Chapter 21: Assimilating with the skill.

[Seles’s POV]

Within the meeting room of Rael’s personal floor, a beautiful girl sat in silence.

Brown hair framed her delicate face but her green eyes were far from calm. They shifted between the door and the floor.

Her hands trembled with fear and slight excitement. In her lap rested a small, sealed briefcase. Inside it was The Crimson’s Tears.

One of her grandfather’s most precious treasures. Something he’d been saving for nearly a year.

And she had stolen it.

No.

She had just borrowed it for a day.

Her grandfather kept it locked away in a locker inside his private office. But Seles knew the code. She’d watched him enter it once, years ago.

She never forgot it.

She was sure he wouldn’t notice. He was away, deep in a dungeon expedition.

Still, her fingers trembled. Not just from fear of being caught. But because, deep down… she was hoping.

Hoping this would work.

That if she pulled this off, if she secured the annulment all on her own—

Her grandfather would praise her.

And maybe, just maybe… even the patriarch would finally acknowledge her.

She wanted to prove she was useful. Not just a tool in some arranged marriage. Not just a pawn in her family’s games.

She wanted to matter.

Then—

The door opened.

And there he was.

His smile was far too pleasant to be genuine.

Like a devil offering you your dreams, just so he could laugh when they burned.

But Seles didn’t flinch. She knew better. He was still the same fool.

There was nothing to worry about.

No matter what tricks he pulled… he had already signed the soul contract.

He couldn’t betray her.

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[Rael’s POV]

The moment I stepped into the room, I saw Seles sitting calmly on the couch. But I wasn’t looking at her. My eyes locked onto the black briefcase resting on her lap.

There it is. My treasure.

A slow grin tugged at my lips.

I almost felt bad for her.

Almost.

She was going to be in deep shit once I took it. But hey, it’s not like she’s gonna die or anything.

A slap or two.

… Or at most she’ll just be disowned.

Who knows?

No point in thinking about how reckless or evil she was. I already knew.

And I also knew what I was doing wasn’t exactly saintly either. But honestly? I didn’tcare.

Trying to play the good guy in a world crawling with monsters—and humans worse than monsters? That’s how you get yourself and everyone you care about, killed.

Brutally.

And I had no intention of dying anytime soon. Not before I’d lived enough to enjoy it all.

Maybe then… I wouldn’t mind dying. But you know how it is. The human mind never gets tired of seeing new sights.

“Hey, Seles!!” I greeted her with the brightest smile I could fake.

She didn’t respond right away, her eyes scanned the room. Only when she saw that no one else was around did she finally speak.

“Just take this… and give me the annulment letter.”

Her voice was calm.

Too calm.

But her eyes betrayed her—nervous and uncertain. She was clearly terrible at hiding her emotions.

For a moment, I even doubted how she managed to steal The Crimson’s Tears in the first place.

But… the briefcase was right there.

And if she brought it here, that could only mean one thing:

Her grandfather wasn’t home.

Lucky me.

I started walking toward her with slow and deliberate steps. Just for dramatic effect.

When I stopped in front of her, I stretched my hand towards her and took the briefcase.

Then looked at her, still sitting stiff and silent.

“Thanks Seles,” I said.

And I meant it.

She just handed me something that might actually solve my biggest problem—talent.

I knew I hadn’t transmigrated into some hidden genius extra just from how long it took for me to form the core.

But this?

Crimson’s Tear.

A natural treasure that could boost innate talent.

If it worked like the records said it would…

Maybe… just maybe, I could stop being trash.

“Comeback tomorrow to pick the annulment letter… Or should I have it delivered to your house?”

“No. I’ll pick it by myself.” She responded immediately.

Well obviously, she would pick it back herself. She didn’t want to leave her precious treasure in someone else’s hand.

“Suit yourself.” I replied, already turning back.

My business here was done.

Now it was time to train and assimilate my new skill…

… And maybe use the sweet little treasure I just got.

__

I exited the room without a second thought.

Stella wasn’t with me. I had sent her for an errand.

The walk back to my room was quiet but the moment I stepped inside, I froze.

My eyes landed on the table beside my bed.

…Huh.

I swear that cloak wasn’t there before.

The black cloak I’d tossed aside like trash was now sitting neatly next to the skill cube.

My brows furrowed.

Did someone enter my room?

Who could it be?

“Aeon.” I whispered slightly as my chief of security appeared out of thin air in front of me.

“How can I help, Young Master?” She asked with a polite bow.

“Did anyone enter my room while I was gone?” I asked.

Aeon brought a hand to her earpiece. For a moment, she was silent—listening.

“Yes, Young Master. Young Miss Ruri entered your room, searching for you.”

Her voice was calm and professional.

Oh.. it must be Ru who put the cloak there.

“Ok, you can go now.” As soon as I gave the order, Aeon vanished—probably back to her post…

…once again making me irrationally jealous of her damn teleportation abilities.

Tsk.

With a click of my tongue, I walked toward the table where the cloak and skill cube were waiting.

I picked the skill cube. And the cloak.

Yeah… the cloak too.

Sure, it was basically useless functionally but damn, it looked cool. And being an artifact, its durability had to be solid.

Might as well refine it along with the skill. Not like throwing in one extra item was going to cost me anything.

—

With that final thought, I turned and headed toward the training grounds.

Time to refine my skill.

—

The training hall was quiet as always. I mean it was my personal one… so nobody else was really allowed here except for me.

Perfect.

I took my usual seat at the center of the training hall and tossed the cloak aside for now.

Refining the skill came first.

I held the skill cube in my hand. My heart pounded as I felt the cool surface against my palm.

With a steady breath, I channeled mana into it. The cube glowed and then vanished. In its place, a glowing orb hovered in the air above my palm.

I reached out, both hands extended towards it.

Here goes nothing.

As soon as my hands touched the glowing orb, a wave of warmth radiated from my palms and flowed inward like liquid fire.

I closed my eyes.

I’d prepared for this. Read everything important there was to know about refining in the past few days.

Skill refinement wasn’t that complex in theory.

All I had to do was absorb the skill into my Core peacefully and without any conflict.

Once it assimilated, the job was done.

After that, the more I used it, the more it would refine itself over time… until eventually, it merged completely with my Core.

Of course, that was the easy part.

The hard part?

Limitations.

At my current rank, I could barely refine a C-Rank skill.

That’s why I had to do this right.

No mistakes.

I focused all my mind on the energy entering my body.

It was warm—almost soothing—as it coursed through my mana channels.

I guided it carefully toward my Aether Core.

And then came the hard part.

The mana inside my Core didn’t welcome it. It resisted—fiercely. Pushing back against the foreign presence trying to settle in.

I felt a headache as I split my focus—half on guiding the skill’s energy, the other on calming my own mana.

I had to make it accept the skill. Make it believe this energy was mine. Sweat trickled down my forehead but I didn’t let my focus waver.

Like hell I was giving up.

I gritted my teeth and pressed harder. The resistance dulled slightly. Enough for me to push the energy closer in my core.

Now.

With a burst I forced the skill energy inside my core.

The energy entered the core without any problem.

Phew.

I sighed in relief. The first and most difficult part of the process was completed.

Time to visualize it.

The assimilation was complete. Now came the imprint of a visual trigger that would let me activate the skill manually.

The system didn’t handle activation for me. This wasn’t some cheat-based world.

If I wanted to use the skill, I had to command it myself.

That meant giving the energy a form. A shape my Core could recognize and remember. A mental shortcut.

I focused on the skill’s presence within my Aether Core.

Then began to compress it.

Hmmm, what form should I visualise it in?

I didn’t have to think for long. It came to me… almost instinctively.

A card.

Not just any card… but one made with pure orange flames.

Without hesitation, I shaped the energy within my Core, molding it into that form.

It didn’t take long.

The moment the image settled, the skill responded.

<Ding>

[You Have Successfully Assimilated Skill: Ember Sense]

_________________

Author’s Note:

Hey guys!

Yeah… I think I might’ve gone a little overboard with the skill assimilation explanation 😅

But since this was the first time it was being shown, I wanted to show the process properly.

Just to clarify how it works:

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Skill System Breakdown:

Three Processes:-

→ Assimilation – This is the initial step. It allows the user to access the skill but not at full power. You need to create a visual trigger (like Rael’s flame card) to activate it manually.

→ Refining – Happens gradually over time through repeated use and channeling. The higher the rank of the skill compared to the user, the longer it takes.

→ Core Merge – Once the skill is fully refined, it merges with the user’s Core. Only after this can you assimilate a new skill.

_

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