Lord: Sequence Master

"That flashbang wasn't wasted," Rosen muttered as he jumped out of the window, wearing sunglasses and activating his elemental shield necklace to form a protective barrier around himself.

The flames from the Shadow Cat's death burned fiercely, but Rosen braved the heat and collected the glowing orbs left behind by its demise. The Godslayer Crossbow's Hunting ability had once again activated, just as it had the last time he faced a Hunter Sequence enemy.

This made Rosen wonder: was the Hunting ability more likely to trigger when hunting the same sequence, or did it increase the chances when defeating a higher-ranked foe? After some thought, he concluded it was probably the latter. After all, hunting stronger enemies was inherently challenging.

If simply killing those of the same sequence guaranteed more loot, the Hunter Sequence users would have been fighting each other relentlessly long ago.

Back in the Mysterious Study Room, Rosen sorted through his spoils.

He had six items in total: two skill crystals, two units of supernatural source essence, one spiritual crystal, and one extraordinary item.

The spiritual crystal was casually stashed away—he no longer cared much about a mere thousand units of spiritual essence.

As for the source essence, there was one from the Hunter Sequence and one from the Shadow Cat Sequence, both at Sequence 8.

This time, Rosen didn't immediately convert the source essence into spiritual energy. Unlike Bennett's damaged essence, these were in perfect condition. Properly treated, these flawless essences had a wide range of uses.

He picked up one of the skill crystals and smiled after sensing the information within with his spiritual energy.

He had obtained two extraordinary skills: Deadly Strike from the Hunter Sequence and Shadow Step from the Shadow Cat Sequence.

Many extraordinary abilities could create effects similar to Shadow Step, but the version from the Shadow Cat was among the best.

Humans couldn't naturally master the Shadow Cat's Shadow Step unless it was converted through the Hunting ability.

This was why the Hunter Sequence's hunting skill was so powerful—it allowed hunters to convert abilities from extraordinary creatures into usable skills for themselves.

Of course, the conversion success rate was low, and skill crystals could typically only be used once. To learn something like Shadow Step through self-study, hunters would need to break the ability down to its very essence before they could hope to master it.

Without these limitations, the Hunter Sequence might have been even more terrifying than the Four Great Civilization Sequences.

Every sequence had its strengths and weaknesses. To truly eliminate all flaws, one could only keep progressing through the sequence ranks.

Rosen placed the skill crystal in his mouth, refining it with his spiritual energy.

After two hours, he successfully mastered both extraordinary abilities.

Although, in theory, there was no limit to how many extraordinary abilities a hunter could learn, it was generally advised not to exceed three. More abilities didn't mean better results—each skill had to be leveled up through self-study, and spreading one's focus too thin would lead to mediocrity.

Rosen didn't hesitate to refine these two skill crystals, as they both suited his Hunter Sequence perfectly.

[Deadly Strike LV1]: Compresses spiritual energy to boost the next attack by up to 200%. Afterward, damage gradually decreases back to 100%. Compressing spiritual energy doubles the cost.

This was a potent ability, effectively doubling his combat power for short bursts. And it was only at Level 1, meaning it had significant potential for future upgrades.

Shadow Step, however, was the ability Rosen valued even more than Deadly Strike.

[Shadow Step LV1]: Instantly meld into nearby shadows, allowing high-speed movement within them. Can perform one teleportation while in shadow. Damage taken is greatly reduced while in shadow, and attacks gain a shadow attribute.

Shadow Step was a powerful mobility skill, something Rosen desperately lacked.

Before this, he only dared to ambush enemies from the safety of the Mysterious Study Room, as he couldn't risk a direct confrontation with extraordinary creatures. His damage output wasn't weak, but his other capabilities were severely lacking. Now, with Shadow Step in his arsenal, he finally felt like a proper hunter.

Of course, Shadow Step had its weaknesses—Rosen had used a flashbang to blind the Shadow Cat and exploit its vulnerability.

While Shadow Cats were limited to Sequence 7, the main reason humans had wiped them out so easily was that their shadow abilities were easily countered by light.

To eliminate this weakness, Shadow Step had to either reach Level 6 or Rosen would need to advance to Sequence 6. At that level, the shadows could nullify light's restraining power or even turn it into an advantage.

After familiarizing himself with the two new abilities, Rosen approached the table and picked up the last glowing orb.

This was an extraordinary item from Sequence 8, but it came with drawbacks, as most extraordinary items dropped by creatures did.

It was a pair of sunglasses that greatly enhanced visual perception in both bright and dim light, making everything crystal clear. However, the downside was that removing the sunglasses caused temporary blindness. The blindness lasted as long as the sunglasses had been worn.

Rosen tossed them on the table, uninterested. With his Hunter's Magic Eye, the sunglasses were useless to him.

Despite being of Sequence 8, the glasses were at the lower end of extraordinary items for that rank.

Had the Shadow Cat's essence been used to create an extraordinary item instead of dropping this pair of sunglasses, the resulting item would have been far more valuable. Still, with two skill crystals already in hand, Rosen knew better than to be too greedy.

Rosen walked to the window and, through his Hunter's Magic Eye, scanned the surroundings.

The battle had made a significant amount of noise. If any other Shadow Cats were nearby, they would surely be lurking around.

Though Rosen had Shadow Step now, it wouldn't necessarily fool the other Shadow Cats.

At this point, Rosen had collected enough skill crystals and over 10,000 units of extraordinary essence. If he needed to, he could trade it all for Greed Island's spell cards. Once the spirit realm closed, he wouldn't have to worry about the Black Shark pirates.

With his mind at ease, Rosen resumed painting flashbangs designed to counter the Shadow Cats.

He had no intention of leaving the Mysterious Study Room anytime soon. Instead, he planned to wait for the Shadow Cats to come to him. As long as he stayed inside, they couldn't threaten him.

Even when collecting loot, he would use spiritual paintings of monkeys to retrieve the items for him.

If he didn't leave the Mysterious Study Room, the Shadow Cats had no way of harming him.

He checked the time—there were six days left until the spirit realm closed. The duration of a spirit realm's opening varied greatly. Some reset after just a few hours, while others, like the Forest of Death, could stay open for nine days. There were even spirit realms that remained accessible for years or decades.

As for those that were permanently open with no reset time, they had long been fully conquered and claimed by powerful extraordinary sequences.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and Rosen had stockpiled a large number of flashbang paintings.

The Shadow Cats were indeed patient and vengeful. Not only had the one waiting nearby not left, but it had also called in reinforcements. However, numbers didn't matter much to Rosen. At Sequence 6 and below, flashbangs were the bane of any Shadow Cat.

(End of Chapter)