"My physical condition improved slightly, but no change in talent..." - I thought with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.

I have been nurturing both my talents since lunch. However, they are both still at zero.

"Ugh... I guess the only way is to find grade 2 energy somewhere to speed up the process."

I already thought about trying to ask the mistress for some potions to see if I can digest some of them into grade 2 energy, but I quickly dismissed the thought.

"Asking the mistress about it is like telling her that I have this unique talent. I can't risk that."

I also thought of trying to drink the vitality potion from the bath, but setting aside that it is stealing, I accidentally used predatory instincts on it for the first time when I wondered how much energy it will give me. It turns out that it was not Grade-2 regular energy, but a mixture of Grade 4 Regular Energy and something called Mana Energy! Apparently, Mana energy can restore my Aura and Mana, and it can also Nourish regular talents at an increased rate. However, my instincts also told me that I can't digest the potion yet.

"Oh well, like father always said, haste makes waste. Let's first see how fast they recover. Recovering within a few months isn't so bad either." - I comforted myself.

I then decided to check my stats, which I had neglected previously.

"What the heck are these numbers? Can I get an explanation on them in terms of ranks?"

As if reading my mind, information went into my mind.

[0 <= (G-) < 10^(2/6) < (G) < 10^(3/6) < (G+) < 10^(4/6) < (F-) < 10^(5/6)...]

"Eh... Can you make it simpler, please?" - I asked nicely.

Heeding my request, the status gave me new information.

[0 <= (G-) < 2.154~ < (G) < 3.162~ < (G+) < 4.641~ < (F-) < 6.812~...]

"Much better! But, erm, by how much does it multiply each time?"

[10^(1/6) = 1.467~]

"Thank you!"

Now I understood what my status meant. In other words, there was a multiplicative increase of around 1.467 for each minor rank.

However, seeing all those numbers gave me a headache, so I was tempted to return them into ranks, but I decided against it for the time being. I wanted to see my improvement, however small it is until I get better. It is good motivation for improvement.

"Oh well. In any case, I have no interest in looking them over in detail. Father also warned me that skills are just an indicator, so I am not interested in looking them over, either. That leaves me to a few points. First, race."

The name of my race changed from Human/orc to mortal Human/mortal Orc. I was interested in knowing what this change meant. I started checking the details.

[Race: The race of a certain species of beings. It can roughly determine the possible sizes, mass, shapes, body composition, body anatomy, natural reproductive methods, evolutionary patterns, natural elemental affinities, natural mana affinity, natural aura affinity, natural resistances, natural talent affinity, enlightenment, and affinity to the laws.]¹Did I miss anything?

"Hah... Well, it kind of makes sense, I guess." - I thought to myself. I didn't need to look into the details, as that would have likely confused me even more.

I then viewed my races.

[Race: Mortal Human.
Species name: Homo Sapiens.
Type: Enlightened humanoid race.
Description: An enlightened humanoid race evolved from monkeys. They are one of the most common enlightened races across the multiverse and are notorious for their self-destructive tendencies when left unchecked without proper divine guidance. They are considered the most average of the enlightened races and have no outstanding qualities except their strong tendency to believe the bullshit that any divine authority feeds them, uniting under it, even when it makes little sense and defies their moral codes, sometimes even becoming overzealous. This very overzeal can very rarely drive them to do miraculous feats by briefly connecting to the laws of the universe and burning themselves out for an incredible outburst of power above their league, which confuses many gods and eldritch to this day. This is why many gods and eldritch like to use them as their pawns and energy sources, sarcastically dubbing them as their "Chosen people." while laughing at their blind foolishness. Because of their affinity to faith, they can more easily fall into the influence of a god or eldritch being.]

"Fuck... so humans are just pawns and energy sources in the gods' eyes?" - I mumbled in shock.

Although I felt that this status was a bit biased and offensive, I didn't see much of a reason why it would lie to me about something like this.

"That aside, my ancestors were monkeys? I thought that humans were created from clay by the gods. What a shock... So much for human supremacy..." - I continued to mumble.

After recovering from my shock, I hesitantly checked my orc origins.

[Race: Mortal Orc.
Species name: Viridis Pellis Sapiens.
Type: Enlightened humanoid race.
Description: A warmongering enlightened humanoid race devolved from the battle-hungry transcendent enlightened humanoid race, the Akshukals, and they are also the unintentional ancestors of the goblinoids who devolved from them due to eldritch corruption. As descendants of the Akshukals, the orcs inherited part of the Akshukals battle instincts and battle hunger, making them formidable warriors and berserkers. Orcs have increased physical power and aura attunement in exchange for a lesser mana conductivity and agility. Although they are mocked for being stupid and boorish, it is not that they are truly stupid, it is because they have less interest in technological improvements and refined arts and focus more on making weapons and fighting. They find unity in strength, uniting under the strong, and the strongest orc usually leads the tribe, whether male or female. They also suffer from a minor increased susceptibility to chaos corruption due to the blood rage.]

"... I don't know if this is better or worse than the humans." - I commented.

Shaking my head from any more unnecessary thoughts, I continued to the next item of interest.

[Bloodline: The bloodline of a creature, usually inherited from the parents. Better bloodlines enhance the talent and physical limits of the possessor, grants enhancements to evolution strands and class selection, and allow the descendants of the creature to have a higher probability to be born with better talent related to it.]

"My bloodline can increase my talent and physical limits? Why does it say it is sealed, then? For what reason?" - I looked at my two bloodlines doubtfully.

"Well, only one way to find out." - I thought as I checked the details.

[Bloodline: Transcendent Berserker(50%) (Sealed)
Grade: Transcendent(Rare)
Description: The bloodline of a Transcendent Berserker of any enlightened race, granting a corrective growth enhancement to strength, vitality, and aura, increased berserker talent, and greater affinity to the berserker class for mortals. Currently, it is sealed by your parents for protection that you don't need anymore. The release conditions are if you fulfill one of the following: Reach the age of 40, Reach mortal SS-rank willpower, Reach mortal lvl 99, Reach mortal S-rank Aura. The seal can be devoured for Grade 8 Soul Energy.]

[Bloodline: Transcendent Rogue(50%) (Sealed)
Grade: Transcendent(Rare)
Description: The bloodline of a Transcendent Rogue of any enlightened race, granting a corrective growth enhancement to strength, vitality, Agility, and aura, increased Rogue talent, and greater affinity to the Rogue class for mortals. Currently, it is sealed by your parents for protection that you don't need anymore. The release conditions are if you fulfill one of the following: Reach the age of 40, Reach mortal SS-rank willpower, Reach mortal lvl 99, Reach mortal S-rank Aura. The seal can be devoured for Grade 8 Soul Energy.]

"...Hah..." - I could only blankly stare at the ceiling as I viewed the information.

After being in a daze for a few minutes, I snapped out of it and sighed with emotion.

"So they sent me here to try and protect me, but why? And from what? Is it related to my unique talent, Effort?" - I analyzed.

After looking over this information, I decided that it was high time for me to check my original unique talent.

[Unique talent seed: Effort
lvl: 1/99
Type: Willpower/Growth
Grade: Chaos
Description: A mutated talent seed formed due to a miraculous accident of combining your original talent seed in its developmental stages with some sort of divine energy while you were still 6 weeks old in your mother's womb, increasing its original pseudo-divine grade by two grades because of their extremely high affinity towards each other, reaching the Chaos grade. Due to it being a willpower-type talent, its worth is a grade higher, reaching the Origin grade.
Effects: Miraculous Effort, Willpower Overwhelming, Paragon of Excellence, Golden will.]

"I... What? I think I just read something ridiculous again." - I mumbled numbly.

However, the shock I felt was numbed thanks to me seeing the ridiculous descriptions about Grith.

"So, from what I can read here, the reason why my biological parents hid me away was that I fused with this divine energy? Also, what the heck is the grading in talents?" - I got curious so I checked for details.

[Talent seed grade: The grade of a talent seed determines its utility and potential when fully developed. The grades are, in ascending order of worth, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Pseudo-Divine, Divine, Chaos, Origin.]

"... So, I have two unique talents of the second-best grade, with my original one comparable to an Origin grade talent. Ok, I understand why my parents hid me away now, crystal clear. Mhm."

At the same time, I felt just how fortunate I was to make Grith into a talent seed instead of eating him. With Obscuration, I can avoid people knowing about my talents, thus avoiding any more trouble.

"In any case, I want to check the effects of my talent."

Although the number of effects is less than half of Lord Of Adaptation, I didn't doubt that it is even better than it, being comparable to an origin-grade talent.

Thinking up to this point, I checked the effects.

However, even with my prior experiences with Grith, I became slack-jawed when I saw the first effect.

[Effort: Miraculous effort
Description: The mutated form of Enhanced Effort. People say that talent can differ, but the effort is equal. They can't be more wrong, and you take it to the extreme, even touching the rules of creation itself to show their folly, to the point where even the gods shall be jealous of your ridiculous existence.
Effects: In addition to multiplying the training effects of stats, skills, and regular talents, it now possesses the additional ability to positively affect the growth speed of the soul, unique talents, and the learning of the laws. Growth multiplier = 1 + lvl of Effort. It stacks multiplicatively with other talents.]

"By the gods above... It is indeed miraculous..." - I mumbled.

I didn't need anyone to tell me just how good of an effect this is. Multiplying your growth rate is the same as cheating. The lifespan of people is limited, and people cant use their effort to learn everything.

Without this talent, even if I were to become a paragon with a hundred different talents, I would need to pick a direction to develop myself, or I would be a mediocre jack of all trades by the end of my lifespan.

This talent, however, changes things. I can learn multiple things at the same time. Just the first level of it will allow me to split my attention to two different subjects. Also, I can increase the rate of improvement in a single direction, skyrocketing my improvement to new heights.

What's more, this talent has more effects, like improving the growth of other talents, the soul, and learning the laws, whatever that is.

"Anyways, just this effect can help me solve my current weakness. If I put enough effort into training my body, I can probably restore part of my physical condition, and maybe improve my talent recovery!"  - I mused as I checked my second ability.

[Effort: Willpower Overwhelming
Description: A mutated ability that was originally called "The will to grow.". Some have weak wills, others hone them through life, and a rare few possess willpower that keeps growing stronger regardless of what they do. You belong to the latter group, just in an overwhelming way that dwarfs others to shame.
Effects: Even without awakening, this ability provides a massive increase in willpower limit and growth. The effects increase with lvl of Effort.]

"...And that explains my ridiculously high willpower. Still, without this, I would probably be dead right now, so thank you." - I thanked in my mind as I looked up the third ability.

[Effort: Paragon of Excellence
Description: A mutated ability that was originally called "Striving for Excellence.". You are a true paragon, a model in all that you do. Your every move is excellence, not just striving for it.
Effects: This ability completely unlocks the soul's limit on regular talents and increases the upper limit on unique talents by two. This ability cannot stack with lesser or equal variants of the same type.]

"Hah? There was a limit on how many talents one can possess? Hah... Well, I can think about it later." - I thought as I went to check the final ability.

[Effort: Golden will
Description: A mutated ability that was originally called "Iron will.". Your will is not just tenacious, it is not a will of iron that can be bent or broken, your will is pure, noble, immutable, unbendable, and unquenchable. Even when the fire of your soul starts to die out, the last embers will rekindle it into a blazing inferno. You are a possessor of a golden will, be proud of it.
Effects: Massively increases resistance to all attempts at possession, mental corruption, soul pollution, and binding your soul against your will.]

"I see. This is what saved me from Grith along with Willpower Overwhelming. If I lacked one of them, I would be dead." - I understood the fact.

Dismissing the status from my mind, I yawned and mumbled, "I don't deserve this. This is too good for me."

And then I fell asleep.