Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener

Sterl's disguise granted him access to a string of code carried by the unconscious workers he encountered.

After observing the actions of others around him, he swiftly ordered a few dishes and activated the

Law of Time

, briefly swapping the unconscious worker into his place to execute the necessary code contact, then switched back to his original position seamlessly.

Afterward, Sterl sat calmly, listening intently to everything around him, hoping to gather some intel on Giant City.

The result? Sterl couldn't help but feel exasperated.

It was clear he had logged on at a rather inconvenient time.

The royal capital of Orichalcum was under complete lockdown.

No one was permitted to enter from outside, and no one was allowed to leave the city.

The reason was a massive, ongoing war between this new faction and the forces of Ashen.

The battle had already been raging for three years.

Initially, Ashen had been at a disadvantage. However, Sterl's earlier actions—killing six of Orichalcum's deities—had shifted the balance of power between the two factions significantly.

In the time-accelerated domain, the two factions spent three years testing each other, then escalating minor skirmishes into full-blown war.

Although Ashen had fewer resources, they were able to spend large sums to enlist support from other powerful factions outside the time-accelerated domain.

Other than the mysterious

Hall of Valor

—from which all the deities had seemingly vanished—most of Alpha 8's native factions had sent reinforcements to Ashen's side.

Ashen had long-standing alliances with these groups and had a clear strategy: prioritize targeting the invaders. If they could carve up Orichalcum, many factions in Alpha 8 would feast on the spoils.

And as for why a time-accelerated domain even existed?

After gathering information at the tavern and wandering around the capital, Sterl found the mainstream view was that a higher power—the will of the

Transcendence

world—was aiding Orichalcum's swift integration into this new realm. Though… it was certainly a rather aggressive integration method.

As for the current situation…

Sterl kept a calm expression, though a drunkard beside him was patting his shoulder incessantly, babbling on.

"Bro, you couldn't have picked a better time to join up!"

"Right now, we're locked in a battle with those wretches who wouldn't even give us a place to rest."

"Aren't you trying to break into the demigod realm?"

"As long as you head to the battlefield and rack up some military achievements, you'll reach your goal in no time!"

…

"Thank you," Sterl replied, subtly stepping back to avoid the spit the drunkard sprayed as he spoke.

With a slight shift in his stance, Sterl vanished, leaving the drunk man behind, who continued patting at the wall, mumbling.

Huh? I could've sworn someone was just here…

Where'd he go?

Sterl was lounging lazily on the edge of a clock tower atop a dark Ashen-colored skyscraper. With a relaxed demeanor, he opened his game panel for a leisurely review.

Unlike the usual process of acquiring new abilities, which would prompt notifications, the benefits of fusing with this code were completely concealed.

After some searching, he managed to identify only two new features.

The first was a self-defense ability, somewhat similar to the power of the Frost Giant—[Self-Preservation Mode].

This mode granted 0 seconds of invincibility once per day. During this invincibility period, Sterl could, like a Frost Giant, completely ignore enemy attacks—even those involving high-level divine authority would fail to breach his defenses. Additionally, his own attack power would skyrocket, with each hit delivering double the usual damage.

Though this didn't quite match the power of the actual Frost Giant itself, if Sterl were willing to use his own body and willpower as fuel for the code, he could theoretically activate unlimited invincibility.

Beyond invincibility and the attack boost, he'd gain a host of other abilities: instantly mastering any skill with just a glance, regenerating at superhuman speed, and traveling freely through space and time.

However, Sterl wasn't too interested in this. After all, surrendering completely to the code's control would mean his own consciousness would cease to exist.

The second new ability was derived from the silver code's properties, providing two functionalities: the

Creation Module

and the

Map Module

.

The Creation Module, a skill exclusive to the Iridescent-Level, originated with Gloria. The Iridescent-Level skill could generate items attached to exclusive skills. But when the Dark Moon Goddess acquired it, she had more than just the code itself—she had a charged version that could consume [Pure Energy] to directly produce skills and items.

Sterl could tell from the creation panel, which emerged from his fusion with the silver code, that Gloria had been carrying the code all along, using her own abilities to slowly activate its potential. It was a roundabout method to unlock the code's powers.

By tapping into the creation panel, Sterl could instantly create Iridescent-Level and even Radiant-Level abilities, along with high-powered Divine items of Radiant caliber.

The only downside was that creating these required Pure Energy, which was currently at "zero."

Pure Energy could be obtained by dismantling equipment and skill books, but after testing it out, Sterl found the process inefficient. His personal world contained a considerable amount of unassigned resources—around a hundred gold-level skill books, which, once dismantled, yielded a single unit of Pure Energy. Yet, to craft a gold-level skill tailored to himself required one unit of energy.

"One hundred to one?"

Sterl stared blankly at the panel, baffled.

But after some thought, he conceded it wasn't entirely a bad deal.

Pure Energy could be extracted from lower-level skill books and items, and once enough was gathered, it could be used to forge higher-level abilities.

For the Iridescent-Level abilities Sterl sought, he would need a thousand units of Pure Energy. In a full-scale war, he might gather a few hundred units—though only if it were a massive conflict like the current struggle between the two great factions, Ashen and Orichalcum.

Furthermore, the creation ability granted by the silver code allowed for methods to reduce Pure Energy consumption. For instance, Sterl discovered that to craft an Iridescent-Level ability perfectly suited to himself, he could incorporate star or spatial Iridescent-Level skills to lower the Pure Energy requirements.

"Good idea… I can start gathering related skills ahead of time," he thought to himself. "Though I'll need Sosia and Sonis to do the collecting. It might be easier to exchange for them at Orichalcum's contribution store."

Sterl recalled information he had uncovered previously.

Orichalcum had developed a special technique to extract skills from the corpses of legendary demigods. Although extraction wasn't very efficient, often requiring many lives to obtain a complete skill, the ongoing war, coupled with the various forces from across the Crystal Barrier Galaxy closing in on Orichalcum, had produced ample opportunities.

In the three years of conflict, Orichalcum and the factions of Alpha 8 had both suffered losses, but Orichalcum had managed to extract a vast number of Iridescent-Level and Platinum Skills.

This meant that, by joining this faction, Sterl could easily access the variety of skills needed to craft his customized abilities.

"Besides, joining Orichalcum, fighting for it, and getting involved in the divine-level conflicts among factions… it'll make for a truly legendary story."

Sterl smiled.

In addition to the creation module, there was also a map module, which fortunately didn't require any extra energy.

Sterl now had access to an infinite surveillance map of the area he occupied.

His current area was Alpha 8, and aside from specific zones covered by special barriers, Sterl could see everything within this region. By zooming in on the map, he could even observe the situations of people at specific coordinates.

He casually adjusted the map's view, watching as Linna and Rayna faced a boss in the Divine Mountain Empire's territory.

The boss was formidable, with a level higher than theirs, but with the vast resources Sterl had provided, the two young women fought valiantly, exchanging skills with the boss in a serious duel.

Until—

"Linna!"

A powerful blow from the boss sent the blonde girl flying! The attack would have been fatal for a player of her level, but a radiant glow surged around her, and a shield appeared, completely nullifying the impact.

She quickly threw out a few disposable items, managing to blast the boss into oblivion.

A radiant glow then enveloped both of them as they reaped a significant amount of experience points. Due to the huge disparity in power between them and the boss, they also gained legend points.

Sterl nodded in satisfaction. "That's exactly how you should play—don't hold back on resources."

Then, with a grin, he clenched his fist in excitement.

This map module was ridiculously overpowered.

How to put it…

With a few quick taps, Sterl even discovered several Ashen and Alpha 8 native factions attempting to ambush Orichalcum's forces. These groups were led by deities, and they had specifically activated Shielding Power for stealth. Yet, under the map's surveillance, they were utterly exposed.

Although the module description claimed that its detection could be countered, there was no one in Alpha 8 capable of interfering with it!

If Orichalcum's deities had access to such detection abilities, they would likely have repelled the other factions' invasions long ago!

"As expected of a code-derived power," Sterl thought, calming himself.

He knew exactly what his next steps would be.

Wait.

Sterl was preparing to join Orichalcum's faction, to rack up contributions. With the map module, he was bound to shine brilliantly in the coming conflicts.

After all, what leaves a stronger impression: adding icing on the cake, or delivering aid in a crisis?

Soon, in the face of coordinated ambushes, Orichalcum would suffer significant losses.

And when that time came, it would be his perfect moment to make a dramatic entrance.

For now…

Sterl closed his eyes, focusing his mind.

Then, a luminous screen appeared before him.

[Begin creating a legendary story? Yes / No]

[Yes.]

Sterl selected.

Instantly, countless lines of information cascaded across his view like raindrops.

[The Path of Legend begins here.]

[Recommended quests are now available.]

[Hint: You may also choose to initiate a custom legendary story. However, any manually triggered events will not yield rewards beyond those of the current recommended story points.]

[Recommended Story 1: The Storm of World Fusion]

[Description: Within the boundless framework of the Crystal Barrier Galaxy, a sudden, mysterious vortex has twisted countless worlds. You have had the rare privilege of witnessing its occurrence firsthand, and now it is time to choose your path.

In the aftermath of world fusion, conflict and war are inevitable. Will you stand for your homeland, driving out the invaders? Or will you fight for these now-homeless travelers, helping them secure a chance at life and a place to belong?]

[Recommended Story 2…]

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