory explained his talent. There were no outsiders present, so there was no need to hide anything.
“The talent is called [Serenity in the Mortal Realm], and it can only be activated in the mortal realm.”
Shadow Nine immediately asked, “How is [mortal realm] defined?”
“Earth, or any level in the Tower of Truth where an SSSS conquer or higher has been achieved, is considered the mortal realm.”
Mike: ?!
[Serenity in the Mortal Realm] was a perfect match for Thor!
Without Mike achieving SSSS ratings, Professor Gregory’s talent couldn’t be activated.
In other words, Professor Gregory’s progress in the Tower of Truth would always be one step behind Mike’s.
Without Thor, even if Professor Gregory had an SS-grade talent after three awakenings, he could only enjoy it on Earth.
It would be useless in the Tower of Truth and the Abyssal Plane, only good for defending the home front.
It was like a hero in League of Legends whose skills were ineffective outside the fountain, only able to idle within the fountain’s protection.
After hearing the explanation of the mortal realm, Shadow Nine nodded, “Continue.”
Professor Gregory slowly said, “Currently, only one effect is unlocked: [Serenity]: No casting time for spells, any skill can be cast instantly. The next effect unlocks at level 150: [Script of the Sages], but I don’t know its effect yet.”
No casting time for spells, instant skill casting, was indeed strong.
But as a talent, it wasn’t strong enough to be SS-grade.
Many skills were already instant-cast. For swordsmen like Ares and Cedric Blackwell, their sword techniques were mostly physical attacks, unrelated to casting time. Especially Ares’ sword, which was so fast it couldn’t be seen!
Moreover, the effect of Gregory’s talent could only be used within the mortal realm, further reducing its value.
After Gregory’s explanation, Shadow Nine turned to Mike,
“Can you see all of Gregory’s talent effects? I bet you can’t.”
“You underestimate the ability of an SSS-grade talent.”
Such a clumsy provocation, did he think it would work?
“If I tell you, can I get back the 360,000 Lord merits?”
Shadow Nine was slightly taken aback. Where did 360,000 come from? Wasn’t it 200,000? He quickly understood.
Mike wanted to charge him interest?
“Are you going to tell or not? If not, we can spar and see if my blade is stronger or your lightning.”
Before he could raise his blade, Mike proactively introduced Professor Gregory’s future talent effects.
“There are eight more effects to unlock. I’ll give a brief overview:
[Script of the Sages]: Skill book/knowledge item effectiveness +50%, can imprint learned skills as skill books, unlocks at level 150.
[Arcane Vitality]: Attribute, health, and mana increase by 50% upon leveling up, unlocks at level 300.
[Spirit Shield]: Ignores illusions/spirit attacks below one’s level, unlocks at level 400. freeweɓnvel.com
[Divination Mastery]: Prophecy skill effectiveness +50%, judgment skill effectiveness +50%, success rate doubled, unlocks at level 500.
[Diviner’s Keen]: Detection skill effectiveness +50%, unlocks at level 600.
[Act at Will]: Sea of Truth can accommodate any element materials, unlocks at level 700.
[Endless Arcana]: No casting distance limit within the mortal realm, Sea of Truth can appear in any mortal realm area, unlocks at level 800.
[Realm Walker]: Wherever you stand becomes the mortal realm, unlocks at level 900.
That’s about it, nothing more to add.”
After Thor’s introduction, everyone fell silent again.
“That’s it?”
Shadow Nine said sarcastically, “I thought a talent awakened three times would at least be an SSS-grade talent in disguise as an SS-grade one.”
Mike felt that Shadow Nine’s words had a hidden meaning.
Cedric nodded in agreement, “Still very weak. At level 800, he can barely match Joseph, and at level 900, he slightly surpasses Joseph.”
Joseph couldn’t escape today.
Some people weren’t present but always managed to make their presence felt in various ways.
Like [Vortexarchon], like Joseph.
[Arcane Vitality] had a good effect, but Gregory’s class template was only F-grade, a natural flaw.
In future class changes, Gregory would need to upgrade his class template tier for [Arcane Vitality] to gradually show its effect.
Aside from [Serenity], the truly strong effects were the last three:
[Act at Will], [Endless Arcana], [Realm Walker].
Especially [Realm Walker].
After unlocking [Realm Walker] at level 900, Gregory would have a complete SS-grade talent,
fully realizing its potential.
There wouldn’t be a fourth awakening; even Russian nesting dolls couldn’t stack like this.
After all, this was just an SS-grade talent, incomparable to Mike’s SSS-grade talent, which
could awaken nine times in total.
Cedric’s assessment essentially sealed the verdict on Gregory’s talent.
Among SS-grade talents, it was a late bloomer.
But its upper limit was indeed not high, slightly below average, somewhat awkward.
Maxen was a typical late-blooming talent, but with his exceptional combat awareness and terrifying stats and class, he quickly rose among his peers.
The later it got, the stronger Maxen became.
Joseph’s talent was currently very average, with no outstanding aspects.
But these were just stats on paper.
Whether a talent was strong or not depended on its owner.
If a slightly below-average SS-grade talent was placed on Gregory…
For the Abyssal demon gods, it would be a disaster!
Because Gregory’s brilliant mind was his most terrifying talent!
This was why the second demon god was so determined to kill Gregory.
A nine-tier Lord with an SS-grade talent, Gregory posed a threat to the demon gods
comparable to Maxen!
However, it would take time for Gregory to grow.
Even a very long time.
“Apollo Lawson is calling.”
On the other side, Ares suddenly spoke, “Apollo Lawson says to bring Professor Gregory back
to the Tower of Truth within fifteen minutes.”
Shadow Nine nodded, “Got it.”
Transporting and protecting people were his specialties.
As he slipped into Gregory’s shadow, Shadow Nine didn’t forget Mike.
“Ares, keep an eye on this kid for a while.”
Arranging Thor’s security, Shadow Nine was ready to take Gregory back to the Tower of Truth.
“Oh, one more thing.”
Shadow Nine seemed to remember something and casually said before leaving,
“This kid wants to learn Fate’s Reversal. Teach him well, and make sure to teach him multiple
times.”
With that, Shadow Nine disappeared with Professor Gregory.
Leaving behind a slightly stunned Mike.