Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 290: Getting Stronger! Evolved Skills

Alex, flanked by Tereza and Menchi—each clinging to one of his arms—feels just a little ridiculous. Jewel sits comfortably on top of his head, like the crown of a very confused king.

We just got threatened and we’re in huge trouble… So why the hell do I feel like some harem protagonist, surrounded by women who love me from all sides? Only the ground is sparing me. Sigh… let’s just relax.

Despite their clinginess, Alex picks up the pace, quickly descending the tower and making his way toward the heart of the Main Realm, which resembles a massive, bustling city.

From time to time, Alex glances away in shame as passing players toss him snide comments.

“Damn, aren’t you a lucky guy?”

“Hey sweety, you look rich. Can I join your harem? For 10,000 FC I’ll make all your dreams come true.”

“Damn arrogant fuck. I’m jealous!”

“Yo, is that Menchi from Hunter x Hunter? That guy’s lucky—how come I haven’t seen him around before?”

“Look at that weirdo! He’s got a huge spider on his head!”

Jewel turns sharply and glares at the last guy, who immediately shrinks back in terror and scurries off.

Disrespectful peasants! Princess Jewel is angry!

Calm down… he’s just jealous. Probably.

Eventually, Alex arrives at the center of the Realm—but instead of finding the marketplace, he stumbles across a massive building labeled the Skill Hub.

“Getting stronger is what we need. Let’s head in!” he decides.

The group enters. The interior closely resembles the older Skill Hub, but on a much grander scale. Dozens of workers are stationed throughout, and several open chambers are scattered around.

“Gotta spend some stats first. I got 7 from the last mission,” Alex says, settling down at an empty table beside a row of unused training chambers.

He immediately allocates 5 of his available stat points, pushing all his base stats to 17, causing a brief euphoric wave to wash over him.

This feels like heaven... again.

“Menchi, can you take care of Jewel for a bit? This is going to take a while.”

“Go for it! Me and Jewel will play some games and get to know each other better,” she replies with a grin.

Good luck, Soulmate!

Alex exchanges a knowing glance with Tereza. They nod, and both head toward the training chambers.

Let’s see. I’m upgrading EVERYTHING I can. Let’s start with the most important skills!

Alex begins with Nen Prodigy lvl 4, upgrading it to lvl 5, spending a whopping 2 Soul Crystals (small) and 8,000 FC.

Next, Alex upgrades the basic skills to lvl 5, spending another 14,000 FC

Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 5, Basic Footwork lvl 5, Basic Endurance lvl 5, Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess lvl 5, Basic Eloquence lvl 5, Basic Concentration lvl 5, Basic Meditation lvl 5, Basic Mana Control lvl 5

Finally, Alex focuses on his three Remaining Skills: Black Magic lvl 4, Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship lvl 4, and Imbuement Archery lvl 4

First of all, he upgrades Black Magic to lvl 5, spending 7,000 FC

With joy Alex sees his newly unlocked spells, which he is not only able to cast, but also use for his Sword Magic!

Fira/Blizzara/Thundara

Effect: Advanced fire/frost/thunder spell; can be cast as a single target or as AoE

Cost: 30 MP

Option 1: Fire/Frost/Thunder Damage:75

Option 2: AoE Fire/Frost/Thunder Damage:50 (affecting multiple targets in an area)

Note: May apply Burn/Ignition/Slow/Freeze/Stun/Paralysis

Note: AoE casting reduces base damage by one-third, making it weaker against individual targets but effective for groups.

Good start! Thrice the mana cost, but the damage also went up, increasing the base damage by 2.5 times. Slightly more inefficient but absolutely worth it!

Alex continues with his Gold-ranked skill Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship, spending 1 Soul Crystal and 3,500 FC.

Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship (Level 0 Base):

Requirements: 5 STR, 5 SNS, 5 PHY, 5 SPR, 5 AGI + 2 per level, Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 0, Basic Footwork lvl 0, Basic Endurance lvl 0, Basic Meditation lvl 0, Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess lvl 0 +1 per level

Leveling Requirements: 1 Soul Crystal, 1000 Fantasy Coins + 500 per level

Effects: +20% accuracy, speed and damage with swords, shields, knight swords and 2 handed swords, with an additional 10% increase per level.

Effects: +5% parry chance with swords and +10% block chance, sturdiness and defense with shields, with an additional 1% per level.

Effects: Allows the use of Flying sword slashes, which can be combined with other abilities.

MP Cost: 10

Range: 10+2 meters per level (100% damage) / 50+15 meters per level (1% damage)

Note: The skill applies to all swords, though effects reduce by up to 50% for subtypes like sabers, katanas, and machetes. Additionally, effectiveness decreases by 50% when wielding two swords simultaneously.

So that was the reason this skill demanded Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess! Damn this is so nice! The range is incredible! The range at which I can deal 100% damage is somewhat short, but the max range is already 125 meters… granted the slash would only do 1% damage, but still. I guess the effective range is about 60 to 70 meters for around 50% damage. Any further than that, it could easily be dodged or wouldn’t get through the enemy's defenses.

Alex, ecstatic about his new abilities, finally upgrades Imbuement Archery to lvl 5, which does not radically change the ability, but just raises the effectiveness. The upgrade costs him another 7,000 FC.

Altogether, Alex spent 31,500 FC and 3 small Soul Crystals.

To Alex’s shock, he also notices that he can only upgrade his skills to lvl 6 when he’s level 8, and the cost dramatically changes.

“1337 what is this?! Please explain!” Alex questions his system, clearly confused.

[Skills are capped at lvl 10. To further upgrade skills, every skill, including the base skills without any Soul Crystal cost, now requires an additional Soul Crystal, while skills already costing Soul Crystals need to use the higher graded Soul Crystals.]

I see… I guess the cost is understandable. It’s easy for them to reach lvl 5, but the hard part is starting now, I guess!

Let’s check my inventory! I’ve gained two items since last time I checked and despite spending like crazy, my FC shot up to the sky, also I’m ultra rich with 10 Medium Soul Crystals!

Alex Kerber: Lvl 5

HP: 349/349, MP: 349/349 AURA: 239/239

STR: 17 (+3), AGI: 17 (+4), PHY: 17 (+7), SNS: 17 (+2), CHA: 17 (+5), MNA: 17 (+9), INT: 17, SPR: 17 (+5), LUK: 17 (+1), NEN: 17 (+1)

Available Stat Points: 2

Followers: Menchi (Purple) lvl 12 (25%)

Pets: Jewel (Gold) lvl 5

Innate Skills: Nen Prodigy lvl 5 (Genius Conjurer lvl 5, Basic Nen lvl 5, Advanced Nen lvl 5), Statistical OCD lvl MAX

Arcane Medieval Armory: Annihilation Grenade lvl 5, Sealion’s Icewing Embrace lvl 5, Mustrano’s Malice Mauler lvl 5 (Claw Proficiency/Poison Resistance) / Toxic Breakthrough lvl 5, Magorian’s Rage Arrow lvl 5

Free Skill Slots: 1/4, Free Basic Skill Slots: 0/8

Basic Skills: Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 5, Basic Footwork lvl 5, Basic Endurance lvl 5, Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess lvl 5, Basic Eloquence lvl 5, Basic Concentration lvl 5, Basic Meditation lvl 5, Basic Mana Control lvl 5

Passive Skills: Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship lvl 5, Imbuement Archery lvl 5

Active Skills: Black Magic (Fire-Blizzard-Thunder-Series) lvl 5, Sword Magic lvl 5

Fantasy Coins: 207,500 Soul Crystals: Small x12 Medium x10

Current Weapons: Magoroth’s Legacy (Gold), Enchanted Runeblade (Deep Purple)

Current Equipment: Sealion’s Might (Light Purple), Armor of Pluto (Blue), Visor of Pluto (Blue), Cuisses of Pluto (Blue), Gauntlets of Pluto (Blue), Sabatons of Pluto (Blue), Nimbus Cloak (Light Purple), Champion Belt (Blue), Destiny Watch (Light Purple), Sacred Emerald Copper Earring (Purple), Hunter License (Deep Green), Noble Shirt+ (Light Blue), Drakul’s Vitality (Deep Gold), Azure Flame Ring (Deep Purple), Skitterguard Bracers (Light Purple)

Recovery Items: Superior Dish (Dragon Skewer) x20 (Deep Green), Infused Exceptional Dish (Dragon Skewer) x10 (Blue), Wiggenweld Potion V2 x10 (Deep Green)

Miscellaneous Items: Jack’s Spare Silvery Mask (Light Green), Butchering Knife (Deep Blue), Basilisk Fang (Light Purple), Commander Shepard’s Dog Tag (Deep Blue), Quintessence of Blood (Purple), Blood Essence x8 (Green)

Special Items: Pluto’s Ceremonial Blessing (Deep Purple), Baroque Works Invitation (Purple), Destiny Supporter Token (Purple), VIP Invitation (Deep Purple), Rank Upgrade Token (Gold)

Items marked for trading: 25 pieces of Green-quality equipment, 7 pieces of Blue-quality equipment, 3 Goblin Silver (Blue), 10 Goblin Steel (Green), Goblin Sword x9 (Deep Green), Rapier (Deep Blue), Harp (Blue), Legacy Of Fann (Deep Blue), Skillbook: Flames (Light-Blue)

I guess I could even learn a new skill… but I’ll only consider ones that are extremely potent. I don’t want to nearly miss out again—like what happened in HxH.

As Alex exits his skill-upgrading chamber, he spots Tereza and Menchi already waiting for him.

He smiles and walks over, and the three begin to chat.

“Upgrading skills to level 6 is going to be really tough,” Tereza says. “I guess our power will only increase slowly from now on. But hey, I got a few great spells, so I’m not complaining!”

“I think that’s fair,” Alex nods. “Anyway, I’ll tell you the details of my upgrades later. You never know who’s listening… There could be monster players with 50 or more SNS around, eavesdropping. We should be careful.”

Before the group leaves the Skill Hub, Alex pauses.

“Wait here for a bit,” he tells them. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

He heads back into one of the empty chambers—this time to ensure complete privacy, away from any potential spying eyes or ears.

It’s finally time…

Time for[Pluto’s Ceremonial Blessing]!

[Pluto’s Ceremonial Blessing]

World: Final Fantasy 9

Type: Special (Blessing)

Quality: Deep Purple

Required Stats: SPR - 15 (Only your permanent attributes count, temporary enhancements through items or equipment do not count towards this requirement).

Required Skills: Basic Meditation lvl 5

Required Items: Soul Crystal (small) x5, Soul Crystal (Medium), 100000 FC, possession of: Armor of Pluto (Blue), Visor of Pluto (Blue), Cuisses of Pluto (Blue), Gauntlets of Pluto (Blue), Sabatons of Pluto (Blue)

Effect: Awakens the hidden potential of Pluto’s ancestral armor set “Spirit of Pluto” and permanently binds it to you, making it untradeable.

Note: This item contains a small trace of divinity, requiring a significant amount of resources to manifest. Can’t be traded or sold.