Her evolution had not been simple.

The transformation she underwent when crossing into the Second Order had reshaped her body in ways she hadn’t expected. Her physical prowess skyrocketed, multiplying by nearly six times what it had been in the First Sanctuary. Her reflexes sharpened to a point where she could track an arrow in flight and judge where it would land before it arrived.

Her accuracy and eyesight improved too. But those were just the physical changes.

There was something else.

She was bestowed a skill during her evolution, one she was still learning to understand, still testing the boundaries of.

But even half-understood, it had already saved her life more times than she could count.

Yara pulled an arrow from the body of the nearest beast and wiped it clean on the grass.

♢♢♢♢

’Finally!’

Moon’s eyes snapped open as he felt a surge of spiritual energy flood through his body like waves striking the seabed.

Powerful and dense, settling into every fiber of his being.

The first acupoint was completed, full of spiritual energy. The layered foundation of five elements radiated with power, each layer drawing from the spiritual energy and converting it into something greater than the sum of its parts.

Moon clenched his two fists.

He could feel the power coursing through his muscles, his mana channels, his bones. It was ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice.

Moon ran a quick calculation in his mind. Before entering the Second Sanctuary, his combat power had been evaluated at roughly three acupoints.

That was his baseline from skills, and stats alone.

Since then, he had leveled up twice. He had partially evolved his various skills to level 15, and fully evolved Purify to Cleanse.

He had completed his first acupoint foundation with a whole Epic-Rank skill layered in a structure that no Spirit Art Manual could replicate no matter the rank. And he had filled that acupoint to the brim with spiritual energy harvested from dozens of beasts, spirits and two spirit crystals.

The result was a combat power equivalent to six acupoints! From a single filled acupoint!

Of course, this wasn’t to mention his versatility. By using his various skills at the right moment, his combat prowess might be able to rival First Star Evolvers!

Moon’s face broke into a smile he couldn’t suppress.

’The power of someone with six acupoints while only having one.’

If the other Evolvers in the hideout knew what he had achieved in barely two days, they wouldn’t believe it. Most of them had been stuck on this island for months, struggling to fill even a handful of acupoints with fragmented skills and scarce spiritual energy.

Moon had surpassed most within two days.

’Winning the tournament doesn’t seem so far-fetched after all. ’

Moon smiled before turning his gaze toward the unconscious Frey slumped against the far wall.

With nothing left to do on the cultivation front, Moon decided it was time to start practising his Rune Enhancement skill.

Still seated on the floor, Moon began pulling materials from his storage ring. Rune chips, etching tools, spare cores.

Moon also took out the completed runes he had inscribed the day before and laid them out in front of him, inspecting each one carefully. Every failed inscription told him where he went wrong.

He identified each mistake, noted it, and made sure he wouldn’t repeat it.

Then, he began inscribing again.

Hours passed by, the crevice filled with the faint glow of runic script as Moon worked through attempt after attempt.

Some failed, but most succeeded. Each successful inscription came easier than the last, his hands moving with increasing confidence as the optimal technique became second nature.

[Rune Enhancement]

[Order: Second] 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

[Rank: Uncommon]

[Proficiency: 74%]

[Details: Enhance Runes or Items by inscribing Enhancement Runes on them. +140% Success Rate. +7% Enhancement Effect.]

Moon kept going, and the proficiency continued to climb.

Eighty percent...Eighty-five...Ninety!

Each rune he inscribed was cleaner than the last.

Frey remained completely unconscious throughout. Whether the second blow had been harder than Moon intended, or whether the man was simply exhausted from the hunting, it didn’t matter.

The last piece of the puzzle finally fell into place inside Moon’s mind. The full structure of the skill opened up in his mind like a door swinging wide, and Moon could see every aspect of it clearly. The base principles, the advanced techniques, the subtle variations that separated a competent enhancement from a masterful one.

’Finally. The skill is mine.’

Moon smiled and pulled up the completed skill details.

[Rune Enhancement]

[Order: Second]

[Rank: Uncommon]

[Level: Max]

[Details: Enhance Runes or Items by inscribing Enhancement Runes on them. +200% Success Rate. +10% Enhancement Effect.]

He stared at the effects for a moment. The skill had arrived at max level upon comprehension, which meant it couldn’t be evolved further, its path was set.

Moon nodded slowly. He would have preferred the option to push it differently, but the outcome wasn’t bad.

’That saves me lives I would have spent evolving it. Lives I need for my abundance of First Order skills that still haven’t reached Second Order.’ He thought.

A ten percent enhancement effect on any rune or item he inscribed.

Whether applied to his staff, weapons, defensive runes, even the runes he placed on Frey’s body. Everything he touched could be made ten percent stronger.

It wasn’t flashy, but once compounded it was an amazing strength boost.

Moon did not hesitate to pull out his strongest weapon, the Staff that Tom Glassy had provided him upon evolution.

Then, he took out the latest rune he had created, and placed it on the staff.

The rune pulsed once, before settling on his staff.

’Hmm...the effect isn’t ten percent, it’s likely because the staff’s rarity is too high for the skill’s effect to increase it by much. Well, five percent is still a solid ground to work with.’ Moon thought.

"U-Ugh." Frey grumbled, as he began to wake up from his unconscious state.