Spark Nighthawk lowered the 'Ego Appraisal Grimoire'.
The shimmering text faded. The soft light receding into the leather cover. It was exactly as he'd expected. Tier-2 Jackmaster, sure. But his base core attributes: Soul, Mind, Body, were already flexing at Tier-3 quality.
His innate talents, the 'Primal' suite, saw to that.
And below the Primal trio, the fourth talent still sat there. An unknown potential talent. [Talent: ???]. Six years since he'd merged with this body. Six years of pushing boundaries. And the damn thing remained dormant.
No trigger was found yet. He'd tried everything. Within safe boundary obviously. From extreme physical stress. To deep meditative states. Exposure to exotic energies. Rare substances. Nothing.
It was annoying. A loose thread in his carefully woven tapestry of power. He would uncover its secret eventually. Or he wouldn't. Dwelling on it was pointless.
Becoming Tier-2 across the board wasn't just a jump in power. It unlocked new capacities for integration. One more slot for a Soulcraft fairy contract, one more slot for a Technomind gearcore.
Framepath was different. It didn't have any additional slot. He had already integrated the space for the Dragon Ant. A creature known for its formidable physical attributes. Specifically its incredibly tough exoskeleton and dense body structure.
The acquired talent from the Dragon Ant was the [Draconic Bones]. It was a brutal talent that improved his bone strength and density.
He hadn't gained more height or bulk from it. But the sheer mass and toughness of his frame had spiked dramatically. He was significantly heavier, harder, and damn near impossible to break.
Improving the levels of the fused monsters felt like a bottleneck. His Grim Lion's growth rate was still tied to consuming Wild Red Meat. The Dragon Ant needed Reptile Egg.
He could eat both, and he did, every day. But there was a limit to how much he could eat. Even with his huge body. He could force down a substantial amount. But it wouldn't be the rapid increase possible with Soulcraft or Technomind.
Fairies and gearcores could be force-fed their respective growth items. Daily. Until they hit their capacity limit. A straightforward, reliable process.
Framepath growth required him to consume the items. His body was an inefficient middleman. He needed a way around this. Or a way to increase his eating capacity drastically.
The thought registered as a practical problem to solve. Add it to the list.
Shifting focus, Spark reached for his Fairy Grimoire. He had one more spot for fairy contract. And inside the grimoire, there were two baby fairies he hadn't yet contracted.
Aster, the Mirage Fairy, and Holy, the Light Fairy.
They were both at 100% loyalty. Brainwashed by the Grimoire's inherent function. He had been feeding them with their growth items. Daily. Aster Flower for Aster. Holy Water for Holy.
But their growth was not as fast as Honey. Theirs were halved without a direct contract link. Aster was now at 72% towards her next level. Holy was slightly behind at 64%.
He had a new slot, a new choice. Illusion or Healing? Combat illusions could be highly versatile. Misleading foes and creating opportunities. But, direct healing was immediate and practical. It patched up damage. Kept him in the fight. Reduced recovery time.
Between trickery and repair, repair won. Especially with his naturally immense physical resilience. Healing would make him damn near unstoppable.
Holy it was.
He focused his intent. Summoning Holy. The glowing baby fairy appeared immediately. Spark extended a hand towards her.
"Come, Little Holy. Time for contract." He said.
He channeled soulcraft energy into his index finger. Feeling the familiar warmth concentrate at the tip. Causing it to glow pure white.
Holy sensed the connection invitation. She pulsed brighter and darted forward eagerly. A tiny form of white light. Touching the glowing point on his finger.
There was a brief, intense flash. A feeling of two energies locked into place. A profound sense of connection settled deep within his soul.
Holy vanished. Her essence flowed. Reformed. And settled onto the center of his chest. Just a little above his sternum. It manifested as a complex, sun-like tattoo.
It was radiating a soft, constant warmth. Her dwelling place in his body. His Soulcraft Crest.
With the contract established. Her base ability was unlocked. [Soulcraft Crest - Healing Light]. A direct, pure healing spell.
And layered onto that. Her shared talent instantly integrated into his being. [Mana Regeneration Boost]. His internal energy pools felt like they gained a subtle but significant increase. In the rate they replenished themselves.
It wasn't flashy. Or instantly impactful as Honey's [Instant Casting]. Which let him fire off Soulcraft abilities without needing incantations. Or complex mental formations... A talent that was now applied to Holy's Healing Light too.
He could just think the command. And the healing energy would manifest. Anyway... Mana Regeneration Boost was not as direct. But it was about sustainability. The grind. The long haul. Useful, undeniably useful.
Two fairies contracted. Two powerful base abilities and shared talents enhancing his Soulcraft path.
Next, Technomind.
His second gearcore slot was open. He hadn't wasted the opportunity. Weeks ago, anticipating this, he had placed an order for a specific unbound gearcore type, the Spatial Bag core.
They were rare. Expensive. And highly regulated. But wealth and connections smoothed the process. It had arrived yesterday. A chilled, humming crystal sphere containing compressed spatial energy.
He took the core out of one vault in his treasury room. Integrating a gearcore required a tailored blueprint in his mind. And specific materials to build the physical housing and conduits for the core's energy.
He had already designed the blueprint. A multi-purpose utility belt. Simple and functional. With pouches and attachment points. Incorporating the spatial storage.
The materials were also taken out from the vault. Draconic leather. Blackriver alloy plates. Liquid mystic silver. Firecopper wiring. Spatial pearls.
The integration process itself worked similar to when he integrated his Power Rifle. Summoning technomind vortex of black fire. Throwing the gearcore and materials inside. Using the mental blueprint to merge them together.
It wasn't painful like the Framepath Fusion. But it required intense concentration. A precise mental blueprint overlaying physical reality.
Minutes stretched into hours. He still made a focused, silent effort. Sweat beaded on his brow. From the mental strain. From the sheer mental precision required.
Then, the feeling solidified. The external materials had molded themselves. Integrating seamlessly with the core. And anchoring themselves. Building connection to his mind. Creating invisible energy bonds.
Success!
The vortex of black fire disappeared. Spark reached around to touch his waist. There had been nothing there previously. Now, there was now a sturdy, well-crafted utility belt. With black leather and grey metal. Fitting snugly against him.
It was his second Technomind Gear. The Spatial Belt.
As expected, the integration came with a shared talent. His Power Rifle's shared one was [Clear Mind]. The Spatial Belt shared a utility-focused talent. Tied to the nature of spatial energy. [Spatial Sense].
It flooded his perception with a new kind of awareness. An innate understanding of distance. A pinpoint sense of direction. Even in the dark or unfamiliar terrain. And a sensitivity to distortions or anomalies in the surrounding space.
It was similar, he noted, to the talent Lilith had through her contract with her second fairy.
He knew that this talent was pretty common for anyone with spatial link. It was not overpowered. No. But it was incredibly useful for navigation. For detecting hidden traps or portals. And for gauging distances instantly without needing to measure.
Two paths upgraded. Significantly enhancing his capabilities. He was stronger. More resilient. More aware. The foundational work was paying off.
He reopened his Ego Appraisal Grimoire and re-checked his updated status...
=====STATUS PANEL=====
[Name: Spark Nighthawk]
[Class: Jackmaster]
[Level: Enhanced (2nd Tier)]
[Soul Power: Fortified Level (3rd Tier)]
[Mind Power: Fortified Level (3rd Tier)]
[Body Power: Fortified Level (3rd Tier)]
[Talent: Primal Soul]
[Talent: Primal Mind]
[Talent: Primal Physique]
[Talent: ???]
[Soulcraft Fairy: Honey, Holy]
==[Species: Seven Element Fairy (08%), Light Fairy (69%)]
==[Level: Enhanced (2nd Tier)]
==[Growth Item: Maple Syrup, Holy Water]
==[Shared Talent: Instant Casting, Mana Regeneration Boost]
==[Ability: Soulcraft Crest - Elemental Coating, Healing Light]
[Framepath Monsters: Grim Lion (00%), Dragon Ant (00%)]
==[Level: Enhanced (2nd Tier)]
==[Growth Item: Wild Red Meat, Reptile Egg]
==[Acquired Talent: King Disposition, Draconic Bones]
==[Desire Boost: Lust]
==[Ability: Framepath Fusion - Draconic Werelion]
[Technomind Gear: Power Rifle (14%), Spatial Belt (00%)]
==[Types: Gun-Type, Spatial-Bag-Type]
==[Level: Enhanced (2nd Tier)]
==[Growth Item: Copper Coin, Eldritch Steelwood]
==[Shared Talent: Clear Mind, Spatial Sense]
==[Ability: Technomind Form - Sniper Power Rifle, Spatial Belt]
Spark looked at his status panel. Satisfied.
His latest entry, the Spatial Belt... Its growth item was Eldritch Steelwood. He still got plenty of that in his vault.
And now that he had a spatial item. He could carry things more conveniently.
The current internal space of his Spatial Belt was still equal to his wardrobe. It was not big enough to store all of the things in his vaults.
But it was much more than enough to keep his seven grimoires. So far, he had only used three of them: Ego Appraisal Grimoire, Fairy Grimoire, and Slave Grimoire.