Overpowered Awakening: I Became Invincible With A Broken Talent-Chapter 200: Domain

Nox and Solan were finally freed from the overpowering pressure that had kept them submerged underwater against their will. Fortunately, they were not badly hurt, only short of breath as the two of them gasped heavily, struggling to regain themselves and steady their breathing.

Orion and Liora heaved sighs of relief upon seeing their two colleagues alive. It would have hurt them not only emotionally but strategically to lose any one of them, especially considering how rare it was to find other young Vereenas as strong as the two of them within their current pathos.

Orion tilted his head toward Marlon, who had sent his death clones to retrieve the true cores from the troubled river.

Using his innate inspection abilities, he carefully gauged Marlon’s new level of power, and he could hardly believe what he discovered.

’He is leveling up much faster than I expected...’ he thought. ’The chaos in his world is no more than constant training for him. I envy him.’

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the eyes fixated on him, Marlon retrieved the two true cores from his clones’ grasp and observed them closely, confirming that they were indeed index-3 cores. Simply unbelievable. He had received the same reward he once got from killing two aurax, yet this time it came from just one kill.

Not wasting a minute, he proceeded to consume the first core.

[ You’ve obtained the following:

10,000,000 EXP

1 Talent Awakening Card (has been transferred to inventory)

900 Intelligence Points

100 free Stat Points ]

A new talent awakening card.

He gulped faintly, clearly excited, though his expression remained duller than usual. Normally, he would have displayed it more openly.

He equipped the card and activated it by snapping it in two. It burst into a bright glow, drawing the attention of the Vereenas instantly.

The awakening process was much more rapid than the last one. And just like before, Marlon felt no pain. A series of text appeared before him.

[ Talent: Absolute Water Manipulation (EX) ]

[ Revealing detailed description ]

Absolute Water Manipulation (EX)

Type: Elemental Control

Core Affinity: Water | Domain

Description:

Those who awaken as Absolute Water Manipulators gain full control over water in all its natural forms. They can move, shape, compress, and redirect water at will. Water can be used to attack, defend, restrain enemies, or block incoming damage with powerful waves and solid-like barriers formed through compression.

The larger the water source nearby, the stronger their control becomes. They can increase water pressure to crush targets, create fast and sharp currents, or spread water across a wide area to dominate the battlefield. They can also sense movement and presence through water under their control, detecting disturbances within their range.

[ You’ve unlocked the following skills ]

[ Oceanic Domain (SS-rank, Active): Establish temporary control over a selected body of water within range, overriding lesser water-based abilities. During activation, all water within the domain obeys your command.

ADDITIONAL EFFECTS:

NEGATE: While in Oceanic Domain, attacks under SS-rank can be negated.

NEGATIVE ABSORB: Certain attacks are automatically absorbed and converted to their positive opposite.

COPY: Can only be activated once during the duration of Oceanic Domain. Allows you to copy a skill from a target, which you can use in your domain.

Duration: 30 minutes

Cooldown: 2 minutes ]

[ Abyssal Pressure (SS-rank, Active): Instantly increase the pressure and density of controlled water, crushing enemies caught within it or reinforcing defensive barriers to extreme durability. ]

[ Flow Acceleration (SS-rank, Active): Accelerate water movement to extreme velocity, forming slicing currents or high-speed propulsion streams. Cooldown: 15 seconds ]

[ Aquatic Awareness (SS-rank, Passive): Grants sensory perception through connected water sources, allowing detection of movement, vibrations, and energy within the domain. ]

Reading through the skills carefully, he could not deny that he was amazed.

With this talent now in his possession, he immediately understood how the giant octopus had been able to operate so efficiently and become so formidable.

If they had managed to distract it until Oceanic Domain was deactivated, they would have been able to kill it with much greater ease. Domain-type abilities were decisive, but once their duration ended, their dominance weakened significantly.

Marlon did not ponder on it for long.

He consumed the second true core, and just as he expected, there was a blessing upgrade card.

[ Select a blessing to upgrade: Lifeflow (Sacred-rank), Limitless (Divine-rank), Fivefold (Arcane-rank) ]

Not much thought was needed in this aspect.

He picked Fivefold, and the upgrade process kicked off and concluded swiftly.

[ Blessing: Tenfold ] (Mythic-rank, Max) (Evolvable by rank)

A divine blessing that multiplies all forms of progress by ten. Every experience point, reward, item drop, and growth gain is constantly multiplied by ten.

At the current blessing rank, you’ve unlocked a unique feature which operates based on your power rank.

At the current rank (A-rank), progress is multiplied by 10x. At the following rank (S), the multiplication unit is doubled to 20x, and it continues doubling as you evolve further.

NOTE: This blessing is special to the owner. It cannot be stolen, copied, or even seen by others. ]

’Wow..’

Marlon was far more thrilled by his blessing than by the EX-rank talent he had just awakened, and his reaction was justified. Despite the blessing being at its maximum rank, it could still evolve within that rank based on his own growth. The implications were enormous.

Ten times progression at A-rank. Twenty times at S-rank. And it would continue doubling.

That meant every battle, every reward, every stat gain would widen the gap between him and others at an accelerating pace. If it was not a cheat, then what was it?

He lingered on the blessing’s description for a short while, running quiet calculations in his mind and momentarily ignoring the scene around him.

Nox and Solan had already retired to the golden spaceship to relax and recover.

The chaos caused by the giant octopus had somehow woken Drever Sterling, who could now be seen standing beside the Vereenas, observing Marlon with an amazed expression.

Looking at Marlon, the same troublemaker back at the training camp a few months ago who used to wander around getting beaten by weaklings, Drever found it difficult to reconcile that image with the person standing before him now.

Marlon had evolved in ways he could not properly describe.

His presence, even his simple movements, reflected a new form of restrained power and quiet confidence.

Drever even wondered if Marlon was now as strong as his father.

On the shore, the civilians celebrated the defeat of the titanic sea monsters. The few hunters who survived the battle chanted Marlon’s name with relief and happiness.

Yet their voices were dulled by the restless sound of the troubled river. The aftermath of the battle was still unfolding, with waves and whirlpools forming across different areas of the water as it gradually settled.

After Marlon was done reviewing the new blessing to his satisfaction, he returned to the spaceship, where he met a conscious Drever for the first time since the chaos had descended.

Whether it was the aura he passively released or simply the sharp shift in his demeanor, Drever stared at him quietly, too stunned to utter a word.

The Marlon before this event would have tried to greet him and perhaps even strike up a conversation, especially considering he had once maintained a fairly good relationship with Drever.

Nonetheless, those aspects of his personality had taken a noticeable dip.

He simply nodded at Drever before turning his attention to the Vereenas and inquiring about their next location.

Orion escorted him to the monitoring room.

They checked the map and immediately noticed something quite strange.

Some of the marked danger zones had been cleared. They were now indicated by green marks instead of the previous red.

"Strange.." Orion muttered, clearly confused.

Initially, there had been over twenty danger zones present.

Now, up to half of them had been cleared within the same amount of time it had taken them to deal with just one.

Solan and Nox entered the room while the two were still trying to determine whether it was a malfunction or if someone had actually cleared them. Just like Marlon and Orion, the two were visibly surprised.

Liora came in afterward.

As a super craftsman, one of her innate abilities was detecting faults and malfunctions. She applied it to the ship’s processor, carefully examining it.

There was nothing wrong.

Which led them to believe that the zones had truly been cleared.

"Axel Storm.."

Marlon murmured to himself.

The only one capable of such a feat within such a short span of time was none other than the current strongest hunter in Arden.

Nonetheless, he could not be entirely certain.

Why was he only showing up now?

After millions had most likely already lost their lives?

What use were his actions now?