Chapter 670: Importance of Mastery of Skills
That wasn’t because they were weak. In fact, the opposite was true. Most skills had terrifying potential once they reached level 20. The problem, however, was just how incredibly difficult it was to push them that far.
Raising a skill to level 20 was a monumental task, one that could take years or even decades, depending on its rank. Because of that, a common saying echoed through the halls of many forces alike: "In the time it takes to raise one skill to level 20, you could master five techniques instead."
Max had felt this sentiment deeply, especially after seeing how geniuses like Silus and Elias fought. During both their battles, neither of them had used any skills. They relied purely on techniques, concepts, inheritance and overwhelming force.
That fact had puzzled him at first—after all, didn’t they have access to the best resources in the Middle Domain? Shouldn’t they possess extraordinary skills? But it was only after reading the diary of the Old Saintess that the puzzle had clicked into place.
She had written about how Legendary Rank skills, while powerful, were seldom pursued to the end. Most people simply didn’t have the luxury of time when constant breakthroughs and survival dictated their pace. Investing years into a single skill that might never reach its peak was a gamble most didn’t dare take.
And yet there was one big reason that made people looked away from the skills.
The true power of a Legendary Rank skill, as Max had come to understand, could only shine up to the peak of the Master Rank. Beyond that point, the difference in strength between each rank grew so vast that the enhancements provided by even the best Legendary Rank skills simply couldn’t keep up.
It was like trying to use a bucket to contain a flood—no matter how refined the bucket, it wasn’t enough.
Once an expert stepped into the Champion Rank and beyond, those once-reliable skills became increasingly irrelevant in direct combat. At that stage only a skill at level 100 mastery could show its true prowess but achieving that was next to impossible.