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The Apocalypse Grinder - Chapter 236
🕑 Added 2025-09-20 00:09:57 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 235 | Index | Chapter 237 >>
The first skills tome was a bust. Somehow even with his luck stat over a thousand it still managed to give him a duplicate copy of arcane piercing strike. Ronan actually would have preferred to receive some trash skill instead, so that he could recycle it to fuel his next use of the Chronos Forge.
Thankfully the second tome hadn’t been completely useless. It gave him a rare version of impact leech. That was a skill he hadn’t thought about in a while, but an extra stamina gain upon being hit was neat.
As for the endless treasury tokens, the first rare one gave Ronan a hammer with an enchantment that made it strike targets as though it weighed three times as much as it actually did, but cost some mana and stamina on every swing. He would probably use it more than the crap weapons he’d looted from the goblins, but wasn’t sure it beat conjured weapons, given that it couldn’t utilise arcane piercing strike.
He also received an infused lucky banana, giving him another 11 points to luck forever. A decent find considering it was the second token and he still had a few more to go. The last two were less impressive, with one giving him some health potions and the other giving him a chestplate that only gave an extra 10 resistance.
The legendary token, on the other hand, made him almost praise the system’s generosity. It seemed all of his luck had been saved for that one item.
[Endless Treasury Token (Legendary)] has been consumed!
You have received [Endless Wellspring Prismatic Soul Art (Legendary)]!
Endless Wellspring Prismatic Soul Art (Legendary)
There are many methods of cultivating the soul, and no two souls in existence are identical. The endless wellspring art allows the user to gradually turn their soul into a self-sustaining source of internal power, recovering from even the most deadly soul attacks.
In fact it was an odd coincidence that made him wonder if he actually wanted dao child as a sub-class. It influenced his loot rolls to make them more likely to be cultivation-related, which was useful and had helped him collect some great skills and with the most recent addition, a cultivation art for all four paths, but was that what he needed permanently?
The soul art he’d received was great. Ronan certainly couldn’t deny that. In fact, it was so well suited to him that he was starting to wonder if he should do a run where he just put every single stat point into luck, just to see what happened.
As for the rare upgrade shard, he kept it for now. He was bound to accumulate a few more on this run.
He looked at the question waiting to be answered. Did he want to become a gladiator again this run? I sure fucking do, but I want to test something first. Ronan wanted to see how long he could stay here in the tutorial realm before being forcibly evicted, or if that would even happen. Maybe I can have the first iteration where I die of old age?
It wasn’t just a random experiment, he had plenty of shards to use up and he wanted to get them done before heading to the Path of the Gladiator. There wouldn’t be much time to cultivate before the first step, after all.
Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the tenth realm of Prismatic Soul Cultivation!
Prismatic Soul Cultivation has advanced from [Orange ★★★★★] to [Orange ★★★★★★]!
Soul weight is increased by 8.6%
Cultivation talent is increased by 131%
Ronan had only managed to get soul cultivation up a realm. The shards were too low-leveled to help him break through the limits in energy cultivation, but he had gotten very close to the limit of the eleventh realm. The gladiator shards would prove more effective.
It had probably been around two hours since he actually killed the shaman chief, but nothing had happened to indicate that he might not be able to stay indefinitely. However, he was getting bored and he really wanted to see what else he could squeeze out of the sponsors and gifters. Another big loot session was on the horizon.
Please stand by for transport to the Gladiator Staging Platform!
Transport will begin in 180 seconds!
180…
I guess the timer only starts once I accept or decline the offer. Interesting. Maybe one time I really will test the limits and see if I can stay in the tutorial realm long term. One lifetime of boredom isn’t much of a sacrifice to push the limits of the system. With that decided, Ronan started practicing some of his sorcery to use the three minutes he had left.
Ronan stared out at the vast space filled with spectators. He couldn’t tell if it was the exact same layout as the first time he was here, as he’d been rather blind that time. This time he had been ready for the sudden arrival, but it was still quite shocking to go from a field of huts to an enormous intergalactic entertainment arena.
The bovine announcer was introducing him, but Ronan was only focused on one thing—looking out into the stands and projecting an air of confidence. He’d insulted the spectators the last time, but this time he wanted to see if appearing tougher would make their gifts better. It was worth a try.
The entire time the announcer spoke about him, Ronan didn’t say a word, and he was eventually whisked away to the same waiting room as before. The fire in the fireplace flickered gently as he reclined in the plush velvet-lined chair.
The announcer arrived shortly after and gave him the same talk about sponsorship and gifts. Ronan asked a few questions to feign ignorance, but he wasn’t as desperate for information as he had been the first time he was there. Once the announcer left he opened the sponsorship list.
Ronan frowned the moment he read the first name and their offering. It was exactly the same as before. As he went through the list he realised he had made a mistake. Last time he had barely looked beyond the princess’ name after recognising it and immediately choosing her. He didn’t really have a benchmark to see if his little performance had changed anything.
Actually he was more surprised that Princess Petalania was still the second highest offering, despite the fact that he hadn’t received one of her flower crowns this time around. Maybe she was just desperate to escape her father’s clutches? She did mention something about getting out of responsibilities if I did well as her sponsee last time.
This time around he wasn’t as fussed about the specifics or the novelty of recognising the princess, but the top sponsor—Senator K’thax—was offering a cultivation art. At the moment Ronan had an art for all four paths already and wasn’t sure he wanted to use his sponsorship to get a fifth.
Sure, if it was for mystic energy cultivation and better than the Nine Mouths Delta Mystic Energy Art that would be great. However, it was too big a risk to take when there were a half dozen skills or traits on the table instead. Especially if he could negotiate with her as he had the previous iteration.
In the end Ronan didn’t have a hard time getting the princess to be amenable. They didn’t have the immediate connection due to him lacking the flower crown, but she was a friendly sort, and after breaking the ice they figured out a similar deal to the previous iteration.
The only exception being that Ronan didn’t request any specific skills. He’d just asked her for as many rare myriad skills tomes as she could provide. The number ended up being seven, one more than the last iteration. That confused him, but he just put it down to the fact he hadn’t been specific—it was possible that let her give him a little more.
He was nervous when he opened all seven tomes at once, but through a stroke of luck only a single one of them gave him a duplicate. However, most of them weren’t exactly useful skills.
[Myriad Skills Tome (Rare)] has been consumed!
You have received the skill [Firestorm (Rare)]!
Firestorm (Rare): Summon a wildfire to consume your foes and burn them to ashes. The storm is affected by environmental conditions. Once cast, the user of the skill will no longer have control over the flames. (Cost: 120 Mana + 7% Max Mana)
[Myriad Skills Tome (Rare)] has been consumed!
You have received the skill [Edibility Analysis (Rare)]!
Edibility Analysis (Rare): Grants the owner of this skill the ability to sense if a substance will be safe for consumption for the user of this skill and those of the same species.
[Myriad Skills Tome (Rare)] has been consumed!
You have received the skill [Weapons Expert - Hammers (Rare)]!
Weapons Expert - Hammers (Rare): Mastery gains for hammers is accumulated minutely faster. For every mastery tier you possess in hammers, deal 12.5% extra damage when using a hammer. Gain knowledge of basic combat hammer techniques.
[Myriad Skills Tome (Rare)] has been consumed!
You have received the skill [Quick Step (Rare)]!
Quick Step (Rare): By overcharging one’s leg muscles, the user of this skill is able to cover a short distance almost instantaneously. (Cost: 65 Stamina + 1.5% Max Stamina)
[Myriad Skills Tome (Rare)] has been consumed!
You have received the skill [Stingy Crafter (Rare)]!
Stingy Crafter (Rare): Allows the owner of this skill to re-use materials for crafting that would otherwise be untenable, such as damaged weapons or impure metals. The finished product crafted with these materials will suffer a quality and durability debuff.
[Myriad Skills Tome (Rare)] has been consumed!
You have received the skill [Enchant - Ice (Rare)]!
Enchant - Ice (Rare): Allows the user to enchant objects with the (Ice) enchantment. This enchantment causes the user’s weapon to freeze whatever it touches, provided it is given a steady source of mana. Anything afflicted by the enchantment’s frost will be slowed and take frostbite damage if enough stacks are accrued.
Reading through them again, Ronan realised he actually could see a use for every single one of these skills except edibility analysis. That was certainly getting recycled when he returned to the Chronos Forge. The hammer expert skill seemed like it might be conflicting with melee weapons expert, but actually it should stack with it, if it followed the same pattern as mastery did.
After using his sponsorship rewards, it was time for Ronan to accept his gifts. This was the part he was most looking forward to as it meant another load of epic skills and traits plus a bunch of other free stuff.
The gift offers were exactly the same as before, once he had applied his limitations, which was a disappointment. However, he didn’t let it get him down for long and took out the epic skills tomes.
Ronan activated all four of them at once, excited to see what skills he might receive with so many points invested in luck. When the first notification appeared, Ronan frowned, believing it was just an unfortunate coincidence. However, when the next three followed suit, he wanted to break something.
<< Chapter 235 | Index | Chapter 237 >>
Comments
FlawlessMovement
I honestly would have expected him to go after skill upgrade shards, he needs skills but those will come with time and if he upgrades that stat skill even if it goes from 10 to 9 it’s farrr more powerful.
IdolTrust
He needs to get a couple more crafting/enchant related skills to get a new fusion skill. Imagine surprised there isn’t a better selection for classes with the massive bonus to stats. Like there should be like arch mage or Grand Wizard by now. Or even Gambler because of all the luck stats. I think it time to switch from DAO class so that his skill pool would be directed to other points.
