The Discarded Son's Skill Market

Event Orchestrator, a Unique SSS-Rank Talent.

A Talent that had always been there in the system, but he had ignored it for no reason at all.

It appeared right above his father’s Soul Talent. However, perhaps because it initially only had question marks, he thought it didn’t matter, and what mattered most at the time was seeing his father’s Soul Talent... or one that was accessible.

However, there was something strange about it.

Zaid remembered.

His father’s S-Rank "Monarch of Devastation" talent had an effect displayed by the system: Every time the user kills a beast or enemy, their physical and elemental damage permanently increases by 0.5% until the end of the battle.

An effect like that shines excessively in high-rank portals, but is it enough to be called "Monarch of Devastation"? Clearly not. If it were a talent used exclusively for hunting beasts, it would be useful, but in battles against key characters or when fighting for the throne of one of the Monarchs, it’s not up to par.

It’s too expensive if that’s its only effect.

However, even though that effect was the best a Talent could have in a group battle—especially in high-rank Portals—that wasn’t why it was considered the best S-rank Talent in the Realm.

Rather, it was because of its devastating energy—hence its name—which could wipe out all life in an area, rivaling Talents with powerful Concepts such as Death itself. Or "The Fall," from the Sky Monarch. Or the "Angels" of the Religious Monarch.

Why, then, didn’t its full description appear? Why wasn’t its full effect there?

’Someone manipulated it...’

’Orchestrator of Events...’

A powerful concept that allows one to manipulate destiny... to control events. To create occurrences...

When Zaid looked up at Zayn, Zayn was holding the headband in his hand and twirling it, making it dance. Three turns. It stopped.

"Go ahead, dear brother. Go and remember."

In that instant, Zaid succumbed to the headache and staggered until he slammed into the wall.

His mind went blank... and then cleared in an instant. But by the time it cleared, he was no longer there.

He was no longer in the room; instead, he was in the past—a not-too-distant one. The day he woke up.

Zaid looked intently at a man lying on the floor.

’That’s me.’

However, he also saw a man watching him from the branches of a tree.

It was Zayn.

In his right hand, a headband that danced until it came to a stop.

In his left hand... a small snake.

"You want to work, don’t you?" Zayn asked with a chuckle.

The snake sneered. "If you give him to me, he’ll kill you."

"Heh, you overestimate yourself, little snake."

"You can try."

"You really are arrogant. That’s what bothers me about you."

"Aren’t you the same? You took your brother’s wife away from him. That’s sheer arrogance."

"Heh heh, everyone has their own destiny. I’m the one who changes them. What’s the matter? Don’t you like it? Don’t worry, I’ll give him another wife... a vengeful man can’t be left on the loose without a tie that binds him."

"You’re a damn bastard."

"What do you think his fate will be?" Zayn asked.

"Revenge, death... He’ll kill you. He’ll rule. Don’t you know who I am?"

Zayn scoffed. "Without him, you’re nothing. Not here."

At that moment, Zayn dropped the snake right in front of Zaid... And some strange, old gears began to turn.

"How strange..."

Zaid’s vision shifted. He was at the academy... but it was no longer him watching from a third-person perspective... Instead, he was watching himself through someone else’s eyes.

’What the hell?’

But he didn’t have time to analyze the vision, for it changed again. In the guild... something similar happened again. Someone was watching him... and he was watching himself.

In the city...

In the Forest of the Undead, on that day of the academy’s trial...

Zaid trembled when he felt many faces staring at him, yet ignoring him at the same time.

Immediately... red filled his vision like blood spreading across a piece of paper.

And he woke up.

And he fell asleep. It happened again.

Three times.

And he returned. He opened his eyes.

Zayn was still sitting by the window. His hood pulled down over his shoulders, he watched the fight with interest.

"Hey, Zaid, how old are you today?" he asked suddenly.

Zaid frowned and stood up.

"Eighteen."

Zayn turned to look at him, frowning. "Your age?"

"I already told you." Zaid acted a little annoyed.

Zayn, however, was surprised and fell silent for a moment.

"Wow... so..."

"You should have figured it out the moment your Cardinal’s charms didn’t work on me," Zaid sneered. "Are you trying to manipulate my memories, you damn bastard? I’d rather die than think you’re my savior."

Finally, Zaid draw his daggers. Valia was able to move, but before she could attack, he sheathed them and wouldn’t let her get close.

This wasn’t her fight.

Zayn looked at him with an expression of genuine surprise. For the first time, his mind succumbed to chaos.

However, he soon relaxed.

"So that’s what it feels like when they slip out of your control, huh... Interesting." Zayn hopped into the room with an intrigued smile. "See those two up there? Divine-ranked beings fighting, and no one’s destroyed anything... Just because that’s how I wrote it. One of them will die—who will it be? No one knows. I left it up to chance... And they still don’t know."

"However." He continued after a short pause. "You were able to figure it out. You saw beyond... and understood more than what I wrote. Don’t you realize how interesting that is? No one has ever done that before...!" His face contorted, but not with anger. He felt a strange excitement that grew until his expression turned to one of ecstasy.

Zaid remained silent, staring at him with his daggers in hand.

"I wouldn’t want to kill you... but too bad. If you hadn’t tried to be too clever, you’d surely have become an S-Rank..."

"In a puppet." Zaid corrected him.

"A puppet? No... I don’t have those things. I just have a lot of eyes."

Zaid clenched his teeth. "I’ve said your name and title four times..."

Zayn’s voice grew even more ecstatic; it almost sounded as if he were speaking between effeminate and masculine moans.

"The number of times your life has restarted. Don’t you find that interesting? Restarting lives... You’re the first human to succeed at it. Elijah tried it, and look what he became... It’s just that—too bad—you restart completely. You’re defective, after all. I’d have to get you out of there so you can move forward, but that would be boring."

"You bastard... you’ve been testing me. So that’s why you said that black blood was an illusion." Zaid clenched his teeth in fury.

"You should be happy, not angry." Zayn frowned. "You would have died if it weren’t for me."

Zaid took two steps forward and attacked him with his daggers. He activated his Talent, and his dagger mastery increased. He struck straight ahead, but Zayn dodged it. He moved nimbly with the dagger and delivered repeated strikes that missed their mark.

"This makes me curious—where did you get such a knack for daggers? On your first and second attempts, you were a boxer... Then, suddenly, you showed up as a mysterious mage, and now you’re pulling this off."

Zaid brought his two daggers up to his face; they blocked the attack that was aimed at breaking his nose, and his body slammed hard against the wall.

"Oh, right. I forgot this is your weakest move." Zayn frowned.

Zaid’s eyes sparkled.

’Where did I get this talent? Could it be that... this guy doesn’t know about the Shop?’ His heart raced...

He could have sworn he saw that guy give him that snake four times...

’Is he acting?’

Zaid wanted to confirm it... he didn’t know why, since he would clearly die, but he felt a need to confirm it.

He repeatedly attacked with his daggers. His attacks were precise, but they didn’t land. Zayn treated it more like a game. However, Zaid suddenly flicked his daggers and made them disappear.

BAM!

His right hand shot out at high speed and struck Zayn’s side.

"Hm?" He frowned. It was the first time this guy had hit him in four attempts...

Zayn shook out his arm and attacked him with his martial arts, to which Zaid responded in kind with his boxing and soft martial arts.

"!" Zayn’s eyes sparkled with a peculiar gleam.

"Could it be that you kept your boxing skills from the first reset?" He saw genuine hope.

And Zaid could see it written in his eyes... Even Zayn’s skin bristled. The body didn’t lie. He knew nothing about his Talent Shop.

Excitement flooded his being. Perhaps that’s why he took a misstep, and Zayn’s fist struck him in the chest.

"Guh." Blood spurted from his mouth, and his body was sent flying backward.

His eyes bulged, and the bones in his body snapped.

’Shit... I finally see hope...’

The pain of failing when everything was just beginning felt worse than the pain of his broken bones.

Darkness engulfed him in just a second.

The room fell silent.

A cold breeze blew in. The battle between those two terrifying gods above the temple continued... Nothing changed.

A small snake appeared, floating above Zaid’s body.

Zayn didn’t move. His hand remained outstretched, clenched into a fist. Like a statue, paralyzed.

"Didn’t you see this coming?" The snake’s voice echoed through the room. "This must be the first time I’ve managed to do something you didn’t expect."

"That must be quite an achievement..." he whispered with a hint of joy.

"It certainly is an achievement." The effeminate, masculine voice broke the silence once more.

The snake shuddered but frowned. In front of him, Zayn stood frozen like a statue. The voice came from behind.

The snake turned slightly and saw Zayn walking through the door.

He looked at Zaid. At the plants. At the curtains. At the fighters in the sky.

Everything was normal. He hadn’t failed. Everything was frozen.

Except for that bastard.

"Damn bastard, sometimes I think you’re a god," the snake complained, finally realizing that he had failed again.

"And what makes you doubt that?"

The snake shook its body and decided not to continue talking to him and his arrogance.

"I told you. He’ll kill you."

"With your little tricks?"

"Heh. You want to restart it... I’ll lead him to your death."

"Heh heh, or will you kill him before I do? His life was already hanging by a thread, and you dare to steal time from him to stop him..."

"Heh." The snake sneered. "You don’t get it. Starting today, you’re not in control."

"I’d like to know how you plan to take that away from me."

"Haven’t you noticed? This time is different. I’ve been preparing this for many years, Orchestrator. It’s finally ready. I’ll see you at the end of the loop... and I’ll devour you with my own teeth." The snake vanished, leaving behind a mocking chuckle at the end of its words.

Zayn frowned. "Loop... So your way of keeping him from restarting is by trapping him in a loop. Not bad... But how many years did you have to steal from that poor creature to create that loop? Let me play with you, little devourer."

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