Chapter 542 Is that so strange?
542 Is that so strange?
Everyone pays the price for their youth.
And Lilith was especially young.
She had once believed that the human Supreme Being was invincible, and that Morpheus was the most invincible of them all.
With Morpheus protecting her, the luck of a four-leaf clover on her side, and her firm allegiance to the human race, Lilith had thought that, if nothing else, she would at least live a life of comfort and ease.
Who could have imagined that falling into Thor's hands would lead to this?
Tears welled up in Lilith's eyes as she flipped through the skill book, her voice trembling with frustration.
"I can't read this!"
Mike hadn't expected this—Lilith couldn't read!
She could speak, but she couldn't write!
Dracula's expression darkened even further.
How could the Blood Ancestor have such an incompetent sister? She's the shame of the blood clan!
In hindsight, Dracula thought, he should have killed Lilith when the Blood Ancestor wasn't around! n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
In fact, he had tried more than once.
But every time, he had failed.
During the reign of the last Blood Ancestor, Dracula had been exiled to work on the Tower of Truth—all because of his failed attempts to assassinate Lilith.
Now, the Blood Ancestor was dead.
If they were anywhere else, Dracula would have found a way to silence Lilith long ago, to wash away the shame of the blood clan.
Rebuilding the glory of the blood clan was Dracula's duty!
But unfortunately, he couldn't kill her.
Dracula knew full well that his role was to play the bad guy, to scare Lilith.
If he dared to harm even a single hair on this golden pig, Thor would skin him alive!
Of course, Lilith didn't know any of this.
From her perspective, Dracula was genuinely capable of killing her!
Since Lilith couldn't read, Dracula had no choice but to start teaching her human language from scratch.
The blood clan's most powerful forbidden prince, dressed in a formal tailcoat, his face full of pride and cold indifference, stood at the blackboard, holding a pointer. He began Lilith's literacy lesson:
"A, B, C..."
Though Lilith was lazy, she was still a blood clan who had survived since ancient times.
Her intelligence had always been well-developed.
After all, aside from eating and sleeping, her brain had never been burdened with anything else.
Before long, Lilith had learned some basic words and had started learning the names of animals.
"Cow, horse, sheep..."
Lilith read aloud from the blackboard.
"Pig..."
The moment the word left her mouth, Dracula's face changed dramatically!
Not far away, Vladimir, who had been silently watching, saw Lilith's lips form the word and instinctively tried to cover his ears.
Too late!
Vladimir transformed into a pig, his face full of regret.
Fortunately, he was used to it by now. He even had the presence of mind to finish the chicken leg he had been eating before deciding what to do next.
As for Dracula, his strength was greater, and his resistance was higher, so he didn't transform immediately.
But before he could fully transform, Dracula didn't hesitate to pull out a holy cross and stab it into his own chest!
Lilith: ???
What is Dracula doing?
Is this guy really a member of the blood clan?
Why would a blood clan carry something like that around?!
With a flash of red light, Dracula resurrected himself, still as elegant and composed as ever, as if nothing had happened.
Not far away, Mike was frowning.
"How is it that she can't even learn a skill?"
"Is that so strange?" Fool Master asked, biting into a slice of chilled watermelon.
"Failing to learn a skill from a skill book is perfectly normal, isn't it?"
Mike: ???
He had always succeeded on the first try.
And in Mike's understanding, if you used a skill book and didn't learn the skill, wasn't that a waste?
Fool Master noticed the oddity and raised her voice.
"You've never failed?"
Mike snorted, "Of course not. Is that so strange?"
"That's very strange."
Fool Master looked at Mike as if he were a monster. After a long pause, she finally spoke again.
"For most skills, like the ones you've learned—Windstride Slash, Lightning Arrow—failure is rare."
She pointed to Lilith in the distance.
"But for skills you've created yourself, or for high-tier skills, the failure rate when using a skill book is much higher."
For example: Transmute.
As they spoke, the skill book in front of Lilith flashed white and disappeared.
Lilith had failed to learn Transmute.
Dracula, his face dark, tossed another Transmute skill book her way.
Creating Transmute skill books was simple: all it took was Truth Gold Coins!
One hundred million Truth Gold Coins to make one book.
The cost alone was 100 Lord Merits!
In other words, Lilith now owed Mike 2,000 Lord Merits!
Mike had never imagined that learning a skill could result in failure!
Even with Lilith's example right in front of him, Mike was still in denial, arguing,
"That can't be right. Maxen doesn't even need skill books. He can learn whatever he wants."
"Heh."
Fool Master sneered.
"Do you know who his godfather is? You think you can compare yourself to him?"
Which godfather are you talking about?
Still, Mike had to admit that Fool Master had a point.
Maxen, once the designated potential Supreme Being, had an extraordinary level of comprehension.
What Mike hadn't realized was that, aside from his lightning abilities, he himself was also quite talented when it came to learning.
Since awakening his talent, Mike had successfully learned every skill he had encountered, whether it was a common skill or one created by Ares, as long as he had a skill book in hand.
And he had done so without any difficulty.
"You're going to bleed for this one," Fool Master said with a mocking grin.
"Judging by how things are going, Lilith's going to need at least ten thousand Lord Merits worth of skill books before she learns it."
Everyone knew that losing money was the most painful thing for Thor.
As they spoke, Lilith had already wasted a second skill book.
Mike's eye twitched, and he immediately used the Eye of Truth to check Lilith's chances of successfully learning Transmute.
[Success rate: 4.76%] [Each failure increases the success rate slightly!]
Mike: ...
He had the sinking feeling that he had fallen into a money trap!
Taking a deep breath, Mike needed to calm down before deciding what to do next.
Fool Master, sensing Thor's predicament, smirked mischievously.
"How about this..."
She suggested,
"You give me a billion gold coins, and I'll learn Transmute for free."
Fool Master quickly added, worried that Mike might misunderstand.
"But if you want me to Transmute the Force of Nature, that'll cost extra!"
Mike: ???
You want me to pay you to learn a skill, and then charge me extra to use it?
Faced with Fool Master's increasingly absurd suggestions, Mike had only one response: up yours!
You think I'm going to waste money like that? No way!
Looking at Lilith, who was still struggling to learn, Mike knew that she was already doing her best.
So, he decided to prepare twenty skill books in one go and handed them to Dracula.
If Lilith managed to learn Transmute within those twenty books, great.
If not, Mike was planning to take her to Ares to get her brain checked.
This wasn't something Apollo, a psychological doctor, could fix.
It would take Ares, a physical doctor, to get the job done!
Of course, Dracula had "accidentally" let this plan slip.
Realizing the danger she was in, Lilith knew that if she kept slacking off, she might never get the chance to slack off again.
Her studies became much more diligent!
With Lilith's situation sorted out, Mike turned his attention elsewhere.
He didn't need to worry about Transmute anymore.
Setting the Greed Source aside, Mike began studying the Ghost Source, attempting to deconstruct its laws.
A black mist floated in front of Mike, controlled by his Thor's Sea, constantly shifting in shape.
Mike had to summon all his strength just to extract a few fragments from the Ghost Source.
And even then, understanding and learning from those fragments was incredibly difficult!
Deconstructing a source and analyzing its laws was something meant for Lord-tier beings!
To be precise, it was a field reserved for nine-star Lords.
Mike, at less than level 600, wasn't even a Chief yet!
He was developing far ahead of schedule.
Fully focused, Mike carefully controlled his Thor's Sea, slowly attempting to deconstruct the Ghost Source.
This kind of delicate work required extreme precision in controlling his power. Too much force, and the entire source could go berserk, ruining everything.
Too little, and he wouldn't be able to extract any law fragments, wasting his efforts.
After just five minutes of manipulating the Thor's Sea, beads of sweat appeared on Mike's forehead.
Clearly, even for Mike, this was no easy task.
Crack—
With a faint cracking sound, Mike successfully extracted a fragment the size of a fingernail from the Ghost Source.
The first step was a success!
Nearby, Fool Master had been silently observing Thor's every move.
Inwardly, she was surprised.
He succeeded so quickly?
Thor's ability to extract a fragment so quickly had exceeded Fool Master's expectations.
After spending so much time around Thor, it was easy to underestimate him.
But bringing that underestimation to the battlefield would be a fatal mistake!
Thor was far more complex than he appeared!
Or rather... the Thor that Fool Master saw was just a carefully crafted facade, designed to mislead.
Anyone who underestimated Thor would pay a heavy price.
In a way, Thor's danger level was no less than that of the previous three potential Supreme Beings.
Thinking this, Fool Master shook her head slightly.
With Thor around, the human race's next hundred years were destined to be peaceful and prosperous.
As for the Abyss...
Fool Master doubted whether the Abyss could even last a hundred years under Thor's watch...
The Eighth Abyss had already fallen completely.
Thor's supreme power was revealing itself to the world in his own unique way, showcasing his distinct charm.
Refocusing her attention, Fool Master looked at the law fragment in Mike's hand.
With her high level of strength and insight, she quickly assessed the situation.
"Judging by the complexity of this law fragment, it'll probably take Thor three days to fully absorb it. If he can utilize 50% of it, that would be impressive."
Even if Fool Master were the one absorbing the fragment, back when she was at level 989, it would have taken her six hours, with a utilization rate of 80% to 90%.
And that was under ideal conditions!
It required her to be in peak condition, and the source laws had to be highly compatible with her.
For example, Thor and the Greed Source were a perfect match.
But the Ghost Source in Thor's hands was most compatible with ghosts and had nothing to do with the human race.
In terms of compatibility, it should have been extremely low.
Just as Fool Master was thinking this, the law fragment in Thor's palm smoothly merged into his Thor's Sea!
10:45
Fool Master: ???
What just happened?
Did I see that right? That can't be!
In the blink of an eye, Thor had completed the first step of absorbing the law fragment?!
And the first step was the hardest!
Thor had done it as easily as eating a hamburger, without showing any signs of strain.
What's more, from the looks of it, Thor was on track to fully absorb the fragment!
Not only was he doing it faster than Fool Master had expected, but his utilization rate was likely to be even higher!
Could it be that Thor's compatibility with the Ghost Source is also high?!
At this point, Fool Master could no longer hide her shock. Her emotions were written all over her face.
What's going on?!
I don't understand!
Aside from Fool Master, the other powerful beings in Mike's private space were also silently watching as Thor deconstructed and absorbed the Ghost Source.
Vladimir, Gabriel, and even Dracula, who was in the middle of teaching, were all paying attention to what was happening.
They were all nine-star Lords, and what Thor was doing was something they were all familiar with.
Their reactions to Thor's performance varied.
Gabriel remained indifferent. Nothing about a potential Supreme Being from the human race could surprise him anymore.
Dracula, on the other hand, was growing increasingly anxious. Thor's rate of improvement was accelerating, while he himself was stuck teaching a pig...
One misstep, and he would fall further and further behind.
Dracula felt immense pressure, pushing him to work even harder.
Only Vladimir seemed unsurprised by the outcome, as if he had expected it all along.
"I've said it before..."
Vladimir shrank back slightly, his voice tinged with fear as he muttered quietly,
"Thor is actually the most powerful Supreme Being!"