The Devil's Cage

[Discovered Skill Book: Book of Undercover]

[Learn now? Yes/No]

[Note: Increases Undercover by one Level, Unable to exceed Transcendence Level]

...

"Increases Undercover by one Level?"

Kieran looked at the Skill Book notification and widened his eyes in shock.

He never thought it would be another [Undercover] Skill Book. This had been a really surprising reward.

Kieran’s [Undercover] was already at Musou Level, and upgrading it to the next level would cost him 40,000 Points and 1 Golden Skill Point.

40,000 Points was not a small amount, but the Golden Skill Point was even more precious.

It was what Kieran lacked.

At his current growth level, the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art] needed a substantial amount of Golden Skill Points, and so did [Blade Kick]. Even though it was just a basic skill, in order to level it up to Musou or Transcendence, every level cost a Golden Skill Point.

Kieran was determined to upgrade all his basic skills at least up to Transcendence so he could do better in all sorts of dungeons.

This thought caused him immense pressure.

Thankfully, the timely appearance of the [Book of Undercover] had put out the imminent fire singeing his eyebrows.

"The [Book of Undercover] cannot upgrade [Undercover] higher than Transcendence, but fortunately for me, Transcendence is right after Musou!"

Kiera accepted without a second’s delay.

[Book of Undercover used!]

[Undercover +1]

[Undercover (Musou → Transcendence)]

[Skill has reached Transcendence Level, Additional Transcendence options available]

[A: Shadow Cloak (Create a supernatural dark veil starting from you and extending to a radius of 5 meters. You will receive an additional darkness-dodging enhancement. Your enemies within that range will be engulfed in darkness and have to undergo an Intuition test. If they fail, they will be induced with a Blind Debuff.)]

[B: Shadow Dagger (When striking from the shadows, your attacks will have an additional shadow energy! That shadow energy will increase according to the time you spend in the shadows (+1 level for every 10 minutes), Final Attack unable to exceed a Powerful Attack)]

[C: Shadow Armor (Creates a defensive armor with shadows and blocks your enemies’ attacks! The defense of the Shadow Armor depends on the time you spend in the shadows (+1 level for every 10 minutes), Final Defense unable to exceed a Powerful Defense)]

"Transcendence options?"

Kieran was shocked, captivated by the three options.

All three of them seemed very useful to him.

A, Shadow Cloak was suitable for handling unexpected situations.

B, Shadow Dagger was purely for attacking.

C, Shadow Armor was for defense if he was discovered by his enemies.

Kieran still had a fresh memory of how Ferlin had fought using that dark mist. His raw attacks and defense had been further enhanced by it.

Kieran chose A though.

Compared to [Shadow Dagger] and [Shadow Armor], which needed time in order to be fully effective, [Shadow Cloak] was more suitable for him. He always ran into unexpected situations after all.

Besides, Kieran was quite confident that he could reach the same level of Attack and Defense as [Shadow Dagger] and [Shadow Armor] with enough preparation.

If things suddenly went south though, he was not confident that he could deal with it properly.

After all, no one could guarantee anything. Therefore, it was better for Kieran to have another ace up his sleeve.

Another card was another ray of hope!

"I choose A!" Kieran said.

[Option A: Shadow Cloak]

[Name: Undercover (Transcendence)]

[Related Attributes: Agility]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: Able to fully utilize the shadows for hiding, makes it even harder for enemies to discover you, increases Hiding by 80%]

[Transcendence Shadow Cloak (Create a supernatural dark veil starting from you and extending to a radius of 5 meters. You will receive an additional darkness-dodging enhancement. Your enemies within that range will be engulfed in darkness and have to undergo an Intuition test. If they fail, they will be induced with a Blind Debuff.)]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: Agility C-]

[Remarks: You can hide in the shadows and use them to your advantage!]

...

[Undercover skill leveled up, Related attributes increasing…]

[Agility C- → C]

[Remarks: Maxed-Out Skill]

...

"Undercover and Shadow Hiding increased by 20%, and Agility increased by 1! It was really worth it!"

Kieran was astonished by the skill effects, but he quickly noticed the remark as well.

"Transcendence is the maximum level of the skill?" he mumbled.

It was the first time he’d come across a maxed-out skill. Although he could not confirm whether other skills were the same, Transcendence [Undercover] provided Kieran with a general idea.

Even if other skills surpassed Transcendence, it would not be by much.

"Transcendence, huh?" Kieran mumbled as he stared at [Hand-to-Hand Combat], [Firearm Weapon, Light Firearm] and [Evading], the other three basic skills he wanted to level up.

Although each of those skills required a substantial amount of Points, Kieran had enough Golden Skill Points at the moment.

If he chose to level up any of those three basic skills though, he would need to sell the two pieces of equipment he had acquired. Then he might be able to accumulate enough Points for at least two levels.

Kieran would be able to upgrade two skills to Transcendence and get the Transcendence options that came with that upgrade.

Meanwhile, his Golden Skill Points were also enough for [Blade Kick] to be upgraded to Grand Master Level.

According to Kieran’s speculations, if [Blade Kick] was leveled up to Grand Master, its Attack and sharp edge would be at least Strong or Powerful.

Kieran could only afford one path of growth given his current status though.

One was two Transcendence options, and the other one was a Powerful Attack and a sharp edge.

"Which one should I choose?"

Kieran frowned over the two choices.

He still had not made a decision when his message tab pinged with a message.

Kieran drew in a breath and opened it.

…...

Lawless: Harvest Inn!

Hanses: My treat!

...

The messages were from Lawless and Hanses. It seemed like they had made it out of the dungeon safe and sound as well.

Their words were very clear.

Kieran recalled what Hanses had said before they’d parted ways in the dungeon.

He typed back "Wait" and quickly packed up his equipment and headed for the Harvest Inn.

He needed to meet up with them, not just because of Hanses’ promise, but also because he had new questions for Lawless.

He wanted to ask about the Transcendence options for [Hand-to-Hand Combat], [Firearm Weapon, Light Firearm] and [Evading].

If Kieran could get a better understanding before making a decision, the upgrading process would be a lot smoother.

Just as he was about to leave his room though, he suddenly halted.

"Someone’s here!"

Translator's Thoughts

Dess Dess

Probably the first transcendence skill for Kieran (correct me if im wrong, cuz for me every of his skill is transcendence)