New Persona

As he spun, the glimmering flames turned golden-orange. The caravan members felt a heat wave rush over them as Ace flung out a ring of golden-orange fire. It rapidly expanded amid violent crackling explosions.

The Demon Fist Rats surrounding Ace had no time to dodge before they were swallowed by the golden-orange ring of fire, leaving not even bones behind.

The ring of fire expanded rapidly, stretching several meters and directly incinerating a carriage.

Ace scratched his head sheepishly and said with a broad smile, "I'm not very proficient with this move yet. I failed to control my strength. I'm terribly sorry."

Everyone stared blankly for a moment before erupting into thunderous cheers. They had already fallen into despair, never expecting to be saved. The immense emotional swing made them weep with joy.

"That doesn't matter! I'm the caravan's owner, Borg. Thank you so much, honorable divine descendant. Please, you must accept this bag of Gold Talers."

Borg was brimming with excitement as he took a bag of Gold Talers from the carriage he had been riding in and offered it to Ace.

Ace did not refuse. He snatched it up at once. "Then I won't stand on ceremony. A few Demon Fist Rats escaped, so I'm going after them. Until we meet again, if fate allows."

Before Borg could say anything, Ace swept away like a whirlwind, chasing the remaining Demon Fist Rats.

"He comes and goes like the wind—powerful and cheerful, with the weathered charm of a mature man. I'm in love, Father," said the young woman who had just shouted at Ace, gazing dreamily at Borg.

"Donna, that lord is not someone from our world. He is incredibly powerful. Based on my more than thirty years of experience as a merchant, he is at least Hero-class. Even among nobles, he would be among the very best."

If his daughter really did something indescribable with that lord, it would not be a bad thing. Wouldn't his family then have the bloodline of the gods? Unfortunately, that lord had left too quickly, Borg sighed inwardly.

Ace secretly charmed the Demon Fist Rats and drove them onward, running farther and farther away.

He felt incomparably refreshed. The gloom that had weighed on him in Tsimari finally eased at this moment.

Transforming into Sharp gave him the feeling of experiencing a different life, the thrill of role-playing.

He had not mentioned a name because he had considered that Sharp had come here as a fugitive. That name might be recognized, and if he called himself Sharp and attracted needless pursuit, it would be troublesome.

Once he reached a place beyond the caravan's sight, Ace dispelled his transformation and changed into his black hooded robe.

His eyes gleamed as he stared at the Demon Fist Rats. Fresh experimental materials—he could hardly wait to enjoy them.

Looking at the several dismembered Demon Fist Rats, Ace took out a woolen cloth and wiped away the sweat and blood from his body. He discovered two new secondary runes on the Demon Fist Rats.

Secondary Rune: Reinforcement. The structure formed by this rune was located in the Demon Fist Rats' hands, making them incomparably hard.

Secondary Rune: Ejection. The structure formed by this rune was located in the Demon Fist Rats' legs, allowing them to jump farther and with greater force.

Using the Reinforcement Rune, Ace designed a new secondary spell: Localized Reinforcement.

It could instantly enhance the rigidity, toughness, and recovery ability of a specific part of the body for roughly fifteen minutes. When tested on a fist, its hardness far surpassed that of an iron sword.

This was an excellent support spell for close combat. Since it was not a Soul Rune, however, it was not as useful to Ace.

But he could absolutely use this ability to create a new persona and engage in a brutal, fist-to-flesh brawl.

The secondary Ejection Rune had two uses. First, it could be added to the existing secondary spells Magic Missile and Fire Missile, replacing Lob and altering the spells' trajectories.

Second, it could be developed into a new spell that acted on his own legs, greatly enhancing his short-range movement and repositioning ability. It allowed him to eject himself ten to twenty meters in an instant, lasting roughly five minutes.

Ace gradually formed an idea for his new persona.

New persona profile:

In appearance, the new persona could wear a mask and dress in the traditional attire of a demon hunter.

In personality, he would be flamboyant, free-spirited, just, sunny, unconstrained by trifles, and fond of upholding justice.

In abilities, he would possess close-range scorching steel fists, steel legs, short-range movement and repositioning, long-range Fire Missile Lob, and Fire Missile Ejection.

His strength would be somewhere between that of a seasoned Divine Awakener and a Hero-class combatant.

After setting the template, Ace went to the nearest town. Using illusions, he secretly made an iron mask that exposed only his mouth and nose, along with a pair of gauntlets.

Ace transformed into Sharp, dressed in traditional demon hunter attire, strapped a short sword in a leather sheath to his back, put on the iron mask and gauntlets, slung on a backpack, and headed into the nearby wilderness.

With Ultrasonic Perception activated, he searched for Demonic Beasts without avoiding other demon hunters or caravans.

Two months later, rumors began to spread about a powerful lone demon hunter.

Many demon hunters, caravan members, and even commoners had seen him. Wearing an iron mask and wielding scorching iron fists, he could nearly kill ordinary Demonic Beasts in a single blow.

He was active in the wilderness around the western towns of Medimuss. No one knew his name. Because of his distinctive traits, those he had saved all called him Iron Masked Fire Fist.

Ace discovered that the western region truly had far more Demonic Beasts than the southern and eastern regions. This was newly developed territory of the city-state, and many Demonic Beasts had yet to be cleared out. It was perfect for him to hunt Demonic Beasts and collect runes and magical materials.

Although there were many Low-level Demonic Beasts here, powerful Low-level Demonic Beasts were rare. Over the past two months, Ace had not encountered a single powerful Low-level Demonic Beast, one with strength equivalent to Hero-class.

He had encountered quite a few ordinary animal-type and plant-type Low-level Demonic Beasts. His understanding of the Demonic Beasts in the western city-state now far surpassed even Tang Sen, author of the Compendium of Low-Level Demonic Beasts.

Over these two months, Ace killed fifteen different types of Demonic Beasts, including three plant-type Demonic Beasts and twelve animal-type Demonic Beasts.

He discovered thirteen new secondary runes and combined them to create eleven new secondary spells.

Among the secondary runes for ranged attacks, Ace had already collected Fan Strike, Ejection, Scatter, Direct Shot, Lob, and Tracking.

When combined with the wind attribute, these could greatly enhance their effects. The Tracking Rune required the Mark Rune's cooperation, allowing it to track and attack objects marked by the Mark Rune.

Over these two months, Ace's secondary Rune Tome and secondary Spellbook had been greatly enriched, while the abilities of his new persona had grown increasingly powerful.

No unusual news had come from Tsimari Port in the south, so he decided to return to the city-state before heading north, to the foot of the Lar Mountains, where powerful Low-level Demonic Beasts were said to appear often.

He stored the magical materials he had obtained from hunting Demonic Beasts during this time—Demonic Beast organs—in a nearby demon hunter camp, then set off toward Medimoth City.

He wanted to see his parents, whom he had not seen in a long time, plan the next stage of the estate's development, take a look at Teacher Peter's treasured mirror, and perhaps see whether he could sweet-talk Athena into lending him the contract wonder for examination.

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