Chapter 25: Chapter 25- Crown’s power, New talents and abilities.

Leo read through the notification, But before he could ask Shen anything.

A roar shook the surroundings. Then another Roar followed, closer.

"Drakes." Shen said, already on his feet. "A group. We got to move now."

They ran. Branches whipped past, and behind them the roars of multiple drakes resounded.

They could vividly hear the drakes wings flapping.

Leo didn’t look back until the sound thinned out. They kept moving for another minute before Shen finally stopped, chest heaving.

"That’s far enough I think," Shen said, dropping onto a flat rock. "Drakes don’t usually chase past their territory. We’re clear."

Leo sat across from him, catching his breath. "That was more than I expected for a starter zone."

Shen waved it off. "You were saying something, before they showed up."

"Right." Leo straightened. "Now that you’re my retainer, I can give you one of my skills or talents. Figured you should get to pick."

Shen raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what you’ve got first. I’m not choosing blind."

Leo pulled up his status.

[Status Panel]

NAME: Leo Stone

LEVEL: 10

CLASS: Eternal Forge (Mythic — ???)

STATS:

STR 140 | INT 41 | CHA 51

VIT 114 | WIS 40 | MFT 51

DEX 91 | STM 56 | LCK 52

HP 2320/2320 | MP 820/820 | STM 560/560

[TALENTS]

[1] Soul & Steel (SSS)

— Soul Bound: Items forged bond to wielder, indestructible, unbreakable

— Forge-Sight: See ideal form of any material, know upgrade paths

— Ancestor’s Echo: Memory of every smith who came before

[2] Hidden (????) (Locked)

[3] [empty]

[4] [empty]

[5] [empty]

[PASSIVE SKILLS]

Eternal Flame | Weapon Memory | Soulforge Attunement

Forge Resonance | Unenhanced Crafting

[ACTIVE SKILLS]

Forgefire Strike | Anvil Drop | Rising Forge

Hyperfocus | Slash | Tempered Strike

[TRAITS]

Iron-Forged Body (D-Tier)

— 30% dmg reduction,

+15% fire resist

[Arts]

Primordial Body Forging Art[???]

Ancestral Cadence (Hammer Art)

[TITLES]

Forge Pioneer (Rare, growable)

Forge-Wielder’s Heir [Crown]

[POCKET REALM: FORGE-HEART]

Soul-bound, reachable anywhere, 4 teleports/day

Leo looked at his attributes and got lost in his thoughts.

I remember it like it was yesterday when I had STR 13, and the rest of them around 10. Now it’s in the 100s.

Then he looked at Shen’s Panel.

Let’s see what you have so that I can give you some options to choose what’s good for you.

[Status Panel]

NAME: Shen

LEVEL: 10

CLASS: Talisman Warrior (Advanced — Talisman Specialist)

STATS:

STR 88 | INT 62 | CHA 58

VIT 76 | WIS 70 | MFT 22

DEX 110 | STM 48 | LCK 44

HP 1580/1580 | MP 1060/1060 | STM 480/480

[TALENTS:]

◆ Talisman Forging S (Growth)

— Core talent. Creates talismans from scratch. Quality scales with materials, ink, pattern precision. Grows with mastery.

◆ Warden’s Pact (A)

— Transform warding talisman into territory seal.

Slows, suppresses, or seals enemies within radius.

◆ Seal-Borne Reflexes (B)

— Reflexive seal activation. Triggers pre-drawn talisman without conscious thought when attacked.

◆ ? [Hidden] (locked)

[CRAFTING SKILLS]

Talisman Drawing — draw learned seal patterns on any surface

Body Talisman Drawing — paint on skin for self-buffs

Seal Inscription — carve permanent seals into metal/stone

Ink Weaving — mix specialized inks for different effects

Rune Carving — embed seal patterns into forged metal

[COMBAT PATTERNS LEARNED]

Ink Chains | Warding Talisman | Body Talisman

Guardian’s Ward | Warden’s Pact (territory) | Tracking Ward

[PASSIVES]

Seal Mastery (+20% duration/intensity)

Iron Warding Seal (+20% ward durability)

Freehand Inscription

Hmm. Well, I know what I am choosing from him. Definitely the S rank talent.

Growth talent. The core of everything Shen was.

Leo focused on Shen’s Talent and a window popped up.

[Ding!]

[Please select the category that you wish to copy from your subject.]

[Talent/ Skill/ attribute/ ....Titles.]

Leo chose talent. Then all of Shen’s Talents showed up.

[Please select the talent you want to Copy]

[ -Talisman Forging S (Growth)

-Warden’s Pact (A)

-Seal-Borne Reflexes (B)

-[Hidden] (locked)]

His core talent was Talisman Forging — an S-rank growth talent that let him create talismans from scratch, scaling in power with his skill and materials. He also had Warden’s Pact, which turned a warding talisman into a territory seal, and a reflex skill that triggered pre-drawn talismans automatically when he was attacked. One more talent sat locked behind a question mark.

Leo studied it for a moment. There wasn’t much to think about — the S-rank growth talent was clearly the prize. Everything else Shen had would grow out from that one skill eventually.

He focused on it, and a window opened.

[Ding!]

[Please select a talent, skills or any other attribute you want to copy.]

He picked the Talent option, then selected Talisman Forging from the list.

[Talent copied.]

[Talisman Forging (S)]

[A heaven-blessed forging talent that grants instinctive mastery over the Dao of Talismans. Mana pathways, rune structures, spiritual harmonics, and the hidden properties of materials become naturally comprehensible to the bearer, allowing the creation of talismans with unparalleled precision.

Talismans forged through this talent possess enhanced potency, greater stability, superior durability, and an exceptionally low chance of failure. As the bearer’s mastery deepens, they may decipher ancient inscriptions, improve existing talisman formulas, merge different rune systems, and eventually create entirely new talismans once thought impossible.]

[Copied Talisman Forging (S) has been upgraded to (S+).]

[Talisman Forging (S+)]

[A heaven-blessed forging talent that grants instinctive mastery over the Dao of Talismans. Mana pathways, rune structures, ...

A Talent acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao of Inscriptions.

The bearer no longer merely comprehends rune structures and spiritual harmonics—they perceive the origin principles that govern them. Can only carve in the items forged by themselves]

[Ding!]

[Select a talent, skill, or attribute to offer in exchange.]

"Okay," Leo said, "here’s what I can actually give you."

He counted them off on his fingers.

"First the talent and skill combination called Forge Sight. It helps you see better, all the lattices in metal, your tiny brush strokes, everything more clearly, and can help to identify things. I recommend you pick this."

He looked at Shen. Seeing Shen wait, he continued.

"Next is a hidden talent which I don’t know what it is and nor do I know if I can give you or not."

"A hidden Talent? That might be interesting." Shen replied.

"Then there is Eternal Flame. I think you might be able to forge more Fire attributed talismans with this."

"And I have this Trait called Forge fire Body. It boosts your defense and increases fire resistance."

Shen didn’t look interested in this.

"Then there are a bunch of attack skills."

"And...."

Leo paused as if he should say it or not but still offered the explanation.

"Lastly a powerful skill called Hyperfocus. It has a very limited time period but, when it’s active your senses are boosted off the roof. You can see a different world. But there are unfavorable after effects for awhile."

Shen sat back, arms crossed, looking somewhere between impressed and annoyed. "You’re just casually listing broken abilities like it’s nothing."

"I didn’t design the system."

"Fine. Let’s try the hidden one. If it works, great."

Leo tried. The system pushed back immediately.

[Talent not yet awakened. Cannot be bestowed.]

"No good," Leo said. "It says I haven’t awakened it myself."

"Then Forge-Sight it is. Your call, your recommendation."

[Do you wish to bestow the Forge Sight to your retainer? The bestowed talent or skill will be downgraded to some degree.]

[yes]

Leo confirmed the selection.

[Ding!]

[Bestowment in process.....]

Skill: Forge-Sight (Adept)

Target: Shen — Talisman Warrior (Knight)

[Crown Tempering in progress...]

[Original form:]

— Passive: Auto-identify material composition within 10m

— Active (10 MP): Deep Scan — reveal upgrade paths, hidden traits

[Tempered form for Shen:]

[Forge- sight has been tempered to Artisan’s Sight which is more compactible with retainer Shen]

— PASSIVE: Artisan’s Sight

Reads material quality at a glance — ink density, paper grain, stone purity, metal composition. See the ideal form of any crafting material. Hidden attributes detected without active scan below Rare tier.

— ACTIVE (reduced cost): Artisan’s Focus (5 MP, 20s duration)

Perfects strokes. Enables intricate carving. Reduces seal failure chance by 30%. Duration scales with WIS.

Both Shen and Leo felt something shifting in them, a warm heat moving trough their bodies and settling in.

Good. Leo thought.

Now the inscription branch of my class can actually be put to use.

But, Shen wasn’t so calm about it.

He grabbed his head, breath hitching, and a moment later blood welled at the corner of his eye.

Then he felt pain in his eyes.

After a while....

He screamed on top of his lungs. He couldn’t bear it any longer and started rolling on the ground in pain with his hands covering his eyes.

Leo was stunned.

"Leo — my eyes — is this permanent? Am I going blind?"

Leo calmed himself down, trying to comfort Shen.

"You’re not going blind."

I certainly hope not.

"It’s probably just adjusting. Give it a second."

Shen blinked hard, then went still, staring at his own palm like he’d never seen it before.

"I can see ... things," he said quietly.

"The wall. It’s not just rock — there’s layering, mineral veins, iron traces running through it." He pulled the brush from his belt and turned it over. "Three bristles are split at the tip. I never noticed that before."

He uncapped his ink pouch next, tilting it toward the light. "The heavier particles are settling at the bottom. That’s why my last few wards came out uneven — the ink wasn’t mixed right, and I never knew."

"That’s the point of it," Leo said. "You’re not just seeing what something is. You’re seeing what it could be, and how far off you are."

Shen let out a short laugh, half disbelief. "So you gave me a skill that shows me every mistake I’ve ever made."

"I gave you a skill that shows you how to fix them."

A new notification appeared.

[Ding!]

[CROWN BOND — SLOT 1: SHEN]

Rank: Knight

Bestowal: 0/1 (used)

Reciprocal: 0/1 (used)

Bestowal given: Artisan’s Sight (tempered)

Reciprocal taken: S+ Talisman Forging

Bond sync: 100%

Leo dismissed it. Shen had his sword pulled out, staring at it.

"Seventeen flaws in the rune channel," Shen muttered. "Three of them structural. The ink pooled at the second junction — I drew too fast there. Line thickness is off by maybe a third of a millimeter across the spine."

"You can fix that?"

"I can try." Shen was already reaching for the blade to fix it on the spot.

"Later." Leo caught his wrist. "We’ve been logged in over two days straight. We need food, sleep, and an actual bed ."

Shen blinked, like he’d forgotten the outside world existed, then nodded.

They started walking toward Iron Haven.