Blood Assimilation

To make matters worse, Brawler Randy had entered the casino showing his true face — the face of their original body. This tactless behavior left him frustrated.

Because of his reckless actions, the original body's face had gained infamy on Entertainment Street — a complication Holy Knight Randy found deeply aggravating. Even if Brawler Randy didn't care about the consequences, he should have considered the potential impact on their shared identity, particularly the reputation of their original body, before acting so carelessly.

Despite his dislike for Brawler Randy's carefree attitude and careless behavior, Holy Knight Randy still felt it was necessary to inform him of recent developments in Imperial City, particularly those involving the Holy Church of Light. It was essential that they stay coordinated and not interfere with each other's plans.

As someone dedicated to his duty, Holy Knight Randy couldn't tolerate any unforeseen variables that might jeopardize his objectives. With that in mind, he had come to inform him of his, or rather, the church's plans.

Having failed to achieve his aim this time, he resolved to return within the remaining days before the commencement of the mission to convey the necessary information to Brawler Randy.

"As for matters regarding the Grand Library or the enigmatic Grand Librarian, I'll leave that to the main body. I'm merely an incarnation with a mission. I shouldn't let such complex issues cloud my judgment." Holy Knight Randy concluded.

He had taken a leave from his post to visit Brawler Randy, and his stay had extended far longer than intended due to the 'Divine Resonance' phenomena. He would need to come up with some compelling excuse to report to the Council of Cardinals to explain his prolonged absence.

With his hand resting on the pommel of his sword's hilt and with a contemplative expression, Holy Knight Randy's form vanished into the distance, his destination set for the Holy Church of Light.

…

In an unknown dimensional space, inside the Safe Room...

Randy's consciousness had arrived, beginning to process the events he had experienced. He had been forcibly summoned, traversing through the universe before finally arriving at the Grand Library and encountering the cosmic being who called himself the Grand Librarian. Intriguingly, this cosmic being seemed to know something about his parents.

The threats mentioned by the Grand Librarian at the end of their encounter soon came to the forefront of his mind, adding more layers to his complicated thoughts regarding his experience. Snapping back to reality, he recalled the reason for his summoning in the first place. Apparently, it was to receive a gift after triggering something referred to as "Divine Resonance."

Initially, he was supposed to receive one gift related to this divine resonance, but instead, he received two. He suspected this was due to his parents' connection with the cosmic being.

This implication left Randy unsettled. Could his parents not be who they claimed to be? Or perhaps they had met this cosmic being in the same way he had, gaining his favor. Regardless, he had clearly benefited from this encounter.
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Thinking of the intangible gifts he had received, he turned to his system for guidance on how to use or understand their application. One of the gifts seemed related to what one of his incarnations had been doing before the divine resonance was triggered, but the second one, the [Wisdom Scroll], left him uncertain about its application.

Before Randy could inquire further about these gifts, his system interface displayed a series of messages before his eyes.

[[Congratulations! You have successfully passed the trial of divine resonance.]]

[[The essence of multiple skills has resonated to create a new skill: Mystical Enlightenment of Myriad Existence.]]

[[Mystical Enlightenment of Myriad Existence]]

[[Rank: Mystic]]

[[Type: Origin Skill]]

[[Effect: Perfectly assume the existence of others.]]

[[Description: The pinnacle mortal origin skill. As an origin skill tied to the essence of life, it rivals, if not surpasses some divine-rank skills. This skill allows the user to instantly embody other species, beings, creatures, or entities, adopting their form, traits, and combat power. The user may choose to take on the target's physical form or retain the user's appearance, adjusting only the user's aura and constitution to match the target. Activation requires possession or extraction of any physical material part from the target to complete bio-data extraction. The target's power level is irrelevant.]]

[[Notice: As this skill's effect has transcended the current world's level, once deactivated by the user, it has a 10-day cooldown period. This restriction will be lifted upon ascending to a higher-level world or planet capable of withstanding the skill's effects.]]

Randy read through the information on the new skill but was underwhelmed. At first glance, he didn't find it overwhelmingly powerful or particularly useful. His initial impression was that it would be useful for espionage, but in terms of combat, it seemed lacking.

When it came to combat-enhancing abilities, he already had plenty, thanks to his innate ability, [Blood Assimilation]. The idea of assuming the form of others and obtaining their traits or skills wasn't particularly groundbreaking for him.

Through [Blood Assimilation], he could achieve the same outcome by consuming a target's blood and then using [Ancestral Regression] to assume their form. To Randy, this mystic-rank skill seemed somewhat redundant.

Given that the Grand Librarian had emphasized how rare it was for a mortal to trigger divine resonance, Randy had expected something more extraordinary. Additionally, the skill came with a cooldown, unlike his own method, which had no such limitations. By comparison, his method of transformation seemed far more dependable.

"Let's not think this way." Randy reflected on his thought, re-examining the usefulness of the skill.

"For someone without my innate ability, this mystic-rank origin skill could be a game-changer."

He then read over the skill's description once more.

"Wait..." Something caught his attention as he re-examined the details. "This skill says any physical material related to the target. Does that mean I could assume someone's form just by obtaining a strand of their hair? And it says the target's level doesn't matter…"

Randy's eyes widened as the implications set in. His first assimilated form had been more of a coincidence — an accident, really. He had only managed to obtain the Werewolf King of Wind's blood because the other party had already been wounded. As the creature fled, its blood dripped into his mouth, making it unnecessary for him to extract it himself to facilitate his awakening back then.

After that fortuitous encounter, the beings whose forms he could assume after having consumed their blood and extracted their blood knowledge were relatively equal to or weaker than him. However, with this new skill, he could now take any living being's form by merely procuring a small part of their body — regardless of their strength — gaining all of their abilities and achievements as if they were his own.

He wouldn't even need to see the target or approach them. Just possessing something like a strand of hair would suffice, granting him their form and power. This would save him significant effort.

He could simply find the strongest being in the world, befriend them, collect a strand of their hair in secret, and then assume their form and obtain their power level. That was just how ridiculous the mystic-rank skill appeared to suggest by his second assessment.

As long as he didn't deactivate the skill, he could effectively become one of the strongest beings in the world. In fact, combining all the skills and abilities he currently possessed, he could potentially consider himself the most powerful being by then.

"No wonder the system said it's comparable to a divine-rank skill or higher. This really is a broken skill." Randy thought, astonished.