SSS Ranked Awakening: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Leon, after a while of controlled descent, landed slowly and precisely on the ground, his feet touching down gently thanks to his refined aerial maneuvering.

TAP!

The ground beneath his feet felt slightly warm through his boots, but he knew instinctively that in actuality, its temperature was quite dangerously hot—probably hot enough to burn unprotected skin on contact.

This whole place is like standing on a massive heating element.

He had noticed from above a structure that looked like some kind of settlement up ahead in the distance. Around him stretched a tough, mountainous terrain composed entirely of red rock formations that seemed to absorb and radiate heat.

The ground had numerous cracks visible on its surface, spider-webbing across the landscape like wounds in the earth itself.

There were many volcanoes visible far away in the distance, too, their peaks smoking ominously against the crimson sky.

This is definitely not a normal environment. Everything here is hostile to life.

The two spirits or souls—Ivy and Mars, the ones directly responsible for him being here—were nowhere to be seen at all since he had entered this bizarre place through that red portal.

They vanished the moment I came through. Either they can't manifest here, or they're hiding.

Leon had decided to travel toward the settlement he had noticed in the distance during his descent. It was the only sign of potential civilization or answers he could see.

He deliberately chose to travel on foot rather than flying, wanting to explore more thoroughly and learn about this strange new land through direct observation.

Flying would be faster, but I'd miss important details. Better to understand what I'm dealing with.

So that's exactly what he did—began walking steadily across the hostile terrain toward his destination.

As he traveled through the rough, scorching hot landscape, he discovered that there were some significantly bigger cracks in the land scattered throughout the area. These weren't just surface fractures—they were deep fissures that would occasionally burst out superheated magma and regularly release blasts of hellishly hot steam.

HISSSSS! WHOOOOSH!

His reaction speed was exceptionally fast, so he was easily able to avoid them whenever they erupted near his path, sidestepping or jumping clear with casual grace.

Dangerous, but predictable. I can sense the heat building up before they erupt.

Not only that, but he made another interesting discovery.

He found only one variation of plant life existing in this entire harsh environment.

Glass-Cactus—which was the name he received when he used his system interface to scan and find information about the unusual plant.

[Glass-Cactus: Translucent, ghostly pale blue or white in coloration, resembling a cactus constructed from frosted glass. Contains heat-resistant gel substance with insulating properties.]

The appearance was striking—translucent structures that seemed more mineral than organic, with colors ranging from ghostly pale blue to pure white.

Not only that, but the system provided additional useful information: the substance inside this plant could be used as an extremely effective insulator against heat.

It was remarkably heat-resistant despite its delicate appearance. Some specimens were pale blue internally—these were the larger, more mature ones. Smaller, younger plants contained a white jelly-like substance instead.

Fascinating adaptation. They've evolved to survive in extreme heat.

Leon carefully extracted many specimens from the ground, making sure to include their complete root systems, and stored them inside his inventory for later use.

These might be extremely useful later on. And more importantly, I want to try planting them inside my time dimension.

Last time he'd checked in with Old Will, the elderly groundskeeper had enthusiastically told him how the plantation inside the dimension was absolutely thriving. The seeds Leon had given him had worked wonders beyond expectations, so he knew for certain that the soil there was far from infertile.

If normal plants can thrive there, these specialized ones should do even better.

But for this particular species, Leon genuinely didn't think soil quality would even matter much—they seemed adapted to survive almost anywhere.

However, there was absolutely no water visible anywhere in this landscape—none at all. And he hadn't encountered any living creatures whatsoever during his journey.

No water, no animals, just heat and rock and these strange plants.

With this type of extremely hostile ecosystem, he really wondered seriously if there was actually a surviving civilization left in this place or not.

Could anything intelligent really survive here long-term?

From time to time during his walk, he passed large potholes of obvious destruction, which absolutely didn't look natural in origin. They appeared to be impact craters or battle damage. And there were many of them scattered across the landscape.

Something caused these. Combat? Meteor strikes? Weapons?

Even so, he continued his journey toward the place which might be a settlement, though now he was increasingly thinking it might be an abandoned, lost one—remnants from before some extinction event caused by these impossibly harsh environmental conditions.

He arrived at his destination in relatively little time due to his enhanced speed, which allowed him to cover such large distances quickly despite traveling on foot.

His perception of time was crystal clear—he could calculate exactly that it had taken approximately thirty-five minutes to travel from his landing point to here, thanks to his intimate connection with the Time element.

Thirty-five minutes of walking in this heat would kill a normal human.

However, he genuinely believed it might feel like the same duration for everyone who lived here, because the sun was positioned so unnaturally close that he even wondered seriously if there was ever a time when night began in this place.

Does this world even have a day-night cycle? Or is it eternal daylight?

He would find that answer out soon enough, but he strongly doubted there was any nighttime here at all. The blazing celestial body in the sky was far too damn close to the surface to allow for normal astronomical rotation patterns.

Leon stood now on an elevated highland, looking down at the settlement spread below him. The structures appeared to be cave dwellings carved into mountainous rock formations, or even built out in the open using constructed materials.

So they do build. That's sophisticated.

His earlier assumption of there being no living civilization was immediately proven wrong.

Because he could clearly see them from this distance—they were right there in front of his very eyes, moving about their daily activities.

He observed red-skinned humanoid creatures walking through their settlement. They had hair in varying shades of red, from crimson to deep burgundy. They wore white or pale blue colored rags, which barely covered their bodies modestly—clothing that he could tell was woven or constructed from those same Glass-Cactus plants he'd been collecting.

The uncovered parts of their bodies displayed intricate white and blue designs painted or tattooed onto their red skin in elaborate patterns.

Cultural markings. Definitely intelligent beings with aesthetic traditions.

Not only were there these humanoid creatures moving about the settlement below, but he could also see red-colored flying beasts roaming and circling around in the sky above their homes.

Some were feathered like birds, others were not—there were distinctly different species or subspecies. And there were other kinds of beasts or domesticated animals on the ground, too, serving various purposes.

Different varieties roamed freely through the streets between buildings.

Most of them had strips of blue or white fabric tied to them somewhere on their bodies—collars, leg bands, or harnesses of some kind.

Domestication. Ownership markers. This is definitely an organized society.

This observation made Leon realize with certainty that civilization in these impossibly harsh conditions had not gone extinct at all—they had adapted and survived.

The species didn't seem to resemble humans very closely. He didn't think they were demi-humans either, though it could potentially be the case of some extremely rare genetic mutation. But seeing how they were almost all phenotypically identical with very distinctive shared features throughout their population, only two explanations made sense: either only individuals with very specific traits could survive here, or they were a completely different race entirely.

Like the Coreborn I faced before, which was immediately hostile to me. I hope these aren't the same.

Leon was carefully thinking about how he should approach them diplomatically. He absolutely didn't want to be hostile and fight them for no justifiable reason.

Violence should be the last resort, not the first option.

His primary goal here was to find a way to go back home. The moment he'd entered through that red portal, his exit point had vanished completely. He couldn't even definitively tell if this was some kind of dungeon instance or an entirely separate dimension or realm.

But logically, if he'd come here somehow, there might be a way to return through similar means.

There has to be an exit. Portals work both ways.

His strategic thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard a distinctly animalistic outcry from above.

SHRRRKKKK!

A flying creature that had been circling above the settlement was now heading at full aggressive speed directly toward him, creating a streak of red movement against the crimson sky. Its velocity was genuinely noteworthy—faster than he'd expected from a beast.

Here we go. First contact, and it's hostile.

In an instant, Leon's epic-ranked sword materialized in his hand, already buzzing intensely with his mixture of different Auras—Space, Lightning, Ice, and Wind—still not perfectly harmonious but absolutely deadly in combination.

CRACKLE! HUMMM! WHOOSH!

He was ready to face off against whatever was coming.

I didn't want to be the aggressor here, but if they attack me first, I have absolutely no choice but to defend myself properly.

The creature screamed again as it dove toward him, leaving a streak of red behind.