Next was that stone.
Talent Stone - Singularity Eye
Description: Although it can't give you big, sparkling eyes, it's enough to make your gaze piercing~
Effect: Awaken the Talent - Singularity Eye. All your [Eye] type Skills will be integrated into it, until a certain moment when it opens up and awakens a higher level of power.
Usage Condition: Must possess at least two max-level Pupil type Skills.
Kisaragi Rin: "Talent Stone?"
Shikanoko prompted, "This is a new player benefit only available to S-rank players."
"So, what's the difference between a Talent and a normal Skill?"
Kisaragi Rin opened his Player Panel, and above the Skill list, there were two special entries with the 'Talent' prefix.
They were [Talent - Divine Warrior Body - Cardinal Soul] and [Talent - Stand]. The former was an sublimation of [Skill - Image Splitting] by the Paradise, and the latter was the power brought by [Item - Arrow].
"The difference is quite significant."
Shikanoko explained, "The biggest advantage of Talent over Skills is that using Talent generally doesn't consume a player's Aptitude. In fact, with continuous development, it can even strengthen a player's Aptitude."
"Strengthen Aptitude?" Kisaragi Rin asked in return.
"Yes, strengthen Aptitude."
Shikanoko said, "Only with Aptitude do living beings gain the qualification to evolve in the Paradise. Such an important thing naturally cannot be solely determined by birth.
There are only a few known methods to improve a player's Aptitude at present.
The first method is the simplest and most applicable.
That is, increasing the player's level. The Free Attribute Points given by the Paradise can improve Aptitude to a certain extent.
The second type is the [Talent] you hold. A so-called Talent, the moment it is used, transforms into your own pure power, growing with you. Not only does it not deplete Aptitude, but it also strengthens the Origin.
The third type involves some difficult-to-replicate situations, such as the Paradise's inherent sublimation, special rituals, blessed lands, or blessings that might exist within major organizations..."
"I guess ordinary players can probably only improve their Aptitude through level-ups."
Kisaragi Rin complained, recalling the out-of-control Tomoya Aki.
Since Talent can strengthen Aptitude, it goes without saying how much senior players value them. It can be said that a Talent Stone that directly grants a Talent would never flow into the hands of ordinary players.
"That's right. The Singularity Eye Talent Stone you have is worth at least 70,000 Paradise Coins, and it's something players can't even buy in the Paradise."
Shikanoko continued, "However, Talent aren't only acquired through Talent Stones. Special Items and Skills, certain blessings, etc., can also grant them. The simplest way to obtain one, though, is a Level 5 Occupation."
"Similar to character specializations?"
Kisaragi Rin used a gaming term.
As for a Level 5 Occupation, the 'College Student Career Planning' he opened from a Paradise treasure chest hasn't been used yet, and he doesn't know what kind of Occupation it will grant.
"That's a perfectly valid way to put it."
Seeing that Kisaragi Rin didn't meet the usage conditions for the [Talent Stone - Singularity Eye], Shikanoko reached into her own head again.
"No need, Shikanoko, I already have a target for the second Pupil-type Skill."
Kisaragi Rin stopped her.
As an important organ, eye-related Skills are basically in demand by all players, and naturally, they are also found among the Ability Seeds dropped by that guy Yuusuke.
It was precisely this point that made the Singularity Eye Talent Stone Shikanoko produced even more precious.
Shikanoko casually withdrew her hand and put her skull back on her head.
"Mmm, Talent cannot be upgraded with Paradise Coins, and different Talent will have different development methods. This Singularity Eye, for example, grows by feeding it Pupil-type Skills. Remember to invest a lot of effort into it; the power it will yield in the future won't disappoint you..."
As Shikanoko spoke, Kisaragi Rin was already examining the last benefit.
This was a bone whistle, engraved with strange patterns.
Item - Mount bone whistle
Description: If Pretty Derby girls can be 'horse girls,' then 'Spur Horse Wild Man' can also be 'horse boys.'
Effect: After establishing a contract with a mount, it can be stored within the bone whistle.
Usage Condition: You ask how to establish a contract with a mount? Of course, you first need to have a taming battle.
"What the hell is a 'horse boy'?"
Kisaragi Rin put this Equipment into the Workshop.
Taming a mount... it's useful, but it also doesn't seem to be of much use.
Unless he really encounters some Divine Beast, this Item will likely gather dust for a while.
"New player benefits are over. What type of things are you planning to buy?"
Shikanoko asked.
Kisaragi Rin: "Hmm... let me think."
The Ability Seeds dropped by Yuusuke were mostly for intelligence and charisma. Kisaragi Rin originally came here to find a powerful Strength-boosting Skill, but now that his Strength attribute has been compensated to 30 points by the Great Strength Pill, there's no longer a need for that.
Kisaragi Rin was thinking about what to buy.
Strength: 30
Agility: 14
Physique: 35
Intelligence: 30
Charisma: 18
Luck: 2
Looking at his attributes, Agility was indeed still dragging him down too much.
In the Fate World, Shinomiya Kaguya's Skill - Time Zero left a very deep impression on him.
After all, Gilgamesh, with Time Zero activated, could truly be called invincible in terms of speed.
However, that was only Gilgamesh's Time Zero. Both Gilgamesh's Time Zero and Medea's Image Splitting were influenced by the Paradise's power, meaning the Master's Skills were granted to the Servant via Command Seals.
Kisaragi Rin had asked Shinomiya Kaguya what would happen when she used Time Zero herself.
And her answer was: although the mechanism is very strong, it requires too much of the body.
Time Zero's mechanism simply and directly increases the user's speed by 50 times.
The higher the base speed, the more terrifying the Divine Speed achieved by activating Time Zero, and the difficulty for Shinomiya Kaguya to control it would continuously stack.
When her body couldn't withstand 50 times Divine Speed, she could only continuously lower this multiplier.
Hmm... actually, Kisaragi Rin's Black Flash was the same.
The explosive power of 2.5 times was far more terrifying to the flesh than Time Zero's 50x speed.
He had used Black Flash twice: once to kill the out-of-control Tomoya Aki, and once to shatter Esdeath's Noble Chariot with an elbow during a Time Stop.
The former was fine because Kisaragi Rin had the Demon Slayer Bloodline active at the time, which allowed for maximum instantaneous repair of physical injuries.
And the latter?
One of his arms directly exploded and only recovered through Lily's Noble Phantasm.
"Are there any powerful Skills that boost Agility?"
Kisaragi Rin asked Shikanoko.
His low Agility was a fact, and he had to raise it to a level where it wouldn't hold him back.