At that very mont, Caelan felt a wave of overwhelming embarrassnt crash over him. His mind raced, and he couldn’t help but think: I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong!
Absolutely nothing!
All he had done was, on a particularly windy day, help pick up so clothes that had been blown about. That was it! Yet here he was, being treated as if he were so mischievous scoundrel in a mont that made him deeply uncomfortable.
"Ahem! Talia, stop fooling around—I’m busy!" he coughed hurriedly, trying desperately to save face.
Without hesitation, he pulled the thick goose-down blanket over his head, burying himself entirely beneath its warmth as if it could shield him from the situation’s awkwardness.
Seeing this, Talia’s cheeks flushed ever so slightly, and she finally withdrew her small, delicate hand. A victorious smile blossod on her lips—the unmistakable expression of soone who felt they had successfully achieved a small conquest.
"All right, all right, I understand. You’ve grown up now, and I see you need to vent so emotions. Tell you what—shall I introduce you to a few girlfriends?" she teased, her voice light and teasing.
Caelan’s entire body froze.
Wait... what did she just say?
Introduce girlfriends? Fine, that might make sense. But a few? A few girlfriends at the sa ti?
Was that really appropriate, cousin? Really?
He could feel the sweat forming at the back of his neck. This is completely absurd...
Talia, clearly enjoying the chaos she was creating, continued to tease Caelan for a while longer. She poked, prodded, and flirted with words that left him utterly speechless. Yet, even after several minutes, Caelan offered no response, remaining steadfastly buried beneath his blanket like a defensively curled-up hedgehog.
Finally, seeing that her teasing had failed to elicit any reaction, Talia reluctantly left the room.
The click of the door closing behind her was like a balm to Caelan’s frayed nerves. He exhaled a long, deep breath and allowed himself a brief mont of relief.
However, even as he relaxed, a lingering question remained in his mind: If she’s back in the imperial city, why doesn’t my lazy cousin return to her own residence?
From what he had been able to gather, she actually had her own private mansion in the heart of the imperial city—a luxurious place of her own.
Yet, for so reason, she chose to stay with him.
Caelan found himself thinking about it for a mont. Honestly... it wasn’t so bad having her around. It was far better than being alone in such a huge, empty room where every shadow seed to echo with loneliness.
Shaking his head sharply to clear these wandering thoughts, Caelan reminded himself: Stop overthinking. There are more important matters to attend to right now!
With that, he opened his [class mutation request] interface without hesitation.
He selected the task submission option, fully expecting that he would unlock yet another new skill tree, as had happened with previous class mutations.
Yet this ti, sothing entirely unexpected appeared. The skill slot did not imdiately provide him with a pre-determined skill tree. Instead, it offered him a choice—a rare and enticing opportunity to decide the direction of his own growth.
[Congratulations! You have completed the class mutation request for 4 stars. You may now select a skill tree to unlock.]
[Skill Tree 1: Destruction Skills — Unlocking this tree grants access to a variety of destructive skills capable of inflicting catastrophic damage on a massive scale.]
[Skill Tree 2: Support Skills — Unlocking this tree grants access to a suite of supportive skills, enhancing the effectiveness of all other abilities and even allowing the eventual unlocking of god-level supportive powers.]
Caelan’s eyes flickered over the two options, and he hesitated briefly.
The power of destruction skills was imdiately obvious. From the na alone, it was clear that every ability under this tree would be aggressively offensive. Cataclysmic damage, overwhelming force, sheer devastation—it was exactly the type of power many warriors and awakeners would dream of.
But for Caelan, sothing gave him pause. His current offensive capabilities were already more than sufficient. His skill set, honed through countless battles, already allowed him to deal devastating blows with frightening efficiency.
In fact, Caelan had learned through experience that flashy, non-obvious skills often had the greatest utility. Skills that seed minor at first glance could have unexpected, strategic advantages when combined with his existing abilities.
Take [Flashstep], for example. Though officially categorized as an offensive skill, its raw damage output was relatively modest. Yet, its ability to enable instant long-distance movent made it indispensable. It was now one of his most frequently used skills, often turning the tide of battle more effectively than any raw-damage spell.
Then there was [Eye of Insight], equally invaluable, providing intelligence, precision, and awareness beyond the ordinary.
All things considered, while the destruction skill tree looked overwhelmingly powerful, Caelan realized he didn’t truly need it at this mont.
The support skill tree, on the other hand, sparked his curiosity. What new, unconventional abilities could he gain from focusing on support? Could there be sothing extraordinary hidden in these skills, waiting for him to discover and exploit them in creative ways?
After a brief internal deliberation, Caelan made his decision. He selected the [Support] skill tree.
The mont he confird the choice, his level cap increased once again—a tangible sign of growth and potential expansion in power.
Eagerly, he opened the support skill tree to see what skills he could learn.
To his surprise and slight embarrassnt, there were none. Not a single skill was currently available for him to acquire.
Caelan raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk forming at the corner of his mouth. Unlock a skill tree and then provide no skills? Is this a joke? Or is soone deliberately trying to ss with ?
But as he examined the interface more closely, he noticed a distinction between the support tree and other skill trees. Here, the skills were locked behind level requirents.
The nearest unlockable skill required level 260.
A quick glance at his own level—230—confird he was 30 levels shy.
Thirty levels? A trivial matter for soone like him. Finding an instance to grind through, he could easily reach that level in no ti. Even maxing out to the current cap wouldn’t be difficult.
He scanned the other skill trees. Many skills were unlocked, yes, but they were simply weaker alternatives to what he already possessed. They offered nothing truly novel or useful, and spending gold coins on them would have been a waste.
Decisively, Caelan closed the skill interface. He would wait until level 260 to pursue skill upgrades.
Instead, his focus shifted to his longsword. It was ti to reinforce it once more.
When he had first forged the sword, he had invested trendous effort and energy. Back then, his strength was relatively limited, so the sword, while impressive for his abilities at the ti, still had room for improvent.
He had never studied forging in depth, so now, with his parents’ [Dwarven Blacksmith’s Token (legendary-grade)], he planned to have a dwarven blacksmith enhance the sword to reach its true potential.
Realizing this, Caelan sprang from his bed in a flash.
Summoning a dwarven blacksmith required a spacious area. Naturally, the best place for this would be the backyard of his mansion.
However... he froze for a mont, scratching his head. Where exactly was the backyard?
For all the familiarity of his own domain, the mansion still felt strangely foreign. A twinge of awkwardness crossed his mind.
He left his bedroom and entered the grand hall, his eyes scanning the room until they fell on the butler.
The butler was clearly assigned by the Grey family. Dressed in a modest kitchen-maid outfit, with chestnut-colored curls, she exuded a natural, slightly naive charm.
Shirley imdiately recognized him and stepped forward, bowing with poise.
"Respected master, I am your personal butler, Shirley. How may I serve you today?" she asked politely, her voice asured yet warm.
Master?
Caelan blinked, taken aback, stealing a glance at her.
Shirley wasn’t the sort of breathtaking beauty one might expect in a grand estate. Instead, she was delicate and understated in a way that was quietly appealing.
Her figure was small but perfectly proportioned, exuding a subtle elegance that felt natural.
"Ahem... Shirley, right? I need a quiet, open space—preferably a large one," he said, regaining his composure.
Shirley’s warm smile deepened, and she inclined her body slightly in a bow.
"As you wish, my master. If you don’t mind, I can take you to the Grey Vice Commander’s forr training grounds. Would that be suitable?"
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