The terrifying azure dragon, condensed from Star Magic, traversed the vortex of Anima and arrived in another world, then plummeted from the sky toward the ground.
"BOOM!!!"
The ground shook.
Under the impact of the azure dragon, the entire mountain forest was utterly destroyed.
The terrifying shockwave further expanded outward, effortlessly obliterating everything in its path.
The person responsible for guiding and controlling this Anima had initially been quite pleased, having absorbed so much magic energy at once.
Unfortunately, his joy lasted only a few seconds.
In the next moment, the roaring azure dragon annihilated everything.
The dissipated Star Magic drifted upward, captured and absorbed by the twinkling stars in the sky, leaving not a trace on this planet.
In the end, all their effort was in vain.
[Ding! Mission "Crisis of the Royal Capital" completed.]
Mission Progress: Save the capital "City of Flowers," Crocus. (Completed)
Full rescue achieved.
[Claim mission reward?]
In Earth Land, in the mountain forest outside the capital, Marco looked at the system pop-up window and decisively chose to claim it.
It turned out that the system's judgment criteria were quite reliable, as there was no misjudgment due to the chaos caused by the die-hard rebels.
[Congratulations, Pegasus Bronze Saint Cloth unlocked!]
As the system window popped up, Marco's eyes widened in surprise.
"Finally, a complete set!"
Marco clenched his fist.
"Pegasus Meteor Fist," the earliest technique he had acquired, had finally gained its matching Cloth.
Gazing at the silver-white, classic "Pegasus Bronze Saint Cloth," Marco didn't hesitate for a moment.
With a mere thought, he donned it.
"Hum!"
As soon as the "Pegasus Bronze Saint Cloth" was worn, starlight shimmered across Marco's body.
The starlight of the Pegasus constellation in the sky bloomed, as if it were truly about to flap its wings and soar into the heavens.
Without a doubt, the abilities of the "Pegasus Bronze Saint Cloth" were fully revealed to Marco, achieving what could be called "instant mastery."
This was all thanks to "Pegasus Meteor Fist."
Without the matching Cloth, Marco had painstakingly trained this skill to the "Intermediate" level.
Although its proficiency had now been surpassed by "Diamond Dust Fist," which had its corresponding Cloth, there was no question about the effort Marco had poured into Pegasus Meteor Fist.
And the reward for that effort was now evident.
"Pegasus Comet Fist?"
The skill inherent to the "Pegasus Bronze Saint Cloth" was an upgraded version of Pegasus Meteor Fist.
Essentially, this technique concentrated the scattered punches of Pegasus Meteor Fist into a single point, making one punch stronger than a hundred.
It was fundamentally the same skill, just applied differently.
"Pegasus Comet Fist!"
Marco casually threw a punch, unleashing an attack.
The meteor fists converged into one, transforming into a terrifying strike with truly formidable single-target lethality.
[Pegasus Meteor Fist proficiency +500]
Skill level increased.
[Pegasus Meteor Fist · Advanced, Proficiency: 239/2000]
However, what Marco never expected was that the moment he executed the Pegasus Comet Fist, his "Pegasus Meteor Fist" actually leveled up, instantly gaining a massive amount of proficiency and advancing from Intermediate to Advanced!
It immediately surpassed the Diamond Dust Fist.
"Was it because I used the advanced technique of this fist style?"
This was truly the first time Marco had encountered such a situation, as he had never before obtained an advanced skill derived from an existing one.
Although the "Aurora Thunder Attack" activated by the "Cygnus Bronze Saint Cloth" was also a freezing energy combat technique, it wasn't closely related to the "Diamond Dust Fist," so that time it didn't trigger any corresponding bonuses.
The same logic applied to the "Rozan Shoryuha" activated by the "Dragon Bronze Saint Cloth"—it was even further removed from Bare-Handed Blade Catch.
In any case, this was an utterly unexpected surprise.
Marco immediately began examining his first skill that had reached (Advanced) level.
Marco assumed his stance, swinging his arms as starlight danced along with his movements.
"Pegasus Meteor Fist!"
The same technique, yet its impact was completely different from before.
At (Beginner) level, it was merely ordinary rapid punches.
By (Intermediate) level, it already struck like ten thousand galloping horses.
Now, upgraded to (Advanced), to put it simply, each punch felt like a Pegasus Comet Fist.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Looking at the utterly devastated forest, which appeared as if it had been struck by meteors, Marco wiped his sweat.
The power truly exceeded his expectations—though, of course, the mana consumption of this move was equally immense.
"As expected, (Advanced) skills are on another level."
Marco grinned, having unlocked the Pegasus Bronze Saint Cloth and upgraded the Pegasus Meteor Fist to (Advanced).
He had gotten a bit too excited; he really should have tested the skill against the Crystal Wall.
"This move is so powerful, and it also benefits from the Saint Cloth's enhancement."
Marco clapped his hands, quite satisfied with this "Pegasus Bronze Saint Cloth."
It made him even more eager to obtain the "God's Blood," as with it, these Saint Cloths could be upgraded and evolved.
He possessed quite a few Saint Cloths with extremely high evolutionary potential.
....
After claiming his rewards, Marco left the forest ruins and prepared to return to Crocus.
Once back, he would take the initiative to compensate for the damages—destroying the forest was an unintentional act, not done on purpose.
"Why do I feel like I've been infected by those guys in the guild?"
As he walked back, Marco couldn't help but complain inwardly.
This habit of getting carried away with even a little excitement and then disregarding everything was not good at all—it wasn't his usual style of doing things.
There were too many people in the guild who forgot themselves when excited.
To become the future guild master, one must remain calm.
A guild always needs someone who can handle the fallout, and the guild master is the one responsible for that (and writing apologies).
After venting his frustrations internally, Marco turned his attention to his other skills.
Currently, aside from the "Pegasus Meteor Fist" which had reached (Advanced), the one closest to leveling up was the "Diamond Dust Fist."
[Diamond Dust Fist · Intermediate, Proficiency: 932/1000]
As Marco's primary focus in recent times, the Diamond Dust Fist was on the verge of leveling up.
Thanks to its matching Cloth, the proficiency of the Diamond Dust Fist increased rapidly, and it wouldn't be long before it successfully advanced.
Even after reaching the (Advanced) level, there was still room for further proficiency growth, likely leading to levels like (Top-tier) or (Max-level).
Marco was quite satisfied with this progression.
Otherwise, wouldn't he lose motivation to continue training after reaching the Advanced level?
Based on Marco's observations, the power of these skills was determined by two factors: proficiency and magical energy.
Higher proficiency meant greater power, while more infused magical energy also enhanced the effect.
However, each significant increase in proficiency brought about a qualitative leap in power.
Once a skill's proficiency reached its maximum level, further improvements in power could only rely on stacking magical energy, which was far less efficient.