Daz was sitting alone in his cabin and he had been there for quite some time now. He had been browsing the shop and very carefully looking at all of the SS-rank (Higher Tier) skills.

Thanks to his killing ranking, he had been given another opportunity to get one more exceedingly powerful skill. The previous chance he got, Daz felt he had wasted.

While he had looked at a few of the SS-Ranked (Middle Tier) skills before deciding on his Higher Identification, he had only viewed roughly one-hundred before using his free chance on it.

Higher Identification had indeed been very useful for Daz, and he was very thankful that this was the case, otherwise, he would regret wasting such a golden opportunity until the end of his life.

After browsing though roughly five-thousand SS-Ranked (Higher Tier) skills with the filtering aid of the system, Daz had narrowed his choice down to two possible options.

Barrier of Darkness [SS-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description A skill designed by the God of Darkness on a day he was feeling bored and interested in the God of Barriers' abilities. Roughly combining his own essence of Darkness and the unsuspecting God of Barrier's fifth level barrier, he created this powerful, yet incomplete skill. Level 1 Abilities Passively increases the host's resistance based stats by 20%. Allows the host to create a barrier of pure Darkness wherever they please in exchange for 50% of their death energy. This barrier can block any, one attack, before breaking. The strength of the barrier will be the host's resistance based stats multiplied by two. Limit of one created barrier per day. Passively shields the user from 20% of all Darkness-based attacks.

Daz wanted this skill because now, thanks to his Species, he was somewhat weak physically. If not for his Travelling Gear of Altros, he wouldn't have had the confidence to rob the General and Camp Waterford as brazenly as he did. This gap in his strength was the only reason he wanted this powerful, yet odd, skill.

Legendary Gift of The Gab [SS-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description A skill coined and mastered by the universe-class con artist, Jigsum Mik-ton, of the Interstellar planet system, Queztok. 'Getting people to do whatever you want with words isn't wrong, kid, it's a god-sent talent.' - Jigsum Mik-ton, star year E19065. Level 1 Abilities Passively increases mental influencing stats by 20%. Grants the host the ability to implant thought seeds into people. Thought seeds will slowly steer a person's line of thought to match the planted seed so long as it at least slightly aligns with the targets hopes or wants. Limit of one thought seed per person. Passively makes your words seem a lot more reasonable to all so long as there is some sense in them. Passively makes it a challenge for people to dislike the host.

Now, this skill was the one that Daz was leaning towards ever so slightly. With this particular skill, he could put even less effort into manipulating people and it would make absorbing other groups of survivors far easier further down the line.

While he was thinking about it, Daz couldn't help but admire this 'Jigsum' character. From the context given, he seemed to be an incredibly powerful mortal. Daz knew how potent words could be at times, and he could only sigh in jealousy at a person who had the ability to create a skill that rivalled a skill made by an actual God.

"It's so insane how big everything is. First, this Altros guy who treats A-Rank armour like toys, then that Cecil guy from my dream, and now a legendary con artist from a space-age civilisation... they really give me hope for reaching my goals..." Daz may not seem it from his outward attitude, but he was a very ambitious person.

The original Earth didn't interest him even slightly. Were it not for this apocalypse, Daz would have sealed his desires for all of his life and died a normal man with no world-shaking accomplishments under his belt.

"This 'experiment' really is suited for people like me... haha... people like me and people like her. It shouldn't be too long before she comes to find me. That'll be an interesting reunion, for sure," Daz mumbled as a cloudy image of his girlfriend flashed through his mind.

Sighing, he chuckled. "Well, I can cross that bridge when I come to it, for now, I need to choose... what do I need the most, more control of my Citizens and a better tool for future communication with others, or a more solid method to defend myself?"

A knock at the door drew Daz's attention away from his choice, so he got up and went to answer it. Opening the front door to his cabin, Daz was greeted by Ger who had a frown on his face.

"Something wrong, Ger?" Daz asked with concern.

Ger hesitated for a moment and sighed. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Daz replied with a nod.

The two walked into Daz's cabin and sat down in his living room. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Maybe a cookie?" Daz asked with absolutely no seriousness in his voice.

Weakly smiling, Ger shook his head. "No thanks. I only came here to ask for your help. No need to stay any longer than I need to. I have a lot of work to do. Lyle's a bit of a slave driver when he has the motivation."

Daz laughed slightly before he placed a hand on his chin and asked, "So, you said you needed my help?"

"Right," Ger closed his eyes and wrinkled his brow in frustration. "It's about Sarah. She's always been a bit adventurous, so as soon as Ellie and I returned, she insisted on leaving the base at some point to 'explore'."

Ger sighed again and a conflicted look flashed across his face. "I love my daughters. I can't say no to them if they really want to do something, like with Ellie coming along today. However, You saw how dangerous that was. If you weren't fast enough, my 'Defend Thy Faith' skill would have blown one of those soldiers' heads off, and then things might have gotten out of control..."

Ger looked frightened of what might have happened to his daughter, Ellie, in such a situation. Shaking his head, he looked Daz in the eyes. "I can't say no to my daughters forever. Their happiness means the world to me, but I also can't risk their safety. Daz, I need you to promise to always be with my girls if they ever leave the base. I'm not strong enough to protect them myself."

Ger looked like he was on the verge of tears at the thought of being unfit to defend his daughters, and it filled him with shame having to compromise and ask someone half his age to help, but he had to lower himself like this. Ger's daughters mattered more to him than his petty pride did.

"Ger," Daz replied firmly. A stern look was on his face and he clasped his hands before continuing. "I would sooner die than let any harm come to my Citizens. That includes not only your daughters but you as well. Don't worry, If anyone wants to leave the base, they won't do it without my permission or without me being present."

Ger looked relieved and happy, however, Daz could see additional emotions in the middle-aged man's eyes. 'He doesn't fully trust me... well, I guess this is a perfect example of showing me which skill I need... System, use my kill ranking reward to buy the Legendary Gift Of The Gab skill.'